Latest / Sharp Strategies Sweet Success / February 2026 Sharp Marketing Mastermind | List Building for Referral Growth

Transcript

February 2026 Sharp Marketing Mastermind | List Building for Referral Growth · Sharp Strategies Sweet Success

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll go ahead and get started, because I know we have a few.
• 0:07
  We did a schedule change this month,
• 0:09
  and then I just sent the link out in the Slack channel.
• 0:13
  So we're probably going to be a few people short this week,
• 0:16
  but that's fine.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's recorded, so everyone will get the recording.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: My dog's outside fighting.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I get center on the camera here.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: OK.
• 0:25
  So today we're talking about something that I kind of feel like
• 0:29
  I've come full
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: circle on,
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: which is list building,
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: list development,
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: list growth.
• 0:36
  And it's something that I feel like marketing as marketers,
• 0:40
  we talk very list building adjacent.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we talk about
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: different,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: um,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: uh,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: practices that are used in list building,
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: but we're,
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: we're rarely putting the pieces together for the full picture.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in my recent experiences with a few different law firms,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: list building and,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: uh,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: community marketing,
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: referral marketing,
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: honestly,
• 1:05
  it has so many names is one of the primary drivers of the best
• 1:10
  cases for these law
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: practices.
• 1:13
  And when we see law firms consistently growing their marketing
• 1:16
  list and engaging
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: with their marketing list,
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: we see a corresponding increase in referrals.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Referrals of all types too, not just client to client.
• 1:27
  We also see more attorney to our law firm referrals and
• 1:31
  referrals from other businesses.
• 1:34
  And so when we're having the conversation about how do we get
• 1:37
  more referrals,
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: we often get really like,
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say myopic.
• 1:43
  We kind of narrow our scope and think about,
• 1:45
  okay,
• 1:45
  what kind of funnel can we build?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of landing page?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of letter can we send?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: But really,
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: those are just pieces of the whole,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: just things that we should be doing as a part of the bigger picture,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: which is growing and nurturing a marketing list for a law firm.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what we're going to talk about today.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And just to go through my outline,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: I hate to look down on these meetings,
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: so I'll have to hold my tablet up.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to go over basically what list building is,
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: like what we're talking about and how you should be thinking about it.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because when I commonly talk about list building,
• 2:24
  it's usually about email marketing or it's about like a funnel
• 2:28
  of some kind,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: or it's for not even law firms as for some other type of business.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to try to like redefine list building,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: like what it means and what we should be doing.
• 2:39
  And then also I'm going to give you my five ways to being
• 2:43
  effective at list building.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so to start, just give us a big picture.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: What are we talking about?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: So list building is...
• 2:54
  collecting,
• 2:56
  essentially collecting people onto a list and growing this list
• 3:00
  of people.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And this represents people who know you.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So effectively it's growing a list of people who know you,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: the business owner,
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: know you,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: the marketer,
• 3:11
  or know of your brand and of your business and growing the
• 3:15
  number of people on that
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: list,
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: expanding our reach.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And also
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: the part of list building that's not spoken to enough,
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: engaging that list with content that they like to see,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: that they want to see,
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what list building is in a nutshell.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And when I worked for Great Legal Marketing,
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: growing the attorney marketing list was one of our key marketing goals.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: That was one of the metrics that we looked at probably each week.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: We asked how many new attorneys have we added to our marketing list?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And for a business like GLM,
• 3:52
  we were primarily using Facebook to add people to that list
• 3:56
  using some sort of like
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: lead magnet.
• 3:58
  So I don't know if any of you who are in this webinar or
• 4:02
  anybody who's watching it,
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: remember we had,
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: oh my gosh,
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure I could think of the report.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like 10 things law firm marketers should know about marketing.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: We had a better title than that.
• 4:13
  But commonly,
• 4:14
  you know,
• 4:15
  it got shortened in my brain to the 10 things ebook.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the, yeah, listicles.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's exactly what it is.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: And this was a listicle ebook before BuzzFeed.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: we were,
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: GLM was kind of first to,
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: almost first to market with that kind of style of content.
• 4:34
  and we offered that ebook via landing page through a facebook
• 4:39
  ad and back then and
• 4:42
  actually still currently you can tweak facebook ads to target
• 4:45
  just attorneys which
• 4:47
  is good information to know if you ever want to do referral
• 4:50
  marketing on facebook
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: right and so people would fill out that form
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: and get added to the GLM marketing list.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then we sent out one,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: we had like an email drip,
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: or an automation follow up sequence,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: whatever you want to call it,
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: sent 10 emails as soon as they were added to that list.
• 5:09
  And then each week,
• 5:11
  until they unsubscribed,
• 5:14
  we sent them an email newsletter once a week.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And GLM was primarily driven by emails,
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: like at least in my time while I was there,
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: we sent a ton of content.
• 5:25
  And that is generally what I just described to you,
• 5:28
  the classic model of list building.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: You make a funnel,
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: people enter the funnel,
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: you nurture them,
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: and hopefully they become buyers,
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: clients,
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: followers.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: But that particular funnel,
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: the one I just described,
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: is very specifically oriented for a business outcome.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: We had the start of our funnel, which was our lead magnet.
• 5:52
  Also,
• 5:52
  I've heard marketing gurus call these like the juicy carrot,
• 5:56
  which is kind of wild.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they called it the juicy carrot.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about ebook, right?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that was like the magnet that attracted them.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of this funnel was an outcome, a purchase decision, right?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you've ever tried to build a similar funnel for a law firm.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so Kelly knows who I'm talking about.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've ever tried to build a funnel for a law firm,
• 6:19
  you probably have realized that the whole ebook as a lead
• 6:23
  magnet thing isn't as
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: appealing as it would be for another business like GLM,
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly,
• 6:31
  it's just super hard to get people enthusiastically interested
• 6:36
  in an ebook about
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: car accidents,
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now there are good and bad examples of personal injury eBooks.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: there,
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: there are ways to,
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I really like books that say like,
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 6:48
  five deadly sins or like the five mistakes you can make that'll
• 6:53
  wreck your personal
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: injury claim.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Those types of books performed well,
• 6:57
  but a lot of the eBooks I see law firms creating are all about
• 7:01
  car accidents in
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Washington state or the truth about car accidents in Washington state,
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: which I just,
• 7:09
  named one of my clients ebooks that ebook does get downloads
• 7:13
  but what we see and
• 7:14
  what you guys have probably seen is downstream they don't
• 7:18
  really lead to a huge
• 7:20
  volume of cases and really that's because most people who have
• 7:25
  a qualified personal
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: injury case who call a law firm they're not going to stop at the point of
• 7:32
  requesting an ebook right you know they're just gonna i got a
• 7:35
  case i got to call an
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: attorney i don't need to read
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: five deadly sins that'll wreck my car accident claim.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: I just want an attorney today.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: I want an attorney to take over it now.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And when you think about it, that's kind of our ideal client.
• 7:46
  You know,
• 7:46
  we don't necessarily need or want to nurture them with an
• 7:50
  ebook,
• 7:50
  right?
• 7:51
  So that classic idea of list building via funnel doesn't
• 7:57
  exactly work for law firms.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter how much we try to modify it and manage it,
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying eBooks aren't a good idea.
• 8:06
  They're actually a good,
• 8:07
  you know,
• 8:08
  juicy carrot lead magnet,
• 8:09
  whatever you want to call it.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they're a good like step down offer.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So like if you're on a law firm and you're on the phone and it's like,
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hey,
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: your car accident case is too small for us to help with,
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: but you know,
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: we have this ebook that can help you.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: figure out the basics of a car accident case you can settle it yourself.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, eBooks are good for that as well.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: But when we're thinking about like building a list for a law firm,
• 8:37
  you know,
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: ebook doesn't really kill it.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: But you know what I realized and should have realized sooner.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, it's obvious.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like we we've said it for years.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone who calls you goes on your marketing list.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so very mechanically,
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've always set it up to where if we do an intake,
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: they go on the email list.
• 9:01
  If they become a client,
• 9:03
  they go on the email list and they get a print newsletter.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: We set these up mechanically,
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: but I guess in a way,
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: it took me a while to think of it like,
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: oh,
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: that's how we build a list for a law firm.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: We do it naturally.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: People are already calling us
• 9:20
  i posted a job on upwork and i'm just getting assaulted with
• 9:23
  calls sorry guys um so
• 9:26
  we we naturally build a list for a law firm and the missing
• 9:31
  piece you know one i
• 9:33
  mean a lot of law firms really aren't doing a good job of
• 9:36
  collecting leads and
• 9:38
  adding them to a marketing list and we'll talk about that today
• 9:41
  because that's
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: usually the first missing piece
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: The second missing piece,
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: even if the law firm is collecting information,
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: storing those contacts,
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: is engaging with that list.
• 9:53
  A lot of business owners are guilty of contact hoarding,
• 9:57
  where we're hyper-focused,