A practice loaf

February 28, 2019 by
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My wife is learning how to bake her own bread. Watching videos, trying different things, learning the ropes.

I asked her how it’s going. She’s not sure so we’re calling this first effort “a practice loaf”.

It’s okay if it doesn’t turn out okay. The next one will be better.

Remember your first client? Your first trial? Your first appeal? Knowing what you know now, you’re probably cringing (or laughing) when you think about it.

Not your best work. Your next one was better. 

Me too.

Same thing when I created my first web page, my first course, and my first book.

If you’re writing your first book or thinking about it and you’re nervous about how it’s going to turn out, think of it as your practice loaf.

Give yourself permission to mess up. Let it be bad if it wants to. You can fix it or make the next one better.

That’s why I recommend taking some of your old content and converting it into a book. Or recording and transcribing your thoughts about some aspect of your work.

It may not be your “best” book but you will have written a book. You’ll know you can do it and will have learned something about writing and publishing. If you want to, you can then write your second book.

Gotta run. A slice of bread and butter is calling my name.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: Personal development, Writing Tagged With: ,

My son, the author

February 27, 2019 by
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After yesterday’s post about why you need to write a book I’ve heard from attorneys who have written and published a book, are in the process of writing a book or are planning to write a book.

Bravo!

Your book can be one of your most valuable marketing tools, if for no other reason than it gives you the ability to tell people that you wrote a book.

Clients will be impressed. They’ll tell people that their lawyer wrote a book. Prospective clients will be more likely to choose you over the attorney who didn’t write a book.

So, yes.

More: 

  • Mention your book in your bio, About page, social media profiles, and introduction (i.e., when you are introduced as a speaker)
  • Give print copies to new clients; they’ll see they made the right decision in choosing you. For extra credit, give them extra copies they can give to their friends.
  • Give copies to professionals and influencers in your niche market; they’ll see you as an authority and be even more comfortable recommending and referring you to their clients and contacts
  • When a prospective client wants to know why they should hire you, don’t explain, don’t try to sell them, just give them a copy of your book and let your book sell you
  • Offer digital copies to people who opt-in to your email list; you’ll get more opt-ins and your opt-ins will be glad they found you
  • Sell the book online and get traffic to your site; pre-sold traffic, traffic that PAID to hear what you say
  • Promote the book on social and let the book promote you; you can say nice things about a book that you might not be comfortable saying about yourself
  • Put the book in your “media kit” and get interviewed on podcasts, video channels, radio and TV shows, blogs, and to get booked as a speaker at local events

You can do all that, and more, even if your book isn’t a best seller.  

Now, if you read yesterday’s post and haven’t started writing a book, or planned to do so, I’ll just say, do it. No really, just do it.

Imagine your name on the cover of your new book. Imagine your mom telling her friends. “Oh, your son’s a lawyer? That’s nice. Did he write a book? Mine did.”

And, if you have written a book, it’s time to write another one. Because being an author is great but being the author of two (or more) books in your field is even better.

Have you taken my free referral course?

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Writing

A book is just a bunch of words

February 26, 2019 by
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You need to write a book. It’s one of the best things you can do to market your practice.

The odds are, you already know this. The odds are you don’t think you have enough to say to fill a book, or you don’t have the time or talent to write it.  

But you do. Because a book is just a bunch of words and you wrangle words for a living.

One way to write a book is to take things you’ve already written and stitch them together.

Blog posts, articles, white papers, reports–they’re all fodder for a book.

Five or ten chapters, exploring themes related to your work, illustrated with stories and examples from your practice, and congratulations, you have a book. 

Another way to write a book is to sit down and write it. Or record it.

Could you speak about your practice area for an hour? Do it. Speak, record, transcribe, and you’ll have the makings of a book.

Or, have someone interview you for an hour or two. I was interviewed by an attorney and turned that into a book. I interviewed an appellate attorney and turned that into a book.

You can, too.

Your book doesn’t need to be a tome. Your book could be as little as ten or twenty-thousand words. You could crank that out in a few weekends.

You don’t need to be a brilliant writer. You don’t need to have a publisher. And you don’t need to spend months or years turning out a bestseller.

But you do need a book.

How I turn interviews into books

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

Obfuscate, equivocate, prevaricate, and other big words

February 25, 2019 by
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Some people don’t like lawyers. When we parse words, say we didn’t mean what we said, play games to prove we were right or get out of something we said we would do. . . it drives them crazy.

It’s hard to blame them. When it comes to words, we’re tricky.

We choose our words carefully because that’s how we protect our clients and ourselves. We hide behind our words because we don’t want to reveal what we really think or how much our client is willing to accept.

We’re notorious for being hard to read and hard to pin down.

But we need to know when to turn it off.

When we speak with a client or prospect (or a friend), ambiguous language and exploiting loopholes is off-putting, frustrating and breeds mistrust.

We may win a lot of battles with our clever ways but in the end, we lose more than we’ve won.

If we want people to like and trust us, hire us, and stay friends with us, we need to speak clearly and plainly. No loopholes, no footnotes, no arguments preserved for appeal.

How do we do this? I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

How to get referrals from other lawyers

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Filed Under: Communication, Writing

“Do Not Commit Crimes With Checks”

February 22, 2019 by
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On the NBA on TNT Thursday night, Charles Barkley had some advice for Jussie Smollett, causing Shaq to convulse in laughter and spit out his coffee. The crew joined in, posting a mock-up of a fake check for $3,500 made out to “Muggers” with “Mugging Supplies” penned in the memo.

Everyone’s talking about the hoax and the future of the actor’s career.

Are you?

Are you using this story (the basic story or the Barkley version) in your speaking, writing, newsletter or blog?

You could. And should. Because when you talk about what everyone is talking about, people notice.

You can leverage the story without getting into politics or racism.

How?

You could review the legal issues for your readers, tell them what happened and what could happen next.

You could mention the story and then talk about one of your clients who did something stupid, got into trouble (civil or criminal) and hired you to help them.

You could quote Barkley and then talk about something else he once said (funny, pithy, strange, or otherwise) and use that other quote to segue into a story related to your practice.

Or you could do what I just did, tell your readers what Sir Charles said and then tell them what you think, e.g., it’s funny, not funny, premature, etc.

For the record: I laughed. Out loud. Especially when I saw the mock up of the check.

Good thing I wasn’t drinking coffee at the time.

How to use your website or blog to bring in more business

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Filed Under: Blogging, Email, Newsletters, Publicity, Writing

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

February 21, 2019 by
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Suppose your first name is David. And suppose you’re in a semi-public setting and someone you’ve met before comes up to you and says, “Hi David.”

Do you think, “Nice. He remembered my name.”

We like hearing our name, don’t we? Dale Carnegie told us “A person’s name is the sweetest sound.” The late Herb Kelleher made a point of remembering and using the first names of his employees, and they loved him for it.

Research tells us that hearing your first name activates different parts of your brain than hearing the names of other people. “Adults never tire of hearing their name,” the researchers said.

But hold on.

What if it’s a young person addressing you and you’re old enough to be their father? Or they’re a client and you’re their attorney? Or you’ve just spoken on stage and someone in the crowd comes to ask you a question?

Wait, one more. You have a new secretary and, day one, she calls you by your first name. 

I’ve had all of the above happen to me. When they do, I’m thinking, “How about a little respect? How about asking if it’s okay to use my first name?”

But then I’m old-fashioned. Or a stuck-up pain-in-the-ass, take your pick. 

I was taught to respect my elders, say please and thank you,  smile when you meet someone and pay attention when someone else is talking.  

You know, manners. 

Be nice if more people minded their manners and showed people a little respect.

But then I’m old-fashioned. Or a stuck-up pain-in-the-ass, take your pick. 

Want more referrals? Of course you do

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Filed Under: Client relations, Networking

Yoda was wrong

February 20, 2019 by
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I heard that the face of Star War’s Yoda character was loosely based on the visage of Albert Einstein. I don’t know if that’s true but I’ve seen photos and there is a resemblance. 

Anyway, like his face-sake, Yoda is a smart guy who said a lot of wise things. But there’s one thing Yoda got wrong. 

“Do or do not,” Yoda said. “There is no try.” 

Nice try, Yoda, but no cigar. (See what I did there?)

Of course, there is “try”. Without trying, there can be no doing. 

You can’t find an idea that works without trying out ideas that don’t. You can’t find a date or a mate if you never play the field. 

In fact, the power is in the trying. Doing is nice but often anticlimactic. And not doing doesn’t deserve its bad rep. Not doing, i.e.,  trying and failing, is how we learn and get good enough to do. 

Didn’t Joseph Campbell, whose work inspired Lucas to create the  Star Wars story, write about the value of The Journey? He didn’t rhapsodize about the value of The Destination.

And didn’t Luke fail a lot before he was finally victorious?

How ’bout them apples, Yoda?

Okay, I’ll probably hear from a Star Wars scholar who will set me straight. Tell me why I should kiss my sister or something.

Until then, I’m going to try to do some more writing. 

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Filed Under: Just for fun

If you hate networking, this might be why

February 19, 2019 by
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You might say that networking hasn’t been a fruitful use of your time but you can’t say it’s difficult. It’s easy to meet people, start a conversation, exchange pleasantries, and chat about what you do. It’s easy to exchange cards (or digits).

Where many professionals drop the ball is with follow-up.

You come home with new contacts (or renewed contacts). Now what? What happens next?

Do you call or email? When? What do you say?

That’s simple. No really, it is. You immediately send your new contact an email (or better, a handwritten note), tell them you enjoyed meeting them and note something from your conversation.

Okay, I can do that. I always do that. Then what?

Then you call. You talk to them and ask them to tell you more about what they do. Or you invite them to coffee or lunch so you can have that conversation.

You ask questions and let them do most of the talking. You find out what they need or want (clients, information, ideas, introductions, etc.) and think about how you (or your other contacts) can help them.

At some point, they ask you to tell them more about what you do (and what you need or want). You tell them and explore how the two of you might work together, e.g., referrals, introductions, interviews, guest posts, webinars, etc.

Or not.

Yeah, they might turn out to be a dud.

They may not have anything they can do for you or anything they’re willing to do. There may be no future for the two of you. Or it may take additional meetings and conversations before the two of you are able to dance.

That’s life. That’s why you don’t stop after you meet one new contact. That’s why follow-up isn’t a one-time thing.

The fact is, you might strike out with the next ten people you meet. You might think, “I hate networking” and be ready to give up.

Or, the very next person you meet might lead to a steady stream of new business for you and you’ll say “networking rocks”.

How to get better results when networking with professionals

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Filed Under: Networking

Taking inventory

February 18, 2019 by
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Today is a holiday for a lot of people. If it’s a slow day for you, you might want to spend some time taking inventory of what’s going on in your life.

Reflect on what you’ve worked on recently and how it turned out. Think about what you’re working on now and what you have to do to complete it. Look at the list of tasks and projects you plan to start soon and identify the ones that look most promising.

Look in the digital mirror and tell yourself what you see.

Are you taking massive action to achieve important goals or are you just trying to get through the day?

Yes, you have to draft the documents, make the calls, see the people, and settle the cases. That’s what keeps the wheels turning and the people fed. But if that’s all you do, if you never think beyond what’s on your calendar for today, you make it more difficult to realize your potential.

Jim Rohn said, “A lot of people don’t do well simply because they major in minor things.”

Is that you?

We get paid in proportion to the size and complexity of the problems we solve and the assets we create. If you handle small problems all day, you earn small fees.

If you want to build a multi-million dollar practice, you need to bring in clients with bigger problems.

As you take inventory, consider not only your current caseload or list of clients but the kinds of cases or clients you want attract. Who? How many? How big?

And then ask, What am I doing to attract them?

If you don’t like the answer, you have some work to do.

Start here

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Filed Under: Marketing Plan, success

Who loves ‘ya, baby?

February 15, 2019 by
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We’re trained to see both sides of an issue and that’s good. It makes us better at our job. But building a successful law practice requires you to stand out from the herd. 

One way to do that is to choose sides on a controversial issue.

Not politics or religion, although you could choose one of these if you’re willing to go all in. No, I’m talking about something less ideological.

Something like reverse mortgages. 

I know someone whose parents got one and were happy until they spent all the proceeds buying things they didn’t need. It made the last few years of their life difficult and they became a burden on their kids who had to help out. 

It would be easy to demonetize reverse mortgages and use stories like this one to write and speak and warn people not to believe the hype.

You could build an entire practice doing that. 

On the other hand, I’m sure there are many people who are perfectly happy with their decision to get a reverse mortgage. They timed it right, they were careful with the money, they got good advice along the way, and they are enjoying their retirement.

You could take that side, too. 

If you adopt the latter view, you could write about how reverse mortgages can be a blessing, network with real estate professionals who specialize in them and build a successful practice as a champion for the industry. 

I don’t know if reverse mortgages are, per se, good or bad. I haven’t looked into it. I’m saying that you can get a lot of mileage out of choosing sides on a controversial issue (e.g., Bitcoin investing) and marketing the hell out of it.

Whatever the issue, choosing sides will make you some enemies.  (If it doesn’t, you haven’t chosen the right issue.) Making enemies is the price you pay to make a name for yourself. 

The other option is to play it safe and have nobody know your name. 

Marketing legal services is easier when you know the formula 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services
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