The Attorney Marketing Center--Earn More. Work Less

Asking questions

December 18, 2017 by David M. Ward

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.Â Make a decision. Take action. See what happens.

Then you can ask more questions.

More questions to help you decide

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

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

December 15, 2017 by David M. Ward

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

Filed Under: Client relations

Immediately, if not sooner

December 14, 2017 by David M. Ward

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

Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity

Who’s on your marketing shopping list?

December 13, 2017 by David M. Ward

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.Â Funny how that works.

How to identify your ideal referral source

Filed Under: Referral sources, Relationship marketing

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

December 12, 2017 by David M. Ward

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.

Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With: clutter, getting organized, tidying up

Looking for clients in all the wrong places

December 11, 2017 by David M. Ward

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,Â 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

Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services

The little train that couldn’t

December 8, 2017 by David M. Ward

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; itâ€™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.”Â 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

Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With: confidence

A simple way to make important decisions

December 7, 2017 by David M. Ward

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

Filed Under: Personal development, success

Why a boring day is probably a productive day

December 6, 2017 by David M. Ward

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.

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: checklists, routines

When your networking isn’t working

December 5, 2017 by David M. Ward

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.

NetworkingÂ without leaving your office

Filed Under: Networking