Winning

April 10, 2024 by
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Okay, maybe you’re not the best lawyer in town. Other lawyers have better skills, more experience, a better track record, deeper pockets, more charisma, and better connections. They look better, smell better, and have a boatload of energy. 

How can you possibly beat them?

By working harder than they do? Maybe. But that gets old. 

You beat them not by outworking them, but by out-marketing them. 

That doesn’t mean your marketing has to be amazing. Just better. You do a few things well and do them more consistently and enthusiastically.

It means knowing your market—what they want and need—and committing to helping them get it. 

It means providing great “customer” service to all of your clients, and building strong relationships with your key clients and referral sources. 

It means making marketing your top priority. Something most attorneys are unwilling to do. 

They go through the motions. Or believe they only have to do good legal work and the growth of their practice will take care of itself. 

You know, the ones who say, “I didn’t go to law school to become a salesperson…”. Who don’t understand that the legal work is only one part of building a successful practice. Or think marketing of any kind is unprofessional and beneath them.

You can beat them. 

Because you understand that a law practice is a business, first, and job one is bringing in a steady stream of clients and keeping them happy. 

When you do that, you might not be the best lawyer in town, but you might be the wealthiest. 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Study success

April 5, 2024 by
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Jim Rohn said, “If you want to become more successful, study success.”

How do you do that? By studying successful people. People who have accomplished what you want to accomplish. People who inspire you. People you would like to learn from and emulate. 

Lawyers who have done what you want to do. Entrepreneurs. Business leaders. Great speakers and writers and philosophers. 

You can find successful people in your city or on the Internet, in biographies and the pages of history, and even in fiction.

Read their books. And books about them. Listen to their presentations and interviews. Most of all, watch what they do because their actions will tell you more than their words.

Reflect on what you learn. Ask yourself, why are they successful? What are their philosophies? What are (or were) their daily habits? What advice would they give you if you spent an hour with them?

Think about them often. When you have a problem, ask yourself what they would do about it. If you have an important decision to make, ask yourself what they would advise you to consider.

But don’t just read and think about them, write about them, in articles or in your journal, and talk about them and their philosophies in your presentations. Tell others their story and why you admire them.

If you want to be more successful, study success. And successful people.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Personal development, success

Scaling up

April 1, 2024 by
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You’re doing okay. Making six-figures or multiple six-figures, but you want to hit seven- or eight-figures (or more). 

You can. And you can get there in less time and with less effort than it took to get where you are now. 

The hard work is at the beginning. 

In the beginning, you had to learn the law and the law biz. You learned how to bring in clients and keep them happy. You learned how to build a network, become a better speaker or writer, manage cash flow, find your niche, and find your stride.

You made mistakes and learned from them. You had successes and know what you like and are good at and what isn’t your cup of tea.

You went from raw and inexperienced to making a living as a professional. 

It was hard. You had no momentum. Now, you do. You have a base to build on and getting to the next level will be easier. 

But you’ll also have bigger challenges. More expenses, tougher competition, additional responsibilities. You have people to manage, offices to upgrade, and a lot more at stake. You have to let go of some people, jettison old habits. You have to become the kind of person who earns what you want to earn. 

And it will be hard. But it will also be easier.

It’s easier to go from six-figures to seven, seven to eight. Because you know more and can do more things, and do them better. And you have momentum and momentum compounds. 

You will continue to grow and reach new levels.

As long as you don’t mess up. 

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Filed Under: success

Why should I believe you? 

March 21, 2024 by
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You’re in the convincing business. People either believe you (and hire you, rule for you, agree with you, etc.) or they don’t. Your success depends on getting more people to believe you and your clients. 

You can always use logic and reasoning, and you should. But “telling” people and reasoning with them may not be enough. 

That’s why you should also share:

  1. PROOF: Copies of checks or documents, show them your awards, show them the statutes, let them hear eyewitness testimony, show them diagrams and photos of the scene, practice with them for depo or trial, show them your content, and offer free consultations so they can see for themself what you do and how good you are.
  2. STORIES: Sare the words and experiences of people (like them), by showing them testimonials and reviews and thank-you notes from clients, telling them success stories about cases you’ve handled, and stories about people who didn’t hire an attorney (or waited too long).

Logic and reasoning work. Proof and stories (usually) work better. 

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Marketing legal services, success Tagged With:

Marketing quiz for attorneys

March 1, 2024 by
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Where’s the best place to invest $1000 in your law practice? 

  1. Lead generation and list building: Ads, mailers, SEO, etc.
  2. Hiring a part-time marketing assistant to help create content, do follow-ups, and assist with other marketing projects
  3. Name recognition, e.g., sponsoring a golf tournament or charity, public relations, signage, handouts 
  4. Starting a YouTube channel or podcast

What do you think? What will give you the most bang for your buck?

The answer is… “None of the above”. 

Yes, each of these might bring you new business. But if they do, you have to continue doing them. If they don’t, it’s not the end of the world. $1000 isn’t a lot of money. But the question was, “What’s the best place to invest $1000?” The answer: personal development.

Books, courses, training, coaching—to improve your skills and develop new ones.

Personal development provides an enormous ROI that can not only bring in business today, but for the rest of your career. It doesn’t just work, it compounds. You get smarter, develop better habits (and jettison bad ones), work more productively, become more attractive and referrable. 

Becoming a better writer or speaker will make you a better communicator. More people will understand your message and be persuaded to act on it. 

Learning the latest legal strategies and how to use them can help you win more cases and build your reputation. 

Mastering client relations—getting more people to like and trust you and want to work with you and tell others about you—these are marketing superpowers that can attract better clients, bigger cases, and more opportunities to meet influential people and become a part of their inner circle. 

Shall I go on?  

Clearly, the best investment you can make in your practice is an investment in yourself. 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Think big. Really big.

February 20, 2024 by
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Are you growing as fast as you’d like? Or do you want to get bigger results? Much bigger. So big, every day is exciting?

It’s up to you. 

If you want to earn a lot more this year than last year, you can but you have to change how you think and what you do. 

Because nothing will change unless you change. 

The first thing you need to change is your goal. It has to be bigger. So big, it sounds impossible. So big, it scares you. 

Because that’s the kind of goal that will excite you enough to get you to do the things you need to do to reach it. 

A goal to grow 20% this year might sound good, but you can do better. Change it to 200%. 

Impossible? How would you ever achieve that? You’re right. Forget it. You’ve got too much work to do to waste time daydreaming.

Or…. maybe…

If a goal makes your heart beat faster just thinking about it, it might be exactly what you need to do.

Because a goal like that forces you to make different decisions. Do things you haven’t been doing. In ways you might never have considered. 

You’ll make different plans. Instead of thinking about creating a new presentation, you might think about buying another lawyer’s practice, tripling your ad spend, or hiring a marketing firm. 

You might not do those things, but at least you’ll think about them, and that’s precisely the kind of thinking you need to get where you want to go.

Or, you can stick with your 20% goal, focus on getting your work done, putting our fires, and using the same marketing and business strategies you’ve been using.

It’s up to you.

It’s true, thinking bigger might lead to bigger mistakes. You might not come close to achieving your bigger goal. 

So? 

Set a goal to grow 200% and miss it by 50% and you will still double your income. Miss it by 75% and you’ll still be ahead of the original goal. 

Think big. Really big. So big that when you tell someone about what you’re doing this year, THEY get excited. 

The Attorney Marketing Formula will help you

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, success

Look for the pony

February 14, 2024 by
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There’s an old joke about a boy who fell into a big stinky pile of dung. Instead of trying to escape, he dives headfirst into it and stays there, splashing around. When he finally extricates himself, he’s asked why he did that.

“With all that horse poop, I figured there had to be a pony.”

Dumb joke, but it illustrates an important point about maintaining a positive attitude in the face of a mess. 

When you have a problem or crisis, you might want to ignore it, curl up in a ball, or run away, but no matter how bad the problem is, there’s always something you can do.  

At least that’s how you should think about it. 

You can’t control what happened. You can control your response. 

Stay calm. You can’t panic yourself out of a crisis. Take 5 minutes for a pity party if you must and then take a deep breath and focus on what you can do.

Problems have solutions. Ask yourself “What happened?” “Why?” and “What can I do about it?” You might not enjoy revisiting the problem, but asking questions like these, and answering them, allows you to get clear about your situation and find a solution.

No matter what the solution, it will require action. You have to do something and it will almost always be something you haven’t been doing. That might mean getting out of your comfort zone and if that’s something you resist, consider that the discomfort it causes might be a lot less than what you will feel if you don’t fix the problem.

Take action, continue to do that, and fully expect that you “can fix this”. Because you are unlikely to fix it if you don’t believe you can.

While you’re at it, look for something good about what happened. Maybe you learned an important lesson. Maybe you explored some new ideas you can use in good times and bad. Maybe you lost something but gained something even better. 

When you fall into a pile of dung, look for the pony.

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Filed Under: Personal development, success Tagged With:

Quitting doesn’t make you a quitter

February 5, 2024 by
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You messed up. You’re not making progress on a project or goal. You can’t seem to stick with your diet or stop doom scrolling on your phone. 

You’re frustrated and want to give up. 

Do it. Giving up might be the answer. This might have been a bad time to start. You didn’t have enough information, or you were busy with other things you also need to do. 

Give yourself permission to quit. You’ve given up on things before, haven’t you? Dropped a case or client or moved a project to “someday/maybe”? Walked away from a relationship or let go of employees?

Maybe you’ve changed careers. Maybe you’ve done that more than once. 

It wasn’t the end of the world. It might have been the best decision you ever made.

It doesn’t matter how much time or money you’ve put into something. Quitting is a viable option.

But before you quit, consider starting again. You started the project for a reason. Maybe that reason still exists. 

Take a break and come back to the project or goal with fresh eyes. Things might be different this time.

That’s how life works, isn’t it? You try something and when it doesn’t work, you try again. There are no rules that say you can’t. So, let it go for a few days or weeks, or a few hours, and start again. 

You’ll use what you’ve learned and do it better this time. Do more research or get some advice. Put in more time or try a different angle. 

Or you might start from scratch, with a blank page and beginner’s mind. 

How do you know what to do?

The answer might be in your notes, but it is more likely in your stomach. Logic is good, but how you feel is usually better. 

Start again if that feels like the right thing to do. Throw it out and choose something else if it doesn’t. 

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Filed Under: success

Managing expectations

January 29, 2024 by
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Years ago, each January, my wife and I attended an “expectation” party which took place at a friend’s home. Everyone found a seat and wrote a letter to their future self, to be read the following year. Instead of writing our goals, we wrote our expectations for the upcoming year, supposedly because expectations are more realistic than goals. They’re based on what we’ve been doing and thus, what we expect to happen—not just what we want.

The next January, we would gather again and read our letters, out loud if we wanted but usually to ourself. And then, write our expectations for the next year. 

Unfortunately, most years I usually didn’t achieve what I expected. Probably because I wrote what I wanted, not what I expected. You want big things to happen in your life. So naturally you set lofty goals (expectations), even if they are unrealistic.

Think big, we’re told. Aim for the sun, the moon, and the stars. If you fall short, you’ll accomplish more than you would if you hadn’t thought big. 

But that’s not the best advice because we usually set goals that are too high (and long term) and continually fail to reach them. We fall short and thus condition ourself to expect to be disappointed. And unhappy. And too often, that’s what happens.

Charlie Munger, said, “If you have unrealistic expectations, you’re going to be miserable all your life.” 

Better than setting big goals and continually failing to meet them is setting small goals and continually reaching them. When we do, we condition ourself to expect to succeed, which is a much better place to be.

If you expect to bring in 5 new clients each month but only bring in 2, you’re disappointed and frustrated. If that happens enough, you start to believe you can’t get more. 

Instead, lower your expectations. Stop trying to accomplish more than what’s realistic and failing. Choose a goal you are reasonably certain you can reach and succeed.

You’ll feel better about yourself and what you can do. You’ll be successful and feel successful, and that’s what will allow you to accomplish more.

Setting and reaching goals, albeit lower goals than you really want, is a recipe for success because you gain confidence in yourself and what you can do. From that platform, you can set incrementally higher goals and realistically expect to reach them.

Taking a gigantic leap sounds good, but you are more likely to get to the top by taking one step at a time.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, success, Uncategorized

Why are some lawyers more successful than you? 

January 25, 2024 by
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You’re good at what you do. You work hard. Your clients love you. So, why do some of your less capable competitors do better than you? 

Does it come down to better marketing? 

That’s a good bet. 

They might have embraced marketing sooner than you did and have more experience. They might use strategies you don’t use or execute them better. They might have better professional contacts or a bigger email list. 

Your clients love you, but maybe their clients love them more and they get a lot more repeat business and referrals. 

Maybe they advertise, and you don’t. Have deeper pockets or a better team of advisors. 

Maybe it is a combination of factors—little things they do or do better than you. 

Or maybe it’s none of the above. Maybe they just got lucky. 

You know what? It doesn’t matter. What matters is what you can do to become more successful. 

I have two suggestions: 

  1. Keep trying. Try new ideas, strategies, and methods. And improve things you already do. Get more help, give it more time, invest more money, study, practice, and learn from others. 
  2. Relax. Don’t be upset that you’re not as successful as the competition, or that it’s taking you longer. Don’t strain or struggle. Don’t force yourself to do things you aren’t good at or hate. You’ll get there. You’ll find the right combination. Things that make use of your talents and interests and style. 

Success leave clues, not a blueprint.  

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Filed Under: success
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