David M. Ward – Page 59

Are you working too much, or too little?

October 14, 2022 by David M. Ward

No, it’s not just about how much time you put in, it’s about the results you get and how happy you are about them

You may be killing it with a four-day (or four-hour) work-week. Or you may be working like a dog and barely keeping up with inflation.

It’s not just about the amount of time you spend doing what you do. But clearly, time is a factor.

Which is why I suggest you track how you spend it. Not just your work-day or billable hours. All of your time.

For one week, write down everything you do and for how long you do it. How you spend your 24.

You might learn some very useful (and surprising) things about yourself, some of which could be invaluable.

You might learn that you spend a lot of time doing things that contribute little (or nothing) to your income and/or well-being.

I don’t goof off that much, you say? Yeah, that’s what I said.

You might find you spend 90 minutes to do something that shouldn’t take more than an hour. I did that, too.

Tracking your time will help you prioritize that time and focus on what’s important and aligned with your goals.

You might see how much time you spend looking over the shoulders of your employees or outside vendors, time you could use doing other things. Or you might see how much time you spend doing things yourself that could be delegated to someone else.

Track your time for a week. You might not like what you find, or believe some of it. But the numbers don’t lie.

And admitting the truth is the first step towards change.

Even if this exercise allows you to “only” reclaim ten minutes a day, that’s an extra hour per week you can spend as you see fit.

Which is why you should consider doing this exercise regularly, perhaps once or twice a year.

Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management

Ask this question before you decide

October 13, 2022 by David M. Ward

You’re thinking about doing something for your practice. Something that will take time and resources away from something else. You see the benefits of starting a blog or newsletter, for example, but you’re not sure if you want to commit to it.

But it could be anything. Hiring a new clerk, using a new app, moving your office, offering a new service, or reducing your work hours.

Whatever it is, before you decide, ask yourself, What’s the hidden benefit?

You know the primary benefit. If you start a blog or newsletter, you’ll be able to bring in more clients. The hidden benefit is that it will make you a better writer, and a faster writer, which can help you in all aspects of your marketing and legal work.

Maybe you’re thinking about recording a podcast or videos. The benefit is that you will be able to connect with your audience more deeply because they’re not just hearing your words, they’re hearing your voice.

The hidden benefit is that you will improve your oral presentation skills, making you better from the stage, in interviews, and in the courtroom.

Another example.

You’re thinking about rejecting a small case. The benefit is that you won’t have to invest valuable time doing something with a small payoff.

The hidden benefit might be that you will learn about a new industry or market, or meet other professionals in that market, leading to a lot of bigger cases and clients.

Okay, one more.

You’re thinking about sharing my website and newsletter with other lawyers. The benefit is that you’ll strengthen your relationship with them, making them more likely to share marketing ideas with you and possibly willing to send you more referrals.

The hidden benefit is that by helping them learn how to get more clients, they will have more clients they can refer.

Before you decide to do something, or not do it, always ask, “What’s the hidden benefit?”

Because the hidden benefit might turn a no into a yes or a someday into today.

How to use a newsletter to build your practice

Filed Under: Law office management, success

Maybe you should charge for that free consultation

October 12, 2022 by David M. Ward

People associate value with price. So when you offer something free, like a report or a consultation, they might think it is has less value, or, with a consultation, nothing more than a sales pitch for your services.

If they do, they might decline your offer and never become a prospect. Or they might download your report information but, because it is free, either never get around to reading it or never taking it serious enough to take the next step.

Should you charge for these things instead?

Maybe.

If someone pays hundreds of dollars to consult with you, or even $10 for your book, they are more lkely to read or listen to your information or advice and are thus more likely to sign up as a client.

Paying makes them a better prospect because they pay attention and know more about their problem and your solutions. They also get a sense of what it would be like to have you as their attorney.

But there’s a tradeoff. Fewer people will buy your book than will download a free report. Fewer people will pay to talk to you than will avail themselves of a free consultation.

But maybe that’s a good thing.

You’ll have fewer prospects but probably sign up a higher percentage as paying clients. And those clients are likely to be better clients because they’ve already heard some of your advice and found it valuable enough to pay for more.

On the other hand, a much bigger list of prospects with whom you can stay in touch (via email, letters, social media, etc.) is a very cost-effective way to bring in a lot more business.

For most attorneys, especially those who target consumers and small business clients, I suggest giving away lots of free information and using it to build a list. Best bang for your buck.

I suggest you also write a book and sell it because being an author gives you a level of authority most attorneys don’t have (and you get paid for leads.)

Free consultations aren’t right for every practice. But if you’re in a competitive market where they are common, not only do you probably need to offer them to stay in the running, you should consider making your consultation much more valuable than what other lawyers offer, e.g., more time, more information, and other benefits (a free copy of your book, for example), and promoting the heck out of it.

Just some thoughts to make your life more complicated but also more remunerative.

Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Marketing. Me no likey.

October 11, 2022 by David M. Ward

“I hate marketing. I’m not good at it. I don’t know what I’m doing.“

Can you relate?

Lot of lawyers do.

How do I find prospects? Get them to visit my website? Get them to make an appointment?

How do I convince anyone to hire me when there are so many other lawyers who do what I do?

Everyone tells you to read books and blogs and take courses or watch videos and you’ll learn what to do.

Which is true. But it’s only part of the answer.

And if you do nothing but reading, you might make things worse because the more you read, the more you start thinking there’s too much to do and you don’t want to do any of it.

Instead of “learn, then do,“ I suggest you “do, then learn.“

You don’t learn and get motivated and then do it. You do it, and that gives you the motivation and teaches you what you need to know to get better at doing it.

And forget about trying to do “marketing”. Forget making a plan. Put your spreadsheets away. Just do something.

Write an article or an email. Or a list of bullet points for a presentation or for your bio.

It doesn’t have to be long. Or good. You don’t have to show it to anyone yet. Or ever.

This is what I did when I first embarked on this journey. I started small and gave myself permission to do a terrible job.

And found out it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually pretty good.

And then I did something else, and that wasn’t terrible, either.

One foot in front of the other. Before you know it, you get some results. Positive feedback. Clicks. Sign-ups. Clients. Repeat business. Referrals.

Forget marketing. Just bring in some clients.

A good place to start

Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing Plan

Color or black and white?

October 10, 2022 by David M. Ward

Color helps convey mood, graphics direct the eye and explain the message, and other visual elements also have important jobs to do, which is why every website, PowerPoint slide, and email are infused with them.

And that’s part of the reason I stick primarily with black and white.

In a world of color, it’s easier to stand out when your message is black and white. The same is true of layout and other visual elements. Our minds tend to lump together things that look alike, and notice things that don’t.

If you want prospects and email subscribers to think of your email as a commercial message, “more of the same advertising and promotions” they see from every attorney, use lots of color and graphics and make things big and bold.

If you want people to open and read your email, however, make it look like an email.

The old-fashioned kind—plain text (or html that disguises urls but otherwise simulates plan text).

When we get email, the first thing all of us do is look for a reason to delete it. If it looks like an ad or promotion, there’s a good chance it’s going in the bin.

But we don’t delete personal email, at least not without reading it first.

Make your email look like an email. Personal and important. Solemn and professional. And more people will read it and pay attention to your words.

Other benefits of plain text email are that it makes your messages easier to read and less likely to go into a spam folder. It also saves time because we don’t have to find graphics, get permission to use them, and crop and position them.

Many of these benefits apply equally to a website, which is why mine is also primarily black and white.

I’m not suggesting everything you do adhere to a plain text model. It shouldn’t. But think about this idea the next time you create something to send or show folks who can hire or refer you.

How to use email to build your practice

Filed Under: Content creation, Email, Image, Newsletters

Owning your practice vs. running your practice

October 7, 2022 by David M. Ward

There’s a lot going on in an active law practice; if we’re not careful, we spend most of our time reacting to what happens instead of making things happen.

We handle the cases, work with the clients, fight the fights, put out the fires, send out the bills, and then we do it again. And again.

We don’t do enough (or any) planning. Or managing our plan. We don’t decide what we want to happen, and what we’ll do to make it happen.

We just keep busy doing what’s in front of us.

But if you’re in charge, there are things you need to do to make sure the practice runs the way you want it. One of these is to manage your numbers.

Tracking how many, how often, and how big. But not just the ultimate results (new clients, revenue, etc.) but the numbers that drive those results.

These are your KPIs—your “Key Performance Indicators”. They include things like advertising dollars spent, keywords, networking events attended, articles and blog posts, consultations, social media campaigns, and whatever else you do to drive traffic to your website and prospective clients to your door.

You need to know your numbers. So you can do more of what’s working and less of what isn’t.

Don’t obsess over the numbers. But do watch the trends. But don’t rely solely on the numbers. Your instincts and judgement are also important.

Running a practice means keeping an eye on what’s going on. Or hiring people to do that and keeping an eye on them.

One more thing.

If you don’t run your own practice, if you work for someone, you still need to track your numbers. So that when it’s time for a performance review and you’re asked what you been doing, you’ll have some numbers to show them.

Filed Under: Law office management

Another reason to write your own reviews

October 6, 2022 by David M. Ward

Yesterday, I talked about taking the nice things clients say about you, your services, and the way they were treated, putting their words into writing, and asking those clients to post a review at your favorite review site.

You get better reviews that way, and more of them.

But this is based on clients spontaneously thanking you or otherwise saying nice things to you or about you. What if they don’t? Or don’t do it enough?

You can send your clients surveys and ask for their feedback, and you should. You’ll find out what they like but may not say, and what they don’t like (so you can fix it).

But there’s something else you can do.

Sit down, sharpen your pencil, and write the review you would love your clients to write.

Yes, out of thin air.

And make it good.

Even if the things you write in that review aren’t true. Actually, especially if they aren’t true. Because this review isn’t really a review, it’s a wish list. A summary of the things you would like clients to say about you in the future.

Now for the good part. After you write this review, ask yourself, what would I have to do to get my clients to say things like this about me?

And do them.

Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management Tagged With: reviews

Why you should write your own reviews

October 5, 2022 by David M. Ward

Most clients don’t leave reviews, even when they love you. That’s why you should write your own.

Hold on, I’m not suggesting anything unethical. Here’s what I mean.

The issue isn’t that clients don’t appreciate your work or the way you take care of them. They do. They tell you that all the time.

They say thank you. And mean it. They tell you how relieved they are that you got them out of a jam. They say you did a great job, you’re a great lawyer, and they are glad they found you.

Nice things. The kinds of things you would love for them to say in a review.

They usually don’t post a review, however, because they’re busy. Or don’t think about it. Or don’t know know how important it is.

But if you make it easy for them, they will.

Which is why you should take the words they say to you, or send you in an email, and write the review for them.

Send them an email, thank them for their kind words, and quote back to them what you heard. And then ask if they would post those words in a review and give them the link to the review site you prefer.

Tell them they can add to or edit what you wrote any way they want to, and can submit it without showing their full name. You can also offer some additional language they could use if they agree with it. Things you know they think or feel but didn’t actually say.

Make sure they know how important reviews are to a lawyer, and to the people who are looking for a lawyer. And thank them again.

Not everyone will say yes, but you will get more reviews. And every single one will be good.

Filed Under: Client relations, Marketing legal services Tagged With: reviews

When you SHOULDN’T do email marketing

October 4, 2022 by David M. Ward

Email marketing rocks, for reasons I’ve spoken about many a time. But it’s not for everyone.

There are a few situations where a lawyer in private practice probably shouldn’t do email marketing.

Such as. . .

(1) Your firm or jurisdiction doesn’t allow it

There’s a difference between cold email, sent to strangers, and permission-based email sent to clients, business contacts, subscribers, and others who have opted in to a list or otherwise want to hear from you.

If you want to use email to build your practice, make sure your firm understands the difference. If they don’t and you can’t convince them or find exceptions (and you like your job), email marketing isn’t for you.

(2) You don’t need or want more business

You’ve got all the work you can handle, earn more than you can possibly spend, and are reasonably certain that this will continue. You don’t have a reason to do email marketing, or any marketing at all.

(3) You don’t believe it works for your practice

Why wouldn’t staying in touch with clients and business contacts result in repeat business and referrals?

I’ll give you a minute.

But hey, if you really believe it’s not right for you, you shouldn’t do it. Your heart won’t be in it and, frankly, you’ll find a way to mess it up to prove that what you believe is true.

(4) You don’t want to do it

That’s legitimate. There are a lot of marketing strategies that work incredibly well for a lot of lawyers I don’t want to do, and I don’t.

To each his or her own.

And that’s all I can think of.

Note, I didn’t mention “not enough time” or “don’t know how”. I don’t buy either of these. Any more than I accept “I tried it and it didn’t work.”

Like anything, it works if you want it to. It doesn’t if you don’t.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Email, Newsletters

My blog is better than your blog

October 3, 2022 by David M. Ward

Ready for some good news? You don’t have to write a better blog or newsletter.

That doesn’t mean you can write junk and call it a day. You have to deliver value and make it interesting enough for your readers to continue to read it.

Because if they stop reading you, they might forget you.

Of course, the more valuable and interesting your content is, the more likely it is that your readers will see why they should talk to you about their situation, and/or share your information with others.

You also want to attract traffic and sign-ups to your blog and newsletter.

But that still doesn’t mean you have to be better.

It means you have to be different.

If you can, write about different topics than the competition. But that’s not the only way to be different.

You can write about the same topics (cases, issues, problems, trends, ideas, methods, etc.) other attorneys write about and still make your content unique.

You can do that by offering a different opinion about the subject than other lawyers offer.

You can do that by offering additional information, examples, and resources than others offer.

But the easiest way to make your content unique is to present it in your own unique voice.

Your voice is a depiction of your unique personality. So, be yourself.

Not your lawyer self, necessarily, your authentic self.

Relax and talk to your reader (one reader, not “everyone”), like you would if you were talking to them over your favorite beverage.

Combine that with stories from your practice and your content will be original and interesting and attract the kinds of people who want to hear what you have to say. And after you’ve said it, come back to hear more.

That’s how you get and keep readers, and how you get and keep clients.

How to write an email newsletter that brings in clients

Filed Under: Blogging, Newsletters, Writing