BONUS: Take Control of Your Online Reputation - Free Webinar

The Leadership and Law Podcast is here to equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to build a successful and fulfilling legal practice. Hi everyone and welcome to today's webinar. Today we're going to be talking about how to take back control of your online reputation. So I'm going to jump my computer.

So hang on with me just a second and I will see you on the slides. So hopefully everybody can see my computer. My name is Marilyn Jenkins. We're going to talk about something that is directly affecting how many clients you sign right now, whether you know it or not.

Your online reputation. This is not going to be a theory session. Everything I share today is something that you can act on. So grab a pen and stay till the end and let's get into it.

Here's the roadmap for today. We're going to talk about why reviews are a team sport, not just a marketing task that you hand off. We'll look at why attorneys invest in great tools and they still fail to drive consistent reviews. We'll cover multi-channel communication that's email, SMS, and physical cards, and why using all three changes the game.

We'll get into how to respond to every review, including the negative ones, and we'll wrap up with how to have all of this done for you completely hands-all. So stay till the end. There's some free stuff waiting for you. Before we go any further, let me tell you who you're learning from today and why this matters.

I'm the founder and CEO of MJ Media Group and Law Marketing Zone. I've been in digital marketing since the early 90s, before Google existed. I've worked with hundreds of law firms and local businesses. And since 2018, I've worked exclusively with attorneys.

I've helped law firm owners grow to multiple seven figures and retainers using some of the systems that I'm going to share with you today. And I host Leadership in Law Podcast, which ranks in the top 2% globally, and have authored four books on Amazon. I say this not to brag, but because I want you to know what I'm sharing comes from real work with real law firms, not textbooks, not theory. Now, before I dive into the reputation specifically, I want to give you a big picture of how we think about law firm growth at Law Marketing Zone.

We use what we call the case model. It covers everything from driving leads through organic, paid, and reputation channels, maximizing conversion through your website, optimizing results through knowing your cost per lead in the ROI, and running automation so no lead falls through the cracks. Today we're zeroing in on reputation, one of the most underestimated growth levers in the whole model. And when you get this right, every other part of case performs better.

And a reminder, stay till the end. We're going to give you some real value for free. And I have a reputation control checklist and a free reputation AI visibility audit waiting for you. So stick around.

Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you Googled yourself? Not your firm, you, your name, the word attorney, your city. Most attorneys have never done this.

And what they find is they finally do this, it's often a surprise. Some good, some not so good. And sometimes nothing. Just a blank profile that tells a prospect absolutely nothing about who you are, why they should trust you.

Your online reputation is working for you or against you right now. At this very moment. And while you're sitting here, the question is, do you know which one it is? Here's the mindset chip.

Stop thinking about reviews as feedback. Start thinking about every single review as a marketing asset. A piece of content that is working for your firm 24 hours a day, seven days a week, converting skeptical prospects into sign cases. A five-star review from a happy client is not just a nice thing to read, it's a sales tool.

It's closing cases while you sleep. Now let's look at the data because the numbers are hard to ignore. 96% of people seeking legal advice start their search online. Not a referral, not a bar directory.

Google. 84% of those people say online reviews directly influence who they hire. That's not just a soft preference. That's a hiring decision being made based on your stars before anyone speaks to you.

Here's the one that gets attorneys every time. Prospects spend approximately three seconds deciding whether your profile is worth their attention before they click away. Three seconds. And yet 62% of lawyers have no active strategy for managing any of this, which means that for most of you, your reputation is being decided by whoever happens to leave a review.

And that's a dangerous way to run a law firm. So take a look at this. This is what happens when a prospect lands on your Google profile and what they see shapes everything that follows. This is your first impression.

For many attorneys, it's the only impression they get. Here's the brutal reality if you ignore your reputation. A poor online presence doesn't just fail to help you, it actively drags down every other marketing investment you make. Your paid ads drive traffic to a profile that doesn't convert.

Your SEO brings people to a firm they won't trust. Your referrals Google you and reconsider. You watch cases go to the competition. Not because the competition is better, it's because they look better online.

And here's something I hear from attorneys all the time. Marilyn, we have the tools. We have the software. We're sending review requests.

Why aren't we getting consistent reviews? Tools are not the problem. The system is the problem. And more accurately, the culture is the problem.

So we'll get to that in just a second. But on the flip side, the fact that 62% of attorneys have no strategy is not a threat to you. It's an opportunity. In most markets, the attorney who takes reputation seriously will dominate.

Not because they're the best lawyer, but because they look like the obvious choice. They have reviews, they have star ratings, they have responses, they have the content. The opportunity in front of you is to be that firm, to be the provider of choice in your service area, to let your reputation speak for you before you ever get on a call. That's what success looks like.

You are the go-to law firm in your area, you rank accordingly, and when someone lands on your profile, the decision is already made. So let me give you three reasons you cannot afford to de-prioritize this. First, reviews directly impact your Google rankings. Google's local algorithm factors in the quantity, recency, and quality of your reviews.

More reviews, more recent reviews, higher ratings, all of it feeds into your local SEO. So this is not optional. Second, 88% of consumers look at online reviews before making a decision. That number has only gone up year over year.

Your prospects are reading your reviews before they decide whether to call you. Third, this is the one that draws revenue. Reviews are a major conversion factor. They are the difference between someone who lands on your profile and calls versus someone who bounces to the next attorney on the list.

So let's get practical here. Everything I'm going to share now comes down to five key principles. You do not have to be perfect at all five on day one, but the firms that nail all five are the ones that consistently dominate their markets. So let's walk through each one.

Principle one is provide world-class client experience. I want to say clearly, no review system in the world will fix a bad client experience. Reviews are a reflection of the service you deliver. If clients aren't raving about you, the first question is not how do we get more reviews?

It's are we delivering an experience worth raving about? This means communication, responsiveness, clear expectations, and making people feel cared for during one of the most stressful times in their lives. Get that right and the reviews will follow. Principle two, make reviews part of your company culture.

This is the one most attorneys skip, and it is the reason tools fail. Reviews can't be one person's job. Every person in your firm who touches a client, the intake coordinator, the paralegal, the attorney, the billing team, everyone needs to understand that reviews matter, why they matter, and what their role is in making them happen. When your front desk plants the seat at the start of the client relationship, when your paralegal follows up mid-case, when your attorney closes with a personal ask, that's a review culture.

That's what drives consistent results. Principle three, be proud of your reviews and show them off. If you have a great review sitting on Google and no one sees them except people who search your name, you're leaving social proof on the table. Put your reviews on your website, share them on social media, display them in your office, turn your best reviews into graphics and let them do the selling for you on every channel.

Principle four, and this is where the mechanics come in. Leverage best in class tools and communicate through every channel available to you. There are three channels that work really well and you need all three. That's email, SMS, and physical.

A printed review card handed to the client. Here's why all three matter. Different clients respond in different channels. Some people live in the text messages, some respond to email, and some need something physical in their hand, a card that sits on the kitchen counter before they take action.

Email alone gets ignored. SMS alone feels impersonal to some people. A physical card alone requires them to take a picture of a QR code, but all three together, you remove every excuse. Let me show you what this looks like in practice.

Channel one, email automated review requests after every case closed. SMS text follow-up with a direct review link, which has the highest open rate, physical printed card, in-person handoff, make a personal call to walk clients through the process, use your review us page as a central hub for all requests, automate where it's possible, eliminate the manual follow-up. We have review request dashboard, track every request, response, and result. I'm just going to show you some examples of what this looks like.

You can send have these business cards printed up quite easily with a QR code that goes directly to your review us page on Google so we can get those. Use automation software, like we talked about. This is the back end system that fires off your email and your SMS requests automatically so nothing falls through the cracks. This is your Reputation Management Command Center, the dashboard.

You can see every review request, every response, and your overall rating at a glance. So you can see who's done it when their options were sent. These are examples of what actual review requests look like in a client's inbox and text messages. And then, of course, show off.

Respond to every single review. Good ones, bad ones, the three-star ones that say nothing in particular. Here's why this is non-negotiable. When you respond to a review, you are not talking to the person who wrote it.

You are talking to every future prospect who reads it. And what they see is an attorney who is attentive, professional, and engaged. Put a system in place, assign someone on your team to own this. Every review gets a response within 48 hours, no exceptions.

Now, negative reviews. Emphasize. Invite them to continue the conversation offline. That's it.

Three sentences. Something like, Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve you. We appreciate sharing your experience. And take all the feedback seriously.

Please reach out to us directly and email, phone, however you want to put that on there, so that we can make this right. Don't argue the facts, don't reference case details. That creates confidentiality risks, obviously. Don't be defensive.

Write for future clients, not the person who left the review. And in your Google Business Profile, you can actually see the reviews and click reply on that. So just to bring that back together for you, one, world-class client experience, two, build reviews into your culture, three, show off reviews that you have, four, use best in class tools across every channel, and five, acknowledge and respond to every review. These five things, done consistently, will make you the most visible and most trusted attorney in your market.

That's not an exaggeration. That is what we see happen with our clients. In principle five, respond to every single review. Five, respond to every single review.

Good ones, bad ones, and the three-star ones that say nothing in particular. Here's why this is non-negotiable. When you respond to a review, you're not talking to the person who wrote it. You're talking to every future prospect who reads it.

And what they see is an attorney who is attentive, professional, and engaged. Put a system in place, assign someone on your team to own this. Every review gets a response within 48 hours, no exceptions. Now, negative reviews.

Let me give you a formula that works. Acknowledge their experience, empathize, invite them to continue the conversation offline. That's it. Three sentences.

Something as simple as, thank you so much for the opportunity to serve you. We appreciate your sharing your experience and take all feedback seriously. Please reach out to us directly at and provide your email or phone number so that we can make this right. Don't argue the facts.

Don't reference client case details. Obviously, that creates confidentiality risks. Don't be defensive. Write for future clients, not the person who left the review.

Now let me bring it all back together for you. One, world-class client experience. Two, build reviews into your culture. Three, show off your reviews if you have.

Four, best in class tools across every channel. Five, acknowledge and respond to every review. These five things done consistently will make you the most visible and most trusted attorney in your markets. That's not an exaggeration.

That's what we see with our clients. Now, I want to be honest with you. What I just walk you through is a lot, especially if you're running a firm, managing cases, leading a team, and trying to maintain some semblance of a life outside the office. That's exactly why most attorneys never do it.

Not because they don't want results, but because they don't have the bandwidth. Let's show you how to solve that. At Law Marketing Zone, we don't just give you advice. We take control of the entire client journey on your behalf.

From the first impression online to the review that gets left after the case closes, we build and manage the system so you don't have to. Let me ask you a quick question. If you can have everything I just described handled for you, the review requests, the multi-channel follow-up, the response management, the reputation monitoring, without any of it sitting on your team's plate, would that be worth a 15-minute conversation? If the answer is yes, then I want you to go to LawMarketingZone.

com slash book a call and schedule that call completely free. No pressure, just a look at where your reputation stands and what you want to take to make the strongest marketing asset. It's sometimes better to ask who, not how. So get someone to handle it and take it off your plate.

Again, our case model, we've talked about that here at Law Marketing Zone. This is what it looks like across the board. We cover every pillar of the case model, driving leads through organic, paid, and reputation channels, maximizing your conversion of your website, optimizing your cost per lead and ROI, and automating follow-up so every lead gets touched in 30 seconds or less. You focus on practicing law, we handle the marketing engine.

That's the deal. The best next step is simple. Just book a 15-minute call at lawmarketingzone.com slash book a call.

If you have any specific questions about what we've talked about today that I didn't it get answered on this presentation, email my team directly at team at lawmarketingzone.com. We read every single email that comes through. And like I promised, I wanted to deliver you some free stuff today.

The Reputation Control Checklist. This is a step-by-step guide that walks you through improving your online reputation in four practical steps. So to get it, simply send an email to team at lawmarketingzone.com with the word checklist in the subject line, and we'll send it right away.

That address again is team at lawmarketingzone.com. And second, another free I want to offer you is something we've never offered before in this format, a free reputation and AI visibility audit. So we're going to also do a competition audit so you know where you stand in your area.

And what this means is you're going to look at how your firm shows up online, how you compare to other attorneys in your market. And this is new, whether your firm is showing up in AI tools like ChatGPT when people search for attorneys. That last one is becoming more important every single month. If someone asks ChatGPT for the best personal injury attorney in Dallas, your firm should be the answer.

Is it? Is your firm there? Right now, most are not. We're going to show you where you stand.

To schedule a free audit, go to lawmarketingzone.com/slash book a call. It's free. It's specific to your market and it will show you exactly what you're working with.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. This stuff matters, and I'm genuinely glad you showed up. Follow us on YouTube at Law MarketingZone and subscribe. We put out content every week that will help you grow.

If you want to go deeper, check out our books at LawmarketingZone.com/slash our dashbooks. There's something there for every stage of your firm's growth. Connect with me on LinkedIn and stay in touch.

And remember, your reputation is being built right now, whether you're intentional about it or not. Make it intentional. Go take control. Thanks everybody.

I appreciate your time. Again, if you have any questions that we didn't answer today, you can send us an email at team at lawmarketingzone.com and also to get the free checklist. Okay?

Have a great day and thank you so much for your time. That's a wrap on today's episode of the Leadership in Law Podcast. Before you go, I want to make sure that you know about something that could be a real game changer for your firm. If you've been doing the work, showing up, serving clients, but your marketing still isn't producing the caseload you know you deserve.

That's exactly the problem Law Marketing Zone was built to solve. My team and I work exclusively with law firms, and we don't do cookie cutter. We build a strategy around your practice, your market, and your goals. More high-quality leads, better cases, less stress, and more profit.

Head over to LawmarketingZone.com/slash book a call and book your free case growth session today. The link is in the show notes. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next episode.

Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Leadership and Law Podcast. Remember, you're not alone on this journey. There's a whole community of law firm owners out there facing similar challenges in striving for the same status.