success Archives - Page 13 of 34 - The Attorney Marketing Center

Hit pause and take inventory

April 20, 2020 by David M. Ward

Many people are feeling lost right now, uncertain about their future and what to do about it. Out of desperation, some are considering major career changes, thinking they have no choice but to start over.

If you know someone in that position, you might suggest that they stay put. Remind them that no matter where they are right now, they’re probably in a better position than they’d be in if they started from scratch.

They’ve got skills, experience, contacts, and a reputation. They’ve worked hard to get where they are.

Instead of jumping ship and working on a new career, they might be better off working on themselves.

That’s what Sue Hawkes, founder and CEO of a consulting firm, did when she had hit bottom.

â€œMy life was in a deep, dark hole at age 42. I was living in a friendâ€™s second home, I was working through my divorce, the economy and my businesses were in a shambles. It was 2008 and all areas of my life were challenged. I made a resolution to mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and financially intentionally improve myself by the time I was 50 by making long term, consistent and incremental improvements. I learned to say no to anything misaligned with my plan which included: learning to delegate without guilt, prioritizing my time and sticking to it, journaling my gratitude for a positive attitude, surrounding myself with supportive people who are champions of possibility, finding clarity in my purpose and personal values, and giving back to others. Over time, adding these small changes and practicing them changed my focus and my life.â€

Sometimes, changing careers is the right decision. Before anyone takes that leap, they consider building on what they already have.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Personal development, success

Your post-pandemic plan

April 13, 2020 by David M. Ward

Soon. That’s when the world will return to a semblance of order. The fear and restrictions holding us hostage will subside, the economy will recover, and we will carry on.

But there will be changes.

Changes to what we do and how we do them. So, I suggest the need for a plan.

To create your plan, start by asking yourself a series of questions, to help you think about what you need to do.

Some questions to help you get started:

Your office and staff

What do you need to do to make the office germ-free and help clients and staff feel safe? What procedures will you follow? What supplies will you keep in stock?
Will you let (require) any employees to continue working from home? How will you equip them? How will you supervise them?
What will you do to accommodate clients who still aren’t comfortable coming to your office?
What will you do to bring on new employees, or let go of existing ones? What will you outsource?
Will you change any of your billing and collection practices?
What expenses will you cut?
What changes to your office/employee manual will you make?

Your marketing

How will you lesson dependence on face-to-face meetings?
What changes will you make to your warm market marketing systems (Newsletter, client appreciation, referrals, etc.)?
What changes will you make to your cold market marketing efforts (advertising, social media, websites, networking, speaking, etc.)?
What changes to your marketing budget do you need to consider?
Which practice areas do you want to ramp up? What new practice areas will you add? Which practice areas will you curtail or phase out?
Will you run any kind of promotions to celebrate the re-opening of your office?

You should also ask questions and create a plan for your personal life.

As you consider your options, you should also consider that the world, and your practice, won’t return to business as usual overnight. It will likely be many months before we’re fully up to speed and there will no doubt be permanent changes.

So, be prepared to regularly update your plan with new questions and new answers.

Whatever you do, don’t fret about anything. Yes, the world has changed but the fundamentals have not.

And good things are on the horizon.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing Plan, success

Why the majority is always wrong

April 7, 2020 by David M. Ward

In a well-delivered TED Talk about high performance, Paul Rulkens points out that only 3% of the population achieves extraordinary results and that the common denominator among them is that they eschew industry standards.

High achievers don’t do what everyone else does. They do something different.

The majority conform to industry standards and customs and consequently achieve average results. That’s why, when it comes to high performance, the majority is always wrong.

The speaker pointed at two companies that made their bones by going their own way. IKEA went against tradition by asking customers to assemble their own furniture. Dell built their brand without opening a single retail store.

How about the legal field?

Think of the lawyers you know or have read about who are at the top of their field. The odds are there is something about them that’s different.

It may be their personality or remarkable trial skills and record. They may have notable clients or a track record in a certain niche. They may have taken on controversial clients or cases or championed a notorious cause.

Yes, they may have had the right connections or stumbled into a bit of luck, but you can bet they parlayed their luck into even bigger success.

As the presenter pointed out, great achievers think out of their industry’s box, while the majority run their lives on auto pilot.

If you want to be among the 3% and leave the majority behind, one place to start is by looking at how your competition does (or doesn’t do) their marketing and make that your point of differentiation.

One idea, one campaign, can make all the difference.

To learn how to do that, head on over here

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success

Overwhelmed?

March 30, 2020 by David M. Ward

I’m not talking about the recent news, I’m talking about your practice.

Too much work to do, too much to read, too many projects in your pipeline that never get off the ground.

Every day, you get 50 emails about marketing and managing your practice, on top of emails relating to client work and emails from someone trying to sell you something.

You don’t want to miss something important. But sorting the wheat from the chaff takes mental energy. . . and time.

I get it. It’s daunting.

But you’re running a business with a lot of moving parts, people, and important issues, and details matter. So, in addition to the work, you have to stay on top of everything else.

Sometimes, a lot gets pushed to the side, or to the future. Sometimes, the work doesn’t get done on time. Sometimes, you finish the day exhausted.

And the emails continues to pile up.

Here’s the thing.

The lawyers who earn top dollar have as much work as you do and get just as much email as you do, but they don’t get overwhelmed.

Because they work LESS than most lawyers.

They’re able to do that because they’ve set up their practice so they only focus on the most important tasks.

The tasks that move the needle.

The tasks that bring in more clients and better clients and let them continually grow their income.

If you’d like to find out how to do it

Go here

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

What are you excited about?

March 5, 2020 by David M. Ward

If your practice in a rut, the thrill is gone and you’re wondering if that’s all there is, there is a solution.

Find something to get excited about.

A new practice area
A new office
A new slant on your existing service
A new niche market
A new productivity system
A new strategic alliance
A new website, presentation, or podcast
A new book or course
A new client who knows “everyone”

Something that keeps you up at night thinking about. Something that makes you smile when you remember it during the day.

Kinda like when you started your practice and everything was new and you were filled with enthusiasm and ideas and unlimited energy.

Because getting excited invigorates you, fuels your creativity, and helps you step on the accelerator.

Funny thing, what you get excited about doesn’t have to be related to your practice.

If you have identified a new investment with tremendous promise, if you meet a new person who could be “the one,” if you’re excited about (finally) getting in shape, if you have a new side hustle. . .

It could ignite a fire in you that spreads to other parts of your life.

Find something to get excited about, or reconnect with the motivation and energy you had when you started your practice.

When you do, you’ll be able to kiss the rut goodbye.

How to take a quantum leap in your practice

Filed Under: Inspiration, success Tagged With: Get out of a rut

Are you a perfectionist?

February 20, 2020 by David M. Ward

Many lawyers are obsessed with getting the details right. So are many artists and creative people and business leaders.

Perfectionists often create superior results, but their obsession with making things “perfect” often causes them to procrastinate.

Maybe you can relate.

How do you do good work and get better results without getting ensnared in the net of perfectionism?

The answer isn’t to fight your natural tendency, it is to re-focus it.

Instead of obsessing over every detail, train yourself to obsess about the details that matter.

The things that deliver the biggest return on your investment.

The 20% that delivers 80% of your results.

In your writing, that means giving extra attention to your headlines and email subject lines. They do the heavy lifting by getting more people to read what you wrote.

In a negotiation or a closing argument, you don’t have to win ever point or collect every dollar, as long as you’re getting enough to be able to call it a win.

In your marketing campaigns, you don’t have to attract everyone with a problem you can solve, as long as you’re attracting a preponderance of your ideal clients.

There will always be room to improve, but if you’re getting good results, let go of the things that aren’t important (or delegate them) so you can focus on what’s important and what you do best.

You don’t have to be good all marketing if you’re good at getting referrals

Filed Under: Productivity, success Tagged With: 80-20-principle, 80/20 rule, perfectionism

If you love what you do, 2 things happen

February 14, 2020 by David M. Ward

When you love your work, you look forward to getting to the office each day, your work is relatively easy to do, and you almost always get better results.

The other thing that happens when you love what you do: the people in your life can sense it.

Your clients and prospects, colleagues and centers of influence see your passion. They see your confidence and the ease with which you carry yourself.

They know you’re happy and successful, and they are drawn to you.

What happens when you don’t love your work? When you have to force yourself to do it? When you are basically phoning it in?

You feel unfulfilled. Unmotivated. Unhappy.

You aren’t excited about getting to work, and your results aren’t always what they could be.

And people sense this about you.

They see the furrow in your brow or hear the tension in your voice. They get a sense that you’d rather be somewhere else.

The same dynamic occurs at the micro level. If you love Twitter, for example, you’ll eagerly be there every day–you won’t have to remember to post or force yourself to come up with something to say.

Or hire someone to do it for you.

If you hate Facebook, it will be a chore. Something you dread. Something you have to force yourself to do.

Of course, loving/not loving are extremes. You may love some aspects of your work and hate others. A little introspection can help you identify what you need to change.

And change you should.

Because while you can make a nice living doing competent legal work and showing up every day, if you want to earn a fortune and be happy, you should do what you love, not just what you’re good at.

If you’re ready to take a quantum leap in your practice, go here

Filed Under: success

The perfect law practice

February 13, 2020 by David M. Ward

If you could design the perfect law practice (perfect for you, that is), what would it look like?

Why not take some time and write it out?

Consider things such as:

Where would you have your office(s)?
Which practice area(s) would you focus on? Eliminate? Add?
How much would you earn?
What types of clients or cases would you have? How many?
What billing model(s) would you use?
Would you work for a big firm? Own the firm? Would you have partners?
How many employees would you have?
How would you build your practice? What marketing methods would you use?
Where would you live? How long would you commute?
How many hours would you work per day/week? How many weeks would you take off each year?

Don’t stop there. You’re designing your perfect practice (and life) so make sure you have everything the way you want it.

Once you’ve done this exercise, put it away for a few hours or a day or two, come back to it, add or modify it, and then ask yourself two questions:

1) How much of this do I already have in place?

You may be pleasantly surprised to discover that you already have much of what you want, or close to it. If not, you’ll know exactly what needs to change.

2) How do I get from where I am to where I want to go?

Asking this question will help you create a list of things to do, think about, or research. It will also prompt your subconscious mind to start looking for answers.

If you take the time to do this, develop a plan and begin working on it, the impact can be life changing.

This can help you plan your ideal practice

Filed Under: Increase your income, Marketing Plan, success

Decision making 2.0

January 24, 2020 by David M. Ward

We have so many options today it’s hard to choose. Which project, which task, which app? Which marketing method, which market, which topic for our next article or talk?

Should we recommend settlement or to hold out for more? Should we accept juror number 10 or challenge them? Should we vote for this candidate or that one?

We’re logical creatures and nit-pickers and smarter than the average bear so you’d think we would make good choices.

Too often we don’t.

So, I propose a new way to make decisions. A new standard for choosing what’s best.

And it’s not based on logic or weighing the facts.

This new way to decide is to look at each option and see how we feel about it.

And. . . if it’s not “hell, yes!” then it’s “hell no”.

We choose what excites us. Even if it goes against conventional wisdom or the counsel of our partners, colleagues, or friends.

Because our gut knows best.

If you gut tells you option A is the right choice, that’s what you go with. If you’re excited, you’ll give it everything you’ve got, making success that much more likely.

You’ll also have a lot more fun.

Especially when everyone thinks you’re crazy and you prove them wrong.

So, what do you think about my idea?

Actually, wrong question. How does this idea make you feel?

Are you with me?

Is it a hell yes or a hell no?

NB: if you have to think about it, you’ve already made your decision.

Which marketing method? Here’s what I’d choose

Filed Under: success

Working hard or hardly working?

January 10, 2020 by David M. Ward

Many lawyers complain (brag) about having too much work to do. Other lawyers don’t have enough work (clients, cases, billable hours) and want more.

How about you?

Are you earning as much as you want? Working as much as you want? Are you working too hard or are you ready for more?

Hold on. It’s not as simple as getting more clients or working fewer hours. There’s another option.

You could bring in “better” clients and “bigger” cases.

Instead of clients who pay $5,000 or $10,000, what if you brought in clients who pay $25,000 or $50,000?

Instead billing $300 per hour, what if you could get clients who pay $800 per hour?

Instead of handling tort cases with $20,000 contingency fees, what if you could attract the ones with six- and seven-figure potential?

They’re out there. Someone is getting these cases and clients. Why not you?

I’ll tell you why not. Perhaps, deep down, you don’t want them. You know you’d have to do too much to get them, and if you did get them, you’d have to do more work or take on more overhead or deal with more pressure than you want.

And that’s fair.

For most of my career, I handled small to medium cases and clients, for those very reasons. And made a good living doing it.

So, if that’s what appeals to you, I’m on your side.

Right now, we’re hearing a lot about a four-hour work-week. Some companies who’ve tried it are reporting more productive and happier employees and no loss of revenue. Some companies say they’re earning more.

In my practice, I cut my work-week down to three days and saw my income soar.

Anything’s possible.

You can earn more and work less. You can build the practice and lifestyle you want.

Some advice:

This year, instead of waiting to see what happens, decide what you want to happen and find ways to make it so.

This can help

Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Law office management, success