Social media marketing isn’t the only way to market legal services

June 12, 2014 by
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When you read yesterday’s post about social media marketing, there’s a very good chance you had one of two reactions:

  1. Wow, this is amazing. I can’t wait to do this!
  2. Wow, this is amazing. But it’s not for me.

If you’re in the first group, you recognize that if a busy and successful trial lawyer can bring in lots of business through social media, you can too. You see how one article or update can be re-purposed for a variety of platforms, allowing you to attract prospective clients from a variety of directions.

You also understand the value of a good model, that is, you can see that by studying what Mr. Jackson does, you can emulate it.

You may have been a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, but you realize that Rome wasn’t built in a day and you don’t have to do everything all at once. You can start with a few accounts and a few posts and work your way up.

Now, if you’re in the second group, if you read the post and immediately thought, “I’m not doing all that,” I understand.

I understand because that was my reaction.

Social media marketing aint my thang. I do it, but sparingly. I don’t doubt the power of social media, I just don’t like it. And if you don’t like something, forcing yourself to do it is unlikely to lead to good results. And, why make yourself miserable doing something you don’t enjoy?

Mitch said he gets the most engagement, traffic, shares, and so on, with his personal posts. That makes sense. But Mitch is an extrovert (or he does a very good impression of one) and I’m not. I’m not antisocial, but don’t invite me to your party, I’d rather stay home and read. (Wait, will there be food?)

What about the expurts and goo-roos who say you have to jump on board the social media train?

They’re wrong. Don’t listen to them.

You don’t have to do anything. Social media marketing isn’t the only way to market legal services, or anything else.

For the record, I do think every lawyer should have a website with a fair amount of content, to showcase their knowledge and expertise and help people get to know, like, and trust them. And that website should have social media integration so that your (extroverted) visitors can share your content through their social media channels.

But that’s easy. And not the same thing.

Of course there is a third group. You think social media is fine. You like it. You might not plan to go all out with it, but you would like to do more than you’re doing now.

I think that’s great.

There’s room for all us folk.

In my father’s day, some lawyers networked, some didn’t. Some did it a lot, some did it “whenever”. Now that we can network online, we have more options. But they are options, not laws, rules, or mandates.

To see  how I build my business online, go here

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Filed Under: Blogging, Social media, Social media marketing Tagged With:

10 Ways for Lawyers to Share and Re-purpose Firm News on Social Media

June 11, 2014 by
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DW: I invite you to read and study this comprehensive guest post by my friend, Mitch Jackson. Mitch is a successful trial lawyer who has used social media extensively to build his practice.
—

Social media is all about sharing good content and helping others. Results come from engaging, caring and providing value. My general rule is that only 20% of my posts on the various platforms are about me or my firm. The other 80% are focused on sharing tips and curating good third party content that helps others.

This article is about the 20%.

Overview

You’ve just settled an interesting case or obtained a favorable verdict. Maybe you’ve even made new case law. Here are 10 ways to share this news or update with your tribe (current and past clients, family, friends, and other followers on social media).

Before we get started, remember that in today’s digital world, we’re all media companies. Producing and sharing good content is now, in my humble opinion, mandatory. It’s also important to understand and appreciate the fact that while content is king, context is everything. Each platform is different (some more than others) so care must be taken to post to your tribe the right way on each platform.

Also make sure to start with a good profile on each social media platform. On the internet, you only have about the average attention span of a goldfish (9 seconds) to capture someone’s attention. Make sure to complete each profile with your picture (not a firm logo) and short interesting bio (not a boring lawyer bio).

Step #1: Website and Blog

Share your good news or update in a properly written blog post. Use effective headings and appropriate keywords. Use a story format and write in your own voice and in a non-legal way. Make the post interesting and easy to read. Increase interaction by always including a picture, graphic or video in your post.

If you’re writing your blog posts like all the other lawyers out there, then you’re probably doing things wrong. Be yourself and unique. Share your art.

If you don’t have a website or blog, this is your first high priority step. Everything is going mobile (smartphones and tablets) so make sure your site is mobile responsive (no exceptions). I’m a big fan of WordPress with Studio Press hosted on WPEngine.

Click here to see how we’ve setup our firm website and communication tips blog.

Step #2: Twitter

Share the catchy heading of your blog post, together with a short description sentence on Twitter. Include the link back to your post. Use a hashtag. Although Twitter allows for 140 characters, try and keep your post to about 120 characters to leave room for people to retweet with comments.

Because pictures attract more attention, add the picture you used in your post to your tweet. If you don’t have a picture, use one of the free or paid online services to grab an image that relates to your story (I like Fotolia). One of my favorite techniques is to download and use the free screenshot service called “Jing” by TechSmith to capture a picture of the top portion of my blog post to use later for posting on the other social platforms.

While you’re thinking of Twitter, take your blog post and break it down into 5-10 snapshots addressing key points and topics contained within your blog. Each snapshot or tweet is worded in its own unique and eye catching way. I use a Word or Google document and keep a list of these mini snapshot tweets for future use.

Sit down at night or early in the morning and use Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule these additional tweets once or twice a day, over the next 5-10 days. Each tweet links back to your original blog post.

Click here to see how I’m using Twitter.

Step #3: Linkedin

Take one or more of the tweets that you have listed in your Word document and share it on Linkedin, linking back to your blog post. Normally I do this in the above step by telling Hootsuite to send out the tweets I schedule to both Twitter and Linkedin.

Click here to see how I’m using Linkedin.

Step #4: Facebook

Again, I take one or more of the tweets I’ve listed in my Word or Google document and re-purpose the language for Facebook. Unlike Twitter, Facebook posts can be longer so I usually add a bit more information in Word before posting with the link back to my blog post.

Images are powerful attention grabbing magnets on Facebook and will result in more interaction, shares and comments. Because of this, make sure to include an image with your post. Rather than allowing the link to my blog post to automatically pull an image back into my Facebook feed, I prefer to upload my own image from the blog post. Doing this will display a larger image in your Facebook post.

I have a personal and business Facebook profile and depending on the nature of the content, I post to each once or twice a day.Click here to see how we’re using Facebook for the firm or here for my personal page.

Step #5: Pinterest

If you’re not using this platform then you’re missing out. Upload the picture or screen shot relating to your blog post and add it to one or more of your Pinterest Boards. Several boards you may want to set up include current news, verdicts and settlements, legal tips, testimonials, videos, photos, podcasts, newsletter, and community service, just to name a few.

After using the content in your Word document to complete the description in Pinterest, make sure to add 3-4 relevant hashtags at the end and also include your blog post link in the source link box. This way, when someone clicks on the picture they will be taken to your linked blog post.

I have both personal and law firm Pinterest sites. Feel free to click on the links to see how I’m using them.

Step #6: Youtube

Video is huge on social media. Within a year of posting our first video (it wasn’t very good but it was a start), we received hundreds of new client inquires and dozens of new cases. I was also featured in various high profile websites, blogs, and even the ABA Journal. Talk about good publicity!

If you haven’t already done so, setup your Youtube channel and start making and posting short 1-3 minute long videos. Also share other interesting videos about your activities and events on your channel. People will relate to you when they learn more about your interests, passions, and even your family.

You don’t need a fancy camera and the process is pretty simple. There are plenty of “how to” resources out there but I think you’ll figure things out once you complete and upload your first couple of videos. Using a lapel mic is key to getting good audio.

By far, the best videos we’ve shared are the ones that do not look like they are professionally shot. For example, one involved me stopping while riding my mountain bike and using my smartphone to shoot a selfie video about why staying healthy will help you be a better trial lawyer. It received a great deal of favorable traction and feedback once shared on all the platforms.

Putting the camera up on a tripod at the office and sharing my take on a breaking news event (called newsjacking) has also resulted in articles on Lawyers.com, national interviews, speaking engagements, and even being mentioned or profiled in more than one book. One bit of advice is to remember to pay attention to your background and how you look, and keep your video short and sweet.

Tip: Here’s a secret most people overlook. There are many services and programs that will allow you get the audio of your video transcribed so that you can use it for a future blog post. Others will allow you to rip the audio from the video which you can then use as a podcast more fully described below.

The key is to keep things interesting and snappy. Don’t be a boring lawyer. Don’t sit behind your desk and sound like bla, bla, bla. When I look back, I’m embarrassed to watch my first dozen videos. But guess what, it was a learning process and in the long run, it’s all good.

Here’s our Youtube channel if you’d like to see the bad and the good.

Step #7: SlideShare

This often overlooked platform is well respected and used successfully by marking pros around the globe. I’ve been neglecting this platform for far too long. This past weekend, I uploaded a new SlideShare about negotiation and within the first 24 hours it had more than 900 views and trended on Twitter and SlideShare. The response was so good that this presentation was then profiled on the SlideShare home page. Two days later, we’re over 2,000 views. The exposure for my firm was huge!

You can and should do the same thing. Think about this for a moment. Everything you do as a lawyer is based upon steps and checklists. Take the material you already have that can help consumers (“10 Things to Know and Do If You’re Arrested” or “6 Steps to a Successful Patent”), create compelling and easy to read PowerPoint slides and then upload them to SlideShare. Take the blog post we’ve been talking about and break it down to a 15-20 slide presentation. Link back to your original blog post.

Here’s how we’re using SlideShare.

Step #8: Podcasts

Podcasts are very popular because mobile technology now allows us to easily listen to podcasts anytime and anyplace. Take your blog post and turn the content into a short 10-20 minute podcast. Start with a snappy and attention grabbing intro and then share your information using your own voice. Use your post as an outline and just share your message from your heart. Close with a call to action referring back to your website or blog.

Interviews are also a great way to expand your sphere of influence. Once you’re up and running, reach out and interview other people who your listeners might find interesting. When you’re done, share the link with your interviewee and he or she will almost always share the interview with their audience. This is a great way to expand your sphere of influence and increase the number of eyeballs to your website, blog and podcasts platforms.

There are plenty of resources our there to help get you started but my one stop “how to” podcast site is Cliff Ravenscraft’s Podcast Answer Man.

Once we add and upload a podcast to our host (we use Libsysn), we share the podcast link back at our original post. We also upload and link to Stitcher, iTunes, and Soundcloud.

Note, once my podcasts are completed and uploaded, I share the unique links of these three platforms to most of the above-mentioned social platforms. The heading and short description is changed from the earlier descriptions and posts. Links are also shared on the original blog post or website page, just in case a visitor would rather listen to the material.

Step #9: Spreecast and Google Hangouts

These live video platforms allow you to have your own internet television station. For me, Spreecast has been an awesome platform that has connected me with interesting and well known people from all around the world. I even had the chance to chat with Katie Couric and later that day, we both made TMZ. How cool is that!

Some of the people I’ve interviewed are New York Times best selling authors and celebrities with 250,000 to 1,000,000 Twitter followers. What do you think happens when they tweet out that they’re going to be on my Spreecast?

You can use these platforms to interview guests about legal topics or approaches. I’d also recommend that you do what I do and, depending on your passion, reach out and interview people associated with your unique interest. Your show may not have anything to do with the law but it will highlight the real you to your audience. This allows people to connect with you and that’s a good thing!

Promote your show on all the platforms well before the event and also afterwards (they’re recorded). Share the event links and embed the video of your interview at your blog and platforms. Many of my Spreecasts will have 1,000 unique views within the first hour or so and several thousand in the first 24 hours. Lifelong friends have been made simply from using this single platform.

As I mentioned in the Youtube section, you may also want to have your interviews transcribed or audio ripped for future use on blogs and podcast. Rarely is there a need to duplicate your efforts!

Here’s my Spreecast page to give you an idea about what I’m talking about.

Step #10: Vine, Instagram and Snapchat

Whether you “get it” or not, young adults are using these platforms and they’re becoming more and more relevant in the business world. Several high profile marketing experts are very keen on the future of these platforms. This in and of itself is good reason to get involved on these channels. Setup accounts and start using these platforms to share legal tips in a fun way.

Take the screenshot image of the blog post and share it on Instagram with a link or reference back to your website or blog. Instagram will not allow you to hyperlink, so that’s why we setup a fun and easy to remember domain we direct viewers to. We tell viewers to visit MyLawyerRocks.com for more informaton 🙂

As an example, here is our Vine account  and you can view our Instagram here.  As of this post, Snapchat does not have a web based browser, so connect with me on the platform to see how we’re using it.

Final Thoughts

The above approach is working very well for me. A single blog post can be shared using the above method over several days or weeks. Whatever works for you is fine. Just take action and get started.

Keep in mind that what’s important on social is the 80% part of the equation. That is, engaging and helping others. However, when I do jump over to the 20% side of things, this is exactly how I do it.

Without a doubt, the best increase in influence and engagement I’ve experienced on the digital platforms have come from my efforts relating to other interests that complement the practice of law. When I blog about a legal theory or explain new statutes or case law, all I usually hear are digital crickets. But when I share a blog or social media post about my passions, family, youth sports, or family trips, the interaction and feedback explodes.

For example, I have a communication tips blog where I share a weekly communication tip. This blog is my passion and I enjoy providing useful ideas to help everyday people communicate more effectively. Over time, trust and rapport is established with people (my tribe) who share a common interest. When my tribe has a legal question or someone needs a lawyer, who do you think they call? Here’s my communication tips blog if you’d like to see what I’m talking about.

Along the same lines, I enjoy trying cases and sharing trial tips. My Google Plus Trial Lawyer Tips Community is one of the platforms I use to expand this interest. Over the past year, the community has grown to over 1,500 members (mostly lawyers) sharing hundreds of outstanding trial tips. Click here to visit or join this community.

Conclusion

Today, smart lawyers use social media to inspire, inform, educate and build new relationships. Hopefully you will use some or all of these ideas to do the same thing. I encourage you to use the different approaches in this article and start incorporating social media into your daily activity to expand your sphere of influence.

But remember one thing. Social is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Be patient and consistent in your efforts. Be transparent, share your unique art, and good things will happen.

I hope you found this article useful and I look forward to seeing you on the digital platforms!

——-
Mitch Jackson has been a trial lawyer for 28 years and is the 2013 California Litigation Lawyer of the Year (CLAY Award) and 2009 Orange County Trial Lawyer of the Year. When he’s not trying cases, Mitch uses social media to help good attorneys become great trial lawyers and to show everyone (not just lawyers) how to communicate more effectively. His law firm website is JacksonandWilson.com and his communication tips blog is MitchJackson.com

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Guest Posts, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Presentations, Social media, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With:

The first step in effecting change is admitting that you need to change

June 10, 2014 by
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Yesterday’s post was about being chronically late. I said that you’re late because you want to be. Being late serves you in some way. You have free will and you can change by choosing to change.

A reader wrote, said he agreed, and asked how he could tell his wife that she’s late because she chooses to be, “without inspiring the death stare”.

Ah, the stare.

The answer: you can’t. I’m guessing that not only does being chronically late serve her in some way, so does being in denial about it.

But maybe not. Maybe she will admit that she’s chronically late. Good. That’s step one. You can’t fix a problem unless you admit you have a problem. You can’t effect change if you don’t admit you need to change.

Perhaps being chronically late is a running joke in your house and she will cop to it. Good. Onto step two.

Step two is admitting you want to do something about it. Does she? Would she like to not always be late?

If she doesn’t want to change things, you aren’t going to get anywhere. Not without a formal intervention, anyway.

If she admits that she would prefer not being late, you have an opening. A place to start.

Now what?

Bring on the expert witnesses.

Don’t offer any advice. The people we are closest to never listen to us. You need “third party” information. Get some articles and books about the subject.

Start with tips (like setting two alarms in the morning, for example). Maybe one of the books or articles will say what I said, that being chronically late is a choice. She won’t listen to you. She might listen to a third party expert.

The other thing you can do is suggest an exercise you heard about (from me; I’m telling you about it now). Sit with her with paper and pen and write a “can do” list. Draw a line down the center of the page. On the left side, she writes down all of the situations where she is commonly late. On the right side, she writes down everything she can think of that she can do about those situations, e.g., setting two alarms in the morning.

Again, this isn’t you offering suggestions. She has to come up with the solutions herself.

Every solution she comes up with reinforces the idea that she is not powerless, there are things she “can do”.

And. . . you haven’t “told” her anything. Because you can’t. That stare is lethal.

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Filed Under: Communication, Personal development Tagged With:

Are you chronically late? Here’s why and what to do about it.

June 9, 2014 by
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Are you chronically late? Late to court. Late for appointments. Late getting home for dinner. If you are, there’s a reason.

You’re late because you want to be.

Being late serves you in some way. You may not be consciously aware of this, but it’s there nevertheless. How do I know? Because showing up on time is completely under your control.

I’m not talking about the things that happen to everyone from time to time. A traffic accident, a judge who keeps you late, an emergency at home. Stuff happens and everyone is occasionally late. But if you are frequently late, it’s because you want to be.

You choose to be late. You can choose to be on time.

You can schedule appointments far enough apart to give you enough time to get from one to the other. You can set alarms and reminders on your devices to let you know when it’s time to leave. You can get apps that provide traffic alerts. You can ask your staff to help you get out the door.

So why don’t you? I don’t know. All I know is that you don’t have to be.

I read an article that offered several “reasons” why people are chronically late. To my eye, they aren’t reasons in the sense that you don’t have control over them, they are excuses. They are HOW you CAUSE yourself to be late.

Sleeping late is the first on the list. You sleep late because you’re not getting to bed early enough. That’s how you cause yourself to be late. The question is why. You have free will. You can decide when to turn off the lights. You don’t because sleeping late serves you in some way. Perhaps it allows you to excuse less than excellent performance at work. Perhaps being late is merely a part of the process, or a byproduct.

In Eighth grade, I had to deliver a report in front of the room. I wasn’t ready and asked the teacher if I could have another day. When I was told I could not, I told him I didn’t feel well. That was true. I felt like crap because I was going to have to deliver a report I wasn’t prepared to give.

The teacher sent me to the nurse. Called my bluff, he did. The nurse did what nurses do, she took my temperature. Surprise–I had a fever. The nurse called my mother and sent me home and I had another day to prepare my presentation.

Our minds are powerful instruments. They can make us sick when we want to be, and they can make us late when we want to be.

You don’t have to be chronically late. Just like you don’t have to smoke, overeat, or watch too much TV. You can change your habits any time you decide to change them. So the next time you’re late, don’t make excuses, and don’t feel bad about it. You’re late because you wanted to be.

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

How to profit from rampant unemployment

June 6, 2014 by
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92,009,000 Americans aren’t working. That’s a lot of people who can’t afford to hire you.

What can you do to protect yourself? How can you profit (there, I said it) from everyone else’s misfortune?

I jotted down a few ideas. They may be obvious, but just because people know something doesn’t mean they’re doing it. And let’s face it, lawyers are very slow to change (anything), so there’s a good chance you may not be doing the obvious, or if you are, not doing it enough.

  1. You might be tempted to target lower “income” clients. Don’t do it. Do the opposite. Re-focus your efforts on higher income clients. Yes, there are fewer of them. But they can afford to hire you. What good is having millions of people who need you if they can’t hire you?
  2. Target industries and market sectors that are growing. For example, companies that sell to the Feds, and the people who work for them. And the companies that sell to these companies. And the professionals who advise these companies and the people who work for them.
  3. Consider adding or switching practice areas. I read one report that said half of the country is having trouble paying their mortgage and rent. Does this mean you should take up bankruptcy, foreclosure, unlawful detainer, and the like? It means you should take a look at them.
  4. Get set up to accept credit cards, PayPal, and other payment systems. Give clients alternative ways to pay you. (Bitcoin? Barter? Tulips? No comment.)
  5. Put more resources into marketing. I’ll bet you were expecting me to say that. But hey, with a glut of lawyers competing for fewer clients, you’ve got to step up your game. Review your website. Consider more “reaching out” methods than you usually use. Work on your interpersonal skills. Do some joint venture marketing. Learn how to sell.

I guess I could add, “considering moving”. Some parts of the country are doing much better than others. This may seem extreme, but in view of where we are today, nothing should be ruled out.

Review (or create) your marketing plan. This will help.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Legal industry, Marketing Plan

Get more referrals by making it easy to give referrals

June 5, 2014 by
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Yes, I’m a broken record.

Every few weeks, I say something about the importance of building a list, specifically, an email list. I tell you a list allows you to stay in touch with people who aren’t ready to hire you, and with people who did. I tell you that having a list will bring more traffic to your website, more referrals, and more subscribers to your list who might hire you, send traffic to your website, or send referrals.

Did you? Did you add a form to your website that allows visitors to sign up for your list?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Is this thing on? You do want to get more referrals, don’t you?

Okay, let’s say someone slipped some LSD into your water bottle and you imagined you actually do have a list. You have a few hundred people on that list, a mix of former clients, current clients, professional contacts, and a random assortment of website visitors.

You hallucinate emailing something to your list. Once a week, you write something that passes for readable and send it out. Sometimes you write about the law, sometimes you write about interesting cases and clients, sometimes you write general consumer or business information. When you get back from your vacation to Italy, you write about the food. When you read a great book, you share something you got out of it.

Okay, you get the picture. A few paragraphs once a week. The only requirement is that it’s not completely boring, and hey, this is a hallucination, so it should be brilliant.

Now what?

At the end of your weekly scribbling, you ask readers to forward the email to someone who might be interested in the content or something you have offered (e.g., a seminar, free consultation, free report, etc.) Add another sentence, “If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe by going to. . .”.

Some of your subscribers forward the email. People you don’t know get a taste of your wisdom, and the tacit endorsement of the person who forwarded it.

Word-of-mouth, digital style.

That’s how it’s done, at least in a hallucination. Of course, this will never work in the real world. Forget I mentioned it.

Marketing online for attorneys. Go here to see how it’s really done.

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Filed Under: Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Would you advise your kid to go to law school?

June 4, 2014 by
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Would you advise your kid to go to law school today? I wouldn’t. Not unless they were passionate about it and could think of nothing else they wanted to do. And then I’d make sure they did it with open eyes.

You know the drill. You’ve seen the articles about the lack of jobs for newly minted lawyers, $200,000 student loans, and the huge number of lawyers afflicted with depression and substance abuse. Lawyers are leaving the profession in record numbers, either because they can’t find a job or because they hate their job.

If you’re making it as a lawyer, if you’re earning a living and not ready to slash your wrists, if you’re reasonably successful and happy, thank your lucky stars. There’s nothing better than helping people and being well paid to do it.

Isn’t that why we went to law school? To help people and make money? That’s why I went. And I’m proud to say I accomplished both of those objectives.

So why did I retire? I practiced for over twenty years, but I was still young. I could have gone for another twenty. Why didn’t I?

There were other things I wanted to do. My priorities changed. I got bored.

Yes, the profession changed, too. There were things I liked about those changes, but many more things I didn’t like. Let’s just say that for me, the thrill was gone. It was time to move on.

How about you? You may be successful and happy, but is there something else that might lead to even greater success and happiness? Perhaps something you toyed with once but rejected because you didn’t have the time, contacts, experience, capital, or nerve?

No, I’m not going to suggest you pull up stakes and start something new. Unless. . . you want to. If you want to do something else, do it. No matter what you lack in resources, no matter what the risks. Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing.”

If you don’t want to completely change course, look for ways to dip your toe in the water. Spend a little time each week dabbling with your secret interest. Read about it, meet some people who do it, and imagine what it would be like if you could do it all the time.

Two things might happen. One, you’ll find that you’re not as interested in the subject as you thought. It’s a passing fancy. This happened to me with real estate investing.

The other thing that might happen is that you discover something that excites you more than you ever imagined. It stirs your creative juices. It makes you feel like a kid again. It makes your heart beat faster just thinking about it.

From this, you might discover a new hobby. Something you enjoy doing on the weekends and in your spare time. It doesn’t take anything away from your law career. In fact, it might add to it. It might allow you to meet new people or develop new skills.

On other hand, you might discover a new calling and you’ll be on your way to a new career.

Has your life thus far been a daring adventure? If not, don’t wait another twenty years. Jump in. The water is warm and it’s time to play.

Marco.

Marketing your law practice just got easier. Click here.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Legal industry, success

I don’t have enough time. (Yes, you do.)

June 3, 2014 by
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We all know super busy people who seem to get more done in a day than we do in a week. They don’t have any more time than we do. They simply have different beliefs about time.

Most people believe time is scarce. They believe that because time is finite, there’s never enough of it to do what we need to do. But our beliefs create our reality. If you believe you don’t have enough time, then you don’t. If you have an abundant view of time, however, if you believe there is more than enough time to take care of everything that’s important, you will always have more than enough time.

How do you change your beliefs about time?

One way is to treat it like money.

If you believe you will always have enough money, you probably will. People who are generous with their money, tend to have plenty of it. People who tithe, for example, often report that money comes to them faster than they can give it away.

If you want to change your beliefs about time, give it away. That’s one idea that caught my attention in a post about re-framing our attitude about time.

“I have enough time to be generous with it”–is a surprisingly effective antidote to the time-scarcity mindset. Simply giving your time away to others, even as little as ten minutes, creates a sense of “time affluence.”

I can hear what you’re thinking: “You can always earn more money, but you can never get back your time.”

This is true, but too literal. We’re not keeping score, here. We’re trying to change beliefs.

I think giving away time as an attitude adjustment mechanism would be very effective for lawyers who often equate time with money. (They shouldn’t, in my opinion; but they do). “What? Give away billable time? Like, for free?”

Yes, for free.

“I don’t know, that doesn’t make any sense. I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with that.”

I understand. But maybe that’s exactly why you should try it. You might be surprised to find that like money, the more you give away, the more you have.

I use Evernote to manage my tasks and projects. Click here to learn more.

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity, Time Management

Why lawyers should make their beds every morning

June 2, 2014 by
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I have tremendous respect for our military. What they do to protect us in an increasingly dangerous world is awe inspiring. If you have every served, I sincerely thank you.

Military training is about a lot of things, the most important of which, I believe, is learning to be a leader. Leadership starts with self-discipline, courage, commitment, and honor. It is nurtured by compassion, good habits, and a hell of a lot of hard work.

You can’t lead others, however, until you learn how to lead yourself. That’s the lesson I got from the commencement address delivered by former Navy SEAL, Admiral William H. McRaven, to the UT Austin class of 2014. It was brilliant. I hope those who had the honor of hearing this 20 minute talk got as much out of it as I did.

I was directed to this page after reading elsewhere one of Admiral McRaven’s lessons about the importance of making your bed every morning:

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.

By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.

If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

Navy SEALS candidates are challenged to do things few people will ever be asked to do. Their physical training is astonishingly rigorous. But their training does far more than mold their bodies and prepare them for service, it molds their minds and their character and prepares them for life.

Broadly defined, leadership means showing people a better future and then helping them get there. As lawyers, we need to remember that we are more than warriors or scribes, we are leaders. Our clients and our community depend on us to guide them to a better future.

We don’t need military training to learn how to lead, but the military has no doubt turned out more leaders than any other institution. Listening to Admiral McRaven’s stories about some of the lessons he learned in basic SEAL training and his advice to the class of 2014 show us why.

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Filed Under: Personal development, success Tagged With: , , ,

Scrivener, oh how I love thee

May 30, 2014 by
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I’m just putting the finishing touches on a new book. I wouldn’t be able to say that had it not been for Scrivener, a writing app that has changed my entire work flow. If it hadn’t been for Scrivener, I’m sure I would still be struggling to cobble together hundreds of pages I’ve written into something anyone would want to read.

Scrivener’s genius is that it allows you to break up your writing into shorter parts (chapters, scenes, snippets), and then arrange and re-arrange those parts to your heart’s content. Compare this to MS Word where you either have to open multiple documents or have one very long document. Cumbersome, at best.

Scrivener provides a huge number of features for outlining, writing, organizing, editing, and outputting your work. You can outline with note cards on a cork board, and re-arrange the cards to suit. You can use a traditional outline if you prefer. You can organize your work in folders and text documents, add labels and meta data, and link notes and research materials (text, pdfs, web pages), internally (i.e., within the project) or externally (i.e., on the web, on your hard drive, etc.)

When you’re done, you can export the finished product (”compile” in Scrivener parlance) to just about any format—pdf, .doc(x), .rtf, .epub, .mobi, and more).

Scrivener isn’t only for books. In fact, I’m writing this post in Scrivener, using Full Screen Mode that allows for distraction free writing—just me and a blank piece of digital paper.

I bought Scrivener more than two years ago. The first time I opened it, I was overwhelmed. There is so much to see, and so many ways to use it, and I told myself I didn’t have time to learn everything. At the time, I didn’t realize I didn’t need to learn everything to start using it. For two years, it sat on my hard drive, unused. I opened it a couple of times, and updated it when prompted, but nothing more.

Last fall, I decided to give it another try, and I’m glad I did. Today, I’m fully on board with Scrivener as my primary writing tool.

You can use Scrivener for any kind of writing. Books, articles, papers, reports, or blog posts. You can write legal documents in it, (but you’ll need to expert them to a word processor for formatting).

The bottom line is that Scrivener allows you to write more, write faster, and write better. I know, that’s a big claim, but I’ve found this to be true. I encourage you to give it a try and see for yourself.

Download Scrivener for a thirty-day free trial. Note, this is thirty days of use, not thirty calendar days, so there’s plenty of time to give it a whirl.

The Windows and Mac versions are marginally different. The Windows version, which has just been updated, lags behind the Mac version, but I have not found it to be lacking. By the end of this year, the company says they hope to achieve feature parity between the two versions. They also hope to release an iOS version.

Once you have download the program and opened a new project, you will be prompted to go through the tutorial and read the detailed user guide. I found these to be only somewhat helpful for a first time user. Instead, I would recommend watching some of the youtube videos provided by the company and by users.

I also suggest that you dive in and use the program. Write something, import something, and play around with it. Take the thing for a test drive. I learned how to use Scrivener by using it, and it was a lot easier than I imagined.

True, I’m still learning. I use only a fraction of the features that are available. But I haven’t needed more.

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Filed Under: Productivity, Technology, Writing Tagged With:
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