David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

I just met you, and this is crazy. But here’s my number. . .

July 31, 2015 by David M. Ward

You just met someone. You give them your card. Then what? What do you do?

Do you tell them to call you? Do you give them a reason to do it? Something you’re going to share with them, or something you want to discuss with them?

Or do you leave follow-up to them?

Okay, maybe it’s too soon to call. Fine. Tell them to go to your website, to see an article you think they’ll be interested in, or a checklist they can fill out, or to download a report that covers the topic you’ve been discussing with them.

Because if they see that article or download that report, they will be one step closer to knowing what you do and how you can help them or the people they know.

Tell them what to do. Give them a reason to do it. Don’t leave it up to them. Don’t say maybe.

Too aggressive? Nah. You’re telling them about something that might benefit them. If they don’t want it, they won’t do it.

By the way, what’s on your card anyway? I see some attorneys make the mistake of not putting their website and email on their card. Why? I don’t know. Maybe they don’t have a website or use email, and if that’s true, that’s an even bigger mystery.

Hello, is this on?

But then making it easy for people to find out more about you and how you can help them is only one of the reasons we carry cards, and it’s not the most important one.

It’s not? No. The most important reason for giving someone your card is to get their card. So you can contact them. Because it’s your practice, not theirs, and marketing and following-up with people you meet is your responsibility. It’s also your best bet for turning a one-time meeting into new business.

So, I just met you, and this isn’t crazy. Here’s my card, may I have yours, so I can call you or send you something?

Filed Under: Business cards, Communication, Marketing legal services, Networking, Online Marketing, Relationship marketing

Be different or be gone

July 30, 2015 by David M. Ward

Albert Einstein said, “The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.”

Most lawyers don’t want to walk alone. They don’t want to stand out. They do what other lawyers do, read what other lawyers read, and do what other lawyers do. They even look like other lawyers look.

And that’s why the average lawyer is just average.

If you want to be better than average, if you want to earn a bigger income or leave a bigger mark on the world, you can’t do what everyone else does. You have to be different.

You can’t network in all the same places most lawyers network. You can’t write what they write, say what they say, or do what they do. When they zig, you need to zag.

You often hear me say that you need to tell the world (clients, prospects, referral sources, etc.) how you are better than other lawyers, or how you are different. You have to differentiate yourself and give the world a reason to notice you and choose you.

You don’t have to be a radical, or a visionary. Just different.

Speak out about something. Join a group. Or start one.

Change something about how you do your work. Or change your appearance.

Move away from the mainstream and follow your own path.

Do things other lawyers don’t do and you will go places other lawyers don’t go.

Learn how to differentiate yourself

Filed Under: Image, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, success

Calling all note-taking junkies–come and get your fix

July 29, 2015 by David M. Ward

Who knew?

I had no idea how many different note-taking methods there were. Different methods for different styles and a variety of situations, from classroom to courtroom and everyone in between. And then I read a blog post, The Ultimate Guide to Note-Taking, which I heartily recommend to you.

Even if you’re not a note-taking fanboy or girl, or looking for something different from what you currently use to record notes or ideas, you’re bound to find something you can use.

The postÂ presents a wide variety of note-taking methods, including the traditional outline/list method we first learned in grade school, visual methods like mind maps and charts, the Cornell method, and more. The author first demonstrates a paper version of each method, and suggests how it might be adapted for digital.

I think we all develop our own methods of taking notes. I know I did, first in law school, and then in depos and court. For the latter, I would write down what a witness said, what I thought about what they said, and notes to myself about what to ask in cross or what to look into when I got back to the office. I used abbreviations and visual marks to identify notes to zero in on when I later reviewed them.

I do something similar when I’m listening to a presentation or in a business meeting.

I’m going to study this blog postÂ to see how I can use some of these methods for recording tasks and projects and for taking notes on books and blogs.

If you want to talk nerdy to me, check it out and let me know what you think.

Filed Under: Communication, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: note taking

Getting the right things done

July 28, 2015 by David M. Ward

Venture capitalist Mark Suster has a rule he lives by that helps him be more productive and successful. The rule: “Do Less. More.”Â It means doing fewer things overall, and getting the right things done. “Success often comes from doing a few things extraordinarily well and noticeably better than the competition,” he says.

Richard Koch, author of The 80/20 Principle, says, “Everyone can achieve something significant. The key is not effort, but finding the right thing to achieve. You are hugely more productive at some things than at others, but dilute the effectiveness of this by doing too many things where your comparative skill is nowhere near as good.”

Koch also says, â€œFew people take objectives really seriously. They put average effort into too many things, rather than superior thought and effort into a few important things. People who achieve the most are selective as well as determined.â€

So, what do you do better than most? What should you focus on? I asked this question in an earlier post:

Look at your practice and tell me what you see.

Practice areas: Are you a Jack or Jill of all trades or a master of one? Are you good at many things or outstanding at one or two?

Clients: Do you target anyone who needs what you do or a very specifically defined â€œideal clientâ€ who can hire you more often, pay higher fees, and refer others like themselves who can do the same?

Services: Do you offer low fee/low margin services because they contribute something to overhead or do you keep your overhead low and maximize profits?

Fees: Do you trade your time for dollars or do you get paid commensurate with the value you deliver?

Marketing: Do you do too many things that produce no results, or modest results, or one or two things that bring in the bulk of your new business?

Time: Do you do too much yourself, or do you delegate as much as possible and do â€œonly that which only you can doâ€?

Work: Do you do everything from scratch or do you save time, reduce errors, and increase speed by using forms, checklists, and templates?

Leverage is the key to the 80/20 principle. It is the key to getting more done with less effort and to earning more without working more.

Take some time to examine your practice, and yourself. Make a short list of the things you do better than most and focus on them. Eliminate or delegate the rest.

Do Less. More.

ThisÂ will help with getting the right things done

Filed Under: Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity, success Tagged With: focus, the 80/20 principle, the 80/20 rule, the pareto principle

Another “fee raising” success story

July 24, 2015 by David M. Ward

I spoke to another attorney yesterday who told me that, at my urging, he increased his fees approximately 40% and has received no resistance. His fees were low to begin with, he said, but this has emboldened him to increase his fees even further.

He said the top of the market is still 70% higher than his new fee, and we talked about what he would need to do to justify another increase.

You don’t have to be the top of the market, I told him, but you should at least be in the top one-third to 20%.

But don’t be so quick to dismisss “top of the market” fees. Why couldn’t you be the most expensive guy in town?

You could. The question is how.

Much of marketing is about perception. To some extent, you’re worth more because you say you are. Who’s to say any different?

Your lower-priced competitors, you say? See, that’s where you’re missing the boat. There is no competition at the top of the market. It’s at the lower 80% of the market where everyone does pretty much the same thing and competes on price and good looks.

If you’re mucking about in steerage, you’ll never maximize your potential.

But there is a limit to how much more you can charge simply because you want to charge more.Â You’ve got to find something you do better or different than other lawyers, and make that a point of differentiation.

One way to do that is to specialize not only in the services you offer but the clients for whom you perform those services. Choose a niche market to target, focus on it, and groom yourself to become the “go to” lawyer in that niche.

There are big advantages to this strategy. Besides being able to charge higher fees, marketing is easier and more effective. Instead of networking with or advertising to “anyone” who might need your services or be able to refer clients, for example, you can concentrate your efforts on marketing exclusively to prospective clients and referral sources in your niche market.

That’s what this attorney said he will do.

He’ll save time, spend less on advertising (if not eliminate it completely), and develop a name for himself in his niche.

Word of mouth travels fast in niche markets. By next year at this time, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he has indeed become the “go to” lawyer in his market.

Learn more about niche marketing, with this

Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Image, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Networking, Specializing Tagged With: Niche marketing, target marketing

One step forward, two-steps back?

July 23, 2015 by David M. Ward

A tax resolution firm is running a radio ad featuring one of their satisfied clients. He says he hadn’t filed a return since 1990 and the IRS had finally caught up with him and demanded $68,000 in back taxes.

I don’t know how he could ONLY owe $68,000 after 25 years, but that’s his story. He couldn’t pay it and didn’t know what to do.

Enter the tax firm.

They did what they do, and helped him eliminate most of his indebtedness.

Here’s the problem.

As he tells his story, he laughs gleefully at his good fortune. Twice. Like he got away with something. His story, and especially his attitude, suggest to listeners that we’re all suckers for paying our taxes.

I can imagine prospective customers listening to this spot and intentionally calling another firm because it looks like this firm isn’t helping good people who fell on hard times, it’s helping irresponsible people get away with irresponsible behavior.

That’s the sub-text.

They could have conveyed the message thatÂ they know what they’re doing and can help you with IRS problems, without the negative sub-text, had they portrayed the client as “relieved” and “thankful” instead of flippant and irresponsible.

They shouldn’t have mentioned 25 years of unfiled returns, just that he’d fallen behind and couldn’t pay $68,000 the IRS said he owed. And they shouldn’t have had him laugh. Twice.

Obviously, the ad is working because the firm keeps running it. But how much better might it work if they madeÂ the client more sympathetic?

Filed Under: Advertising, Communication, Copywriting, Image

Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat

July 22, 2015 by David M. Ward

I’m going to write a blog post today and show you my process. I want you to see how simple it is, and how quickly it can be done.

While I was out shopping with my wife yesterday, I thought about two of our neighbors who have just repainted their houses and wondered how they chose their painters. I remembered how we chose our painter, Mr. Kim, the last time we repainted, and wrote down the topic for today, in Evernote. This morning, on my walk, I came up with the Bullwinkle-inspired title for this post.

When I got to my desk, I wrote down the topic, and set a timer for five minutes. I started the timer and wrote, without stopping. When the timer sounded, I had written 253 words for the first draft.

I set aside the first draft for a few minutes, came back and wrote what you’re reading now. I spent a few more minutes editing the first draft. The final version of the post, not including what you’re reading now, is 340 words.

This post isn’t brilliant. I made a good point, and made it interesting, I think, by referencing a personal anecdote.

Total writing time today, approximately 15 minutes. And I’m done for the day.

So, here’s the post:

====
WATCH ME PULL A RABBIT OUT OF MY HAT

Two of my neighbors just repainted their houses. As I watched the painters working, I thought about the last time we repainted and how Mr. Kim and his brother did such a good job for us. He put on two coats, and this has lasted a good ten years or more. I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that our neighbors had one coat done and will have to repaint again in a few years.

The Kim brothers were very thorough, clean as a whistle, and very low priced. When we paint again, we’ll use them again.

I found the Kim brothers through my former secretary. Her husband is a meticulous shopper, very detailed oriented, and drives a hard bargain. He was a banker for most of his career, so I guess this isn’t surprising. He did a lot of research before hiring the Kim brothers and told us how happy he was with them. Good enough for me.

Friends ask friends for referrals. Especially with expensive purchases. We depend on referrals because they save us time and money and help us avoid the risk of making a bad choice. This is true for finding a contractor, or a lawyer.

I thought, what if I had been referred to the Kim brothers not by my secretary’s husband but by a lawyer I had hired. I’d be grateful to that lawyer for his help and I would assume he could help me with other referrals, to other contractors, businesses, and professionals. I’d go back to him when I needed aÂ referral, and when I needed a lawyer again, he’s the one I would call. Â I’m sure I would refer clients to him, too.

The point is, every lawyer should make a point of being a resource for their clients and prospects. They should go out of their way to seek out high quality businesses and professionals and recommend them. Their clients will be happy, hire them again when they need them, and send them referrals. So will the businesses and professionals he or she recommends.

Want more referrals? Go find a good painter you can refer.

Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters, Referral sources, Referrals, Writing

How to increase your income ten-fold

July 21, 2015 by David M. Ward

What would I have to do to increase my income ten-fold?Â That’s aÂ question you should ask yourself periodically.

Yesterday, I did a consultation with an immigration lawyer and asked him a similar question. We were talking about his fees and I said, “With your experience and reputation, you could probably triple your fees, right now, and get it, no questions asked. Who’s to say you’re not worth three times what you now charge? What you need to do is figure out how you could increase your fees ten-fold. What would you have to do? How would you have to package your services in order to get that?”

Because he could. Because you can, too. The challenge is to figure out how.

Okay, too much to ask? I’ll ask a different question that might make you more comfortable. “What would you have to do to increase your income ten-fold in the next year?” The answer would entail a combination of increasing fees and getting more clients, yes?

Good stuff.

I heard an interview with an author recently who said his goal was to increase his income ten-fold within the next year. His plan calls for a combination of writing more books and selling more of them (marketing).

Will he reach his goal? I don’t know. But I do know that as a result of thinking this way, he’s bound to increase his income, undoubtedly much more than he would if he didn’t ask “how”.

Ten fold is big. But not impossible. You have to ask questions like this. It’s no fun to ask, “How could I increase my income five percent?” Snore.

So, what would you have to do to increase your income ten-fold? What new services would you offer? What new (higher-priced) markets would you target? What would you have to do to increase your fees? What would you have to do to get more traffic to your website, viewers of your ads, or attendees at your seminars? What would you do to get more referrals?

Think. And maybe you’ll grow rich.

How to increase your income ten-fold: GoÂ here

Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Goal Setting, Increase your income, Inspiration, Law office management, Marketing legal services

What to write when you don’t know what to write

July 20, 2015 by David M. Ward

“I don’t know what to write.” “I’ve said it all before.” “What I have to say is boring to most people.” “I’m not a good writer.”

This is what many lawyers tell themselves. These are the reasons they offer for not writing to their clients and prospects.

No articles, no blog, no emails. Or very few and far between.

Have you avoided setting up a newsletter or blog because you don’t think you have anything to say? I’m talking to you.

Yes, time is a factor. But you’re smart enough to know that it’s worth finding 30 minutes a week if it means bringing in several new clients per month.

No, if you’re not writing, it’s probably because you don’t think you have anything to say.

You know what? You might be right. You may not know what to say and you may not be a good writer. But it doesn’t matter. If you don’t know what to write, write anything.

You don’t have to be brilliant. You can write something that’s “just okay”.

Why? Because building a digital relationship with your clients and prospects isn’t about information or elegance, it’s about engagement.

It’s not what you say or how you say it that’s paramount. It’s that you said something.

You showed up in their life again, reminding them that you’re still practicing and still interested in knowing them. You shared an idea or observation, or shared something about your practice or your personal life. You asked for their feedback, and asked them to tell you how they are doing.

You don’t need to be brilliant, or even good. You just need to show up regularly and say hello.

Tell them something you did this week, or something you thought. Tell them about a website or book you recommend. Tell them about an interesting case or client you have, or one that another lawyer told you about.

A few paragraphs, once a week, is enough to maintain your relationship.

But here’s what happens.

You keep doing it and your writing gets better. And faster.

You find more interesting things to say, and better ways to say them. You start to enjoy writing, and you look forward to it, especially when you see how it is helping your practice grow.

You don’t have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good.

Here’s what you need to start your newsletter or blog

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Writing