If Bruce Lee had practiced law

March 19, 2015 by
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If Bruce Lee had practiced law he would have specialized in one practice area. Maybe a subset of one area.

Lee believed in being the best and never settled for good enough. And he knew that being the best requires focus, discipline, and a lot of hard work.

Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

I did a consultation with an attorney recently. He doesn’t have a general practice, but he doesn’t specialize either. We talked about the benefits of specializing. I ran down the list:

  • More clients (because clients prefer to hire specialists)
  • Higher fees (because clients are willing to pay specialists higher fees)
  • More referrals (because other lawyers who won’t see you as a competitor)
  • More effective marketing (because your message is more focused)
  • Less work and overhead (because you only have to stay up to date in your practice area)

He said he’d like to specialize but he lives in a small town and there’s not enough work there for any one of the things he does.

“How far is the closest city?” I asked. “Thirty miles,” he said.

“How about opening a satellite office in the city?” I said. He should be able to find more than enough work in the practice area of his choosing.

He’d never thought of that.

Start slowly if you want. Find an attorney with a different practice area with a conference room or extra office you can use one or two days week to see clients. Let him use your office as a satellite for his practice.

If you’re not where you want to be in your career, take a step back and look at your situation with fresh eyes. You may see the answer, right there in front of you. If not, come talk to me.

Marketing is easier when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Specializing

Global marketing for local lawyers

March 18, 2015 by
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You may only be licensed in one jurisdiction but that doesn’t mean you should limit your marketing to that jurisdiction. Prospective clients and the people that refer them are everywhere.

Right now, scores of people in other jurisdictions are planning to move to your area, own property in your area, or are looking to expand their business into your area. Countless professionals in foreign lands have clients and contacts who who fit this description.

Prospective clients and the people who refer them are out there and they need to know about you.

Here are few ways to get started.

First, make sure your website is optimized so that the world can find you. Use keywords in your posts and pages that speak to foreign people who are looking for an attorney like you. Add content to your site about the issues that concern them so that when they find you, they’ll see why you are the right choice.

If you handle immigration, write something for would-be immigrants from countries you want to target. If you handle real estate or tax or estate planning, write something that an out-of-state or foreign national might need to know.

Second, find prospective referral sources in other states and countries who are most likely to have clients and contacts who might need you. Introduce yourself to them, and make sure they know what you do and who you can help. Find out what kinds of clients and information they seek and see what you can do to help them.

Third, reach out to professionals and business owners in your market who currently market to people in other states or countries. You might partner up with someone in the travel or real estate re-location business and write a guide for vacationers, business travelers, or people looking to retire in your area.

It’s a big world out there. You may be local but clients are everywhere.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Eat dessert first

March 17, 2015 by
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I went to a funeral last night. DJ was my friend and business partner and he was only 55 when he died.

As I thought about DJ and what he meant to me, I thought about how much he loved people. He was a great listener, always upbeat, always willing to help.

More than anything, DJ liked to have fun. Having fun was his rai·son d’ê·tre. No matter what he was doing, he did it with gusto.

When we went to dinner with DJ, he had the peculiar habit of ordering and eating dessert first. He said he didn’t want to miss the best part of the meal.

Eat dessert first. Enjoy life while you still have it.

Stephen King said, “Ask yourself frequently, “Am I having fun?” The answer needn’t always be yes. But if it’s always no, it’s time for a new project or a new career.”

I’m going to ask myself that question more often because life is short and it passes quickly.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, success

Take Off Your Pants (but don’t show me your briefs)

March 16, 2015 by
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The most important task of a headline is getting the reader’s attention. You may have a brilliant article or blog post, amazing sales copy, and a powerful offer, but none of that matters if nobody reads it.

An example of a good headline is the one on a new Kindle book, Take Off Your Pants: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing.

It’s for novelists who ordinarily don’t outline their books but write them “by the seat of their pants.” They are considered “pantsers” in the parlance, in contrast to “plotters”–writers who outline and plot before they write.

I saw the book when it launched and even though I’m not a novelist I was intrigued by the title. It stopped me in my tracks and made me look at the book description. It made me chuckle.

It did it’s job and did it well.

Of course you need to read the sub-title to understand that the book is for writers and not a 50 Shades knockoff. And that’s okay. The title gets your attention. The sub-title clarifies the title and promises a benefit.

Nicely done.

If you’re looking for ideas for headlines for your posts or articles, or titles for your books, don’t hesitate to borrow from what’s already out there. You can use an existing title or headline “as is” (there is no copyright protection afforded titles), or you can play off titles, especially iconic ones. My book (on network marketing), Recruit and Grow Rich is an obvious but effective play on the classic “Think and Grow Rich.”

Another example.

In the 1970’s, Dr. David Reuben became a mega best selling author with his book, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)”. Woody Allen made it into a movie with that title.

The original title is trademarked, so you can’t use it as is, but I’ve seen more than a few ads for products and services that play off it. You can do the same thing. “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bankruptcy (But Were Afraid to Ask)” works.

You could use this template for many practice areas, and it doesn’t matter whether readers know the original book or movie. There are a lot of things prospective clients want to know but are afraid to ask.

For more on writing effective titles and headlines, get this and this

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Writing Tagged With: ,

The only productivity rule you need to know

March 13, 2015 by
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Shelves of books have been written about time management and productivity. Every day, we are told about the latest methods and systems for managing our lives. And we look at them, oh yes we do, because no matter what system we currently use, there has to be something better.

But there’s really one productivity rule you need to know.

It’s a simple rule. Simple to understand, simple to remember, and simple to use.

Follow this rule and you won’t need anything else.

What is this Holy Grail of productivity?

Behold:

“First things first, second things never”.

If you want to be productive, continually ask yourself “What is the most important thing I can do right now?”

And do it.

When it’s done, or you have done as much as you can on that task, ask the question again. “What’s the most important thing I can do right now?”

In this way, you continually focus on your top priority, and you don’t get bogged down in anything else.

Always do the most important thing. When you complete that task, something else will take it’s place as your most important task, and that’s what you should do next.

Don’t worry about the 927 other things on your lists; you can only do one thing at a time.

First things first. (Do what’s most important.) Second things never. (If it’s not first, don’t do it.)

Here a couple of ways to make this rule work better.

  1. As you look at the universe of things you might do, i.e., all of your lists, notes, calendars, and so on, choose the three “most important tasks” (MITs) for the day. This way, when you complete the first task (“first thing”) you can immediately start on task number two, which will then be your new “first thing”.
  2. Choose your three MITs the night before, so you can get started on the first task the next morning.

That’s it. First things first, second things never.

One rule to rule them all.

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management

Why didn’t you write this?

March 12, 2015 by
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I saw a post on Mashable this morning and thought of you. The title is How to decide whether to elect an S-corp for your business. I’m mentioning it to you because I wanted to ask, “Why didn’t you write this?”

In the five hours since it was published (as of this writing), it has 1300 shares. If you had written this, a lot of people would have seen your name, your bio, and a link to your website.

The post is around 900 words. You could have written this in less than an hour. You might not have had it published on Mashable, but maybe you would. The author isn’t an attorney. She got it published. Why not you?

You could write a basic article like this about any practice area. And there are hundreds of places to have your article published. Blogs, magazines, and newsletters galore that need content, written by authorities like you.

Maybe you haven’t written an article like this before and don’t know where to start. No problem. Start with this article (or find one in your practice area) and reverse engineer it.

Make an outline from the article, then write your article from that outline. Add different information, add stories from your clients files, write in your own voice and style, and change the title. Done.

Here’s your homework:

  1. Set up a file for this project and start adding ideas for articles you could write.
  2. Do a search with keywords appropriate for your practice area and find articles you could have written. Add the links or actual articles to your file. Use these articles to write your own version of these articles, or to get more ideas.
  3. Search for websites and blogs in your target market. Find their “editorial guidelines” (article length, topics, focus, etc.) and their submission or query process. If all of the articles appear to be staff written, you can still query the editor. You never know. Yours might be the first outside post they accept.
  4. Write your first article this week. If you’re not ready to submit it to a blog or magazine, publish it on your website.

Publishing articles brings website traffic, enhances your bio, and gives you material your can re-purpose for reports, ebooks, and presentations. It can get you invitations to speaking engagements and interviews, and opens doors to getting more articles published.

Still not sure? Write a “practice” article that you won’t show anyone. Give yourself permission to write something awful.

When I was getting started writing, that’s what I did. I told myself to just get a first draft written, no matter how bad, and I could fix it later. When that draft was done, I found it really wasn’t that bad. It was actually quite good. A little editing and I had something publishable.

I’m betting it will work out that way for you.

Need ideas for writing? Get this

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Filed Under: Blogging, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Web traffic, Writing Tagged With:

Sometimes, the best way to handle a problem is to ignore it

March 11, 2015 by
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You’ve got a problem and you’re searching for a solution. Or you know what to do but don’t have time to do it.

Fear not. Sometimes, the best way to handle a problem is to ignore it.

The problem may go away by itself. Or turn out to cause damages that are relatively minor. Or manageable. Or covered by insurance.

It’s all relative, isn’t it?

Some problems are big and hairy. Others, not so much.

Before you start looking for solutions to a problem, make sure the problem is something that truly needs fixing.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Why is this a problem?
  • What are the benefits of fixing the problem?
  • What’s the worst that can happen if I don’t fix it?
  • If the worst case scenario occurs, can I afford the consequences?
  • What are the costs of fixing the problem?
  • Can I ignore the problem for now and fix it later?
  • Can I fix part of the problem now and fix the rest later (or ignore the rest)?
  • Can I delegate some or all of work needed to fix the problem?

You may find that the problem isn’t as bad as you thought. You may conclude that your time is better spent fixing a different problem, or tackling an opportunity that promises bigger benefits.

You don’t have to fix every problem. Sometimes, the best way to handle a problem is to ignore it.

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Filed Under: Leverage, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:

The biggest mistake lawyers make with online marketing

March 10, 2015 by
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Last week I referenced an article about “lethal mistakes” lawyers make with their online marketing. I agreed with some of the mistakes, disagreed with some, and was mystified by the absence of others.

I asked what you thought was missing, and by your responses, you showed me that you are paying attention.

Your list of mistakes included things like

  • The absence of fresh content
  • Too much about “the firm” and not enough about the client/visitor and his problems
  •  No call to action (telling visitors what to do)
  • Too impersonal, formal, unapproachable

Correctamundo.

You get it.

Why weren’t these in the article?

I don’t know.

Anyway, before I reveal to you the number one lethal mistake lawyers make with their website, I want to mention another article about lawyers’ websites that provided some alarming, but not surprising, statistics:

According to this article

  • Nearly 40% of small law firms don’t have websites
  • 70% don’t have a call to action on their home page
  • 97% of law firm websites fail to deliver any kind of personalized content
  • Only 35% have been updated in the last three years
  • 68% don’t have an email address on their home page [see my comments below]
  • 27% don’t have a phone number on their home page
  • Only one-third are optimized for mobile devices

The last issue is especially noteworthy in view of Google’s recent announcement about penalizing sites that aren’t mobile friendly.

The article also said that “only 14% of law firms send a triggered email to a visitor who submits a form online”. That number is skewed, I am sure, because most law firm sites don’t even have a form that allows visitors to email them.

Your site needs a contact form, so visitors who aren’t ready to call you can communicate with you by email. Posting your email is good, but using a form is better. It makes it easier for visitors to contact you, and that means more will (and that’s a good thing, yo.). A form can also reduce spam and allow you to direct visitors to supply information you will need when you reply.

That form should send an automated reply so people will immediately know “message received” and what will happen next. Without this, visitors are likely to keep looking.

Okay, now for the biggest mistake.

Your emails to me mentioned it. So you know it’s important. I’m not sure if you realize how important, however.

The biggest mistake is not having a form for visitors to subscribe to your email list or newsletter.

You need a form and you need to tell people to subscribe. Tell them on every page. And give them reasons why they should. Tell them how they will benefit by filling out your form. What will they get, learn, or avoid?

Why is it so important to get people to subscribe? Because most people who visit your website for the first time

(a) aren’t ready to hire you,
(b) aren’t ready to contact you to ask questions or schedule an appointment, and
(c) aren’t likely to return to your website.

First time visitors are gathering information, about the law and procedure and their options, and about lawyers who can help them.

News flash: yours isn’t the only website they visit.

If you don’t capture their name and email on the first visit, and use that to stay in touch with them, the odds are you will never hear from them again.

Which means you’re losing business. A lot more than you may realize.

When visitors subscribe to your email list, you can continue to send them information, remind them about the solutions you offer, and show them why they should choose you instead of any other lawyer. You can continue to sell yourself and your services.

Six days, six weeks, or six months from now, you can continue having that conversation and convert more people into paying clients.

Even if they’re not ready to hire you, even if they never hire you, they can send you referrals and traffic and promote your events and share your content and help you build your email list further.

But none of that will occur if you don’t know who they are.

Without a list, you can’t stay in touch with visitors, earn their trust, seek their feedback, ask for their testimonials, invite them to your seminars, tell them about updates to your site, or do anything else to build a relationship with them.

And that’s why building a list is numero uno.

Your website’s content is critically important. But if that’s all you focus on, you’re asking your site to do too much.

You could take away my blog, my social media accounts, remove any mention of me from search engines, and cancel anything else I do to promote my products and services, and I would survive because I would still have my list.

Building a list is the most important thing a lawyer can do to market their practice, and most lawyers don’t do it.

Learn how to build your list and market your practice online.

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Filed Under: Email, Legal industry, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Web traffic

Tazing clients for fun and profit

March 9, 2015 by
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Let’s face it, you’re boring. Predictable. Normal. And forgettable. Just like most lawyers.

Yes, people trust you, because they see you as a reliable and stable professional, but that strength, from a marketing standpoint, can also be a weakness.

You don’t want to look and sound like every other lawyer. You want to stand out.

Where’s the flair? The panache? The spark of originality?

Actor and comedian Jonah Hill said, “It’s always better to shock people and change people’s expectations than to give them exactly what they think you can do.”

And he’s right.

That doesn’t mean you should be reckless. Or weird. Just a little different. Maybe not always, but at least once in awhile.

Do something people would never expect you to do. Something small, but significant.

Surprise your clients with a gift. Invite them to your first stand up comedy gig. Write a poem and post it on your website.

Pass out a box of Good N’ Plenty with your business card. Come up with a memorable slogan.

Show your fun side. Be unpredictable. A little shocking.

You want people to notice you and remember you and talk about you, so give them something to talk about.

Of course you want to be known more for your legal talents than your whimsy. But before you can dazzle anyone with your brilliance, you have to get their attention.

So, how will you shock your clients today?

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Filed Under: Client relations, Legal industry, Marketing legal services

Internet marketing for lawyers: Is your website leaking?

March 6, 2015 by
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I just read an article that made my head hurt.

While I agree with some of the author’s “mistakes” in, “7 Lethal Internet Marketing Mistakes Law Firms Make”, I’m wondering where on earth he dug up the others. I’m also chaffing about why he didn’t include some of the truly lethal (and oh-so-common) mistakes.

Here are his “7 mistakes” and my comments.

1. Not having an online presence

Yep.

No question about it, this is a lethal mistake and many lawyers make it. If prospective clients can’t find you online, you’re loosing a boatload of business.

Many more lawyers do have an online presence, but it is ineffective. They have a website, it just doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. (If you have studied, Make the Phone Ring you know the 9 keys to an effective website.)

2. Advertising your fees on your website

I agree with this, too. It’s a mistake.

You can give people a general idea of what to expect (e.g., minimum fee, range) but make them call before you quote a specific fee.

3. Letting Membership in ABA lapse

Huh?

The author says (a) it’s important to network at ABA functions and (b) your membership looks good on social media.

Networking is good, and ABA functions may be a good place to do it, but there are many other options.

Does ABA membership look good on your website? It doesn’t look bad but most people really don’t care. The ones who know anything about the ABA know that any lawyer can join.

4. Ignoring Pro Bono work

Uhhh. . .

Pro Bono work is certainly a good thing, and mentioning it publicly may make you look good, but not mentioning it (or doing it) is nowhere near lethal.

5. Not understanding keywords and SEO

Yes and no.

You should have a basic understanding of the concepts, but you don’t need more than that. Read a few articles on the subject, and you’ll know what to do.

6. Not dressing professionally in photos

Absolutely.

Clients, referral sources, writers, et. al., expect to you see you looking like a lawyer. You can ALSO include some casual photos, e.g., you at the firm picnic, however.

7. Not having video on your website

Not lethal. Not even a mistake.

Video is nice but hardly necessary. Done wrong, you look cheesy. Done right, I don’t think it makes that much difference. (The author recommends hiring a professional crew to videotape you and make you look good.)

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? What’s missing from this list of mistakes? What’s more important for marketing online than belonging to the ABA?

If you’ve been reading my posts for any length of time, I think you can come up with a few ideas.

Post your answer as a comment to this blog post (or reply to this email) and tell me what you would include.

Yesterday, I was interviewed about marketing professional services. It wasn’t specifically about Internet marketing, but I was asked, “What’s the most important thing lawyers can do with online marketing?”

What do you think I said?

No, it’s not on the list of “7 Mistakes”.

It’s something I talk about a lot. It’s also something most lawyers, even ones with a decent website, don’t do.

More to follow. . .

Internet marketing for lawyers: How to Make the Phone Ring

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing
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