How to Become the Expert Clients Keep Finding | Series 3, Episode 4
Authority Matters
The episode explores the transition from professional visibility to established authority through strategic content creation. Featuring trial
Key takeaways
- Colleen McKnight uses content to ensure prospects arrive 'ready to sign on the dotted line,' reducing sales friction.
- Content serves as a critical verification layer for warm referrals, confirming an attorney's specific area of practice.
Main topics
- Authority building
- Content marketing for lawyers
Notable quotes
By the time somebody calls McKnight and Chi, they're basically ready to sign on the dotted line.
Conclusion
The episode demonstrates that strategic content creation acts as a bri
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:02) and authority building, which is what I was doing through SEO, and that was itself locally as they were... Speaker 3 (0:07) For the last three episodes, we've talked about a new reality. Your ideal client might search for you. They might ask an AI tool, or they might see your content in a feed. They might even hear your name from a referral. But regardless of where the journey begins, they usually want evidence before they make a decision. Today, we're bringing all of that into the real world. We're talking with someone who has built enough authoritative media that prospects don't encounter them once. They keep finding them. And we're going to reverse engineer what happens when visibility turns into verification and verification turns into trust. Welcome to Authority Matters. I'm Sean O'Connor. I'm joined by Dennis D.M. Meador, founder of the Legal Podcast Network and the Authority Podcast Network, and our special guest, Colleen McKnight. Colleen, welcome. Speaker 1 (0:55) Thanks. I'm so glad to be here. Speaker 3 (0:58) I'm glad to have you. Also, D.M., good to see you again. Thank you very much for allowing me to be on the show I'm on. Well, this series has been about getting found and verified. So today, rather than talk about the theory, we're going to follow the actual trail, how people discover you, what they consume, what they learn about you, and what happens when they finally reach out. So let's get to it. Colleen, let's start off with you and talk about what you do and who you primarily serve. Speaker 1 (1:27) Yeah, absolutely. So I'm a trial lawyer first. Mainly that looks like business disputes, although we're helping injury victims now, people who slip and fall. You know, sometimes we're in the probate court. Sometimes I'm helping veterans who've been treated badly. But by and large, I'm working with entrepreneurs and executives to help them protect what they're building. And that's about 10 to 15 percent front end work. How do we make sure that your trade secrets are protected, that you have the trademark you need? Your non-competes are actually enforceable. Your indemnity is not going to come and bite you in the rear. And then 80 % using that good ammunition to make sure you win in a dispute in court. Speaker 3 (2:13) Got it. Got it. Let's talk about content for a sec. How long have you been, you know, intentionally creating content and, you know, building your online presence? Speaker 1 (2:23) Yeah, that's a really great question. I would say that I was probably posting to LinkedIn when I was still at a bigger law firm, but not usually my own stuff or occasionally taking a selfie or saying I was at an event. But when I went out on my own about two and a half years ago, I realized I really needed to build on that so that people knew I existed. And also, Sean, it's kind of an interesting phenomenon where even some of our closest friends would say, you know, I know you're an attorney, but what do you do? Speaker 3 (2:55) Oh, totally. Yeah. Speaker 1 (2:56) You know, what kind of attorney are you? And then you'd find out that a groomsman in your wedding sent a case to your competitor. And you're like, what the heck, dude? Speaker 3 (3:07) And Speaker 1 (3:07) so, you know, trying to build that presence and make sure people know what I actually do so that I can help them. Speaker 3 (3:15) Yeah, it's interesting, too, because in that I hear we're often hesitant, I think, sometimes to put ourselves out there because we think, oh, people are sick of me and whatnot. Like, no, people are not paying nearly enough, nearly as much attention to you as you think. Groomsman would be the illustration there. But did you tune in to say, like, say five or 10 years ago, if someone... was looking and, you know, found you, how they did it? Or, you know, if you search for yourself, what came up? Speaker 1 (3:47) Yeah, if I did like a Google search, it was mostly articles I wrote in college when I worked for my school newspaper or, you know, I'm super lawyer rated. So you would sometimes see those kind of ratings come up. But there really wasn't much to explain what I did, how I could help people, what value I could add. or really help them kind of see what I did professionally that, you know, could serve them. Speaker 3 (4:16) Right. Some people are like, I don't want to Google myself. You ought to. You want to know what's out there. Speaker 1 (4:24) That's exactly right. Bring me all the data. I would so much rather be aware and dealing with it than ignorant. Speaker 3 (4:32) Right. When did you first start hearing prospects say things like, hey, I saw your video, or I heard you on the podcast, or they're following you on one of your platforms, things like that? Like, are you, was there a, oh, it started immediately after? Like, do you have a, like, where were you when? Speaker 1 (4:52) Yeah, I wouldn't, it wasn't very long before people started saying, oh, I'm seeing your videos and like, oh, that was so helpful. I didn't understand that that's how that worked. Or, wow, you really made that simple for me to understand. You know, it wasn't very long after we started producing the content. I think since then. It's really been more of how do I get it in front of people who don't surf LinkedIn or Instagram? You know, the people who maybe need to hear it, but need to go find it on a podcatcher. How do I make sure they know that these resources are out there, that there's something that, you know, can break it down for them? And then having people say, hey, I saw your podcast on arbitration. I have a friend going through that. She's going to call you or, hey, I saw your podcast on this and I. you know, I got a third party subpoena and think I need to send out a cease and desist. And so, you know, you're kind of pinging them and reminding them, oh, yeah, there's somebody who can help me with this. I'm not all alone in it. Speaker 3 (5:53) Yeah. Well, and DM was speaking on an earlier episode about cultivation and like having people familiar with you before they need you. And then as you just described, like, oh, wait. I just got a subpoena, a third party. Like if they've consumed your content in some way, you know, like more likely they're going to be able to find you and remember that. Speaker 1 (6:17) Yeah, and I would say when people call us, it's not usually a first blush. Like I know for some people, their sales pipeline is, you know, they get one call, they're being shopped around, maybe they have to have multiple touches. By the time somebody calls McKnight and Chi, they're basically ready to sign on the dotted line. They maybe need some advice or they need me to say, look, yeah, you've got a defamation suit, but we're probably going to make it worse. By bringing a lot of attention to it or, Speaker 2 (6:45) hey, Speaker 1 (6:46) there's maybe a business solution for this. But they've already decided that we're trustworthy. They've already decided that we have the authority and the ability to do what they need us to do. And that's so nice because, you know, we don't bill those sales calls. That's not an income producer. So to know that by the time they call, they feel like, okay, we know them. We like them. We're ready to