| Good News/Bad News: Fender-benders, slip-and-falls, and other "injuries caused by the negligent, careless, or reckless actions of others" will always happen. That's the Good News...for Personal Injury attorneys. Their Bad News is that supply WAY-exceeds demand, and their advertising reflects it. |
 | -- | It all looks the same. The billboards are interchangeable: a headshot and a promise of six figure settlements. TV spots are either goofy shtick or tough-guy talk.
Everyone is saying the same thing, and they differentiate with gimmicks. |
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Where I live, "The Heavy Hitter" has a phone number jingle Southern New Englanders can sing from memory. Competitors' numbers are even easier, 444-4444 and 777-7777.
If you attend the NAB Show in Las Vegas, turn on local TV. You will howl. Several firms there pitch "we charge less," like a radio station dropping trou' on rate to grab the whole buy. And there are the nationally syndicated spots, customized for local firms, in which cartoonishly terrified insurance executives beg to settle. Or the hard-boiled attorney who threatens to "beat them in court." Baloney! A jury trial is the last thing most Personal Injury firms want. Too time consuming, too risky. Like radio's, a lawyer's inventory is perishable. We can't monetize yesterday's unsold avail. And lawyers can't take on a new client who didn't come in yesterday for that free, no-obligation consultation. No "intake," no sale. Which is exactly why they should be using radio. "The lawyer is in, the meter is off" is the proposition when attorneys host brokered weekend talk shows and take listener calls. No look-alike billboard or tacky TV spot can humanize the attorney -- and demonstrate comforting counsel -- like eavesdropping on a conversation with a caller's relatable situation. So instead of slogans or shouting settlements, build the client's message around four words that are turning callers into clients in ROS spots and on weekend Talk radio: "Tell me what happened." |
 | -- | Ask-the-expert shows can ROI big...IF done right. Here's the key: Attorneys -- and real estate agents, personal finance counselors, veterinarians, and other professionals -- are not career broadcasters. They don't share our second-nature performance instincts. Results = renewals.
Otherwise, brokered hosts churn. It's a management distraction, and an impediment to habit listening. |
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One of the things I do for client stations is coach-up their weekend warriors; and in some markets where I don't have a client station I work directly with hosts, because nobody at the station is doing airchecks with them.
For their benefit, 12 tips: http://getonthenet.com/GuestHost.html Copyright 2026 Holland Cooke |