What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

February 15, 2013 by
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Rev. Robert Schuller asks, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” It’s one of my favorite quotes.

I’ve often asked myself this question. When I found my confidence lacking, when a project got stalled because I didn’t know what to do next, or when I was faced with a major career decision, I would stop and think about the “best case scenario” and it helped me move forward.

I think it’s because of the word “if”. “What would do if. . .” is a hypothetical question. We can answer it because we’re not promising anything, we’re speculating. The question allows us to bypass our critical mind and find the answers.

We may still have fears and doubts but now we know what we would do if we didn’t.

If you are procrastinating on updating your web site, imagine that in 90 days that web site is bringing you four or five or ten new clients a month. If God Himself whispered in your ear and told you that your web site will be massively successful, what would you do today?

You’d make a list of tasks that need to be done and you’d start working on them, wouldn’t you? If you don’t know what those tasks might be, your first task would be to find someone who does know and ask them what to do.

If you knew for certain that things would work out exactly the way you wanted (or better), what would you attempt? If you knew that your project would be a success, what would you do today to move it forward?

Whatever it is that you would do if you knew you could not fail, that’s what you should do.

“What if it doesn’t work?” you ask.

“What if it does?”

If you’re already earning as much as you want, you don’t need to read this

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Goal Setting, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity, success Tagged With: , ,

Eight ways to use audio recording apps for marketing

February 7, 2013 by
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I was reading some of the reviews for Dictamus, the dictation app I use on my iphone. Many lawyers and physicians extol its virtues, saying things like, “best on the market, ” “replaced my 0 dictation equipment,”and “I use it every single day.”

I don’t dictate to a secretary these days, but I do dictate to myself. My phone is always with me so it’s very convenient to capture notes or ideas on the fly. I also dictate entire articles, letters, and other longer documents, using Dictamus’ “insert” function to insert new thoughts into the middle of already recorded sentences. Yep, just like  the old cassette and belt dictation machines I used to use.

Anyway, I started thinking about how audio recording apps (any app will do) can be used for marketing. In addition to the obvious use of recording ideas for articles, people to call, things to do, and dictating complete articles, emails, and letters, here’s what I came up with:

  1. Networking: record details after meeting new contact (where, when, what you talked about, etc.)
  2. Interviews with subject matter experts for podcasts, or transcribe for written articles
  3. Record audio track to add to video slide presentation
  4. Practice your next presentation
  5. Record consultations with prospective clients, give to them as added bonus
  6. Create audio book to sell or give away for lead generation
  7. Record brainstorming sessions with partners, staff
  8. Record consultations with hired consultants, live trainings, teleconferences, or webinars

Do use audio recording apps (or digital recorders) for marketing in your practice? What do you do? Which apps do you use? Please add to the comments.

Want more marketing ideas? Of course you do. Click here.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

The virtue of wasting time

February 1, 2013 by
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“Quit goofing off and get back to work!” Have you ever said that to your kids or your employees? I know you’ve said it to yourself.

We seemed to be obsessed with the idea that wasting time is a bad thing. I know, “wasting” implies “no value,” but is that really true?

Me thinks not.

Playing video games, checking in or posting on social media, watching football, or whatever you like to do when you’re not doing what you think you’re supposed to do, is not wasting time. I can think of several reasons why it is good for you. And if its good for you, then its good for your work and other aspects of your life.

  • It helps you relax. Stress is a major health risk. Goofing off helps us forget our troubles and lower our blood pressure. Laughing has been proven to improve mental and physical health.
  • It helps you think. When our conscious minds are distracted, our subconscious minds come up with ideas, solve problems, and help us make decisions.
  • It improves skills. Gaming can improve hand-eye coordination and sharpen critical thinking. Watching sports can teach you about leadership, strategy, and team effort. Social media can help you learn about pop culture, which can be used in conversation and writing.
  • It helps you meet new people. With many hobbies and personal interests, you get to meet new people–at the game or the sports bar, online, at the concert, or the convention. New people bring new ideas, new contacts, new business.
  • It affirms life. The purpose of life is joy, not work.

Is there such a thing as spending too much time “wasting time”? Our bosses, parents, and spouses may think so, especially if they’ve seen us spending an hour or two on a site like this one. But it’s really the wrong question.

Better to ask, “Are you getting your work done?”, “Are you making a contribution to the world,” and “Are you happy?”

If you can answer those questions in the affirmative, I don’t think the amount of time you spend conquering pretend kingdoms or contemplating your navel really matters.

Earn more so you can goof off more. Here’s how.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Just for fun, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: ,

Building your marketing investment account one day at a time

January 28, 2013 by
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Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Is marketing a habit for you?

You’ll often hear me say that you can build your practice with 15 minutes a day of marketing activity. Anybody can find 15 minutes today, but most don’t do it every day because it isn’t a habit. Unfortunately, it won’t become a habit until you do it every day.

Catch 22.

But then nothing starts out as a habit. Everything starts out as “the first time”. And then you do it again. Now you’re two days into it. One more day and you’re on your way. Keep going and it will become a habit, especially once you see some positive results.

Leo at Zen Habits has an excellent article today on building habits. He uses the analogy of saving and investing money, i.e., putting away a little bit every day. Over time, the dollars compound.

If you want to (or need to) write, for example, but have not been able to make it a habit, he says:

“. . .just write a sentence today. I’m completely serious. Then write a sentence tomorrow. Do that for a week. Next week, write two sentences. This sound ridiculously easy, so most people will ignore this advice. But if you follow it, you’ll be writing 1,000 words per day, every day, this time next year. Maybe 2,000 per day the following year.”

In the context of marketing, then, if you have not developed the habit of doing something every day for 15 minutes, start with one minute. Read something, write down an idea or two, or just sit and think. That will get you started.

The other thing about habits is that we have to be reminded to do them. “Set a daily reminder. . . and make it a priority to do each day,” Leo says. I take it a step further, suggesting you making a daily appointment with yourself and put this on your calendar. Then, keep that appointment. If a new clients wants to see you at 2 and that’s your marketing time, you must tell them you have an appointment and can’t see them until 2:15.

Yes, we are what we repeatedly do. Today, you may be in the habit of NOT marketing. You’re excellent at not marketing, in fact. But today, you can start a new habit. All you need is one minute.

Want something to read during your marketing minute? Try this.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:

Are you planning to make any changes this year? Before you do. . .

January 16, 2013 by
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So this year I’m planning to make some changes. How about you?

I’m looking at things that didn’t work well and eliminating them or looking for ways to make them better. I’ll get more information, ask for help, or try things a different way.

But I’m not going to spend a lot of time on that. No sir. Instead, I’m going to look at the things that did work and do more of them.

You should, too.

For example, if last year you got a lot of referrals from a letter you sent to your clients, maybe you should think about sending them another letter. If you got a lot of sign-ups for your newsletter when you added a couple of videos to your web site, you should probably think about adding more videos. Or, if you met some good new referral sources on LinkedIn but none on Facebook, it sounds like LinkedIn is where you should spend your time.

Most people focus on fixing what’s wrong. They work on their weaknesses. The smarter, more leveraged strategy is to work on your strengths.

Don’t ignore your weaknesses. But don’t spend a lot of time on them.

Homework:

Take a few minutes and write down three things that worked well in your practice last year. Then, look for ways to do them again or do them bigger or better or more often.

Find the spark in your practice and pour gasoline on it.

Have you read The Attorney Marketing Formula? Click here to find out what you’re missing

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity Tagged With: ,

Digitize your life with Evernote’s “Paperless Challenge”

January 10, 2013 by
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When I want to find something stored in “My Documents” on my Windows machine, I have to open and close a lot of documents to find the one that has what I’m looking for. When I want to find something stored in Evernote, I rely on its ability to search through the entirety of those documents to find what I need. Very fast, very accurate.

Finding something in paper files are even more challenging, of course, and that’s one of the reasons so many people are “going paperless.”

If you’d like to join the crowd, Evernote is conducting a “Paperless Challenge” to help you. It started January 8 but there’s no reason why you can’t get started right now. Make sure you download Jaime Rubin’s “Paperless Challenge Checklist” to use as a guide.

Lifehacker just posted a comprehensive article, “How I Went Completely Paperless in Two Days.” I think two days is a bit ambitious for most attorneys due to the amount of paper in our possession, questions about security issues, and our innate resistance to change, but even if it takes two years instead of two days, it’s worth it. I’m not yet completely paperless but my file cabinets are empty, I’ve trashed dozens of boxes of paper collected over thirty-plus years, and we get very little (important) postal mail these days. I’m well on my way to digitizing and simplifying my life.

Speaking of security issues, this article has a summary of some of the options. (Hat tip to Robert Oschler, developer of the forthcoming Evernote search client for Windows desktop, BitQwik.)

Finally, my own Evernote for Lawyers ebook discusses security issues and how to deal with them, as well as helping you through the process of going paperless.

By the way, even if you don’t use Evernote these resources can still help you in your quest to reduce or eliminate the paper in your life.

Did you know: Evernote for Lawyers has a chapter on using Evernote for marketing.

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

January 2, 2013 by
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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.

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

Here’s why you’re NOT getting things done

December 12, 2012 by
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Apparently, there’s an art to creating a to-do list. And because most of us aren’t practitioners of that art, we fail to do the things we put on our lists. So says blogger Janet Choi, who shares some telling statistics from her company’s internal survey in, “How to Master the Art of To-do Lists by Understanding Why They Fail”:

  • 41% of to­-do items were never completed.
  • 50% of completed to-­do items are done within a day.
  • 18% of completed to­-do items are done within an hour.
  • 10% of completed to­-do items are done within a minute.
  • 15% of dones started as to-do items.

“In other words,” she says, “people aren’t that great at completing their to-do tasks; tasks that do get completed are done quickly; and tasks that are reported as done don’t correlate with planned to-do tasks.”

Choi says one of the reasons we aren’t good at getting things done is that we have too many to-do’s on our lists. She might have something there. On my list (in Evernote) I currently have 14 notes tagged “Now” and 385 tagged “Next”. This doesn’t include “Someday” (177) or items tagged “Read/Review” (583). A lot, but I’m not concerned. As long as I get my three or four “MITs” (“Most Important Tasks”) for the day done, I’m good. Choi agrees. She suggests looking at that big list of tasks and choosing, “the most important, pressing or interesting ones to work on, big and small.”

As for why only “15% of dones started as to-do items,” Choi attributes this to our lack of skill (discipline?) in creating task lists, and because of the unpredictability of our daily lives. Stuff happens, emails and phone calls cry out for our attention, things don’t turn out the way we expected. Those may be the reasons, but in my opinion, they aren’t good reasons for not doing important tasks, and those are always planned.

Yes, the unpredictable happens, and we must allow for that in our daily planning. But it should not dominate our day. No more than 25-30% of our time should be left open for the “unplanned,” not 85%. Most of our day should be spent getting important things done, the ones that move us towards our vision of the future we want to create. If you don’t plan your future, you can’t expect to wind up where you want to go.

Choi says we should be more specific in our planning, and I agree. It’s easier to know when something is done if it is well defined from the beginning. This is especially important to remember for those of us who do anything relatively open-ended like research or writing. I remember pulling all-nighters in school and also as a lawyer, writing briefs and preparing for trial, and not knowing when I was done because you can always do more.

Which leads me to my favorite reference in the post, dealing with deadlines. Choi references a behavioral study most of us will recognize as the basis for Parkinson’s Law: “The study found that students who had longer to finish three papers performed worse than those who had externally-imposed or self-imposed deadlines that were evenly spaced and earlier. . . The more time you give yourself to finish something, the less likely it is that you will finish in that time frame.”

How do you know that brief you’re working on is done? When it’s 4:00 pm and it has to filed today by 5.

The Attorney Marketing Formula comes with a bonus module that helps you create a marketing plan that really works. Get it and get ready for the new year.

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

Getting the words right in the opening of your next presentation

December 10, 2012 by
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How would you describe “Getting Things Done” to an audience of people who, it must be assumed, know nothing about the subject?

I’m doing a presentation this week to just such a group. I have no more than 45 minutes, so obviously, this will be an introduction. I hope to explain the basic ideas and get them interested in learning more. I’m going to use my blog post, “The Ten Commandments of Getting Things Done,” as the basis for my talk.

But where do I start? How do I quickly get their attention and show them why they should listen?

I was thinking about this as I was looking at my first slide, which has the title of David Allen’s book. It occurred to me that this is where I should begin.

The book’s title, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” does a great job of describing the subject, as well as the benefits. It tells you what the book is about and what’s in it for the reader. So in my opening, that’s what I’ll talk about.

It will go something like this. . .

“Have you ever been frustrated because you’re not getting things done? The days fly by and you realize how much you haven’t done that day or that week, and before you know it, it’s the new year and you realize that you haven’t made a dent in the goals you set last year. It is frustrating, isn’t it?

Then, someone tells you about this great system for getting your whole life organized and you try it, but it’s so complicated, you spend all your time organizing your stuff and even less time getting things done. Or maybe you learn the system and it works for you, but then you find that while you’re getting things done, you’re not getting the right things done.

‘Getting Things Done’ is a book that promises to change all that. It’s about ‘Productivity’–which means getting the RIGHT things done, the most important things done, in a way that’s ‘stress-free’. If you use the system in this book, you’ll start each day knowing what you need to do that day and you won’t worry about forgetting anything important. Take a deep breath and imagine what your life will be like when you have everything under control.

This evening, I’m going to show you some of the basic ideas behind this system. . .

I’ve explained the subject of the book and shown them the benefits. I think they’ll pay attention, don’t you?

The most important part of any presentation is the opening. That’s when you sell the audience (reader, judge, jury) on listening to what you are about to tell them. When you get the opening words right, the battle is half won. When you don’t, well, you better be loud or you better be funny because that audience is thinking about what they have to do that day and not listening to you.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and learn the art of stress-free client-getting and income-building

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Productivity, Public Speaking Tagged With: ,

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

December 7, 2012 by
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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.

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