My colleague, Paula Black has launched her 5thbook. This one is in audio format, and consists of 26 fascinating stories. It’s entitled A Lawyer’s Guide to Creating a Life, Not Just a Living.  It contains great advice from lawyers ranging from a federal judge to government officials, and lawyers of all stripes and size law firms. The storytellers talk about their legal career paths and its effect on their lives. It also has advice from such luminaries as marketing experts Daniel Decker and Mark Cerniglia.

The stories are filled with nuggets of wisdom. Sometimes we lawyers think we are the only ones facing challenging issues. A Lawyer’s Guide to Creating a Life, Not Just a Living will dispel that notion.

Great job, Paula!

Below is an email that I originally sent to our clients and prospective clients at Spotlight Branding. I wanted to share it on this blog as well – I hope it’s helpful!

[Poolside in Orlando]

So I’m sitting by the hotel pool in Orlando. I’m here for a marketing conference featuring Dan Kennedy and we’re on break right now.

But I’m writing this post right now with a lesson that has nothing to do with the actual conference itself.

Last night I flew from Charlotte to Orlando. I flew into Orlando-Sanford airport, which is a smaller regional airport. It worked better for my schedule than the main airport. But it’s about 30 miles from my hotel so I needed ground transportation.

Sanford airport has an interesting set-up. There’s a taxi stand, and then immediately next to it is the Uber pickup spot.

So I pulled up my app and checked the price for an Uber. $55 bucks.

Then I asked a taxi driver how much it would cost to get me to my hotel.

He was a nice guy, super friendly, but he obviously didn’t want to answer the question. Finally he did – $95.

I thanked him and then walked over to the Uber line.

As I left I heard him say to another driver “I wish we didn’t have to give them the price.”

In the five minutes I was there, I saw the scene repeat itself a handful of times.

There was a line for Uber drivers. No one got in a taxi.

The taxi drivers just stood there and watched it happen.

I know this isn’t a new dynamic. I’ve been Ubering for years and probably taken a taxi twice in that span.

But watching the action unfold side-by-side, and seeing how demoralized and helpless the taxi drivers were as it went down, really stuck with me last night. They’ve got kids to feed and bills to pay and they’re watching their livelihood go down the drain.

So there are a few marketing lessons here and one that’s especially important.

First. Don’t make it easy for clients to price shop. It was comically easy for me to compare prices. The taxi driver knew exactly what was going to happen but he couldn’t do anything about it. Don’t make it so easy.

Second. Don’t permit apples-to-apples comparison. Since there’s no real difference in the experience whether I take an Uber or a taxi, why would I pay 2x the price. How can you create a unique experience or a unique value proposition for clients?

Third. If you haven’t built a brand for yourself, you’re a commodity. This is the big one. Because there’s no difference between the Uber or the taxi, I’m choosing the cheaper option 100% of the time. And so was everyone else last night. What other reasons, beyond cost, can you give for clients to hire you?

Fourth. This is bigger than you. I think that the reason this stuck with me is because the emotions of the taxi driver were obvious last night. He’s depending on his income and others are depending on him as well. His company leadership and his industry failed him in a big way. And now he’s probably worrying about paying the bills and feeding his kids.

Who’s depending on you?

What are you going to do to build a brand for yourself instead of becoming a commodity?

How can you make your price irrelevant to prospective clients?

We can help you with some of this. Click here to request your Discovery Call.

But whether you engage us or not, please give this some thought. The legal market is changing. It’s easier for people to find cheap legal help than it’s ever been. Don’t be that taxi driver.

-Daniel Decker
Partner
Spotlight Branding

Relationships are critical when it comes to business development. That’s why so many lawyers spend time networking and building relationships.

But there’s something that a lot of lawyers don’t seem to pick up on… which is that creating a great first impression isn’t enough! 

We’ve all been there – a great conversation with a potential referral source at a networking event. There’s great synergy, you really hit it off, and you leave excited by the connection that you just created.

But then… nothing happens.

Why? Because your first impression, no matter how good it is, is still just a first impression. It takes more than a first impression to create a relationship. It takes repeated interactions to reinforce that first impression and lay the foundation for a mutually-beneficial relationship.

The good news is that many of those touch-points can be systematized and scaled so that you don’t have to spend every waking hour staying in touch with your network.

The best way to make this happen is through an email newsletter that goes out once per month at minimum. It’s easy and inexpensive to get your newsletter set up. And then, it takes a few hours per month to create content, build the newsletter, and send it out. (Or you can hire a professional firm to handle this for you.) With the push of a button, you reach your entire network with a powerful reminder of who you are and what you do.

Social media is another great tool to accomplish this. Connect with everyone in your network on LinkedIn. I highly recommend a Twitter profile and a Facebook Business Page as well. Create and publish content on a daily basis, or at least a few times per week. This is another powerful and scalable channel that you can use to create repeated touch-points and create top-of-mind awareness.

Finally, it’s important that you have a website that positions you as a credible expert and thought leader within your niche. Many times, the first thing that someone does after they’ve met you is look you up online. If you don’t have a website, or if it’s not impressive, that good first impression you made loses some of its power. On the other hand, if your website makes you look good, it further reinforces their perception of you. Think of your website as your “wingman” when you’re out networking. It’s got your back, day or night, and it’s always making you look good!

A great first impression isn’t enough. It’s important to create a marketing system that keeps you top-of-mind with your network and positions you as a credible expert. That’s how you build a steady flow of referrals and repeat business for your law practice!

Want to learn more? Click here for instant access to our Special Report which offers practical tips you can apply immediately.

The lawyers I work with often lament that they never have time for business development. But, is that really true? We have all been there… needing to do two or three things at once or having to do more in a day then is humanly possible. We seldom examine how we are trying to get things done. Nicolas Cole a contributor to Inc.com took a look and found that it just might be our habits that are killing our productivity.

Cole points out:

1. Constantly Checking Your Phone
2. Not Really Listening
3. Multitasking
4. Working With the Television On
5. Working in Unproductive Environments
6. Working With Unproductive People
7. Lack of Preparation
8. Notifications…OFF!

Think about them and you must admit that these 8 habits do kill our productivity. When I read number 4 – working with the television on, I said YIKES! Yes, that’s my habit and I know it IS distracting and I would be more productive if I would turn it off. I think I’ll work on minimizing the affect of this habit on my productivity and just turn it off! (Okay… I did it!)

What habit do YOU want to tackle to become more productive and have more time for business development?

 

 

Smart marketing starts by focusing on your existing assets and resources. What do you already have in place that you can do a better job of leveraging?

For most lawyers, the first item on that list is their network – their relationships. Your network of current clients, past clients, colleagues, supportive family and friends, and others is a valuable asset that holds the potential for significant growth.

But when you talk to most marketing companies – especially internet marketers – you won’t hear a word about leveraging relationships. Instead the focus is on “cold” lead generation – often through SEO or Pay-Per-Click advertising.

And don’t get me wrong, there can be a time and place for that type of advertising. But it doesn’t make sense to spend thousands of dollars on a new, speculative campaign when you have existing resources at your disposal that aren’t being leveraged to the fullest.

Start with the low-hanging fruit. Start by maximizing your existing network to drive referrals and repeat business. 

Referred clients are almost always superior to new clients from other sources for several reasons. So it just makes sense to focus your marketing on referrals first. Here are five reasons why this is the case:

1 – Low Cost of Acquisition. Referrals are far less expensive to generate than any other type of client. There’s often no direct cost, and even when you factor in referral-generating tools such as an email newsletter and social media marketing, the cost-per-client for referrals is typically much less than a client generated through other forms of advertising. This is true in my business, at Spotlight Branding, and if you’d like me to share some of our internal marketing data illustrating this, just shoot me an email. Daniel@SpotlightBranding.com.

2 – Instant Trust. One of the hardest tasks for every business is persuading the client or customer to take the leap of faith – pull out their wallet, sign on the dotted line, and move forward. It’s particularly difficult in the legal field because the stakes are higher and the dollar amounts are significant. Building your practice through referrals helps you to circumvent this – because when a trusted friend or colleague makes a referral to you, their trust and credibility is transferred to you. You don’t have to start from scratch because someone has already vouched for you! This shows up in higher conversion rates. I was talking to a lawyer here in Charlotte last month and he told me that his conversion rate for referrals is approximately 70% – compared to about 25% for all other sources of business.

3 – Avoid “Sticker Shock.” There’s nothing more frustrating than having a great conversation with a prospective client, feeling like you’re aligned and that there’s great chemistry, only to have them freak out when they find out how much your services are going to cost. Referred clients generally know what to expect with regard to your rates, and they typically won’t reach out to you if they can’t afford you.

4 – Mutual Respect. We’ve all dealt with nightmare clients. Clients who abuse our time and abuse our staff. Or who simply have unrealistic expectations and become frustrated when the engagement doesn’t play out the way they expected it to. A client who is referred to you is less likely to go in this direction. There’s a preexisting relationship because of the mutual relationship you have with the individual who made the referral. If you look back at it, I bet you’ll find that most of the time, referred clients are easier to work with than clients who came to you through other sources.

5 –  More Likely to Refer in the Future. Finally, clients who have been referred to you are statistically more likely to make referrals in the future, creating the possibility for an endless chain of referrals. There have been a variety of studies on this topic, but the best breakdown I’ve seen comes from this book. I highly recommend that you check it out.

I could keep going, but hopefully you see the point. Referrals are the low-hanging fruit when it comes to your law firm marketing. Focus on maximizing your referrals before you spend money on speculative marketing and advertising to the outside world.

If you want some practical ideas, click here for free access to our infographic entitled “Four Ways to Generate More Referrals.“

Chances are this is how you’re networking, collecting business cards that will remain in your pocket until you wear that jacket again. Instead, you could be building relationships that really matter?

Let me ask you. Do you look at an event on your calendar and think… I would give my right arm to just go home rather than this event? I hate smiling and acting as though I’m interested in what anyone is saying. Actually I don’t even like those people. Then you snap out of it. You grab a cup of coffee that gives you a little jolt and vow… I’m going and I will be the most charming person in the room!

Tell me which YOU really shows up at that event? Chances are its someone in between. And I guarantee you that whomever you meet recognizes the insincerity, forced smile and faked interest. I’m telling you now, instead go home because the event will be a big waste of time… yours and everyone you meet.

There is a better way.

Instead go home and think about what you really want in your practice. Who is your ideal client? Where do they go? What is important to them? How could you help them? What circles would you like to be a part of? NOW… how can you act on the answers to these questions? This process is strategic and it’s the foundation to building relationships that matter.

How can you build trust with these new people? There is one question that Inc. Magazine writer John Hall asserts will be a game changer.

How can I be helpful to you?

Yes, it’s a simple question that could change the trajectory of your practice and your life. Hall points out:

  • It allows you to help others better.
  • It cuts through any potential awkwardness of a new relationship.
  • It enables you to be proactive.

Try it! You will be building relationships that matter, and that IS a game changer!

Over the past seven years at Spotlight Branding, we’ve worked with hundreds of lawyers across the country. In that time we’ve had literally thousands of conversations with attorneys. And one of the things that jumps out at me, looking back on those conversations, is how often marketing decisions are driven by tools instead of strategy.

Quite frankly, I don’t blame lawyers for getting this backward – it’s our fault, collectively, in the marketing world. So often, marketers talk exclusively about tools with no regard whatsoever to building a cohesive marketing strategy. 

Here are some examples of a tools-oriented conversation:

  • How can I show up higher on Google?
  • How can I reach more people on Facebook?
  • How can I generate more leads from my website?
  • How can I use Instagram in my marketing?

These aren’t bad questions. But they are secondary questions, and too often lawyers and marketers treat them as the primary questions. And as a result, they end up with a disjointed and ineffective marketing strategy.

There are an endless amount of tools that you can leverage in your marketing, and they’re changing every day. Google, Facebook, email marketing, video, direct mail, billboards, radio, TV, third-party apps, PPC ads, and the list goes on. But if you don’t have a defined strategy to serve as a filter and a guide, to create context for these tools, they end up driving you rather than the other way around. 

If you asked me “how can I show up higher on Google?,” I’d ask you WHY you want to show up on Google.

To get more clients? OK – well what if I told you that there are easier, cheaper, and more predictable ways to get more clients? For example, the average lawyer is only capturing about one-third of the referrals that they could be getting from their existing network. Figuring out how to maximize your referrals is a whole lot cheaper and more predictable than fighting for top position on Google! That’s the low-hanging fruit, and that’s where every lawyer should start.

Rather than worrying about Facebook or Instagram reach, first have the conversation about how you want to use social media in general. Are you using it to build your brand, to generate new “cold” leads, to stay in touch with your referral network? There’s no “right” answer, but what matters is that you’ve defined your objectives.

So rather than focusing on the tools that are available to you, or more accurately, the tools that are being sold to you… here are the types of questions you should be considering:

  • Who is your ideal client?
  • Where does your ideal client spend time? What media sources do they consume? What types of events do they go to?
  • What’s your brand – what do you stand for?
  • What makes you different than the competitors in your market?
  • Who are your best referral sources and how can you stay top-of-mind with them?
  • How many new clients/cases/matters do you need to win each month to meet your financial goals?
  • What is your maximum acceptable Cost of Acquisition – aka how much can you afford to spend to win a new client?
  • How are you going to generate leads?
  • How are you going to build your brand?
  • How are you going to stay in touch with prospective clients who haven’t hired you yet?
  • How can you maximize referrals and repeat business?

Do you see the difference?

Once you’ve answered the big-picture strategic questions, you can talk about the tools in a much more strategic and cohesive way.

Strategy drives tools… the tools exist to serve and execute the strategy. Don’t get it backward! 

Want more tips & inspiration for your law firm marketing? Click here for instant access to our Special Report entitled “How Your Internet Foundation Will Make or Break Your Marketing”!

 

 

Everyday we look at our “To Do” list and it never seems to get smaller. It grows by the day. We try to prioritize our list. Everyone has hundreds of methods they’ve tried. And yet the problem persists. Maybe we are doing what Seth Godin points out:

Most of what we do at work all day is one of these three.

Fun: It’s engaging, it gives us satisfaction, people smile.

Urgent: Someone else (or perhaps we) decided that this paper is on fire and it has to be extinguished before anything else happens.

Fear-based: Most common of all, the things we do to protect ourselves from the fear we’d have to sit with if we didn’t do them.

Not on this list: important.

A day spent doing important work is rare indeed. Precious, too.”

Wow, important work! Think about that one. Are the things on your list impacting others, are you making a difference? As I write this I can’t help but think of the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. The pride they must feel for doing the work they know is IMPORTANT. Mrs. Douglas would have been proud.

Everyone knows that the purpose of marketing your law practice is bringing in new clients… right?

Well, yes. But that’s only part of the story. In fact, it’s just as important that your marketing keeps the wrong clients out of your law practice. Here’s what I mean by the “wrong” clients. Have you dealt with any of this recently?

  • Clients who can’t or won’t pay you on time.
  • Clients who need work outside of your area of focus.
  • Clients who abuse your time and your staff’s’ time.
  • Clients who don’t respect you and don’t value your expertise.
  • Potential New Clients (PNC) who ask a bunch of questions, take up a bunch of your time, and then don’t hire you.

Symptoms of working with too many of the wrong clients include:

  • Never-ending cash-flow stress because you’re not getting paid on time – or at all.
  • Constantly being forced to re-invent the wheel because no two client engagements look the same.
  • Stress and unhappiness – nobody enjoys dealing with jerks all day!
  • Too much time and effort spent in the intake process, and not enough business won.
  • Operating your law practice probably won’t be much fun, because every day is a struggle and it’s hard to get ahead.

If some or all of that sounds familiar… your marketing is at least part of the problem. So here’s what you can do about it. In a nutshell, you need to build a brand that positions you as irresistibly attractive to the “right” clients while keeping everyone else away. Here are practical ways to make this happen:

Puzzle Piece #1 – Build your ACE brand – Authority, Credibility, Expertise. Many of the problems discussed above stem directly from the perception that your clients and PNCs have of you and your practice. The more that clients view you as a commodity – more or less interchangeable with other lawyers or legal services – the more problems you’re going to have. Conversely, if you can develop a brand for yourself that positions you as a leading expert, as highly respected and skilled, as uniquely valuable… many of these problems will go away. Invest into building your brand and positioning yourself as “the best” at what you do in your market. Consider writing a book. Look for speaking engagements. Write blogs and articles. Get active on social media. Use video to tell your story and enhance your credibility. Look for opportunities to appear on TV or on the radio.

Puzzle Piece #2 – Focus on a niche. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. It’s hard to position yourself as an expert if you’re a generalist. I highly recommend narrowing your focus to a single practice area, or a group of related practice areas. Here’s a thought experiment for you: Imagine that a loved one is having a health crisis and you’re looking for a doctor. What would your preference be – a generic practitioner or a specialist with a focus in the specific health issue your loved one is dealing with?

Of course you’d choose the specialist. You’d be willing to pay more for his/her services. You’d probably be sure to pay on time. And you’d treat the professional with the respect he/she deserves. Right? The same is true for you in your law practice.

This may sound scary, but you can start by simply narrowing the focus of your marketing. You don’t have to turn down clients in other practice areas. We all have bills to pay and you may not be ready to turn down paying clients yet. So you can continue to take work in other areas, even as you focus your marketing on a specific niche.

Puzzle Piece #3 – Sharpen your marketing message. Once you’ve identified your niche, you can tailor your marketing message directly to them. If you’re targeting women who are considering divorce, use language that resonates with them. If you’re targeting retired couples who are planning for the future of their estate, build your brand and your message for maximum appeal to them.

The more you can tailor your message specifically to your target clients, the more you’ll attract them. And you’ll turn away PNCs that don’t fit the profile.

Put the puzzle together and you can attract clients instead of chasing them. You create power and leverage when you position yourself as an ACE within a specific niche. You naturally begin to attract clients who value your expertise and the unique value that you create. You condition your clients to do things your way instead of being forced to reinvent the wheel every time you get a new engagement. This is how you create power in the marketplace. It’s how you attract the right clients and keep the wrong ones away. Ultimately, it’s how you build a sustainably profitable practice and attract work that you enjoy doing.

So ask yourself… is your marketing keeping the wrong people OUT of your law firm? If not, what are you going to do about it?

If you’d like more information and more practical steps to build a powerful brand that attracts the right clients while keeping the wrong ones away, click here to download our FREE Special Report entitled How to Create MarketPower™ And Grow Your Law Firm.

Life is too short to spend it doing something you hate. That’s why it’s so important to define success for yourself and work towards a career and a life that energizes you and fulfills your passion.

But I can hear the objections now… 

that sounds great, but I’m stuck in this job and I hate it but I can’t leave because there’s nothing better…”

I get it… most of us can look back at our career and identify time periods that we didn’t love. First of all, if you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to have a long-term plan to get you moving towards something you truly enjoy. But in the meantime, there are likely steps that you can take to make your current position more fulfilling. Here are four suggestions.

Take control of your time by learning to say no. One of the most common complaints I hear from lawyers relate to demanding people – often clients and colleagues. These lawyers constantly feel pressured and behind the eight-ball. They end up stressed out, working long hours, and hating every minute of it. The solution is to learn when and how to say no. With clients, it can be as simple as “I can’t get that for you right this minute- but I can have it to you within 48 hours, is that okay?” With colleagues you can take the same approach, or you can tactfully let them know that you don’t have the time right now to spend on their request. When you learn to say no, you take back control of your time, and that’s a BIG deal.

Figure out what you do enjoy about your work and how you can spend more time doing that. Chances are there are some aspects of your work that you enjoy. What are they? How can you put yourself in position to do MORE of this type of work? For example, if there’s a specific type of matter that you enjoy, consider telling your managing partner how much you enjoy it… and why you think you do a great job at it. If much of your work comes from referrals, let your referral sources know what kind of work you’re looking for!

Make time for rest, relaxation, and sleep. When you’re overworked, often the first thing you sacrifice is sleep. And you likely find yourself sacrificing time with your family and friends. You may also find it difficult to find the time to exercise, to read, and to pursue your other interests. It’s important that you do everything you can to manage your time efficiently in order to MAKE time for these non-work priorities. Otherwise you’ll wake up one morning and realize that you’re miserable.

Create a longer-term plan which will move you in a direction you’re excited about… and start taking baby steps! You may be in a difficult position at the moment and you may have limited options. But the GOOD NEWS is that this situation won’t last unless you let it! Make the commitment to figure out what you want your career and your life to look like and create a plan to get there. Figure out what success looks like for YOU and begin acting on it. I would love to help you with this process if you’d like to chat – feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email.