Goals for the new year beyond

December 26, 2017 by
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My daughter and her husband are in town and have been going with me on some of my walks. I learned from them that I don’t need a wearable device to measure the number of steps I take in a day, I can do that with an app. And so now I’m tracking my steps.

But that damn app is mocking me. Granted, it’s only been a couple of days (over Christmas), but it’s telling me I’m nowhere near the 10,000 steps it sets as the default.

I’ve been walking six days a week now for several months and it’s going well. I’m losing weight and getting stronger and it’s a habit I know I can keep. But I’m so far from the goal it’s not motivating me, it’s doing just the opposite.

What to do?

Do I lower the goal from 10,000 steps for now and increase it once I hit it?

Do I leave the goal at 10,000 steps and work harder?

Or do I give it a week, see how it’s going, then decide?

You might have a similar process to go through in your goal setting for the coming year.

Let’s say you would like to gross one million dollars in 2018. You know that’s unlikely but not impossible. You also know that if you get to the middle of the year and you’re not even close to the pace you need to be, you’ll probably get discouraged and tell yourself “next year”. (You know this because that’s what happened last year.)

I have a suggestion. Something I’ve written about before (and done). It’s a way to set goals that you never fail to achieve.

That’s because instead of setting a singular goal, you set three versions of the goal.

Version one is your “dream” goal. Let’s say that’s $1,000,000 gross. You know you probably won’t hit it but just thinking about it gets you excited and motivated to explore new ideas and increase your activity level.

Version two is your “target” goal, something you know will take significant effort but is not out of reach. If you grossed $500,000 this year, your target goal for next year might be $600,000. You know you will have to work hard to get there but you see that this is something you can probably accomplish without herculean effort.

The third version of your goal is your “minimum”. It’s something you absolutely know you can do without much in the way of extra effort. You keep doing what you’ve been doing, and a little more, and you’re almost certain to get there. Your minimum goal might be $550,000.

Breaking up your goals this way all but ensures that you’ll accomplish one of them. You are thus continually hitting goals, feeling good about it, and inspired to reach higher.

If I apply this to walking, my dream goal is 10,000 steps, 5,000 is my target, and 4,000 is my minimum.

And, yippy skippy, I see I’m already close to hitting my minimum for the day.

What are the three versions of your marketing goals?

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Filed Under: Goal Setting

So much wasted time

December 22, 2017 by
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David Cassidy died recently. His daughter, from whom he had been estranged, reported that his last words were, “So much wasted time”.

As Christmas approaches, this might be a good time to reflect on that sentiment.

Call someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. Renew ties. Make amends. Hug your kids. Tell them you love them.

It’s also a good time to think about the future. What have you been putting off? What’s on your bucket list? What would you regret not doing if you found that your time was up?

I wish you a happy holiday, a Merry Christmas, and a productive new year.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

What you read says a lot about you

December 21, 2017 by
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No doubt you’ve heard this before:

“Small people talk about other people. Average people talk about things. Great people talk about ideas.”

Think about some of the people you know. Family, clients, colleagues. I’ll bet you find this observation to be remarkably accurate.

On a similar note, a flight attendant recently related her observations about what passengers in different sections of the plane did with their time.

She said that passengers in economy class tended to watch TV or movies.

In business class, most passengers did work–reviewing and writing documents, writing emails, reading reports, making notes.

What do you suppose she said about passengers in first class? What do the preponderance do with their time?

If you said “reading books” you’re right.

Learning new ideas. Improving their knowledge and skills.

Although not scientific by any means, her observations make sense. Because, as know, “success leaves clues”.

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Filed Under: Personal development

Opening your own law office?

December 20, 2017 by
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Statistically speaking, most new businesses fail. But although most new law practices struggle in the beginning, they eventually make a go of it.

Why?

One reason is low overhead. A lawyer can hang out a shingle just about anywhere and start taking clients. No inventory, employees or expensive office needed–just a smart person, a laptop, and a phone.

Another reason is high margins. When you are paid thousands of dollars a throw, you don’t need dozens of clients to pay your bills.

Low overhead and high margins give you time and space to figure things out. It took me five years to do that, but in the interim, somehow, I was able to survive.

A few suggestions on how to do that.

1) When you’re new and don’t have much business, one thing you do have is lots of time. Use it. Get out and meet people. Speak, network, volunteer. Get out of your comfort zone and hustle. Make 50 calls a day and talk to lawyers, other professionals, business owners, and other centers of influence in your niche or local market.

Introduce yourself. Ask for advice about getting started. Ask to interview them for your newsletter.

You might get some business this way but don’t count on it. Look at it as a way to learn from and model successful people, and through them, meet others who might someday become clients or referral sources.

2) Be prepared to do “whatever it takes”. Take cases and clients who aren’t even close to being ideal. Take overflow and appearance work from other attorneys. Accept lower retainers or no retainers. Charge lower fees.

3) Conserve cash. Negotiate everything. Watch your pennies. Stick to a budget.

Things always take longer than you think and you will need that cash (and open lines of cash) to stay afloat. And, when that’s no longer the case, continue being thrifty, and build up a reserve of 12 to 18 months of income.

Accept that this is where you are right now, cutting your teeth, paying your dues and that eventually, things will be different. And find a way to enjoy the process. You may not enjoy the struggle but if you think about the future you are creating, you’ll know that one day, it will all be worth it.

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Filed Under: Law office management

The list’s the thing

December 19, 2017 by
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We like lists, don’t we? They help us remember what to do, when, and in what order. They help us do our work, buy our groceries, and remember who was naughty and who was nice.

As you sit down to plan the upcoming year, you might want to add a few more lists to your collection. Here are some examples, along with what you might include on each list:

  1. Daily: Outgoing phone calls, exercise, vitamins, writing in your journal, 15 minutes for marketing, personal development, reading, tidy up desktop
  2. Weekly: Weekly review, staff meeting, writing your newsletter, paying bills
  3. Monthly: Planning, review accounting ledgers, review goals, meetings, review advertising
  4. Quarterly: Board meeting(s), pay estimated taxes, update software, remind clients to conduct board meeting
  5. Yearly: Year-end review, goal setting, planning, sending docs to CPA, physical checkup, Christmas cards, remind clients to review leases

You’ll want to have sub-lists for many of these. For example, a checklist for your weekly review.

If you’re really into lists, you might also consider a list for every morning, every evening, every weekday, or every Saturday.

Put the date and time of the activities on your lists on your calendar. I suggest you maintain the actual lists elsewhere, however, to make it easier to review and update them.

I also suggest you create a “list of lists”. If you keep your lists in Evernote, for example, create a “Table of Contents” note with links to each of your lists. Drag that master list to your “favorites” in the left sidebar for quick access.

Evernote for Lawyers

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Productivity

Asking questions

December 18, 2017 by
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You’re good at asking questions. You do it for a living. Questions help you discover the truth, open and close doors and get a grasp on where to go next with a case or a line of questioning.

Asking questions can also help you clarify your goals and what you’re doing to achieve them.

Look at your calendar and your task list. All of the projects you’re working on, upcoming appointments, meetings, calls, emails, things you have to research, documents you need to prepare. Your day is filled with work and you’re getting most of it done.

Things are good.

You’re bringing in clients, making money, building a future. Don’t stop there. Don’t settle for the status quo. You can always do better.

Make it a habit to ask yourself questions about what you’re doing. Start with the big picture:

How can I earn what I’m earning and work fewer hours?

How can I increase my income without doing more work?

How can I bring in more clients at less expense?

How can I bring in bigger cases or better clients?

Not, “Can I?” but “How can I?” Assume you can.

Cogitate on questions like these. There are answers. You will find them. But only if you ask.

More.

Before you start a new task, ask yourself, Why am I doing this right now? Maybe it can be done later. Maybe someone else can do it. Maybe it doesn’t need to be done at all.

Asking why helps you to prioritize.

That’s “how” and “why”. You should also ask yourself “when” and “what”.

What should I do differently? When would be the best time? What should I add or remove?

Don’t forget “who”. Who should I talk to? Who could help me with this? Who do I know? Who do I want to know?

Ask questions about everything. Perhaps you are in the habit of scheduling new client appointments at a time that’s convenient to the client. Is this the best policy?

I don’t know. Ask more questions. Does accommodating the new client interfere with something else you should be doing? Does it impair your ability to finish things you’ve promised to other clients? Does it send a subliminal message that you’re hungry for business?

Interrogate yourself about who, what, when why, and how. Use your skills to spot the issues. State the arguments, for and against. Yes, I know, you could argue either side and all sides, all day long. You’re good at that, too. But don’t get caught up in that. Make a decision. Take action. See what happens.

Then you can ask more questions.

More questions to help you decide

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Personal development, Productivity, success Tagged With:

The one thing that’s more important than a good first impression

December 15, 2017 by
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You’re meeting a new client. You smile, shake hands, and do your best to make them feel welcome. You know they’re nervous, uncomfortable about the money they have to pay, and unsure if they can trust you. You want to make their first impression of you a good one.

Because it is.

But there’s something more important, in my humble but accurate opinion. Their last impression.

After the meeting, when you stand up and walk them to the door, those final 30 seconds or so create the impression they take away with them.

Make it a good one.

Sum up what you’re going to do. Assure them that things will be okay. Shake hands again. Look them in the eyes again. Let them hear the sincerity in your voice.

If possible and appropriate, lighten their burden by saying something whimsical or pithy. If you don’t have anything in your repertoire, don’t try to come up with something on the spot.

Tell them again how and when to contact you, and when you will contact them next.

This is not the time to thank them for hiring you. This is the time to make them feel glad that they did.

How to make clients trust you

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Filed Under: Client relations

Immediately, if not sooner

December 14, 2017 by
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In high school, there were lots of girls I wanted to ask out but never did. I was nervous and afraid they would turn me down and although I fully intended to ask them out “someday,” that day usually never came.

Apparently, there’s a scientific explanation. According to research, “The longer you hesitate to do something, the less likely you are to do it.”

And that makes sense. Your fear builds, you convince yourself that you can’t do it, you tell yourself that you’ll do it someday, and then you get distracted by other things (or other girls) and it’s easier to not do something than do it.

If you want to get a particular thing done, do it immediately.

If you can’t do it immediately, if you need to do research, for example, start that research immediately.

Find something you can do related to the project–planning, making notes, talking to someone–and do it. Immediately. If not sooner.

My grandfather used to say that. “Do it immediately, if not sooner,” he would say, trying to be funny. But there’s actually a way you can do things sooner than immediately.

You do that by deciding to do it prior to actually doing it.

You can decide today that from now on, you’re going to work out every day. You can decide right now that you’re going to invest 15 minutes a day in marketing (and put that on your calendar). You can decide tonight you’re going to ask that girl out tomorrow.

When tomorrow comes, you don’t have to think about it, you just do it. Because you already decided you would.

Decide now that you’re going to get more referrals

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity

Who’s on your marketing shopping list?

December 13, 2017 by
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You want new clients. Okay, what kind? Write down a description of your ideal client. Do the same thing for your ideal referral source. And be specific.

Great. You’ve got yourself a shopping list. With people on it.

Why is this a good idea? Because by identifying who you want to come into your life, you are more likely to find them.

Instead of networking “anywhere,” you’ll go to events likely to be inhabited by your ideal client and the people who can refer him.

Instead of writing articles and posts that target “everyone” with a legal problem you handle, you’ll write posts tailored to the specific types of clients you want to attract.

Instead of waiting for things to happen, your shopping list will help you make things happen. When your list says, “commercial leasing broker on the Westside,” for example, that’s who you’ll find.

It works like this: once you get specific about who you want, your reticular activating system (RAS) sifts through the mountain of input you encounter each day, looking for clues, and alerting you when it finds them. All of sudden, you start seeing Westside commercial brokers everywhere.

You’ll look at their websites and social media profiles and learn about them. You might identify a mutual acquaintance who can introduce you. Or you might send them the article you wrote about issues important to commercial real estate brokers on the Westside. Before you know it, you’ll be meeting for coffee and finding ways to work together.

Can’t this happen without a list? Of course. But the odds of finding precisely the kinds of professional contacts or clients you want to meet, at random, are about as good as getting the Christmas gift you want this year without giving your family a list.

I already know what I’m getting from my daughter this year. Funny how that works.

How to identify your ideal referral source

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Filed Under: Referral sources, Relationship marketing

Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want

December 12, 2017 by
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I’ve been doing some tidying up lately. Going through closets and boxes, getting rid of old papers and the like. I know, I’ve done this before but no matter how much I get rid of, there always seems to be more.

Anyway, since cleaning up is on my mind lately, I noticed an interview with Marie Kondo, author of the mega bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. You have to admire someone who can write an entire book about tidying up and, I’ve learned, built an entire business around it.

In the interview, I learned that the KonMari method, as she calls it, can be applied to any are of life because it’s not just about paring down possessions and organizing what you keep, it’s a philosophy for creating simplicity and flow, leading to a more effective and fulfilling life.

Or something like that.

Anyway, one thing in particular caught my eye. Kondo was asked, “What’s the major error we make when trying to tidy and simplify?”

Kondo said, “The biggest mistake people make is to focus on what to discard instead of what to keep. If you focus on this, you look for flaws. . . and cannot appreciate the things you own. The correct mindset is to keep what you love instead of throwing out what you don’t like.”

That’s precisely what I did in my recent clean-up. I went through several boxes of old papers and got rid of two-thirds of them by setting aside the ones I liked. Notes I can use for current and future projects, some awards and photos, and a few other things that caught my attention.

I threw out decades of clutter by focusing on the few items that meant something to me.

It got me thinking about the digital clutter we all have residing on your hard drives, and the ideas they represent. We all have notes and lists and ideas that occupy space, like the physical clutter in our closets and drawers. I’ve got close to 9,000 notes in Evernote. Which notes should I keep? Which ideas should I start?

The ones that speak to me about things that excite me, of course.

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With: , ,
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