Don’t make me come over there and S.W.O.T. you!

January 14, 2013 by
Share

Relax. I’m not going to hit you.

S.W.O.T. is simply a tool to help you with your marketing. It’s an analysis of your Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats. It can give you a clearer picture of where you are and help you get where you want to go.

Before you create a plan of any kind, it’s important to know what you’ve got to work with. Your current reality.

So you sit down with pen and paper or spreadsheet or text editor and you make a list. You can do this for just marketing or for all aspects of your practice.

Start with your STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES:

  • Knowledge (Legal, marketing, market data, trends)
  • Skills (Trial, writing, closing the sale, presenting, negotiating)
  • Habits (15 minutes of marketing every week day, personal thank you letters to all new clients)
  • Assets (Contacts, marketing documents, lists, personnel, testimonials, reputation, location)
  • And so on

Your web site might be a weakness or a strength. Or it might be a strength in some areas (i.e., great content) and a weakness in others (i.e., low or low quality traffic). If you advertise, the low rates you have negotiated might be a strength but your copy might be a weakness.

Start recording everything you can think of. What you’re good at and what you need to improve. Talk to your staff, your clients, and other lawyers who know your practice and see what they think. You may be taking for granted something about yourself that is a strength. And, let’s face it, third parties almost always see our weaknesses more clearly than we do.

Next, make a list of OPPORTUNITIES. To some extent, these are derivative of your strengths and weakness. A weakness you want to eliminate, for example, is an opportunity to improve results in that area. Capitalizing on a strength is an opportunity to compound results.

Other opportunities might include contacts you have not yet followed up with, creating a new seminar, or joining a networking group.

Finally, write down any THREATS. If you depend on advertising and another firm is dominating the airways with their ads, this could be considered a threat. If one of your big clients might be thinking of hiring another firm, that is obviously a threat to your income. Anything that poses a challenge and could lead to loss should be identified and added to your list.

Now you have a snapshot of your current reality, and a list of projects to work on this year.

This will help create a marketing plan that really works.

Share
Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development Tagged With: ,

Is it time to put your practice on a diet?

January 11, 2013 by
Share

Yesterday, I did a strategy session with an attorney who was thinking about getting out of practicing law. After several decades of practicing, he said, “I don’t have the enthusiasm for my practice I once felt. I’ve had difficulties staying focused on my practice and delivering my work product in a timely fashion.”

In other words, the thrill was gone.

He does tax and estate planning, trust and estate administration, and tax compliance. Much of his malaise was centered on a feeling of being bogged down in administrative minutia. As a sole practitioner, there was simply too much to do and too much to keep up with and he was overwhelmed.

I asked him if there was any part of what he does that he liked. He said he enjoyed working with individuals and helping them with estate planning. I said, “If you could have a successful practice doing nothing but that and none of the other things you’re currently doing, how would that be?” “That would be great,” he said.

Problem solved.

He didn’t need to get out of practicing. He needed to put his practice on a diet.

By getting rid of practice areas (and clients) that weighed him down, he could have a leaner, more robust practice doing what he enjoyed doing. I told him there was more than enough business available for the kind of estate planning he liked and that he didn’t have to do anything else.

Many attorneys suffer from “practice bloat,” a term I just made up but which seems to accurately describe what happens over a period of years. You start out lean and mean, excited, and enjoying the process of building your practice. At some point, you take on additional practice areas because the work falls into your lap or because you want to have another profit center or something to fall back on. In time, your practice no longer resembles the one you started. You have too much to do, too much to keep up with, and you start falling behind. At this point, many attorneys start thinking the law is not their calling and they start looking for something else.

Some attorneys start out doing too much. I did. I took anything that showed up. I thought I had to because I needed the money. Soon, I was overwhelmed and frustrated, convinced I’d made a mistake in becoming a lawyer.

In both cases, the answer is to put the practice on a diet.

Get rid of practice areas you don’t enjoy. Get rid of clients who drive you crazy. Get rid of work you’re not good at but continue to do because “it’s part of the job”.

The vacuum you create by getting rid of things that do not serve you will soon be filled with work that you love and are good at. You’ll breathe life into a moribund practice, attract new clients, and increase your income. Most importantly, you’ll look forward to going to work every day.

There are more than enough clients available who want and need what you love to do. If your practice is bloated and the thrill is gone, it may be time to put your practice on a diet.

Does your practice need fixing? A new focus? Do you have marketing questions? I can help.

Share
Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Law office management, Marketing Plan, Specializing Tagged With: , ,

Building you law practice 90 days at a time

January 9, 2013 by
Share

Art Williams became a billionaire building an insurance company from scratch. One of the things he taught his organization was the power of short-term bursts of effort for building momentum. It can be difficult to maintain enthusiasm and stamina for a year, “but you can do anything for 90 days,” he said.

Williams built his business with a series of 90 day sprints. He put in all out effort for 90 days, never stopping or slowing down, and was so confident and excited about what he had accomplished, he was ready to do it again. I’ve gone on many 90-day runs in my different businesses. When you get laser-focused and work hard at something every day, momentum builds, your results compound, and it is truly amazing what you can accomplish.

Right now, you may spend just 15 or 30 minutes a day on marketing. You can accomplish big things that way, if you do it consistently. But imagine what you could accomplish if, for the next 90 days, you went crazy and worked on marketing two solid hours every day. Total immersion, total focus, total effort.

90 days from today is mid-April. We’ll be there in no time. You can go about your business the same as usual or you can go on a 90-day run.

Would it be worth it if you could double your client base? Get five more solid referral sources? Get your web site producing a steady stream of traffic and leads and prospective clients?

Where would you like to be in 90 days?

Let me help you map out your 90-day run. Click here to learn how.

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

Private Coaching For Lawyers (New Year Special)

January 3, 2013 by
Share

Would you like some help getting the new year off to a good start? If so, I have a special offer for you.

It’s a private strategy session with me. You and I, on the phone, discussing your practice, your goals, and your marketing.

What will talk about? Well, what do you need help with most?

  • Your web site or blog (or how to start one)?
  • Choosing the right market(s)?
  • Setting goals? Clarifying priorities?
  • Networking, advertising, social media, speaking?
  • Building your list? Getting more traffic?
  • Getting more referrals?

During the call we will review what you are doing now, where you want to be this time next year, and how you are going to get there.

You can ask me anything. And if you don’t know what to ask, I’ll ask you questions and give you my advice.

Here’s the deal. . .

These sessions are normally $500 each.

As a special for the start of 2013, I’m offering a very limited number of “New Year strategy sessions” for the discounted price of $250 per session.

I’m limiting the number because (a) I expect there to be a boatload of interest right after the new year, and (b) I have many thousands of subscribers and limited time.

If you want to grab a slot, here’s what to do:

  1. Book your private strategy session by clicking here
  2. Email me with your contact information and let me know you paid to lock in a slot for one of these sessions.

I’ll email you back to confirm and to set up our call.

I look forward to helping you make 2013 your best year ever.

If you want to learn how to create a marketing plan that really works, click here.

Share
Filed Under: Goal Setting, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, News Tagged With:

What’s the one thing you most want to accomplish this year?

January 2, 2013 by
Share

Just finished taking down the outside Christmas lights. Tis’ no longer the season.

Onward.

So, what’s next? You’re probably wondering that yourself.

You’ve got all these ideas and plans and goals for the new year but you’re overwhelmed. Too many options. Or, you don’t have any ideas, you just know you want things to improve but you don’t know how.

I know, it’s frustrating. But help is on the way. (Puts on cape and tights. . .).

First, relax. Take a deep breath and let it out. Everything is going to be okay.

Now, go for a long walk or a longer drive. I get some of my best ideas when I do that. It helps me think, or rather not think, and that’s when the most important thoughts bubble to the surface. Bring a digital recorder or smart phone app so you can record your pearls of wisdom.

Ask yourself this question: “If I could only accomplish one reasonably big goal this year, what would it be?”

It may be hard to choose only one goal, but you can do it. Pretend you’re Aladdin asking the Genie for one wish, what would it be? (No fair asking for ten more wishes. The Genie has counsel, too.)

I know you probably have lots of goals but if you think about it, most of them are sub-goals of another goal. If one of your goals is to launch or expand a web site or blog this year (an excellent goal, by the way), that’s probably tied into a bigger goal, that of increasing your income.

So let’s say your “one big goal” this year is to double your revenue. The web site is one of the ways you’ll do that.

There are lots of “rules” for writing effective goals, but here’s all you need to know for now: On January 2, 2014, if I ask you, ‘Did you reach your goal for 2013,’ you’ll be able to answer yes or no. You reached it or you did not.

With me? Good.

When you know the “one thing” you most want to accomplish this year, write it down.

Next, it’s idea time.

Grab a notebook or open a digital file and start brainstorming. Write down everything that comes to mind. Everything you can think of that might move you forward towards your one big goal. Edit nothing, eliminate nothing, write it all down. And if you already have an idea file or notebook, add the contents to this one.

It may take you a day or two to do this. That’s fine. In fact, this is something you should always be doing because there are always new ideas and new context.

Okay, so you have a goal and you have a bunch of ideas. What’s next?

Pick something. Just one thing from your list, something you can start today and finish today. It doesn’t matter what it is, just pick something and do it.

Tomorrow, I’ll ask you if you did it. I want you to be able to say, “Yes I did, thanks for asking”.

It feels good completing things and crossing them off your list. It feels good because when you accomplish things, a chemical reaction is triggered in the pleasure center of your brain. The more you accomplish (and the bigger the accomplishment) the bigger the “rush”.

Kinda like when you found out you passed the Bar exam.

You want to develop the habit of starting and completing tasks. Big ones and little ones. The more you do, the more you will want to do. In time, you’ll be addicted to that feeling. You’ll crave it, and as you satisfy that craving, you’ll get more and more done.

Nice, huh?

At some point, you’ll choose more important tasks and projects. (A project is something that takes more than one step.) You should work on no more than five or ten projects at any one time, by the way. Some will be long term, some will take you a few days, and some will wait.

The point of this isn’t to do it right, it’s to get started. You do that by knowing where you want to go and always keeping that in front of you. Like the destination on a map. “Here’s where I’m going.”

You take a step in the direction of your destination. Then another. Along the way, you cross off things you have done and eliminate those you have decided you’re not going to do (or do right now). It is a journey and there may be many detours along the way. As long as you know your destination, you can always get back on the road.

Your route (plan) may change. In fact, the plan you write today will almost never be the plan that gets you to your destination. Things change and so will your plan. That’s okay. Keep moving forward.

For growing your practice, I suggest you use the marketing plan module in The Attorney Marketing Formula. It will help you focus and help you get started.

You don’t need to figure out everything in advance. You just need to get started. Today would be a good day to do that.

Share
Filed Under: Goal Setting, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yes, you do have time for marketing

November 6, 2012 by
Share

One of the most common reasons lawyers give for not marketing (or not marketing enough) is that they don’t have the time. Of course I don’t agree with that. There’s always time. You can make substantial progress in marketing your practice in as little as 15 minutes a day. I don’t care how busy you are, you can “find” 15 minutes a day.

You know this is true. And you also know that marketing is important to your success. So if you ever find yourself saying, “I don’t have the time,” you know that’s just an excuse. The real real reason is that you don’t know what to do, or, you don’t want to do it. So you tell yourself you don’t have the time.

If this sounds at all familiar to you, I have a suggestion. A place to begin.

Put 15 minutes on your calendar each work day. Call it “marketing time”. Make it an appointment, with yourself. Tell your secretary that you are busy at that time and not to book anything else for you. If a client calls and wants to talk to you during that time or come in to see you, you have to say no. You’ll talk to them 15 minutes later. You already have an appointment at that time. It’s your most important appointment of the day, and you can’t miss it.

Will you do that? Will you commit to a 15 minute appointment every day? Good. You’re on your way.

Now, what do you do during that time? If you don’t know, I suggest you start out by reading this and other marketing blogs. Just read. Take some notes. Write down ideas.

You will probably find a lot of things you don’t want to do. But you will also find some things you do want to do. Do this for a couple of weeks and you will have plenty of ideas you’ll be itching to try.

Once you try them, and once you see some results coming in, you won’t have to “force” yourself to keep your 15 minute appointment. In fact, marketing time may become your favorite appointment of the day.

One of the six key strategies in The Attorney Marketing Formula is leveraging time to get more results from less effort. You can read all about it on this page.

Share
Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity, Time Management

Undecideds win close elections and build law practices

October 30, 2012 by
Share

In a close election it is undecided voters who carry the candidate or cause to victory. One of the biggest blocks of undecideds are “low information” voters–people who ordinarily don’t pay much attention to politics until a few weeks before the election.

Another block of undecideds are supporters of third party candidates who, at the last minute, realize their candidate doesn’t have a chance to win and are open to choosing another candidate.

In most consumer-based law practices, prospective clients are “low information voters”. Unless and until something occurs in their life (divorce, accident, arrest, lawsuit, etc.), they won’t pay much attention to anything you might say. They don’t have a problem (that they are aware of) and they aren’t in the market for an attorney.

In a business oriented law practice, prospective clients are often “third party supporters”–they have an attorney they are reasonably happy with and aren’t looking to switch, at least for now.

In either case, your prospective clients aren’t interested in what you can do for them. They won’t notice your ads or ask their friends for a referral. There’s no impending event that forces them to pay attention.

But eventually there will be. Your objective is to be there when that occurs.

Your strategy is to put mechanisms in place that allow you to be found and recommended when prospective clients are finally in the market for an attorney. Depending on your practice area, target market, and personal preferences, this might include:

  • A strong Internet presence–blogs, search engine optimization, social media connections
  • Referral strategies–equipping your clients and professional contacts with information they can disseminate
  • Search-based advertising–classifieds, PPC, directory ads
  • Networking–meeting those who are in the market and the people who can refer them

Position yourself to be found when prospective clients realize they have a problem and go looking for a solution. This is usually more profitable than targeting “pre-need” prospects–people who don’t yet have a problem or aren’t ready to do something about it.

However, you may also want to target pre-need prospects who have a problem but don’t fully understand the risks or their options. Estate planning seminars, for example, can be effective at persuading “no need” and “vaguely aware of a need” prospects into becoming paying clients.

The best plan is to target all three types of prospects. Focus primarily on those who are looking now, but don’t ignore those who will be looking later.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you six key marketing strategies for getting more clients and increasing your income.

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

Marketing legal services like a Grandmaster

October 1, 2012 by
Share

In the game of chess there are strategies and there are tactics. Strategies are the plans–how you will gain space or material that leads to a winning advantage. Tactics are the battles–the maneuvering of your pieces and exchanges of material that allow you to execute your plan.

Marketing legal services is very similar. You create a plan and you execute that plan. Your plan might be to get more referrals from your professional contacts by strengthening your relationships with them. Your tactics might include sending them referrals, taking them to lunch, and inviting them to join you at your next networking meeting.

In chess, the best strategies aren’t created randomly, they emerge by observing the board. You look at your strengths, where you have an advantage, and build your strategy around these advantages. If there aren’t any advantages, you look for differences in your positions and use those differences to create your strategy.

The same goes for marketing legal services. You may not have any significant advantages over other attorneys, but you do have differences:

  • Your background, outside interests
  • Your knowledge and experience
  • Your style and personality
  • Your professional contacts
  • The size of your client list
  • Your web site
  • Your lists (email, mail, directory)
  • Your awards
  • Your publishing credits
  • Your content (articles, reports, books, audios, etc.)
  • Your niche market
  • Your experience
  • Your social media network
  • Languages spoken
  • And so on

You can use these differences to create a marketing strategy.

If you are an “Ambassador” at your local Chamber of Commerce, know how to make and publish youtube videos, or you are personal friends with a prominent blogger, these can all become a part of your marketing strategy.

Where are you different? What do you know how to do? Who do you know? Don’t take those differences for granted. They may not seem significant to you but they can be enough to create a winning strategy for marketing your services.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you key strategies for marketing your practice. Click here for more information.

Share
Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

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: , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »