Integrity Marketing

Social Media Makes You The Go To Person

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

You have heard Jennifer (or me repeating Jennifer) that “talkers are hawkers, but writers are experts.” No truer words from tongue or pen than these, especially when it comes to leveraging Social Media.

 And it all starts with blogging.  But first, consider some numbers.

1. Facebook has more than 800 million active users and the average user is connected to 20 active community pages, groups and events.
2. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the internet with 135 million members. Professionals are signing up to join at a rate that is faster than two new members per second.
3. You Tube is the second most used search engine… next to Google, that is.
4. The average TPD (tweet per day) in March 2010 was 50 million. In February 2011 the average TPD increased to 140 million. That's a 280% growth!

Those are big numbers, yes? If you are truly “all in” and are ready to make 2012 your year to prosper with results based marketing, then you must remain TOMA (“Top Of Mind Awareness”) when someone thinks "Hmmm... to whom should I refer my client, mother, friend, children, etc.?

Are you ready for some good news? If you are an attorney who is invested in results based marketing via The Essential Solution®, then you already are perfectly positioned to dominate your marketplace through Social Media. 

Here’s how I leverage Social Media for my law practice, as your loyal IMS guinea pig. 

On Saturday mornings, I slip in front of my computer monitor with a nice hot cup of dark, smoky coffee in hand. I open up and massage each of the five (5) blogs forwarded to me the previous day by Jennifer, perhaps re-spinning the headline and opening paragraph. I then queue up the blogs and set the “publish on” times and dates for the next Monday through Friday.

And, that’s really all I have to do. What happens next is the “daisy chain” of Social Media synergy designed by our marketing gurus at IMS.  Automatically, when each of my blogs is posted at the appointed time and date a “tweet” is sent to all who are following me on Twitter. At the same time, the blog appears on both of my Facebook pages (personal and law firm), LinkedIn, Justia.com, Avvo.com and my law firm home page, www.kylekrull.com. 

Here is the point. Given all of the numbers supporting the notion that Social Media is the means by which Americans (read “prospective clients and referral sources") communicate, doesn’t it make logical sense that you should be in that communication channel as the go-to estate planning and/or elder law expert? With just a little effort on your part to consistently post the blogs that are delivered to your email inbox, you can harness the power of Social Media, too.

As I reminded you earlier, writers are experts. Shouldn’t that be you?

Teaching Point: The The Essential Solution® is a comprehensive marketing system, tested and proven effective in my own law practice, it’s only available through Integrity Marketing Solutions. Every component of the system is designed to work in synch with all of the other components to help you have an ever more profitable and enjoyable estate planning and/or elder law practice.

Video Marketing Statistics Speak for Themselves

Posted by Roslyn Drotar, Personal Account Manager / Strategic Planning
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

The statistics for video marketing are powerful.  83.3% of United States internet audiences viewed online video in May of 2011 according to comScore May 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings.  That equals 5.6 billion views in one month!  Those are big numbers!  And Reelseo.com reports streaming video ads for the Superbowl are predicted to reach the figure of $55 clicks per minute (CPM).  Verizon says they have 71 million video ads on their network of which 1% of their CPM would bring in a whopping $39,000 for one single 30 second commercial.  If that number increases to 3 Million, it will bring in $165,000 for one single half second streaming video ad.  Again, big numbers!

So what can we say about video for small business?  You can’t deny that video is becoming a more and more effective and relevant way to connect with people (aka your potential clients and referral sources).  People just naturally want to do business with people they like and watching video is second only to meeting you face to face.  You’re already bringing a warmer lead to the table if you’ve already connected with them through video.   Psst...if you’re not interested in being in video yourself, we have the perfect solution…our ETV’s.  They're educational tools to show the value of what you do.  If you don’t know how to do something, you can bet there’s a “how to” video on You Tube.  Video is a great way to educate people on what you do. 

Bottom line is that the numbers are there.  The people are out there viewing video, are you?

My KAPS Unique Process

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Apparently, our IMS team fields one ongoing question outside the marketing arena. It goes something like this: “Okay, I know Kyle is the President of IMS and, is a full-time estate planning attorney, so what is his process for converting prospects into clients?”

Well, for those of you attending the first afternoon of The IMS Marketing Fast Track conference  in Kansas City we'll be talking about my K²APS Unique Process.

Are you fishing for perch, trout, or swordfish? Unless you know Your Right Client, then your marketing and your conversion process will be disappointing at best… or a failure at worst. I will be teaching you four (4) steps you can implement right now to Finding Your Right Client:

• Self-Evaluation (Know Thyself)
• Marketing & Branding (Let The Marketplace Know You)
• Choosing & Nurturing Referral Relationships (Pick A Date Fit For A Mate)
• Client Intake Processes (K.I.S.S.)

Once you get a steady stream of Your Right Client, then how do you consistently deliver high-touch, personal service to these clients, maintain profitability and protect your own quality of life? I will be teaching my process, to include the following principles:

• The Initial Consultation (Art Meets Science)
• Visual Aids (A Picture Is Worth….)
• Drafting & Document Execution (The Easy Part)
• Follow-Up for Referrals (How To Find & Mine Veins Of Gold)

We end with The Consultative Sales Process, because if you drop the ball when you are face-to-face with pre-qualified prospects, then all of your marketing will have been wasted. As I teach you my process, I will walk you through it, step-by-step, and explain the who, what, when, where, how, why and so what throughout.

Teaching Point: If you want to take your estate planning and/or elder law practice to the next level of marketing and prospect converting, then make plans to attend The IMS Marketing Fast Track in Kansas City.   When you do, be ready to roll up your shirtsleeves and get down to work, as every session will be one to help you have a more profitable and enjoyable practice.

Your Blog & YOU!

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

As you, our gentle readers already know, I not only am the co-founder and president of Integrity Marketing Solutions, but I also am a full-time estate planning attorney.

I start with this reminder, because my marketing lot is cast with The ESSENTIAL Solution®, available only from Integrity Marketing Solutions. In other words, I eat my own cooking.

I edit each of the blogs exclusively for members of the IMS “attorney family” to use just as they are, revise to suit and even as springboards to take the blogs in a completely different direction. The bottom line, however, is that each blog is sheetmusic that can be played as you wish.

But, Kyle, what if another competitive estate planning and/or elder law attorney in my local area joins the elite IMS attorney family? What then? Will my marketing be diminished by this competitor using the The ESSENTIAL Solution® blog, too?

I can understand and appreciate that concern. On the other hand, I choose to look at all of life through the lens of abundance rather than scarcity. In fact, I would love to enjoy and engage in conversation with you (perhaps over a nice cabernet) about how this one choice makes all the difference.

That noted, I, too, have a local “competitor” who uses The ESSENTIAL Solution®.

His name is Dan Dorsch and his office/home is exactly 5.6 miles from my office/home according to Mapquest.

Not only do Dan and I not consider one another “competitors,” but we frequently exchange ideas over the phone, email or coffee regarding what is working in our practices (and what isn’t working). Dan is a brilliant attorney and I regard him as a good friend. I wish Dan nothing but success in his practice.

Nevertheless, if you are concerned about posting identical blogs as a competitor, then here are a few tips from my experience having posted more than 350 blogs:

1. Change the Title. One of the easiest ways to distinguish your blog post from another is to come up with a different title. I edit the five (5) weekly blogs on Thursdays for Jennifer to distribute to our IMS family on Fridays and then return to them over a cup of coffee on Saturday mornings to re-edit just a tad.
2. Change the Lead Sentence or Even the Lead Paragraph. After the title, the reader will quickly skim the opening “hook” in the blog to see if it may be worth reading. This is an easy way to tweak your blog by rewording or refocusing the content.
3.  Upload Photographs. Face it, we are a visual culture. Post photos of you, your family, or hobbies to put a little warmth and human touch to your blog posts. Don’t overdue it, however.
4. Shuffle the Blog Posting Schedule. You are not stuck with posting the five (5) blogs in the order received from Jennifer on Friday. Go ahead and “shuffle” the order.

 As you can see, it is easy to take your blogs and make them YOU!

Teaching Point: In the end, I believe that God knows who my next client will be, as well as yours. I appreciate that not everyone shares my perspective. That’s okay. Nevertheless, I have found that this perspective has help keep my blood pressure nice and low over the years, as it has given me confidence in my present and a hope for the future independent of the economic outlook. If we can help you have a more profitable and enjoyable estate planning and/or elder law practice, then we would warmly welcome you into our IMS attorney family, too.

Video Marketing or Die?

Posted by, Roslyn Drotar, Personal  Account Manager
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Did you hear the latest from CES 2012?  Some of the keynote speakers at this global event included Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, President and CEO of Intel, Paul Otellini and President of You Tube, Robert Kyncle.  At the event Kyncle made an audacious statement that “Very soon 90% of all web traffic will be video.”   No that’s a pretty huge number that should definitely get your marketing ears perked.

Kyncle went on further to say “…in the next 10 years 75% of all new channels will be internet channels.”  Again, huge and bold statement and one we shouldn’t ignore.  Then a week later Reuters launched their own You Tube channel dedicated towards global news (http://www.youtube.com/user/ReutersTV).

And there is more news buzzing around video and its powerful punch.  Google has recently increased the size of video thumbnails by 45%!   And did you know that Facebook now offers custom Facebook tabs just for video marketers to edit and manage fan pages?   

So let’s talk a little about your marketing plan and ask not IF you see video in it, but WHEN you see incorporating video into it.  Because the way we see it, if you don't you’re taking a risk.  FACT:  this is a part of the industry that is exploding.  We now have words like “social video” and recent reports that people are watching videos 30% longer when they view them on their tablets. 

So we at IMS want you to be aware of the impact that video is having and to let  you know that when you’re ready for video we can help.  We know that it works!  So make sure you've got it in your plan, as a goal for your company.  Of course, you can call us anytime you’re ready for "scene one, take one, action!   And just in case you haven’t heard, if you’re not ready to be a star in front of the camera, you can always order our ETV’s that will give you just as much traction and rankings on Google.