The thrill is gone? Here’s how to get it back

July 17, 2015 by
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The thrill is gone. You’ve lost the spark you had when you started practicing. You’re spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast.

You’re doing okay, but you want to move on up, to an east side apartment in the sky.

Or maybe things aren’t so good. You’re struggling and falling behind.

What can you do? How do you get things moving?

You need to start over. Go back to the beginning and be “new” again. Forget what you have and what you know and begin from square one.

Before you can construct, you have to destruct.

I know, starting over might hold some bad memories for you. It does for me. I was scared to death. Everything was riding on my making a go of things and I didn’t have a clue about what to do.

But I was excited. The world was mine for the taking. Anything was possible.

And I was hungry. Determined. Open to anything. I had nothing, so I had nothing to lose.

You too? Good. Go back to those days in your mind. Be hungry again. Be open again. Be excited again.

Pretend you have nothing. No clients, no lists, no website, no ads. Chuck it all and start from scratch. You’ll add them back one at a time. Or maybe you won’t.

Yes, but what do you do? That’s not really important. If your head is on right and you are truly reborn, you’ll figure it out.

You’ll try lots of things, with no expectations. Some will work, most won’t. You want this thing to work and you’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Get out a legal pad and a pen. Time to start building. Start by taking inventory.

Who do you know? Write down the names of people who might be able to help you. Clients, prospects, referral sources, other lawyers who can give you advice, friends and family who can support your dreams.

What do you know? What are you good at? What are your skills (legal, marketing, management, leadership, speaking, writing, etc.)

What do you want? Write down one or two goals for the month. Forget next month for now; you’ve got a rent payment coming due.

Are you excited yet? Scared? Itching to do something? Good. Pick up the phone and call someone on your list.

Call a friend and tell him you’re re-launching your practice today and just wanted to share the good news.

Call a lawyer and tell her you’d like to meet for coffee and talk about how you can work together.

Call a former client and see how they’re doing. They might need you for something, or know someone they can refer.

Call a current client and tell them how much you appreciate them.

Spend the rest of the day talking to people. Tonight, write down some marketing ideas. Tomorrow, get up early and do it again.

Need a marketing plan? Get this

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Inspiration, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, success

Would you hire you?

July 3, 2015 by
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I’ve got a question for you. Something for you to ponder over this weekend. Don’t just answer and move on, give this a bit of thought because it is important.

The question is, “Would you hire you?” Knowing what you know about your skills and experience and what you really bring to the table, if you needed a lawyer who does what you do, would you hire you?

If you would, great. Write down all of the reasons you would do that. In fact, keep a running list of reasons because you can use these in your marketing. Make sure you do this for each of your practice areas and/or services.

If you would not hire you, why not? If you have doubts about some things, what are they?

Be honest. Nobody else is listening.

What could do you better? What skills do you need to improve or acquire? Where are you “just okay,” when you know you should be great?

Since you might not be able to see these things, or admit to them, you might ask others to help you with this. Ask you clients. Do exit surveys. Do anonymous online surveys and let them tell you what you need to improve. Ask your staff, your partners, and your spouse.

Can you see how this information would be helpful?

Good. Because when you’re done with this question, I have another one for you to answer:

Would you buy your practice?

If it was for sale, would you plunk down the cash to buy it? Would it be a good investment? Or would you just be buying yourself a job, and underpaid one at that?

I don’t have the answers. Just the questions. Because that’s my job, and I’m good at it.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client relations, Increase your income, Law office management, success

Would you like that in tens and twenties?

June 26, 2015 by
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In law school, my torts professor told us that he was able to close his practice (retire) because he settled a particularly big case and banked a big fat fee.

It was close to 40 years ago, but I remember thinking, “Sounds good to me.”

One reason I chose personal injury over other practice areas is because big cases happen. One case could retire you, and that was my plan.

But it didn’t happen. I had some big cases, but not big enough to let me fold up my tent.

I was thinking about this on my walk this morning and I thought I would ask you a question. Here it is:

Would you rather have a big pile of cash (from any source) or enough cash flow coming in (from any source) to accommodate your desired life style?

Five million dollars in cash earning a four percent return, for example, equates to $200,000 in cash flow per year. Would you rather have the five million or $200k in passive income?

When I was in law school, I would have said gimme the cash. With what I know now, I’d take the income.

Aside from the fact that I’ve put on a few years and my priorities are different today, if I had the cash, I’d be afraid of squandering it. I might spend it or make bad investments. I’d have to spend time nurturing my nest egg, time I could spend doing other things.

How about you? Which would you take? I know, you’d take both. Touche, mon frere.

But this isn’t just a fanciful exercise. There is a point to it.

What you want in the future influences the choices you make today. To some extent, your cash or cash flow preference will dictate the direction of your career.

If you prefer cash, you need to consider practice areas that makes that possible. You might target start ups for clients because they might offer you a piece of their company in return for your services.

If cash flow is your thang, in the short term, you’ll want clients who have ongoing work for you. Business clients rather than consumer clients. For the long term, you’ll look at investing in income producing assets.

You could also start a business. That’s what I did. A series of businesses, actually, that provide me with passive income and allowed me to retire from practicing law.

One lesson in all this is that long term plans are often like an oral contract. They’re not worth the paper they’re written on.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, success Tagged With:

Do you make this mistake in marketing legal services?

June 24, 2015 by
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I heard two radio commercials yesterday and IMH (but accurate) O, both made the same mistake. Listen up. This is important even if you don’t advertise.

One spot was mass tort. I don’t recall the other. Both ads used the same call to action. They told (interested) listeners to call a telephone number, presumably, to make an appointment.

What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that why the lawyers are advertising? Isn’t that how the listener with a legal issue is going to get the help they need?

Sure. But here’s the thing. For every person who calls, there are perhaps ten people who “almost” call but don’t.

The ad caught there attention, they have the legal issue, or think they do, they need help, but for a multitude of reasons, they don’t call.

Maybe they think their problem is different. Maybe they’re scared and not ready to talk to someone. Maybe they don’t trust you. Maybe they think they’ll have to pay. Or they know the consultation is free but think they will have to pay after that (and can’t afford it). Maybe they think the person they talk to won’t answer any questions unless they come to their office. Maybe they’re busy and can’t take time off work. Maybe they didn’t write down the phone number. Maybe their dog threw up and the next day they forgot to call.

Lost of reasons. But the ads give the listener only two options: call or don’t call.

And most don’t call.

What if there was another option? What if they could learn more about their issue and the possible solutions, find out about the law and procedure, and learn about the lawyer’s background and how they have helped lots of other people with this problem?

What if they could get many of their basic questions answered without having to talk to anyone? What if they could sell themselves on taking the next step?

What if the ads told the listener to go their website, where they could get all of this, and more?

Do you think some of the listeners would do that? And if the website does a decent job of educating them and making them feel comfortable with these lawyers and their ability to help them, do you think more people would call or use the email contact form?

If more people did that, do you think these lawyers would get more clients?

Look, some of the listeners to these commercials are going to go online anyway, to see what they can find out about the problem and possible solutions. Your ad reminded them to do that.

What will they find? Which of your competitor’s website will they land on? Which of them will they hire instead of you?

In marketing your legal services, yes, you should give out your phone number and tell prospective clients to call. But you should also give them your website, so that if they’re not ready to call, they can get to know, like, and trust you, so that when they are ready to do something, the lawyer they call is you.

Marketing legal services with your website. Go here

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Filed Under: Advertising, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Why you should recommend products and services to your clients

June 8, 2015 by
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Your clients want more from you than your legal advice. They want to know what you recommend in other areas of their life–banking, insurance, cars, and real estate, for example, and the vendors who market them. They may not ask for your advice on these matters but if you offer it, it will surely be welcome.

You’re advice and recommendations save them time and money and help them avoid the risk of making a bad choice. They will appreciate you for providing this information, remember you, come back to you, and tell their friends and colleagues about you.

So when lawyers ask me, “What should I write about on my blog or in my newsletter or on social media?” I tell them to think about what interests them as a consumer and as a business professional.

You don’t always have to write about legal matters. In fact, most people don’t want you to. Mix it up with a smattering of other subjects. Do you like movies? Write some reviews. Do you know something about re-financing a mortgage? Share your tips.

One topic that has legs right now is identity theft, especially in the wake of the recent theft of the personal information of more than 4 million Federal employees. Most people assume this will never happen to them but they’re living in a false paradise. They need to know the truth about their exposure to this pernicious crime, and how to protect themselves. You could supply that information.

I have experience in this field and I can tell you that you can’t “stop” or “prevent” identity theft. All you can do is protect yourself so that when it does occur, you are notified and have experts who repair the damage for you. You need to have that protection in place before the theft occurs, however, or your loss may be excluded as pre-existing.

Following my own advice, I recommend the identity theft plan I have had for the last 12 years. It offers better protection than any other plan I’ve looked at. It’s cheaper, too. But I am biased. I am an affiliate for this company and it’s other services. So are many other attorneys who market these plans to their clients and contacts.

Look at the products and services you use in your practice and in your personal life. Tell people about the ones you recommend, and why.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Increase your income, News, Newsletters Tagged With:

How to find the time to grow your law practice

June 2, 2015 by
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On my walk yesterday, I listened to an interview with Michael Hyatt on The Smart Passive Income podcast (episode 163). One thing he talked about was how he hired his first outside assistant after he had resisted doing so for a long time.

He told a story about an entrepreneur he knows who had also resisted hiring help. A friend showed him the light.

First, his friend asked how much his time was worth. He estimated $250 an hour. Then the friend asked him to name a task he did in his business that he wasn’t particularly good at. “Updating my website,” he said. The friend asked, “If you did hire someone to update your website for you, would you pay them $250 an hour?”

The entrepreneur said no, of course not. “But that’s exactly what you’re paying now,” his friend said.

Hyatt said that when he realized that a virtual assistant  could free up his time to do the work that he does best, he decided to give it a try. He started slowly and hired someone for just five hours a week.

He quickly realized how much more high-value work this allowed him to do and increased it to ten hours a week. Because he was doing more of what he does best, his business really took off. He now has a stable of employees and virtual assistants who do the work that they do best, allowing him to focus on his strengths.

I thought about that and realized that all of us could find enough tasks in our week to keep a virtual assistant busy for five hours. If the assistant costs $10 an hour, that’s only $50 a week.

Who wouldn’t pay $50 to free up five hours?

What if that allowed you to bill an additional five hours a week? What if you used that time to bring in more clients?

If you want to grow your law practice, this is a place to start. Make a list of things you do that you’re not good at or don’t enjoy and find an assistant who can do them for you.

What will you do with all that extra time?

Learn more ways to leverage your time. Click here

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Leverage, Productivity Tagged With: ,

Stop trying to convince people they need a lawyer

May 26, 2015 by
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I started walking again. Three days a week, a couple of miles to start. At least I think it’s a couple of miles. I’m not really sure, so yesterday, I went to the app store to see if they had a pedometer.

Yes they do.

I had no idea how many apps there were for measuring body movement. I had no idea because I had never looked at any “health and fitness” apps.

I figured these were for runners or people who played sports or people with complex workout regimes. I just like to walk.

So now I’m looking at all these choices, comparing features, reading reviews. I even read a couple of articles.
I want a pedometer. I’m trying to decide which one.

Today, I’m “in the market” for an app; before, I wasn’t.

If you were the developer of the best app in the world in this category, before I was in the market your words would have been wasted on me. I paid no attention to your ads, your free trials, or your reviews.

I wasn’t a prospect. Now I am.

So here’s the thing. You may have the best legal services in town–a great track record, the best offer, fabulous “customer service”–but if you’re offering it people who aren’t in the market for what you do, you’re wasting time and money.

Instead of trying to educate the masses about the benefits of hiring a lawyer, target people who are actively looking for a lawyer who does what you do and show them why you are the best choice.

Pretend that there is a app store category for legal services and you’re in it. Instead of trying to convince people who are “not in the market” to come look at the legal services “apps” that are available, focus on making your “app” the top rated, best selling app in that category.

There is a place for educating people about what a lawyer can do to help them solve a problem or achieve an objective. But the sweet spot in marketing is found by targeting people who already know they (probably) need a lawyer and are trying to decide which one.

Marketing is easier when you know The Formula

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

How to select more profitable cases and clients

May 19, 2015 by
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A subscriber asked for my thoughts on how to select, “more meritorious and profitable cases and eliminate smaller cases or “junk” that takes far too much time in proportion to profit potential.”

I thought he was talking about contingency fee cases but when I went to his website I saw that he handles everything but. It’s a general practice, handling everything from divorce to banking to foreclosure, construction law, even appellate work, but no personal injury or anything tort related that I can see.

Unless I’m missing something, as long as they get a retainer fee, they get paid. Even if the case isn’t that good.

So my oh-so-glib answer to the original question is, “Pick a number. Decide, in advance, that you won’t accept anything that won’t provide you with a minimum fee of X dollars.”

That’s easier to do when you charge flat fees instead of hourly, and that might be part of his challenge. If that’s so, and he wants to continue charging hourly, he might consider having a minimum fee, if this is ethically permitted. So, $400 per hour for that divorce case, with a minimum of $5000. Or whatever.

Okay, I realize it’s not always that simple. But I don’t know what else to say. Meet with your partners, pull out the spreadsheets, and see where you’re making money. Draw a line or two to demarcate the kinds of cases or clients you will focus on and the ones you will think twice about accepting or eliminate completely.

Before you make any final decisions, however, there’s something else to think about. It’s something I did in my practice and I recommend that you consider it in yours.

Think clients, not cases.

Essentially, that means you take the small stuff, even if it’s not terribly profitable, because you are serving the client who will have other matters for you, stick with your firm long term, send you referrals, and otherwise help your practice grow.

The lifetime value of those clients, and the collective fees earned from them, is many times what you might (or might not) earn on one particular matter.

If you don’t have those kinds of clients, or enough of them, start weaning the firm away from clients with “one time” cases and focus on clients with lots of repeat work.

Think clients, not cases.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Increase your income

Activating your list for fun and profit

May 8, 2015 by
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You have a list of clients, prospects, and professional contacts. What are you doing to activate that list and turn it into repeat business and referrals?

How do you get that list to DO SOMETHING?

Some of the people on that list will do something merely because you stayed in touch with them. When they need something you offer, or know someone who does, they will click or call.

What about everyone else?

What about the people who need you but think the problem will go away by itself? What about the ones who don’t know how bad the problem can get if they don’t do something?

What about the people who don’t realize all of their options? What about the ones who didn’t have the money before, or didn’t want to spend it?

What about the ones who know people who need your services but didn’t think about referring them?

You need to do something to get these people to do something.

But what?

How about creating an event and inviting them to it? A webinar, teleseminar, or video hangout.

Invite your list to see some new information, or new ways of looking at the solutions. Teach them how to stop the problem from getting bigger and keep it from happening again.

You’ve got to get them thinking about the problem again. Comparing solutions. Considering the options. What better way to do that than to invite them to access this free information from the comfort of their tablet or smartphone?

During the event, make them a special offer. A free consultation, perhaps, so they can discuss the specifics of their situation with you. Or a discount, bonus, or inexpensive partial solution. Tell them you now take credit cards or offer a payment plan.

Give them an incentive to do something and tell them what to do to get it (e.g., call, fill out a form, stop by the office).

Record the event so you will have something to offer to new subscribers. Transcribe the recording and turn it into a report or ebook.

You can create an event today and announce it to your list tomorrow. By next week, you can have more people calling, subscribing, and referring.

How to set up an email list for your website or blog

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Filed Under: Email, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Seminars and webinars

There is no virtue in working hard

April 27, 2015 by
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There is no virtue in working hard. Not when you can get the same or better results with less effort.

Robert A. Heinlein said, “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”

In fact, that’s a pretty good definition of the word productivity. Getting more results with less effort.

To do that first requires an appreciation of the difference between effectiveness and efficiency.

Effectiveness means “doing the right things”. It means doing things that are consistent with your long term vision and short term goals. It means doing what’s important, primarily, and finding ways to minimize or eliminate everything else.

If growing your practice and advancing your career is important to you, you are effective when you focus on delivering value to your clients, building relationships with key people, and getting better at marketing.

Eighty percent of your results come from twenty percent of your effort. To be more effective, identify those twenty percent activities and do more of them.

Efficiency, on the other hand, means “doing things right”. It means getting things done faster or better.

You become more efficient by using forms, checklists, and templates to streamline your work. You become more efficient by hiring better quality employees who deliver better results. You become more efficient by improving your skills through study and practice and dedication to personal development.

These are some of the things that allowed me to quadruple the income in my law practice while reducing my work week to just three days.

But while there’s no virtue in working hard, there’s nothing wrong with it.

When you are effective and efficient, you might increase your effort-to-results ratio from one-to-one to one-to-ten. If you are effective and efficient and ALSO work hard, you might increase that ratio from one-to-one to one-to-100.

Earn more and work less through leverage

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Leverage, Personal development, Productivity, success
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