Why am I not surprised?

January 11, 2019 by
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I just saw an infographic depicting “America’s Most & Least Trusted Professions”. Lawyers ranked near the bottom, just above business executives, car salespeople, and swamp-creatures, aka, members of Congress.

I’ve noted before that lawyers are an easy target. We do everyone’s dirty work and tend to make a lot of enemies, after all. And who doesn’t like a good lawyer joke?

But that doesn’t mean we should accept the world’s collective opprobrium. Neither should we single-handedly attempt to repair the reputation of an entire profession. 

Instead, we should take steps to differentiate ourselves. To show the world that we’re one of the good ones. 

We can do that, we must do that, by going out of our way to foster trust in the eyes of our prospects, clients, and professional contacts. 

This covers a lot of territory, everything from treating people better than they expect (or deserve) to be treated, to displaying the accolades and endorsements of others who vouch for us, to doing charitable work usually associated with good people, and everything in between. 

We should, of course, also refrain from the types of practices we know client’s dislike. Failing to keep clients informed about their case and charging for every little expense and every nanosecond of time are common examples.  

Another way to earn trust is to exceed our clients’ expectations. Giving them extra services, delivering better results, and showering them with the highest level of “customer service” not only goes a long way towards earning trust, but it can also stimulate a heap of positive word of mouth about you. 

In our marketing, we can build trust by showing our market how we are different or better than our competition. This can be as simple as providing more information than most attorneys do, or doing so in an interesting or entertaining matter. 

Finally, one thing we shouldn’t do is deny the fact that lawyers tend to rank low on the trust totem pole. Instead, we should acknowledge this fact and help people understand what to do about it. 

Educate your market about the standard of care, so prospective clients will know what to expect and demand. Teach them what to do when a lawyer doesn’t deliver.

And teach them what to look for when they are looking for a lawyer in your practice area. Give them the questions to ask and the answers they should get.  

Do this, and you will take a big step towards showing the market that you are indeed one of the good ones.

How to build trust and get more repeat business and referrals

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Filed Under: Client relations, Image, Legal industry, Marketing legal services

Couldn’t have said it better myself

January 10, 2019 by
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I read an interview with Promise Tangerman, the founder of a “boutique graphic and web design studio.” The title of the article in Forbescaught my eye: “The key to success according to this tech founder? Stick to your niche”.

I thought that if you don’t want to listen to me when I pound the table about that very subject, maybe you’ll listen to her. 

Here’s an excerpt:

Karin Eldor (the interviewer): “Why is the concept of focusing on a niche so important to you?” 

Tangeman: When your industry feels flooded with other people doing the exact same thing as you, you have to be different in order to stand out, and you have to stand out in order to get the sale. The number one question I get asked on a daily basis is: “How do I get more customers and clients?” That answer is simple: focus on your business and create a niche for yourself.

A niche is when you create a very specific product or service that only appeals to a small group of people. So you’ll create a more focused product, market it to fewer people, and as counterintuitive as it seems, actually make more money.

Eldor: Why do believe creating a niche will help you attract more customers and clients?

Tangeman: For starters, your business will be considered unique, so people will have a reason to talk about you and tell their friends about you. As well, you’ll be viewed as a specialist in the sector of your industry, and therefore you’ll be your specific customer’s first choice. And you’ll have a better, more targeted product, so people will be willing to pay a higher price for it. As a result, you’ll have a higher and faster conversion to sale, because you’ll know exactly where and how to market your product.

Change “product” to services, “customers” to “clients,” “higher prices” to “higher fees” and this could have been written for lawyers. 

So, here I am, standing up and doing the Simon Cowell “slow clap”. Maybe even hitting the golden buzzer. 

Discover how to choose the right niche for your practice

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

Procrastinate and grow rich

January 9, 2019 by
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Procrastination has become a four-letter word, hasn’t it? Those who admonish us not to “put off ’til tomorrow what you can do today,” are are accusing us of being lazy if we’re not Johnny or Janie on the spot.

Oh, the pain.

“You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind,” we’re told. Victor Kiam (the electric razor king), said, “Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” Honest Abe reminded us that, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

So, am I committing blasphemy when I ask if procrastination is really that bad?

When I’m under the gun with a deadline (or an ultimatum), I tend to get a lot of work done in a very short period of time. That’s being productive, isn’t it?

And, counter-intuitive though it may seem, the work I do when pressed for time is often of higher quality. 

How about you? 

If we are built this way, does that mean that we should sometimes procrastinate on purpose?

It sounds like that’s exactly what I’m saying.  

“If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done,” said author Rita Mae Brown.

On the other hand, having more time to do research, make decisions, or edit and polish our work product are not only advisable, they’re essential. 

Let’s face it, when there’s an impending deadline, it’s easy to cut corners that shouldn’t be cut. We’ might choose the first thing we see simply because we’re running out of time. 

And hey, have you ever paid too much for something because you didn’t allow yourself enough time to shop?

So no, procrastinating on purpose isn’t always the way to go. 

Sometimes, we should start a project immediately. Sometimes, we should let it cool before we dive in. Sometimes, we should start part of it right away and leave other parts for later. 

How do you know what to do?

There are no rules. No checklist. Or at least, there shouldn’t be. Let your gut tell you what’s best.

My point is, we shouldn’t be rigid in how we do everything, nor should we beat ourselves up when we break “the rules”. 

Point of order: when you’re late to court, you might not want to tell the judge about your flexible schedule.  I’m just saying.

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

How I stay sane in an insane world

January 8, 2019 by
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Dwight Eisenhower said, “Never waste a minute thinking about people you don’t like.” 

Yeah, but there are so many of them, says I. And so many ideas I don’t like, too. 

Truth is, unless I have a very good reason for thinking about negative things, I don’t do it. 

I’ll admit, this takes practice. It’s only natural to get angry when some buffoon says something that flies in the face of logic or tradition or denigrates someone I like and trust. Unfortunately, as someone who reads the news every day, this kind of buffoonery is omnipresent. 

What do I do? Mostly, I read or listen to people who are paid to deal with the dark side and let them summarize it for me. 

I dive in, get the gist of the story, shake my head, and go back to whatever I was doing before. I stay aware of what’s going on in the world but I don’t allow it to consume me. 

I spend little time on social media. I’ve blocked the blockheads and rarely comment, post, or share. Mostly, I check out what my daughter has been up to and peruse group posts on subjects I follow. 

If there’s someone I want to talk to, I’ll email them. 

And I keep busy, learning things I want to learn, working, reading, binge-watching Netflix, and spending time with my wife.

I also spend a lot of time thinking. 

I think about all the good in my life and the bright future that lies ahead. I think about what I want, not what I don’t want,  where I’m going, not where I’ve been.

When a negative thought intrudes on my mind, I replace it with the positive equivalent. If that doesn’t work, I distract myself and let the negative thought drift away into oblivion. 

And that’s how I stay sane in an increasingly insane world. 

How to use the Internet to make your phone ring

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Filed Under: Personal development

The cure for writing constipation

January 7, 2019 by
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Did you hear about the constipated writer who worked it out with a pencil? 

Okay, jokes aside, if you’re having trouble starting a writing project, or finishing one, or you’re having trouble expressing your ideas clearly and cogently, if you’re in a writing funk or “blocked,” I feel you. It happens to me, too. 

What do I do? 

The first thing I do when I’m stuck is to put the project away and write something else. Something completely unrelated. When I come back to the project, I usually find it easy to get back on track. 

But not always. Sometimes, I’m still stuck. 

I might do more research. Learning something new about the subject, hearing different stories or examples, will often help me see where I need to go. 

Another thing I’ll do is re-write my outline if I have one, or write one if I don’t. I might do a mind map, which gives me a visual look at what I have and how it fits together, and then convert it to an outline. 

If this doesn’t work, I have another ace up my sleeve: free-writing.

I open a new page and start writing whatever comes into my head. I do this without stopping to think about what I’m saying, without going back to correct anything or add anything, I just keep pushing the pen across the page or banging the keys on the keyboard.  

Free-writing acts like a lubricant for my mind. Getting the words flowing, no matter how vapid or unrelated to the project, helps me find my writing voice. 

Sometimes, I’ll free-write for five minutes. Sometimes, I go for twenty minutes or more before taking a break. 

When I’m really stuck and nothing else seems to help, I go for a walk and record myself speaking on the subject. 

I talk to myself about the problem I’m having and reason my way through it. Or I talk to the reader I have pictured in my mind and “explain” the material to them. 

As I dictate, I add notes to myself for ideas that occur to me that I want to explore later. I also ask myself questions I think my reader wants to know, and speculate about the possible answers. 

Writing every day has made me a better (and faster) writer and I don’t get stuck very often. When I do, one of these techniques usually does the trick.

No pencils necessary.

Marketing is easier when you have a plan

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With:

How to get yourself to do something you don’t want to do

January 4, 2019 by
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Alrighty, you have a plan. You have written some goals and made a list of actions you need to take to achieve them. You’ve scheduled time during your day to do them.  

What do you do when you get to something on your list you really don’t want to do?

It happens to all of us. You feel resistance and procrastinate or find excuses for not doing it.

How do you get yourself to do things you don’t want to do?

One thing that works for me is to take the activity and carve it up into even smaller pieces. Something I can do that will only take five minutes, for example, or one simple step on a longer list. 

Sometimes, I just suck it up and do the dreaded thing anyway. If need be, I give myself permission to do it badly because there is value in crossing things off your list and because I know I can come back later and fix it. 

What if the problem persists? What if you’re trying to stick with an exercise routine, for example, or you have a big project and every time you sit down to work on it you feel like doing something else? 

Me? I bribe myself. 

My daily walks are part of my routine now but in the beginning, when I resisted getting out the door, I rewarded myself by listening to podcasts I didn’t have time for during the rest of the day. 

When I’m having trouble making progress on a writing project, I’ll do something similar: give myself ten minutes to watch a video channel I like after thirty minutes of writing.

I’ll bet you do something like this, too. 

It turns out this technique has a name. It’s called “temptation bundling”–pairing something you love to do or would prefer to do with something you’re trying to get yourself to do. 

But this is nothing new. Our parents taught us this. Remember, “No dessert until you eat your veggies” and “No TV until you finish your homework”?

Yeah, like that.

Which reminds me, now that this is done I can go get my second cup of coffee.

Marketing is easier when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity

Your 30-Day Marketing Challenge

January 3, 2019 by
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I keep hearing about 30-Day challenges. For writing, for creating new habits, for getting your home or office organized. Apparently, you challenge yourself to focus for 30 days on something new and efficacious and work your booty off to get it done.

So, how about a 30-day marketing challenge?

Choose an area of your practice you want to improve or grow. Something you can measure like new clients or new subscribers would be good. Then, pick a number: how many in what period of time?

Notice, it’s not “how many in 30 days”? You probably won’t see the bulk of your results until well after 30 days. 

With me? 

Next, what can you do to bring about that result?

I suggest you choose one or two strategies–no more than three–because you’ve got to keep things simple (or you won’t do them). 

Got it? 

Let’s say you want to bring in two new clients per month within 90 days and you’ve chosen networking to find new referral sources as your strategy to do that. 

You can do this in person, online, or both. You can find professionals by showing up at a group (again, in person or online), or by asking your current referral sources (and clients) to introduce you, or both. 

Your plan calls for you to introduce yourself, find out what they do and tell them what you do, and look for ways you can work together. 

That’s a good plan, by the way. Simple, do-able, and likely to produce results. 

Next, set up a schedule. Every day, for the next 30 days, what will you do? Block out 15 minutes or 30 minutes or 60 minutes a day on your calendar to do it. 

You can take this challenge on your own or with a workout or accountability partner. Find someone who wants to take the same challenge or a similar one and help each other. 

You can accomplish a lot with 30-days of sustained effort. All that remains is for you to do it. 

Here you go: Lawyer-to-lawyer referrals

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

Don’t make things harder than they need to be

January 2, 2019 by
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The new year is here and you’ve got some heap big goals. This is the year you’re going to tackle that thing, reach the new level, or (finally) stick with your resolution. 

No more delays, no more excuses, no more failures. 

THIS. IS. IT. 

Okay, I hear you. But before you get started, I have a suggestion. 

Give yourself a break. 

Cut yourself some slack for what you haven’t done. Let go of the crushing pressure to perform. Relax, detach, and let things happen naturally, easily, the way things are supposed to happen. 

Because if you don’t, you might be setting yourself for more disappointment. 

Learn that new skill because you are drawn to it, not just because it’s on your list. Start exercising because you want to feel better, not because you’ve promised yourself you’ll lose a specific number of pounds by a specific date. 

You don’t need to work out everything in advance. You don’t need a better process or a new tool. You need to know what you want and why, and you need to know the first step. 

That’s enough planning. Let go of the rest and take that first step. 

Let your life flow. Let it be effortless. Don’t fret over the missteps, delays, or problems. Don’t think so much or worry so much. 

Just take the next step.

Next step, read this

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Filed Under: Marketing Plan, success

Little things that are big things

December 31, 2018 by
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I’m going to a new place to get my haircut. One thing they do that the old place didn’t do was keep notes about me in their computer–what kind of cut, which blade setting, problem areas, and the like. 

I come in, give them my phone number, and they look up my account. It allows the stylist to get to work without having to quiz me on what I want, something I’m not good at describing and find annoying. 

What can I say, I’m a guy. 

When I need a haircut, I want to get in and out. I don’t want to think about what I want or how to describe it or try to remember that they used number 4 on the sides and 5 on top, or something else. I just want to get the thing over with. 

Ten minutes and I’m out of there. That’s what I want and at this place, I can get it. 

Recording notes on the computer is a small thing but for me,  it’s a big thing. It addresses one of my “pain points” and gives me a better experience.  

I don’t know if other hair cutting establishments record notes but, as I said, the last place didn’t and that’s one reason why I go to the new place.

I do have a point and no, it’s not on top of my head. My point is that you should be looking for things you can do for your clients that address their pain points and give them with a better experience with your office. 

It might be something other lawyers do (but don’t promote). It might be a little thing. But if you choose the right thing or things, you’ll give your clients a reason to come back to you when they need help, or tell others about you, as I recently did when my son-in-law was in town and needed a haircut. 

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations

How to get better ideas

December 28, 2018 by
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As lawyers, we tend to spend less time and energy on getting ideas than performing due diligence on other people’s ideas. And yet, we need ideas to grow.

We need ideas for marketing and managing our practice, for personal development, and for creating content (articles, blog posts, videos, emails, etc.)

And, although we rarely develop new services (or products),  getting ideas for these can help us improve our existing services.

So, ideas are good. Now, where do we get ’em?

Read a lot. And take notes. 

Observe what other people are doing, in your field and in other fields or businesses, and take notes.

Talk to people about what they’re doing. Yep, more notes. 

And then, put those notes away, forget about what you’ve read or observed, and let the ideas come to you. Let your subconscious mind find them and bring them to your attention. 

Take walks. Take vacations. Play games, watch sports, get some sleep. The ideas will come because your subconscious mind never sleeps. 

It will sift through your thoughts about the things you read and observed and wrote in your notes and find ideas that are in sync with your goals and desires and vision for the future. 

In other words, it will show you your best ideas. 

When those ideas don’t come, after a period of time I re-read my notes. Sometimes, the idea pops out at me. Sometimes I put the notes away again and come back to them later. And sometimes, the ideas don’t come, probably because I’m not ready for them, so I keep reading, observing and making notes.

The key to getting better ideas is getting lots of ideas. And then letting the best ideas come to you. 

Ideas for marketing your services

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:
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