How Mediators Can Utilize Video Content For Practice Development

In today's digital era, video marketing is taking center stage in many businesses’ marketing strategies, and mediation should be no exception. Today’s video discusses the rise of video marketing and its significance in promoting your mediation practice, as well as how to create and record quality videos.  Stay to end of the video to learn what equipment, apps, and platforms I use.

The Rise of Video Marketing

In today's fast-paced and highly visual digital era, video marketing has become a powerful tool that businesses across various industries are leveraging to effectively communicate their brand and offerings. Mediation, as a profession, can greatly benefit from the rise of video marketing. Videos offer a dynamic and engaging medium to showcase the mediation process, share client testimonials, and create compelling content that resonates with potential clients. So let’s explore the growing importance of video marketing and its significance in promoting and enhancing the visibility of your mediation practice.

One of the key advantages of video marketing is its ability to captivate and connect with audiences on an emotional level. Videos have the power to convey your mediation practice's essence, values, and unique selling proposition in a way that text or static images may struggle to achieve. By utilizing visual and auditory elements, such as visuals, music, voiceovers, and storytelling techniques, videos can create an immersive experience that leaves a lasting impression on viewers. Whether it's a promotional video showcasing the benefits of mediation or a client testimonial video highlighting successful outcomes, videos allow you to communicate your brand's personality, build trust, and evoke emotions that resonate with your target audience. 

Videos offer a versatile platform for showcasing the mediation process itself. You can create educational videos that explain various mediation techniques, walk through the steps involved in a mediation session, or provide insights into the benefits of mediation for different types of conflicts. These videos not only educate and inform potential clients but also position you as an authority and expert in the field. By demonstrating your expertise and showcasing your mediation skills, videos help establish credibility and build confidence in your practice, increasing the likelihood of attracting potential clients who are seeking reliable and experienced mediators.

Client testimonials are another powerful way to leverage video marketing in the mediation profession. Videos featuring satisfied clients sharing their positive experiences and successful outcomes can have a profound impact on prospective clients. Testimonial videos create social proof, validating the effectiveness of your mediation services and instilling confidence in potential clients. These videos humanize the mediation process and allow viewers to relate to the experiences and outcomes shared by previous clients, fostering trust and reinforcing your reputation as a trusted mediator.

Video marketing offers numerous distribution channels and platforms to reach a wider audience. With the prevalence of social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, video content can be easily shared, liked, commented on, and maybe, even go viral, significantly amplifying your reach and brand visibility. Additionally, video content can be embedded on your website, shared via email newsletters, or utilized in online advertising campaigns to target specific demographics or geographic regions. The accessibility and shareability of videos enable you to connect with potential clients who may not have otherwise been reached through traditional marketing efforts.

While the concept of video marketing may seem daunting to some, this section provides practical guidance on how to create compelling and effective videos for your mediation practice. It covers aspects such as video production techniques, storytelling strategies, scriptwriting tips, and editing tools. It also emphasizes the importance of maintaining professionalism and authenticity in your videos, ensuring that they align with your brand identity and resonate with your target audience.

Video marketing has emerged as a powerful tool in today's digital landscape, and mediation professionals should embrace its potential. By effectively utilizing video marketing, mediators can create engaging and memorable content, establish credibility, and expand their reach to attract potential clients who are seeking effective and trustworthy mediation services.

So How Do You Create High-Quality Videos

Creating high-quality videos is not just about having the best camera equipment. It involves outlining and scripting, presenting, editing, and promoting the videos effectively. So here are some practical tips for creating high-quality videos that resonate with your audience, even on a limited budget.

Tips for Creating High-Quality Videos

Plan and loosely script your videos: Before hitting the record button, invest time in planning and loosely scripting your videos. Clearly define your video's purpose, message, and target audience. Outline the key points you want to cover and craft a compelling script that effectively communicates your ideas. Structuring your videos in a logical and organized manner will enhance the clarity and coherence of your message.

Pay attention to lighting and sound: Lighting and sound quality greatly impact the overall video quality. Natural lighting is ideal whenever possible, but if shooting indoors, ensure that the lighting is even and consistent. Avoid harsh shadows or overly bright spots. Consider investing in affordable lighting equipment or using reflectors to achieve optimal lighting conditions. Similarly, pay attention to audio quality by using a good-quality microphone to ensure clear and crisp sound. Minimize background noise and test the audio levels before recording.

Choose appropriate filming locations: Select appropriate filming locations that are visually appealing and relevant to the content of your video. Consider the background and ensure it is free from distractions or clutter. A clean, well-organized background will help maintain viewer focus on the main subject of the video.

Practice and rehearse: Practice and rehearse your presentation before recording. This will help you feel more confident, appear more natural on camera, and deliver your message effectively. Pay attention to your body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions. Rehearsing will also help you identify areas where improvements can be made, ensuring a smoother recording process.

Edit for clarity and conciseness: Editing plays a crucial role in creating high-quality videos. Trim any unnecessary footage, remove mistakes or pauses, and ensure a smooth flow of content. Keep your videos concise and focused, as attention spans are generally shorter in the digital age. Consider adding captions or subtitles to make your videos more accessible and engaging.

Maintain professionalism and authenticity: While creating high-quality videos, it is essential to maintain professionalism and authenticity. Be yourself and let your personality shine through. Speak clearly, with confidence, and in a conversational tone. Authenticity helps build trust with your audience, making your videos more relatable and engaging.

Promote your videos strategically: Creating high-quality videos is only half the battle. Promoting your videos effectively is equally important. Consider utilizing social media platforms, your website, or email newsletters to share and promote your videos. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and encouraging them to share your videos with others. Collaboration with other professionals, guest appearances on relevant podcasts, or leveraging partnerships can also help expand the reach of your videos.

Embrace creativity within your budget: While professional video production equipment can be costly, it is possible to create high-quality videos even on a limited budget. Explore affordable or free video editing software, utilize smartphone cameras with good video capabilities, and experiment with creative solutions to enhance the visual and production quality of your videos. Focus on delivering valuable content and engaging storytelling, as these elements can greatly compensate for any technical limitations.

And now, as promised, let me tell you what equipment, apps, and platforms I use.

I use my laptop, not my phone or ipad.  On my PC there is a free app called ClipChamp.  This is the editing software that I use for myself and my clients.  For lighting I use an all-in-one camera/microphone/light that I bought on Amazon for less than $30.  It’s called MOVO and mounts to the screen on top of my PC.  To record videos you can use ClipChamp, Zoom, Canva, Restream or any of the hundreds of other video recording platforms.  If I’m live, I use LinkedIn Live (just activiate the Creator Mode on your profile and you can too).  To go live on LinkedIn, you’ll a need a 3rd party restreaming app.  For this service, I pay for a subscription on Restream.io.  It lets me record my videos or, go live on to more than 30 different social media channels.  I can also create the backgrounds, chyrons, titles, subtitles, and schedule the release of uploaded videos.  To go live on YouTube, I can just use my YouTube channel software.  The same is true for Twitter. To create thumbnails or graphics, I use Canva.com.

To wrap up, creating high-quality videos for your mediation practice involves careful planning, scripting, presenting, editing, and strategic promotion. By following these practical tips, even with limited resources or a modest budget, you can create videos that resonate with your audience, effectively communicate your message, and enhance the overall quality and impact of your video content while getting the word out about you, your practice, your brand, and your authentic passion for what you do.

Which Social Media Platform Is Right For You And Your Mediation Practice?

Choosing the social media platform that’s right for you and your practice doesn’t need to be a daunting experience.  I recommend to clients that they should actively engage on the platform preferred by their clients and prospective clients.  For most mediators and arbitrators that’s going to be LinkedIn.  LinkedIn is undoubtedly the preferred network for professionals around the globe, and with two professionals joining this network every second, it will witness tremendous usage.

To leverage this network effectively, you should publish about your brand, services, practice culture, and announcements regularly.

But if you mediate cases for unrepresented parties or clients who are under the age of 45, you might want to include Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram as well. 

And if you don’t know which of any of these might be most effective, consider some statistics recently compiled by Social Pilot. 

A few of the juiciest stats are below.  I’ve culled through the Social Pilot stats article for what I think are the most interesting and applicable statistics for you.  Of course, if you’re a little nerdy (like me) you’ll have fun clicking the hyperlink to Social Pilot above and viewing the full article.

As I mentioned above, LinkedIn has proved to be the place for the resolution industry.  The stats for LinkedIn are listed last so that you can scroll to the bottom of this article if you don’t have the time or patience to look at Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter stats. 

In order to make the most of your time, money, and efforts to engage with clients and prospective clients on social media in such a way that a valuable business relationship is established, read, really read through the stats below and think about how this information applies to you and your practice growth goals.  And then, most importantly, take action. 

Take action and start posting, sharing, commenting, tagging, using hashtags, recording videos, and then ultimately, leverage those activities into dialogues and appropriate business relationships.  After all, that’s the reason we’re all on social media to begin with. To develop authentic and hopefully profitable (in whatever way your practice describes ‘profitable’).  

Let’s start with Facebook:  Facebook (now Meta) has adopted several new features taking inspiration from various other platforms. Reels from Instagram, live audio rooms and podcasts, live game streaming, and even live shopping.  And they’ve introduced new policies and features to help businesses, brands, and influencers monetize their content.

Facebook Demographics:

·       81% of all adults in the United States have a Facebook account.

·       The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil also have 200 million, 140 million, and 130 million Facebook users, respectively.

·       Between the ages of 25 and 34, 12.5% of all active Facebook users are female, and 19% are male.

·       75% of high-income earners use Facebook.

Facebook Usage Stats

·       1.93 billion people on average log into Facebook daily.

·       Facebook is the world’s third-most downloaded app.

·       Over 1.8 billion people now use Facebook Groups every month.

·       There are more than 70 million admins and moderators running active Facebook groups.

·       1 billion Facebook Stories are shared daily.

·       60.6% of all social media users use Facebook.

Facebook Engagement Stats

·       More than 4 billion video views take place on Facebook every day.

·       Facebook engagement increases by 18% on Thursday and Friday.

·       A video post increases interaction by 600% on Facebook.

·       85% of videos watched on Facebook are on mute.

·       A live video engagement is 26% on Facebook, higher than any other social media platform.

·       Facebook videos with captions increase the watch time by 12%.

·       49.9% of all posts are link posts, making it the most common Facebook content. This is followed by images and videos.

Facebook Business Stats

·       There are more than 200 million businesses on Facebook.

·       44% of users admit that Facebook influences their shopping decision.

·       More than 160 million businesses use Facebook to interact with their customers.

·       62% of people acknowledged they have become more interested in a brand after watching its Facebook stories.

·       The average organic reach for a Facebook post is 6.4% of the page’s total likes.

Facebook Ads Insights

·       2.28 billion people can be reached through adverts on Facebook.

·       43.5% of the ad audience is female, while 56.5% is male.

·       Adding a CTA button boosts the conversion rate by 2.85 times.

·       Cost-per-clicks are most expensive on Fridays and cheapest on Sundays.

·       The average cost-per-click is $1.86 on Facebook.

·       A CTA in the middle of the video has witnessed a higher conversion rate of 16.95%.

·       The cost of a video ad is 10% of carousel or single image ads.

·       Audiences aged 18-24 spend 75% of their time on Facebook watching video ads.

·       71% of shoppers feel they see relevant video ads on Facebook.

·       A Facebook user clicks on an average of 8 ads a month.

Moving on to Instagram

This year, Instagram got its own professional dashboard for business and creator accounts.

It also traded swipe-up links for stickers, introduced Remix for Reels, and introduced a Collab feature for posts and Reels. These new features are in tune with Meta’s vision of bringing together an array of features that help brands and businesses.

Instagram Demographics Stats

·       Instagram has more than 2 billion active users.

·       64% of Instagrammers are under 34 years.

·       The 25-34 year old age group is the largest of the demographics, attributing to 31.

·       Daily active users of Instagram stories are 500 million.

·       17.6% of the world population uses Instagram.

·       Instagram has 51.6% female and 48.4% male audiences.

Instagram Usage Stats

·       About 6 in 10 Instagram users log in at least once daily.

·       21% of users log in weekly, and 16% log in less often than that.

·       38% of users log in to the platform multiple times.

·       The average time spent on Instagram is 28 minutes.

·       70% of the people watch Instagram stories daily.

Instagram Engagement Stats

·       The average engagement rate for all post types is 0.83%.

·       The average engagement rate for photo posts is 0.81%, video posts is 0.61%, and carousel posts is 1.08%.

·       Longer captions get better engagement.

·       On average, 10.7 hashtags are used in Instagram posts.

·       Instagram has 58% more engagement per follower than Facebook.

·       100 million Instagrammers watch or launch live videos daily.

·       Photos with faces perform almost 40% better than without faces.

·       Videos get 21.2% more engagement compared to images.

·       Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement.

·       Instagram users engage more on weekdays, with Wednesday and Thursday showing the most engagement.

·       80% of the stories with voiceover or music drive better low funnel results than ads with no sound.

·       Posts with tagged locations get 79% more engagement.

Instagram Business Stats

·       More than 25 million businesses use Instagram to promote their services and products.

·       90% of accounts follow at least one business on Instagram.

·       2 in 3 people surveyed believe Instagram enables interaction with brands.

·       81% of Instagrammers use the platform for researching new products and services.

·       44% of businesses use stories to promote their products.

·       67% of users watch branded stories.

·       83% of Instagram users discover new products and services on the platform.

·       Instagram business accounts post an average of 1 post daily.

Instagram Ads Insights

·       50% of Instagram users are more interested in a brand when they see ads on Instagram.

·       The U.S. has the highest potential Instagram advertising reach, followed by India and Brazil.

·       75% of Instagrammers take action on at least one ad.

·       The highest Instagram advertising audience is from the 25-34 age group, which is 32.3% of all Instagrammers.

·       48.4% of the ad audience on Instagram is female, and 51.6% is male.

·       Video ads have 3x more engagement than photos.

Let’s look at Twitter.  Twitter introduced new features, like Safety mode, misinformation label, Prompts, etc., helped ensure conversations were safer and meaningful for everyone.

Twitter also made monetizing easier for businesses and creators with Super Follows, Ticketed Spaces, Tips, and Twitter Blue.

Twitter Demographics Stats

·       Twitter has 211 million daily active users, while the monthly active users are 330 million.

·       83% of the world’s leaders are on Twitter.

·       27.9% of global Twitter users are aged between 18 and 24 years.

·       77.8 million active users are from the U.S., while 58.2 million users are from Japan and 24.5 million active users from India.

·       29.6% of Twitter users are female, and 70.4% are men.

·       42% of all Twitter users are college graduates.

·       77% of Twitter users earn more than $75,000+ each year.

Twitter Usage Stats

·       26% of U.S. users check Twitter multiple times in a day.

·       46% of all Twitter users visit the platform daily.

·       The average time spent on Twitter is 3 minutes and 39 seconds.

·       The total number of tweets sent per day is 500 million.

·       The half-life of a tweet is 24 minutes.

·       The daily limit is 2400 tweets and 1000 messages per day.

Twitter Engagement Stats

·       The average number of hashtags used each day on Twitter is 125 million.

·       Tweets with hashtags have witnessed engagement by 100% for individuals and 50% for brands.

·       Using 1-2 hashtags can get you 21% more engagement.

·       Tweets with more than 2 hashtags might have 17% lesser engagement.

·       Hashtagged tweets have a 55% more chance of being retweeted.

·       Twitter’s timeline generates +31% higher emotional connection and +28% higher levels of memorability versus the social media average.

·       Tweets with a GIF gain 55% more engagement than those without.

·       People watch 2 billion videos on Twitter daily.

Twitter Business Stats

·       67% of B2B businesses use Twitter as their marketing tool.

·       50% of consumers use Twitter, while 36% follow brands on Twitter.

Twitter Ads Insights

·       436 million people can be reached with adverts on Twitter.

·       Ads with no hashtag received 23% more engagement.

·       29.6% of ad audiences are female, and 70.4% are male.

·       The highest reach ranking of Twitter ads is witnessed in the U.S., followed by Japan.

·       The majority of ad audiences on Twitter are males from the age group of 25-34 and females from the 18-24 age group.

·       Advertisers saw a rise of 89% in video completion rates.

·       Total ad engagement increased by 32% year on year.

Twitter provides immense possibilities for brands and individuals to communicate with their audience quickly. You need to schedule engaging tweets at the right time, monitor brand mentions, respond quickly, reach out to influencers, and collaborate with other brands for cross-promotion, analysis, and much more.

With so much to do, it becomes essential to manage it effectively using Twitter tools like Socialpilot, MeetEdgar, Keyhole, Canva etc.

And lastly here are some stats for LinkedIn (the primary social media marketing platform for mediators, arbitrators and attorneys)

LinkedIn said hello to Stories, Live streaming videos, Newsletters, Audio Events, and Video Meetings. Other cool features is the name pronunciation which allows users to record and add the correct pronunciation of their names to their profiles and video avatar that let’s viewers on your profile see a brief video about you and your practice. 

LinkedIn has grown into a platform to share world-changing thoughts and ideas for businesses, brands, and professionals alike.

Craft your marketing strategies taking insights from the below statistics and leverage your LinkedIn activities to leave an impact.

LinkedIn Demographics Stats

·       The population of LinkedIn is more than 800 million from 200 countries.

·       There are 180 million users from the U.S. on LinkedIn.

·       There are 56.6% of male users and 43.4% female users on LinkedIn.

·       After the U.S., India(81 million), China(54 million), and Brazil(51 million) have the highest number of LinkedIn users.

·       There are 180 million senior-level influencers.

·       LinkedIn has 65 million decision-makers and 10 million C-level executives.

·       Almost 60% of LinkedIn users are in the age group of 25-34.

·       60% of the U.S. LinkedIn users earn $100,000/year.

LinkedIn Usage Stats

·       3 professionals join LinkedIn every second, with 172800 new users every single day.

·       57% of LinkedIn traffic is from mobile devices.

·       91% of executives rate LinkedIn as their first choice for professionally relevant content.

·       There are 9 billion content impressions in LinkedIn feeds every week.

·       2 million posts, articles, and videos are published on LinkedIn every day.

·       3 million users post on LinkedIn every week.

·       4 in every 10 millionaires are active LinkedIn users.

·       Only 1 million users have published an article on LinkedIn.

·       About 45% of LinkedIn article readers are in upper-level positions (managers, VPs, Directors, C-level).

·       39% of LinkedIn users never share content, while 16% of the profiles actively share multiple posts every week.

·       On average, users spend 7 minutes 12 seconds on LinkedIn.

·       The average visit duration on LinkedIn is 8.52 minutes.

·       Users visit an average of 6.4 pages on LinkedIn before leaving.

·       LinkedIn Live streams witnessed a 437% year-on-year increase in views.

LinkedIn Engagement Stats

·       22.04% of LinkedIn traffic comes from search alone.

·       99.63% of LinkedIn search traffic comes from organic search.

·       LinkedIn Pages with complete information get 30% more weekly views compared to others.

·       There is a 50% rise in engagement year-over-year on LinkedIn.

·       Companies posting weekly see an engagement rise by 2x on LinkedIn.

·       98% of marketers on LinkedIn agree that personalization helps advance customer relationships.

·       According to LinkedIn, companies that post 20 times per month reach at least 60% of their unique audience.

·       Including the links in a post can drive twice the engagement than a post without it on LinkedIn.

·       Images on average result in a 98% higher comment rate than without on LinkedIn.

·       Links to Youtube videos play directly in the LinkedIn feed and typically give a 75% higher share rate.

·       Long-form content gets the most shares on LinkedIn, so aiming for between 1700-2100 words should give your content a boost.

·       LinkedIn articles with 8 images and 5,7, or 9 headlines are best for engagements.

·       Messages sent have increased 35% year-over-year on LinkedIn.

·       Weekly LinkedIn members who engage heavily with content are 5x more likely to return daily.

·       Listing 5 or more skills on your LinkedIn profile can lead to up to 17x more views.

LinkedIn Business Stats

·       46% of social media traffic to the company’s website comes from LinkedIn.

·       45% of marketers have gained customers through LinkedIn.

·       Lead Gen Forms on LinkedIn can increase conversions by 3x.

·       89% of B2B marketers rely on LinkedIn for lead generation.

·       62% of B2B marketers generate leads on LinkedIn successfully, over double the next-highest social channel.

·       4 out of 5 LinkedIn users drive business decisions.

·       52% of buyers list LinkedIn as the most influential channel during their research process.

·       InMail has a 300% higher response rate than email, with a 10-25% hit rate on LinkedIn.

·       LinkedIn is generating revenue for 38% of B2B marketers.

·       80% of B2B leads coming from social media are from LinkedIn.

·       97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to help drive their content marketing strategy.

·       92% of B2B marketers have LinkedIn included in their digital marketing mix.

·       15% of Linkedin users are senior-level influencers.

·       As per Linkedin, an average of 10 content pieces are considered before making a purchasing decision.

LinkedIn Ads Insights

·       43.4% of ad audiences are female, and 56.6% are male.

·       Sponsored InMail has an opening rate of 52% on LinkedIn.

·       LinkedIn Message Ads have a 40% conversion rate.

·       65% of B2B companies have generated a customer through LinkedIn paid ads.

·       The cost per lead is 28% lower than on Google AdWords on LinkedIn.

·       The average conversion rate of video ads on LinkedIn for the U.S. is 6.1%, more than any other contemporary platform.

https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/social-media-statistics?utm_campaign=nurture-campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ebook-subscriber&utm_content=email3#fb-demographic-stats

#marketingmediation #marketing #marketingADR #marketingresolution #mediation

Customer service is free

Most large organizations would disagree.

Large organizations hire customer service agents to answer the phone. They set up pre-recorded messages meant to mollify their clients.  They strategically write warranties and guarantees to address customer concerns.  I would assume that they measure all of this as a cost meant to raise profit.

But mediators and arbitrators aren’t large organizations and we know that customer service is one of our best profit centers. 

We know full well that when a client or prospective client contacts us directly, this is unlike other practice development opportunities.  At this moment, the client or prospective client is really paying attention.  They’re interested.  They’re leaning in.  And whatever interaction we have with them will have a lasting effect.

Sometimes our colleagues have decided that good customer service isn’t necessary, is too much trouble, or is too expensive.  Although this is really bad for our industry, it could be a benefit to you.  If your competition has dropped the customer service ball, you can pick it up and then over deliver, thereby setting yourself apart and above. 

The most valuable client is a satisfied client.  Even if we don’t get their case to resolution, they know we worked hard and gave their case our best.  And because it’s so easy for clients to share about their experiences with us (and oh boy do they love to tell share) the word spreads quickly about you, your practice, and the good customer service you provide (or don’t). 

Ultimately, consider that the time and effort that you spend on customer service is better than free. It actually repays you many times over.

Making Marketing Authentic

Most people who get into mediation or other ADR services don’t do it because they love to market their services.  For many of us, marketing has a pejorative feel to it; marketing feels unprofessional for a professional service industry.  Yet, because so much of the public is unfamiliar with the types of services that ADR practitioners offer, and with less support from litigation attorneys than we’d like, we need to find an authentic, comfortable way to market our services and mediation programs.

Developing Your Signature Style

For most of us, it’s been a long journey since we resolved to become peacemakers. Once you open your office it doesn’t take long to learn that clients don’t magically appear.  The question is how to make our commitment to peacemaking feel as authentic for our prospective clients as it is for ourselves.  How can we design marketing plans that convey the benefits of mediation and our own sincerity in a way that is also designed to sell our services? 

Developing your signature style and discovering your own identity as a mediator are the key elements to begin your marketing.  After that, marketing falls into two categories, one of which works and one of which doesn’t:  spending lots of money (doesn’t work) and spending lots of time (works really well).  Chronologically, you also divide your time into two categories:  finding new prospective clients and making sure they become actual clients.  This article will cover how to be yourself while marketing and how to choose marketing techniques that will work for you and your practice.

Defining Your Signature Style:  For your marketing to work, you have to know who you are as a person and as a professional.  Be honest with yourself about what you like to do and where you shine as well as what you don’t like to do and where you’re not at your best.  If you hate networking at the Chamber of Commerce, you’re not going to come across in the way you’d hope by doing it anyway, so you’re wasting your time.  If you love to write articles but hate public speaking, focus your time and talents in writing.  If you think you hate all kinds of marketing, remember that waiting for the telephone to ring isn’t an effective client generation tool.  Maybe it’s time to think about dropping the private practice idea and start thinking about joining a corporate HR department or teaching.  Out of the different ways to market, pick only those which you’ll actually do and follow through upon.

Some people feel like marketing is selling out. Your marketing plan should never feel unprofessional.  Using public speaking to tell consumers about the benefits of mediation is a public service, and if your speech is sounding too much like a sales pitch, then revise it.  Writing articles about skills that people can use to lessen the conflict in their lives is also a public service.  Introducing yourself to others in related fields who could make referrals to you provides a service both to those professionals and to their clients because you’re a quality practitioner who will do a good job with their case. When you market authentically, you help others while growing your practice.  Stop and rethink your approach if you’re feeling uncomfortable with your marketing message.  Marketing at its finest is genuine and holds value for those to whom you’re marketing.

Your Elevator Speech and Mission Statement:  Have a clear vision of what you do.  You can’t encourage people to participate in mediation if you can’t explain what it is.  And let’s face it, mediation isn’t easy to describe in just a few words.  The first step is to develop your Elevator Speech:  a one or two sentence explanation of what you do.  It’s called an elevator speech because you need to be able to finish it by the time an elevator takes between floors.  Examples: 

• I help busy lawyers like you settle cases; or

• I help people get divorced without losing their shirt or their sanity.

How can you describe your practice in just a sentence or two?

Next, expand your elevator speech into a Mission Statement, and think about your Brand.  You may never be Coca-Cola, but your practice and services need an identity.

For example:  Peace Talks Mediation Services is dedicated to providing a constructive, forward-thinking and peaceful ending to relationships.  Marriages may end, but families endure forever.  We provide a confidential, efficient and impartial atmosphere to help people resolve conflict and to create solutions with integrity and dignity for everyone concerned.

You may or may not share your mission statement with clients, but you need it in order to have a direction in your practice. You wouldn’t leave on a trip without a map, and you shouldn’t have a practice without a mission, either.

Your Brand is what you stand for, the kind of services that you provide, and your signature style.  For example, your Brand may include:

• Honesty

• Trustworthiness

• Commitment to client education and service

• Going the extra mile

• Commitment to the profession of mediation

Practically speaking, your brand exemplifies your values in your practice.

Be prepared to discuss your practice in terms of value, benefits and results for clients.  That’s all they care about:  value, benefits, results.  The good news is that mediation is full of value, benefits and results for clients.  Brainstorm a list of what you perceive these to be. You’ll use this list when you talk to clients about mediation.

Choosing Where and How to Market:  Specialize.  It’s easier to market that way.  You can accept any kind of case that comes into your office, but you’re only going to market one or two specialties. You’re also going to pick your geographical area.  Marketing every service to everyone everywhere is too difficult and expensive.  The more you define your services, practice areas and geographic area, the easier it is to market.

It’s counter-intuitive, but as we’ve narrowed our services our income increased.  In 2005 gross income increased 25% yet we cut back on the services that we offer.  The less we do, the more we make.  It makes sense when you think about it, because the less you do the easier it is to describe what you do, including the value, benefits and results, and the easier it is for clients to conclude, “yes, this mediator can help me.”

Likewise, it’s important to define your mediation style.   Do you generally practice in a more narrative, evaluative or facilitative style?  Can you explain to clients how you do what you do, and why you’ve chosen to practice the way you do?  What about the other styles do you include in your practice, and what parts don’t work given your mediation style?  Being able to articulate why your particular mode of practice works will help clients have confidence in you and in your practice.  Mediation Career Guide, by Forrest S. Mosten (Wiley Jossey Bass 2001), has some great chapters on developing your signature style.

Getting Started:  You’ll learn about marketing your mediation practice with a combination of trial-and-error and professional advice.  Hopefully, this article will help you avoid some expensive lessons.  A marketing approach that worked in your previous professional life might not work for mediation and just because it worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you.  My best investment was using an ADR marketing consultant.  It cost money, but it saved both time and money in the long run.  Individual consultations helped me to develop marketing plans that feel authentic, professional, and comfortable to execute.  A few good books were also helpful:  Essential Guide to Marketing Your ADR Practice, by Natalie J. Armstrong (Golden Media Publishing 2001);  Selling the Invisible:  A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, by Harry Beckwith (Warner Business Books 1997); Guerilla Marketing: Secrets to Making Big Profits in Your Small Business, by Jay Conrad Levinson (Houghton Mifflin 1998); and Marketing Without Advertising by Michael Phillips and Salli Rasberry (Nolo 2003),  were all good starting points.

The strategies below range from low out-of-pocket costs and a high time investment to a high cost and low time investment. When you’re able to spend lots of time, but little cash, you’ll spend your time networking, speaking, writing, and serving before you sell.

Networking:  Educating people about mediation in a social or networking context is free or nearly so.  Connecting with another person and talking about what you do is an invaluable part of marketing for any business, and particularly for mediators.  Join your professional organizations, or, better yet, the professional associations of a gatekeeper organizations.  A gatekeeper is someone who frequently comes into contact with the demographic you’re trying to reach.  For example, as a family law mediation firm, I get referrals from therapists and accountants.  As a result, I’ve joined the local therapists’ organization and the family law section of the accountants’ organization and actively participate in the meetings and committees.  If you’re really outgoing, you can make good use of your time at their networking functions.  If you’re more of a workhorse, you can gain points by volunteering on committees.  What better way to prove that you’re honest, trustworthy, hard working and worthy of their referrals? 

While joining organizations is a great way to meet people and to network,   dues can be expensive.  Try attending various associations’ functions without joining first.  Look for their calendar of events listed either in their newsletters or web site and make sure that the event is not “members only”.  It’s a great way to try out a new organization without a big cash outlay. 

Wear your nametag on your right shoulder so when people shake your hand they’re staring at your name.  Make your business cards easy to reach.  If you have a name badge on a lanyard, put your cards in the back of the pouch.  Get their card because the key element to networking is following up.  After the event, follow up with a letter or call and remind your contact about who you are and what you do.  The plan is to land in their Rolodex so that when they’re asked about a mediator, they think of you first.

Maintain a database of your contacts and former clients so you’ve got all the information in one place, and make follow up calls or contacts on a regular basis.  If you’re uncomfortable telephoning, consider writing a mediation newsletter or e-newsletter to send to your mailing list, or sending an article or holiday card.  Break up the task of following up with your entire database into small pieces, like 10 calls a day, to make the task less daunting—and more likely to get done.  Contact every 60 to 90 days is ideal.

Speaking:  Public speaking is also a great free opportunity to make personal contact with specific groups that could use your mediation services.  Again, make sure you target your efforts to “gatekeepers”—those who can refer you business—or to individuals who are likely to need your services, e.g., speak to couples’ counselors if you’re a divorce mediator.  Expect mixed results with large, general membership groups like the Chamber of Commerce, and more promising responses from more targeted groups, like an HR professionals association.  A group with a focused demographic, especially one in your geographic area, is ideal.

Writing:  Writing about mediation, or mediation as it relates to another topic, like entertainment law or conflict resolution for educators, is a great no-cost high-profile way to market your services.  Most professional organizations have a magazine or newsletter and they need content.  As a result, it’s easier than you might think to get published in a newsletter.   In addition, you can submit articles to general interest and professional websites, post them on your website and reprint them in your own newsletter.  If you’re a talented writer, think big: your local newspaper or well known professional publication. If you’re just starting out, think smaller:  letter to the editor or smaller newsletter.  Make sure your topic fits your intended audience and targets your gatekeepers in a way that highlights your services without self-promoting.

Volunteer Mediations:  Demonstrating how mediation works through participation in a volunteer mediation panel is a widely-used yet controversial marketing technique. Volunteering your time to build your skills or to give back to the community is one thing. If you’re volunteering for marketing purposes, make sure your time is productively spent.

Spending a Little Money:  One reasonably low-cost marketing strategy which can be incredibly useful is building and maintaining a web site.  From my own experience, the web site has consistently paid for itself in clients generated, and has saved money because it also functions as an on-line brochure.  For more information on web sites, please read James Melamed’s article “Marketing Your Mediation Practice on the Internet” in this issue.  Don’t forget to register your name, address and domain name with major on-line yellow page style directories, like Yahoo Yellow Pages, switchboard.com and smartpages.com. Basic listings are free on many sites.  You can also use your web site for reciprocal links and strategic partnerships.  Find sites which you feel would interest your potential clients and link to those sites; ask those sites to link to your site as well. 

Blogs, either on your own website or someone else’s, can work the same way.  If you start a blog on your own website, you can update the content of your website constantly, which may help your search engine rankings.  If you start a blog on a blog website, link back to your web site, which may also help your search engine rankings. Make sure that your blogging is professional and well-edited.  Don’t be fooled by the informality of blogs. Everything you post anywhere that the public can read must be your best effort.

You can use the concept of “permission marketing” on your web site and with your e-mail address list.  Each month (or whatever frequency), send out a newsletter to subscribers. The key is that the newsletter is strictly opt-in. You don’t want your newsletter to look like spam.  Web site visitors subscribe by signing up on the site and you can send it to your e-mail address list with their permission.  Keep each newsletter short and simple, less than 2 minutes to read.  Make it informational and timely.  At the bottom, include some information about your practice and services, as well as your contact information.  Encourage readers to forward the e-mail newsletter to anyone who might find it of interest. With luck, you’ll get more subscription requests from people who received your newsletter as a forward.  This is one way to use “viral marketing,” i.e., the forwarded e-newsletters do your marketing for you. If you have the time to do several different targeted newsletters, then send different newsletters to different groups.  This is a great way to develop word of mouth about your services.

Spending Money Doesn’t Work:  Spending lots of money on print, radio or TV advertising is usually a poor investment unless you’re committed to an ongoing advertising campaign, which is cost-prohibitive for most mediators.  The problem with advertising is that the person who needs your services must see the ad at the exact moment that he or she needs your services.  Your chances of hitting a target on the first few tries are slim.  Limiting your ads to publications read by your gatekeepers is more effective, but given the expense, your return on investment will generally be too small to be worthwhile. The same is true for direct mail advertising and Yellow Pages ads. Your money and time are better spent elsewhere.

Once you get your marketing plan into place, it’s time to think about how to turn those prospects into actual clients.

Turning Prospective Clients into Actual Clients

We sometimes forget that our most valuable marketing contact—the prospective client who telephones our office—is our most viable marketing prospect.           

Step one is to serve before you sell. This is a concept I learned from my marketing coach at Golden Media, and the idea is that before you ever talk to anyone about paying you for your services or becoming a client, first answer all of their questions and be as helpful as possible.  Let prospective clients get to know you, your services and your practice before you ask them to become clients.  It’s good business for your practice, and it’s also good business for mediation in general. During this “serve before you sell” period you’re making sure that the case is a good fit for your practice as much as clients are evaluating your firm.  Answer questions about mediation, give a tour of your office, offer an orientation session, have articles and handouts ready to help the clients get prepared to mediate, and make them feel like they’re getting special attention from your firm.  All of this is free of charge, of course.  The serve before you sell stops with the actual mediation of the case—that’s when you go on the clock.  By the time the caller becomes a client, he or she will not only be sold on your services, but will have the confidence that your firm is dedicated to client service.

Consider how much time, effort, and money that it took to make this call happen.  Every speaking engagement, networking luncheon, article and marketing activity is designed to make the telephone ring.  Yet when it does, few of us are as prepared as we need to be to turn that interested caller into a paying client.  Forrest Mosten pointed this out to me early in my career, and convening is still the backbone of my firm’s marketing.

That ringing telephone signals the beginning of a process called convening, or getting both sides to the table.  Do you know what your call-to-client ratio is, i.e, how calls you get and how many turn into paying clients?  Knowing your call-to-client ratio from each of your sources of referrals, as well as your overall ratio, is important in order to know which marketing plans work, which are cost-effective, and where you should focus your time and money.

Telephone Calls

Who will take your telephone calls?  Is it a receptionist, unskilled at mediation and unable to answer basic questions about your services?  Is it a Dispute Resolution Associate, trained in mediation and in convening?  Will you take the calls yourself?  A general receptionist is fine if you’re taking the intake calls yourself, but your first line marketing person should know all about the mediation process. 

After you’ve decided who is doing the intake, what model will you use?  Will you spend a few minutes, off the clock, and then send out your brochure, marketing materials, or a follow-up letter? Or will you do a thorough phone intake, on or off the clock?  Will you schedule an orientation session during the first call?  A critical part of your intake is where the client heard about your services.  You’ll use this information to track the efficacy of your marketing efforts. 

The next piece of information you need from the caller is whether or not the other party is aware of the caller’s desire to mediate.  Is the other party even aware that the call is being placed? If not, ask how best to approach the other party. 

For cases in which the parties have already agreed to mediate, your intake is then geared toward selling the potential client on your services.  What do you offer that other mediators do not?  Why should the client choose your services over someone else’s?  Write a short script or outline in case you get tongue-tied on the phone. After the telephone call, send out a “thanks for calling” letter along with some printed information about your practice. Give prospective clients a tangible reminder of having called you.

Information Packages

After a call has come into the office, send an information package to the callers.  Your information package should instill confidence in clients and differentiate your services in the marketplace.  You might include brochures, business cards, a firm newsletter, a short biography of yourself and your experience, pointers on how clients can prepare for their mediation session, or articles about mediation. Use a simple pocket folder so you can mix and match your materials for different types of cases. 

Just as with serving before you sell, remember that clients are looking for value, benefits and results. Ninety percent of your brochure, information package and website should be centered around value, benefits and results for the clients.  Only 10% should be about you and your qualifications.  The same 90/10 rule holds true of all of your marketing materials, your web site, and any other descriptions of your practice or program.

When prospective clients call your office, they already believe you’re an expert. Laypeople and attorneys [generally] perceive all mediators to be equal and qualified. As a result, they don’t care much about your qualifications.  The way mediators can differentiate themselves is by describing their services in terms of value, benefits and results.

Price is not as important as you’d think.  In Western culture, people tend to believe that they get what they pay for.  If it’s free or inexpensive, it has no value.  People who are 100% price sensitive are always going to be a problem. You’re never going to build a practice on price competition.  The good news is that mediation offers so much value, so many benefits, and such great results, it’s relatively easy to compile your information packages.

Clients appreciate the fact that you’re organized and have materials to send out.  It conveys that you’re committed to client service.

Mediation Orientation Sessions

You may wish to offer a free orientation session in order to supplement the intake.  Orientations allow the parties to see the office, meet the mediators and discuss how the mediation process might work for their case.  Both the mediator and the parties can use the orientation to decide if the practice is a good fit for the case.

Thoughtful convening is the bridge between marketing and building a practice. 

Client Service as Marketing

Sometimes we forget that great client service is a great marketing tool.  Simply doing a good job, being respectful of clients’ needs and questions, answering the telephone in an approachable way, and demonstrating patience with people in conflict can be a great way to get clients to refer your office to other prospective clients. 

Takes time to build, however, so it’s important to jump start your practice with other marketing activities.  There’s no need to do every suggested marketing technique in this article, and, in fact, it would be counter productive.  Pick a few things that feel right and that fit your personality and budget, and start there. Evaluate your return on investment:  was it worth the time and money?  If so, do more of it.  If not, try something else.  Keep your marketing plan consistent with who you are and who you want to be in your practice and you will help you develop the kind of clientele that you can really help, and as a result, it will be the kind of clientele that will refer others to you.  That’s the best kind of marketing of all.

About the author:  Diana Mercer is the founder of Peace Talks Mediation Services (www.peace-talks.com) and the co-author of Your Divorce Advisor (Fireside 2001).

ACR Magazine, Spring 2006

Diana Mercer, Attorney-Mediator, copyright 2006

Peace Talks Mediation Services, Inc.

8055 W. Manchester Ave., Suite 201

Playa del Rey CA 90293

(310) 301-2100

Diana1159@aol.com

Why You Should Not Pause Marketing Your Mediation Practice During Coronavirus

I get it.  It’s pretty weird outside.  None of us were prepared for Covid19 and it has thrown most of us for a pretty serious loop.  But some things remain the same.  I still wake up early every morning, jump on the elliptical and listen to a bunch of podcasts about entrepreneurship and marketing.  And just like you, I still go about serving my clients with integrity, honesty, and help them find innovative business and marketing solutions. 

One thing that has changed is how many of my clients seem to be overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty.  They worry about their practices or their job security, their friends and families, their colleagues, home schooling their children, maybe even food insecurity, and more.  It’s a lot to worry about. 

But in my humble opinion the resolution industry has responded with astounding flexibility, availability, and innovation.  As a group we were able to pivot into Online Resolution impressively fast.

What has not changed is that no matter the situation mediators and arbitrators are finding themselves in, there is one goal among all of them. Finding a way to keep their practices thriving. 

When this is over (and it will end) things will be business as usual. Stopping your marketing efforts in the midst of something like this is a lot like deciding to give up your diet and exercise regime because you are stuck at home. I don’t want that for you.  I want you and all my clients to surface from this in better shape than when we went into living with this virus.  

The best way to do that, is to keep your marketing efforts going and your mediation or arbitration practice growing.

Here’s why: Going dark on places like your social media platforms, Google My Business or even your blog, can be confusing for potential clients and parties when it comes to figuring out if your business is “still open and credible.”

Actions to take right now: 

Be open to different ideas and willing to pivot. If you had been resisting working with clients and parties online in the past, why not give it a try? Sometimes the ideas that you think will be the biggest fail end up being the most successful.

At a minimum I encourage you to continue posting on social media three to five times per week so that you can maintain your social presence during this time.   And if you’re more motivated try one or all these tips:

Ø  Reach out to periodicals and blogs and offer to write an article for their readers. 

Ø  Connect with your target markets’ organizations and volunteer to be a presenter for a webinar.

Ø  Think about designing and delivering an online training to help the professionals within your target markets to improve their situations.

Ø  Finally write that book you’ve always been thinking about

Ø  Start a blog

Ø  Start a podcast

Ø  Start a YouTube channel

Ø  Send handwritten ‘how are you doing’ notes to clients

Ø  Get new photos for your social media profiles

Ø  Update your profile on all your social media platforms

Ø  Read a book, subscribe to podcast, and/or watch a video about entrepreneurship

Ø  Read a book, subscribe to podcast, and/or watch a video about marketing

Ø  Do a little research to see what your perceived competition is doing right now

Ø  Revamp your website

The point is that there’s so much you can do to keep your practice alive and well during Covid19 AND prepare yourself to thrive in the future.  If you’re not sure how or have too many other things on your plate to add a new concept in the mix? No problem.  I can help make this time easier. Contact me for a free 30 minute consultation and together we’ll create the solution that you need.  

Stay home, stay safe, and stay in touch.

A Few Minutes a Day

As mediators we know that professional personal interaction is imperative. As marketers, that same interaction shouldn't be overlooked.

As a professional resolutionist your time is probably pretty full. It can be difficult to add additional time-consuming tactics to an already demanding schedule.

So rather than overloading your schedule with a lot of frantic items for your already busy daily to-do list, try this tact instead: Personally contact at least one previous client every day with no other motive except to find out if they were happy with your service and ask if there's anything else you can help them with.

For the vast majority of your clients, this can be handled with a telephone call, and on the average should not take you more than five to ten minutes. Even the busiest of my clients can dedicate a few minutes per day. A five- or ten-minute personal marketing foray is a modest demand on your time and great investment in your practice. And if you're thinking this activity can be replaced by a text or email please reconsider.  In a world of technology you can make yourself stand out by having an actual conversation over a cup of coffee, on the phone, or via video conference.

Three Ways To Grow Your Practice (or How to Make More Money)

A confession: I have a reading disorder. A serious vice that requires between 2 and 5 books each week to be satiated.  I am a bookstore owner's fantasy and my library's least profit-producing cardholder.

On that note - while in my favorite bookstore, perusing the business section, I began to count the number of books that attempt to tell you how to grow your business.  I lost count, then lost interest. I have spent hundreds of dollars and euros to own a great number of these kinds of books,  and have read even more of them. If the book is any good, it will eventually get around telling you that the following 3 activities are key to growing any business.

1.Increase your caseload volume,

2.Increase your fees,

3.Increase the amount of repeat business.

Let me save you the time and money of buying or borrowing these books by explaining how each of these apply to resolutionists.

Point number one reads "Increase your caseload volume".

Clear and simple - promote your practice through networking, writing and speaking. These are the time and money-proven most effective strategies for a resolutionist.

On average a practice requires between 18 months and two years to build. Remember that to be successful, you must consider yourself a businessperson first and a mediator second. The same would hold true for any business. If you told me that because you're such a great cook you're going to open a restaurant, my first question would be "what do you know about running a culinary business?" You can't have the second (a mediation or arbitration practice) without the first (some business acumen).

Point number two reads "Increase your fees".

Again - pretty simple, but will depend on a couple of variables (and perhaps one mathematical formula).  If your background or current job is one in which you make money based on billable hours,  like a lawyer or consultant, then you will want to charge at least that same hourly rate.  Your time as a arbitrator / mediator is no less valuable than your time as a consultant or expert witness etc. It's simply a matter of cost opportunity. Your IQ does not diminish as soon as you stop into a mediation. Your time is valuable - put a value to it.

If you have a job that is a salaried position, that is not in the field of law, and you need to determine how much to charge - take the average fee charged by local attorneys within your same practice area. For instance, if you have worked for the State's Health and Welfare Department as a psychologist and are now building a practice with family as the focus, research the average hourly fees local family lawyers charge. If it is less than you make on an hourly basis - keep your current rate. Why on earth would you leave money on the table?

Or, if you just read the previous two paragraphs and are still unclear, try the following mathematical formula. You have to get paid for the work you do, or you will soon have to find some other way to make a living. Not only must you get paid, but you have to get paid enough. How do you know how to charge for your services so that you get paid enough? The economics of a mediation practice are so simple that they can be reduced to the following:

P= (H time B time R) minus C

Where:
H = total hours available
B = percent of those hours that are billable
R = hourly rate
C = costs

If you want to make more money you can lower your costs, increase the percentage of your time on paid work, or increase your rate. You can also work more hours - keeping in mind that as hourly-paid professionals we are all capped on how much our practices will earn unless we increase our rates. Why? Well there are only so many hours in a day dear reader. Once they've been billed out ... where can you go from there?

Point number three reads "Increase the amount of repeat business".

What's that you say ... just a beautiful theory? Wrong. They're more than just a theory, they're the reality for many of us. Referrals are out there. You only have to ask for them. Next time you find yourself in a networking situation, with someone for whom you've worked, or a friend or colleague who socializes or works within your target market, ask them for a referral. Ask them whom in their organization should you speak with about getting cases. Ask them if they know someone who could either directly benefit from your services or someone who could lead you in the right direction. You'll be amazed at the results if you just ask.

So there it is. Growth in a nutshell. My miniature course on "Success 101" and all you had to pay... was attention.