I’d rather be eating pizza and binge-watching Netflix

May 13, 2016 by
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I was out for a morning walk and saw a car with a license plate frame that read, “I’d rather be riding horses”. I thought about the work I had waiting for me at home and it made me think about what I’d rather be doing.

I like my work, but I don’t want to do it 12 hours a day. I don’t live to work. Never have. I’ve always had other things that were important to me and I always made time to do them.

How about you? What would your license plate frame say? What would you rather be doing right now? Not just at this moment but in your work this year and for the rest of your life?

You may be one of the lucky ones who love what you do and can’t imagine doing anything else. Or you might be like many people, reasonably content with your work because you’re good at it and it provides you with a good living but in your heart of hearts, you’d rather be doing something else.

Imagine that you had money out of the way and that you never had to work again. Would you suit up every day and head down to the office or would you put on your sandals and head to the beach?

If you’d rather be doing something else, it’s okay to admit that to yourself. That doesn’t mean you’ll drop everything and start over. But you might start thinking about the next phase in your life and take some steps to prepare for it.

The other day I thought about someone I went to law school with but hadn’t spoken to in over 30 years. I wondered what he was up to these days and searched for him online. Was he still practicing? Was he still doing family law? Was he retired? In another line of work?

I couldn’t find his website, nor any links on social media. I couldn’t find anything about him, which I thought was weird. But I knew him before “the Internet” and shrugged it off, thinking he was just another dinosaur who had refused to evolve.

“Surely he has an email address,” I thought and went to the California bar website to find it. That’s when I learned that my old friend was deceased.

He was my age and now he’s gone. Had he had a successful career, I wondered. A happy life? Did he always love his work? Or would he rather have been riding horses?

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction

A simple way to be more productive

May 12, 2016 by
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If you ever sent me an email, whether by replying to one of my emails or by using the “contact” form on my site, there’s a very good chance that you didn’t get a reply. One of the ways I stay productive is by saying “no” to most of the things that cross my path, and that definitely includes email.

I do read my email and I encourage you to write to tell me what’s on your mind or to ask questions. I get a lot of ideas for blog posts from your questions and comments, so please don’t stop writing. But don’t be disappointed if you don’t hear back from me, or if you get a one or two-word reply.

Time is money. Tempus fugit. I love ya, but I get a lot of email and I can’t spend hours every day replying to everything.

How about you? Do you answer all of your email? Do you “say no” to most of it? Or do you do something in between those two extremes?

I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do because everyone is different. But I encourage you to think about your situation and establish a policy that works for you.

Obviously, you shouldn’t ignore emails from clients or prospects. Nor should you discourage them from writing. In fact, you should do just the opposite–the more you communicate with them via email, the less time you’ll need to spend on the phone.

The point is that email (and regular mail) takes up a good portion of the day for most professionals and it is okay if you don’t reply to everything. If you can shave off 30 minutes a day by not doing so, doesn’t it make sense to move in that direction?

A good place to start is by deleting or archiving emails from people who want to sell you something or do business with you. It’s not rude to ignore unsolicited email, however personal and polite (or known to you) the sender might be. Your refusal to reply is, in itself a reply that says, “thanks, but no thanks”.

It’s also okay to have someone reply for you. And to use form replies that require no more than a couple of clicks.

Start by making yourself aware of how much time you spend responding to email, and to whom you are responding. You might want to keep a log for a week or two and then imagine that time being spent doing billable work.

If you want to get more done in the course of your day, you need to say no to most things that cross your path, and email is a good place to start.

How I got my email to “inbox zero”

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Filed Under: Email, Law office management, Productivity

Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better

May 11, 2016 by
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French psychologist Emile Coue famously promoted the curative powers of repeating a daily mantra: “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better”. Apparently, those who repeated this to themselves many times each day saw greater improvement than those who didn’t.

Whether this is true or not, and without debating the rationale behind it, I think we can agree that the more frequently we do something designed to improve our skills or knowledge, the more likely it is that we will see improved results.

If you want to become a better writer, for example, it’s better to write every day than it is to write sporadically.

The reason is obvious. It is the compound effect of your daily effort.

When you do it every day, you don’t start each day at zero. You have the previous days’ experiences to draw on. If you write only once a month, on the other hand, every month you start from scratch.

To become a better speaker, every day, even for a few minutes, study the advice of good speakers and practice what you learn. Work on your timing, add better stories, seek feedback from others, and make continual adjustments, however small.

As you get better at speaking, you will gain more confidence. As your confidence grows, you will get better at speaking.

And so on. Success creates more success, through the power of compounding.

Whatever you want to improve, work on it daily, even for just a few minutes.

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

Three things playing poker taught me about marketing legal services

May 10, 2016 by
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I played a lot of poker in college. I wasn’t necessarily a great player but I usually won because I got a few things right.

One thing I got good at was bluffing. Poker teaches you that you don’t have to have “the goods” (the best hand) to win the pot, as long as the other players think you do. In a law practice, we call that “faking it” until you make it.

You can get clients and win cases if you sound like you know what you’re doing, even when you don’t. But like poker, you can’t bluff all the time. If you do it too much, you’ll eventually get caught.

Do what you have to do as a new lawyer to get your practice started, but get some help when you’re in over your head. And whatever you do, make sure your clients don’t know how much you don’t know.

Poker also taught me that you don’t have to always win the big pots to win the game. You can do nicely by winning a preponderance of small to medium-size hands and letting the other players fight over the long shots. Some players in our game went hard after the biggest pots and while they sometimes won them, their net for the night was often a big loss.

By contrast, I almost always walked away from the table a winner. I did the same thing in my law career, focusing on small to medium-sized cases. They didn’t bring me many of the biggest pots, but I didn’t have any great losses, either.

The biggest thing poker taught me about marketing is that you don’t have to be a great player, you just have to be better than the other players at the table. Apparently, that’s how I was able to do so well.

In building a law practice, you may have a large number of competitors, but most of them aren’t very good at marketing. You can beat them by getting good at a few key marketing strategies. If you’re a little better at getting referrals, for example, you can become a “top player” in your market.

You can let others spend big on advertising and chase the big prizes while you consistently go home a winner.

The best way to get good at getting referrals

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Is your law practice a fixer-upper or a tear-down?

May 9, 2016 by
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Some real estate investors look for properties they can improve by remodeling the kitchens and bathrooms. Others look for “tear-downs” and build new structures from the ground up. And some look for “ugly” properties that need nothing more than cosmetic improvements like floor and window coverings, paint, and minor landscaping.

Ugly property investors seek a quick turn around and look for properties with “the right things wrong with them”.

How would your practice fair as a potential investment? How could you quickly increase your cash flow and profits?

No matter how well run and profitable your practice is, there’s always room for improvement. Some practices need a little paint and polish and other “cosmetic” improvements. Some have structural problems and need major work. And some practices should be probably be torn down and rebuilt from scratch.

Take a look at your practice through the eyes of a potential investor. What do you see?

Are you in an office that’s too big or too expensive? Renegotiating your lease or moving to a less expensive building might help. If your office is too small for you or poorly located, however, a new location might allow you to bring in more clients or better clients and give you room to expand.

Examine your staff. Do they need to improve their skills? Does anyone need to be replaced? Do you need more people helping you so you can focus on marketing and big-picture projects?

Examine your computers, software, library, and other resources. What needs to be repaired or replaced? What would allow you to do your job quicker, more efficiently, or at lower cost?

Do you need new practice areas? Do you need to “fire” some of your clients to make room for better ones?

Do you do something in-house that might be done better or less expensively by an outside contractor? Are you spending too much outsourcing tasks that could be done by your employees?

Once or twice a year you and your staff should stand down from your regular activities and ask these kinds of questions. Take inventory of what you have and how it could be improved. Look for ways to lower overhead, increase your billing and bottom line.

Does your practice need major repairs or cosmetic improvements? Does it have the right things wrong with it?

Your marketing should start with this

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Filed Under: Law office management

Can Johnny come out and play?

May 6, 2016 by
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Are you up for some fun today? I thought we might take the rest of the day off, catch a movie and grab some pizza.

How does that sound?

You’ve got too much work on your desk? You’ve got appointments and deadlines?

Screw it! The work will be there when you get back. You work hard enough. You need to get out of the office and have some fun! You deserve it, don’t you?

C’mon, you know you want to. And you can. Just tell your staff you’re leaving for the weekend and have them reschedule your appointments.

They won’t understand? You feel guilty? Okay, tell them you’re not feeling well and need to leave early.

That’s true, isn’t it? You don’t feel well thinking about the fact that you can’t be spontaneous and take off a few hours when you feel like it.

So there. Problem solved. I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.

What do you mean you’re not sure? Don’t be a party pooper, let’s go! It’s only a few hours. And I’m buying!

You’ll come. Great! I’m on my way.

By the way, I’m impressed. You really are a good negotiator. Playing me, holding out until I said, “I’m buying”.

Nicely done, my friend.

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Filed Under: Just for fun

3 ways to tame your marketing beasts

May 5, 2016 by
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There are two powerful marketing methods available to you that you’re probably not using. You’re not alone. Most lawyers don’t use them, either because there are rules that preclude them from doing so or because they aren’t comfortable doing them even when the rules permit it.

What if I could eliminate these two obstacles for you? What if I could show you how you could safely and comfortably use one or both of these marketing methods to bring in a steady stream of new clients?

Would you hear me out?

Great. I’m going to pull back the curtain and show you the faces of these beasts.

The first beast goes by the name “unsolicited email”. You may recoil in horror, but I urge you to gaze at the face of this beast. Examine him, though your stomach may churn, for he can make you rich.

Take a breath as I reveal the second beast, who many say is more hideous than the first.

In polite company, we refer to the second beast as “cold calling”. You may know him as the Devil himself.

I know, you thought I was going to show you things you could do and here I’m talking about things you would never consider.

Never say never.

You can use cold calling and unsolicited email to build your practice, without violating any rules or doing anything unprofessional or uncomfortable.

You can let your marketing beasts out of their cage and tame them. Here are three ways to do that.

Strategy number one: Contact someone other than a prospective client

As far as I know, there are no rules against contacting another professional, a business owner, or other center of influence in your community or market via cold call or cold email. As long as you’re not contacting a prospective client, you can contact anyone, unsolicited though that first contact might be.

With email, you have to follow CAN-SPAM rules, and there may be rules against calling too early or too late in the day, but these rules are easy to follow.

And, with the right approach, you should be completely comfortable doing it.

What’s the right approach? See below.

Strategy number two: Call or write about something other than you and your services

Don’t promote your services. Don’t ask for referrals. In fact, on the first contact, you should say very little about yourself.

What do you say? There are lots of options. Here are a few:

You can introduce yourself as a fellow professional in the community, say something nice you heard about them or saw on their website, and offer to buy them coffee. You could ask to interview them for your blog or for an article. You could ask them to recommend a vendor or expert or if they know anything about an arbitrator you are considering. You could offer to send them information on a subject that would benefit them or their clients.

Strategy number three: have someone else make the first contact for you

If you’re still gun-shy, have someone in your office or a VA make the call or send the email on your behalf. You don’t have to talk to anyone until someone says they’d like to talk to you.

And that’s how you can tame these powerful marketing beasts.

For more approaches, scripts, and additional strategies, get this

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Filed Under: Referrals Tagged With: ,

Where to find inspiration when you need it

May 4, 2016 by
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In Evernote, I have a tag for “quotes”. As I browse websites, read books, and hear presentations, I look for statements or quotations that resonate with me and record them, and then use them in my writing and presentations. They give color and contour to my words and help readers or listeners understand and remember my message.

I also use quotations as an idea starter for creating new content.

When I’m scheduled to write something but I don’t have a subject, or I know what I want to say but I need an inspiring way to say it, I skim through my collection of quotes or visit websites that curate quotes, and find something that grabs my attention.

Sometimes, I use a quote as the basis for an entire post. Let me give you an example.

Yesterday I read an ebook that contained a quote from Erma Bombeck. She was best known for her humor but she was also an incisive observer of the world condition. The author of the book sought to inspire readers to go “all in” in our chosen work and he used Bombeck’s words to make his point. She said:

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.”

That spoke to me, as I hope it speaks to you. It prompted me to remind you, and myself, that we owe it to ourselves, our family, our employees, and our clients, to use our God-given talents to their fullest. To do less than we are capable dishonors our maker.

Whatever you do, do it with gusto. Don’t hold back, don’t phone it in. Give it everything you’ve got.

If you can’t do that, or you can no longer do that, go do something else.

Many successful people in the world once practiced law. When they lost their passion for the job, or they discovered a different calling, they pivoted and began a new chapter in their life.

If being a lawyer makes you happy, use every ounce of talent God gave you to be the best lawyer you can be. If you’re not happy, if you find the job enervating instead of energizing, the best thing you can do for yourself and those who depend on you is to begin a new chapter in your life.

How I use tags and notebooks in Evernote

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Writing Tagged With:

Faster. Better. Cheaper. Pick Two.

May 3, 2016 by
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You’ve probably heard the expression, “Faster, better, cheaper–pick two”. No, it’s not advice for choosing a girlfriend, it comes from project management circles and is sometimes referred to as the “Iron Triangle”.

You can’t have all three benefits, the theory says, so pick the two you want most. You can have something done faster and better but it’s going to cost more. If you want it better and cheaper, it will take more time. You can get it done quickly and inexpensively but it won’t be as good.

This may be true in the engineering and project management world but is it true everywhere? Is it true with respect to legal services?

I say it’s not. I say a lawyer can deliver all three.

You can create good work product quickly. Actually, in my experience, doing the work quickly often produces a better work product. When I write or prepare for a talk, for example, working quickly usually leads to a better first draft.

In fact, lawyers should make “speed” a cornerstone of their proposition. Let your clients know that they can not only count on you to deliver high-quality work, you’ll deliver it expeditiously.

Isn’t that what clients want? Good results delivered quickly?

Quality and speed. That’s two of the three. What about cheap?

Don’t let that word throw you. The more accurate word is “value”. They get more value from you than from other lawyers.

Your services aren’t cheap. You don’t have the lowest fees. You don’t compete on “price”. You’re not a “discount lawyer”. Just the opposite. You are “a bit more expensive, but worth it”.

And that’s where the value comes in.

You deliver high-quality services quickly and your clients get more value from you than from other lawyers.

That’s your promise. That’s your challenge.

Faster. Better. Cheaper (more value). That’s the lawyers’ “Golden Triangle”.

Crafting your marketing plan and message: go here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

You stink and nobody should hire you!

May 2, 2016 by
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A recent article highlighted an increase in lawyer advertising among personal injury firms in major markets in response to “a slowdown in legal services and increasing competition”. The latest trend among some advertisers are ads where lawyers attack their rivals.

The thrust of these ads is to point out the shortcomings of other firms in an attempt to scare prospective clients away from them and into the loving arms of the advertiser.

A marketing consultant noted the reason for the growth of this type of ad: “The law-firm category here is just so cluttered,” she says. “They’re all saying the same thing.”

But that’s always been true. Whether it’s a big firm advertising on TV or a solo lawyer with a simple website, lawyers have always had messages that “said the same thing”. But is “going negative” a viable option for differentiating yourself?

I don’t know but since most lawyers probably won’t do it, I’d rather talk about something every lawyer can do.

In The Attorney Marketing Formula, I showed you many ways to differentiate yourself from other lawyers. It’s actually not that difficult to stand out from the crowd and show prospective clients why they should choose you instead of any other lawyer. With a little bit of thought, you can show them why you’re different or better, without saying a word about any other lawyer, negative or otherwise.

One of the simplest ways to do this is to make yourself a part of the marketing message.

You are unique. You have a personality, a background, a story that is uniquely you. When you are the face of your firm, you will get noticed. Clients will choose you because they “know” you, even if what you do is essentially the same as other lawyers.

Put your face and your voice in your TV and radio ads. Put your photo and your words in your print ads. Talk about yourself on your website, on your “About” page and throughout your content. Write in the first person. Make yourself a part of the story.

Let prospective clients see you and get to know you, because it is you that they hire.

If you have partners or work for a firm, it’s no different. Market yourself, not your firm. Remember, nobody hands out your business card to a referral and says, “Call my law firm”. They say, “Call my lawyer,” and then talk about you.

Don’t ignore the firm. The firm’s capabilities, reputation, and resources all help. But at the end of the day, it’s you the client will speak to and hire. So show them who you are before you show them what you do.

More ways to differentiate yourself here

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Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing legal services Tagged With:
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