David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

The problem with story telling

June 27, 2022 by David M. Ward

I once had a client who asked me to. . .

Yeah, a story.

You probably want to hear how it goes. But I’m not going to tell you that story right now, I’m going to give you some advice about story telling.

My first piece of advice is to do it. Put stories in your articles and presentations and conversations.

People love a good story, which means they’ll be more likely to read or listen to you when you tell one. They’ll be more likely to understand and remember your story, more than your other words, and remember you as the one who shared it with them.

Facts tell. Stories sell.

Second, talk about people your reader will relate to, and tell them three things:

What did they want? What did they do? What happened?

The essence of every story ever told.

Third, use “The Goldilocks Rule”: Not too much, not too little, just right.

People love stories, but they don’t have time to read them when they are impossibly long or there are too many in your emails or blog posts.

If they wanted to read a book, they’d read a book.

Which is why most of my emails and blog posts are short and sweet and yours should be, too.

The good news is that you can tell a good story in a few sentences.

Like the time a friend asked me to sign a letter she had written to her landlord, with my name and address typed at the top and filled with typos, and when I refused and told her I would write the letter, on my letterhead, she was hurt and thought I just wanted to ‘make money off her’.

One sentence.

I need one more sentence to tell you ‘what happened’.

What happened is she dropped the subject but never forgot that I ‘refused to help her’ (the way she wanted) and our friendship was never the same after that.

Stories don’t always have a happy ending.

Anyway, I’m done telling that story. I’ve got another one to tell you, but that will have to wait until next time.

If you related to my story, maybe remembered a time a friend or client asked you to do something you didn’t want to do, I’m pretty sure you’ll come back to hear another.

Which is what your readers will do when you tell them stories. But not too many or too long.

Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Content creation, Writing

Walk, don’t run

June 24, 2022 by David M. Ward

You want to get better at marketing (or anything) but you don’t want it to take over your life. You don’t want to spend days or weeks studying and doing what needs to be done.

You don’t have to.

In fact, you’ll learn more and be able to accomplish more if you don’t try to do everything in a short period of time but, instead, do a little every day.

10 or 15 minutes a day, but every day.

Put a daily appointment (with yourself) on your calendar, or a recurring task in your task app. Not once a week for an hour, because you might not do that, but you can do 10 minutes a day no matter how busy you are.

In 15 minutes, you can do a lot. You can read a chapter in that book you’ve been meaning to read. You can watch a video or two and take notes about what you learned and what you might do with it.

Not difficult, is it? But if you do it every day, you can make a lot of progress.

What else could you do during your 15-minute ‘appointment’? You could:

Write or re-write an email for your autoresponder
Outline your new presentation or book
Practice your presentation
Write a page for your new book
Brainstorm ideas for a new lead magnet
Edit your work-in-progress
Call a few former clients and ask how they’re doing
Visit some blogs to get ideas you can use in yours
Invite your best referral source to lunch
Invite someone you don’t know to coffee
Meditate and let your subconscious mind help you with something you’re working on
Take a tutorial on a new contact management app
Outline an article for your newsletter
Jump on social media and see what people are asking
Add more keywords to your PPC ad campaigns
Call a professional in your niche and introduce yourself
Email an author and ask to interview them
Draft a survey to send to prospective clients
Update a page on your website
Email your list and invite them to read your latest article
Email your list and invite them to submit questions for your upcoming article
Email your list and explain a recent ruling
Email your list and tell them a success story about one of your recent cases or clients

Yes?

You can also repeat these. Call a few today, call a few more tomorrow—and so on.

15 minutes. 10 if you’re in a hurry. But do something every day.

What do you think will happen if you do?

Why don’t you find out?

For more ideas for your newsletter. . .

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Playing with words

June 23, 2022 by David M. Ward

Sometimes, I get an idea for a blog post, write it, and add a title. Sometimes, I start with a title and start writing without knowing what I want to say.

It’s all good. And sometimes, it’s a lot of fun.

The other day, I read the phrase, “Use it or lose it” which we’ve all heard a thousand times and thought I could use this as the title of a post about the value of practice and keeping your “instrument” well tuned.

I thought I might get a good article out of it. But I’m weird.

When I see a phrase like “Use it or lose it,” I play with the words. I turn them around, mix and match them with other words, punch the sentence in the face, kick it in the groin, and see what happens.

Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes, something interesting emerges and I use it.

In this case, I turned “Use it or lose it” into “Lose it or use it” and wrote about “losing” bad habits so you don’t use them and make bad things happen like alienating your clients.

And I got a pretty good article out of it. Arguably better than what I would have written had I stuck with the original meaning of the words.

If you’d like to add a creative spark to your writing, consider playing with your words. It can help you look at things differently and generate ideas you might never have thought of.

Try it. Go find a quote, aphorism, song or movie title, or other pop culture reference, and give it a poke in the eye. Twist and turn it and see what you come up.

If nothing else, you’ll come up with something original that people will notice and remember.

It works especially well when you start with something well known. Your readers will recognize something familiar in your title and be curious. Is this a typo? Is something missing? What’s this all about?

And read your article to find out.

If so, mission accomplished.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Writing

The simplest path to loyal clients

June 22, 2022 by David M. Ward

How much is a loyal client worth to you? I’m talking about the client who hires you for all their legal work, regularly sends you referrals, shares your content, promotes your events, provides a positive review, and otherwise toots your horn so you don’t have to.

Yeah, they’re worth a fortune.

It makes sense to do everything you can to cement your relationship with all of your clients, because you don’t know who might become your next champion.

Yes?

This week, we talked about doing things that make clients fall in love with you, and avoiding things that push them away. You also know, because I talk about it often, that there are other things you can do for your clients to win their hearts, things that go beyond your legal services.

Like sending them referrals and promoting their business or practice, providing a character reference when they apply for a job, and offering a shoulder to cry on when they suffer a loss.

Because when you give your clients more than they expect (and deserve) you surprise and delight them and show them why you deserve their loyalty.

But there’s something else you can do that’s even easier. Yes, you’ve heard me talk about this before, too. I think the word is “incessantly.”

Stay in touch with them. Because familiarity builds trust and trust is the key component to loyalty.

Keep your name “in their minds and their mailboxes” so they are continually reminded that you’re still doing what you do and can still help them and the people they know.

Send them an article you think they’ll like; it doesn’t have to be written by you.

Send them a pdf of a form or checklist they might find helpful.

Send them answers to questions you are frequently asked by clients and prospects, or people who attend your events.

Recommend a video, website, or app you think they might use.

Send them anything they might find interesting or helpful (or amusing). It almost doesn’t matter what it is, but send them something regularly, so that when they need help or have a question, they think of you and call you (or hit reply), and there you are.

Email Marketing for Attorneys

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Email

Lose it or use it

June 21, 2022 by David M. Ward

Yesterday, I threw down about what to do to get your clients to fall in love with you. But there are also things you might need to stop doing.

Things you need to “lose,“ because if you don’t, you might use them and drive clients away instead of bringing them closer.

Periodically, we all need to do some self-reflection, to see if we have any habits or ways of conducting ourself that might be due for an overhaul.

Things like:

A bad temper
Arrogance
Being overly aggressive
Impatience
Bluntness
Negative attitude
Over-sharing
Talking about politics or religion
Lack of seriousness (when necessary)
Talking too much about yourself
Being a poor listener

And so much more.

For me, it’s my sense of humor. Sometimes, I come off as insensitive or just plain goofy.

Hey, not everyone appreciates genius.

But here’s the thing. A weakness can also be a strength.

Sometimes my sense of humor bombs. Sometimes it is a great ice-breaker. People love it when you make them laugh.

The other day, at the doctor’s office, I was a big hit. The nurse laughed her head off and told me I was funny.

“Looks aren’t everything,” I said.

Hey, I don’t ever want to lose my habit of “trying” to be funny. It comes in handy in writing, speaking, and networking.

But I do need to watch what I say, when, and to whom, and edit myself before I do something that gets me into trouble.

Nah, that would be no fun. There are nurses out there who need me.

Filed Under: Client relations, Networking

Do your clients love you this much?

June 20, 2022 by David M. Ward

Years ago, I was sitting with a client, looking at her auto insurance policy, and I noticed a few things I thought she should change to improve her coverage and reduce the cost. As I recall, she and her family were paying nearly $4000 per year, which is a lot today but was crazy expensive then.

I also told her she should shop around and get some quotes from other companies because she was paying top dollar with her company. I had just written a book on the subject and told her that by shopping around, she might get the same coverage and cut her premiums by one-third or even more.

She thanked me for my advice, but said she wasn’t going to change anything. She and her husband had been with their agent for several years and trusted him completely. He took good care of them when they had a claim and she would never think of leaving him, even if she could save $1000 or more per year.

Clearly, they loved this guy. What was his secret? And what can you do to inspire this kind of undying loyalty with your clients?

In my view, it had nothing to do with the “work” he did for them and everything to do with him.

He made his clients feel appreciated and well taken care of.

And yes, that’s enough.

Your clients might be pleased with the work you do for them, and think your fees are reasonable, but c’mon, they can get good legal work and reasonable fees from your competition.

But there’s only one you.

Build relationships with your clients and you’ll never want for clients.

Pay attention to the little things you do for them—the way you greet them, the way you remember their birthday, their dog’s name, and that their daughter does Irish dancing or plays goalie on her soccer team—that’s the stuff people appreciate and remember.

When you make your clients fall in love with you (not your work), they’ll never leave you, even when other lawyers offer to do the same work for less.

Marketing is simple when you know “The Formula”

Filed Under: Client loyalty

Forget about it

June 17, 2022 by David M. Ward

Contrary to popular advice, you don’t need to write down all of your ideas. In fact, it might be better if you don’t.

David Allen says, “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” He says we should record our ideas in a “trusted system” so we don’t use conscious energy thinking about them, but we won’t “forget” them.

And we all do that, don’t we?

But there’s an argument that says we’re wasting our time.

The theory is, if you can’t remember an idea, it’s not the right idea for you. So instead of writing down your idea, forget about it. Turn it over to God or the universe or your subconscious mind.

If you never recall the idea, it probably wasn’t worth the grey matter it was written on.

The best ideas either stick with you or come back to you. In fact, when an idea is right, and the timing is right, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it.

As Victor Hugo put it, “Nothing else in the world… not all the armies… is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

Besides, when was the last time you checked your repository of ideas and actually used one?

It happens. But the best ideas don’t need you to find them, they find you.

You know that idea you can’t stop thinking about? Oh, you might get busy for a while and think about other things, but then suddenly, you remember it—and get excited.

Yeah, that idea. That’s the one you should run with.

Ideas come and go. But some ideas hang on. Your job is to listen. And when you can’t let go of an idea, wrap your arms around it and hold it close.

Until then, forget about it.

Filed Under: Productivity, success

Murder your darlings

June 16, 2022 by David M. Ward

Relax, it’s a literary metaphor, suggesting that when you edit your writing you cut out some of your best passages, your ‘darlings,‘ to leave room for the even better ones.

Make your writing lean by removing the fat.

That’s good advice for everything we do. A romantic version of the Pareto Principle (aka, The 80/20 Rule)—prioritizing the “precious few” over the “trivial many”.

If you’re like me, things often take longer than they need to. Projects that might be completed in a weekend are still in the planning stages weeks or months down the road.

Sometimes, it is our inner perfectionist bedeviling us. Yeah, we should murder him, too.

But it might simply be we have too much on our plate.

The simple solution—do less.

When doing research, focus on the key cases and arguments. Give yourself two hours to distill the essentials, not two weeks to categorize the entire library.

With tasks and projects, choose a few (at a time) and put the rest on the back burner.

Use fewer tools or systems to do the job and don’t get seduced by productivity porn.

When we have fewer options, fewer things going on in our life, we can focus on the precious few and do them well.

We can accomplish more and have plenty of time to attend our darlings’ funeral.

If you only use one marketing strategy, make it this

Filed Under: Productivity, Writing Tagged With: 80/20 principle, pareto principle

Stop talking and sign me up

June 15, 2022 by David M. Ward

You’re sitting with a prospective client, discussing their situation. You describe the options, risks, and benefits of each solution and answer their questions. You can tell they’re interested, but when it comes time to do the paperwork, they tell you they want to think about it.

What went wrong?

It could be a lot of things. But sometimes, it’s because you kept talking.

They were interested and ready to go, but instead of handing them a pen and showing them where to sign, you kept giving them more information. You gave them more to think about and they got confused or frightened and backed away.

It happens. We have an obligation to make sure they know everything they need to know so they can make an informed decision.. And we don’t want to pressure them.

But when the client is ready, we have to STFU and hand them a pen.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a phone store to get some information about one of their plans. We walked out with a new plan and two new phones.

In part, because the salesman knew when to stop talking.

At one point, he told us about the cameras in the different models. When I told him this wasn’t important to us, he stopped talking about them. When he told us about the extended care option and I shook my head, he moved on.

He didn’t push. He didn’t tell us what he wanted us to know, he listened and told us what we wanted to know. And when we were ready, he handed us a pen. (A stylus, actually).

The client tells you what you need to know and what you need to say to make the sale. We just have to listen.

Sometimes, that’s hard to do for people who earn their living explaining and persuading, but that’s the challenge.

Get it right and we get a new client. Get it wrong and they say they want to think about it.

Here’s the formula for building a successful practice

Filed Under: Closing the sale

Why do you do what you do?

June 14, 2022 by David M. Ward

You’re building your career. Putting in the hours, doing the work, learning and creating and fighting the good fight.

Why do you do it?

Please don’t say “money”. Sure, money is important but only insofar as it allows you to do something you couldn’t do, or do as well, without it.

You want to earn a certain amount so that. . . (fill in the blank with something important).

For some, money means independence. No longer having to answer to someone who doesn’t appreciate what they do. For others, money means being able to move to a safer neighborhood to raise their kids. Some want to take care of aging or ill parents. Some want to help their church. Some want to change the world.

The money is a means to an end, and it’s important to know that end because that’s what drives you.

We all tend to focus on “how” but “why” is much more important.

You can learn everything there is to learn about how to be a good lawyer, how to bring in more clients, or how to increase your income. But if your “why” isn’t strong enough. . . you might not use what you learn.

It’s all about your “why”.

When your kid needs life-saving surgery and your insurance doesn’t cover it, you get up early, work late, get out of your comfort zone, and never make excuses. You’ll do whatever it takes to pay for that surgery.

You probably won’t if you just want a nicer car or a bigger house.

Be honest. Where are you right now, career-wise? Are you hitting your goals? Are you doing the activities you said you would do when you created those goals?

If you’re not, it’s probably not because you don’t know “how”. It’s because you don’t have a strong enough “why”.

So I’ll ask you again, why do you do what you do?

Filed Under: Inspiration