You’ll have to excuse me but I’m spending the summer in Montana, so everything is a fishing metaphor for me right now.
But what the headline says is really true. If you want someone as a client, you have to keep their attention long enough to convince them that you’re the attorney they’re looking for. And most of the time, you’re going to do that through written marketing materials.
Now let’s face it. Anyone can write. But not that many can write not only well, but effectively. Especially when it comes to copywriting.
What do I mean by effectively?
You have to grab your prospective client’s attention and keep it throughout your marketing message or you’ve lost him. Statistically speaking, you only have about 30 seconds to get and keep your reader’s attention. If you don’t manage to do that, he’s off to something else and will probably not look at your website, sales letter, or other marketing message, again. Ever.
So how do you do that?
Two of the greatest direct marketers and copywriters of our time, Michael Masterson and Bill Bonner of Agora Publishing, devised a method of making your marketing copy really stand out from the crowd. This method starts with the headline and works its way throughout your entire copy. They call it “The Secret of the 4 U’s”.
The 4 U’s are a standard for judging your headline and the bullets you create within your marketing copy to pull the reader’s eye (and mind) through the copy. They stand for:
Urgency – makes your prospect feel the need to buy right now, not later
Uniqueness – lets your prospect know that what you’re selling is different from anything else they’ve seen.
Ultra-Specificity – be specific – use facts and figures to show concrete results
Usefulness – promise your prospect something that is really useful and valuable to him
When you’re reviewing copy that you’ve outsourced (or writing it if you decide to take on the mantle of copywriter as well as lawyer), ask yourself if what you’re reading meets these criteria.
Start with the headline.
Will it reach out and grab your prospect’s attention and make them want to stop what they’re doing and read this marketing message the minute they get it?
Will it make your prospect feel like they’re about to learn something they didn’t know before?
Does it give enough specific information to convince them that it’s credible?
Is the information useful to them?
Now look at the rest of the copy.
Do the bullets break the copy up into “bite size” pieces and keep it easy to read?
Is the information highlighted by the bullets Urgent, Unique, Ultra-Specific, and Useful?
Chances are if you’ve got copy in your hands that meets these standards, you’ve got a winning promotion. Your prospective clients won’t be able to put it down and that will convert to paying clients. You’ll be the first attorney they think of when they have a legal problem.
And then, just like the headline says, you’ve hooked them. All you have to do is reel them in.