Slow down, you’re moving too fast. . .

March 24, 2016 by
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I just read an interesting article positing the benefits of working slowly. Those benefits include feeling less frenzied and less fatigued, creating higher quality work product, and being more productive.

Sounds good to me. But I’ve spent a lifetime doing just the opposite–looking for ways to work faster, finish sooner, and get more done in less time–and old habits are hard to break.

Even though I can see the benefits of slowing down, I’m wondering how I can do it.

Busy busy busy. . . no time to stop and chat, I’m late I’m late I’m late.

How about you?

How about if you and I try an experiment and see what happens.

Pick a task or project, or part thereof, grab your calendar, and schedule time to do it. But instead of blocking out the amount of time you think it might take to do the task, allocate more time.

If you think you can do it in 15 minutes, block out 45 minutes or an hour.

Does the thought of doing that make you nervous? Yeah, me too. And that’s why I think we may be onto something.

Now, when the scheduled time arrives, the important thing is to use all of the scheduled time on the task and nothing else. If you finish early, go through everything again. Check your work, revise and update. See if there’s something you missed or something you can improve. If other ideas come to you about other things you need to do, write them down and put them aside.

Don’t stop working on the scheduled task until the scheduled time is up. Force yourself to work slowly on this and other projects, as a way to train yourself to slow down.

In fact, you might schedule a regular block of time on your calendar for “slow time”. This is time you dedicate to more focused, reflective work. As you race through the rest of your week and find tasks that might benefit from greater focus, i.e., a slower pace, mark them to be done during slow time.

You might eventually block out an hour a day for the same purpose.

I don’t know how well this will work, but I’m going to try it. I’ve got a project on my plate I’d planned to do today and I’m going to spend more time on it than I originally planned. If all goes well, I’ll not only get it done, I’ll get it done right–better than I might have done if I sped through it.

And then I’ll skip down the cobblestones, feeling groovy.

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management

How to sell your legal services in one minute or less

March 23, 2016 by
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Tell me your marketing message. Tell me how you can help me. Show me why I should hire you instead of any other lawyer.

Go on, tell me. I’ll give you a minute.

One minute? You can’t convince someone to hire you in just one minute.

No, probably not. But it doesn’t take longer than that to show a prospective client how you can help him and interest him enough to ask you to tell him more.

What does a prospective client want to know? He wants to know that you do what he needs done. You have the skills and experience to help him achieve a desired result.

He wants to know about the process. If he hires you, what will happen? What will you do, what will you expect of him? How long will it take?

And he wants to know that he can trust you. You’ll work hard for him, keep him informed, and be available when he has questions.

What about fees? Yeah, he wants to know about that, but that’s not number one on his list. (If it is, he’s not the right client for you.) Show him that you have what he wants and when he asks to see more, you can talk about fees.

You need a message you can deliver in just a few sentences. Those sentences will get your foot in the door (and eliminate the clients who aren’t right for you).

The key is to crafting an effective message is to make your message as simple as possible. Start long. Include everything. Then cut out everything that’s not essential, reducing your message to the most important points. And when you’ve done that, make it simpler still.

So simple, a child could understand it.

So tell me, why should I hire you? I’ll give you a minute.

It’s easier to sell legal services when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Why you should always assume the sale

March 22, 2016 by
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Whether you’re talking to a prospective client, speaking to a jury, or negotiating any kind of deal, you should always assume that you will get what you want.

Assume that you’ll win the case or get the best deal. Assume that the prospect will sign up, and not just for your entry level offering but for your “full package”.

Always assume the best possible outcome because assuming the sale will help you close it.

Aren’t you setting yourself (and your client) for disappointment? I didn’t say you should tell the client what you expect. In fact, you should do just the opposite. Do your best to lower their expectations, so that (a) if you get what you want, you will exceed their expectations and made them very happy, and (b) if you don’t get what you want, they won’t think that you blew it.

Okay. But shouldn’t you also lower your expectations? Don’t you need to be realistic?

No.

Assume the sale. Assume great things will happen. Assume you will win. Because when you do, you’ll “act as if,” meaning you’ll act the way you would if you knew you would be successful, and that makes it more likely that you will be.

When you act as if you expect to win, you’ll have more confidence. You’ll say things that would be said by someone who expected to win. Your decisions, timing, and body language will be consistent with closing the deal.

Your believe in a successful outcome will help you create that outcome.

Your confidence will influence the parties with whom you are dealing. Even the most hardened negotiator or judge will perceive the spring in your step and the gleam in your eye, no matter how subtle those cues might be, and they can’t help but be affected by it.

Consider the alternative. Consider what a judge might think if you come into his courtroom with body language that bespeaks a lack of confidence in your argument.

Am I saying you should lie to yourself, tell yourself things are going to work out a certain way, even if the facts and logic tell you otherwise?

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Because assuming the sale helps you close it.

Don’t be reckless. You have to have contingency plans in place and be prepared to respond to other outcomes. But once you’ve done that, put on a happy face and go out and conquer the world.

Always assume your clients will give you more referrals. Here’s how to get them

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Filed Under: Personal development, Salesmanship, success Tagged With: , ,

How can I get better clients?

March 21, 2016 by
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How can I get better clients, you ask. That’s a great question. It’s great because you asked “how” instead of “can I?” Your question acknowledges that (a) there are better clients to be had, and that (b) it is possible for you to attract them.

Instead of making do with the clients you’ve been getting, you’ve opened the door to better ones. And opening that door is the first step.

Your next step is to define what “better clients” mean. Who is your “ideal client?”

Be specific. If you mean bigger cases, bigger retainers, or bigger fees, how big is big? If you mean clients who pay on time, follow your advice and don’t try to micromanage you, write down some examples of actual clients who fit that description.

What about clients who have lots of repeat business for you? What about clients who are influential in your target market(s) and can send you lots of referrals?

Write it all down and think about it for a few days. Edit and add to your list, until it hums.

For each characteristic on your list, write down the benefits. What will bigger cases or better cash flow allow you to do in your practice? How will it add value to your personal life?

Don’t skip this part. It’s important to know how but more important to know why because when you know why, you’ll figure out how.

Imagine what your practice will look like when nearly 100% of your clients fit your ideal. Exciting, isn’t it?

Okay, what’s next?

Next is stating your intention to acquire them. Not your desire, not your goal, your intent.

A goal is an aspiration. Intent is a declaration that something is going to happen. It is a commitment, and it has much more energy than a goal.

What’s that? You say this is your intent? Okay, prove it. Let go of your clients who aren’t ideal.

Not all at once. You don’t have to go cold turkey, although you might want to. “Leap and the net will appear,” and all that.

How about this–start by firing (or non-renewing) one client who doesn’t fit your ideal. One is a place to start, and trust me, after you’ve let go of one, you’ll be itching to let go of more.

Yes, but what do you do to replace them? How do you fill the void you just created?

Nature will take care of some of it for you. Remember, she abhors a vacuum. By making room on your client list for better clients, you just instructed her to fill that void. She will command your reticular activating system (RAS)–look it up–to filter out prospective clients who don’t fit your ideal and make you more aware of those who are.

You’ll notice things, hear things, and be inspired to do things that lead you to those better clients. That’s what happened to me in my practice when I went through this process. It was amazing how quickly the void was filled with “better” clients.

Okay, I know you don’t believe me. Not completely, anyway. It sounds good but you want to hedge your bets by identifying things you can do to make it happen, instead of waiting for it to happen.

But that’s the easy part. You can ask yourself, “Where do I find them?” and “What do I say or do or offer?” and you’ll start getting some answers.

Your RAS will lead you to those answers. You’ll meet other attorneys who have the clients you want to attract and you’ll find out what they’re doing. You’ll stumble upon the perfect blog post or book that will have the answers you seek.

But you had to state your intent, first. Because great things can happen once you commit, but nothing great happens until you do.

Who is your ideal client? Find out here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , ,

Maybe you should start a side business

March 18, 2016 by
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During my career, I’ve started more than a few businesses. While not every business was successful, each business taught me something about commerce and marketing and about working with people–partners and customers alike.

And that’s one reason I suggest you start a side business.

Selling products is different from selling professional services. You’ll be introduced to strategies and techniques you may have never considered and be able to use some of them. You might, for example, find that advertising isn’t an abomination and find ways to use it to build your practice.

The second reason for starting a side business is that the business itself might be an excellent way to indirectly expand your practice. If you handle PI, divorce, estate planning, bankruptcy, or other consumer practice areas where almost anyone is a potential client, your side business could introduce you to a world of new contacts. Some of those contacts will need your services. Others will become new referral sources.

The third reason for starting a business is that it might provide you with additional income for retirement, or an exit strategy when your practice tells you it’s time to move on.

My network marketing business has been all of those things for me.

I know you’re wondering how you could possibly justify taking time away from your practice to start a business. I asked myself the same thing when I started looking.

The answer to that question is “part time”. Find a business that doesn’t require full time to run. Fortunately, there are many businesses today that fit the bill.

Also, look at your ROI. Yes, it will take time to run a side business, but if the time you invest therein brings lots of new clients for your practice, or lots of income from the business itself, if your ROI is big enough, then your investment will have paid off.

I don’t know if starting a business is right for you, or if you will find the right one for you, but I encourage you to look at what’s available. Even if you never take the plunge, you’ll learn some things and meet some people, and the next time you meet with a prospective client who owns a business, you’ll have a lot more to talk about.

Leverage is key to increasing your income

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services

Owning your future without breaking any laws

March 17, 2016 by
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I met a law student once who told people she was a lawyer. I explained to her that she could get herself into trouble that way, that it’s illegal to tell people you’re a lawyer when you’re not. Why she didn’t know that is beyond me.

I don’t think she had any nefarious intent. I think she was trying to own her future, to motivate herself and take a step closer to making her dream come true.

I see other people who go too far in the other direction. I read an article this morning by someone who described herself as an “aspiring writer”. I’ve got news for her, she wrote the article I was reading, ergo she is a writer.

She may not be getting paid for her writing but she’s still a writer and she should own that.Telling her subconscious mind she is an aspiring writer might keep her “aspiring” and make it less likely she will get paid.

How about you? Do you aspire to fame and fortune or do see yourself already on that path? If you aspire to it, you might not be owning that future. If you already see yourself as the person you are working to become, you’re closer to making your dream become your reality.

Or are you?

You’ve heard people say that we should envision our desired future, in detail. See yourself with lots of zeros in your bank account and lots of clients in your waiting room, if that’s what you want. But if you believe that there is some truth to the Law of Attraction, as I do, telling yourself you’re something you’re not might help you create a future that’s just the opposite of what you want.

Why? Because when you think about yourself raking in the dough, or whatever, or you use affirmations to tell yourself that you are rich and successful and you’re not, your current reality intrudes and tells you otherwise. You start thinking about all of the reasons why you’re not the success you envision, the obstacles in your way, and so on, and your focus is then on “not having” and you attract more of that.

It comes down to the fact that deep down, you don’t (yet) believe that you can achieve that dream.

Since our beliefs create our reality, you’re better off envisioning something you can believe.

Instead of thinking about the results you want (e.g., new clients, money, fame, etc.) think about doing the activities that will bring about those results. See yourself in court, for example, delivering a closing argument. See yourself talking to prospective clients and telling them how you can help them.

If you believe you can do those things, you will attract cases that require you to go to court, and prospective clients who want to know how you can help them. And that’s how you will create your successful future.

Own your future. Just make sure you don’t break any laws along the way.

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Filed Under: Personal development, success Tagged With:

Give prospective clients a little somethin’ somethin’

March 16, 2016 by
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I found a video I was interested in watching but I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit 27 minutes out of my busy day. I could start it and see if it’s worth continuing, or I could save it for later, which is what I did, but I knew that “later” would probably never arrive.

I do the same thing with blog posts and articles. I can skim them, of course, and usually do, but my appetite is often bigger than my stomach and more often than not, I save blog posts and articles for later consumption. But I have hundreds of them saved for later and, you guessed it, more often than not, I don’t get around to them.

If you use content to market your legal services, and you should, you have to factor this dynamic into your strategy. Your target market is busy and while they may be interested in your topic, they may never get around to hearing what you have to say.

What do you do? The answer is simple. You issue a mix of long and short posts and videos.

Someone will watch a two minute video, for example, and see that you offer value. So when you post a 15 minute video or a 27 minute video, they are more likely to watch it. You’ve earned their attention and made it to their short list of approved content producers, aka, lawyers.

Short content allows you to offer people a taste of your wisdom and makes it more likely they’ll come back for more. It’s like the Chinese restaurant in the food court at the mall, handing out samples of tempura chicken on a toothpick. They give you a sample, you like it, so you order a complete meal.

They might spend $100 a day giving away free samples, and in return sell $1000 worth of additional meals.

Sampling works. Give people a taste of “you” and if they like you they’ll come back for more. If you’ve ever conducted a free consultation you know that most people who avail themselves of your offer will hire you.

Now, if offering short samples of your content and your advice work, how about offering samples of your actual services?

Think about all of the services you offer, and all of their component parts, and see if you can offer a sample. What could you offer at a discount or free?

Discounts? Free services? That’s crazy talk, right?

Give it some thought, will ya? Because investing $100 to earn an extra $1000 is a good thing in any business.

Marketing for attorneys who want to work smarter: here you go

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Is multiplying your income simply a matter of time?

March 15, 2016 by
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Okay, so your practice is a well-oiled machine. You have the staff you need, your marketing is working, and your income is growing. It’s only a matter of time before you reach your bigger goals, right?

Not necessarily.

You may see incremental growth–going from $100,000 to $300,000 over five or ten years, for example–but to go from $100,000 to two million dollars will probably require something more than the passage of time.

It takes a different set of skills, attitudes, and resources to develop a much bigger practice and while experience is a great teacher, it’s usually not enough. If it were, you would consistently see the majority of lawyers who have practiced for twenty years earning significantly more than the lawyers who have only practiced for ten.

We’ve all seen lawyers who rise to to the top of the earning pyramid in a few short years. How do they do it? They started out with, or developed, the skills, attitudes, and resources that made this possible.

If you want to grow, you have to do the same.

You can’t expect to “get big” if you essentially do the same things over and over. Repetition doesn’t necessarily lead to expertise.

You have to do things differently. And do different things. You have to get out of your comfort zone, and you have to be prepared to fail. In fact, failure is a big part of growth because if you’re not failing some of the time, you’re not taking enough chances.

Make a habit of embracing change. Continually ask yourself, “What can I do that I haven’t done before?” and “How can I do this differently?”

Because if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.

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Filed Under: Personal development

You’re good, but not at everything

March 14, 2016 by
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You’re smart. And good at what you do. But other people are better at some things and if you’re not hiring them or networking with them or letting them inform you through their books and presentations, you’re working too hard and limiting your growth.

I’m guilty of this myself. I do things I know are not my strengths, because I think I’m “good enough” or out of false economy (“I don’t need to pay someone to do that”). Or I fall into the trap of thinking, “It’s quicker if I do it myself.”

Even if that’s true, speed is not always paramount. Not for the long term, anyway.

There’s an old African saying on point. It says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Some say that TEAM (T.E.A.M.) is an acronym for “Together Everyone Achieves More”. No matter how good an individual is, no matter how much he or she can produce on their own, a team can produce more.

As Aristotle put it, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

What’s more, a team is more efficient because each individual doesn’t have to do their job and everyone else’s. You won’t have as much time or energy to try cases if you also do your own bookkeeping.

Whether you run your own practice or work for a firm or a company, you have a team. They may not be an employee, they may never have worked for you, in fact, but they’re out there, just a phone call away.

Think about all of the tasks that go into doing your job or running your practice. Some tasks should only be done by you. Many tasks, however, are best done by someone else.

Go find them and hire them. Or learn what they can teach you.

Earn more, work less: The Formula

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Filed Under: Leverage, Productivity, success Tagged With:

You’ve got to be a little abnormal

March 11, 2016 by
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In Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein asks Igor whose brain he gave him, which brain he had just transplanted into a very large and very agitated Gorilla.

Dr. Frankenstein: Whose brain was it?
Igor: Abby someone
Dr. Frankenstein: Abby someone. Abby who?
Igor: Abby. . . Normal

I’ll bet that’s how some people think lawyers are created.

Okay, no. Most lawyers are normal. Ridiculously normal. Bland and boring normal. And generally, that’s a good thing.

Society doesn’t want weird lawyers or crazy lawyers. We don’t want overly flamboyant lawyers or lawyers who say or do things that make us want to run and hide.

We may embrace the crazy in our celebrities, but not in our professionals.

And yet, a little bit of Abby Normal is a good thing in a lawyer.

It’s true.

If you don’t have something that makes you stand out, well then, you won’t stand out. And standing out is critical because if you don’t stand out, you don’t get chosen.

George Bernard Shaw said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

(Maybe we need to re-think this “reasonable man” thingy.)

Anyway, if you want to stand out, be unreasonable about some things. Not big things. Little things, like wearing bow ties, taking up an unusual hobby, or publicly advocating a controversial cause.

Find something that makes people see you as different. And then make the world adapt to you.

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Filed Under: Image
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