Building you law practice 90 days at a time

January 9, 2013 by
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Art Williams became a billionaire building an insurance company from scratch. One of the things he taught his organization was the power of short-term bursts of effort for building momentum. It can be difficult to maintain enthusiasm and stamina for a year, “but you can do anything for 90 days,” he said.

Williams built his business with a series of 90 day sprints. He put in all out effort for 90 days, never stopping or slowing down, and was so confident and excited about what he had accomplished, he was ready to do it again. I’ve gone on many 90-day runs in my different businesses. When you get laser-focused and work hard at something every day, momentum builds, your results compound, and it is truly amazing what you can accomplish.

Right now, you may spend just 15 or 30 minutes a day on marketing. You can accomplish big things that way, if you do it consistently. But imagine what you could accomplish if, for the next 90 days, you went crazy and worked on marketing two solid hours every day. Total immersion, total focus, total effort.

90 days from today is mid-April. We’ll be there in no time. You can go about your business the same as usual or you can go on a 90-day run.

Would it be worth it if you could double your client base? Get five more solid referral sources? Get your web site producing a steady stream of traffic and leads and prospective clients?

Where would you like to be in 90 days?

Let me help you map out your 90-day run. Click here to learn how.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With: ,

Law practice development tools: sports, museums, and hip hop

January 8, 2013 by
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I read a lot about marketing and productivity. That’s my field and I need to keep up. Most of what I read, however, is cumulative: things I know, things I already do and teach. There are occasional new twists on old ideas and changes in technology keep things fresh and interesting. But by and large, when you are an expert, unless you are doing original research, you already know what there is to know.

If you’ve been practicing for more than a few years, you may feel the same way about your area of expertise. Still, we read. There is always something new, something we can learn. But if we only read in our areas of expertise, eventually, we get stale.

I get some of my best ideas from reading about things that have nothing to do with marketing or the law. I read blogs and magazines and listen to radio. I talk to people in different fields. I pay attention to what’s going on in my neighborhood and in world politics. I’m not interested in sports but I know that Alabama just clobbered Notre Dame. I’ve never listened to Justin Bieber or One Direction but I know who they are.

I encourage you to read broadly, outside your field. Keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on around you, in sports and pop culture. Study history and economics. Listen to TED talks on science and psychology.

Alfred Whitehead, said, “Novel ideas are more apt to spring from an unusual assortment of knowledge – not necessarily from vast knowledge, but from a thorough conception of the methods and ideas of distinct lines of thought.”

The more diversity you have in your knowledge, the more ideas you will have and the more interesting you will be in conversation, in writing and speaking, and as a lawyer doing your job.

Would you like to earn more than you ever thought possible? Click here to find out how.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Presentations, Public Speaking, Writing

Why Bill Clinton wants to touch you

January 7, 2013 by
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Have you ever watched how Bill Clinton shakes hands. He doesn’t just clasp your right hand in his, he also touches your arm with his left hand. During the conversation, as he makes a point, he might reach out again to touch your arm or put his hand on your shoulder.

Clinton’s use of nonsexual touching is, arguably, one of the reasons people seem to like him so much. (No comments about his alleged use of other kinds of touching, however.)

According to psychologists, touch “can influence behavior, increase the chances of compliance, make the person doing the touching seem more attractive and friendly, and can even you help make a sale.”

Tests have shown that when touched, people are more likely to comply with requests, more likely to provide help, and more likely to buy. And touching more than once seems to increase these results.

Indiscriminate touching, however, could backfire. In a school or work place setting, any kind of touching could be misinterpreted. In some cultures, touching is generally less welcome than in others. And some individuals don’t like to be touched under any circumstances.

By and large, the rewards are probably worth the risks. Just use common sense when meeting someone new. A pat on the arm or the shoulder is probably safe. A lingering full body hug, probably not a good idea, even for Bill Clinton. Especially for Bill Clinton.

Earn more in 2013. Click here to learn more.

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Filed Under: Communication, Networking Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Who decides what’s fair when it comes to attorney fees?

January 4, 2013 by
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So a law firm hires a contract attorney to do document review in a big securities case. They pay the contract lawyer $50 an hour and bill their client $550 for that hour. Is that fair? One lawyer says, “Contract lawyers feel more like a cost that should be simply passed through to the client.”

What say you?

Me? I say that asking if it’s fair is asking the wrong question. Fairness is not the issue. The issue is, “What is the client willing to pay?” Isn’t that the basis of capitalism? Willing buyer and willing seller at arm’s length?

If the client agreed to pay $550 an hour and the work performed by the contract lawyer is of no lesser quality than expected, then who’s to say the client didn’t get its money’s worth? And who’s to say the firm isn’t entitled to make a profit on what they pay outside attorneys? Don’t they earn a profit on work performed by their employees?

Since this was a class action, a judge is being asked to approve legal fees. I’m sure he or she will consider many factors in making that determination. The mark up on contract lawyers shouldn’t be one of them.

You’ll earn more and have happier clients if you DON’T bill by the hour. Find out why and what to do instead in The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Legal industry Tagged With: ,

Private Coaching For Lawyers (New Year Special)

January 3, 2013 by
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Would you like some help getting the new year off to a good start? If so, I have a special offer for you.

It’s a private strategy session with me. You and I, on the phone, discussing your practice, your goals, and your marketing.

What will talk about? Well, what do you need help with most?

  • Your web site or blog (or how to start one)?
  • Choosing the right market(s)?
  • Setting goals? Clarifying priorities?
  • Networking, advertising, social media, speaking?
  • Building your list? Getting more traffic?
  • Getting more referrals?

During the call we will review what you are doing now, where you want to be this time next year, and how you are going to get there.

You can ask me anything. And if you don’t know what to ask, I’ll ask you questions and give you my advice.

Here’s the deal. . .

These sessions are normally $500 each.

As a special for the start of 2013, I’m offering a very limited number of “New Year strategy sessions” for the discounted price of $250 per session.

I’m limiting the number because (a) I expect there to be a boatload of interest right after the new year, and (b) I have many thousands of subscribers and limited time.

If you want to grab a slot, here’s what to do:

  1. Book your private strategy session by clicking here
  2. Email me with your contact information and let me know you paid to lock in a slot for one of these sessions.

I’ll email you back to confirm and to set up our call.

I look forward to helping you make 2013 your best year ever.

If you want to learn how to create a marketing plan that really works, click here.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, News Tagged With:

What’s the one thing you most want to accomplish this year?

January 2, 2013 by
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Just finished taking down the outside Christmas lights. Tis’ no longer the season.

Onward.

So, what’s next? You’re probably wondering that yourself.

You’ve got all these ideas and plans and goals for the new year but you’re overwhelmed. Too many options. Or, you don’t have any ideas, you just know you want things to improve but you don’t know how.

I know, it’s frustrating. But help is on the way. (Puts on cape and tights. . .).

First, relax. Take a deep breath and let it out. Everything is going to be okay.

Now, go for a long walk or a longer drive. I get some of my best ideas when I do that. It helps me think, or rather not think, and that’s when the most important thoughts bubble to the surface. Bring a digital recorder or smart phone app so you can record your pearls of wisdom.

Ask yourself this question: “If I could only accomplish one reasonably big goal this year, what would it be?”

It may be hard to choose only one goal, but you can do it. Pretend you’re Aladdin asking the Genie for one wish, what would it be? (No fair asking for ten more wishes. The Genie has counsel, too.)

I know you probably have lots of goals but if you think about it, most of them are sub-goals of another goal. If one of your goals is to launch or expand a web site or blog this year (an excellent goal, by the way), that’s probably tied into a bigger goal, that of increasing your income.

So let’s say your “one big goal” this year is to double your revenue. The web site is one of the ways you’ll do that.

There are lots of “rules” for writing effective goals, but here’s all you need to know for now: On January 2, 2014, if I ask you, ‘Did you reach your goal for 2013,’ you’ll be able to answer yes or no. You reached it or you did not.

With me? Good.

When you know the “one thing” you most want to accomplish this year, write it down.

Next, it’s idea time.

Grab a notebook or open a digital file and start brainstorming. Write down everything that comes to mind. Everything you can think of that might move you forward towards your one big goal. Edit nothing, eliminate nothing, write it all down. And if you already have an idea file or notebook, add the contents to this one.

It may take you a day or two to do this. That’s fine. In fact, this is something you should always be doing because there are always new ideas and new context.

Okay, so you have a goal and you have a bunch of ideas. What’s next?

Pick something. Just one thing from your list, something you can start today and finish today. It doesn’t matter what it is, just pick something and do it.

Tomorrow, I’ll ask you if you did it. I want you to be able to say, “Yes I did, thanks for asking”.

It feels good completing things and crossing them off your list. It feels good because when you accomplish things, a chemical reaction is triggered in the pleasure center of your brain. The more you accomplish (and the bigger the accomplishment) the bigger the “rush”.

Kinda like when you found out you passed the Bar exam.

You want to develop the habit of starting and completing tasks. Big ones and little ones. The more you do, the more you will want to do. In time, you’ll be addicted to that feeling. You’ll crave it, and as you satisfy that craving, you’ll get more and more done.

Nice, huh?

At some point, you’ll choose more important tasks and projects. (A project is something that takes more than one step.) You should work on no more than five or ten projects at any one time, by the way. Some will be long term, some will take you a few days, and some will wait.

The point of this isn’t to do it right, it’s to get started. You do that by knowing where you want to go and always keeping that in front of you. Like the destination on a map. “Here’s where I’m going.”

You take a step in the direction of your destination. Then another. Along the way, you cross off things you have done and eliminate those you have decided you’re not going to do (or do right now). It is a journey and there may be many detours along the way. As long as you know your destination, you can always get back on the road.

Your route (plan) may change. In fact, the plan you write today will almost never be the plan that gets you to your destination. Things change and so will your plan. That’s okay. Keep moving forward.

For growing your practice, I suggest you use the marketing plan module in The Attorney Marketing Formula. It will help you focus and help you get started.

You don’t need to figure out everything in advance. You just need to get started. Today would be a good day to do that.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How I made an extra fifty-two cents in 2012

December 31, 2012 by
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Yee-ha!

Amazon just notified me that I earned fifty-two cents when someone purchased something through my affiliate link. Big deal you say? You’re darn right it’s a big deal! Passive income is a very big deal.

I don’t get much from Amazon. That’s okay. I get thousands in passive income every month from other sources. It all averages out to a very sizable “extra” income.

I’m not a big affiliate marketer. You don’t see tons of links to affiliate products in my blog posts or emails. That’s because I’m very picky about what I recommend. It’s usually something I personally use.

All you need are a few high quality products or services (and a good list) and you can earn a decent extra income this way. Even six-figures.

Why am I telling you this? Because as you contemplate your plans and goals for 2013, one of the things you should be thinking about is how you can generate income from sources other than your legal services. You might create your own products. Or offer services outside of your core practice areas. Partner up with someone and offer their products or services. Or start your own business.

The simplest way to get started is to look at the products and services you have used in the past and could recommend to your list. If you think they’re good, why wouldn’t you recommend them to your clients, prospects and professional contacts? Regardless of whether they have an affiliate program or not.

I have an affiliate program for some of my products. I haven’t promoted it because I wanted to add more products first, which I will be doing shortly, but you can sign up now and promote The Attorney Marketing Formula and my Evernote ebook. Here’s the page to get more info on my affiliate program and instructions on how to sign up.

If you like my stuff, I will pay you to recommend it to your attorney friends. Post a link on your blog, mention it in your newsletter, or post a review on one of your linkedin or facebook groups.

Anyway, over the next few days, give some thought as to how you might add additional sources of income in the coming year. I’ll have more ideas to share in future posts.

By the way, The Attorney Marketing Formula comes with a free bonus module, “How to create a marketing plan that really works”. It will help you plan for 2013.

I wish you a very happy, and very prosperous New Year.

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Filed Under: Increase your income Tagged With: , ,

Do you know what your client knows?

December 28, 2012 by
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When I opened my first law office shortly after law school, I volunteered one day a week at a legal clinic. I got some experience dealing with real people and I got a few paying clients.

Most of those clients were family law related. I had filed a few uncontested divorces but knew nothing about the grittier aspects of family law. A friend of mine from law school was also working there and I told him I thought I was in over my head. He told me not to worry, the clients would point me in the right direction.

The clinic’s clients were poor, mostly women, and mostly those who had suffered through bad marriages and abusive husbands. They had first hand knowledge of the concept of “domestic violence”. They knew what it meant to get a restraining order. They knew what they had to prove because they had either gone through the process before or they knew women who had. Sure enough, they pointed me in the right direction. In fact, many of them brought the correct court forms with them.

I learned a lesson that day. I learned to never assume anything about what my client did or did not know. True, most clients don’t know what we lawyers do, but some do.

Today, because of the Internet, many prospective clients know a lot about the law. They read articles and blog posts. They chat with others in forums. They watch or listen to seminars. When you talk to them, it is dangerous to assume that they don’t know anything. But it is equally dangerous to assume that they do.

The best course is to make no assumptions. Ask questions and find out what they know:

  • Do you have any experience with this issue?
  • Have you talked to any other attorneys about this?
  • Is this your first claim?
  • What are you looking to accomplish?

Listen to their answers. Listen to their questions. Also, pay attention to what they don’t say and don’t ask.

Many prospective clients today have incorrect or incomplete information. They think they know the way things are and their expectations are based on what they “know”. This is when you have to be especially careful. You have to help them understand the ways things really are without making them look bad or feel embarrassed.

On the other hand, sometimes clients know things we don’t know. They’ve lived with an issue longer, dug a little deeper, found the loopholes. We must never assume that because we went to law school and they didn’t that we are right and they are wrong. If they can point you in the right direction, let them.

Never make assumptions about what your clients know. Or about what you know.

If you want to earn more in the new year, I can help you. Start here.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Personal development

Do you charge wealthier clients higher fees for the same work?

December 27, 2012 by
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the Staples website quotes different prices for the same merchandise based on where the user is located when he visits the site. Staples said this is based on how close the visitor’s location is to a competitor’s store and various costs of doing business, but it appears to also be based on the customer’s ability to pay.

In New York, for example, certain products are priced higher in the boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. By contrast, the same items sell in Brooklyn and Queens at a discount. These price differences come despite no more than 20 miles separating any two locations.

In other words, a Manhattan resident would save money on an item simply by driving to Queens and making the purchase there either online or through a mobile device.”

Apparently, this is not an uncommon practice among retailers.

It’s not illegal but is it “fair”? More importantly, is it smart business?

I think it is smart, and also fair. The retailer is entitled to charge whatever the market will bear. It’s called “free enterprise”. Where it gets dicey, however, is when customers learn about these practices and object to them. A retailer may win the pricing battle but lose the loyalty war.

Of course a savvy customer who knows about this practice might play the pricing game, logging onto web sites from different locations, to see which one gives him the lowest price.

Anyway, I got to thinking about this in terms of legal services. Is it smart business for a lawyer to charge different fees to different clients based on their ability to pay? From a business standpoint, I say why not?

If your clients don’t know (and there are no legal or ethical restrictions on doing so), why shouldn’t a lawyer be able to charge what the market will bear? Some attorneys routinely do precisely that. They size up a new client by their clothing or car or occupation and quote a fee commensurate with what they think that client can afford.

I can’t recall ever charging a client a higher fee because I thought he could afford it, but in looking back, had I thought about it, I probably would have. I sometimes charged clients lower fees, either because I wanted to help them out or because they were steady clients and I wanted to reward them for their allegiance. If there’s nothing wrong with this, there should be nothing wrong with charging some clients higher fees. Of course, by definition, charging some clients less means some clients are being charged more.

What do you think? Is there anything wrong with charging some clients more than others? Have you ever done it? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Getting ready for the new year? The Attorney Marketing Formula will show you what to do to make it a great year.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Fees and Billing, Law office management Tagged With: , ,

If J. Paul Getty were managing your law practice

December 21, 2012 by
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Billionaire J. Paul Getty, once described as the richest man in the world, wrote a book describing how he made his money. In “How to Be Rich,” he offered three keys to wealth:

  1. Be in business for yourself
  2. Have products in demand
  3. Multiply your efforts through other people

If you are self-employed or work for a firm that compensates you for helping the firm grow, you are “in business for yourself”. If you offer services your clients want and are willing to pay for, you have “products in demand.” And if you have employees, you are “multiplying your efforts through other people”.

But if J. Paul Getty were managing your law practice, he might point out that while you are doing the right things, you might not be doing them enough.

If you are doing any work in your practice that could be delegated to someone else, you’re losing money. You should do “only the work that only you can do” and delegate everything else, he would tell you. “I’d rather have one percent of the efforts of 100 people than 100 percent of my own efforts,” he said.

Once he had you leveraging the efforts of the people who work for you, I think Getty would turn his attention to the efforts of people who don’t work for you: your clients and professional contacts. They may not be getting a pay check from you but every one of them can help your practice grow.

The quickest path to “multiplying your efforts through other people” is to get more clients to send referrals.

Getty made most of his money in oil and understood the power of leverage. The more wells he drilled, the wealthier he got. Your clients are like oil wells. The more of them who refer, the wealthier you will become.

But Getty didn’t stop there. When he found a well that produced oil, he had his engineers look for ways to increase the yield from that well. He didn’t settle for a well that produced 100 barrels a day when that same well might product 200 barrels a day.

Your clients work the same way. If a client is sending you one referral a month, you should look for ways to get that client to send you two referrals a month.

If J. Paul Getty were managing your law practice, he would tell you there’s oil in your client and contact list and while you will hit many dry wells, if you drill enough, you will also hit some gushers.

Download The Attorney Marketing Formula to learn more ways to multiply your efforts and your income

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: ,
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