You can stop marketing if you do THIS

November 3, 2016 by
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You can forget about blogging. Speaking. Networking. You’ll never have to run another ad, write another article, or push out another post on social media. Unless you’re a brand new lawyer just starting your practice, you can stop all of your other marketing efforts if you want to, if you’re willing to do one thing.

It’s what I did when I was practicing and it allowed me to build a successful practice in a short period of time. It is the quintessential method of growing a professional practice and you’re already using it to some extent.

You may know this magic elixir by its generic name: referrals. You get them now, don’t you? If you’re like most lawyers, however, you could be getting more.

A lot more.

Your clients and business contacts know people who need your services, or who will need your services eventually, and they are willing to send them to you. They also know people who know people who need your services, aka, other professionals and business contacts, and they are willing to introduce them to you.

So, why not let the people you know do your marketing for you?

You can do that by making it easier for them to send you referrals, by creating forms and letters and a simple system for getting them into their hands.

You can get more referrals by mailing or emailing or handing out a letter that does everything for you. You don’t have to say anything more than, “here”.

If you do good work and treat your clients well, they want to help you. They also want to help the people they know who need your services.

Instead of merely waiting for them to figure out what to do, give them a letter that spells it out. Make it easier for them to refer and you will get more referrals.

You can read all about it here and here.

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Filed Under: Referrals

Torturing the cat before my first cup of coffee

November 2, 2016 by
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My cat is sick. We thought it was a cold he got when we boarded him recently when we were out of town. He’s never had a cold before and we figured he would get better on his own. When he didn’t, we took him to the vet and they said it was a good thing we did because what he had could kill him.

So now we’re in the middle of twice-daily doses of two antibiotics and an antihistamine. Unfortunately, our little guy won’t let us give him a pill and he won’t eat food that is adulterated with anything else so we are forced to deliver his meds by squirting them into his mouth with a hypodermic (minus the needle).

Seamus is a feisty Tuxedo and strong as hell. I hold him while my wife does the deed. I have to let him go each time while she re-loads because he fights me and claws me. I have the scars to prove it.

My wife and I hate doing this to him and he hates having it done. But we go through this routine, twice a day, because it has to be done.

I think that somehow, Seamus knows it has to be done. Yes, he tries to hide every time he sees me coming to grab him, but there’s a look of resignation in his eyes when I do.

Okay, so the point. The point is that whether it’s dosing the cat or marketing legal services, we all have to do things we don’t want to do. That’s life.

The other point is that when you put more of yourself into your emails–your personal life, client stories, observations about world or local events or about people you know–your emails are more interesting to your readers who would rather read about your sick cat than the rule against perpetuities.

It also makes your emails easier to write. And quicker. I shot this out in about five minutes while I waited for the coffee to brew.

Don’t know what to write about? Write about your world and the people (and animals) in it.

If you want more ideas about what to write about, get this

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Filed Under: Email, Writing

What?

November 1, 2016 by
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In college, I had a professor who mumbled. I sat in the front row and could usually figure out what he was saying but sometimes he also spoke at a low level and I couldn’t understand him at all.

One time, I raised my hand and said, “Could you mumble a little louder?” Everyone laughed, including my professor. (All was okay. He later wrote me a recommendation letter to law school).

Now, as you probably know, I get a lot of emails from lawyers. To my chagrin, many of these professional communicators (that’s who we are, after all), are just as difficult to understand as my mumbling professor.

Frankly, they can’t write their way out of a paper bag.

It’s one thing to send an informal email to someone you know. You don’t always have to format properly or use the King’s English. But you can’t send emails that make people think, “What the hell did they just say?”

Clarity is right up there at the top of the effective communication mountain. If people don’t understand you, you can’t expect to persuade them of anything. They’re not going to learn what you want them to learn. They’re not going to get your jokes.

If your legal documents are muddled, if your closing arguments are a mishmash of thoughts, if your marketing documents and presentations are as mushy and boring as a bowl of oatmeal, you’ve got some work to do.

How do you improve? Read more. Find models of clear writing and study them. Write more. Write something every day and re-write it as often as necessary. You can ask someone to read and critique your writing, and maybe edit it. You might take classes or read books about writing.

You don’t ever want someone to wonder what you just said. As Robert Louis Stevenson put it, “Don’t Write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.”

Clear instructions on marketing your practice

 

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Filed Under: Communication, Writing Tagged With:

Is this the key to success?

October 31, 2016 by
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Pastor, business owner, speaker, and author, the late Mark Yarnell, offered his recipe for productivity and success. He said, “Work on one thing at a time. Do it right. Finish it.”

Simple. But not always easy to follow.

Working on one thing at a time is difficult for a lot of people. But it’s easy to see the value of doing so. Numerous studies prove that multi-tasking is inefficient to the extreme. Fortunately, there are strategies and tools aplenty that can help us to curb this habit.

“Do it right” certainly makes sense, but we must recognize that the way we learn to do it right is usually by first doing it wrong.

This leads to the third piece of advice, to finish what we start. That’s the key to making everything work.

When we finish what we start, we can move onto something else. No chance for multi-tasking. We’ve also learned something so the next time we do it, we should do it better.

Finishing is the “Big Kahuna” of productivity. The more things you finish, the more you accomplish. The more you accomplish, the more likely you are to succeed.

Author Philip Roth said, “The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress”. What have you started but not finished?

Before you go looking for new ideas and new projects, you might want to dust off some of the half-finished projects lurking on your hard drive or in the recesses of your brain and finish them. Then go work on something else.

Dust off your marketing plan

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Filed Under: Productivity, success

Focus on your destination (with exceptions)

October 28, 2016 by
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I walked my daughter down the aisle a couple of weeks ago. It was an outdoor ceremony at a country club, with a panoramic view of rolling hills and lush gardens.

My daughter and I waited at the top of the hill overlooking the wedding party below. Everyone was seated except for the groom and minister. We received the cue to begin walking, my daughter took my arm, and we walked down a series of stone steps which led to the aisle at the bottom of the hill.

The steps were steep and uneven and I had to look down to make sure we didn’t trip. I knew we were being videotaped and that looking down would look awkward but it couldn’t be helped. All I could think about was that if I tripped on the steps or stepped on her gown, my daughter and I would go tumbling down the hill.

At the bottom of the steps was the aisle. We walked down it, I gave her away, took my seat next to my wife, and we watched our beautiful daughter and her groom exchange their vows.

It was a proud and happy day.

A marriage is a journey. The destination is a long and happy life. You get there by staying focused on the big picture and by not letting little problems stop you.

Your work is also a journey. The destination is a long and successful career. You also get there by focusing on the big picture and by not letting bumps in the road throw you off course.

Swedish diplomat and author, Dag Hammarskjold, said, “Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.”

Long term. Big picture. Stay focused on your destination.

Good advice for a marriage or a career. Glad I didn’t listen to it when we were walking down those steps.

A successful career starts with a plan

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Filed Under: success Tagged With:

You don’t have time? What if you did?

October 27, 2016 by
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Fill in the blank: “I don’t have time to do ___________ [something that would be good for you. How about writing a weekly newsletter?]

Okay, play a little game with me. You say you don’t have time to write a newsletter? Well, what if you did?

What could happen?

What if your newsletter brought you five new clients every month? Take a moment to imagine what that would be like.

Now, how long do you think it would take you to write a weekly email newsletter? 30 minutes a week? An hour?

Let’s say you get paid $500 an hour. And let’s say a new client is worth $3,000 to you. So you would invest $2,000 per month writing your newsletter and bring in $15,000 in new business. Would that be worth it? Could you find the time to write a newsletter if it would increase your income by $12,000 per month?

Numbers don’t work for you? Adjust them If you don’t think you could possibly bring in five new clients per month, how about two? You don’t earn $500 an hour? Okay, ratchet down the cost. An average client is worth $8,000 to you? Bump up the income side of the equation.

When you do this exercise, you may realize that you can’t afford to not write a newsletter.

Look at it another way–if you’re doing billable work instead of writing a newsletter, you’re losing money.

Make sense?

So cut out a few hours of billable work if you have to, to make time for your newsletter. Or work an extra hour per week. Or how about this–hire someone to do most of the newsletter for you. Or hire someone to do some of the billable work you say is keeping you so busy.

When you start with what’s possible (i.e., five new clients each month), it changes your perspective. Or at least it should. You don’t have time to do something? What if you did?

Earn more without working more by working smarter, not harder

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Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services

How much do you know about your clients?

October 26, 2016 by
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Your clients are more than an amalgam of the legal problems they bring to you and the more you know about them, the more you’ll be able to help them.

And helping them is one of the best ways to inspire them to help you.

If you want your clients to fall in love with you, send you referrals, and tell the world about your amazing ways, if you want them to go out of their way to help you, you should be prepared to do the same for them.

Help them solve problems and achieve goals that go beyond the core services you offer.

Send business clients referrals. Introduce them to professionals and business contacts who can do the same. Send traffic to their websites. Promote their events. Post reviews about their products or services.

Send consumer clients information that can help them save time or money. Recommend trustworthy contractors and vendors. Refer them to tax, insurance, real estate, and investment professionals. Support their charitable causes.

How do you know what your clients want and need? You ask them.

In new client intake forms, ask questions about their business or personal life. When you speak to them on the phone or in the office, listen carefully for clues about their problems or goals. When you’re done talking about their case, ask “How’s business?” or “What’s going on with you and the family?”

Get your clients to open up to you and they’ll tell what you can do to help them. If you can’t help them yourself, go out and find someone who can (and help them get a new client or customer).

The more you know about your clients, the more you can do to help them and the more you do that, the more likely it is that they will help you.

Learn more, earn more

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Marketing legal services

How to get your rich dad to increase your allowance

October 25, 2016 by
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You may have heard that the probability of selling to an existing client is 60 to 70% while the probability of selling to a new prospect is only 5 to 20%. You may have also heard that the cost of acquiring a new client is estimated to be five times the cost of retaining current clients.

The conclusion is obvious: you should focus most of your marketing efforts on current and former clients.

They can provide you with repeat business and referrals, send traffic to your website, provide testimonials and reviews, promote your content and events, and otherwise help your practice grow.

Question: other than to report on a legal matter, when was the last time you communicated with your clients and former clients?

N’uff said.

Of course the best way to stay in touch is via email. According to surveys, 80% of businesses rely on email for customer retention.

Smart lawyers should do the same.

Email allows you to stay in touch with clients and prospects, build or strengthen relationships, and persuade people to make an appointment or tell their friends about you.  It is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective marketing tool available.

Anyway, I’m not your daddy, but if I was, I’d tell you to wake up and smell the coffee. If you don’t have an email list (and by that I mean an autoresponder that allows people to sign up from your website and allows you to send automated emails and newsletters), you’re missing the boat.

If you do have an email list, color me impressed. But are you using it effectively? Or are you leaving money on the digital table.

If you want to learn my wicked ways for using email to grow your practice, start with this.

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services

Are you too logical to be successful?

October 24, 2016 by
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I’m pretty sure that most lawyers are left-brained. We’re logical, orderly, and rule-bound.

These traits help us to be good at what we do. They make us good at drafting documents to protect our clients. They help us to see the flaws in the other party’s position and forge the right arguments against them. They help us to fill out the right forms, check the right boxes, and avoid neglecting something important.

Unfortunately, these traits might also hold us back from reaching our potential.

Logical thinking is linear. A before B followed by C. This helps us to get the work done efficiently but it often blinds us to other options.

Right-brained people operate differently. They see many options, usually all at once. They are artists and inventors and creators of new ideas. They don’t necessarily follow the rules, they often break them. As if to underscore this difference, Thomas Edison once said about his laboratory, “There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something!”

As lawyers, we can’t ignore the rules, although perhaps we can remember to question them. When it comes to marketing and building our practice, however, we should consider throwing out the rules and making new ones.

I’m not suggesting we violate the law or ethical rules. I’m suggesting that we observe what everyone else is doing and do the opposite.

That should be easy. Since most lawyers aren’t good at marketing and don’t do much of it, it doesn’t take much to beat them.

In a world of blind men, the one-eyed man is king. In a world of logic-bound lawyers, a little creativity can go a long way.

How to earn more than you ever thought possible: the formula

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Filed Under: success Tagged With: , ,

Turn on your dream machine

October 21, 2016 by
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Author Richard Bach said, “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.” As far as I know, he didn’t supply any proof. He didn’t explain how this works. That’s okay. I’m willing to accept it on face value because if it’s true, it means I’ve got a very exciting future ahead of me.

And if it’s not true, that’s okay. Because I’d rather do what I love, and fail, than do what I hate and succeed. It’s that whole journey vs. destination thing.

Anyway, let’s assume it’s true. Let’s assume that, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” as Napoleon Hill said. Or that, “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon… must inevitably come to pass!” as billionaire Paul J. Myer noted.

What do you do with this information?

Well, if God whispered in your ear and told you that you could have, do, or be what you want, wouldn’t you act differently? Your certainty about the future would cause you to talk to the right people, say the right things, and make the right decisions.

And that’s how you would make it happen.

So turn on your dream machine and “act as if” they will come true. Because if you do, they will.

Clients not paying on time? Here’s the solution

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Filed Under: Inspiration
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