In a previous post, “The one thing you need to know about success,” I noted the dichotomy between the premise that success is predicated on doing what you like doing (and avoiding what you don’t like doing) and studies which show that the ability to delay gratification is an accurate predictor of future success. I suggested that these conclusions aren’t really in conflict because thinking about your future success can be as enjoyable, if not more so, than the actual achievement.
Blogger Derek Sivers writes about the delayed gratification study and agrees that “future focused” people (i.e., those who can delay gratification) are the most successful, but notes that they may miss the enjoyment of the present. Similarly, too much focus on the present “can rob life of the deeper happiness of accomplishment.”
For true happiness, Sivers notes, we need to be flexible:
The happiest and most effective people are balanced: equally high in future-focus and present-focus, and viewing the past as positive. When you have work to finish, be future-focused. When your work is done and it’s time to relax, be present-focused. During family holidays, be past-focused to enjoy family customs.
He also says that our focus changes depending on our circumstances. “Cavemen needed a full present-focus at all times to survive in the wild and find food each day.”
When I started practicing and had no money and no clients, my circumstances forced me to delay gratification. I had to learn how to “survive in the wild and find food each day.” Like the caveman, I was not focused on the future, I was focused on eating. You can’t think about a five year plan when your rent is due next Tuesday.
If you want a marketing plan that really works, today, not five years from now, pick up a copy of The Attorney Marketing Formula. You’ll thank me later.
Great advice on starting a new law practice (or growing your old one)
Marketing legal services is simple. A lot of common sense, really. You don’t need a bunch of high tech solutions or a complicated process. What you need are people.
An article in today’s Forbes Magazine tells the story of a Los Angeles lawyer who started her own practice in the summer of 2010 and in less than two years built a successful estate planning practice.
In, How I Got My First Client and You Can Too, attorney Sonia Tatiyants outlines what she did to get her first client and beyond.
She didn’t advertise or build a powerful web site. She didn’t have the money to do that, even if she wanted to. What she did is decidedly low cost and low tech. She began by contacting everyone she knew to announce the opening of her new practice.
It doesn’t get simpler than that.
By the way, if you’re not new, find a reason to contact everyone in your database and remind them that you are still here. Someone on your list needs your services, or they know someone who does.
Taking things a step further, Tatiyants also realizes that her clients can not only send her referrals, they can become a source of business for the professionals in her network. In positioning herself as a “trusted advisor,” her clients and contacts look to her for referrals when they have a problem or need. She refers them to the other lawyers, CPAs, financial planners, and insurance agents in her network.
She also understands the importance of keeping her clients happy. One way she does that by making sure they know what to expect with their case. By managing their expectations, her clients don’t get frustrated with delays or when they get something in the mail.
Finally, she understands that for her practice to continue to grow she needs to put systems in place that will allow others to do administrative tasks so she can focus on the lawyering (and marketing).
Great marketing advice for new lawyers and old. Even lawyers who are very old.
But there’s something she left out of the article that I know every lawyer would like to know. How did she get featured in Forbes magazine?!