Newsletters are an effective way to grow your potential client list and stay in touch with existing customers.  This is why many law firm use newsletters as their primary marketing strategy. But how do you get your newsletter done fast when you’re busy with the business of your law firm?

Get A Schedule

Newsletters that don’t get scheduled on a calendar don’t get done. Pick a date when you will create your newsletter and another date when you will distribute it to your list. Try to remain consistent. If you have a monthly newsletter, send it out on the same day each month. At Smokeball, we send a newsletter to our client base bi-weekly on Thursdays at noon, where we include updates, tips and tricks. This consistency will build anticipation and trust in your audience. The last thing you want to do is promise to deliver a newsletter each month to customers then only send one every six months. If you need to send your newsletter less consistently because of time constraints, it’s better to choose to send fewer newsletters (i.e. one each quarter) than to promise one each week or month and then fail to deliver.

Batch Your Work

Get your newsletter done all at the same time. You will save more “prep-time” if you just slice out a few hours each month to complete the newsletter than if you try to work on it for just a few minutes a day. On the other hand, if you can’t find a large chunk of time that you can commit to creating your newsletter, it’s better to do it in small time chucks (i.e. 15 or 20 minutes a day) than to not do it at all.

Create A Template

Give your newsletter a basic template that you stick to with each publication. Maybe you have a section talking about your most successful cases and another section that talks about specific practice areas that you cover. Whatever you do, your template should help you deliver content that’s valuable to the audience you’re trying to reach.

Record Yourself

Not every newsletter needs to be written. You can have a newsletter podcast where you share information verbally instead of in written form. You can also use voice-to-text software to dictate your newsletter into a document. But you’ll need to edit it afterwards since verbal communication is often very different than written communication. In other words, something may make sense when spoken but be confusing when written down.

Keep It Simple

You don’t need a long or complex newsletter to get results. A matter of fact, the simpler your newsletter the more effective it is and the faster you can get it done and distributed.  Think about what value you’re trying to deliver to your audience then distill it down to one or two general topics you want to discuss in each newsletter.

Time Yourself

If you want to get your newsletter done faster, keep track of how much time you’re spending on it.  The idea that a “watched pot doesn’t boil” can work in your favor. The more conscious you are of how much time you’re spending on something, the less time you will waste with distractions or nonessential tasks.

You can get your law firm newsletter done more efficiently if you follow a few best practices.

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Lynn Luong is the Digital Marketing Manager for Smokeball, a case management software that increases productivity and efficiency for solo attorneys  and small law firms to become more profitable.  Lynn has over 8 years of experience in marketing with a focus on digital by developing successful strategies and managing many areas of marketing.