Management consultant Peter Drucker once said, "Any time I have seen someone accomplishing something magnificent, they have been a monomaniac with a mission. A single-minded individual with a passion." Former advertising executive Donnie Deutsch has a program on cable called, "The Big Idea". Each week, Deutsch interviews entrepreneurs and business legends about their secrets to success. Without prompting, nearly every one names passion as the key to their success. I quoted a study about ten days ago that all but proves this.
And so as we embark on a new year, my question to you is, "Are you building your career around your passion?"
I'm guessing the answer is no.
I don't know you, it's just that statistically speaking, most people follow a career path based on something other than the call of their hearts. I've got to believe the numbers are even higher for lawyers.
I heard about an article today in the Wall Street Journal citing a growing number of attorneys who are disillusioned with the practice of law. That's not news, really, but I was told the article also noted a number of new lawyers who are suing their law schools for misrepresentation about their prospects in the legal job market. Isn't that special?
In the past, I have talked to many lawyers who were inquiring about my marketing program who I talked out of purchasing because I could hear in their voices their lack of enthusiam for their career. I told them I could help them bring in clients but given their state of mind, the clients wouldn't stay.
Some people truly love practicing law. God bless you if that's you. But I think many lawyers have convinced themselves that they love practicing when in reality, they would rather be doing something else. The worst place to be, however, is knowing you hate what you do but not seeing a way out.
There is always a way out. It might be painful–economically and emotionally–but the pain will pass. Five years from now at the outset, you could be happily engulfed in a new career, a new life. The sooner you take steps towards changing, the sooner your new life will appear.
I didn't know where I was headed when I began this post, and I certainly don't want to start the year with a downer. But I know this is a time when goals are set, resoulutions are resolved, and it's not long before we are all caught up in the day to day of our careers, and before you know it, another year has come and gone. So I wanted to mention it once more and now I'm done with this topic (for now), so let's get back to the business of bringing in clients and increasing incomes. After all, it's better to be miserable with money than miserable and broke.
Happy New Year?
Filed under Career satisfaction, Goal Setting by 
I got an email from an attorney who has lost his way.
"I'm 47 and have been an attorney for 20 years, the last 15 as a solo
practitioner. I bought your referral magic program in 1997 or 1998, and
started using some of its ideas. I've made good money over the years, but I
strayed from utilizing your system consistently. Over the last two years, my
client base has dwindled and I do not attract new clients on a consistent
basis. I've been stressed about this and to me, the future looks bleak
unless I change the way I've been doing things. I want to refocus and grow
my client base and my practice, so that I can count on it for the next 20
years, as I raise my family ( 3 kids ages 13-11-7 ) and plan for retirement.
Can/will you help me get back on track?"
I replied and asked for some additional information. His practice is PI, criminal defense, and divorce. He's not doing any marketing now, and does not maintain a list of any kind, but he does get referrals from clients, friends, and professionals. He hasn't thought about goals. He likes being his own boss but admits that if he could make the same money doing something else, he probably would.
He is at a turning point. He needs to get back on track in marketing his practice. That's actually the easy part. He just needs to be reminded about what he already knows. First, he needs to reflect on where he wants to go with his practice and his life. If the passion is gone, he needs to find it again or admit it's gone and consider some changes.
Here is the advice I gave him:
–
BUILDING YOUR PRACTICE
1. Pick one practice area. What do you do best, love the most, have the most success with? As a general practitioner, you're trying to be everything to everybody. Instead, focus. Specialize. Be the very best at one thing, not okay at several. First thing that will happen is you will now be in a position to get referrals from attorneys who are now your competitors.
2. Target niche markets. You didn't talk about who you represent and I suppose that's because the answer is "anybody". A better answer is to target a very specific class of individuals. Be a big fish in a small pond. For example, if you chose PI and your target market was Honduran immigrants, you would eventually seek to become the lawyer most Honduran immigrants think of when they are injured. You would have fewer places to network, advertise, etc., and thus, with less effort and dollars, you could dominate that market. You would be using a rifle instead of a shotgun.
3. You need a list and you need it now. Start building it, adding to it, building a relationship with the people on it. Nurture them, communicate with them, stay in touch with them, educate them, and when they need your services (or know someone who does), you will be the one they will call. You can do this online and offline and I would suggest you do both.
4. If you're not on the Internet, you need to be. Start a web site (or better, a blog) and start harvesting free (and paid) search traffic. You can "ramp up" your practice very quickly this way.
BEYOND MARKETING
1. You need to know where you want to go. Write out what you want your life to look like five years from today. What are you doing (or not), with whom, where, how. What is a typical day? And no limitations. It can be whatever you want it to be. Want to be retired and traveling? You can do that. Working from home? Investing? Teaching? Or, running a huge practice? In five years (or less) you can accomplish anything. I know. I did it, first with my marketing business and then with another business that now provides me with a six-figure passive, residual income, which means I will never have to work again unless I want to. It took me a few years to do this, working part time. (I'm working with other lawyers who are doing it, too, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll get you some information.) Once you know where you want to go, you can set some interim goals to help you get there, but start with the end in mind.
2. It's supposed to be fun. If you are not enjoying what you are doing, you're doing it wrong (or you're doing the wrong thing). You can have it all. Really. Life is not meant to be a struggle, and if you are unmotivated and unhappy, listen to your emotions, they are telling you that you are not going in the right direction, you need to change.
3. I'm going to guess that your kids are your motivation. You want to provide for them, be with them, and make them proud of you. Never forget this. Once you know what direction you want to go, whenever you find yourself not doing what you need to do, remember your kids.
I hope this helps. Please keep in touch.
Filed under Career satisfaction, Goal Setting, Marketing legal services by
Why is it that people who need your services don't "buy" them? The answer is that people don't buy what they need, they buy what they want. They may need your advice, but they won't plunk down the cash unless they want to.
People buy what they want and what they want, ultimately, is a feeling. People buy on emotion, and then justify their decision with logic.
You need a car, you don't need a Lexus (well, I do, but most people don't). You buy the Lexus because of how it makes you feel driving it. You tell yourself Lexus is reliable and you will save on repairs and downtime, or that it's good for business, and so on, but in the end, it's the feeling you're after.
People hire an attorney the same way. Any attorney can do the job, but they hire you because of how you make them feel (or how they think you will make them feel). And they'll pay dearly for that feeling. You charge more, and they know it, but they'll pay it and convince themselves that you're worth it.
In your marketing, don't just show people the logical reasons to hire you. Don't just appeal to need. Touch them emotionally and help them to want your services.
And don't hold back. Your marketing materials must make people feel something when they read them, and the same goes for when you speak in front of the room or conduct a free consultation. Touch that nerve. Make them nervous. Make them care.
One of the easiest (and best) ways to do that is by telling stories. Stories have people in them and people relate to other people. People want to know "what happened". They care about the outcome because they can imagine themselves in that situation and feel what it would be like. Become a master story teller. Facts tell, but stories. . . sell.
Filed under Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services by
I'm not an expert on this, but choosing a domain name for your web site is a deceptively important subject and I'll share some of my thoughts with you:
- Shorter is better, but longer names aren't strictly off limits. HowToIncorporateInKansas.com (not a real domain) is long, but not hard to remember.
- Use your name, if it's available. It's often easier to remember a person's name than a descriptive name.
- Also use a descriptive name for marketing purposes. If you're looking for an estate planning attorney in San Antonio, you might click on SanAntonioEstatePlanning.com whereas you probably wouldn't click on JohnJones.com without some descriptive text next to it. You can use both URLs; point one name at the other.
- Do whatever you can to get the.com version. If it's not available, try another name. Use your initial, put the word "law" in it, or your state or city. For competitive purposes, you might also want to buy the other common variations (net, org, biz, info).
- Avoid hyphens, abbreviations (your city or state might be okay), and numbers (i.e., "4" for "for").
- Choose a name that people can remember and spell. You will be giving out the name on the telephone, from the podium, etc.
- If your web site is hosted at http://yourname.typepad.com, get your own domain and point it. Better yet, get your own hosting.
- If you intend to advertise (offline, Adwords, etc.) you will want lots of descriptive domain names. You can set up separate lead capture pages, or point each name at different pages on your main web site. Get names for each practice area, each target market, at least.
- Use key words in your domain names.
- If people commonly misspell those words, consider buying the common misspellings, too.
You can buy domain names for under $10/year. I buy mine at http://homepagedomains.com
For more on what makes a good (and bad) domain name, and a lot of fun, check out http://goodurlbadurl.com/
Filed under Advertising, Online Marketing by
If you don't have a web site, but want one, you now get a free and very easy to use web site builder at www.weebly.com. Even if you do have a web site, you may want to use this site to create additional web sites. Here are some ideas for secondary sites:
- A "personal" web site, where prospects and professional contacts can get to know you
- Web sites for testing different Adwords or other advertising campaigns
- Niche web sites, with information on narrowly targeted subject matters
- One page "sales" web sites
- Content-rich web sites, to draw search engine traffic and point it at your main web site
- Experiment with a blog (or a second blog) before you go live on your main site
- A portal web site, with links to your other sites
- Hobby, personal interest sites
Check out this site I created recently: http://LawRich.com. What do you think? Yes, it's simple, but it took me no time at all.
Weebly provides
- Free web sites with no advertising
- Free hosting
- Easy as pie web site builder and designer
- A free Blog
- Great templates you can use to be online today!
- Meta tags & the ability to track stats
Clients hire (and referral sources refer to) people they know, like and trust. Go put up a web site so folks can get to know you. Send me the link and, if you want, I'll post it at AttorneyMarketing.com. You might get some attorneys you can network with, and you will certainly have some fun.
Filed under Online Marketing, Web traffic by
Change is good. In fact, if you're not changing, you're not growing and if you're not growing, guess what? You're dead. Or dying.
work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion
Filed under Online Marketing, Productivity by
If you write a newsletter or a blog (and you should) you need content. But it takes time to write something worth reading and attorneys have precious little time to spare. There are services now that sell articles you can use, copyright free. You pay your money and you can print them under your name.
It's a new twist on an old idea.
Canned newsletter for professionals have been around for years. My state bar sells pamphlets lawyers can send to their clients with their name stamped on the back. Of course you can hire a ghost writer, or assign someone in your office to write material for you. There are plenty of ways to get content that you don't originate. The question is, should you?
In my opinion, you should not. Canned materials are never a good substitute for creating your own newsletter, articles and reports. They are better than nothing, but not much.
One reason is that far fewer people will read it. These articles and newsletters are very general and very bland. And a lot of people will know you didn't write them. I toss my insurance agents newsletter in the trash, unopened, because I know it comes from a staff writer in New York and has little value to me. There is nothing personal or interesting in it. My dentist writes a personal newsletter, but it is terribly boring. I open and glance at it, in case there might be something that pertains to me in it (e.g., a change in his office personnel or procedure) but I don't read it.
(Here's a clue that it's canned: there are no stories in them. Facts tell, but stories sell, and if what you write doesn't have stories in them, either, you're missing the boat.)
Now, there is some value in your clients getting something from you with your name on it, even if they don't open the envelope or email. They are at least reminded that you still exist. But you're missing the opportunity to build a relationship with them, and that's costing you more than you can imagine.
The purpose of newsletters and reports and blogs is to (a) stay in touch, reminding people that you still exist, (b) demonstrate your expertise, your ability to deliver the benefits they seek, and (c) create a dialog with the reader that supports your relationship with them. With canned material, you can only stay in touch, and poorly, at best.
You want people to read your words, and "hear" your voice. You want them to believe you are writing just to them. You want them to read and appreciate your special news or offer. And you want them to see that you care enough about them to take a couple of hours once or twice a month to write something "just for them".
The time you invest in this process will not only be "worth it," it is the single most profitable thing you could do to build your practice.
Seriously. The people who know, like, and trust you will hire you again and again and they will efer people to you, too. There is no cost to acquire these clients, other than printing/mailing costs if you do that (and you should) and your time.
Now, don't panic. Once you get the hand of it, it doesn't take as long as you think.
Start by producing some "evergreen" materials, reports, for example, that once written, you can use over and over again for years to come. You have expertise in your field and you can write a report in two hours. Here's your assignment for your first one: Take the five or ten questions you are asked the most by prospective or new clients, and answer them. There, you have a report.
A newsletter or blog require continual replenishment of material, but this is worth it, too. You don't need as much as you think. A monthly newsletter could be two pages. A postcard, if that's all you can do. Far more important than quantity is that they hear from a real person, sharing a story, a thought, a piece of your mind.
For a blog, three to five paragraphs, one to three times a week can be enough. What's important is that it be your voice, your opinion, a glimpse into your world. Your clients and prospects (and referral sources) need to feel they are a part of your life and you a part of theirs. You want them to "know, like, and trust" you, and to do that, your material needs to be your own.
I've told attorneys in the past to order the canned newsletter or articles if they feel they must, but to make them their own. "Rewrite them, add your commentary, offer examples and advice that are specific to your practice. What do you agree with? Disagree with? What else does the reader need to know?"
Today you can pretty much do that without paying a service. Just go online, find something someone else has written, and use it as an outline or idea starter for your own material.
Filed under Blogging, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing by
A friend of mine by the name of Brian used to be a real estate agent. He told me a story about a very successful business mentor of his who once asked him if he knew what "passive income" was. Brian said he did. "Well, do you have any?" he asked. When Brian said he did not, the mentor said, "Then I don't think you know what it is, because if you did, you would crash through walls to get some."
He went on to explain it this way:
"When you sell a house, you get paid a commission, right? And then you move onto the next deal. If you don't sell a house, you don't get paid. You're only as good as your last deal. Now, what would you rather have, $5,000 when you sell a house or $50 every time someone opened or closed a door? That's passive income."
I once explained passive income to a lawyer this way: "Think about what you currently earn in your practice and imagine that you were paid that amount but you didn't have to show up for work."
What would it mean to you if you had enough passive income coming in so that you never had to work again? If you had money AND the time to enjoy it?
If there was a way to accomplish that, would you want to know about it?
(Keep reading. . .)
Very few people have passive income. Athletes, entertainers, artists, writers, are usually cited as examples. Some attorneys achieve passive income by taking a percentage of their client's business venture or intellectual property. But most attorneys (and I was no exception when I was practicing) earn linear income.
Linear income means there is a direct correlation between your personal services and your compensation. It doesn't matter whether you bill hourly, flat rate, or contingency, what you get still depends (mostly) on what you do.
When you have employees, you have leverage, and that provides a semblance of passive income. Someone else does the work, you bill the client at a higher rate, and you profit from the difference. But it's not true passive income because you still have to supervise those employees and you are responsible for the work they do.
If your firm is big enough that you don't have to do that, if you can stay home and the practice runs without you, then you have true passive income. But then you probably wouldn't be reading this.
What if there was another way to generate passive income? What if, in the next few years, you could create a six-figure passive income and it didn't interfere with your current practice or job?
And what if I told you that a lot of attorneys have already done it?
Including me.
It's true. In just a few years, working part time, I created a six-figure passive income that continues to pay me today. The money comes in month after month, year after year, and I don't have to work for it.
Now you know I'm telling you this for a reason. I won't keep you in suspense any longer. I've just launched a new web site that will tell you exactly what I did to create this passive income, and, more importantly, how you can do it too.
Here's the site: http://passiveincomeforlawyers.com
Take a look and let me know what you like best.
Filed under Increase your income, Wealth by
A great way to stand out in a crowded field is to do something nobody else is doing. Nobody sends postal mail any more and that's exactly why you should.
Everyone is moving online. Yes, you must have a presence online. In fact, that's where you should concentrate most of your marketing muscle. But there are great fortunes to be had by those who use old fashioned paper and envelopes and stamps to communicate with clients and prospects and referral sources.
The volume of direct mail is way down. What that means is that your prospect's mail box is emptier than a few years ago. As a result, when your client gets your newsletter in their mailbox, it won't get lost in the clutter. Compare that to their email inbox, where they are inundated.
Your printed and mailed message means much more to them, too. They can hold it, they can sit in their favorite chair and listen to your words spoken from the page, or throw it in a briefcase to read on the train. Yes, they can do all that by printing your email or pdf, but it's not the same. It lacks some of the warmth and personality of something actually delivered to their mailbox.
Just as there's a big difference between an email that says "thanks" and a hand-written, personal thank you note sent by mail, you can get the essence of that difference with a printed newsletter or other message.
Also consider the retention factor. If you write a good newsletter or report and get it into the hands of clients and prospects, they'll be more likely to hold onto it if they don't have time to read it now. And, if they do read it now and it is good information, they'll be more likely to hold onto it for future reference. By contrast, I've got emails I've saved in my inbox for years, but I'll never find them.
What about "pass along"? Well, it's easy for them to forward your email message to a large number of people, but what will those people do with the message? Probably not read it and probably not hold onto it, either.
There is a greater cost to putting things in the mail, and more labor, too. But the question isn't the net cost of one medium of communication versus another, it's net effectiveness. Return on investment.
Don't stop sending email, but do consider starting (or re-starting if you have let lapse) a postal mail campaign to keep your name and message in front of the most important people in your business life. You've often heard me say, "They may not be able to hire or refer today, so stay in their minds and in their mailboxes until they do." Today, they have more than one mailbox and you should be in both.
Filed under Client relations, Communication, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing by
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