5 Steps to Help You Keep Your Focus
We all know how tough it is out there these days, so I’m not going to belabor the point. Instead, I’m going to give you 5 tips that will help keep you focused and moving forward. Here they are:
- Focus on the positive. I recommend making a list of all the good things that happen to you each day and keep it posted near your computer as a constant reminder that not everything is bad.
- Focus on what you can control, instead of what you cannot control. You cannot control the global markets, the investment banks or the economy. You can only control your actions so create an action plan of what steps you are going to take to
keep moving forward. Have a heart-to-heart talk with every attorney in your firm and require them to submit 3 specific steps they will take in the next 90 days to generate more business for your firm.
- Focus on improving client satisfaction and retention. Send out a client satisfaction survey; all up your top 10 clients and take them to lunch; stay connected with your current and former clients—ask them what challenges they are facing and how you can assist them. Perhaps you can introduce them to a banking colleague for a much needed business line of credit or a real estate broker who can help them sublease some office space.
- Focus on implementing your marketing plan. When this economic crisis is over, you will find some firms have just barely managed to survive, while others have grown significantly. The difference is when everyone else was pulling back, some firms saw this as the perfect opportunity to expand their marketing and increase their efforts. Which path will you follow?
- Focus on connecting with referral sources. Go through your Rolodex and reconnect with every single person who sent you a referral in the last 24 months and start meeting with them in person.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your small or solo law practice when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreat is scheduled for Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
A Simple Follow-up System for Business Cards
Here’s an easy follow-up system for something we all collect—and often do nothing with—other people’s business cards:
Create an Excel spreadsheet. In the first column, place the event name. Follow in the other columns with:
- The name of the individual.
- Their email address.
- Their telephone number.
- Why you want to follow-up.
- When you should follow up.
Then every single time after attending a networking event, the first time you’re back in the office, go directly to your Excel sheet. Complete the fields with your new information. Do not read your email, make a phone call, or begin any other task until you have filled out your Excel spreadsheet.
Keep the business cards as well, and make little notes on the back to refresh your memory..jpg)
For example, say, “hot prospect,” “call after January,” “put on my newsletter list,” or “follow-up with name of referral.”
And then, the hard part—follow-up. Once you’ve followed-up, note the date and time of the follow-up and some brief notes on your conversation in the Excel spreadsheet.
This is so easy to do and helps you keep track of every individual you meet. Every day, or once a week, open up your spreadsheet and start filling in the list. Before you know it, you will have an effective and useful system that you soon will discover you cannot live without.
Keeping track of all this information helps you to avoid excuses, like “I can’t find their business card” and offers extremely easy access and organization. You might also consider purchasing a business card file case to hold all the cards in the same place, too.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your small or solo law practice when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreat is scheduled for Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call .
Take Control of Your Future--NOW
When it comes to doing law firm marketing, by all means avoid the “shotgun” approach by doing a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a press release here, a blog post there. Each of these is a powerful marketing tactic and a vital part of your marketing strategy; however, to truly get the most out of them in practice development dollars you need to organize your time. After all, you can always make more money, but once time is spent, it is gone forever.
Therefore, the key to moving forward with your practice throughout the year is directly related to finding ways to more fully automate your practice, including a solid follow-up plan, press releases, blogs, newsletters, autoresponders and webinars.
It can seem overwhelming at first, but it’s not difficult when you have a plan, draw out timelines, have invested your time and money in the right campaigns and, most important, know where you have been and where you are going.
It’s not going to happen accidently. Despite your busy days, endless phone calls and mountains of paperwork, marketing proactively and deliberately is something you can no longer ignore. Recent advances in technology can help you boost your bottom line and simplify and automate your practice as the legal profession is becoming more and more competitive.
(In my next post, I will give you an easy way to create an effective follow-up system for something that we all have—other people’s business cards.)
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your small or solo law practice when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreat is scheduled for Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call .
Why Market Your Law Firm?
Why do so many attorneys fail at marketing their practices? It all comes down to one simple truth: with a product, the customer can see it, touch it, taste it or feel it. The senses combine to help the customer decide to make the purchase.
But what does the customer have to go on when purchasing a service? Generally speaking, only your words in various forms of advertising, and the words of your satisfied clients.
Specifically speaking, a service purchase cannot be fully evaluated until after the service has been performed. Unfortunately for the consumer, there are no money-back guarantees on legal representation.
Once you understand these differences, you are in a better position to develop the kinds of marketing strategies that work.
Do not falsely assume the client will use rational parameters to evaluate your services before purchasing. The client is as likely to pick you because of your office décor as any other rational reason.
The average client is ill-equipped to use your credentials, education and experience to evaluate your suitability, mostly because the average client does not see a difference from one lawyer to the next.
Statistics show there are more than a million practicing attorneys in the U.S. alone with 30,000 or 40,000 new law school graduates every single year. The field is becoming intensely competitive and will continue on that path, and consumers are likely to carry on as they always have, choosing attorneys for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with skill.
Therefore, it is very important to effectively market your services in ways that are actually related to the way your typical prospect buys your services. The way a typical client arrives at the decision to hand over a retainer is probably far different than you think.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to truly market your law practice – and more -- when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Boycotting the Recession
Well, it’s official. We’ve been in a recession for at least the last 12 months. The media has been harping that it’s the worst we’ve seen since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. I’ve had many conversations with clients all across the country and I know many of you are hurting.
Now, I’m not one to stick my head in the sand and ignore world events; however, if it’s all the same to you, I’m going to sit this recession out.
Why? Because most economists will tell you that a recession is as much psychological as it is financial. Therefore, I’m boycotting the recession.
How? Well, here’s how I’m doing it. And I invite you to join me.
- Don’t make major decisions based upon your emotion. During this stressful time, it’s easy to do so. Therefore, talk to a trusted advisor or mentor and ask for their advice before you make that final decision on major issues.
- Don’t cut back on your level of customer service—increase it. Think of this as your unique competitive advantage.
- Continue to invest in marketing. Done properly, marketing is not an expense; it’s an investment. And since your competitors are holding back, then this is the perfect time to continue your marketing to help you pull past those competitors.
- Call all your best clients every month. Check in with them to see how things are going and how you can help. They’ll appreciate being able to talk business owner to business owner.
- Take care of yourself. Last, but not least, make sure you’re taking care of yourself—get plenty of rest and balanced nutrition and take time out just for yourself, to recharge your own batteries.
Follow these tips and you’ll not only be helping me boycott this recession, but you’ll be doing your practice—and yourself—a world of good.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to truly market your law practice – and more -- when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 
1-888-588-5891
Take Part in the Best Practices Survey (Part 3 of 3)
Because local and state bar associations play such vital roles in the advancement of the legal profession, we of The Rainmaker Institute have a unique opportunity for these organizations:
Become a sponsor of The Rainmaker Institute 2009 National Survey of Best Practices in Small Law Firm Marketing.
Already, a dozen or more state and local bar associations have taken advantage of this opportunity, organizations including the Indiana and Minnesota State Bar Associations and some local bar associations in Arizona and New York.
For their sponsorship, state and local bar associations receive some added benefits, including special access to survey information not available to anyone else.
What does sponsorship cost?
Sponsorship costs nothing – absolutely nothing. All we ask is that participating state and local bar associations promote this survey among their members.
To find out more about the added benefits of sponsorship or to become a sponsor, please email Beth Mitchell at: beth@therainmakerinstitute.com
P.S. – Attorneys: Have you taken The Rainmaker Institute 2009 National Survey of Best Practices in Small Law Firm Marketing? If you haven’t, please do. It will only take about 7-10 minutes of your time. Go to: www.rainmakersurvey.com
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your small or solo law practice when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Take Part in the Best Practices Survey (Part 2 of 3)
Have you taken The Rainmaker Institute 2009 National Survey of Best Practices in Small Law Firm Marketing?
If you haven’t, please do. It will only take about 7-10 minutes of your time.
Go to: www.rainmakersurvey.com
When you take it, not only are you contributing to a law firm marketing best practices knowledge base in areas including:
- Current challenges and obstacles to growth faced by small firms.
- Specific strategies used by top attorneys to build their practices.
- Statistically-valid data on the critical variables in determining a law firm’s achievement.
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but also you do receive some added benefits. They include:
- An Executive Summary of the findings, including analysis of the entire data sample.
- A white paper highlighting “Best Practices” to help you implement proven business development strategies.
- Exclusive access to 3 conference calls after the survey to discuss key findings and specific action steps you can apply to generate more clients during this difficult economic time.
So I encourage you to take the survey by going to: www.rainmakersurvey.com
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your small or solo law practice when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Take Part in the Best Practices Survey (Part 1 of 3)
When it comes to law firm marketing, have you ever wondered:
- What your competition is doing?
- If you could be employing better, faster, more cost-effective legal marketing strategies?
- What combination of law firm marketing strategies will help you increase your client
base?
If you ever asked these—and other—questions about law firm marketing, now’s the time to get answers.
How? By participating in the largest legal marketing survey ever conducted. We of The Rainmaker Institute have partnered with more than a dozen state and local bar associations and other trade organizations to bring you this professionally-designed, statistically-valid survey.
Through it, we hope to answer questions such as:
- Current challenges and obstacles to growth faced by small law firms.
- Specific strategies used by top attorneys to build their practices.
- Statistically-valid data on what variables are most critical in determining a law firm’s success.
But to do that, we need you. So please take the survey by going to www.rainmakersurvey.com
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take to better market your small or solo law practice when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call .
Position Yourself as an Expert: How (Part 2 of 2)
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Short of being cited as an expert on TV, however, there are other tactics you can do. Here are a few:
- PRLeads.com
You can sign-up online at a company like www.PRLeads.com and, for about $100, make yourself available as an expert in a specific field.
PRLeads sends out queries stating they need expert opinions. PR Leads will allow you to choose certain categories such as “legal expert” or “legal Industry,” and the next time a journalist needs a quote in that specialty, you might be invited to be interviewed. For the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to create a profile for yourself, that’s a pretty darn good return on investment.
- Yearbook.com
www.yearbook.com is another “paid for” service where you can be listed as an expert. This book is sent out to more than 65,000 journalists all over the country, and journalists use the book to find experts to interview on various topics related to, not only the legal industry, but also other industries.
Marketing your business is an ongoing project, not a once-and-done event. By getting a firm grip on your target market, speaking to that market with the right combination of online and offline marketing solutions, and making sure you stay in touch regularly, your business will continue to grow, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take on establishing yourself as an expert– and more -- when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in Los Angeles and Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th in Las Vegas. Register early and receive $200.00 off your registration fee and $800.00 worth of bonuses. To register or for more information, go to: www.RainmakerRetreat.com or call 1-888-588-5891.
Position Yourself as an Expert: Why (Part 1 of 2)
With your ezine going well, it’s time to turn your attention to using the power of the media to highlight your accomplishments and to create a more visible platform for your firm.
Here are 3 benefits of using the power of the media as part of your marketing strategy:
- It imparts credibility. When a reporter writes an article on you, this is known as “third party endorsement” and is perceived by potential clients as more credible than an ad placed by you with the same information.
- Positions you as the expert. This goes along with point #1, imparting credibility. So your goal is to seek out journalists covering stories related to corporate
- Adds another “touch.” Marketing research has shown that it takes an average of 7 times (or 7 “touches) until a potential client does business with you. By using the media, this can be on of your “touches” with the added benefit of it not costing you a dime, unlike advertising.
Using media as part of your marketing mix plays a huge role in your success. Remember, it’s crucial to “touch” your clients and prospects consistently to ensure they think of you when the need for legal representation arises.
In my next blog post, I’ll give you specific ways you can get media attention.
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You’ll learn valuable information and practical steps to take on creating your own ezine – and more -- when you attend a Rainmaker Retreat, a two-day marketing boot camp for small and solo law firms. So if you’re a partner in a small law firm or are on your own and want to grow your practice while enjoying the lifestyle you deserve, you owe it to yourself to attend a Rainmaker Retreat. The next Rainmaker Retreats are scheduled for Friday, February 20th through Saturday, February 21st, in
