Looking for clients in all the wrong places

December 11, 2017 by
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When you’re new, starting to build a practice, you do everything and anything to bring in business. If you’re still doing that after you’ve been around awhile, you’re missing the boat.

When you’re new, the objective is to build a client base. Once you do that, that base of existing and former clients, prospective clients, and professional contacts you’ve made along the way is your best source of new business.

I’m not saying you should stop networking or advertising or creating content. I’m saying it shouldn’t be your main focus.

Focus on retaining existing clients. Keep them happy. Get them to hire you again. Make it easy for them to refer.

Focus on getting existing and former clients to hire you again and buy your other services. If you don’t have other services they need, promote the services of other professionals you know and ask them to do the same for you.

Focus on converting prospects into clients. Offer them an introductory deal they can’t refuse and if they’re not ready, stay in touch with them until they are.

Focus on getting your professional contacts to refer more often and to introduce you to their colleagues.

Focus on building stronger relationships with influential people you know, and new relationships with the people they know.

Focus on the people who already know, like, and trust you, instead of trying to convince strangers to take a chance.

Why do most attorneys focus elsewhere? Because they hear that it’s important to continually generate more leads, build a bigger social media following, network more, advertise more, speak and write more, so that’s what they do.

If that’s you, you’re working too hard. Stop acting like you’re new. All of the clients you could want, and more, are right in front of you.

If you want a simple marketing plan, get this

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Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services

The little train that couldn’t

December 8, 2017 by
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From an early age, our parents taught us to ignore our doubts and fears, believe in ourselves, and take the first step. Somehow, we’ll be able to do what we think we can’t.

Like the train that thought he couldn’t climb the hill, just tell yourself, “I think I can,” and. . . you can.

Our parents were teaching us to have confidence in ourselves, that a lack of confidence is bad.

But is it?

I read an article this morning that posits the idea that a lack of confidence is actually a good thing. “A lack of confidence is not the problem; it’s actually the means to a solution,” the author said.

By recognizing that you don’t know what to do or how to do it, or that you’re not good enough, you can identify the cause of those feelings and take steps to improve.

If you lack confidence in your abilities to successfully handle your first trial, for example, instead of merely telling yourself, “I think I can. . .”, marching forward and embarrassing yourself, be honest with yourself and examine why you lack confidence, e.g., no experience, insufficient knowledge, etc., so you do something about it.

On the other hand, there’s something to be said for “Just do it,” “Act as if,” and “You learn by doing.”

So, it depends.

Max Depree, of the Herman Miller furniture company, said, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” So do that. Because you can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken.

If you lack confidence in yourself, ask yourself why. If there’s a good reason, do something about it. If not, if it’s just your inner child expressing fear, tell yourself, “I think I can”. Who knows, maybe you really can.

I think I can get more referrals

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

A simple way to make important decisions

December 7, 2017 by
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Lots of options. Lots of things you could in the coming year to reach your goals.

Which one should you choose?

Should you work on Project A or Project B? Should you overhaul your website or start a newsletter? Should you work on meeting new professional contacts or write a book? If you have more than one book idea which one should you choose?

You’ve only got so much time and so much energy. How do you decide?

Everything on your list is important and valuable. In making your list, you gave a lot of thought to these options and you want to do all of them.

“I have the entire year,” you say. “I will do them all.” Maybe. Remember last year at this time? All of your ideas and plans? How many did you accomplish? How many did you start?

So don’t count on anything. Don’t bit off more than you can chew.

Instead of planning to everything on your list, choose one thing and do that. When you complete it, you can decide what to do next.

Okay. Which one should you do?

The easiest?

The most challenging?

The one with the highest payoff?

Should you stop listening to me ramble, pick something, and get on with it?

No. Do this: relax, close your eyes, and imagine it is the middle of next year. Look back at the time that has passed and where you are at that time. Think about your list of projects. Which one would you be most disappointed about not completing?

Choose that one.

The possibility of regret for not doing something will bring everything into focus. Whatever you are contemplating–work projects, career choices, schools, partnerships, where to live, when to retire, or any other important decision, unless there is a compelling, logical reason to move something to the top of your list, let your subconscious mind choose for you.

Once you choose, start immediately and don’t second guess your choice. Your subconscious mind is never wrong.

Need to get serious about marketing? Let your website do most of the heavy lifting

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Filed Under: Personal development, success

Why a boring day is probably a productive day

December 6, 2017 by
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Routines help eliminate needless decision-making. You do something a certain way because you’ve already worked out that it’s the best way to do it. You don’t have to think, you just do.

Routines are boring, and that’s the point. They help you get more done in less time and with fewer mistakes.

A routine is a mental checklist, although you might want to actually write it down until, well, it becomes routine. Checklists make sure you don’t forget anything and that you do things in the right order.

So you have a routine for getting your day started and a routine for starting work. You have a routine for writing a blog post or article, a routine for signing up new clients, and a routine for closing a file when the case is done. You have routines in the kitchen, routines for running errands, and routines in the bedroom, although that’s one area where you should probably go off script.

Think about how you can create more checklists and routines in your life.

Now, just because you have a routine doesn’t mean you never think about what you’re doing. Periodically, you should step back and examine your routines and look for ways to improve them. Ask yourself, What can I do better or faster? Which steps can I eliminate? Where might I add more steps to improve the overall process?

As you create new routines and improve existing ones, you’ll find yourself getting more done in less time and with less mental energy. You can use that time and energy to work on new ideas and creative projects.

Have a boring day.

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: ,

When your networking isn’t working

December 5, 2017 by
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You want it all. Now. So you try to do it all. But when you find yourself overwhelmed or out of time, you go back to doing nothing. We see this a lot with networking events, don’t we?

A professional goes to an event, as the speaker or for networking purposes, with the goal of meeting as many new people as possible. They collect lots of business cards, shake a lot of hands, and go home exhausted. They can barely remember the people they met. The cards they collect sit in a drawer, ignominious reminders of yet another wasted outing.

Sound familiar? Want a better way?

Instead of a goal to meet twenty people, how about a goal to meet just one?

One person to talk to and get to know. One person you can follow-up with, meet again, and build a relationship.

The next time you go to a networking event, set a goal to make one good contact. Do that and you can spend the rest of your time at the event, guilt-free, hanging out with the people you already know.

Networking without leaving your office

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Filed Under: Networking

Are you focusing on referrals?

December 4, 2017 by
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What you focus on, grows. If you want more referrals, you should focus on referrals.

Most lawyers don’t. Do you?

It’s not difficult. Dedicate a few minutes each week specifically for referral development.

Here’s how that might go:

The first week of the month could be dedicated to communicating with your referral network. Send an email and update them about what’s new in your practice–new content on your website, guest posts you have written, where you will be speaking, success stories, changes in the law that might necessitate a consultation, interesting cases or clients you have acquired–and offer ideas they can use to spread the word.

You could have two email lists: one for clients and former clients, another for professional contacts. Or just one list for everyone who has provided referrals or indicated a willingness to do so.

The second week of each month might be dedicated to brainstorming and executing ideas for improving client relations. What can you do to help your clients have a better experience with your firm?

The third week could be used for reaching out to prospective referral sources. Introduce yourself, find out about what they do and how you can help them, and tell them how you can help their clients or customers.

The fourth week might be used for improving systems and marketing collateral. Update your website, edit your social media profiles, develop new handouts and other marketing documents, and so on.

Focus on referrals thirty minutes a week, every week. Over time, you should see a dramatic increase in referrals and client retention.

Make sense? Good. Now go make some dollars.

A system for getting more referrals from your clients 

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Filed Under: Referrals Tagged With:

Are you overly analytical?

December 1, 2017 by
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You’re a lawyer. Being analytical is part of your job. But if you’re overly analytical, you may want to consider a different modus operandi.

Continually weighing the “what ifs” and “on the other hands,” re-doing your research “just to make sure,” and scrupulously avoiding any and all risks, can easily do you more harm than good.

While you’re figuring out what to do, opportunities are passing you by.

What if instead of analyzing everything to the nth degree before taking action, you take action first and then analyze?

You’ll make some mistakes. Suffer some losses and embarrassments. Have some sleepless nights. That’s the downside. The risk.

What would you gain in return?

Opportunities for big breakthroughs. Amazing profits. And some wild adventures.

By accepting some risks you open doors to life-changing gains.

Now, I’m not saying you should “shoot first” in every situation. You have to use common sense. Look at the facts before you jump in. Gather enough information to know if what you’re considering is possible.

Has anyone done this (or something like it) before? If so, why can’t you?

It may be difficult. The odds might be against you. But if you believe something is possible, or at least not impossible, go ahead and take a leap of faith.

If you stumble, get up and try again.

Success always requires action. Always. Thinking is important but you can’t accomplish anything until you do something.

Once you do it, even a little, you will learn something. You’ll either be empowered to do it again (and better) or you will know it’s not going to work and you can do something else.

But you won’t have to guess or agonize about being right or wrong, you’ll know.

Act, then analyze.

Your plan for building a successful practice

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Filed Under: Personal development, success

Stop writing a “to do” list and write this instead

November 30, 2017 by
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We have lists. Lots and lots of lists. Things we need to do, things we want to do, things we’re not sure about but may do someday. How are we supposed to prioritize anything and decide what to do today?

I have a suggestion. Take your “to do” list, the one you wrote for today or this week, and change the name to a “to finish” list.

A to do list isn’t really a list of things we intend to accomplish, is it? It’s a list of things we plan to start. But creating value in our lives isn’t about what we start it’s about what we finish.

Changing the name to a “to finish” list forces you to write a better list. Instead of writing things you should do and hope you can finish, you make a list of things you know you have the skills, resources, and time to finish that day.

If you are planning to start a new project but realize you don’t have time to finish it today, you are forced to break up that project into smaller chunks you can get done today.

A “to finish” list forces you to think about what’s important. It makes you examine the many options available and organically prioritize your list. You not only get more done, you get the most important things done.

Shifting your focus from a long list of things you need to do to a short list of things you are committed to doing gives you clarity and peace of mind. As you finish the items on your list, you feel good, giving you the energy and desire to do more.

Starting is the hardest part of doing anything. But finishing is the most important. If you want to be, do, and have more in your life, stop starting so many things and start finishing what really matters.

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Filed Under: Productivity, success, Time Management

Your goals are too big to box with God

November 29, 2017 by
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Time flies. Another year-end approaches. Are you on track to reach your goals this year? If not, it may be because your goals are too big or too long term.

There’s nothing wrong with big goals. It’s just that we tend to fixate on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and forget about the short-term activities it takes to get there.

When a goal takes months or years to reach, it’s easy to lose sight of what we’re supposed to be doing today. We need to couple our big goals with short-term goals that we can track on a daily basis.

One author says the problem with long(er) term goals is that there’s no sense of urgency. It’s too easy to tell ourselves that we have lots of time before the deadline, and our mantra becomes, “I’ll do it tomorrow”.

Before we know it, days turn into weeks and months and the deadline has come and gone.

His solution is to break up big goals into goals that can be accomplished in seven days.

“If you can’t accomplish it in seven days, the goal is too big. It’s all right to have a big goal on the horizon, but you’ll never get there if you can’t break it down into actionable steps. So ask yourself, “If my massive goal is all the way over there, what do I need to get done this week to move myself in that direction?”

I think most of us manage our lives with a weekly calendar, so breaking things up into weekly goals makes sense. We might not be able to see what a month looks like but next Monday is just around the corner.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting

It’s not about how much you know or how good you are at what you do

November 28, 2017 by
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Education marketing is about showing your market what they need to know about their legal issues and the available solutions. It’s about teaching them the benefits of taking action and the risks of delay.

That’s why you create content and deliver it to your target market. But if that’s all you do, you’re not doing enough.

Effective content isn’t about showing people how much you know. It’s not about showing them how good you are at what you do. It’s not about those things because effective marketing isn’t about you, it’s about your audience.

Your articles, posts, and presentations need to map what you know and what you do to the fears and desires, wants and needs of the people consuming your content.

Think about your ideal client. What keeps them up at night? What are they worried about? What do they fear might happen?

What keeps them going during the day? What are they working to achieve? What makes their sacrifices worthwhile?

Once you know what makes them tick, show them how you can help them get what they want.

You do that by speaking to them, not at them.

Engage them. Show them that you truly understand their situation–their problems, their pain, their desires–either because you’ve been in their shoes before or because you’ve worked with and helped people in that situation.

Tell stories about your clients and former clients who are like them. Describe their background, occupation, and legal situation. Use the terminology common to their industry or market. Use quotes from people they recognize.

Turn up the heat and acknowledge your reader’s pain. Dramatize their problems and warn them, in no uncertain terms, of what might happen if they don’t take action or they make the wrong decision.

Wake them up and shake them up and tell them what to do to get relief.

Don’t deliver a white paper, sell them on taking the next step. Because you can’t help anyone until they do.

How to write a report that gets prospective clients to call you

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services Tagged With:
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