Decisions, decisions

May 5, 2020 by
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In running a practice or business, building a career and a life, we are continually called on to make decisions. 

Some decisions we make on autopilot. We’ve already worked out what we’ll do if X happens, so when it happens, we don’t think, we execute.

Other decisions come at us as first impressions. They may require research, the counsel of others, and copious amounts of ‘sleeping on it’. 

Ultimately, the direction and altitude of your career may come down to a handful of key decisions, and no more. Because most decisions, like most variables, don’t make a big difference.

In 80/20 parlance, they are the ‘trivial many’, as opposed to the ‘precious few’. 

The precious few are game changers. The ones that can quadruple your income, which is what happened to me early in my career when I decided to specialize and learn everything I could about marketing. 

The precious few can make a big difference in your revenue, your success and happiness. 

The rest will be forgotten by next quarter. 

One entrepreneur says that when he has a decision to make, the first question he asks himself is, “Is this big enough to matter?”

If the answer is no, make a quick decision (or no decision) and let it go. Spend your time focusing on big decisions. 

But remember, everything is relative.

For some of us, hiring a new employee, changing billing software, or moving to a new office are big decisions. For others, not so much. 

And yet, seemingly small changes can lead to big results. If done right, adding a call-to-action to your emails can be a game changer, for example. 

Making decisions is one of the most important aspects of building a successful life; it’s also one of the most difficult. 

My advice? Do yourself a favor and don’t make so many. Save your brainpower for decisions that are big enough to matter.

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Filed Under: success Tagged With: ,

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast

May 4, 2020 by
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I just learned this is something taught to military snipers. I’ve heard (and used) a similar phrase: “Slow down to speed up”.

The both teach the value of doing the task slowly and deliberately, mastering the fundamentals first.

Indeed, that’s what will allow you to speed up.

In the context of building a law practice, some lawyers go for the gold right out of the gate. They run fast and break things, or try to spend their way to success.

They’d be better off slowing down and mastering the fundamentals.

Learn the basics of marketing, advertising (even if they don’t advertise), copywriting (even if they hire someone), and sales.

Get good at selling themselves before trying to sell their services.

Another way a lawyer can “slow down to speed up” is to focus on their warm market (clients, professional contacts, and others who “know, like, and trust” them), before venturing into the cold market.

Focus on repeat business and referrals first (and always) and get good at it. Use ads, social media, and other cold market methods (if you want to) only after you’ve mastered the basics.

And, when you’re ready to approach the cold market, don’t be in a hurry. Study the market, learn everything you can about it and the people in it.

And when you approach the market, use a high-powered sniper rifle, not a shotgun.

Here’s what to do

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Pretend I’m 12

May 1, 2020 by
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I watched some videos on a powerful piece of software that interested me. The problem was, the guy doing the videos is the guy who developed the software and he flies through his demos, assuming we’re able to follow.

But I couldn’t follow.

I was impressed with what I thought his software could do but decided it wasn’t for me.

Because it looked too complicated to learn and use.

It might be worth learning, it’s true, but I shouldn’t have to invest a lot of time to find that out.

It’s the developer’s job to show me.

He should have slowed down. Assumed I needed everything explained. And showed me all the whats, whys, and hows.

When you’re trying to get someone to buy your product, your services, or your ideas, you need to meet them where they are, take them by the hand, and walk them over to where you want them to go.

If they like where you’ve taken them, you’ve got a chance at a sale.

This is not always easy to do. You have some serious balancing to do.

You don’t want things to fly over the heads of the people you’re trying to persuade but you don’t want to dumb things down so much that they are bored or feel like you’re talking down to them.

You also shouldn’t “tell” so much as “show”. Yes, even with abstract ideas, selling your services, or persuading a trier of fact to your client’s cause.

It can be done and it’s your job to do it.

Just because you’re good at the legal work (or writing software) doesn’t mean anybody will buy it. It’s your job (or your copywriter’s) to convince them.

Slow your pace. Explain everything. And make sure they understand what you’ve just told them before you move on to the next subject.

If you want to persuade me, pretend I’m 12.

The marketing course for attorneys who want to get big, fast

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Writing

I’ve got good news and bad news

April 30, 2020 by
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Have you ever asked a client, “Which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?”

You might want to stop asking.

It turns out it’s better to give the bad news first and finish with the good news. According to research, people remember an experience more favorably when you finish the conversation on a positive note.

Psychologically, we prefer experiences that improve over time.

So, give clients the bad news first.

It works the same for you.

When you have to deliver bad news to a client, schedule them early in the day. That way, your day will end on a positive note.

Get the hard stuff out of the way so you can end the day on a high note.

I love it when a plan comes together.

How to get referrals without asking for referrals

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Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Law office management, Productivity

The market’s the thing

April 29, 2020 by
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In marketing, the single most important factor in your success is your market. Who you target is far more important than what you say or what you offer.

Your marketing may be brilliant. You may spend a small fortune delivering your message. But unless it’s a good market (for you), you’ll never earn more than an average income.

Here’s a good formula to remember:

Great market + average marketing = big checks.
Average market + great marketing = average checks.

So, what’s a great market?

It is a market (list, group of people, etc.) that

  1. Needs and WANTS the outcomes and benefits you can deliver,
  2. Has lots of repeat business and/or referrals,
  3. Has the ability and willingness to pay what you ask, and
  4. Is a great fit for you.

What is a great fit? Mostly that you like the people and the work. You enjoy working with these folks.

When you find a great market (for you), everything else falls into place.

Your marketing is easier; almost unnecessary. You get most of your work from referrals and don’t need to do much else.

If that sounds good to you, go find the right market and fall in love with it. Learn everything you can about the market and the people in it, get to know some of the key people, and enjoy the rest of your career.

This will help

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Don’t “fact” people to death

April 29, 2020 by
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Lawyers are fact merchants. We dwell in the land of research and evidence. But while a thorough recitation of the law and the facts may be necessary in the courtroom, in marketing it’s the kiss of death.

And I do mean death.

When you give readers and listeners, prospects and clients, nothing but the facts, you murder them. They’ll ready for a dirt nap before they finish the third paragraph.

Your prospects don’t want to know everything you know. They want to know that YOU know the facts and the law, and that you know how to use them to help them get what they want.

Think about novels or screenplays. They need just enough narrative to set the stage but it’s the story that people pay to see.

Facts tell but stories sell.

There are exceptions. But they are rare.

So, give folks a smattering of the facts and intersperse them with your opinions and advice, quotes from others, and most of all, stories.

Tell your readers or audience what happened to your client or your friend or to you, and what might happen to them if they don’t do what you recommend.

Need more referrals? Start here

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Writing

10 ideas for blog posts that get read (and shared)

April 27, 2020 by
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Is your blog post idea machine running out of gas?

No problem. Here are 10 ideas to fill your tank:

  1. “Best of”: Best articles/posts/videos/sites you read of saw this month or this year.
  2. Interviews: A great way to build relationships with influential people and get more traffic to your blog as they promote the interview.
  3. Client success stories: feature a client’s legal victory, business, charitable work, or life’s story.
  4. Surveys: survey your clients or colleagues or bloggers and post the results.
  5. Statistics: Everyone loves facts and numbers. Could be related to your practice area or your client’s industry or your local market.
  6. How-tos: Teach your readers about the law or about general consumer or business matters.
  7. Book reviews: your comments about a book you read related to your field, your client’s niche or of general interest.
  8. Awards: Choose a client or fellow professional who’s doing good things and feature them in a post.
  9. Summaries: Do a “round-up” post that summarizes and links to some of your previously published posts.
  10. Predictions: Who will win, what will change, when it will happen.

There you go.

And yes, you can (and should) share your posts with your newsletter subscribers. Which is what I’m doing as soon as this is posted.

For more ideas for your blog (or newsletter), get this:

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Filed Under: Blogging, Email, Newsletters

Stop marketing

April 24, 2020 by
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You’ve created content that isn’t bringing in much business. People aren’t following your links or answering your call to action.

What are you doing wrong?

It could be a lot of things, but I’m going to go with one I see a lot of lawyers (and others) do.

You’re “marketing” instead of communicating.

Your content is too promotional. All about you. Trying too hard to get the reader to act.

And they can see you coming.

Yes, you want them to act. But there’s a better way to do that than pushing out promotional content. Let go of the self-promotion and create content that connects with people on an emotional level.

Offer helpful information or advice or share an emotional client story.

Talk to people about what they’re already thinking. Engage them. Show them you understand them. Build a relationship with them.

You want them to like and trust you. And not lump you together with all the other lawyers who are flogging their services and talking all about themselves.

Yes, they want to know about you, but before they’ll listen, they want to know you’re worth listening to.

So, talk about your reader. His life, his problems, his pain.

Then you can let him know you have solutions and invite him to read more or contact you about his situation.

If you do it right, your reader will listen to you and take the next step.

My email marketing course shows you how to do it right

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Filed Under: Content creation, Email, Marketing legal services

A better way to plan your day

April 23, 2020 by
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Most of us make lists. Tasks we need to do, projects we need to work on, errands we need to run. 

The process of making lists helps us to think about what we need to do; the list itself serves as a reminder of what still needs to be done. 

The problem with making to-do lists, however, is that we often haven’t thought through why we’re doing the things on our list. We might keep busy but we aren’t necessarily productive. 

We can flip the switch on this by adding one additional step. 

Before writing a list of tasks, think about your desired outcomes. At the end of the day, (week, year, etc.), what do you want to have accomplished?

What would that look like? How would you feel?

Write that down. 

Then, write your list. 

Without thinking in outcomes, your to-do list might include an assortment of calls, letters, meetings, and documents you need to prepare. Will doing these things help you achieve your goals? 

Maybe, maybe not.

On the other hand, outcome thinking, or starting with the end in mind, helps you get clear about your purpose and helps you make a better list. 

If your desired outcomes for the week are to settle two cases and sign up one new client, for example, your list would prioritize tasks likely to achieve those outcomes.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how busy you were. All that matters is that that you achieved your desired outcomes, and how good that feels.

Have you read Evernote for Lawyers?

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

A simple way to grow your email list

April 22, 2020 by
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Everyone loves free stuff and that includes people you would like to have as subscribers to your newsletter.

Which is why one of the easiest ways to get more subscribers is to conduct a giveaway.

Here are the steps:

(1) Choose a prize.

Your prize could be one of your legal services, e.g., an hour of your time. That’s likely to lead to higher quality leads because few people will sign up for your list unless they’re interested in your services.

If you want more subscribers, you might offer a gift card or book, something that will appeal to people who don’t need your services immediately but might in the future.

Another idea is to offer a product or service from another professional or business. A financial planner’s start-up package, for example, or dinner for two at a local restaurant (coming soon).

Better yet, see if the professional or business will donate the product or service.

(2) Set up a landing page for your giveaway, on your website or free-standing.

Describe the prize details and the rules, (e.g., enter once, when the contest ends, how to enter).

You can identify new subscribers by tagging them on the landing page or having them added to second list.

(3) Promote your giveaway. Some options:

  • Email your existing list and ask them share.
  • Ask the prize creator or donor to share the contest. They get additional exposure that way.
  • Promote the giveaway on social media. You can do this with your personal connections and to groups you belong to.
  • Ask your personal and professional friends to promote the contest to their lists and on social media.
  • Mention the giveaway on your blog, podcast, interviews, videos, etc.
  • Add additional emails to your autoresponder asking new subscribers to share the contest on social media.
  • Advertise the giveaway.

(4) Pick a winner.

Export your list of new subscribers and choose the winner. You can do that manually or you can use a free randomizer tool.

All that’s left is to announce the winner, deliver the prize, and start planning your next promotion.

For more ways to build your list, see my Email Marketing for Attorneys course.

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Filed Under: List building, Newsletters, Online Marketing
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