Lawyers Listen to Bodine; Infinite Conferencing Provides Link
By Scott Flood
It’s tough to think of a group that’s more sensitive about time than attorneys, who try to capture every minute so they can maximize billings. That’s why getting an attorney to sit still for more than a few minutes is a tremendous challenge.
Larry Bodine knows how to get large groups of lawyers to sit still for a full hour—and to pay his company for the privilege, too.
Bodine is a marketing consultant who helps law firms build income by adding clients. About five years ago, he realized that technology offered an easier way to deliver his message than traveling, and developed his first webinar.
The approach was an immediate success, and Bodine and colleague Michael Cummings have since offered two webinars each month.
“It just seemed to be a much better way to build my business,” Bodine recalls. “If I have 25 connections and 10 people at each connection, I’m speaking directly to 250 potential clients at once without the inconvenience and cost of travel.”
Through the Professional Business Development Institute (www.pbdi.org), Bodine invites a variety of experts to share their insights with busy lawyers throughout the world. “We get attendees from Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Spain and other countries,” he says.
Busy attorneys watch from their own conference rooms or desktops. “In 60 minutes, they get all the information they need,” he explains. “We present the webinars at noon Central Time, so they get a very efficient program during their lunch hour, and then go right back to work. They can also download the PowerPoint slides. We typically get anywhere from eight to 15 people per connection.”
Bodine markets the webinars through emails to past attendees, two websites and his email newsletter.
“It’s as simple as possible. You click on a link to sign up, complete a form online, go to a secure site to enter your credit card information, and get a receipt and a reminder. I can see how many people have signed up at any given time, so we know right away whether we are getting a huge turnout or a small group,” Bodine says.
The approach also means he collects the fee upfront, eliminating the need for invoicing and collections.
He begins webinars with what he calls “housekeeping” items. “I familiarize the audience with the screen and the feedback bubble, because we always encourage questions. Then I quickly introduce the speakers. According to our surveys, people want us to get to the meat right away. Typically, we follow an outline, using voice and PowerPoint.”
Bodine and Cummings typically split the duties. “Mike does most of the talking or interviews the expert, while I advance the slides, work the pointer and look for questions. We try to make it like talk radio, so I may pop in with, ‘Hey, we have a question from Washington.’”
Bodine has learned how to make webinars more successful. “We make sure it begins exactly on time and ends exactly on time, because if we go over, people start to drop off. And we go through all the slides because you’ll get negative evaluations if you don’t cover all the points.”
He uses a Web-based survey service called Zoomerang to quiz audiences about the programs. “We ask them if they would recommend us and we typically get 100 percent yes. Then we ask them if they would attend another program of ours and we get typically 100 percent yes. Every time we do a program I add them to my list of attendees and notify them of future programs.” He adds that he was pleasantly surprised at how many practitioners attend all of his webinars.
"We make sure we deliver what we say we are going to,” he adds. “We always put our pictures up with our phone numbers and email addresses, so if anybody has a question, they can call us. People call and say. ‘I’ve been attending your webinars for months, and I would like to hire you.’ So not only do we get admission from the webinars—they generate business for our practice.”
After working with another conferencing provider, Bodine turned to Infinite Conferencing.
"They’re really optimal for veteran do-it-yourselfers like me,” he explains. "What I really like is that we have no trouble with people logging in. Tech support is available, but the technology has never been an issue. With the other company, we would run into glitches, but we don’t get any glitches with Infinite Conferencing. Something about their technology makes it work for everybody, so Mike and I can focus on content and quality. It’s also a piece of cake to get a program recorded or transcribed.”
About the Author
Scott Flood is a contributor to ConferencingNews. He can be reached at Scott@BeTuitive.com.
