Wanna know my secret?

July 18, 2017 by
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A subscriber sent an email recently, praising my newsletter. I share it with you because it reveals my “secret” for building readership, fans, and clients.

See if you can spot the secret:

—
David

Thank you for your newsletter.

Yours is one of the few newsletters that I read everyday!!!

It always adds value and it is not always hyping the latest greatest webinar or makes me watch a 5-minute video to find out if I am even interested (which means I usually DONT watch the video).

I like how you provide value in a time efficient manner but also include a link for more information.

To me, this positions you as a more credible expert who gets someone’s interest by providing value so the person wants to learn more.

If I have to jump through a lot of hoops (aka watch a bunch of LONG videos) then I will probably never do it.

By the way, I have bought several of your publications and books.

Have a great day!!
—

He also forwarded an email he got as an example of what he doesn’t like. It was a freak show of graphics, hype, and obnoxious calls to action. A melange of “yuck”. (It was also unclear what they were even selling).

If you compare that mess with my emails, you’ll know that my secret isn’t really a secret at all.

It’s not that my emails are plain text emails instead of a “pretty” HTML newsletter, although that’s part of it. It’s not that I’m not “in your face” with aggressive sales pitches and hype and zero value. It’s not that I just say what I want to say instead of forcing you to go watch videos.

It’s not any of those things, it’s all of them. And more.

It’s the subject matter of the emails. I share ideas that can help you increase your income, be more productive, and make your day a little less stressful and a little more fun.

It’s the stories I tell, often based on personal experience, which illustrate my points and provide a glimpse into me, the person, and not just me, the attorney.

It’s my informality and (lame) humor. You may not laugh but you won’t fall asleep.

It’s that I write “to” you, not “at” you. Just the two of us, having a chat.

And it’s the brevity of the messages. In a few minutes, you get a dose of something to think about or something to do. I give homework, but it’s not overwhelming.

The secret is that I write what I would want to read. And because I was in your shoes for many years, I know what you want to read.

So there you have it. Write to your clients and prospects what you would want to read. You know them, so give them what they want.

Keep it short. Keep it real. Keep it simple. And have some fun with it.

If you do, your clients will look forward to hearing from you, praise you, and buy everything you sell.

Here’s how to use email to build your practice

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Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

Tell ’em why if you want ’em to buy

July 17, 2017 by
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Years ago, I read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, the lead prosecutor in the case against Charles Manson. Bugliosi presented the timeline and documented the evidence in the case in meticulous detail.

But he didn’t just describe the facts and the evidence. He explained why it mattered. He put everything together into a masterfully persuasive account, as though he was again presenting the case to the jury.

I remember thinking, “nobody who reads this would have any doubts about what happened, or the correctness of the verdicts”.

That’s what we expect of a prosecutor doing his job. It’s also what we expect lawyers to do when advising their clients.

When you tell your clients what you recommend, you must tell them why.

It may be obvious to you, but it isn’t necessarily obvious to the client. Even when it is, telling them the facts and arguments you considered helps them to see why they should follow your advice.

I’m sure you do this (most of the time). You’re not like my father who sometimes grew tired of my relentless “why” questions and said, “Because I said so!” (Wait, your dad did that too?)

Anyway, I’m sure you tell clients why they should follow your advice, but do you do that in your marketing?

I’ve seen too many ads, blog posts, articles, videos, emails, presentations, and so on, where the lawyer doesn’t tell people what to do (call, email, fill out a form, etc.), or if they do, they don’t tell them why.

Tell people why they should call, download your report, or subscribe to your newsletter. Tell them why they need a lawyer, why they should choose you, and why they shouldn’t wait.

If you want to get more clients, tell people what to do. And why.

Marketing is easier when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing legal services

Prospecting for gold in your law practice

July 14, 2017 by
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When my daughter was in grade school I went with her on a field trip to Sacramento. One of the events on the agenda was panning for gold in a stream that once teamed with prospectors. They spent their days sifting through water, dirt, rocks, and sand. The more “non-gold” they got rid of, the more gold they found.

There’s a marketing lesson in this for lawyers.

If you want to find more “gold” (bigger cases, better clients), you need to get rid of as much non-gold as possible, as quickly as possible.

Why spend your time and resources courting clients who aren’t a good fit for you?

Other lawyers filter out cases and clients they don’t want after they talk to prospects. What if you filter them out before you talk to them?

When you create a profile of your ideal client, make a list of clients and cases that aren’t ideal. If you handle plaintiff’s personal injury cases, for example, your second list might include fender benders and soft tissue injuries.

Then, create a page on your website and describe the clients who aren’t a good fit for you.

You’ll stand out for being honest and transparent. You’ll build trust and create higher perceived value for being selective. You’ll attract better clients who see that unlike other lawyers, you don’t take anyone as a client.

Be honest about what you don’t want. You’ll get rid of more dirt and find more gold.

Need help figuring out who you do and don’t want as a client? Get this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Get bigger by thinking smaller

July 13, 2017 by
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Seth Godin just said what I’ve been telling you for a long time: niche it.

Actually, he put it this way:

“When you seek to engage with everyone, you rarely delight anyone. And if you’re not the irreplaceable, essential, one-of-a-kind changemaker, you never get a chance to engage with the market.

The solution is simple but counterintuitive: Stake out the smallest market you can imagine. The smallest market that can sustain you, the smallest market you can adequately serve.”

In other words, target small niche markets and own them.

Godin says that when you focus on “the minimum viable audience,” your message is more powerful and more effective, and as your influence in that market grows, word of mouth about you will spread throughout the market and into others.

In other words, you get bigger by thinking smaller.

Godin says that this is how big companies and brands got that way. “By focusing on just a few and ignoring the non-believers, the uninvolved and the average.”

Focus on your ideal clients and the influencers in your chosen niche markets. Get to know them. Serve them. Let them see your dedication to their market.

Forget about the rest. Let other lawyers fight over the rest, while you get the lion’s share of the best.

Want help choosing your target market? Here you go

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , ,

Stop wishing for what you don’t want

July 12, 2017 by
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You’ve got problems. Challenges. Difficulties. You try different marketing techniques but they don’t work. Or they take up too much time. Or you hate doing them.

You’ve got clients who drive you crazy. Your rent has gone through the roof. You can’t find decent employees.

You work hard, you do good work, but the bigger cases and better clients seem to elude you.

Practicing law is a lot harder than you thought, or harder than it used to be, and you want things to change. You want it to be easier.

No, you don’t. Stop wishing for what you don’t want.

If it was easy, you would earn less. You are well paid because you’re able to do things other people can’t do.

When I was 16 I had a summer job as a stock clerk in a department store. Although it was physically demanding and I worked long hours, the job was easy. That’s why it paid minimum wage.

Stock clerks don’t have to solve difficult problems or make difficult decisions. They don’t have to worry about marketing or hiring people or making overhead.

They show up, do the work, and as long as they don’t screw up too much, they continue to have a job. But they will never earn much or have the opportunity to do great things.

Because the job is easy.

Building a law practice? That was hard. The hardest thing I’ve ever done. But because it was hard, it forced me to get better. I had to learn how to bring in business, hire and manage people, keep clients happy, work with other professionals, and a host of other things that professionals have to do.

Because it was hard, I had the opportunity to have a prosperous career.

Thank God it was hard.

Every great opportunity comes with problems and challenges. If you’ve got them, be thankful.

Jim Rohn said, “Don’t wish that it was easier, wish you were better”.

Well, don’t just wish it. Do something about it. Work on your skills. Sharpen your saw. Do the things you don’t want to do.

Don’t run from challenges or wish they didn’t exist. Seek them out and let them make you stronger.

Learning how to market my services was a challenge. Here’s how I got good at it.

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Filed Under: success

To change your results, you must do this first

July 11, 2017 by
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Many lawyers email me with comments or questions about something I’ve written. Some of them have emailed before or hired me for a consultation, and I remember them.

I see a troubling pattern in some of them. They are stuck in a pattern of conduct based on their beliefs about what they can and can’t do, or what will or won’t work in their market or in their practice area.

I give them advice but they don’t follow it because it is inconsistent with their beliefs.

Until they change their beliefs, they will continue getting the same results.

It works like this:

Our beliefs determine our attitudes, in this case, towards learning marketing strategies and techniques and implementing them.

Our attitudes affect our activities–which ones we do, how often we do them, and how we go about them.

Our activities determine our results. Our results determine our success.

It doesn’t start with activity. It starts with beliefs. If you want to get different results, you have to have different beliefs.

How do you change your beliefs?

You start by learning. Read, take classes, soak up new ideas. Don’t dismiss new ideas, immerse yourself in them.

Then, spend time with people who are successful doing what you want to do. Watch them, talk to them, emulate them. Go where they go and do what they do.

Yes, do what they do even though you don’t believe it will work for you. Try and see what happens. Review your results, and try again.

Eventually, as you get some positive results (despite your beliefs), those results will affect your beliefs. Which will affect your attitudes. Which will affect your activities. Which will bring you better results. Which will strengthen your beliefs.

In other words, you change your beliefs the same way you acquired them in the first place.

Get better results in your marketing

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Filed Under: Personal development

What’s wrong with these people?

July 10, 2017 by
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Some people complain too much.

The client who is never happy with your work. The brother-in-law who can’t shut up about politics. The friend who sends back every meal because there’s something wrong with it. Again. The sister who remembers something you said 35 years ago and can’t stop reminding you about it.

Debbie Downers. Malcontents. Sourpusses.

People who are perpetually unhappy about something and make sure everyone knows about it.

We don’t want to be around them. They’re depressing and annoying.

Get me out of here.

Apparently, there are a lot of complainers in the world. I just saw an iOS app called “Carp”. It’s designed to help people to break their addiction to complaining through a 21-day challenge. It lets you announce that you are taking the challenge on social media, having your friends hold you accountable.

Unfortunately, the app relies on the user’s honesty. You decide if you did or did not complain that day.

Trouble is, a lot of people don’t realize they are Negative Nellies. They can’t hear themselves. Or they think that because something is wrong it needs to be called out, no matter what.

Some just can’t help themselves. They live therefore they complain.

Nobody wants to be around these people. Their negativity drags down everyone they come in contact with.

On the other hand, nobody wants to be around people who never complain about anything. They’re boring. And naive.

There are things in the world to complain about. Wrongs that need to be righted. Ills that need to be cured.

Without them, lawyers would be out of business.

So, I’m not complaining.

Need more clients? Don’t complain about it, do something

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Filed Under: Personal development

Ever vigilant

July 7, 2017 by
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The other day, someone posted the following comment on chess.com:

“Chess is a cruel game, in that a player can spend an entire game building up a won position, and then throw it all away in a moment of distraction.”

If you play, you know this is true. You must never allow yourself to be distracted. You must never take your mind off the game.

This is also true of a law practice.

A law practice has many moving parts and they must be kept in good working order. A lawsuit, an ethical charge, the loss of a key client–can cause your castle to come tumbling down.

Lawyers have much to do, just to stay in the game. They must keep their library up to date, maintain sufficient insurance, timely file documents, protect their client’s data, hire and supervise competent employees, serve their clients, develop and maintain professional contacts, and continually attract new clients.

They must avoid neglecting their clients, avoid too much work and too much stress, and avoid taking success for granted.

Yes, it’s a cruel game, filled with risk, but also the thrill of the win. And that’s why we play it.

Get your marketing game on: here

 

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Filed Under: success

Quit asking “How long will it take?” and ask, “How far can I go?”

July 6, 2017 by
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I don’t know about you but I’m not that good with deadlines. If they are imposed on me by an outside force–a court, a client, the IRS, my wife–I usually make them. When it’s self-imposed, not so much.

It seems that most of what I do takes longer than I originally thought or planned for. Maybe I’m just bad at estimating what it takes to do things, especially when those things are open-ended and creative, which is most of what I do these days.

Douglas Adams, author of “The Salmon of Doubt,” seems to be a kindred spirit. He said, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

So I set very few deadlines these days. Target dates, maybe. But no lines in the sand.

If you ask me, “When will it be done?” I’d probably say, “I don’t know.” If you ask, “How will you know when it’s done,” I’d tell you, “I’ll just know.”

Because it’s intuitive. Right brained, not left.

And yet I get stuff done. Sometimes, after lengthy delays and detours into other projects. But so what?

Done happens.

I’ve learned to relax about “when” and focus on “what” and “why”. What do I want to do and why is it important to me? How far can I go instead of how long will it take?

Taking the pressure off helps me to be more creative and productive. I do bigger things and better things because I enjoy the doing and trust that the results will come.

I just can’t tell you when.

Referrals. You love ’em, we got ’em

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em

July 5, 2017 by
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If a professional poker player managed your law office, one of the first things he would do is talk to you about hand selection. He’d show you, mathematically, why you should play the hands where the odds are in your favor and, unless you’re planning to bluff, fold the rest.

Play the odds. You’ll win more hands and the hands you win will have bigger pots. The hands you lose won’t cost you as dearly.

In college, I played a lot of poker. Most people didn’t know what they were doing. They’d play just about every hand, often going “all in” merely because they could. By the time the game broke up, they almost always went home empty handed.

You don’t want to do that. You don’t want to waste time and money in your marketing. You want to maximize your wins, minimize your losses, and go home a winner.

Playing the odds starts by choosing the right clients to target. Instead of targeting “anyone” with a legal problem you can solve, as most lawyers do, let your competition fight it out for the bottom eighty or ninety percent of the market while you target (and win) the better clients at the top.

If networking is a mainstay of your marketing, instead of spending your time at generic meetings (e.g., chamber of commerce, local mixers, referral groups, etc.), where you meet professionals who can’t send you much business, or the right business, choose small organizations comprised of your ideal clients and the people who can refer them.

If you advertise, don’t bid on the same keywords as your competition hoping to outspend them. Bid on cheaper “long tail” keywords that target smaller niche markets.

If you rely on “one shot” marketing, hoping to turn first-time website visitors into clients, you’re leaving too much money on the table. It’s much more profitable to capture visitor emails and stay in touch with them and convert them over time.

To be successful in marketing, you don’t need to the best player. As long as you play the hands where the odds are in your favor, and avoid the hands that aren’t, you’ll do just fine.

Marketing is more effective when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services
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