Find out what people want and show them how to get it

May 11, 2018 by
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Legendary investor Bernard Baruch said the secret to getting rich is to “Find out what people want and show them how to get it”.

Ah, you thought you were supposed to “help them” get it. No, you’re busy. You can’t help everyone do everything (unless they hire you). You have a practice to run.

Show them what to do. Showing is easier than helping and nearly as valuable.

Give them direction and feedback. Point to resources. Refer them to experts. Show them what to do. When push comes to shove, they don’t really expect you to drive them to their destination. They will appreciate you for giving them a map.

On the other hand, don’t just “tell them what to do”. Anyone can do that. Anyone can post a list of recommended resources on their website. No, show them.

Talk to them and make sure you understand exactly what they want and why. Then, provide suggestions and recommendations specific to their needs so they can get what they want as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Explain why you recommend A instead of B. Give examples so they understand your rationale. Make sure they are ready to move forward before you turn them loose but let them know they can come back to you if they run into a snag.

Showing is less than helping but more than telling. Find out what people want and show them how to get it.

This is me, showing you how to get more referrals

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Filed Under: Client relations, Networking, success

The power of a daily habit

May 10, 2018 by
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When I began walking for exercise I usually walked three days a week. Some days, I didn’t feel like it and had to force myself out the door. Some days I simply forgot.

Now I walk six days a week and I do it without thinking about it.

My walks are longer, because I’ve built up my strength, and I enjoy them. Not only are they good for my health, I use the time for thinking, dictating, or listening to podcasts.

Because I walk every day, I don’t have to be reminded to do it or talk myself into it. It’s part of my routine. And I (usually) look forward to it.

I had a similar experience when I started writing a daily email/blog post. Before I wrote daily, I wrote once a week. It was easy to do but what’s easy to do is also easy to not do. Miss a day and it could easily turn into a week. Before you know it, a month has gone by and you’re on your way to not doing it anymore.

Am I saying it’s easier to write every day instead of once a week? Yes.

If you write a newsletter, blog post, or article once a month or once a week you have to plan for it. When the day comes, it’s easy to postpone it. “Hey, I’ve got the whole month”. But do you? Without a deadline, it’s easy to blow it off.

If you write once a week, or every day, it becomes a natural part of your workflow.

So, write shorter pieces but more often. Make it a habit and you’ll get it done.

Whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, whatever habit you want to create, start where you need to start but look for a way to transition to doing it every day. Because every day really is easier.

Are you getting daily referrals? 

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

Overcoming overwhelm

May 9, 2018 by
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I was reading through my blog feed this morning, bookmarking articles to read later. There were easily 20 articles I wanted to save but I didn’t do it. I’ve already got hundreds of articles in my bookmark app, plus hundreds more saved in Evernote waiting to be read.

I stopped and closed the app. Enough. I can’t handle it all. Mommy.

When you have too much to read, too much to do, too many fires to put out, and you are feeling overwhelmed, how do you handle it? The best thing to do is distract yourself long enough to allow your brain to reset.

Sometimes, taking a few hours off is all we need. Sometimes, we need to get more sleep. Some folks listen to music, some write, some play sports, some watch movies, some have a good cry with their best friend.

Exercise helps. When I come back from my walks I’m usually ready to get back at it. That’s what I did today.

Do something to interrupt your thought patterns and you’ll usually find the feeling of overwhelm begins to subside. If it doesn’t, if you can’t shake the feeling, you might need to do something more radical to eliminate whatever it is that’s overwhelming you.

You may need to hire some people. You may need to find new tools and methods to streamline your workflow or take some training to learn how to better use what you already have.

When all else fails, all we can do is surrender to the reality that there will always be too much to read and too much to do and we’ll never get it all done.

Because we won’t.

The things we don’t read today will still be there tomorrow, even if we don’t bookmark them. (It’s called the Internet.) You don’t have to feel guilty about the things you didn’t do. Tomorrow is another opportunity to start fresh.

Let it go.

Life is messy. Uncertain. Out of our control. But that’s okay because most things don’t really matter.

Once you accept this, you can focus on the things that do.

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Filed Under: Personal development

Client relations with Post-it notes?

May 8, 2018 by
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You’re throwing a party. You want your guests to open the front door and come right in. You want them to take off their shoes. You don’t don’t want them using the upstairs bathroom. You want them to help themselves to the snacks you’ve laid out for them and the drinks in the cooler.

To make your guests comfortable, you put up signs around the house explaining everything.

That’s the gist of an article I saw today.

It’s a great idea. Not only does it make guests more comfortable, it relieves you of the burden of repeatedly being asked where the restroom is and having to explain “the rules”.

But no, I’m not suggesting you do something like this at your office (unless you’re throwing a party). What I am suggesting is that when it comes to client relations, the sentiment behind this idea is on target.

We want our clients to feel welcome, not just to our office but to our “family” of clients. We want them to be comfortable with us and what we’re doing for them.

And, let’s face it, we also want to make things easier on ourselves.

That’s why we send new clients a welcome letter or kit, explaining things. We tell them about fees and billing, office hours, appointments, parking, and what to expect in the first days and weeks ahead.

We send them copies of our work product so they can see that we’re on the job. We send them reminders about upcoming appointments. When there’s a problem, we don’t email, we call to explain things, answer questions, and ease their anxiety.

In the office, we greet them with a smile and a handshake. We make eye contact and ask them if they would like something to drink. We take our time explaining things and answering questions.

Because our job as professionals goes beyond doing legal work. Our job is just as much about making our clients feel welcome, safe, and appreciated.

Most clients can’t tell how good you are as a lawyer. But every client knows and will remember how you make them feel.

Happy clients give more referrals

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Filed Under: Client relations

I don’t know, let me check my list

May 7, 2018 by
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I’ve started using a daily checklist. It’s a list of things I need to do as soon as I sit down at my computer and throughout the day. Most of the items on the list are things I’m already doing, without prompting from a list, but I like seeing them in front of me. I know I won’t forget anything and I can get things done and out of the way.

I have three categories: @admin, @personal, and @work.

On the @admin list are things like checking the calendar, email, and a @tickler list (upcoming date-oriented tasks to review or start), followed by checking my other lists to see what’s on tap for the day and for the week.

@personal includes my daily walk, reading, and writing in my journal.

@work includes some of my routine activities like writing a daily email/blog post and working on my current book project.

I’m just rolling this out so I know it’s going to change. I’m already thinking I could combine the three lists into one since I work from home and don’t ordinarily differentiate between work and personal, and because admin is intertwined with my work.

But, we’ll see.

If it’s not obvious, I like lists. I guess I’m a linear thinker, although there are times when I like to use a mind map to brainstorm and flesh out ideas. For the record, once I’ve done that, I convert them to a linear outline or list prior to “doing”.

I’ve also got a checklist for my weekly review. This has always been a work in progress.

Next up? Maybe an evening “shutdown” list. Hmm, I wonder if I need to write down “Netflix and chill”.

Evernote for Lawyers. Click here

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , ,

Thinking on paper. Sorta.

May 4, 2018 by
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The other day I mentioned that I was thinking about scheduling regular time for thinking. I said I thought it would help me solve problems, make better decisions, and help me move closer to achieving my goals.

Well, I’ve done it. Five minutes every afternoon is now dedicated to the task. It’s right there on my daily checklist.

It’s just five minutes. With no agenda other than to see what I think.

To make it easier, I’ve started journaling again. Thinking on paper, or in this case, typing on a computer screen, helps the process. It allows me to capture my thoughts so I can come back to them after doing research, talking to someone, or just letting the idea incubate for a spell. I’ve created a #thinking tag for that purpose.

Writing things down also helps improve my thinking. As the words appear on screen, I can see where I’m going and where I need to go.

I didn’t schedule thinking time to brainstorm ideas but to contemplate ideas I’ve already recorded. Nevertheless, I’m finding that ideas are coming to me and that’s okay. You’ve got to learn to trust your mind and let it take you where it wants to go.

I haven’t kept a journal for a long time. I’m starting to realize that I missed it. If you haven’t tried it, or have moved away from doing it, give it a try. If you do keep a journal, I’d love to hear how you use it and how it has helped you.

A good place to keep your journal: Evernote

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity Tagged With:

What were you doing one year ago?

May 3, 2018 by
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Author and artist Karen Lamb said, “A year from now you may wish you had started today.”

So true.

A year goes by in about ten minutes. A year ago we were making big plans and setting big goals and here we are, one year later, having done nothing about them.

News flash: we’re not going to live forever. We need to get on with things before it’s too late and we shuffle off to the big after-party in the sky.

How can we do that? How can we accomplish more of our goals?

One way is to have fewer goals. Sure, make a long “someday” list but in the short term, pick a few things that matter most.

How about this: pick one thing you’d like to be, do, or have one year from now. Something exciting. Something you could start today and make happen in the next twelve months or less.

Make it something good. Something that makes you all tingly inside when you think about it.

Got something? Good. That feeling will help you to get started and keep going when you get distracted by other things.

But it may not be enough.

You’ve been down this path before. You had exciting plans last year and, well, here you are.

Why should this year be different?

Okay, here’s what you need to do. Instead of relying merely on your desire for gain, as exciting as it is, a fear of losing what you want is more powerful.

You imagine having it. You want it. It’s yours. And then it’s not.

Imagine it’s one year from now and you don’t have it. You’re not even close. You haven’t even started.

How does it feel to realize that you let another year go by and did nothing?

Disappointed? Sad? Angry?

Get in touch with THAT feeling. It will help you to make this year different.

Transform your practice by getting more referrals

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, success Tagged With:

I can’t talk right now, I’m flowing

May 2, 2018 by
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You’ve heard the term “flow”. You know a “flow state” refers to an immersive and highly focused mental state and that when it occurs, you are more creative, productive, and happy.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Hungarian psychologist who recognized and named the concept said, “The happiest people spend much time in a state of flow — the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

Sounds like a plan.

To achieve a flow state more often, manage your environment to make it more conducive to achieving flow:

  1. Outsource or delegate tasks that don’t lend themselves to a flow state, if possible, to give yourself more time for those that are.
  2. Allow more time for flow to occur, e.g., don’t schedule appointments immediately after a writing session, for example.
  3. Eliminate distractions and interruptions; you know the drill.
  4. Single task; one thing at a time, so you can do “deep work”.

Then, when things are going well, when you find yourself lost in a task and losing track of time, don’t kill the mood by stopping. Breaks can wait. Other tasks can wait. Maintain the flow state as long as possible.

When you do this, you should find that in addition to getting more of your best work done, you actually have more energy than before you started.

All that and a bag of chips.

Get into the flow of getting more referrals

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

Scheduling time to think

May 1, 2018 by
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I’m thinking about scheduling time for thinking. Putting 5 minutes each day or 30 minutes once a week on my calendar, dedicated to thinking.

What would I think about? My goals, my plans, my work in progress, ideas, anything that’s on my mind or on my list.

Use the time to figure things out. Make decisions. Figure out what went wrong.

Contemplation is important, especially for cerebral and creative types like you and me. And we don’t do enough of it.

Scheduled thinking time should be used just for thinking, not for brainstorming ideas. We can do that at another time. Thinking time should be used to evaluate ideas we’ve already had, not create new ones.

Thinking helps us to weigh consequences, evaluate plans, and solve problems. It helps us to decide to go forward, incubate further, make changes, or cross things off our list.

True, our subconscious minds do a lot of this for us. We think about something, let go of it, and suddenly, somehow, we know what to do.

And, we do a lot of thinking while we’re doing other things: driving, showering, exercising, washing dishes.

But I want to build some regular “contemplation” time into my schedule so I can do more of it. (I have a naval. I might as well use it.)

So, what do you think about my idea? Are you going to try it?

I know, you need to think about it.

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

You should be saying THIS a lot

April 30, 2018 by
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You’re busy. Good at what you do. And you get asked for lots of favors.

Information, advice, appearances (at events), endorsements. You get asked to share content, review proposals, add a link or authorize a guest post on your site.

All day, every day, people want something from you. If you’re not saying no to most of these requests, most of which are not a priority for you, you may not have time for the handful that are.

Not to mention time to get your own work done.

You delete most of the email offers and requests from people you don’t know. At least I hope you do. You are not obligated to reply.

But what do you do about a request that comes from a client, a colleague, or a friend?

How do you say no?

If they want your time, you can say, “Sorry, I have a prior commitment.” And that’s true. You have a commitment to spend that time doing client work, doing something for the handful of people you want to help, or doing something for yourself.

Because you’re no good to anyone if you’re not taking care of yourself.

What if the request isn’t time-bound? They want you to review their article, for example, and tell them what you think. No hurry. You could provide a cursory response. “Looks good. I like the donkey story.” A few minutes won’t break the bank.

But if what they ask requires more than a few minutes, or they ask you to do something you don’t want to do, you’re going to have to come up with something else.

The truth is a good option. If you’re uncomfortable doing something, if you don’t have time to do something, tell them. And tell them why.

You don’t want to hurt their feelings. You don’t want to come off as a jerk. But you have to say no to most requests because every time you say yes to something that’s not a priority, you say no to something that is.

Referrals should be one of your top priorities

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Filed Under: Client relations, Personal development
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