What does success look like to you?

January 24, 2019 by
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What does success look like to you? Fame? Fortune? Raising your kids to be good people? Leading a long and healthy life? Loving relationships? Changing the world? Seeing the world?

There isn’t a right or wrong answer. It’s your life, after all. Nor are you limited to choosing any one thing. (You can make a boatload of money and raise great kids.)

If I had to choose one thing, one metric for defining and measuring success, I would probably use the following definition that just arrived in my email: 

“The standard of success in life isn’t the things. It isn’t the money or the stuff — it is absolutely the amount of joy you feel.”

This takes care of everything, doesn’t it? If you are happy about your income, for example, doesn’t that mean you are successful? 

Now, if you’re happy about something like your income, it doesn’t mean you can’t increase it. In fact, I believe that being happy about your income is the very thing that will allow you to increase it. 

Why?

Because we get what we focus on.

Focus on the joy you feel about your income (or whatever), and you’ll get more of it. Focus on “not enough” income, however,  and you’ll get more of “not enough”.

Is this The Law of Attraction? Our subconscious mind and reticular activating system at work? God’s will? 

I’m not sure. But it’s what I believe. 

Thing is, we don’t have to understand how this works. We don’t even have to believe it. We just need to do it. 

And, even if I’m wrong about all of this, if we don’t get what we focus on and joy is just a three-letter word, there’s nothing wrong with feeling good about your life, is there?

It feels good to get more referrals

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Filed Under: success Tagged With: ,

What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

January 23, 2019 by
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You have a problem. An unanswered question. A big decision to make. You want something but don’t know how to get it. 

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? 

Here are five ways to figure that out:  

(1) Research  

Let’s start with the obvious: Sometimes, you just need more information. More facts, more ideas, more examples to look at and sift through. Learn more about the problem, the risks, and the options. Let what you find dictate the best course of action.

That’s where I usually start. You too, I’m sure. But sometimes, more information doesn’t help, it leads to more indecision. 

(2) Write it out (e.g., in a journal) or talk it out (e.g., into a recording app) 

Sometimes, the answer is already inside us, we just need to give it a voice. Speak or write your thoughts, your ideas, your fears, your questions. Get them all out of your head. 

What do I want? Why do I want it? What will it do for me if I get it?

Is there another way to get that? What information do I need to know? What skills do I need to develop? What are my strengths? Who is doing/has done what I want to do?

If that doesn’t give you the answer. . .

(3) Talk to someone  

Talk to a friend, a colleague, someone who has been in your shoes or someone who can be a sounding board for you and help you talk it out.  

Or, hire an expert, a consultant or coach. Someone who can advise you and help you sort through the options and make the right decision.  

Or, talk to a lot of someones, e.g., your clients. Conduct a survey, find out what they think, what they want, what they’re willing to pay for.  

Or, talk to God. 

(4) Do what you want to do, not what you think you should do  

Damn the facts, do what you want to do.  

Imagine yourself choosing different options and see how each one feels. Not the solution or result, the “doing”. Your gut will tell you which one feels right, and your gut is usually right.

(5) Do nothing

True, making no decision is making a decision but sometimes that’s the best decision. Leave things where they are. What’s the worst that can happen?

Doing nothing might give you space and time you need to let the right answer come to you. Walk away for a day or a month and come back to the question with a fresh perspective. 

Your turn. What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

Have you taken my free referral course?

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

Client street is a two-way street

January 22, 2019 by
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Keep your clients happy. Deliver good results. Service (with a smile). Do a good job for your clients and you will be well-paid for your work.

Yes, but that’s not the whole story. 

You work for your clients, it’s true, but your clients also work for you. 

Oh, not literally, but that should be your attitude. You should expect that your clients will do things for you beyond merely paying your bill (on time). 

You should expect them to provide a positive review about you, for example, on one or more review sites. 

You should expect that they will provide you with a written testimonial, and give you permission to use it in your marketing. 

You should expect that they will “like” and “share” and “upvote” your articles, posts, videos, and other content, promoting you to their friends and followers and social media connections. 

If they have a blog or channel, you should expect them to mention you or interview you or offer you a guest post. 

You should expect them to tell their friends and clients about you, pass out your cards and brochures, and refer people who need your help.

Now, some lawyers actually talk to their clients about these things. They ask them to share and post and refer. There are ways to do that without making either the lawyer or client feel uncomfortable. But you don’t have to ask.

When you expect clients to refer, even if you never come right out and ask them to do it, they’ll pick up on the idea and come through for you. 

I call it “building a referral culture in your practice” and I talk about this in my (free) referral marketing course.

Here’s the link to the course.

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Filed Under: Referrals

Taking inventory

January 21, 2019 by
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If you want to make this year better than last year, a good place to start is by taking inventory. 

What do you have in terms of cases or clients, relationships, and hard assets? 

Go through your calendar and apps and note how you spent your time. Similarly, go through your financial apps and note how you spent your money. 

As you examine last year, write down the positive experiences–victories, successful projects, good decisions, areas of growth.

Also write down the negative experiences–mistakes, failed projects, unresolved problems, unrealized plans. 

What did you do well? What can you improve?

As you do this, consider the people in your life. With whom did you associate most? What value did they bring you? How might your relationships be improved? Is there anyone you need to spend less time with or remove completely from your life?

Finally, go through your notes and write down the opportunities you see for this year. Projects, new habits or relationships, areas for improvement. 

To create your future, examine your past and learn from it. 

But don’t dwell on it. 

Don’t beat yourself up for your mistakes or missed opportunities, but don’t rest on your victories, either. 

The past is prologue. Use it to write your future.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, success

Three simple steps to getting more referrals

January 18, 2019 by
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Some of your clients are holding back on you. They know people who need your services but they don’t refer them.

Do you know why? 

More importantly, do you know what to do about it?

Yes, asking your clients for referrals will work. But we both know you don’t want to do that. You don’t want your clients to think you “need” business, or you don’t want to be “pushy”.

Even though I can teach you ways to ask for referrals that won’t make you (or your clients) uncomfortable, you wish there was another way.  

Fair enough. 

I just created a video course on how to get more referrals from your clients–without asking. 

The course is 90-minutes and (for now), it’s free. You can get it here. 

You’ll learn a simple 3-step system that works for any practice. And you can start using it immediately. 

Let me know what you think about the course or if you have any questions. 

Here’s the link again.


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Filed Under: News, Referrals

I know you’re a good lawyer, I just don’t like you

January 17, 2019 by
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Some people say you can build a successful career even if you’re not well-liked. There may be some truth to that. If people respect your abilities and track record, they may hire you (or refer clients to you), even if you’re a Grinch. 

On the other hand, I can’t see how having your clients and professional contacts like you could ever work to your disadvantage. 

So, likable it is. 

Now, some people are naturally likable. They’re friendly, easy to talk to, and make people glad to be around them.

The rest of us have to work at it. 

We may get things right often enough, but there are times when we’re tired, facing a crazy deadline, or distracted to the extreme. While we may generally be a nice person, sometimes, the mask we wear says otherwise. 

So, in no particular order, here are 6 ways to make yourself more likable.

  1. Be interested. Make eye contact, pay attention (don’t take calls), listen, don’t interrupt, don’t yawn, take notes, repeat back the points you hear them make. 
  2. Be interesting. Talk about books you’ve read, movies you’ve seen, stories you’ve heard, that are likely to be of interest to the person you’re with.
  3. Mind your manners. Say please and thank you appropriately and often. Ask them about their day. Offer them something to drink.  Don’t keep them on hold or waiting in your waiting room too long. Apologize when you blow it.
  4. Smile more. They’ll smile back. Make them laugh if you can, because it’s hard to dislike someone who tickles your funny bone. 
  5. Remember names and use them. ‘Nuff said. 
  6. Get more rest. So you can do all of the above. 

Make people feel good about themselves and they’ll feel good about you. 

More ways to make people like you

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Filed Under: Client relations Tagged With:

Frog legs for breakfast

January 16, 2019 by
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Mark Twain said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Brian Tracy expanded on this idea in his popular book, “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.”

For Tracy, your “frog” isn’t necessarily the worst task of your day or something you may be avoiding. It’s the task that’s likely to have the biggest positive impact on your life.

Get that done and no matter what else you do or fail to do that day, you will have accomplished something important. 

We’re also encouraged to do our most important task(s) early in the day because that’s when we tend to have more energy. It turns out, this may not be simply because we are more rested in the morning. 

According to a new study, our bodies are more capable of producing the stress hormone cortisol in the early hours of the day, making us better able to handle the stress associated with difficult or important tasks. 

Researchers acknowledge that we are all different and we should consider what works best for us, but if you don’t consider yourself a morning person, you may want to experiment with your schedule to make sure. 

You might find that, like me, “first thing” in the morning isn’t your best and most productive time of the day, but getting your most important work done before lunch makes for a very productive day.

I use Evernote  to manage my tasks

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

You’re a fraud (unless you’re not)

January 15, 2019 by
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Most of what you do in your practice is routine. You’ve seen it before, done it before, and you know what to do. If you’re not sure, you know how to find out. 

And yet, there are times when you don’t. 

You are presented with a new (and difficult) issue. A case of first impression (and a lot at stake). A big decision and nary a clue about which way to go. 

When this happens, you talk to someone with more experience, take a course, associate with another lawyer, hire an expert, or otherwise bridge the gap in your knowledge or experience. 

Yes?

But what if this happens all the time? What if you continually feel like you’re in over your head or can’t handle the job?

What if you feel like an impostor?

Relax. You’re probably not. 

Wikipedia defines impostor syndrome as a “psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments, and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”‘.

I’m guessing that’s not you. 

You’re not a fraud, you just need more time on the job. 

That’s the good news. 

The bad news is that what you’re feeling–the doubts, the questions about your choice of career, and all the rest–mean you’re not happy doing what you’re doing. 

You need to fix that. Or find something else to do. 

Need a plan? Here

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction

Drivers, start your engines

January 14, 2019 by
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I’m planning a new course. Writing notes,  clipping articles, jotting down a list of questions that need to be answered.

It looks good.

But what I’ve envisioned looks like it’s going to take months to complete and I don’t want that. I want to get this out into the world in a few weeks. 

Over the weekend, I watched a video by a prolific course creator who explained how he produces a two-hour course in six to eight hours. 

Yeah, that’s for me. 

To have a shot at doing this will require me to reduce the scope of the project I had originally planned. I’m okay with that because a finished project is always better than one that never sees the light of day, and I want to get this done. 

So, we’ll see. 

Which leads me to today’s sermon, which shall commence with a question:

Are you spending too much time learning about marketing?

Learning, planning, practicing, are all good. But the only thing that brings home the bacon is the doing. 

If you want to grow your practice (and your income), spend less time learning (researching, planning, thinking, etc.) and more time doing.

You don’t need to know everything. You need to move.

Even with the time lost from mistakes and detours factored in, you’ll be further along in your journey if you start the engine and step on the gas.

All the planning you need is here 


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Filed Under: Productivity, success

Why am I not surprised?

January 11, 2019 by
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I just saw an infographic depicting “America’s Most & Least Trusted Professions”. Lawyers ranked near the bottom, just above business executives, car salespeople, and swamp-creatures, aka, members of Congress.

I’ve noted before that lawyers are an easy target. We do everyone’s dirty work and tend to make a lot of enemies, after all. And who doesn’t like a good lawyer joke?

But that doesn’t mean we should accept the world’s collective opprobrium. Neither should we single-handedly attempt to repair the reputation of an entire profession. 

Instead, we should take steps to differentiate ourselves. To show the world that we’re one of the good ones. 

We can do that, we must do that, by going out of our way to foster trust in the eyes of our prospects, clients, and professional contacts. 

This covers a lot of territory, everything from treating people better than they expect (or deserve) to be treated, to displaying the accolades and endorsements of others who vouch for us, to doing charitable work usually associated with good people, and everything in between. 

We should, of course, also refrain from the types of practices we know client’s dislike. Failing to keep clients informed about their case and charging for every little expense and every nanosecond of time are common examples.  

Another way to earn trust is to exceed our clients’ expectations. Giving them extra services, delivering better results, and showering them with the highest level of “customer service” not only goes a long way towards earning trust, but it can also stimulate a heap of positive word of mouth about you. 

In our marketing, we can build trust by showing our market how we are different or better than our competition. This can be as simple as providing more information than most attorneys do, or doing so in an interesting or entertaining matter. 

Finally, one thing we shouldn’t do is deny the fact that lawyers tend to rank low on the trust totem pole. Instead, we should acknowledge this fact and help people understand what to do about it. 

Educate your market about the standard of care, so prospective clients will know what to expect and demand. Teach them what to do when a lawyer doesn’t deliver.

And teach them what to look for when they are looking for a lawyer in your practice area. Give them the questions to ask and the answers they should get.  

Do this, and you will take a big step towards showing the market that you are indeed one of the good ones.

How to build trust and get more repeat business and referrals

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Filed Under: Client relations, Image, Legal industry, Marketing legal services
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