Do you have long term goals? That’s your problem

December 18, 2012 by
Share

A wealthy business friend of mine does a lot of speaking to other business owners. They come seeking to learn how they can reach the levels of success he has attained. On the subject of marketing, he usually asks the audience, “How many of you have long term goals?” Hands are proudly raised. “That’s your problem. You’re thinking about long term when you should be thinking about today.”

He tells them the only thing that matters is how many times your company’s story is told today. How many people hear about what you have to offer. What can you do today, right now, this afternoon, to get your story told?

Of course tomorrow you’ll do the same thing. That’s how a big business is built–one day at a time.

My friend will acknowledge the need for planning beyond “today” but he says too many people spend all their time planning and not enough time doing. “You don’t have to read your car’s manual to know how to make it go,” he says.

My friend says success is about mastering the fundamentals. He coaches junior football and says, “We teach those kids how to pass, punt, block, and tackle. You get good at those four skills. That’s how you win games.”

Building a successful business or law practice works the same way. You learn the fundamentals and practice them. You get good at a few things.

You don’t have to know everything about marketing or bookkeeping. You don’t need to have the latest technology. And you don’t have to read the manual.

Unless, of course, it’s mine.

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, success

I know you’re busy, but are you happy?

December 7, 2012 by
Share

Some people’s lives are incredibly busy. They have a job and a business. Or two businesses.

They have a husband or wife, kids, and large extended families. They take great vacations and love planning them. They have several hobbies they love, love, love. They exercise every day.

They are handy around the house and like decorating, cooking, or gardening. Or all three. They create their own Christmas cards and include a personal note in every one. They are active in their church, home owner’s association, and PTA. They are a Cub Scout leader. They post every day on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and their personal blog. And oh yeah, they’re also writing a book.

If this is you, I have to ask, “How do you do it?” How do you cram so much into your life?

You must know that most people aren’t like you. Most people can’t do everything you do. I’m one of them. Just thinking about your day makes me sleepy.

Oh, I do admire you. You’re amazing. I just don’t want to be like you. But then, you probably don’t want to be like me.

My life is much simpler. Even when I was putting in long hours in my practice and our daughter was young and there was dance and piano and sports, my life was a cake walk compared to yours. My wife and I were busy (by our standards), but more importantly, we were happy.

And today, we’re even less busy, but just as happy.

Being busy means different things to different people but being busy isn’t what’s important. If you’re surrounded by people you care about and do work that makes a difference, that’s what counts.

Tonight, when your head hits the pillow and you think about your day, don’t ask yourself if you did enough, ask yourself if you’re happy. If you are, great! Have a nice sleep. If not, ask yourself what you need to change. It could be something big, like a new career or a new spouse. More likely, you’re simply trying to do too much.

Want to be busier with more work? Get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity, success, Time Management Tagged With:

Would you hire you?

November 16, 2012 by
Share

If I was interviewing you for a job working for my law firm, one thing I would evaluate is your attitude. What would I see in you?

Is it:

  1. “I’ll try.” Hmm, not too promising. It’s better than, “I won’t try,” but not much. Was this your attitude when you enrolled in law school? How about when you got married? Sorry, I’m looking for someone with a stronger commitment to success.
  2. “I’ll do my best.” Ah, much better. But what if your best isn’t good enough? Will you put your ego aside and ask for help? Will you work hard to improve your skills? Will you make your best even better?
  3. “I’ll do whatever it takes.” Now that’s the attitude I’m looking for. It tells me you’ll work hard, stay late and come in early. You’ll do what is expected of you and a lot more. You won’t let obstacles get in your way, you’ll overcome them. I can count on you to do the job and stick around for the long haul. If you’re willing to do whatever it takes, I’m willing to invest in you.

When someone’s attitude says they’ll try, what they’re really saying is that if they don’t like it, or it’s too hard, or they find something they like better, they’re going to quit. Yes, that could be true of anyone, but when you start out with that attitude, it does not bode well for your future. Why should I choose you when someone else has a much better attitude?

An employer–or a spouse, law partner, or business partner–is looking for commitment. They’re looking for someone who will do, “whatever it takes” to make their relationship a success.

So, take a look in the mirror. What is your attitude towards your legal career? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to be successful?

Would you hire you?

If you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make your practice a success, you need The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Increase your income, Personal development, success Tagged With:

How to be successful today, and also tomorrow

September 14, 2012 by
Share

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.

Share
Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing Plan, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , ,

Put your contact list on a diet

July 10, 2012 by
Share

I’ve written before about the value of creating a “Focus 30” list–a list of your most important clients, best referral sources, and other people to whom you want to give your time and attention.

Keeping that list in front of you will remind you to call, write, and engage with the people who contribute most to your success.

I didn’t say so then, but I should mention that you can include on your Focus 30 list people who are important to you outside of your professional life. Friends, spiritual leaders, and others you influence you in positive ways also deserve your attention.

If your Focus 30 list is the cream of the crop, the tip of the top, there are undoubtedly people in your life who are just the opposite.

You know the ones I mean.

  • People you don’t like
  • People who waste your time
  • People who are abusive to you and others
  • Takers/users

You get the idea.

Your relationship with these people does not serve you. You should take steps to either reduce the amount of time you spend with them or completely eliminate them from your life.

Of course some people (i.e., clients, close relatives) you may have to put up with to some extent. But this should be a conscious choice you make, not something you do merely out of habit or a sense of duty.

The easiest way to put your contact list on a diet is to go through the list, one name at a time, and rate each person. If you don’t recognize a name, or you don’t communicate with that person often enough to matter, you can skip them. For everyone else, assign a number based on how you feel about them:

1 = Positive
2 = Neutral
3 = Negative

That’s a lot quicker and eaiser than trying to figure out why you don’t like someone. Trust your gut.

If you’re not sure about someone, give them a 2.

Anyway, don’t agonize over anyone and don’t spend a lot of time on this.

When you’re done, go back through the list. 1’s and 2’s are okay. (You may see some 1’s you want to add to your Focus 30 list).

You need to do something about the 3’s.

Some you’ll stop seeing and taking their calls. Cross them off your list. Eliminate them completely from your life.

Others, you’ll reduce the amount of time you give them. If they are a client worth keeping, give the task of dealing with them to someone who works for you. Get away from them as much as possible. If that won’t work, you’ll need to decide if the negative feelings you get from being around these people are worth the money they pay you.

Or, look at it this way: How much more would you earn by getting rid of your negative, anxiety-causing, slow-paying, trouble-making, pain-in-the-ass clients?

Now, as for your relatives. . .

Share
Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Client relations, Dealing with stress, Personal development, success Tagged With: ,

Going from huh? to duh! The four stages of learning how to market legal services

March 19, 2012 by
Share

When I opened my first law office, I had no idea how I was going to get clients. Had I known how tough it was going to be, I may have given up before I began.

But I was motivated by the need for independence and the stubborness of youth and I found myself with an office, a typewriter, and no work.

What to do. . .?

I had read a lot about mail order and direct marketing in my youth, but I didn’t know anything about marketing legal services. I didn’t think I could use mail order to bring in clients (although I think that now) and so I took out some ads (to other lawyers) and that did bring in some work. Not the best work–overflow and some appearances, mainly. It helped pay the rent.

I knew there had to be something else I could do. Other lawyers brought in clients, why couldn’t I?

Experts in learning would say I was a “conscious incompetent”–I knew that marketing could bring in clients and I also knew that I was clueless about how to do it.

Years later, I learned that there are four stages to learning:

  1. Unconscious incompetent: You don’t know what you don’t know. Think of the young child in the car seat with one of his parents behind the wheel. The child doesn’t know what “driving” is, let alone how to do it.
  2. Conscious incompetent: You know what you don’t know. The child is aware that his parent is doing something to make the car go but he does not know what or how.
  3. Conscious competent: You are able to do it with focus and mental effort. You are aware that you are doing it. After drivers’ training and some practice, the child is able to drive, but he has to think about what he is doing.
  4. Unconscious competent: You can do it effortlessly, without thinking about it. Eventually, like the rest of us, the child is able to drive on autopilot.

As a “conscious incompetent” in marketing legal services, I made the decision to start learning. I read every book I could find on the subject. I studied ads and brochures and seminar sales letters. I talked to other lawyers and asked them what they were doing.  And I tried lots of different things. Eventually, I had some success.

But I wasn’t good at everything. Some things came easily to me. Writing, for one. And speaking. But other skills I am not as good at. I know how to network, for example, and I’ve certainly done enough of it, but it’s not my favorite thing to do. As a result, I have to think about what I’m doing while I’m doing it. (“Jeez, why on earth did I say that. . .!?”) With networking, I am a conscious competent.

Knowing these four stages of learning has helped me to appreciate my strengths and weaknesses. Whatever you’re trying to learn or improve, it helps to know where you are and what you need to do to get to the next level:

  1. Unconscious incompetent: Read, listen, observe, ask questions. Find out what you don’t know. You’ll discover things you’ve never heard of before, (especially in the social media arena–and let’s use that as an example) and you will become aware of what you don’t know.
  2. Conscious incompetent: Now that you know, you need to do more reading, listening, observing, and asking even more questions. You need guidance and support from others. And you need to try it. Open an account, set up a profile, play around with it. Practice and you will get better.
  3. Conscious competent: So you know what to do. You’re posting regularly, networking online, integrating your web site, and downloading the newest apps. You know what you’re doing but it’s still something you have to think about and remind yourself to do. You need to continue doing what you’re doing (more practice) and you need to get feedback and advice from others.
  4. Unconscious competent: You have mastered it. You tweet and post and link like a pro and you can do it in your sleep. The risk here is that you will get bored and stop learning and stop growing, so make sure you stay up with all the new tech and trends and continue to challenge yourself. Even better, help others learn because the teacher always learns more than the student.

If you find yourself stuck in stage two or three and you never get to stage four no matter how much effort you put in, the odds are this is not a natural strength. You might want to get someone to do it for you so you can go do something else.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How to get better at anything

March 14, 2012 by
Share

Writing, oral argument, marketing, parenting–whatever it is that you want to get better at, you’ve got to DO it.

You can read about it until you’re blue in the face, you can attend seminars, and you can hang out with experts and watch what they do, but at the end of the day, you have to get out there and do the thing yourself.

You’ll make mistakes. That’s how you learn. At one point in your life, you didn’t know how to walk. Now you can. You learned by trying and falling, again and again and again.

There are no shortcuts. The only way to develop a skill is to do what you’re not good at until you get better.

This means getting out of your comfort zone, risking embarrassment, frustration and failure.

But, you can also get some help.

Whatever is it you want to improve, you can find someone who is better than you and ask them to mentor you. One of the best things about having a mentor is that they allow you to fail in a relatively safe environment. Yes, you risk criticism but it’s not public.

You can formerly hire a coach or consultant or you can find someone who is willing to give you a few minutes here and there to critique you and give you advice.

Find someone who is good at what you want to do. Ask them if they would be willing to mentor you. Make it easy for them to say yes by letting them know you’ll respect their time. You can learn a lot from an expert, even if you only talk to them for ten minutes once a month.

And if you’re good at something, be a mentor. Share your skills and experience with others. Pay it forward.

Share
Filed Under: Mentors & Coaches, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

What are you focused on right now?

March 7, 2012 by
Share

We all have problems. Some people dwell on their problems, some focus on solutions. Guess what? We get what we focus on.

Focus on the mess you’re in and you get more mess. Focus on what you can do, how you want things to turn out, and you can work your way out of that mess.

I have a mantra, something I say to myself every day. It keeps me focused on solutions, not problems. It helps me move forward with a positive expectancy, instead of being held back by concerns and regret. I don’t know about you, but I don’t do my best work when I’m worried about something. I’m at my best when I’m hopeful and excited and looking forward to a positive outcome.

What do I say to myself? I remind myself to, “Think about what you want, not what you don’t want.”

When I do this, I feel better about the situation. Instead of worrying and shutting down, I stimulate my creativity and attract the resources, people, and ideas I need. Thinking about what I want brings me closer to getting it.

Why does this work? I’m not sure. Some say it’s the “Law of Attraction” or quantum physics doing it’s thing. Others say it’s your subconscious mind which understands your thoughts as a command which it then executes. Some say it’s the hand of God.

Whatever the reason, it does work. Try it and see for yourself.

When you think about what you want, you feel better, more in control, more creative. Your mind comes up with ideas instead of being mired in negative emotion. You are inspired to take action, guided to the next step and the step after that.

Because we get what we focus on.

I do have a caveat. Sometimes, when you think about what you want you’re really thinking about the absence of what you want–why you don’t have it, why things went wrong, why you’re not able to find a solution. All that does is attract more negative outcomes. When you focus on “not having” you get more “not having”.

I know, crazy, right?

How can you tell you’re doing it right? If you think about what you want and that thought doesn’t feel better than your previous thought, you know you are focused on “not having”. If the thought feels better, if there’s an emotional uptick, however small, it means you’re moving in the right direction.

Think about something you want but don’t have. How does it feel? If you feel frustrated or angry or disappointed, change the thought to something that feels a little bit better. From there, you can reach for an even better feeling thought.

The better you feel, the closer you are to getting what you want. When you feel excited and joyous and positive about what you want, what you want is just around the corner.

Share
Filed Under: Dealing with stress, Inspiration, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The key to failure in marketing legal services

February 15, 2012 by
Share

Bill Cosby was once asked if he would share the key to his success. He famously said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

And yet that’s exactly what most people do.

They take middle of the road positions on issues because they don’t want to offend anybody. They write articles or blog posts directed to everyone, instead of addressing the specifics of their niche market. Or they don’t target a niche market at all because they don’t want to exclude any potential business.

Because this is what most people do, most people get mediocre results. Successful people don’t try to please everyone. In fact, they may do their best to antagonize a large segment of the population.

Name a successful political pundit on the right. How about Rush Limbaugh? Now, how about on the left? Let’s go with Chris Matthews. What do they have in common, besides being financially successful?

Both have millions of fans and. . . both have millions who hate them.

Instead of being on the right and the left, suppose they were centrists. Do you think they would be as successful?

The savviest politicians and political commentators know, the better you are at turning OFF those who aren’t your audience, the better you’ll be at turning ON those who are.

And it’s the same in marketing.

It’s all about passion. If you have it, and if you can get people fired up about something, either for OR against, you’ll be more likely to stand out from the crowd. Yes, there will people who are turned off by what you say or do, but guess what? They probably weren’t going to hire you anyway.

I’d much rather have a list of 100 people who love what I do and tell everyone about me, than 10,000 people who might not remember subscribing to my list. Those 100 fans will bring others who will do the same.

Don’t try to please everyone. Dr. Huxtable says it’s a prescription for failure.

Share
Filed Under: Client loyalty, Marketing legal services, success Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why attorneys need to drink more booze

January 24, 2012 by
Share

My wife once told me I needed to drink more alcohol. She said I was too uptight and needed to loosen up.

She wasn’t serious (about the alcohol part) but I had to admit she had a point. Attorneys can be pretty serious folks at times.

You and I know a lot of attorneys. As a group, what are they like? Most of the ones I know are intelligent, hard working, responsible, and professional. They have families and hobbies and a life outside of the office. They are successful and well-rounded.

At the same time, most of the attorneys I know are very analytical and a bit uptight.

Like me.

No matter what kind of law we practice, we are all in the people business. People hire (and employ) lawyers they like and if you’re not likable, you’re making things harder on yourself.

So, if you’re a stick in the mud, or have a stick where the sun doesn’t shine, if people don’t “get” you, if you are completely unable to win friends and influence people, you might want to work on that.

I use humor to overcome my natural tendencies. I like to make people laugh. It’s a great ice breaker and helps when I’m speaking to a group.

If you need to loosen up, consider doing something different:

  • Acting classes
  • Public speaking classes
  • Stand up comedy
  • Music/art
  • Exercise
  • Sky diving/race car driving/fire walking
  • Personal development courses
  • Therapy

If you want more people to like you, you don’t have to become the life of the party. You do need to have that stick removed.

Share
Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »