In marketing, WHEN someone reads your message may be more important than what it says

November 28, 2012 by
Share

It’s true. Timing is everything. To wit:

Two days ago, a business owner found out his biggest distributor is 120 days delinquent. If they don’t pay him, the business owner may not be able to pay his suppliers. He’s upset and wants to know what he can do to collect on the account. He is a prospect for your services.

He sees your ad and plans to call you. But first, he places a call to the distributor and talks to the accounts payable clerk. She assures him that they were having a temporary cash flow issue. This has been resolved and payment in full will be mailed in a few days. The two companies have done business for many years and the business owner is satisfied. He calms down. He doesn’t call you. He is no longer a prospect.

Yesterday, the business owner talks to a mutual friend who tells him he’s having the same problem with the distributor. In fact, he hasn’t been paid in over six months and has turned the account over to an attorney. Now our business owner is nervous. He can’t take any chances. He must take action. He is a very motivated prospect.

Just before he calls you, the owner of the other company calls him, apologizes, and tells him not to worry. He was indeed having a cash flow issue but he has just been approved for a loan and will have the funds within ten days. He promises to clear up his account. Our business owner is relieved. He didn’t want to take action against his biggest client. Ten days is acceptable. He doesn’t need a lawyer.

This morning, the business owner finds out that the distributor has just been indicted for fraud. He has been accused of running a Ponzi scheme for the last several years. He has stolen millions. Nobody is going to be paid, at least not without a fight. The business owner is desperate. He needs your help. Can he messenger over a check?

Timing truly is everything. Someone may be a prospect this morning, ready to write you a big check, and not interested this afternoon when his problem seems to be resolved.

Suppose our business story took place over a period of months, not days. And suppose our business owner saw your ad once, three months ago, when he didn’t need you, but didn’t see your ad today when he was ready to hire you?

This is why you continue to advertise, to mail, to network, to write. This is why you continually stay in touch with your list, reminding them that you are still there, still ready to help. Not once but over and over again. Not today but forever.

You never know when a prospect’s “buying window” will open or how long it will stay open. Keep your message in front of them. Stay in their minds and in their mailboxes because when their window opens, you want to be the one they see.

I’m being interviewed today. Join us (free) at 2pm PT and bring your attorney marketing questions.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services

The problem with multiple streams of income

November 27, 2012 by
Share

Smart people often counsel us to diversify our investments. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” they say. From an investment standpoint they’re probably right. If all your money is in gold or oil futures or a single stock and the market turns south, your losses could be catastrophic. But diversification has a dangerous side.

If you are building a law practice, buying a restaurant or another business that requires your time and mental energy is usually not a good idea. Buy (or start) another business only after your practice is at a point where you can devote some time to the business. Donald Trump made several fortunes in real estate before he branched out into other businesses. Donald Sterling made a bundle as a personal injury attorney before he turned to real estate and only years later to buying sports franchises.

Most people who try to build two businesses simultaneously usually fail to achieve great success in either. Perhaps that’s why Mark Twain said, “Put all of your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.”

Yes, I started my attorney marketing business while I was still practicing. It was the kind of business that only required a few hours a week at first, to see if I could make a go of it. Once I did, I began shutting down my practice as I ramped up the new business. After a couple of years, the marketing business was running smoothly. I had competent staff who were taking care of the day-to-day operations and the demands on my time were minimal. At that point, I started another business. Again, just a few hours a week at first.

Today, I own two successful businesses. I would never have been successful in my practice or businesses had I tried to build them at the same time.

Okay, you get this. You wouldn’t lose focus and try to build two businesses simultaneously. But a lot of attorneys do exactly that and they don’t even know it.

When you try to build a family law practice, for example, and you also handle personal injury, you’re building two businesses simultaneously. Each practice area is different. Each has it’s own rhythm and culture. Referral sources are different. The judges are different. Marketing is different.

Some practice areas compliment each other. Many don’t. Put all your eggs in one basket and let the world know that you have the finest eggs available.

If you want help in choosing the right basket, get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Specializing

Marketing is easier when you use leverage

November 26, 2012 by
Share

As I mentioned last week, this Wednesday, at 2 pm PT, I’m being interviewed and you’re invited. Among other things, I’ll be talking about my latest marketing course, The Attorney Marketing Formula.

One of the themes throughout The Attorney Marketing Formula is leverage–getting bigger results out of the same effort. A simple example of leverage in marketing a law practice is the use of forms and checklists. You invest time to memorialize a process and then use that process over and over again, saving you lots of time, reducing errors, and impressing the hell out of your clients who see how remarkably well organized you are.

Another example of leverage is focusing on your current and former clients as a source of repeat business and referrals in preference to other ways of seeking new clients. There are much lower costs associated with marketing to people who already know, like, and trust you, and much better results. Even if someone can’t hire you again right now, and doesn’t know anyone they can refer, there are other ways they can help you. They can send traffic to your web site through social media, for example, or forward your email to their friends and colleagues.

A marketing joint venture with professionals and business owners to get exposure to their lists is another form of leverage. If you’re a small business attorney, for example, you could get together with an accountant, a tax lawyer, a commercial insurance broker, and a financial planner. Each of you contributes a report, article, audio, or video, and the four of you send (or offer) this collection to your lists. Or, you can put together a bundle of services for the small business owner, with discounts and/or free services from each of you, and offer this bundle to your lists.

Anyway, I hope you’ll join us on Wednesday and bring your questions. I’m looking forward to speaking with you!

Save an extra $10 on The Attorney Marketing Formula through 5 pm PT tonight, November 26th. Use discount code “thankful”.

Share
Filed Under: Client loyalty, Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, News, Productivity Tagged With:

Get your attorney marketing questions answered next week (video interview)

November 21, 2012 by
Share

Next week, I will be interviewed by attorney Mitch Jackson on his Spreecast channel. The subject: The Attorney Marketing Formula, the course that teaches you how to earn more than you ever thought possible.

Please join us at 2 pm Pacific time on Wednesday, November 28. The event is free and open to everyone. Bring your marketing questions and I’ll answer them live on video. Or, if you can’t make it, send me your questions in advance. The show will be recorded and you can watch later.

Register here, or just bookmark the link to watch the replay.

If you don’t yet have a copy of The Attorney Marketing Formula, you can save an extra $10 through the Thanksgiving weekend. Use discount code “thankful” (without quotes). This promotion runs through Monday, November 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm Pacific.

I appreciate you and look forward to seeing you next week. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have something special planned.

The Attorney Marketing Formula is way better than a 40-inch TV. Save an extra $10 with discount code “thankful”.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services, News Tagged With: , , ,

What percentage of your income do you re-invest in your law practice?

November 20, 2012 by
Share

I started my law practice with a few thousand dollars for rent, furniture, stationery, and a typewriter. It was a drop in the bucket compared to what I spent over the years to grow and expand that practice.

Like any business, I took a percentage of net income and re-invested it. A bigger office, more employees, marketing. How about you? How much do you re-invest in your practice, and in what are you investing?

  • CLE
  • Law library, form files
  • Technology, equipment, furnishings
  • Employees/outsourced help
  • Employee training
  • Human Resources
  • Web site/blog
  • Marketing/Client Relations
  • Advertising
  • Personal development/training
  • Risk management/insurance/compliance
  • Office management/HR
  • Bookkeeping, billing, accounting, collections
  • Investments/retirement planning

A law practice is a business. If you don’t re-invest in your business to stimulate and support its growth, your business will decay and eventually die.

Some of these categories are more important than others, and deserve a bigger investment of your time and money. One of these categories, however, is much more important than the others.

Which category do you think I would say is number one?

Nope, marketing is second. Number one is personal development. If you get that right, you will understand the vital role that marketing plays, you will commit to making it a priority, and you will get better results. You’ll also do a better job of handling all of the other categories.

Growing your practice starts with growing yourself.

If you’re ready to make marketing a priority, you need to master the six key strategies in The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development

All lawyers market their services, although some don’t realize it

November 19, 2012 by
Share

I got an email from an attorney who wanted to hire someone to do all of her marketing for her. She said she’s “not good at marketing and not interested in it.” She doesn’t realize it but she’s already engaged in marketing. Every lawyer is.

Every time you say thank you to a client or referral source, you’re marketing.

Every time you hand someone you business card and ask for theirs, you’re marketing.

Every time you have a meal with someone, you’re marketing.

You may be doing it poorly, or getting poor results, but it’s marketing nevertheless.

Marketing is defined as, “everything you do to get and keep clients”. Key word–“everything”. All of the little things you say and do, the warmth of your handshake, the sincerity of your smile. It all counts.

You do yourself an injustice when you conclude that marketing is something you can hand off to someone else.

You can hire people to assist you. They can do most of the behind the scenes work. They can advise you, create your ads, run your blog, and promote your seminars. They can set up meetings with people on your behalf.

But you have to be at those meetings.

Building a law practice means building relationships and that’s not something that can be delegated.

If this is an anathema to you, if you are terminally shy or you just don’t like people, you’ll be a lot happier finding a partner who is good at what you don’t enjoy. Let him or her be the face of the firm, while you do what you’re good at.

But guess what? You’ll still be marketing.

Every time you say thank you to a client, you’re marketing. Every time you give someone your card and ask for theirs, or have a meal with someone, you’re marketing.

You can’t escape. Everything means everything.

If you want to improve your marketing, you should read (and apply) The Attorney Marketing Formula. 

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

Would you hire you?

November 16, 2012 by
Share

If I was interviewing you for a job working for my law firm, one thing I would evaluate is your attitude. What would I see in you?

Is it:

  1. “I’ll try.” Hmm, not too promising. It’s better than, “I won’t try,” but not much. Was this your attitude when you enrolled in law school? How about when you got married? Sorry, I’m looking for someone with a stronger commitment to success.
  2. “I’ll do my best.” Ah, much better. But what if your best isn’t good enough? Will you put your ego aside and ask for help? Will you work hard to improve your skills? Will you make your best even better?
  3. “I’ll do whatever it takes.” Now that’s the attitude I’m looking for. It tells me you’ll work hard, stay late and come in early. You’ll do what is expected of you and a lot more. You won’t let obstacles get in your way, you’ll overcome them. I can count on you to do the job and stick around for the long haul. If you’re willing to do whatever it takes, I’m willing to invest in you.

When someone’s attitude says they’ll try, what they’re really saying is that if they don’t like it, or it’s too hard, or they find something they like better, they’re going to quit. Yes, that could be true of anyone, but when you start out with that attitude, it does not bode well for your future. Why should I choose you when someone else has a much better attitude?

An employer–or a spouse, law partner, or business partner–is looking for commitment. They’re looking for someone who will do, “whatever it takes” to make their relationship a success.

So, take a look in the mirror. What is your attitude towards your legal career? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to be successful?

Would you hire you?

If you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make your practice a success, you need The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Increase your income, Personal development, success Tagged With:

Corporations don’t hire lawyers, people do

November 15, 2012 by
Share

I was asked for marketing advice for a law firm whose clients are, “. . .legal entities, not individuals.” My response was that the process is essentially the same.

When your prospective client is a business entity you may have to do presentations and fill out RFP’s, and there are probably more decision makers and a longer time line, but in the end, it’s still people talking to people.

You find out what they want and show them how you can help them. You earn their trust, answer their questions, and prove that you can deliver. It’s more formal, but it’s still people with problems talking to people who offer solutions.

Yes, there are other differences but they are minor and you should not get hung up on them. Stay focused on courting the individuals who make hiring decisions, and the people who advise them. Corporations don’t hire lawyers, people do.

The Attorney Marketing Formula works no matter who your clients are. Find out more here.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Evernote search just got easier. Well, sorta

November 14, 2012 by
Share

Although I use it extensively, I don’t write much about technology. One reason is that by the time I’m up to speed on a new piece of software or hardware, it’s usually old news. One exception is Evernote, my favorite tech tool.

I’ve written before about how I use Evernote for everything from note taking to writing to managing all of the information in my personal and professional life. I also use it for Getting Things Done (GTD).

In fact, so great is my love for Evernote, I wrote a book about it: Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide to Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity.

I included in the book’s resources an extensive list of Evernote’s “Search Operators”–the syntax used by Evernote to find notes. These search operators are powerful but can be difficult to remember, so many of us use “Saved Searches,” another Evernote feature that comes in handy, especially with complex searches. But Saved Searches don’t help when you’re looking for something for the first time.

I just found an alternative that looks promising. BitQwik is free software (for PC’s and Mac’s that can run Windows) that serves as a front end portal for searching your Evernote database using natural language. That is, you don’t have to remember precise search operators to find something. Instead, you can use a regular query, much like you would ask Siri.

Here are some examples, from the BitQwik web site:

  • “Show me notes created between May 1st and March 15 that are tagged with robotics, surgical robots, or telepresence”
  • “I want notes sent to me via the E-mail gateway”
  • “Find my encrypted notes that have the words financial data or private in the title but leave out notes I created yesterday”
  • “Give me notes with pictures from Skitch”

I usually find notes in Evernote by browsing tags and using a few simple search operators. But as my database has grown to over 5,000 notes, I find myself relying more on search, and BitQwik looks like it might be just what the doctor ordered.

I just downloaded BitQwik, so I don’t have a lot to report just yet. If it pans out, I could see Evernote adopting this technology, and that would be great because I don’t like the idea of using yet another piece of software. But I’m not holding my breath because everything Evernote does has to work on ten platforms, not just one, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

If you’ve tried BitQwik, let me know what you think. You can add your comments below, or join me on the Evernote Forum.

Get your copy of Evernote for Lawyers. Unless you don’t want to be organized and productive.

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What your veterinarian can teach you about marketing legal services

November 13, 2012 by
Share

A couple of weeks ago, our cat had a thorn stuck in his paw and was limping. We took Seamus to a new vet, someone we’ve never visited before. She removed the thorn and gave us antibiotics for the infection. She called a few days later (personally) to ask how Seamus was doing. (He’s fine.)

Did the vet call to protect herself against possible liability? I’m sure that’s part of it. Would she have called if we had come in for a check-up and nothing was wrong? I don’t know. What I do know is that getting that call meant a lot to us.

When your clients leave your office, do you call to find out if they’re okay? You should.

See how they’re doing. See if they have any questions. See if there’s anything else you can do for them. And while you’re at it, thank them again for choosing you as their attorney.

Do this yourself if possible. At the very least, have someone from your office call. It only takes a minute and yes, you can leave a voice mail.

If you want to convert a first time client to a lifetime client, you need to get the little things right. In a professional practice, the little things are the big things.

Marketing legal services is simple, if you know The Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »