Marketing takes up too much time? I wrote this post in 15 minutes

November 29, 2012 by
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In the interview yesterday, (replay), I said that if you (the viewer) got nothing else out of my comments, I hope you are inspired to commit 15 minutes a day to marketing. Even if all you do is sit and think, or write down ideas, or read some articles. I said that if you do that, eventually you will pick up the phone and make some calls or write something that could be considered marketing-related. Like a blog post, article, or email.

You can do a lot in 15 minutes.

I wrote this post in 15 minutes. Sure, most of my posts take longer but I have the time. You might not. That’s okay. Short posts are fine.

How do you write a blog post in 15 minutes? You start with an idea and write it down. In this case, “writing a blog post in 15 minutes”. You open up something to write in. I write my posts in Evernote. And you begin writing. Put down your thoughts. Share a couple of tips or resources. Give your opinion on something related to your area of expertise.

Three or four paragraphs and you’re done. I’m at 200 words at this point. My posts are usually in the 300 to 500 word length. Length isn’t critical, as long as you have said what you need to say.

Then, edit. Make sure the thoughts flow. Not hard, really (pauses for a sip of coffee, reads. . .). Looks pretty good. Time to publish. Copy and paste into WordPress. Add some tags and hyperlinks and I’m done for the day. Elapsed time: 14 minutes. And what do you know, this post is now just over 300 words.

If you missed the interview yesterday, you can watch the replay here. It was about an hour so you might have to watch over the next four days. If you don’t have time, just order The Attorney Marketing Formula and call it a day.

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

The problem with multiple streams of income

November 27, 2012 by
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Smart people often counsel us to diversify our investments. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” they say. From an investment standpoint they’re probably right. If all your money is in gold or oil futures or a single stock and the market turns south, your losses could be catastrophic. But diversification has a dangerous side.

If you are building a law practice, buying a restaurant or another business that requires your time and mental energy is usually not a good idea. Buy (or start) another business only after your practice is at a point where you can devote some time to the business. Donald Trump made several fortunes in real estate before he branched out into other businesses. Donald Sterling made a bundle as a personal injury attorney before he turned to real estate and only years later to buying sports franchises.

Most people who try to build two businesses simultaneously usually fail to achieve great success in either. Perhaps that’s why Mark Twain said, “Put all of your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.”

Yes, I started my attorney marketing business while I was still practicing. It was the kind of business that only required a few hours a week at first, to see if I could make a go of it. Once I did, I began shutting down my practice as I ramped up the new business. After a couple of years, the marketing business was running smoothly. I had competent staff who were taking care of the day-to-day operations and the demands on my time were minimal. At that point, I started another business. Again, just a few hours a week at first.

Today, I own two successful businesses. I would never have been successful in my practice or businesses had I tried to build them at the same time.

Okay, you get this. You wouldn’t lose focus and try to build two businesses simultaneously. But a lot of attorneys do exactly that and they don’t even know it.

When you try to build a family law practice, for example, and you also handle personal injury, you’re building two businesses simultaneously. Each practice area is different. Each has it’s own rhythm and culture. Referral sources are different. The judges are different. Marketing is different.

Some practice areas compliment each other. Many don’t. Put all your eggs in one basket and let the world know that you have the finest eggs available.

If you want help in choosing the right basket, get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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

Marketing is easier when you use leverage

November 26, 2012 by
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As I mentioned last week, this Wednesday, at 2 pm PT, I’m being interviewed and you’re invited. Among other things, I’ll be talking about my latest marketing course, The Attorney Marketing Formula.

One of the themes throughout The Attorney Marketing Formula is leverage–getting bigger results out of the same effort. A simple example of leverage in marketing a law practice is the use of forms and checklists. You invest time to memorialize a process and then use that process over and over again, saving you lots of time, reducing errors, and impressing the hell out of your clients who see how remarkably well organized you are.

Another example of leverage is focusing on your current and former clients as a source of repeat business and referrals in preference to other ways of seeking new clients. There are much lower costs associated with marketing to people who already know, like, and trust you, and much better results. Even if someone can’t hire you again right now, and doesn’t know anyone they can refer, there are other ways they can help you. They can send traffic to your web site through social media, for example, or forward your email to their friends and colleagues.

A marketing joint venture with professionals and business owners to get exposure to their lists is another form of leverage. If you’re a small business attorney, for example, you could get together with an accountant, a tax lawyer, a commercial insurance broker, and a financial planner. Each of you contributes a report, article, audio, or video, and the four of you send (or offer) this collection to your lists. Or, you can put together a bundle of services for the small business owner, with discounts and/or free services from each of you, and offer this bundle to your lists.

Anyway, I hope you’ll join us on Wednesday and bring your questions. I’m looking forward to speaking with you!

Save an extra $10 on The Attorney Marketing Formula through 5 pm PT tonight, November 26th. Use discount code “thankful”.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, News, Productivity Tagged With:

What percentage of your income do you re-invest in your law practice?

November 20, 2012 by
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I started my law practice with a few thousand dollars for rent, furniture, stationery, and a typewriter. It was a drop in the bucket compared to what I spent over the years to grow and expand that practice.

Like any business, I took a percentage of net income and re-invested it. A bigger office, more employees, marketing. How about you? How much do you re-invest in your practice, and in what are you investing?

  • CLE
  • Law library, form files
  • Technology, equipment, furnishings
  • Employees/outsourced help
  • Employee training
  • Human Resources
  • Web site/blog
  • Marketing/Client Relations
  • Advertising
  • Personal development/training
  • Risk management/insurance/compliance
  • Office management/HR
  • Bookkeeping, billing, accounting, collections
  • Investments/retirement planning

A law practice is a business. If you don’t re-invest in your business to stimulate and support its growth, your business will decay and eventually die.

Some of these categories are more important than others, and deserve a bigger investment of your time and money. One of these categories, however, is much more important than the others.

Which category do you think I would say is number one?

Nope, marketing is second. Number one is personal development. If you get that right, you will understand the vital role that marketing plays, you will commit to making it a priority, and you will get better results. You’ll also do a better job of handling all of the other categories.

Growing your practice starts with growing yourself.

If you’re ready to make marketing a priority, you need to master the six key strategies in The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development

All lawyers market their services, although some don’t realize it

November 19, 2012 by
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I got an email from an attorney who wanted to hire someone to do all of her marketing for her. She said she’s “not good at marketing and not interested in it.” She doesn’t realize it but she’s already engaged in marketing. Every lawyer is.

Every time you say thank you to a client or referral source, you’re marketing.

Every time you hand someone you business card and ask for theirs, you’re marketing.

Every time you have a meal with someone, you’re marketing.

You may be doing it poorly, or getting poor results, but it’s marketing nevertheless.

Marketing is defined as, “everything you do to get and keep clients”. Key word–“everything”. All of the little things you say and do, the warmth of your handshake, the sincerity of your smile. It all counts.

You do yourself an injustice when you conclude that marketing is something you can hand off to someone else.

You can hire people to assist you. They can do most of the behind the scenes work. They can advise you, create your ads, run your blog, and promote your seminars. They can set up meetings with people on your behalf.

But you have to be at those meetings.

Building a law practice means building relationships and that’s not something that can be delegated.

If this is an anathema to you, if you are terminally shy or you just don’t like people, you’ll be a lot happier finding a partner who is good at what you don’t enjoy. Let him or her be the face of the firm, while you do what you’re good at.

But guess what? You’ll still be marketing.

Every time you say thank you to a client, you’re marketing. Every time you give someone your card and ask for theirs, or have a meal with someone, you’re marketing.

You can’t escape. Everything means everything.

If you want to improve your marketing, you should read (and apply) The Attorney Marketing Formula. 

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

Evernote search just got easier. Well, sorta

November 14, 2012 by
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Although I use it extensively, I don’t write much about technology. One reason is that by the time I’m up to speed on a new piece of software or hardware, it’s usually old news. One exception is Evernote, my favorite tech tool.

I’ve written before about how I use Evernote for everything from note taking to writing to managing all of the information in my personal and professional life. I also use it for Getting Things Done (GTD).

In fact, so great is my love for Evernote, I wrote a book about it: Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide to Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity.

I included in the book’s resources an extensive list of Evernote’s “Search Operators”–the syntax used by Evernote to find notes. These search operators are powerful but can be difficult to remember, so many of us use “Saved Searches,” another Evernote feature that comes in handy, especially with complex searches. But Saved Searches don’t help when you’re looking for something for the first time.

I just found an alternative that looks promising. BitQwik is free software (for PC’s and Mac’s that can run Windows) that serves as a front end portal for searching your Evernote database using natural language. That is, you don’t have to remember precise search operators to find something. Instead, you can use a regular query, much like you would ask Siri.

Here are some examples, from the BitQwik web site:

  • “Show me notes created between May 1st and March 15 that are tagged with robotics, surgical robots, or telepresence”
  • “I want notes sent to me via the E-mail gateway”
  • “Find my encrypted notes that have the words financial data or private in the title but leave out notes I created yesterday”
  • “Give me notes with pictures from Skitch”

I usually find notes in Evernote by browsing tags and using a few simple search operators. But as my database has grown to over 5,000 notes, I find myself relying more on search, and BitQwik looks like it might be just what the doctor ordered.

I just downloaded BitQwik, so I don’t have a lot to report just yet. If it pans out, I could see Evernote adopting this technology, and that would be great because I don’t like the idea of using yet another piece of software. But I’m not holding my breath because everything Evernote does has to work on ten platforms, not just one, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

If you’ve tried BitQwik, let me know what you think. You can add your comments below, or join me on the Evernote Forum.

Get your copy of Evernote for Lawyers. Unless you don’t want to be organized and productive.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What your veterinarian can teach you about marketing legal services

November 13, 2012 by
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A couple of weeks ago, our cat had a thorn stuck in his paw and was limping. We took Seamus to a new vet, someone we’ve never visited before. She removed the thorn and gave us antibiotics for the infection. She called a few days later (personally) to ask how Seamus was doing. (He’s fine.)

Did the vet call to protect herself against possible liability? I’m sure that’s part of it. Would she have called if we had come in for a check-up and nothing was wrong? I don’t know. What I do know is that getting that call meant a lot to us.

When your clients leave your office, do you call to find out if they’re okay? You should.

See how they’re doing. See if they have any questions. See if there’s anything else you can do for them. And while you’re at it, thank them again for choosing you as their attorney.

Do this yourself if possible. At the very least, have someone from your office call. It only takes a minute and yes, you can leave a voice mail.

If you want to convert a first time client to a lifetime client, you need to get the little things right. In a professional practice, the little things are the big things.

Marketing legal services is simple, if you know The Formula.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

The simplest way to get things done when you have too much to do

November 9, 2012 by
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In yesterday’s post, I told you how I was able to organize my work flow and do a better job of following up with prospective clients. Today I want to talk about what to do when you find yourself not following up on your tasks and projects.

Actually, there are a lot of things you could do to improve your “completion ratio.” The simplest strategy, however, is to take on only one thing at a time.

One goal. One project. One task.

Start. Finish. Next.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when there are too many things on your plate. It’s a lot easier when you only have one.

When you focus on just “one thing,” you aren’t distracted by everything else. You’re better able to complete that task or achieve the goal when it’s the only one in front of you.

Of course you will still have many tasks and projects on your list and many will need to be done today or this week. That will never change. You’ve got five files you need to work up, two hearings to prepare for, and three documents to draft. But while they all need to get done, they don’t need to get done simultaneously.

Do one thing at a time. Finish it. Or take it as far as you can right now and then move it out of the way. Now, what’s next?

I remember a time when I got way behind in my work. I had several stacks of files on my desk and I wasn’t working on any of them. There must have been 40 files and I didn’t know where to start. I had put off working on them for so long I think I was afraid of what I might find. Deadlines missed, responses long overdue, problems I had ignored and made worse.

I was overwhelmed and feeling sorry for myself. If I had a blanket in the office, I probably would have crawled under it.

My wife was in the office that day and offered to help. Not with work itself but to help me get through it. She sat across the desk from me and asked me what I needed to do with the file on the top of one of the stacks. I opened it and could quickly see what to do. It wasn’t so bad. I either did it on the spot or made notes for myself or my secretary.

“Great, what about the next file?” my wife asked.

And so it went. In about two hours, I had gone through all of the files on my desk. My wife sat with me the entire time. My Consigliori.
.
When I was done, I still had files I needed to work on but I had a handle on it. I had notes about what to do, I knew which ones I needed to work on first, and I was able to move forward. There weren’t any major problems.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you get more work done? One file at a time.

If you don’t know what to do next, I suggest you read The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Personal development, Productivity

Why good attorneys achieve mediocre results

October 29, 2012 by
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An expert, addressing a group of lawyers starting their own practice, offered this advice:

“Your goal, if you expect to have lots of happy clients and turn a sweet profit, is efficiency. That means creating systems, for instance, that eliminate double and triple entry of information—client information, case information, conflicts information—and looking for systems that save you time and reduce paper and administrivia [sic].”

I agree that efficiency is important. You should use systems and tools that eliminate redundancy and waste and allow you to maximize your time and effort. I credit much of my success to developing these systems and using the right tools. But while efficiency is important, effectiveness is far more so.

Efficiency means “doing things right”. Effectiveness means “doing the right things”. The difference is crucial.

You can be inefficient (i.e., sloppy, slow, distracted, riddled with mistakes, etc.) and amazingly successful in your career, if you are doing the right things. I know people who waste a lot of time and money and don’t get a lot of things done but are at the top of their field because they get the important things done.

I know others who are very efficient but achieve no better than mediocre results in their careers because they are efficient at the wrong things.

It’s far more important to choose the right practice area, for example, than to have the latest software. You’ll earn more by focusing on marketing instead of accounting. Your amazing library isn’t nearly as valuable as your amazing client relations practices.

Many attorneys achieve mediocre results because they major in minor things. They master the details but forget the big picture. They’re climbing the ladder of success, only to find that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

Yes, you want to be good at what you do. Just make sure that you’re doing the right things.

If you want to be effective AND efficient, get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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

What Apple’s new iPad Mini can teach lawyers about pricing legal services

October 24, 2012 by
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So everyone is buzzing about Apple’s new iPad Mini. Comments abound about the features, or lack thereof, but the number one topic of discussion is price.

Many predicted (hoped?) Apple would price the Mini in line with what Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google are pricing their tablets, in the neighborhood of $199-$249. They said that in so doing, Apple would crush the competition and own the small tablet market. Instead, the lowest priced Mini is offered at $329.

Many observers are questioning Apple’s strategy. How can they compete with tablets priced so much lower?

The answer is they’re not even trying.

Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis, told The Verge, “I think what Apple has done here is create a new category of premium small tablet.” The writer Greengart spoke to summed up Apple’s strategy thusly: “[I]t appears Apple is simply opting out of the low end of the market altogether, much like it’s done with personal computers.”

Greengart continues: “I don’t think this puts Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Google out of business, but it means that those three — and anyone else entering that market segment — are all competing against each other for the budget consumer.” [emphasis added]

Apple is letting everyone else compete for the low end of the market while it offers a premium product to the smaller but more profitable segment of the market that is willing to pay a premium price.

This is exactly what lawyers should do.

Most lawyers offer the same services at the same prices to the same prospects. Everyone looks the same and says the same things. Nobody stands out. Everyone is average. And so the average lawyer gets average results from their marketing and earns only average income.

The better strategy is to offer higher quality services to those who are willing to pay for them.

Marketing is easier because you have something better to offer. Marketing is less expensive because you’re not trying to deliver your message to everyone. Other lawyers can’t compete with you because they don’t offer what you offer. And your income is higher because your clients are paying more.

You may not have Apple’s resources or “sex appeal” but you can follow the same strategy they do. Let other lawyers fight over the masses while you offer a better “product” to a smaller, more profitable segment of the market.

Most lawyers will never do this. They won’t offer premium services and, frankly, don’t even know what that means. That makes it so much easier for you.

How does Apple compete with Google? It doesn’t. How do you compete with other attorneys? You don’t.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to offer premium services and get premium fees.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Image, Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , ,
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