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‘It’s like a business card’: Why boutique firm owners should write a book
Writing a book on what your clients should know can be good for business, according to this boutique firm founder.
Lauren Croft
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Author and You Legal founder and principal, Sarah Bartholomeusz, has written three books: Growing a Medical Practice, How To Avoid a Fall From Grace and Kingpin: Legal Lessons From The Underworld.
Speaking on The Boutique Lawyer Show, Ms Bartholomeusz said that she had learnt a lot from writing her books – and that they had helped her firm in unexpected ways.
“It definitely raises your profile,” she said.
“I probably got asked to speak at conferences a lot more after I wrote [my books] than somebody who might’ve had more experience in the field and be just as attractive as a speaker otherwise.”
Ms Bartholomeusz added that her books have become something of a business card and said that her firm will occasionally gain clients from sending out copies of her books.
“We can sell them through our website and we get the lead. And then one of our team calls them four weeks after to make sure it’s arrived and find out how it’s going and warm that relationship,” she said.
“So, it’s like a business card but I’ve also taken it to meetings and people are excited to receive it. I used to only do hard copy books, but lately we’ve started buying paperback copies which cost about five dollars each.
“We track who buys the book and then who becomes a client. And invariably, if someone has read the book, they’ll be a lot easier in terms of having a conversation about value and what we stand for, that already know me. And they know that I want to protect them.
“I think probably one in three people who buy the book eventually engages with us and if they’ve read the book, they’re just so much more likely to convert from quote to actual matter.”
Despite that high statistic, Ms Bartholomeusz said that determining how successful her books had made You Legal was “hard to quantify”.
“I think there’s lots of different things that go into running a business. I certainly think it is useful in terms of gifting,” she said.
“There was a conference I recently attended that they wanted money from me to speak at. And I said, “Why don’t I send the first certain number of registrants a copy of the book instead.
“And I was transitioning from the first edition to the second edition, so they were books that otherwise I probably couldn’t have sold. And the engagement from the people from that particular summit has been amazing.”
Whilst many people enjoy receiving books as gifts or freebies, Ms Bartholomeusz said that sending a bookmark or an audiobook in addition to a hard copy has been a successful marketing ploy.
“People are always thrilled to get books of any kind. As lawyers, we’re all book people and it’s impossible to throw them out really, isn’t it?” she said.
“I also send a bookmark and that bookmark has a You Legal for doctor’s invite so they can come to our free Facebook group. And we’ve done them as QR codes now because people know how to use them which is exciting and ask people to write to us.
“I also recorded as an audiobook as well the second edition.”
Whilst her future plans include pitching (and writing) a book on diversity and inclusion, Ms Bartholomeusz concluded that boutique lawyers and business owners should think about their niche and write about it – particularly after experiencing such success with her own books.
“I’d recommend that boutique lawyers, whatever space they’re in, think about what their clients need and write a book about it,” she said.
“I feel like it’s good for the world.”
The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Sarah Bartholomuesz, click below:
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
