Attention lawyers who hate practicing law

August 26, 2013 by
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If you hate practicing law I have a question for you: If you were earning five times the income, would you hate it any less?

If the answer is yes, you’re lucky. All you need to do is increase your income. Keep reading. I’ve got something that can help.

If the answer is no, then you might need to get a new career. Before you decide to jump ship, however, let’s see if there’s anything we can do about the things you don’t like (and that includes “not enough income”).

I’m going to give you a simple exercise to do. I’ve done this exercise before and I can tell you that it really does help.

Grab a legal pad and write at the top of the page: “What I don’t like about practicing law” or “. . .about my practice”. Draw a line down the middle of the page.

On the left side of the page, write down everything that you don’t like about your practice. Write fast. Don’t worry about repeating yourself. Take as much time as you want and get it all out.

Done? Good. How did that feel? When I’ve done this before I’ve had mixed feelings. It feels good to give voice to my frustrations. Cathartic. Therapy on paper. But I also feel angry that I have allowed things I don’t like to continue for so long.

The point of this isn’t to make you feel bad or to dwell on the things you don’t want, however. It is to find solutions. So, on the right side of the page, next to each item that you don’t like, write down what you can do about it.

You don’t like the stress of litigation? What can you do about that? Don’t think too much, just write whatever comes to mind. If you can’t think of anything, perhaps you can ask someone who might know or you can do some research. Write that down. Or, just skip it and keep writing.

What can you do about your high overhead, inconsistent income, or ungrateful and overly demanding clients? Write down what you can do even if it’s radical, strange, or not something you want to do. If it’s something you CAN do, write it down.

There will be things on your list that you can’t do anything about it. You can’t change people, for example, only yourself. Don’t worry about what you can’t do or can’t change.

Write down as many “can do’s” as possible. When you’re done, go through the list again and see if there’s anything you can add.

You don’t have to tolerate things you don’t like. You can fix them, delegate them, or get rid of them. You can find ways to make things better.

A “can do” list is very empowering. It gives you a list of tasks and projects you can begin to work on. It gives you a checklist of ways to make your practice better, more profitable, more fulfilling. Even if you choose not to do some of the things on your can do list, you’ll feel better knowing that you have that power.

Look at your list of can do’s. Before you had problems and frustrations. Now, you have a list of things you can do. Imagine how good you’ll feel getting those things done!

What’s next? Transfer your list of “can do’s” to your task management system and hide your original list. No sense looking at what makes you frustrated (the left side of the list). It’s time to focus on taking action to eliminate problems and improve results.

A few months from now, when things are better, take a peek at your original list to see how far you’ve come. Smile. Then, start another list.

Need more income? Want to know what you “can do”? Study this and this.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Increase your income, Inspiration, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With:

A simple marketing plan for lawyers

August 15, 2013 by
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The experts and gurus tell you you’re not doing nearly enough to market your legal services. They provide you with a laundry list of tasks you need to do and you had better do them, they say, or you will be left behind by your competition.

Screw ’em.

You don’t have to do everything. I certainly don’t. Not even close.

I write a daily blog post, I occasionally do some guest posts, and I spend about five minutes a day on social media. Okay, you got me, I also do a lot of reading. But I am not consumed with doing everything others say I must do. I don’t worry about what anyone else is doing, and you shouldn’t either.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are,” Teddy Roosevelt said. He was replying to a request for more guns and soldiers during the Spanish American War. His generals wanted more. He told them they were fine with what they had. You are, too.

Yes, there are other things I’m working on. Because I want to, not because I have to. I’ve got the basics covered.

You may be different. You may have more time than I do. Okay, let me re-phrase that–you may want to spend more time on marketing than I do. You may love posting and pinning and tweeting and commenting and sharing and instagramming. You may be a video stud or a mobile maven.

And that’s fine. It’s great, in fact. God bless you. You’re doing what you enjoy and it’s working for you. That’s the way marketing should be.

Because if it’s not, if marketing is something you loathe in all it’s forms and iterations, you shouldn’t do it. Why make yourself miserable? Partner up with someone who likes marketing. Or get a job.

Because marketing must be done.

If you want to do more, do more. Not because you see other lawyers doing more and you think you must keep up with them. Do it because it makes sense to you and you want to do it.

Start by learning about what’s possible. This blog is a good place to start. My course, The Attorney Marketing Formula, provides a system for marketing legal services and includes a simple marketing plan for lawyers. My other course, Make the Phone Ring, shows you how to do marketing on the Internet.

I mentioned Teddy’s quote in a previous post where I also quoted Mark Zuckerberg. He said we often start projects with the hard parts, figuring we can always do the easy bits. He says that instead, we should start with what’s easy. This way, we will have started and starting is the most important part.

If you start, you can get better, maybe even learn to like it. If you never start, that can’t happen.

Starting is easy. Starting includes things like reading and thinking and making notes.

So don’t worry about what anyone else is doing, or what anyone says you must do. You can market your services any way you want. Find out what’s possible, do something and see how it goes. And start with easy.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

My clients are driving me crazy

August 13, 2013 by
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I got an email from an attorney who said, “my clients are driving me crazy”. Apparently, many of his clients don’t appreciate him. They are rude and think they know better and he is finding it difficult to maintain his composure.

What do you do in a situation like that?

The first thing I would suggest is to take a look at yourself. Why? Because your law practice is a reflection of you–your attitudes and habits. If you have a preponderance of clients who don’t appreciate you, that may be because you don’t appreciate them.

We don’t attract the clients we want, we attract the clients we deserve.

Do you appreciate your clients? More importantly, do they know it? Do you show them by your words and deeds that you care about them and will do whatever you can to help them? In what ways do you show them? How often do you show them? Is it sincere or is it something you do because you think you have to?

You can’t fake this. People know.

But you may not know. You may not be able to see yourself clearly. So, ask your staff what they think. Ask other professionals who know you. And ask your clients. Send them a survey they can respond to anonymously and leave room for their suggestions.

The other thing I suggest is that you focus on the clients who do appreciate you so you can attract more like them.

What’s different about them? What services do they hire you to perform? How did they find you? (Clients who come from referrals are often better than clients who come through the Internet or advertising).

Are they at the high end of the fee spectrum or the low end? Are they first time clients or repeat clients? What is their background or occupation? Age? Income level?

Survey them as well and see what they like best about you.

Look for patterns and create a profile of these better clients. Then, work on attracting more like them by focusing your time, energy, and resources marketing to people who fit that profile. Start with your existing and former clients who fit that profile. They will lead you to people like themselves.

And, as soon as possible, start pruning your client garden. Get rid of the clients who don’t appreciate you, first, before you have found clients to replace them. Scary? Yes. But you will feel great getting rid of all that negative energy and soon, the void you create will be filled with the clients you want and deserve.

This shows you how create a profile of your ideal client.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development Tagged With: ,

Hold the pickles, your clients want to have it their way

July 22, 2013 by
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McDonalds shares fell today as their latest financial report disappointed investors. One reason for their lackluster sales is that their new healthier menu items aren’t catching on with customers.

Customers may need healthier food but if they don’t want it, they won’t buy it. (Someone please remind Mayor Bloomberg).

Are you giving your clients what they want or insisting they buy what they need? Yes, you owe them a duty to present and recommend what they need, but you’ll have a much easier time (and earn more) offering them services they want.

But I don’t want to dive into that topic right now. Instead, I want to remind you that you also prefer to buy what you want, not necessarily what you need. But are you?

I’m talking about your law practice and career. Are you doing what you want or have you bought into doing what you need?

Many lawyers go to law school for the wrong reasons. Did you?

Maybe you really wanted to do something else but convinced yourself that a legal career was a better choice.

You may have chosen your practice area for similar reasons. It was what you knew or what seemed like the most lucrative field. It’s what you thought you needed to do, not what you really wanted to do.

How about the way(s) you market your practice. Are you doing things you really don’t enjoy but feel you need to do?

Stop for a minute and think about your practice or career. Are you doing what you need to do or what you want to do? More importantly, are you happy?

You may successful. Don’t let that cloud your thinking. You can be successful and unhappy. You may have been even more successful doing something else that made you happy.

You still can. You have a choice. You can change what you’re doing. You can do what you want and you can find a way to make it deliver what you need.

Burger King, one of McDonald’s biggest competitors, used to advertise that “you can have it your way”. I still recall the jingle: “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us, have it your way, at Burger King.”

I hope McDonalds (and you) are listening.

Do you want to Make the Phone Ring? Here’s how I do it.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, success Tagged With: ,

3 simple questions for managing your law practice

July 17, 2013 by
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Managing your law practice is anything but simple. There are a lot of moving parts. People, problems, deadlines. It’s easy to get lost.

If you find yourself busy but not achieving your goals, if you find yourself doing but not getting things done, I want to offer you a way to gain clarity and get back on track.

All you have to do is ask yourself 3 simple questions.

The first question is. . .

1. What do I want?

More clients? Better clients? Bigger cases?

Lower overhead? Less stress? Shorter hours?

Do you want to build a big practice or do you want to work towards retirement? Do you want to eliminate a problem or achieve a milestone?

Whatever it is, write it down, and be specific. You need to know what you want before you can work on getting it.

Let’s say the answer is “I want to get an average of two referrals every week.”

Nice. Now you know what you want. Now, answer the next question.

2. Why don’t I have it?

Why aren’t you getting an average of two referrals every week right now?

Are there any obstacles? Problems? Defects? Something you should do but aren’t? Something you are doing but aren’t doing enough? Something you are doing but aren’t doing well enough?

Be honest. There could be many reasons for not getting the referrals:

  • You don’t have enough referral sources
  • You don’t have enough former clients to provide enough referrals
  • Your existing and former clients don’t know enough people who need your services
  • Your clients don’t know you want their referrals; (you’re not asking for referrals or asking often enough)
  • Your fees are higher than other attorneys and you haven’t made it clear why you are worth more
  • Your fees are lower than other attorneys and people think there is a reason (i.e., you don’t have the experience, don’t get the results) and get scared off
  • You’re intimidating or have a reputation for being unapproachable
  • You haven’t made it easy for people to refer (i.e., told them what to do, what to say, etc.)
  • There aren’t enough cases or clients in your market
  • You don’t have a website (so referrals can’t “check you out”)
  • Your website isn’t good enough so when referrals check you out, they get scared off
  • Your competition gets the lion’s share of referrals because they [know someone, spend big money on advertising, etc. . .]

There are lots of reasons why you might not be getting the referrals you want. Write down everything you can think of. Ask your staff. Ask your colleagues.

You may not like some of the reasons, especially the ones that reveal your personal shortcomings. Those are probably the ones you need to pay the most attention to.

Okay, one more question to answer.

3. What can I do about it?

Once you know why you don’t have what you want, it’s time to focus on solutions.

What can you do to remove obstacles? Fix problems? Make improvements?

Write a “can do” list–a list of what you can do.

If you’re not getting enough referrals because you don’t have enough referral sources, that’s something you can work on. Write it down. You can get more referral sources.

On the other hand, if you’re not getting enough referrals because you don’t have enough former clients to make those referrals, you can’t do anything about that right now. That’s not something you “can do”.

There may be items on your “can do” list that you choose not to do. That’s okay. Write them down anyway because you may decide to do them later or they might give you ideas for other solutions.

For example, if your market isn’t big enough to supply you with the referrals you want, you can move, open a second office in another town, or take on another practice area. All things you can do, but you might choose not to do any.

However, although you might not want to open a second office right now, or ever, writing it down as a “can do” might prompt you to find an attorney in another town and establish mutual “of counsel” arrangements. Now you can promote your “other office” to your clients and contacts and start getting referrals in that other town.

A “can do” list shows you what’s possible. Instead of dwelling on problems, you will focus on solutions and be on your way to getting what you want.

Does your website need work? I can help. Let me show you how to Make the Phone Ring.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Referrals Tagged With: , , , ,

Marketing is easy when you love what you do

July 10, 2013 by
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I know a lot of people who love sports. They can talk all day long about stats and trades and classic games. Ask them about their favorite team and they light up and will tell you all about them.

By the way, have you ever noticed that when you ask someone about the game they just attended or watched, if their team won they say, “We won!” but if the team lost they say, “They lost”?

Interesting.

Anyway, if you love sports, you probably know what I mean. You love talking about the game. You don’t have to work at it. It’s easy to do. Natural. Fun.

And when you meet a fellow sports lover, hey, the two of you can go at it for hours. Telling stories. Recalling great plays. Sharing gossip.

Wouldn’t it be great if marketing your legal services was that easy? Just as effortless and satisfying?

It should be. It can be.

I read a great definition of marketing the other day that prompted me to write this post. The author said,

“Marketing is sharing what you love with people who will appreciate hearing about it.”

Isn’t that a great way to think about it?

If you love what you do in your work, it should be easy to talk about. If you’re talking to someone who needs your help, they want to hear it.

Your conversations, presentations, and marketing documents, are an expression of what you love about your work. What gets you excited? What makes you tear up? What makes you want to lace up the boxing gloves?

You don’t have to love everything about what you do. That’s probably asking too much. But you can always find some aspect of what you do that gets you fired up.

Write a letter to your clients and tell them about it. Do it now while it’s on your mind. Type it or record it on your smart phone. Tell them why you love what you do. They want to hear all about it.

Marketing is easy when love what you do.

Do you know The Formula? It will help you get more clients and increase your income. Check it out here.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Communication, Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

You want to be more productive? Ask yourself this question every day.

March 8, 2013 by
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I get it. You’re incredibly busy. You have way too much to do and not enough time to do it. You’re getting things done but wonder if you’re doing enough.

Take a breath. Stop worrying about how much you’re not getting done.

The truth is you’ll never get it all done and it doesn’t matter. Being productive isn’t about how much you do, it’s about doing what’s important.

Take a look at your to-do list for today. All the calls and emails, the errands, the work that is on deadline. Lots of things you have to do and you will get most of them done.

Because you have to.

You’ll file that motion because it’s due. You’ll make that call because the other guy is waiting. You’ll write that letter because you want to settle the case.

But what about the important things you don’t have to do? Things that will advance your career or improve your life but don’t have a deadline or someone else waiting or watching?

This is the sweet spot in your growth. This is where you advance towards your long term goals. This is where you find your purpose instead of just taking care of your obligations.

Every day, when you write down your to-do list, I suggest you ask yourself this question:

“What is the most important thing I can do today that I don’t have to do?”

Your answer may be “to start exercising” because you want to get in shape. It’s important but you don’t have to do it. Now, at least you are aware of what’s important.

If you ask yourself that question again tomorrow and you get the same answer, you might pick up that exercise book you bought three years ago and put it on your desk. The next day you might actually read the first chapter.

It might be six months before you do your first push up or register for that hot yoga class, and that’s okay. You may never have done it if you had not asked yourself, “What is the most important thing I can do today that I don’t have to do?”

If marketing is important to you, download this today. You can read it tomorrow.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Personal development, Productivity 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: , ,

The virtue of wasting time

February 1, 2013 by
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“Quit goofing off and get back to work!” Have you ever said that to your kids or your employees? I know you’ve said it to yourself.

We seemed to be obsessed with the idea that wasting time is a bad thing. I know, “wasting” implies “no value,” but is that really true?

Me thinks not.

Playing video games, checking in or posting on social media, watching football, or whatever you like to do when you’re not doing what you think you’re supposed to do, is not wasting time. I can think of several reasons why it is good for you. And if its good for you, then its good for your work and other aspects of your life.

  • It helps you relax. Stress is a major health risk. Goofing off helps us forget our troubles and lower our blood pressure. Laughing has been proven to improve mental and physical health.
  • It helps you think. When our conscious minds are distracted, our subconscious minds come up with ideas, solve problems, and help us make decisions.
  • It improves skills. Gaming can improve hand-eye coordination and sharpen critical thinking. Watching sports can teach you about leadership, strategy, and team effort. Social media can help you learn about pop culture, which can be used in conversation and writing.
  • It helps you meet new people. With many hobbies and personal interests, you get to meet new people–at the game or the sports bar, online, at the concert, or the convention. New people bring new ideas, new contacts, new business.
  • It affirms life. The purpose of life is joy, not work.

Is there such a thing as spending too much time “wasting time”? Our bosses, parents, and spouses may think so, especially if they’ve seen us spending an hour or two on a site like this one. But it’s really the wrong question.

Better to ask, “Are you getting your work done?”, “Are you making a contribution to the world,” and “Are you happy?”

If you can answer those questions in the affirmative, I don’t think the amount of time you spend conquering pretend kingdoms or contemplating your navel really matters.

Earn more so you can goof off more. Here’s how.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Just for fun, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: ,

Is it time to put your practice on a diet?

January 11, 2013 by
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Yesterday, I did a strategy session with an attorney who was thinking about getting out of practicing law. After several decades of practicing, he said, “I don’t have the enthusiasm for my practice I once felt. I’ve had difficulties staying focused on my practice and delivering my work product in a timely fashion.”

In other words, the thrill was gone.

He does tax and estate planning, trust and estate administration, and tax compliance. Much of his malaise was centered on a feeling of being bogged down in administrative minutia. As a sole practitioner, there was simply too much to do and too much to keep up with and he was overwhelmed.

I asked him if there was any part of what he does that he liked. He said he enjoyed working with individuals and helping them with estate planning. I said, “If you could have a successful practice doing nothing but that and none of the other things you’re currently doing, how would that be?” “That would be great,” he said.

Problem solved.

He didn’t need to get out of practicing. He needed to put his practice on a diet.

By getting rid of practice areas (and clients) that weighed him down, he could have a leaner, more robust practice doing what he enjoyed doing. I told him there was more than enough business available for the kind of estate planning he liked and that he didn’t have to do anything else.

Many attorneys suffer from “practice bloat,” a term I just made up but which seems to accurately describe what happens over a period of years. You start out lean and mean, excited, and enjoying the process of building your practice. At some point, you take on additional practice areas because the work falls into your lap or because you want to have another profit center or something to fall back on. In time, your practice no longer resembles the one you started. You have too much to do, too much to keep up with, and you start falling behind. At this point, many attorneys start thinking the law is not their calling and they start looking for something else.

Some attorneys start out doing too much. I did. I took anything that showed up. I thought I had to because I needed the money. Soon, I was overwhelmed and frustrated, convinced I’d made a mistake in becoming a lawyer.

In both cases, the answer is to put the practice on a diet.

Get rid of practice areas you don’t enjoy. Get rid of clients who drive you crazy. Get rid of work you’re not good at but continue to do because “it’s part of the job”.

The vacuum you create by getting rid of things that do not serve you will soon be filled with work that you love and are good at. You’ll breathe life into a moribund practice, attract new clients, and increase your income. Most importantly, you’ll look forward to going to work every day.

There are more than enough clients available who want and need what you love to do. If your practice is bloated and the thrill is gone, it may be time to put your practice on a diet.

Does your practice need fixing? A new focus? Do you have marketing questions? I can help.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Law office management, Marketing Plan, Specializing Tagged With: , ,
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