Earn More. Work Less.
This isn’t an attorney but he offers a cogent explanation of how social medial should fit into an attorney’s marketing mix. What’s that? You don’t have a mix? Oh my, you really should have a mix. . .
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Experts tell us that 85 percent of success in the business and professional worlds is accomplished through personal contacts and word of mouth. The more people you know, then, the more chances you have of meeting people who can and will further your career.
One of the best ways to develop more personal contacts is by networking within organizations. Bar associations, community and charitable groups, and organizations in your target markets provide opportunities to meet prospective referral sources and clients, as well as others who can provide introductions, information, and advice.
Begin by selecting one or two candidate groups that contain people it would be helpful for you to know in the years ahead. Attend a meeting or two, introduce yourself, and decide if it would be useful for you to join. If you decide to join, attend every meeting and
begin the process of making yourself known.
One of the best ways to do that is to volunteer to work on an important committee within the organization. Choose one that has members on it that you would like to get to know or that is engaged in activities that will bring you into contact with key people both inside and outside the organization.
Your work on committees will require time and effort, but over the long term, the relationships you develop can provide everything you need to ensure a lifetime of success.
Today, networking online has become popular. I’ll address that in a future post.
A personal injury attorney wrote and asked me if I have a strategy for bringing in bigger cases. I was a personal injury attorney for most of my legal career and when I look back at what I did, I have to say that I did not have that strategy. In fact, I intentionally focused on bringing in a volume of smaller cases.
My thinking was that quantity would bring quality. Bring in thousands of clients over a period of years and you are bound to have some big cases in the mix. And that was certainly true for me. But I also recall thinking, as every personal injury attorney does, that one day, I’ll get a case that will bring me millions of dollars in fees and I’ll be able to retire if I want to. But in twenty years, that never happened. Big cases, yes, but not a single practice-making monster.
But there’s something else I understood and that was that I was not one of the big boys. The biggest cases are almost always handled by the biggest names and most of the time, they are referred there by other attorneys. I wasn’t prepared to compete in that arena. I didn’t have the expertise and, more importantly, I didn’t have the passion for developing it.
The best strategy for getting the biggest cases is to become one of the best lawyers. Win bigger and bigger verdicts, develop your skills and your reputation amongst the bar, and when you have the respect of your colleagues, you will get their referrals.
Another way to get big cases is the one adopted by a lot of attorneys who aren’t one of the best and that is to appear to be. They swing a big stick with multiple full page yellow page ads and TV commercials, they sponsor charitable events attended by centers of influence in their community, they network with the right people, send press releases celebrating their victories, and otherwise promote themselves so that they appear to be one of the biggest and one of the best. And by and large, it works.
To do this, you need money and some marketing skills, but most of all, you need drive. The biggest promoters have big, healthy egos. They are driven as much by the desire for attention as the desire for money. I’m not taking anything away from them. They are usually good enough to serve their clients well and smart enough to bring in one of the best when they aren’t.
If you’re not one of the best and you aren’t willing or able to become one, and if you’re not willing to do what the big promoters do, there is an alternative: target niche markets. Become the biggest fish in a small market where word of mouth is strong and limited resources (and hubris) can go a long way. Become the attorney everyone in that market thinks of when they think of injuries. Network in that market, write for that market, serve that market and the centers of influence in it, and over time, you’ll get big cases. Do it well enough and long enough and you may even get one of the very biggest.
Q: How do I bring in quality clients fast? I think the best way to bring in a steady stream of [type of] clients is to find a good referral source. What should I do?
A: Referrals are the BEST source of quality clients, but they are usually not the FASTEST. It takes time to build relationships, earn trust, develop a reputation.
If you can compensate those sources (i.e., referral fees to other attorneys, if permissible), or work out other kinds of alliances (paid advertising, cross-promotions) where the source has a more immediate incentive for working with you, then you could get some quick business.
Of course your clients are the first place to look. They should be willing to refer, but they may not be able.
Generally speaking, nothing is faster than advertising (except publicity, but you have limited control with that). Cost is obviously an issue. You could try writing for targeted publications and speaking and networking at targeted events. You’ll get access to the right markets, at no cost, plus the unspoken endorsement of the meeting holder or publication, and if you get your message in front of the right people, you will get clients.
Remember that you are always marketing to at least two separate markets: prospective clients and prospective referral sources. One is not necessarily better than another, nor faster.
Q: How do I know if I’m targeting the right market?
A: A market is only as good as your ability to communicate with it. Do prospects have an organization you can join? Meetings you can speak at? Publications you can write for or advertise in? Can you find centers of influence in that market with whom you can network?
Most lawyers look at their services first and then look for people who need those services. Better is to find a market with a need, then look for ways you can satisfy that need.
Start with professionals and business contacts you already know. What markets do they serve? What unresolved needs do those markets have? Find the market first, then work backwards.
You’ll have greater success giving people what they WANT, which may or may not be what they NEED. Find out what people want and then look for ways to help them get it.
At last count, 564 subscribers to The Prosperous Lawyer newsletter have downloaded the free ebook from websmartlawyer.com I mentioned a few days ago. Apparently, a lot of lawyers have or want to have a web site to help them build their practice. If you didn’t get your copy, here is the link.
In reading the author’s discussion of search engines, optimizing web pages, and generating search traffic, I started thinking about how all lawyers should have a web site but many undoubtedly hesitate to get one because of the enormity of the task of generating search engine traffic. If you feel that way, forget about search engines for the time being and get a web site anyway because it provides other valuable benefits.
A web site is a mechanism for prospective clients and referral sources to get to know, like, and trust you. It sells you and your services and operates 24/7, at almost no cost to you. Browsers can spend as much time as they want, getting to "know" you through your web site, learning more about what you do, and for whom you do it, and discovering everything else they might like to know that could bring them closer to calling and making an appointment.
Your web site can be (should be) a resource of valuable information, helping clients and prospects to better understand their legal situation and the options that are available to them, as well as demonstrating your experience in helping others with similar issues. This can result in new business, repeat business, and referrals.
Your web site allows you to "cross sell" your other services to clients who may not know "what else" you do.
It provides a mechanism for building your email list, allowing you to communicate more frequently (and at less cost) with clients, prospects and referral sources.
And it is a resource for networking with other professionals. Your clients may be among the 25% of Amercians who don’t use the Internet, but I assure you, your prospective referral sources are not. Your web site and online newsletter give you a reason to reach out to those professionals, perhaps to have them write "guest articles" for your newsletter or blog, or to participate in an online survey.
Now don’t get me wrong, you do want search engine traffic. It’s free, it’s targeted, and it’s a brilliant way to build your practice. But there are other ways to get visitors to your web site, beyond search engines. Here are a baker’s dozen:
It’s just over a month since I began blogging. Here’s a quick self-evaluation:
THINGS I HAVE DONE WELL
THINGS I NEED TO IMPROVE/DO MORE
An excellent article on doshdosh.com, "How to influence social media users" presents a step-by-step plan for doing just that and has applicability to any kind of online networking.
Many of the web sites mentioned I’ve never heard of let alone visited, but they influence millions. So much to learn in this new world. . .
One of the best ways to get from where you are to where you want to go is getting help from someone who has done what you want to do. Make a list of areas you would like help with or areas where you would like to grow. Three key areas for lawyers in private practice would be
Specific areas you might want to key on might be
And so on.
Of course you can always hire experts to consult and advise you in these areas, and you might. But why not find lawyers (or other professionals) who have had success in these areas and ask them to be your mentor?
Mentors help you see what’s possible by serving as a role model. They can keep you from going off course by providing feedback about your ideas. And they can open doors for you to opportunities, introductions to vendors, prospective clients and referral sources. The right mentors can spare you years of hardship and, literally, make you rich.
Once you have identified a list of areas you would like to be mentored in, start asking everyone you know for recommendations and referrals to experts in those areas. “Who do you know who is a great networker?” “Do you know any lawyers who know a lot about web sites?” “Who is the best construction litigation attorney you know?”
Next, make a list of specific points you’d like to cover in your first conversation, such as why you’d like them to mentor you and what kind of help you might be looking for.
Successful people like to share what they have learned. Properly approached, you’ll find any number of individuals willing to share a few minutes of their time with you each month.
Here’s an approach you can take:
“Hello, Mr. Jones, my name is Robert Lawyer. We haven’t met and I know you’re a busy man, so I’ll be brief. I’m a sole practictioner in the area of estate planning. I know you’ve built a very successful estate practice over the last twenty-five years. I’ve been practicing for four years now and I’m ready to take things to a higher level and I would appreciate it if you would consider being my mentor. All that would mean is spending ten minutes with me on the phone once a month, so I could ask you a few questions. I’d really appreciate it. Would you be open to that?”
Be prepared to give your mentors something in return. At the very least, give them feedback on how their advice has worked out for you. Look for information and resources that can benefit them and share it with them.
Eventually, find others whom you can mentor. There’s no better way to pay tribute to your mentors than to follow in their footsteps.
To create a successful, referral-based law practice, you only need strong relationships with a few good referral sources — people who can and will provide you with a lifetime of referrals.
Most of the referral sources you will meet (and already know) are not the “right†ones. They may have the willingness, but not the ability to refer the volume and quality of clients you seek. Or, they might have the wherewithal but, for whatever reasons, hold back on referring them to you.
A small percentage of the prospective referral sources you meet will be the “right†ones. I don’t know what the actual ratio will be, but let’s say that only one in fifty will be “right.†If your goal is to develop relationships with three good sources in the next two years, then you would need to prospect 150 to find those three.
When I say “prospect†I don’t mean “talk to.†You have to do much more than that speak to someone a couple of times before they start referring or before you will know if they are even a candidate. You have to spend time together, getting to know each other, building mutual trust, socializing, bonding, possibly having your spouses meet (and approve each other!)
It is a courtship; you spend quality time, face-to-face, belly-to-belly, getting to know people on a personal, intimate level. Without these “high-touch†activities, you will never be able to develop the kinds of strong relationships you want and need, even if you do meet someone who is otherwise “rightâ€.
Technology, or high-tech, will never replace high-touch. Building relationships takes time and effort and emotional involvement. But high-tech can help you in two important ways.
First, you can use high-tech to find candidates and initiate contact. The Internet is your database, email and telephone your reaching out methods. Networking online is not as effective as networking in person, but it sure is efficient. Use it to find people who appear to be good candidates by virture of their business and their openness to “meet†new people (you). Eventually, invite those candidates to meet in person or otherwise take the next step towards building a relationship.
Second, use high-tech to stay in touch with candidates who aren’t ready to take the next step. Times change, people change, relationships change, and you want to be on their radar screen when they do become ready.
Never lose sight of your objective, that of finding a few of the “right†ones, but don’t ignore the many others who can provide value to you and should be a part of your business network. They may send you just one referral in ten years, or they might never send you referrals, but, through their contacts, lead you to others who do.
And that’s the biggest lesson for today: networking is not about who you know, it’s about who they can lead you to.
Networking is meeting people, finding out what you can do for them (while looking for ways they can help you), and taking the first steps toward establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.
How do you start a conversation with a stranger? And what do you do after you’ve started? The best way to start a conversation with someone you don’t know is to either
You can compliment their clothing, something you overheard them say, or something you have learned about them from someone else.
You can ask them questions about what time a certain speaker comes on, directions to the restroom, or if they are having a good time.
In other words, just about anything will do.
Once you are talking, your objective is to find out as much as possible about (a) what they want (their goals, objectives) and (b) what they want to avoid or prevent (their problems). (Your objective is NOT to tell them about yourself; that comes later).
You learn this information by asking questions.
Remember the acronym, "F.O.R.M." It stands for "Family," "Occupation," "Recreation," and "Motivation." These are key areas in everyone’s life.
Look for areas where you can provide solutions, information, and advice, make introductions, give referrals, and otherwise help them solve their problems and achieve their goals. This is the first (and best) step you can take toward building a long-term relationship.
You also want to learn
Eventually, you’ll be able to use this information to gain access to other people and opportunities.
In a networking opportunity, everyone has value. They may not be the one who ultimately hires you or gives you referrals, but they can lead you to people who do. They can provide you with information you can use to your benefit. They can open doors and point you in the right direction.
Don’t pre-judge anyone. Start a conversation, learn as much as you can and see where it takes you.
This Labor Day weekend, many will attend parties and meet new people. Social (or business) gatherings are an opportunity to expand your network of contacts, all of whom could be potential clients or referral sources.
If you have something planned this Labor Day weekend, before you go, I know you’ll check your wallet or purse, making sure you have plenty of business cards on hand. But if you’re like most people, the opportunity to connect with new people will come and go. You will neither pass out cards nor collect any.
You’ll meet people and politely discuss sports or the weather or how tasty the hamburgers are, but you won’t get their contact information and they won’t get yours.
But you don’t have to squander this opportunity. All you have to do is ask three simple questions:
First, introduce yourself and ask for their name. "I’m David, what’s your name."
Easy enough. Now you know their name and they know yours. Use their name a few times so you don’t forget it three seconds later, as we so often do.
Second, ask them what they do.
You can first ask how they know the host or how they are otherwise connected with the event, but then ask them what they do for a living.
"So, what do you do?"
Also easy.
Ask a follow up question or two and let them tell you all about what they do. When they are done, most people will ask you what YOU do. On the rare occasion when they don’t, just go on to the third question.
Third, ask for their card. "Do you have a card?"
When they give you their card, give them yours.
Voila, instant contact.
If they don’t have a card with them (and many won’t, especially at a social function), give them one of yours and ask them to write their information on the back.
"Write your contact information here." At least get their email address or web site.
It will help if you offer them a reason you are asking. If appropriate, tell them you might run into someone who could use their products or services. Or, simply tell them you would like to stay in touch.
Any reason will do.
Your objective at any social or business function is not to pass out your card (although that’s good, too), it is to find out something about the people you meet and capture their contact information so you can stay in touch with them.
To accomplish that, all you need to do is ask three simple questions.
Have a great weekend!
