Fracking your law practice

September 3, 2013 by
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You’ve waited long enough. It’s time to finally open the floodgates of untapped resources that lie beneath your feet. New clients, better clients, and an abundant and fulfilling lifestyle await you. All you need to do is go get them.

Every law practice has natural resources that aren’t being accessed. What are these resources?

Your client list that could easily bring a steady stream of repeat business and referrals but is all but ignored in favor of expensive and time consuming efforts to find new clients.

Your knowledge and experience that could be packaged and presented in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd and be seen as the best lawyer for the job but instead, is shackled by the chains of conformity.

The passion that drove you to choose a legal career but has been dulled by low margins and mindless work could be rekindled with new ideas, if only you would slow down long enough to learn them, and loosen up enough to try them.

These and other resources, if allowed to surface, could transform you from struggle to success, from success to untold wealth. All you have to do is embrace these resources, develop them, and allow them to deliver their bounty.

Why aren’t you developing these resources? Adherence to tradition. Not wanting to admit there is a problem. Fear of what others will think or what might happen if something goes wrong.

Yes, there are dangers. If you start a blog it might take up too much time. But what if it doesn’t? What if it takes up much less time than you thought? And what if it brings you lots of prospective clients who see why they should hire you instead of anyone else, and do?

If you get started with social media, your unhappy clients and crazy clients may smack talk you and harm your reputation. But what if they are few and far between and your happy clients set the record straight and build up your reputation and increase your following?

If you stay in touch with your clients and former clients, you might waste time that could be spent getting work done. But what if staying in touch brings you so much work you can afford to hire staff to do most of it and you can get home before the kids are in bed?

There are dangers to doing things you’ve never done before. You might be embarrassed. There may be costs. Things could go wrong. But the greater danger is that you will never discover what was possible, never realize your potential, and never have the time or financial resources to make the world a better place.

If you’re ready to tap into your natural resources, this and this will show you what to do.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity

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:

How to make more money as a lawyer

June 12, 2013 by
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I’ve had lawyers say to me, “I should be earning more.”

I give them a dose of reality: “No, you shouldn’t. Because if you should, you would.”

If you deserved to earn more, you would earn more.

We are all paid exactly what we are worth. No more, no less. In a free market, our income is in direct proportion to the value we deliver to the marketplace.

If you want to know how to make more money as a lawyer, the answer is to deliver more value.

“Maybe I’m just not good at communicating the value I deliver. I need to get better at doing that, better at marketing my services.”

Yes, but that’s all part of your value. Value is a relative term. It’s based on perception. And the market is never wrong. If they don’t see that you are worth more to them, by definition, you’re not worth more to them.

If you want more clients to choose you instead of other lawyers, you have to give them a reason. Show them an advantage to choosing you.

If you want clients to pay you more than they do, you have to give them more value.

My new course, “Make the Phone Ring,“ shows you how to make more money as a lawyer. Get it here.

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Filed Under: Increase your income Tagged With: ,

Do attorneys charge too much?

May 6, 2013 by
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A lot of people think attorneys charge too much. But you can’t charge too much. It’s not possible. If someone is willing to pay what you ask, then, by definition, it’s not too much.

Unless, somehow, an attorney has some kind of monopoly–government hook up, union contract, that sort of thing, or someone else is paying the bill–in a free market, the market determines price.

Willing buyer, willing seller, and all that.

Actually, many attorneys fees are too low. They don’t charge what they could. Why? Several reasons:

  • They try to match their rates to what other lawyers are charging, so they can “stay competitive,” and everyone gets locked into thinking that what everyone is charging is the “right price”.
  • They believe they will get more clients by offering rates somewhat lower than other attorneys.
  • They haven’t factored in the costs of overhead or inflation.
  • They start out low and are afraid that if they raise their rates they’ll lose clients.
  • They lack confidence in themselves and their abilities or think they don’t have enough experience to charge top dollar.

How do you know if you could charge more? You raise your fees and see what happens. Start with new clients. If there’s little or no resistance, roll out the increase with existing and former clients. Keep raising fees until there is “significant” resistance. I can’t tell you what that is, but you will know it when you see it.

Here’s the thing: the best clients don’t shop around for the lowest priced attorney, and you don’t want the ones who do. You should never compete on price. You’ll attract the worst clients, and besides, there will always be someone who charges less.

The best clients — the ones who return again and again and refer others — understand that you get what you pay for. In fact, if you charge less than most other attorneys, you’ll actually make them nervous. What would you think if you found out that the doctor who was about to operate on your brain charged much less than other surgeons?

You don’t want a reputation for being “low priced”. Instead, you want clients to think of you as “charging top dollar but worth every penny.” In this way, you get the better clients and maximize your revenues and profits.

Regularly survey the market and keep your fees at least in the upper one third of fees in your area. You don’t have to be the most expensive in town to get the best clients (although that may be an effective strategy for some lawyers), but you do want to be among that group.

Will you lose some clients as you raise your rates? Yes, but far fewer than you might imagine. And the revenue you lose by their loss will be more than made up for by the gains from other, higher-paying clients.

In fact, you may find that by raising your rates you actually find there is more demand for your services. More clients at higher rates? That would be okay, wouldn’t it?

The Attorney Marketing Formula: How to Earn More Than You Ever Thought Possible. Click here.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Legal industry Tagged With: , ,

Don’t let your reason why become your excuse not to

April 11, 2013 by
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You say that one of the reasons you want to increase your income is to have more free time. Time for family, hobbies, travel, fun.

Those things are important to you but you’re always working and don’t have enough time.

More free time is the “reason why” you want to earn more.

But then I hear you say you don’t have time for marketing. You’re too busy.

Do you see the problem here? You want time (your why) because you don’t have time (always working) so you use the fact that you don’t have time as your excuse for not marketing, even though marketing is what will eventually give you more free time.

It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

You’re letting your reason why become your excuse not to.

“But I have to do the work,” you say. You can’t slow down. It’s a Catch 22.

You could hire someone to do some of the work.

“I can’t afford to hire anyone,” you say.

Okay, now you’re being difficult.

You hire someone so you can work less so you can have more time for marketing so you can earn more so you can have more free time.

Try saying that ten times really fast.

It’s called leverage. Working smart. Treating your practice like a business.

You can’t wait for more free time to appear before you start marketing. You must start marketing to create more free time.

You can make money or you can make excuses, but you can’t make both.

I can teach you how to leverage your time. Click here.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:

Save 50%–but only for a few days, and then never again

April 3, 2013 by
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Yesterday, I wrote about the subject of scarcity and how you can use it in your marketing to get people off the fence. When something is in limited supply, or the clock is ticking and a deadline is approaching, a fear of loss kicks in and motivates action.

The ultimate in scarcity is “no longer available.” When you know that something you want (but have not yet purchased) is going away and may never come back, The Force compels you to reach for your credit card. Or something like that.

For many years, I sold a referral marketing course for attorneys. It was the first of its kind and I sold millions of dollars worth of that course, all over the world. I took it off the market a couple of years ago, intending to update and re-release it.

I still hear from attorneys who bought my course, way back in 1996. They want to know when I’m coming out with the new version. I also hear from attorneys who have heard about the course and want to know when they can order it.

The answer is, I don’t know. It’s a big project and I’m working on other things right now and my plate is full.

“Not available” is about as scarce as it gets. People want it but can’t have it. Value increases. Demand increases. The point is, if it was always available and you could order it at any time, that demand and that perceived value wouldn’t be the same.

That’s the rationale behind the “product launches” you see on the Internet. There’s a big run up to the launch and then the product is removed from the market. Once it’s gone, you can’t get it at any price. No surprise, they sell a lot more of the product during the launch period because people don’t want to miss out.

So. . . what if you announced to your clients that you from this point forward, you would only accept clients who are referred to you by other clients. What do you think would happen?

Yes, demand would go way up.

We see physicians do this. When you hear that a doctor is no longer accepting new patients, that’s the doctor you want, isn’t it?

“Who do I know who can get me in!”

Well, you may not be ready to announce something like this. But what you could do is announce that starting next month, you are strictly limiting the number of new clients you will accept.

You’re super busy and can’t give proper attention to everyone (or you want more time for your family) and so you have to be much more selective about who you accept as a client.

That’s something you should do, anyway. Continually upgrade your client base by eliminating (or not accepting) smaller clients and cases or the ones who give you the most trouble.

Announce it, promote it, and you should see demand for your services go up.

Something to think about.

Okay, announcement time.

Later this month, I’m changing over to a different shopping cart and payment system. In order to do this, I am taking two of my products off the market. I probably won’t re-release them, at least for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, before I remove them, I wanted to give you a chance to pick them up at a great price. So for the next few days, you can order either Cash Flow for Attorneys or The Quantum Leap Marketing System at 50% off the regular price.

Here are the details:

Cash Flow for Attorneys shows you how you can increase your cash flow in the coming year by re-structuring your fees, tightening up your billing and collections, and utilizing other strategies for bringing in more cash. Check it out at http://cashflowforattorneys.com

To get the 50% discount, click on the order button and enter the code <final> (no brackets) in the coupon box. Click to “validate” and you’ll see the price change below to reflect the discount.

The Quantum Leap Marketing System shows you how to quickly bring in a lot of new business. It’s over ten hours of videos and comes with some great bonuses. You can see what’s included at http://quantumleapmarketingsystem.com.

Important: When you get to the big box that says, “Add to Cart,” scroll down a bit and click on the link for “one payment”.

On the next page, (near the top), you’ll see a box that asks for a “Coupon”. Enter the code <final>  (no brackets) and click the link to validate the code. The price will change below to reflect a 50% discount.

After you order, you’ll receive a confirming email with download and/or access instructions. Please make sure to download everything as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please email info@attorneymarketing.com.

Please note, all sales are final–there will be no refunds accepted, so make sure this is something you want before you click the button.

You have the rest of the week to get these. And then. . .  they will be gone.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, News

How to use scarcity to get more clients and increase your income

April 2, 2013 by
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Scarcity creates value. When something is in short supply and people want it, its value increases. A soda may cost less than a dollar at any supermarket but that same soda costs $4 at the baseball game where there is no competition.

If you are the only attorney in town, the value of what you do increases. When a client needs you, they will pay a premium price for your help. On the other hand, if there are lots of attorneys in your market who do what you do and a client can choose any of you, the value of what you offer goes down.

This is why you must show prospective clients that you aren’t like other attorneys. You must show them that you are different in a way that is important and valuable to them.

If you specialize in personal injury cases for clients who ride motorcycles, for example, and ride one yourself, your superior knowledge and commitment to that niche market gives prospective clients a clear reason for choosing you instead of other attorneys.

You can learn more about showing people why they should choose you instead of other attorneys you in The Attorney Marketing Formula. Right now, I want to talk to you about another form of scarcity you can use in your marketing: “limited availability”.

You know that people want what they can’t have, right? When you put a time limit or a quantity limit on something you are offering, (assuming it is something people want), it tends to increase demand.

Why?

The first reason is “fear of loss”. They don’t want to miss out. Limited availability suggests that other people are getting something that could be theirs, thus, they are losing something they already “own,” i.e., whatever you are offering. Fear of loss is one of the most powerful motivations there is.

The other reason is “social proof”. As people see others buying what you are offering, it strengthens the perceived value of your offer. It’s like when you see a long line waiting to get into a restaurant. It tells you the food must be good.

You can use limited availability to get more people to sign up for your webinar or other event by letting them know there is limited seating or phone lines. If they wait too long, they might not get in.

You can use the same idea with impending fee increases. “Book your appointment now and lock in our current rates before they go up on the first of the month”.

Anything with a deadline invokes scarcity. If you ever use special offers–discounts, bonuses, freebies–a time limit on the offer (e.g., “This week only”) will almost always increase response.

I do this when I release a new product or service. I offer a discount to early bird purchasers and put a strict time limit on that discount. Wait too long and you miss it. I do the same thing when I hold a sale. The time limit forces people who might otherwise procrastinate to make a decision that allows them to get something they want.

Limited availability also applies to you and your time. If you are always available, you appear less valuable. If you answer your own phone, for example, it suggests that you are not “in demand” by others. Better to have someone else answer your phone and grant limited access to you and your valuable time.

The same goes for setting appointments. You don’t want clients to think you aren’t busy and that they can see you at almost any time. Put them off for a day or three or give them a short window of availability (i.e., “The only time available is Tuesday between 4 and 4:30 and Thursday at 2”.)

Put limits on what you offer, including your time. Especially your time. You’ll get more people waiting in line to get it.

Learn how to get prospective clients to choose you instead of other attorneys. Click here.

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

Increase your income: offer a premium version of your legal services

March 29, 2013 by
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A simple way to increase your income without increasing your fees is to offer a premium version of your legal services.

If your basic service is $2500, you might offer a deluxe package for $2950 which allows clients to get additional services they will probably need down the line. They can get everything taken care of all at once and save a few bucks.

What options, extras, or “nice to have” additional services could you offer to new clients? The best time to present these extras is at the initial engagement when they are in a buying mood. They see that it’s “only a few hundred dollars more” and it’s an easier decision than if you went back to them later.

Having a deluxe version also allows you to offer prospective clients a choice between the two versions, which is better than offering them a choice between hiring you or not. No matter which version they choose, you have a new client.

You can create a deluxe version of your services by adding something to what you ordinarily do. Or, you can leave out something you ordinarily do and call that your basic package. So, if you ordinarily do A, B, C, and D, your basic package would now be A, B, and C and your deluxe package would include everything.

You could also create a deluxe package by including services from another lawyer. For example, your basic version may be a business start up package and your deluxe package might include an employee manual produced by an employment lawyer. If you are an estate planning lawyer, your deluxe package might include a mini-plan from a financial planner you work with.

A deluxe package doesn’t necessarily have to include additional services, however. It might be a higher level of service–quicker turnaround or priority handling, for example.

Offering a premium version of your services is a simple way to increase your income. Even if only a small percentage of clients opt for it, you come out ahead.

The Attorney Marketing Formula: The 6 Keys to Higher Income. Click here to learn more.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Increase your income, Marketing legal services

When lawyers say, “I don’t have time for marketing,” they really mean, “I don’t want to”

March 13, 2013 by
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Admit it. When it comes to marketing, if you’ve ever said, “I don’t have time,” what you really meant was, “I don’t want to.” Not having time is simply the excuse.

How do I know? Because you do have time for marketing.

I’ll prove it.

How long does it take to call a former client and say, “Hello, I hope you’re doing okay”? Three minutes if they answer the phone? Sixty seconds if you leave a message?

Too long? Okay, how about sending an email? It might take five seconds to insert their email into a template and click the send button.

Five seconds. Could you do that once a day?

Of course you could. If you wanted to.

So the real issue is why you don’t want to.

Fear? (“I don’t want to sound like I’m fishing for work.”)

Ego? (“I shouldn’t have to do this.”)

Well, while you figure that out, I’m going to give you a suggestion that may help:

Do it anyway.

You don’t have to want to do it. Do it because you want the results.

You don’t exercise because you want the pain. You want a lean, strong, and healthy body. You want to look good in your clothes. You want to feel good about yourself. So you put up with the pain and inconvenience and hit the gym three or four days a week, whether you feel like it or not.

Marketing works the same way. You do it because you want the results.

Fall in love with the results. Get excited about the idea that a few minutes a day could result in thousands of dollars per month in additional income.

In the time it took you to read this post, you could have found your next client. And you wouldn’t even break a sweat.

Marketing is simple. Start here.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Time Management

Build your law practice more quickly by compressing time and leveraging effort

March 7, 2013 by
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You’ve heard me say it many times before:

Do something marketing-related every day. Make a few calls. Send a few emails. Write a blog post. Jot down some ideas. You can make significant progress with just 15 minutes a day of effort because of the compound effect of doing something every day.

To build your practice more quickly, you should compress time and leverage your effort. You compress time by

  1. Doing things faster,
  2. Doing things more often, and
  3. Doing things in bigger chunks.

You do things faster by getting better at them. That comes from experience and from learning (new techniques, shortcuts, different methods).

Doing things more often means doing something three times a day instead of once. Or every day instead of every other day.

Doing things in bigger chunks means instead of doing something for 15 minutes, you do it for two hours or an entire day. You will get further ahead by compressing several weeks of activities into a single day because the bigger chunk of time allows you to create momentum.

You will also grow more quickly by leveraging your effort. That means getting more results out of the same activities.

An example of leverage would be networking with potential referral sources instead of prospective clients. By attending the Kiwanis Club dinner, you may make friends with someone who needs your services, and that’s good. A more leveraged result would be making friends with the president of the Kiwanis Club, who knows everyone in that chapter and five others.

Another example would be doing things that have a “long tail,” i.e., writing an article that will reside on your web site indefinitely, continually pulling in leads and new business. If you’re going to spend an hour writing something, write something that will produce a residual “income”.

A third example of leverage is re-purposing your content. You do a presentation. Now, take that presentation and turn it into five blog posts, three videos, and an ebook. Don’t settle for a one time presentation to 50 people when you can re-purpose your content and get it in front of 5,000.

A fourth example of leverage is re-distributing your content. You take your report and send it to everyone on your list. You put it in your new client kit. You put it on a download page and link to it on your web site. You give print copies to your referral sources and ask them to put them in their waiting rooms. You email a pdf to your clients and ask them to forward your email to their friends and family.

You’ve heard the expression, “working smarter”? Now you know what it means.

For more ways to compress time and leverage effort, get this.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , ,
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