“I don’t know. I can’t recall. I’d be guessing.”

We like to hear things like this (sometimes) when our client is testifying but what about when we hear ourselves saying them?

They make us sound weak, don’t they?

No. They make us sound smart.

According to Jeff Bezos, “The smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.”

Just when we think we’ve got this “law practice” thing working smoothly. . . that’s when we need to stop and re-assess.

What if we don’t know? What if we’re wrong? What if there’s a better way?

But do we do that?

Unfortunately, we often think we know better. We think we’re good at what we do and that’s enough. “If it ain’t broke. . .” we tell ourselves.

Sure, we take CLE, we read the journals, we keep up with the latest in our field. But all that knowledge can’t help us if we’re afraid to be wrong.

It takes courage to admit you’re not as good as should be, and courage to do something about it.

How do you develop that courage? A good place to start is to surround ourselves with people who challenge us and are willing to be honest with us and being willing to listen to them.

Early in my practice, I had people working for me who knew more than I knew and were better at their job than I was at mine. I got better at my job because I was willing to admit I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Today, I’d like to think I would be willing to do the same.

Would I? Would you?

If we’re as smart as we think we are, the right answer is “I don’t know”.

Is your email marketing as good as it could be?

I just got off the phone with a young married couple who is having their first child. Josh works in tech sales. Karen does bookkeeping for a company that owns several restaurants. They were referred to me by a financial planner I know from my networking group.

They wanted to get their wills done and see if they could benefit from estate planning strategies they’d heard about from some friends.

We scheduled an appointment and I sent them to a page on my website to fill out a simple questionnaire. I also sent them information about some of the options we would discuss.

If you have questions about your estate planning options, go to [this page]. And, if you would like to talk to me about your situation or make an appointment, give me a call at [number].

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No matter what your practice area, tell your newsletter readers about one of your new clients. Or tell them about an interesting case you have had in the past.

Let them see that people like them, with issues like theirs, are hiring you to help them. It reminds them about what you do and how you can help them.

Let them know that those clients were referred to you, by a client or a fellow professional. It shows them that other people trust you and look to you to help their friends and clients.

Let them know they can get information about their legal issue and your services on your website. And let them know they can call you to talk or to make an appointment.

You can add more if you want to.

You could tell them a few details about the issues in the case and what you did about them. You could add a question or two the client asked you and your answers. You could quote the client at the end of the case, expressing relief or praising you.

Let people hear what you do and how you can help them and more people will hire you. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

How to start an email newsletter