My favorite productivity tool

February 19, 2013 by
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It’s been cold in southern California. Okay, you can stop laughing now. We think it’s cold, even if the rest of the country thinks we’re crazy. Anyway, when the weather warms up, it will be time to go through the closets again and get rid of old clothes.

If you haven’t worn it in a year, you’re probably not going to wear it again, yes? It’s clutter and it needs to go.

I’ve gotten rid of hundreds of books for the same reason. They were taking up space and collecting dust and needed to go. If I want to read them again, I can buy them on kindle.

I find that the more I get rid of clutter, the more peaceful I am. Lean and clean. The new me.

The same is true in my digital world. That’s why my favorite productivity tool is the delete key.

The more I get rid of, the more productive I am. When I delete emails or notes, it frees up visual and mental space so that I can concentrate on what’s important. I chop through a forest of digital trees with my digital machete, carving a path towards the place I want to go. By getting rid of the clutter in my way, I can move more quickly and with more clarity.

If you’re not sure you’re going to read something or need something, delete it or put it in a searchable archive. That’s how I got to “inbox zero,” finally. I archived 15,000 emails in my inbox all at once. I got rid of the clutter.

I still have a long way to go. I have many hundreds of blog posts saved in “read later” apps and I know I’ll never read most of them. Leo Babauta suggests that we delete everything in these apps once a week. If we haven’t read them this week, we’re probably not going to read them next week.

Maybe after I tackle the closet.

Have you read Evernote for Lawyers? It’s a guide for getting organized & increasing productivity.

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: ,

How to get more clients like your best clients

February 18, 2013 by
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Who are your best clients? You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones who pay more. The ones who cause the fewest problems. The ones who send you referrals and promote your practice. The ones you like being around.

You know, the clients you’d like to clone.

You can get more clients like your best clients. Here’s how:

DEFINE THEM

Who are your best clients? What attributes do they have in common?

Demographics: Industry, occupation, background, ethnicity.

Legal work: Most work, highest fees, bigger cases, repeat business.

Referrals: How many? How often? What quality?

Other factors: Who can they introduce you to? Do they have lists and are they willing to promote you? Are they influential on social media? Do they like you and want to help you?

PAY ATTENTION TO THEM

Give your best clients more time and attention than other clients. Call them, just to say hello. Write them, to share information. Spend time with them: coffee, lunch, networking events.

Thank them for their patronage, their referrals, and their friendship.

HELP THEM 

Business clients: Send them referrals. Help them find employees, suppliers and joint venture partners. Feature their business or practice in your blog or newsletter. Introduce them to people they might like to know.

Consumer clients: Help them find better deals.  Introduce them to trusted advisers, reputable contractors, high quality service people. Help them get reliable information and advice.

In short, if you want more clients like your best clients, you should build relationships with them. They will lead you to people like themselves with similar needs and values.

We get what we focus on. Focus on your best clients and you’ll get more of them.

Need help identifying your “ideal client”? Click here.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

February 15, 2013 by
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Rev. Robert Schuller asks, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” It’s one of my favorite quotes.

I’ve often asked myself this question. When I found my confidence lacking, when a project got stalled because I didn’t know what to do next, or when I was faced with a major career decision, I would stop and think about the “best case scenario” and it helped me move forward.

I think it’s because of the word “if”. “What would do if. . .” is a hypothetical question. We can answer it because we’re not promising anything, we’re speculating. The question allows us to bypass our critical mind and find the answers.

We may still have fears and doubts but now we know what we would do if we didn’t.

If you are procrastinating on updating your web site, imagine that in 90 days that web site is bringing you four or five or ten new clients a month. If God Himself whispered in your ear and told you that your web site will be massively successful, what would you do today?

You’d make a list of tasks that need to be done and you’d start working on them, wouldn’t you? If you don’t know what those tasks might be, your first task would be to find someone who does know and ask them what to do.

If you knew for certain that things would work out exactly the way you wanted (or better), what would you attempt? If you knew that your project would be a success, what would you do today to move it forward?

Whatever it is that you would do if you knew you could not fail, that’s what you should do.

“What if it doesn’t work?” you ask.

“What if it does?”

If you’re already earning as much as you want, you don’t need to read this

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Goal Setting, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity, success Tagged With: , ,

How to break bad news to a client

February 14, 2013 by
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A lawyer asked for advice on how best to break bad news to your client when a case is lost.

Great Question.

The answer is simple. Man up and tell them. Don’t make excuses, don’t cast blame, and don’t parse words. Tell the truth and tell it point blank.

If it was your fault, admit it, and deal with the consequences.

But here’s the thing: if you manage things right, the bad news shouldn’t devastate the client. Disappoint, sadden, yes, but not unreasonably anger. You shouldn’t need to hang a “Gun Free Zone” sign in your office.

What do I mean when I say “if you manage things right”? I mean that from the time you first take the case and throughout its execution, you should manage the client’s expectations about its outcome.

That means not sugar coating the prospects of winning the case or the potential size of the verdict. In fact, you should do the opposite. Under promise. Project low. Tell them there’s a good chance you won’t win at all.

Yes, they might have second thoughts about having you as their attorney and go somewhere else. Let them go. They’ll be nothing but trouble. You want clients who appreciate your honesty and openness, and who appreciate your hard work in the face of big challenges.

Throughout the case, keep them informed. Let them see the ebb and flow, the positives and negatives. Help them to detach emotionally from the outcome. When something is good, remember to show them the other side. That’s why God invented the phrase, “On the other hand. . .”. When it’s bad, do the same thing. You don’t want to be a Debbie or Dennis Downer.

If you’ve done it right, by the time the case comes to a conclusion, they will be mentally prepared for any outcome. Win or lose, big verdict or not so big. They may not be happy, but they will be prepared.

Need more clients? Better clients? Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and start gettin.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management, Personal development Tagged With: , , , ,

The hidden cost of social media marketing

February 13, 2013 by
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Social media marketing isn’t free. You pay with your time.

It takes time to

  • Read incoming tweets, stories, posts, and mentions
  • Reply and/or re-post incoming tweets, stories, posts, and mentions
  • Create or find content to share
  • Create and update your profiles and pages
  • Stay up to date with all the new tools and techniques
  • Try out new apps to manage all of the above
  • Read posts like this one. . .

Whether you do this yourself or you hire others to do it for you, there is a cost to social media marketing.

I’m not saying it’s not worth it. It could very much be worth it. If you spend $1500 a month (your time or someone else’s) and bring in $10,000 a month in new business, that’s a good thing.

But that’s a big “if”.

I don’t think most people get this kind of return on their investment.

If you’re not making a profit on your investment in social media, or you don’t “do” social media marketing because you don’t believe it will be worth it (and you don’t want to spend the time to find out), I have a suggestion.

Keep your social media profiles up to date. Promote your web site content to your social media connections so they can push it to THEIR social media connections. But instead of trying to interact with hundreds or thousands of fans, followers, and connections, instead of “one” (you) to “many,” use social media as a tool for marketing “one to one”.

Use it to find one person who targets the same market you do. Another professional, a business owner or executive, a consultant, a blogger. Someone who would be a good fit.

Learn about them. Approach them. And begin the process of networking with them, the old fashioned way. In case you’ve forgotten, that means talking to them and meeting them for coffee.

Find out what you can do for them and they for you. Networking. One to one.

Marketing is simple. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t do it. Here’s proof.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Networking, Referral sources, Referrals, Social media, Social media marketing, Time Management Tagged With: ,

Easy way to get fresh content for your blog or newsletter

February 12, 2013 by
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Last night, I hosted a one hour conference call for one of my businesses. There were six speakers, each of whom spoke for a few minutes. My job was to introduce them, let them share their story, and ask a few follow-up questions.

Easy.

We got good feedback on the call. People liked the stories and the information. Told me I did a great job. Hey, I just asked questions. Someone else lined up the guests.

Anyway, if you’re looking for an easy way to get some fresh content for your blog or newsletter, here’s what to do:

  1. Contact one of your referral sources (or a professional you would like as a referral source) and ask if you could interview them for your blog or newsletter.
  2. Jot down five to ten questions, things you think your readers would want to know about the expert’s area of expertise.
  3. Interview them on the phone, in person, or via email. Post the audio or a transcription on your blog or newsletter.

Easy.

Your readers get valuable information from a subject matter expert. You get content for your blog or newsletter. The expert gets exposure to your list.

What’s next? The expert interviews you for their blog or newsletter, of course.

Marketing is easy when you know The Formula.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: ,

Make your clients smile by writing THIS on your next billing statement

February 11, 2013 by
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Did you see this story: “Parents’ shock after restaurant bill shows $4 discount for their ‘Well Behaved Kids”.

The kids said “please” and “thank you” and were quiet during the meal.

Imagine that.

Even if the restaurant didn’t get world-wide attention for what they did, do you think the parents of these kids might tell some people about their experience?

I think so, too.

If the restaurant advertised a discount would be given to anyone whose kids are well behaved, the idea would have flopped. “Hey, my kids didn’t start a fire this time, where’s my friggin discount!”

What makes this work is that the discount was given after the fact. Totally unexpected. A happy surprise.

Guess what? You can achieve the same result with your clients.

Find a reason to give them a small discount on their next bill. Maybe they showed up at their first appointment on time. Maybe they were especially brave in the face of fear. Or maybe they did a great job at their deposition.

Find something positive and reward them.

You might even want to zero out something. The client expects to get charged for the letter you sent to their landlord. They open their bill and see a zero balance. Nice. Maybe it is their birthday. Or yours. Or maybe you did it because you like them.

Do you think you might score some points in the good will department? I think so, too.

Do you think you might get some world wide press?

“Client’s shock after attorney’s bill shows $100 discount for their ‘well behaved mother-in-law’.”

Nah, me neither.

Get more clients and increase your income. Click here to learn how.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Fees and Billing, Law office management Tagged With:

Do you offer the iPad of legal services?

February 8, 2013 by
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I was reading an article on why the iPad beats Android tablets. The author concluded thusly (I love that word, don’t you?), “Having reviewed the options, the reason for Apple’s continued dominance in the tablet market seems clear – it makes the best product. It also makes the most expensive product, but that doesn’t seem to deter consumers, who continue to buy the iPad in droves.”

The article points out that there is and will be a big market for Android, and many people prefer that platform for reasons other than lower price.

Something for everyone.

Now, how do your legal services compare? Do you offer iPad-ish services–high quality and high price–or Android-ish–lower quality and lower price?

You can make money in either category, but not both.

Many attorneys lean towards the lower end of the market. I suggest you resist the temptation.

Set your fees at Apple levels. High end. Then, make sure you’re worth it.

Higher margins provide huge benefits:

  • You get better clients. Yes, more demanding (like Apple’s), but better in every other sense
  • You don’t need as many clients; you can take your time and turn out a better work product
  • You can hire better talent and delegate what you don’t enjoy
  • You have a marketing budget so you can expand and grow
  • You earn more profit and enjoy a better life style.

Delivering high quality legal services does cost more. A nicer office, the best employees, a higher level of “customer service” all come at a price. But it’s not how much you spend that counts, it’s how much you earn.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you the six keys to earning more without working more. Click here.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Law office management Tagged With:

Eight ways to use audio recording apps for marketing

February 7, 2013 by
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I was reading some of the reviews for Dictamus, the dictation app I use on my iphone. Many lawyers and physicians extol its virtues, saying things like, “best on the market, ” “replaced my 0 dictation equipment,”and “I use it every single day.”

I don’t dictate to a secretary these days, but I do dictate to myself. My phone is always with me so it’s very convenient to capture notes or ideas on the fly. I also dictate entire articles, letters, and other longer documents, using Dictamus’ “insert” function to insert new thoughts into the middle of already recorded sentences. Yep, just like  the old cassette and belt dictation machines I used to use.

Anyway, I started thinking about how audio recording apps (any app will do) can be used for marketing. In addition to the obvious use of recording ideas for articles, people to call, things to do, and dictating complete articles, emails, and letters, here’s what I came up with:

  1. Networking: record details after meeting new contact (where, when, what you talked about, etc.)
  2. Interviews with subject matter experts for podcasts, or transcribe for written articles
  3. Record audio track to add to video slide presentation
  4. Practice your next presentation
  5. Record consultations with prospective clients, give to them as added bonus
  6. Create audio book to sell or give away for lead generation
  7. Record brainstorming sessions with partners, staff
  8. Record consultations with hired consultants, live trainings, teleconferences, or webinars

Do use audio recording apps (or digital recorders) for marketing in your practice? What do you do? Which apps do you use? Please add to the comments.

Want more marketing ideas? Of course you do. Click here.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

Void for vagueness: Does this describe your marketing plan?

February 6, 2013 by
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Freeman Dyson, theoretical physicist, mathematician, and all around smart guy, once said, “It is better to be wrong than to be vague.” He was not referring to marketing, but I thought he might as well have been.

Some attorneys have a marketing plan that is filled with generalities. Their plan is too broad and long term. You’ve got rent due on the first, you’ve got to bring in a new client this week–whatcha gonna do?

Some attorneys have a plan, usually created by a high paid consultant who never practiced law, that is waaaay too complex and detailed. It usually winds up sitting in a file because nobody really understands it or wants to do it.

Of course, most attorneys don’t have any plan at all.

Here’s what I can tell you about marketing plans:

  1. You need one. Otherwise, you won’t know what to do next.
  2. It must be simple. You won’t do it if it’s not.
  3. It must be specific. What exactly are you going to do and when?

You may have a goal to “get six new clients in the next 60 days.” Pretty good goal. Now, how are you going to accomplish it?

Networking? Writing? Contacting former clients?

Too vague. Be more specific.

A good plan would be something where 60 days from now, if I ask you, “Did you do it?” you can answer yes or no.

A good plan would look something like this:

  1. Write one article of 300-500 words every week [every other week/every month] to post to my blog/web site/newsletter.
  2. Every week day, send three emails to clients/former clients saying, “I’m just checking in, hope you are well. . .”.
  3. Once a week, have lunch [coffee] with a new professional/executive/business owner from my networking group. Learn about their business or practice. Ask what kind of referrals they want. Send a thank you note. Schedule a follow up for 30 days.

Specific. Simple. Something you can do.

Will it work? I think so. Quite well, in fact. But. . . I could be wrong. But then it’s better to be wrong than to be vague.

If you want help in creating a marketing plan that really works, order The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With:
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