Monthly Enhancements: Past-Client Newsletters

Past-Client Newsletters

Remain memorable and referrable.

We speak with a half-dozen law firm owners every week about their marketing. When we ask them how they stay in touch with past clients, most say they don’t.

When we dig deeper and ask if they have contact information for their past clients, there is frequently a pause and then an answer along the lines of, “We would have to assemble that information.”

No matter how good an outcome you delivered, many-to-most of your past clients will over time forget you. Life goes on, other challenges arise, and memories fade.

An old-school but still effective technique for staying memorable and referable is to send a monthly newsletter.

We use two types of articles in our newsletters for past clients: (1) specialty-oriented content, and (2) smarter living content.

1. Examples of specialty-oriented newsletter articles

Bankruptcy

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10 Tips for Financing a Car Purchase after Bankruptcy
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Budgeting Your Way to Financial Security and Success

Business litigation

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How to Deal with an Unreasonable Contract Party
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Be a Better Business Negotiator

Criminal

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10 Tips for Successfully Completing Probation
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“Ban the Box” Laws: Removing Barriers to Employment After a Criminal Conviction

Estates

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12 Mistakes to Avoid When Succession Planning for Your Business
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13 Strategies for Avoiding Challenges to Your Estate Plan

Family

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Strategies for Collecting Child Support
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Take Control of Your Finances after a Divorce Using a Budget

Personal injury

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Coping With the Mental and Emotional Impact of a Physical Injury
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7 Steps to Help Protect and Manage Your Personal Injury Settlement

Social Security disability

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What Is an ABLE Account?
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Stretch Your Dollars with These Five Money-Saving Tricks

2. Smarter living content

For most past clients, we avoid legal topics.

Their legal issue has been resolved, and is part of their past, so we focus on issues of current interest to them — topics we call Smarter Living. Everyone is interested in improving their lives.

We know with some specialties that their legal issues cause ongoing challenges, frequently with money, so we cover financial matters. And whether or not income has been affected by the legal issue you handled for them, everyone wants to save money.

The same universal demand exists for improving health and living a happier life. So our past-client newsletters regularly include wellness articles.

Lastly, we all need to eat. So we sprinkle in recipes, cooking tips, and shopping advice.

Some examples of our smarter living articles are:

Financial

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A Big List of Tips for Saving Money at the Grocery Store
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A Guide to Paying Off Credit Card Debt
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5 Money-Saving Hacks

Food

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Healthy and Easy Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
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Cooking En Papillote
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Summer is for Gazpacho

Seasonal

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Know Your Holidays: Saint Patrick’s Day
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19 Fun Facts About Our National Parks
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Tricks and Treats: Halloween History

Wellness

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For a Better Night’s Sleep, Practice These 8 Habits
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Staying Healthy at Your Desk
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Easy Ways to Fuel Up on Good Food

Sample newsletters

Our newsletters run 8 pages long, and we deliver them with an email that highlights the key articles.

Despite the prevalence of smarter living articles like those listed above, the newsletters are specialty-specific. They lead with a tailored article like:

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Bankruptcy: Budgeting, credit restoration, financial management
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Business litigation: Company management, legal compliance, succession planning
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Criminal: Dealing with a loved one in jail, successful probation, workforce return
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Estates: Organizing financial affairs, financial advice, trust modifications
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Family: Co-parenting, protecting children, minimizing disputes, budgeting
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Personal injury: Money management, mental health, physical recovery
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Social Security disability: Living with a disability, budgeting, ongoing SSD issues

Here are some sample issues.