Boring is for tunnels, not presentations

September 20, 2018 by
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Years ago, I recall reading that the optimal length of a presentation is twenty minutes. Any longer and the audience starts to tune out. If you have more information to cover, after twenty minutes or so, do something different.

Change the subject. Change the speaker. Tell a story. Survey the audience. Do a demo. Stop using slides or start using them.

Do something different to keep viewers or listeners paying attention instead of checking their phones or thinking about the rest of their day.

But that was then. This is now.

I just read an article that says (according to science) our brains get bored after ten minutes (not twenty). It noted that in view of this, at Apple product launch events they change the speaker every ten minutes.

If you do live presentations, videos, or podcasts, you might want to keep this in mind.

Want more referrals from other lawyers? This shows you what to do

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , ,

12 lists for organizing and managing your practice

September 19, 2018 by
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I like lists. They keep me organized, focused, and productive. I use them every day.

Take a gander at this list of lists, to see if there are any you might want to add to your productivity toolkit.

  1. Current Projects. Everything you’re working on (or should be). Having these in one place will keep you from neglecting anything and see if you’ve got too much on your plate and need to offload something.
  2. Next Projects. What do you intend to work on once you’ve completed your current projects? This will help you prepare for those projects, e.g., write down ideas, research, etc., so you can start them without delay.
  3. Ongoing & Recurring Projects. Other projects or responsibilities, e.g., updating your website, networking activities, content creation, client relations activities, your newsletter, preparing reports, etc.
  4. To Do This Week. 3-5 important projects to focus on in the next week to ten days.
  5. To Do Today. Look at your “this week” list, your calendar, your project lists, and elsewhere, and choose 3-5 “MITs” (Most Important Tasks) for the day.
  6. Routines. Checklists of weekly or daily tasks for tidying up, organizing, and planning your work. Examples: weekly review, inbox zero, cleaning up computer files, paying bills, morning and afternoon “startup” and “shut down” routines.
  7. Goals & Dreams. Monthly, quarterly, and annual benchmarks. Long-term goals or vision.
  8. Someday/Maybes. Ideas you’re considering but aren’t yet committed to doing.
  9. What’s Working Now. Questions that prompt you to reflect on what’s working well so you can do more of them.
  10. What’s Not Working Now. Questions that help identify problems, bottlenecks, and poor ROI, so you can eliminate, curtail, delegate, or fix them.
  11. Budget. Track income and expenses to reduce debt, increase profits, manage investments, etc.
  12. Remember. Ideas, quotes, or accomplishments you want to keep in front of you, to stay motivated, focused, and on message.

Do you use any lists that aren’t on this list?

My Evernote for Lawyers ebook

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Productivity

One of the simplest and most effective ways to build your practice

September 10, 2018 by
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I did a marketing consultation last week with an attorney who has an email list and uses it to stay in touch with 1100 clients, prospects and professional contacts.

That’s good.

He writes to them every few weeks or so, when he has news or information to share.

Here’s an expanded version of some of my suggestions:

He built and maintains the list manually. I told him to automate the list building by putting an email sign-up form on his website so visitors could sign themselves up. Offer an incentive–a report or ebook– to encourage them to do that.

You’ll get more subscribers by capturing “first-time/one-time” visitors to your site, many of whom need to hear more before they’ll hire you.

Use the autoresponder function provided by the email service provider to send an automated welcome message, deliver the report, and send them a series of additional messages over time.

Use the “broadcast” function of the email service to send them additional messages.

I suggested emailing on a regular schedule. Aim for weekly. You want subscribers to get used to hearing from you. You want to be “in their minds and their mailboxes” when they need your services and are ready to hire you, or they have a referral.

To write more frequently:

  1. Send shorter emails–a few paragraphs is enough
  2. Send all text emails–don’t bother with HTML, images, etc., just type and send
  3. Don’t limit your subject matter to legal matters. That’s boring for people who don’t currently have those issues. Write about consumer-related topics, personal stories, and anything else.

Make your emails informative and entertaining and use them to build a relationship with your subscribers.

This is one of the simplest and most effective ways to bring in more business.

This will help you create a report and get more subscribers

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services

Do you deserve a raise?

September 5, 2018 by
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Whether you work for yourself or for a firm or other employer there will come a time when you feel compelled to ask for a raise. (Yes, you can ask yourself for a raise.) I encourage you to first do an exercise to prepare for that conversation.

The exercise is simple. Write down all of the reasons you deserve to get paid more than you do now. Not why you “want” a raise or “need” one, why you deserve it.

This will prepare you for the time when the salary conversation takes place or allow you to justify increasing your “draw”.

It will also show you where you need to up your game.

You might note that you’re more qualified or experienced than your competition, you get better results in the courtroom or boardroom, you are regularly singled out by the Bar or your community, and the other usual yardsticks.

But that’s just the foundation.

Your value to your firm might also be measured by how you save your firm money, viz a vie fewer complaints, claims, negative reviews, or lawsuits. You might also make the case that you don’t engage in extravagant spending.

Your value might be extolled in terms of how you get along well with your subordinates and coworkers and how you help them. Note that this means less turnover and greater productivity.

You might mention how you regularly find and implement new ideas, adopt new resources and methods, and keep your firm on the cutting edge.

Do you do anything extra for the firm, anything not on the job description but that helps your employees, clients, and friends of the firm? Add that to your list.

Write it all down and wherever possible demonstrate how each item makes the firm more profitable because at the end of the day, increased profit is how you best make the case for increasing your pay.

Which leads me to the biggie: You bring in lots of business.

Describe how many clients or cases you bring in each month, the quality of those clients or size of those cases (e.g., lifetime value). Also note how little your rainmaking costs the firm, e.g., most of your new business comes from referrals which take little or no time or money compared to other marketing methods.

Note how you create quality content or presentations that bring web traffic that builds your list and leads to more business.

Note how (and why) you have less client turnover, how you help other lawyers in the firm cross-sell their services, or how you are building a great reputation and following in one or more key target markets.

Write it all down and take a good long look at it. You might see that yes, you truly are entitled to a raise, or you might realize you have work to do.

This is the big one because if you do well in this department, if you regularly bring in lots of business and increase the firm’s bottom line, you can almost ignore the other areas.

Create your marketing plan with this

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

It’s hard to tell things apart when everything looks the same

August 30, 2018 by
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An app I use is being updated. The developer asked for feedback on the proposed new design. One commenter said:

Please add highlighting or color coding to lists/list items.

I love the simplicity of the design, but viewing everything in black and white with only bold text and CAPS for emphasis is not enough. It’s hard to tell things apart when everything looks the same.

That comment dovetails with what I said yesterday. I said that not all clients are alike and suggested you create profiles for your different types of clients and market segments so you can tailor your marketing to each one.

Guess what? Lawyers aren’t alike, either, but many think we are.

To most prospective clients, we all look alike. We offer the same services, solve the same problems, and provide the same benefits. You are no different than any other lawyer.

As long as they think this way, getting hired is mostly a matter of luck.

The good news is that it is relatively easy to stand out.

Do something or say something your competition doesn’t say or do. Or give them a preview of what it will be like to work with you.

A small difference, a few details, can be enough to help you get noticed, remembered and hired.

How to stand out from your competition

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Not all clients are alike

August 29, 2018 by
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You have older clients and younger clients, clients who speak a second language and clients who speak another second language, wealthy clients and middle-class clients, business clients and consumer clients, and different clients for each of your different services.

Each group of clients is different. They need different services, they want different benefits, and they will respond to different offers.

They don’t read the same books or blogs, listen to the same stations or watch the same channels. They live in different parts of town and hang out with different people. They patronize different businesses, insurance and real estate agents, and tax professionals.

Some have to use a credit card or dip into savings to pay your fee. Some can write you a check. Some need lots of legal help, some might not need you ever again.

The point? You need a different strategy for each type of client, each market segment and each service you offer.

Go through your client list for the last few years and look for patterns. Create a profile of your ideal client for each service, for each market segment.

Then, when you write to them or speak to them, when you do a presentation for them, share content with them or advertise to them, you can tailor it to them. Use words and examples that resonate with them. Use stories of clients like them who have had similar issues and benefited by hiring you.

A lot of work? Yes. But it might allow you to double your income, lower your marketing costs, and bring in a better crop of clients.

This will help

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing legal services

Building your practice by playing with matches

August 21, 2018 by
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You can’t build a campfire by trying to ignite big logs. You have to start with kindling–twigs and leaves and small branches. Get the fire going, add some small logs, and when the fire is big enough you add the big logs.

That’s how most of us started our law practice.

Most of us didn’t start by renting a big office and hiring a big staff, we started by finding a desk and a place to see clients and going out and getting a few.

We got some experience, made some contacts, and brought in some income. That’s the kindling. When we had something going, we added some logs. Eventually, we got (or will get) the big office and staff.

And it’s the same way with marketing.

You don’t start with $50,000 a month in ad spends. You start with $200 on some pay-per-click ads and see what you can see.

You set up a one-page website or a landing page and an autoresponder and start building an email list. You invest a couple of hours at a networking function and get your feet wet. You write a couple of articles and put them out into the world.

You start small and build your practice like you build a campfire.

That’s why you can build a thriving practice spending just 15 minutes a day on marketing. Make a few calls, write an article or email, sketch out a script for a video or seminar.

A little bit every day and eventually your practice turns into a bonfire.

How to build an email list from scratch

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

The only lawyer for the job

August 9, 2018 by
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Instead of targeting niche markets, the average lawyer holds themselves out to “everyone” who has a legal issue they’re qualified to handle.

That’s why they’re average.

Unless they’re in a small town and are literally the only lawyer for the job, this is a poor strategy because they wind up being one of thousands of lawyers who say the same things and offer the same services.

They have no leverage. No edge. They spend way too much time and money getting their message out into the world and have a difficult time standing out.

Why do they do it? Fear. They’re afraid that if they hold themselves out as “specializing” in one type of client or target market, they won’t appeal to anyone else.

It gets them every time.

So, if you’re taking notes, write this down: it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a minnow in the ocean.

When you target a niche market, you can own that market. Be seen as the only lawyer for the job.

One reason:

You can immerse yourself in the niche, learning the issues, studying the culture and networking with the centers of influence. Your subconscious mind will synthesize this information and provide you with laser-focused ideas for articles, blog posts, videos, ads, reports, emails, presentations, and other content.

In your content, you can use examples of people in the market whom you have helped. When prospective clients and referral sources consume your content, they see you as someone who truly understands their market and is uniquely qualified to help them.

You can’t do that when you try to appeal to “everyone”.

Just saying.

This will help you choose the right niche market(s) for your practice

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Is your list getting stale?

July 31, 2018 by
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Does your marketing currently look something like this?

YOU: “Here’s what I do and how I can help you”
SOMEONE: “Yeah, I know. You told me that three years ago.”

YOU: “Check out my new article”
SOMEONE: “Just read it. Kinda like the article you did on the subject last year.”

YOU: “Come to my free seminar.”
SOMEONE: “Is it any different than the one you did last month?”

Your list is getting stale.

Sending the same offers and content to the same people can eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. The simple solution is to get your existing content and offers in front of some new people.

AKA, building your list.

When you do, the conversation will look something like this:

YOU: “Here’s what I do and how I can help you”
SOMEONE: “I need to talk to you” or, “I know someone who could use your help”

YOU: “Check out my new article”
SOMEONE: “Wow, I never knew this. Could I ask you a question?”

YOU: “Come to my free seminar”
SOMEONE: “What time does it start?”

Your existing list can be a rich source of repeat business and referrals. Never stop communicating with it. But new people, who don’t know what you do and have never heard what you have to say, provide you with a very profitable lake for you to fish in.

In fact, most of your “external” marketing should be designed to get new people to opt-in to your list. If you have new people signing up every day, you’ll never run out of fresh fish.

Build your list so you can make the phone ring

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services

Don’t sell the service, sell the appointment

July 18, 2018 by
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Many lawyers promulgate a marketing message (ad, email, web page, article, etc.) with a call to action that says little more than “hire us”.

That’s okay if you’re talking to people who are ready, willing, and able to hire an attorney. But most people who see that message aren’t.

Some aren’t sure they have a legal problem. Some aren’t sure they need an attorney. Some think they can wait. And just about everyone doesn’t yet know, like, and trust you.

What’s the answer? Don’t try to close the sale with your first impression. Use that to get them to the next step.

Don’t sell your service, sell the appointment. Get them into the office so you can diagnose their problem, show them their options, build trust and persuade them to hire you.

But selling the appointment at stage one may also be too heavy a burden. You’ll probably be more effective selling your report or ebook or seminar, to get them to opt-in to your list. From there, you can sell the appointment.

But wait. You have to get their attention, first. Offer them some free content, on your website, on youtube, or on others’ blogs (as guest posts or interviews). Let your free content sell the report you give them when they opt-in. Let that report and the accompanying emails you send them sell the appointment.

It’s called a marketing funnel. You start broad (with free content) and sell them on taking the next step. And so on. Until they’re sitting in your office and handing you a check.

Some prospects will skip steps. Some will speed through the steps and hire you the first day they hear your name. All good. But most will need to go through the process, so make sure you have a process for them to go through.

Marketing is easier when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:
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