The Attorney Marketing Center--Earn More. Work Less

Better notes

January 5, 2023 by David M. Ward

There’s a lot being said right now about how to take more effective notes. It’s all good, but it can be overwhelming trying to implement everything.

If I could give you one piece of advice on this subject, it would be this:

Use the notes you take as soon as you take them.

Use them immediately in an article, on a case, or in planning your projects or your day. And if that’s not possible, annotate them to use later.

Summarize what you read or heard. Put the ideas in your own words. Add notes to your notes that provide context–what you think, examples that explain and expand on the points, or contrast them.

In short, make notes, don’t just take notes. Your notes will thus be more valuable to you when you eventually use them.

It might help to make a habit to record (at least) 3 key points for every note. I did that recently when I read an article about best practices for extending the life of your laptop battery. As soon as I finished the article, I wrote:

It’s okay to keep the laptop plugged in all the time
Draining the battery does more harm than good
Heat is the enemy; keep the laptop/battery cool

I also recommend writing down how you might use those notes in the future, e.g.., for a case or client, in a book or blog post or presentation, to improve your website, to add to a form letter, etc. Add tags or links or move them to the appropriate folder.

Do it while it’s fresh. If you wait until later, you might forget what you thought and have to start from scratch.

Filed Under: Productivity

Getting unstuck

January 4, 2023 by David M. Ward

It happens. You’re spinning your wheels or losing ground. What’s worked for you before no longer seems to. You’re bleeding money or exhausted out of your mind, scared or frustrated or angry, or all of the above.

You’re stuck and don’t know what to do about it.

The answer is to do something. Change something. Try something and keep trying until you get your mojo back.

Because you can. Nothing has to stay the same. Trust me. I’ve been there. And lived to tell about it.

I have some suggestions for you. To get you thinking. Maybe you’ve tried some of these already, or thought about trying them. Maybe you need to hear them again before you’re willing to try them, or try them again.

Quickly read through this list of strategies and note anything that catches your eye. Come back to it, meditate or journal on it, or talk to someone about it.

And then try it.

Fix a health issue. You can’t move forward if you’re not feeling well or don’t have enough energy. Maybe you need a new eyeglass prescription. Maybe you need to get off some meds. Maybe you have an addiction you need to free yourself from. Maybe you need to eat better or sleep better.
Fix a relationship issue with your spouse, child, law partner, employee, or friend.
Change your marketing. Try a new strategy, eliminate something, expand something. Learn more, get help, change your process. Your troubles might all go away when you’re able to get some new clients or better clients.
Hire someone: an office manager, a virtual assistant, a business coach, a consultant. Maybe you need a new accountant or financial advisor. Bringing some new ideas and/or personalities into your life might be just what the doctor ordered.
Fire someone. Someone who is making things worse, not better.
Change your practice area or target market. Something more lucrative or a better fit for you.
Delegate more. The source of your “stuckness” might simply be that you’re trying to do too much yourself. My philosophy: Only do those things that only you can do; delegate everything else.
Find an accountability partner to keep you on track.
Cut overhead. What can you eliminate? What can you reduce? Could you renegotiate your lease or move to another building? Find cheaper alternatives for anything? Every dollar you save allows you to do something else.
And/or. . . spend more on things that are working.
Farm out unprofitable cases; refer out troublesome clients.
Simplify (everything).
Make your workspace more pleasant to work in. Change the lighting or the furniture; get rid of the clutter. Buy some plants.
Track your time. You might find a lot of waste.
Reduce your work hours. Take more breaks. Take a vacation. Get more sleep.

Okay, one more. Try a side-hustle.

No, really. A business project unrelated to your current career or practice. Not as a way to supplement or replace your income, although that might happen, mostly as a way to shake the cobwebs off of you by doing something completely different.

You’ll learn new ideas, meet new people, discover different ways to market your services or build your career.

You might also have some fun, which might be the very thing that’s missing in your life.

Yes, this means diverting time and money away from your core business. But doing something else part time might be just what you need to jumpstart your core business.

If this isn’t in the cards for you right now, at least study other business models. I learned how to market my legal services, in part, by looking at what other professionals and business owners do.

The answer to getting unstuck is to do something different. Find something and run with it.

Quantum Leap Marketing System for Attorneys

Filed Under: Increase your income, Inspiration, Law office management, success

The productivity hack we learned in kindergarten

January 3, 2023 by David M. Ward

Walk into any kindergarten school room and you’ll see a simple strategy in use you can use today to be more productive.

No, I don’t mean having a big person watching over you and making sure you do what you’re supposed to do (or have you stand in the corner if you don’t). I also don’t mean asking for permission to go to the little person’s room.

Look around the classroom. What do you see on the walls? You see a calendar, the letters of the alphabet and how to write them. You see pictures of animals, historical figures, famous monuments, and other things the kids are learning.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t kindergarten, but you remember this kind of thing from grammar school, don’t you? Today, you might do the same thing by keeping visual reminders of important information in front of you—your to-do list, your calendar, quotes that inspire you, a reminder to pick up some milk on your way home.

Visual cues of things you want to remember, on a whiteboard, sticky note, or on your desk calendar. At a glance, you can see what’s important right now, and what’s coming up soon.

Maybe you do this digitally. You have lists and notes in front of you, in an app that stays open or a pop-up on your screen, or sent to you via email or text message.

Either way, you keep your lists in front of you so you always know what to do.

I’ve just planned out some projects I want to do this year. I have them all on a single page in my task app, with Kanban-like columns (like Trello), one for each quarter. At a glance, I can see the four projects I have planned for the first quarter, one for the second quarter, two for the third quarter, and nothing yet for the fourth quarter.

This page is always one click away, on my laptop and phone, and I check it often.

Of course I also have the app remind me to work on Project X or Task Y (for project X) on days I’ve designated to do these things.

In other words. . . I don’t keep anything in my head.

It’s all in my “trusted system” which does the remembering and reminding for me. Because, as Mr. Allen reminds us, “your mind is for having ideas, not holding them”.

Filed Under: Productivity

What to focus on this year

January 2, 2023 by David M. Ward

What are you grateful for right now? Yes, I know it’s been a rough year for a lot of people. But there were some good things, too.

And it is the good things that we should focus on, even if they are small and the bad things aren’t.

Think about something in your life you appreciate. Something good, however small.

Because what we focus on grows.

When you focus on things you appreciate, you get more things to appreciate. Gratitude floods the brain with dopamine. It feels good (and supplants things that aren’t), and we want to feel it again so we do things and find things that create more dopamine.

The more you express gratitude, the better you feel and the more you have to feel good about.

Gratitude is a recipe for better health. More energy, less stress, better self-esteem, better sleep, and fewer negative emotions.

The more gratitude you feel, the happier, healthier, and more successful you become.

Science says it is so.

This year, starting from this very moment, think about things you appreciate. Your big wins, surely, but also the new baby in the house. The look in your dog’s eyes when he greets you. Something kind someone said about you. Finding the last parking space. Last night’s delicious spaghetti dinner.

It could be anything. Anything that feels good when you think about it.

Remind yourself that you have a lot to be thankful for, about yourself, your work, your life, and even the world.

Open your computer or phone and appreciate how much it makes your day more productive. Keep a gratitude journal and write in it every day. Pray or meditate and say thanks every day.

Look in the mirror and think of something you like about yourself. Thank someone for something. Think about your family, your clients, or your staff, and give thanks for having them in your life.

Focus less on what’s wrong with the world and more on what’s right.

Because what you focus on grows.

Filed Under: Personal development, success

Speaking of books. . .

December 29, 2022 by David M. Ward

If you read a lot of books, or want to, but are busy and can’t always justify the time to do it, as I recently struggled with, I’m going to make things a little easier for you by pointing out some additional benefits.

Specifically, some ways you can use what you read to get more clients and increase your income.

Not just by learning new or better marketing or management ideas, but also by improving your productivity, speaking, writing, and negotiating skills, developing new habits (or getting rid of old ones), becoming more creative, reducing your stress, and so much more.

Good things that can make you better at what you do and who you are.

You can also use the information you learn to generate content for your blog or newsletter, videos or podcasts. And you should because many of your subscribers, prospective clients, and professional contacts want to learn many of the same things you want to learn.

Developing more content this way could be as simple as writing book reviews or blog posts that summarize key ideas in these books.

You could add these books to an ongoing “recommended reading” list and post it on your blog. You could compile your favorite quotes and stories and use them in your writing or presentations.

You could write guest posts about the books for blogs in your clients’ niche, interview other people who are following these ideas, or interview the authors themselves. You might even create workshops and teach others about the principles you’ve learned, or show people how you use them.

You could also use these books in your networking. If you’re at a function attended by physicians you’d like to meet, for example, asking them if they’ve read the latest book by one of their colleagues can be a great way to start a conversation.

If nothing else, you can give away copies of your favorite books to clients and professional contacts, as a way to add value to your relationships or to thank them when they do something nice for you.

In short, you can feed your reading habit and build your practice at the same time.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content creation, Marketing legal services, Networking, Newsletters, Presentations, Public Speaking

Me in ‘23

December 28, 2022 by David M. Ward

As one does at this time of year, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about next year. One thing I’m planning to do is to read more books.

I always loved books. Always had one or two by my side, ready to pick up and teach me something, or take me somewhere. For a long time, though, I’ve been reading a lot less. I spend so much of my day reading other things, I haven’t felt like I had enough energy to pick up a book.

Many very successful people are big book readers. As busy as they are, Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett spend several hours a day reading books, for example, and credit a good portion of their success to this habit.

Why books? Can’t we get as much from reading articles, watching videos, or listening to podcasts?

We can (and I do) get a lot from those sources, but books are in a category of their own.

Books tend to be better researched and better written. They provide more value, usually, and are worth the additional effort. True, there are many disappointments, but when you read a good book, it can change your life.

I have quite a backlog of books waiting for me to “find” the time to read again. But I’ve grown tired of waiting and started reading books again a couple of months ago.

I began by reminding myself about the benefits and made a commitment to myself to read at least a few pages every day.

Without exception.

Small, but often—the key to starting and maintaining habits.

I set a daily reminder in my task app and read for ten minutes every day, no matter what. When the timer is done, I often continue reading, but I never read for less than ten minutes.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have started this, or stuck with it, if I had tried to read for one hour a day. But I can do ten minutes no matter how busy or tired I am.

It’s like the office decluttering project I told you about recently. Scheduling 15 minutes every Saturday allowed me to (finally) start that project and keep going until finished.

I also make it convenient. I read mostly on the Kindle app on my phone so I can grab a few minutes just about anywhere. I’ve started walking again so I might also start listening to audiobooks.

You can read a lot of books in just 10 minutes a day. Certainly a lot more than I was reading before. But, who knows. Maybe next year I’ll go crazy and crank that up to 15 minutes.

Life in the fast lane.

Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity

Want to be more productive? Stop working so hard.

December 27, 2022 by David M. Ward

“Successful people work hard.” It says so on the internet so it must be true.

Not so fast.

Recent studies show that pushing yourself to do more work isn’t necessarily the path to success. What is?

Happiness.

Doing work you love, being around people you respect, taking time to relax and have fun—it turns out these are at least as important as cranking out more hours and completing more tasks.

Maybe more so.

Because when we’re happy, we are more creative and productive, without all the wear and tear that comes from putting in more hours.

“The driving force seems to be that happier workers use the time they have more effectively, increasing the pace at which they can work without sacrificing quality.” — Dr. Daniel Sgroi

Now, maybe long hours and checking off more tasks each day is precisely what makes you happy. You like being busy. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

That’s fine.

Just make sure you also take some downtime. Put it on your calendar.

Because it might make you even more productive.

Filed Under: Productivity, success

Actually, hope is a strategy

December 26, 2022 by David M. Ward

We often hear that ‘hope isn’t a strategy’ and that only by taking action can we solve our problems and achieve our goals.

I cry foul.

Hope is indeed a strategy. An essential one. Because without hope, we won’t take action (why bother?) or we’ll do it without energy or enthusiasm. Just going through the motions.

Without hope, we might not even look for solutions or recognize one when it appears.

Ah, but with hope, all things are possible.

We might doubt, we might expect it to be difficult, we might be discouraged, but we keep going, looking for a solution, because our hope tells us there must be one.

Hope gives us purpose and belief that things can get better. When things don’t work out—our idea was flawed, our action ineffective, outside forces were too strong—we don’t give up. And because we don’t, we discover more options, more things we can try or try again.

Hope isn’t a strategy? Of course it is. It might not be the only strategy, but I wouldn’t want to live without it.

Filed Under: Personal development, success

May I have your attention?

December 21, 2022 by David M. Ward

In marketing, your most important job is to get noticed. Because no matter how compelling the message in your article, post, ad or other message, you won’t get any response if nobody reads or hears that message.

Just a fact, Jack.

The best way to get attention is with an effective headline.

The words at the top of your article, ad, letter, or email, the title of your book or report, are critical. If you want to sell more legal services, get more subscribers, or put more prospective clients’ butts in seats, if you want anyone to buy anything or do anything, a good headline is critical.

In the annals of marketing history, this has always been true.

David Oglivy, one of the top copywriters of his generation, said:

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

The importance of the headline is even more true today when peoples’ attention spans are so short. According to one report, only 9% of all digital ads are viewed longer than one second.

Not a lot of time to tell them what you want to tell them.

You can get attention with graphics, charts, photos, and other visual elements, but a good headline is the best way because it is larger and more prominent in the article or ad, and because it can tell the reader what’s in it for them if they read the article.

Note, it’s not just the main headline that does this. People scan articles and ads before deciding if they want to read them, and so your sub-heads, bullet points, and your conclusion or P.S. are also important ways to get attention.

The context in which your article or ad or email is seen also plays a part.

If you send an email to someone who knows you, an existing client or subscriber, for example, you don’t have to work as hard to capture their attention. They’ll read your email because it is from you as much as or more than because of a great headline.

The headline for this post is a good example. It promises no benefits and perhaps made you only mildly curious, and yet here you are reading this post.

If you want to get better at writing effective headlines, and/or working with copywriters and marketing folks who do that for you, start paying attention to the headlines you see each day. Especially the ones that capture your attention and compel you to read the article or ad or listen to the audio.

Write down those headlines and ask yourself why you think you noticed it and why it convinced you to read more. Put these headlines (sub-heads, bullets, etc.) in a “swipe” file you can use (or re-write and use) in future articles and posts and ads.

Yes, this is only a first step towards writing better headlines, but it is an important step because it will help train you to notice what’s working.

Filed Under: Copywriting

Don’t start with why

December 20, 2022 by David M. Ward

In his book, Start With Why, Simon Sinek says that most companies today focus their marketing on their product and how it works when instead they should share why they do what they do.

You may recall hearing this idea if you saw Sinek’s popular TED Talk that first explained it.

The rationale is that if your market knows the intention behind your business, and they relate to it, you’ll be better able to connect with prospects and win them over.

I don’t have a problem with that. Telling your market (consumers, prospective clients, influencers, referral sources) your “why” is a great way to differentiate yourself in a crowded market. Where I have an issue is with the idea of starting with it.

You and I and our partners need to know why we do what we do. Our why gets us out of bed in the morning and drives us to work hard to achieve our goals. Our clients might like to know why we do what we do but it’s not the best way to get their attention.

The way to do that is to start with benefits.

Prospective clients want to know how you can help them. How you can solve their problem or help them achieve a desired objective. Until you tell them this, they’re unlikely to be interested in your story.

Start by telling people what’s in it for them when they hire you. The benefits. Once you have their attention and they’re interested, you can tell them why you do what you do.

It’s true that some companies successful reverse this. They begin with a branding message that identifies their mission, how they intend to change the world in an important way. But this requires a lot of capital and expertise and they have to get a lot of things right to make it work.

It’s much easier for you and I to start with benefits.

Your story might ultimately get prospective clients to choose you instead of other lawyers who don’t have one. But first you have to get them to pay attention.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan