Archives for September 2007

How to start a networking conversation

September 17, 2007 by
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Networking is meeting people, finding out what you can do for them (while looking for ways they can help you), and taking the first steps toward establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.

How do you start a conversation with a stranger? And what do you do after you’ve started? The best way to start a conversation with someone you don’t know is to either

  • Pay them a compliment, or
  • Ask them a question.

You can compliment their clothing, something you overheard them say, or something you have learned about them from someone else.

You can ask them questions about what time a certain speaker comes on, directions to the restroom, or if they are having a good time.

In other words, just about anything will do.

Once you are talking, your objective is to find out as much as possible about (a) what they want (their goals, objectives) and (b) what they want to avoid or prevent (their problems). (Your objective is NOT to tell them about yourself; that comes later).

You learn this information by asking questions.

Remember the acronym, "F.O.R.M." It stands for "Family," "Occupation," "Recreation," and "Motivation." These are key areas in everyone’s life.

Look for areas where you can provide solutions, information, and advice, make introductions, give referrals, and otherwise help them solve their problems and achieve their goals. This is the first (and best) step you can take toward building a long-term relationship.

You also want to learn

  • What they do and for whom they do it
  • Who they know
  • What groups they belong to
  • What publications they read
  • What marketing they do

Eventually, you’ll be able to use this information to gain access to other people and opportunities.

In a networking opportunity, everyone has value. They may not be the one who ultimately hires you or gives you referrals, but they can lead you to people who do. They can provide you with information you can use to your benefit. They can open doors and point you in the right direction.

Don’t pre-judge anyone. Start a conversation, learn as much as you can and see where it takes you.

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Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: , , ,

Do you make prospective clients uncomfortable?

September 14, 2007 by
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After a wind storm left us in need of some roof repairs, my wife and I and some of our neighbors called several roofers and asked them to evaluate the damage and provide estimates for the repairs. It quickly became obvious that none of us was capable of judging the quality of one roofer’s work from another, and so we were left with comparing notes about our general impression of the individuals who came to give estimates.

One guy showed up to our house and without ringing the door bell, climbed on the roof. When he was done, he didn’t ring the bell to let us know who he was or what he found, he just left. He called four hours later, but we had already decided he was not going to get our business.

Another guy wrote his estimate on cheap "invoice" forms from a stationery store.

Most of the roofers didn’t show up on time. Some wouldn’t even give us a time.

We went with the one who showed up on time, looked clean and professional, had printed estimate forms, and looked us in the eye when he talked to us. He wasn’t the cheapest, and we don’t REALLY know if his work is any better, but his professional appearance and demeanor made us feel comfortable.

So my question to you is, What impressions do you give your prospective clients?

Most of your clients are not qualified to determine the quality of your work. They base their decision to hire you primarily on their overall impression of. . . you.

Time to take inventory. . .

Are you clothes neat and well-fitting? Are your shoes in good repair and polished? Is your hair neatly trimmed? Does your necktie have spots on it? Are your finger nails clean and trimmed?

My wife tells me women look at the nape of a man’s neck to see if they need a haircut. They look at your shirt collar to see if it’s clean. She says they don’t like men to wear nail polish (buffing is okay), pony tails, or ostentatious jewelry, and they always look at your shoes.

Is your stationery professionally printed? Is your office clean and tastefully furnished? Does your briefcase convey that you are successful?

First impressions are critical to your success. In fact, experts tell us that people make up their minds about us in the first two seconds.

Two seconds!

Their first impression determines whether they like you or not. Everything after that is colored by that first impression.

When people like you, they see the best in you. When they don’t, they tend to see the worst.

Make sure their first impression is a good one.

And be careful. You have to know your clients.

If you target middle class clients and they see you drive up in an exotic automobile or you have expensive artwork in your office, they may think you’re too expensive for them. I know one lawyer who swears he lost a trial because a few jurors saw him pull into the parking garage in a Porsche.

People have expectations about how an attorney should look and act, and you should meet or exceed those expectations. If you don’t, you’ll make them nervous. If they expect an attorney to have an office and wear a necktie, for example (and most do), and you work from home and wear bluejeans, don’t be surprised if they hire someone else. You may be the better lawyer, but it doesn’t matter–perception trumps reality.

But clients also want to hire someone they can relate to as a human being. Your task is to strike a balance. Give them the image they expect but also a person they can talk to.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Image Tagged With:

Converting a newsletter into a blog

September 13, 2007 by
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Kevin O’Keefe writes about converting an email newsletter into a blog, and references Lorelle VanFossen’s post wherein she describes her struggle to explain to the management of an organization the differences between "pages" and "posts" and the thought process that went into deciding what should be what.

Kevin’s take is that structure is a secondary concern, and that’s true, but as someone who has just gone through the same process myself, I’ll tell you what I think.

First, I decided to have pages, or "psuedo-static web pages" as Lorelle describes them, for several obvious choices (about, blog, contact, newsletter, and products) and also one for articles. I chose to have an article page because I wanted to have a variety of detailed, evergreen articles available for browsing by visitors, without relying on category tags to "advertise" their existence.

This strategy has worked fine in the few weeks I have been writing this blog, but it has presented a challenge as well. Now, when I add a new article, I reference it via a new post. But I would prefer to put the contents of the articles into the post itself so that readers can get the full article delivered to them via their "reader".

What’s more, I believe many of my posts qualify to be annointed as "articles". So, from now, my strategy will be to put all new articles into posts and periodically harvest posts and paste them into pages. While that means there will be some duplication, it also means readers can find information via tags (which append to posts) or by browsing the articles.

As for the bigger issue of converting from newsletter to blog, I’m keeping both. Kevin mentions a number of advantages to making the conversion, including the indexing of search engines (leading to more traffic) and the archival nature of a blog, but there are advantages to maintaining the email newsletter as well.

For one thing, most subscribers to my (any) newsletter don’t (yet) use RSS, so unless they think about it, they won’t visit the blog. That means they’ll miss information. In fact, without a reminder, they may never to return to the blog, and that’s not good for either one of us. While I don’t (presently) intend to repeat the entirety of my blog posts in my email newsletter, I do intend to regularly remind readers of new posts, and that’s good for both of us.

In addition, having an email newsletter allows me to offer special information and offers to "my list". Blog readers who aren’t subscribed the newsletter won’t get this information or offers (so if you have not yet subscribed I enourage you to do so!)

Finally, writing for the newsletter "feels" different than writing for the blog. Sure, they are both public, but I feel a certain kinship with my newsletter subscribers, and while that may change as I gain experience with the blog, right now, my subscribers are special. I hope they feel the same way about me.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to leverage CLE time

September 12, 2007 by
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Kiyosaki (see previous post) says leverage is “doing more and more with less and less”. One way to accomplish this is by making the time you spend in Continuing Legal Education do “double duty” for you, as the following letter from one of our subscribers attests:

“One idea that I have found very useful in building clients’ perceptions of credibility and reliability is the faxing or emailing of regular snippets of industry-specific information.

“For example, I have been wooing a client in the commercial construction business. Although I am not an expert in construction law. . . I came across an interesting summary of late breaking developments in subcontractor liability in the latest issue of the [his state Bar] Journal. I immediately copied it and faxed it to my contact (the executive v.p.) with the note, “I thought you might find this interesting.”

“I then added a quick blurb about how this is precisely what we do proactively for our business clients to keep them on the cutting edge of their field.

“This practice keeps me alert to my client’s needs, motivates me to stay on top of “hands-on” CLE information, and lets the client know about my concern, competency and desire to excel.”

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Filed Under: Client relations, Continuing Legal Education, Leverage Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leverage: the key to wealth

September 12, 2007 by
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I was at a convention for another business I am involved in and one of our speakers was Robert Kiyosaki, author of the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series. Kiyosaki was able to retire at age 47, then came out of retirement to add to his wealth by investing in real estate and building businesses.

One of Mr. Kiyosaki’s themes is leverage. In fact, he says it is the key to wealth. If you are an employee, he says, you will almost never become wealthy. Aside from not having leverage, our tax system is rigged against you.

Being self-employed isn’t any better. In some respects, it’s worse. When you are self-employed, the more successful you are, the harder you have to work. Most self-employed professionals I know work longer hours than their employed counterparts.

In the income arena, leverage comes from owning a business or through investing, Kiyosaki says. If you think your law practice is a business, you may want to reconsider in light of Kiyosaki’s litmus test: You own a business if you can walk away for a year, come back and be earning as much or more as when you left. If you cannot, then you don’t own a business, you are merely self-employed, which means you "own" a job.

Ugh! Hits you in the gut, doesn’t it?

Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited, says the same thing when he tells us that entrepreneurs (and that includes self-employed lawyers) need to build something that they can walk away from. Both he and Kiyosaki talk about creating "systems" to build a business and wealth.

Creating a system means taking yourself out of the equation. If you want leverage, You must be ruthless in your quest to make yourself obsolete. So long as your practice is about you and what you can do, you do not own a business, you do not have leverage, and you will never be able to walk away. Only in rare instances will you become rich.

The dichotomy is that as lawyers, the strength of our practice is directly proportional to the strength of our relationships with our clients and referral sources. When we take ourselves out of the picture, those relationships wane.

How do you reconcile the need for systems with the need for strong relationships in a personal service business? You probably can’t, completely. But here are three things you can do:

1. Create systems for every aspect of your practice except relationships. Make yourself obsolete with respect to the delivery of legal services and administration. Work toward delegating everything OTHER THAN the perpetuation of existing relationships and the generation of new ones.

2. Teach your employees how to build their relationships and incentivize them to do so. You will thus be able to compound your leverage by leveraging their relationships.

3. Use the time you no longer spend delivering services for building other businesses and investing.

This is what I have done. I leveraged my (former) law practice to build the attorney marketing business, and I leveraged that business to develop another business, and the latter, thankfully, does meet Kiyosaki’s litmus test.

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Filed Under: Leverage, Wealth Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Three simple ways to improve almost any ad

September 11, 2007 by
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I cut out this one-inch ad out of a local newspaper:

<<<<<<<<<< BEGIN AD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

LOST MONEY IN
STOCK MARKET?

Securities Arbitration
SMITH LAW OFFICE
(555) 555-5555

Misrepresentation, Churning
Unauthorized Trading, Suitability

<<<<<<<<<<< END OF AD >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not a bad ad. The headline works. It asks a question, which engages the passing reader and identifies them as appropriate prospects.

The ad tells the reader what service is available (securities arbitration for misrepresentation, churning, etc.)

And there’s a phone number the reader can call.

I’m sure this lawyer is getting some business from this ad.

But could he be getting more business? Only testing will provide a definitive answer, but I think he could.

There are three things I would test:

1. PROMISE A BENEFIT

Arbitration is a feature, not a benefit. By itself, it means little of value to the client. What do you get as a result of the arbitration? That’s the benefit, and stating it in the ad should improve response, possibly dramatically.

It may be obvious to you and me that the benefit is that the client could get their lost investment back without the expense of a trial, but in copywriting, nothing is obvious–everything should be spelled out. Might they get their investment back with interest? Even better.

2. MAKE AN OFFER

Offering a free consultation will dramatically increase response to this ad.

Many people won’t call if they think they will be charged to talk to you, and they won’t bother to find out, so if you offer free consultations, say this in the ad.

If you don’t offer a free consultation, other offers (e.g., a "free report") will also increase response.

2. TELL THE READER WHAT TO DO

Studies show that if you tell the reader what to do, more will do it. Tell them to call and more will call.

While you’re at it, I would also tell them "when" to call (e.g., "now," "today," or during stated business hours), and who to ask for. I’d also remind them "why" (e.g., "to schedule an appointment for your free consultation.")

Promise a benefit, make an offer, and tell them what to do–three keys to improving almost any ad.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Copywriting Tagged With: ,

The key to success in advertising

September 10, 2007 by
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"Which publication should I advertise in? What size should the ad be? How frequently should I run it?

"What should my headline be? Which service should I offer? Should I mention my fees? Offer a discount? A free consultation?

"Should I do "lead generation" advertising, or go for the immediate ‘sale’? How many times should I follow up with an inquiry? How often?"

These are VERY good questions!

The answers are found through "testing."

Testing is the process of trying different variables and recording the results. It means, for example, trying four different versions of an ad, each with a different headline, and tracking how many sales or inquiries come in from each.

Some headlines outpull others by as much as 3,000%. Testing might allow you to bring in that much additional business with NO additional expense.

The key to success in advertising is constant testing. You try something, see if it works, then try different variables against the original (called the "control") to see if you can improve response.

What kinds of things should you test?

The single most important thing to test in ANY kind of marketing, but especially in advertising and direct mail, is "the list". WHO sees your message is will affect response more than any other variable.

If you are offering estate planning services, for example, a list of 50-year old men with a wife, kids, and a home, will undoubtedly pull better than a list of college students. That’s obvious, of course, but there is much profit to be had in testing more subtle variables.

For instance, in marketing those same estate planning services, will a list that includes men with three children outpull a list of men with just one? If so, you could get more bang for your marketing buck by using the better-pulling list.

In marketing my Referral Magic course to lawyers, for many years, I did a lot of print advertising in bar publications. Some publications produced a greater number of inquires than others, and some "converted" a higher percentage of those inquiries into sales. I tracked both numbers, and because I did, I knew which publications to stay in, which ones to drop, which ones produced the most gross profit, and which ones the highest net.

Some publications always did well, and I stayed in them for a long time. Others never did well, and were dropped. Still others produced a good response, then petered out to the point where it was no longer profitable to advertise in them.

Because I kept accurate records (the key to testing) I had this information at my fingertips and knew what to do.

Next to the list, the most important thing to test is your headline. It can make a HUGE difference in response.

Headlines are not just in ads, however. Your report or article title is a headline. Same for your brochure. The title of your seminar is a headline. The opening line in a presentation is, too. The "re" in your letter is a headline. And so is the "P.S."

What goes at the top of your web page? That’s a headline. So is the "subject" in your email. What’s the first thing you say when you call a potential referral source to introduce yourself? Yep, a headline.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy (Ogilvy & Mather) said that the headline is 80% of the effectiveness of an ad. Think about it. An ad with a bad headline but brilliant copy won’t get read; readers never get past the headline. But a mediocre ad with a GREAT headline gets read many times more often. More people reading the ad means higher response.

After the list and the headline, the next thing I would test is the offer. You can’t possibly know which offer will result in the greatest number of replies. Want to try a discount? Well, it may increase response, it may have no affect on response, or it may DECREASE response.

Wouldn’t you want to know?

There are many other things you can test, but these three are the most important in any ad.

If you want to pull in more business, reduce expenses, and increase your bottom line, test!

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Filed Under: Advertising Tagged With: , , ,

Magic words that make you rich

September 7, 2007 by
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Want to know how to get more referrals? It’s easy. All you have to do is use these MAGIC WORDS:

"Can you help me?"

People like to help. Ask them to do something and chances are they will. You can ask for referrals, of course, or something much simpler and non-threatening, like help in building up your newsletter mailing list.

Here’s another way your clients could help you:

“Would you help me with my practice? It won’t cost you a cent, and you’ll be doing me a big favor. Just take ten of these reports I’ve written and pass them out to your friends or family (clients/customers). I’d really appreciate your help.”

Even if only one in ten actually passes them out, you can quickly get your "expertise" into the hands of a lot of people, along with the implied endorsement of the client or referral source who distributes them.

Simple. Inexpensive. Powerful.

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Filed Under: Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

When a client “has a problem”. . .

September 6, 2007 by
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I was in Philadelphia for a convention a few years back and stayed at the very classy Downtown Marriott, adjacent to the Convention Center.

On the morning we were checking out, our bill was slipped under the door. Unfortunately, it was nearly double the rate I had been quoted.

I went to the front desk, expecting an argument. How could we be that far off? I had an email confirmation reflecting the rate I had been quoted–a very good rate, I came to find out. It’s true that at the last minute I had changed the number of occupants and bed sizes, but I didn’t think that should make a difference–at least not that much of a difference.

The lawyer in me was prepared to fight!

I told the clerk that there was a problem with our bill. She responded by saying that there were no problems, just issues that need to be dealt with.

How refreshing! She totally diffused the situation, and reminded me that problems are really opportunities in disguise. She didn’t argue or defend or excuse. She apologized, told us it would take a few moments, and set to work on her computer to create a new bill at the rate I had been quoted.

In the process, she made me feel good about the hotel. The memory that will forever be imprinted on my mind is not of the problem but of how they took care of me. They trusted me, respected me, and showed me they cared.

When you have a client with a problem or complaint, don’t be embarrassed or upset, celebrate! That problem is a opportunity to come charging in on your white horse to save the day.

Give them the benefit of the doubt. Fix it, in their favor. Do "the right thing" even if it wasn’t your fault.

Studies show that when a client has a problem and you "fix" it, they often become one of your best, most loyal clients. They feel good about you and return to you and tell everyone about how great you are.

When you travel to Philadelphia, you might remember that I told you that the downtown Marriott cares about its customers. Think about that the next time a client calls about a problem with their bill.

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Filed Under: Client relations
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