National Make A Will Week - Every Week

Are your prospects thinking about Wills this week?

There's been some coverage in the press that might be
making them think about it. (See Telegraph article here.)

I have also seen a promotion in my local Reading Post newspaper,

The question I have is this....

Why wait until national Wills week to do a
promotion with several charities?

Flint Bishop have partnered charities
all-year round. Can You?

For the price of a phone call and a follow up
letter you could get a partner with 100,000 members.

That you could mail to, in conjunction with their brand.

Let me know if you want a sample letter.

Read more...

Direct Mail Letters That Sell

If you know you have 3 clients that are similar
how about trying to find some more?

One way you can do this is by writing a sales letter.

Let's say you have 3 charities you work for.

If you can write to another 500 charities
that are similar, with a persuasive letter
and 25 respond then you have an immediate
qualified 25 prospects.

And it cost you £250 to send the initial letters.
That's £10 a lead for your law firm.

Here's my video thoughts on a letter sent to me to try and get me to buy.

If you convert one from 25 you will probably make a
return of at least 10 x the money you have invested.

So why not try it?

Here are some tips that will help you write better sales
letters to market your law firm.

There's another resource on direct mail for solicitors here.
Send a letter with no offer and you’ll get no response -
That's known in the world of marketing as a “waste of money.”

If you do not get the results you need or response is flagging,
check the offer first.

“If you want to dramatically increase your response, dramatically improve your offer.”

“Success in direct mail is 40% lists, 40% offer and 20% everything else.

Before sending out a letter without an offer, think the letter “P”:
only the Printer and the Post Office make money.

A good direct mail letter is as direct and personal
as the writer can make it.

Even though it may go to thousands of people,
it still talks to an individual.

It’s a message from one letter writer to one letter reader.
A sales letter should never be signed by two people.
Two is a committee.

It's impossible to make an emotional connection with a committee.

Do not write “we” in your letter. Write “I”.
This gives the sense that one is getting a letter written by a real person.

If you are available anytime (24/7) for the call, or for more
information, make sure that you are and tell them you are.

They’ll appreciate you saying it, even if they don’t take you up on it. Turning a 50 pence letter into £2500 of business
is a skill that you can easily learn.
Just follow simple, proven and profitable systems.

(Of course the 475 that don't respond
will go into a marketing sequence remember...)

Read more...

Celebrity Status = Trusted Resource

"Boyd, I'm having my picture taken by the
local Gazette newspaper on Monday morning!"

I love getting emails like this.

Someone that tries something different.
And gets publicity. And sales.

Remember, celebrity status = trusted source

Someone should film you getting your
picture taken or giving a seminar whenever it happens.

There's nothing better than a video of a celebrity
that works for you on your website to convince people to buy.

And the reason they are coming to do a story on him?

Read more...

More Testimonials Than Any Other Law Firm On The Planet

You have put your law firm on Google Local right? (Click this link to find out how)

Apart from the fact that Google local helps you get on the first page of Google for searches such as "solicitors in Reading" another reason all law firms must take Google local seriously...because it provides a simple platform to generate tens or even hundreds of online testimonials.

If a law firm like yours started today and got one a day then I expect you would be able to say you are "the World's number one law firm on Google Local" or "More Testimonials Online Than Any Other Law Firm On The Planet." withing 3 months.

Just like this company with more than 1000 reviews.

And it's easy. Just ask every client you have to go to your Google Local listing...

Like this listing for a law firm in Reading...

And ask them to write a review of your services.

That's it. Brilliant testimonials. Online proof of your value. For free.


Check out the websites section of this legal marketing site...

Read more...

October 13th - Can You Use Humour To Sell Your Legal Services?

Did you know that almost 60% of internet use is video? Did you know that most solicitor websites don't use video. Why is that?

One of the problems is that solicitors aren't always comfortable with shooting a video, uploading it to a hosting site, such as YouTube, and then "embedding it" on their website.

I guess it sounds difficult to do. And what about making movies that tell a story. Sounds impossible! But let me ask you...Can you type? Can you point and click and drag with a mouse?

Because take a look at what you can do really easily with some free software.

And you can use this type of thing to get meetings with key corporate clients, on your email newsletters , for praising staff...anything where you want to be noticed and have an effect.

Read more...

October 8th - Do You Have A Reason To Communicate?

Have you ever seen Disney's Jungle Book?
Do you know the bit where the three vultures
are sitting on a tree, just waiting for something to happen

"What we gonna do?" says one.

"I dunno, what we gonna do?" says the other.

And so it goes on until Shere Khan arrives on the scene...

Sometimes you want a reason for "what you're gonna do."

Or what you have to say.

This is where a promotion from a company selling
server space caught my eye. See it here.

It's based on the clocks going back on October 25th.
It's usually an excuse for an hour lie in but Rackspace
are using this annual event as a promotion.

And this made me think.

"Charities benefit from crazy clock rules as
law firm donates hour to good causes."

"Solicitor uses time machine to give over 65's free Wills"

"We've donated our lie in to our clients.
We'd rather help you than have breakfast in bed."

How many events are there a year that you can use to
market your legal services for PR, marketing to your
existing clients and generally creating a USP for your firm?

National Lottery, Halloween, Xmas, New Year,
Wimbledon, X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing...

It's all about using the rising tide of what's
going on, and benefiting from free publicity
for your law firm to grow faster than anyone else.

Read more...

October 6th - Enter the Theatre of the Mind to sell your Wills..

There's been a discussion going on at
Law Gazette about marketing Wills.

One of the contributors came up with a
short list of life changing events that mean people want Wills.

Things like;marriage, divorce, kids, buying a house,
retirement, selling a business etc.

Most people are going through these at any one time.

So there's the opportunity to enter their "theatre of the mind".

This means that you enter the conversation that is
already going on in their heads.

It's much easier than butting in where you are not welcome.

This should dictate the type of subject lines you
write in emails and headlines in letters and stories on your website.

A laser-targeted headline about a subject someone
is thinking about will have a good chance of getting you a hot prospect.

The Head Partnership consistently cross-sell their legal
services in this way.

They know I'm a business owner.

They know I don't have a Will.

Take a look at this legal firm cross-selling email

This may just have hit me at the right time.

(although they missed the "offer" tactic out).

Is there anything stopping you from writing
to all your small business clients and company
owners with something similar?

Remember something is going on in your clients' minds.

You want to learn how to read them
so that you can market your law firm successfully.

What is it today? What will it be tomorrow?
And if you don't know...ask them.

Read more...

September 29th - Halifax Legal Target Great Legal Marketing Owner

Sounds a bit sinister? Well I guess it could be.

Because when I opened my inbox this morning
someone from Halifax was trying to sell me a Will.

And do you know what?
I've wanted to get one for the last 5 years...
so now maybe the time is right.

Some of the lessons to be learnt from their approach
are; communicate, an offer, that's clear and beneficial,
make it personalised and....let's see if they continue to market it -
because the sequence is everything...

Would I use their service?

Would their email and website suck me into and make me buy?

Click to see the video o see what I think.

Read more...

September 24 - 3 Million Wills Written

Oh yes. He's gone and done it.
Partnered up with a great organisation.
That will do his company no end of good.
And it didn't cost him a penny.

And not only has he done it with Oxfam but he's
also got the BMA and Breast Cancer Care.

Access to 3 million people and 500 transactions a month.

There are probably other law firms out there doing the same thing.

I hope so.

Alan is one of the people who gets the
Great Legal Marketing email newsletters.

But I bet he's also someone that does something with them.

Do you?

Alan gave me permission to let everyone know about this deal.

I wanted to ask his permission because he's got a system
that is very valuable.

And it can easily be copied.

In fact, the idea of marketing partners is very old.

The only way it has remained a secret is because of the knowing-doing gap.

You know you should do it.
But you don't do it.

And there are always so many reasons, (excuses) not to.

Aren't there?

Don't say I didn't mention partner marketing for
solicitors to you...it's been here all along.

Remember "if it's not your job, then maybe it's your opportunity?"

And Alan, if you're reading this,
buy yourself a present. A DVD,
a nice restaurant meal, oh..and happy birthday.

Read more...

September 23 - Video presentations for lawyers made easy

Making best use of time, (slaying the time vampires)
is paramount for all of us.

There are lots of technologies coming out that
are free and simple to use that help us in the cause.

They can also be highly effective.

Whether it's video conferencing rather
than travelling hundreds of miles, or
doing something once so that it can
be used again and again.

Take screen casting, where you record what's
on your screen and then send the video to your
prospect or client.

You can use a service such as screenr.com
which automatically tweets (Twitter) your
stuff for public viewing or not, the choice is yours.

The other technology is www.jingproject.com.

It's a great way of producing short powerpoint
with narration videos for your website or for
giving updates of key points by video rather than letter or call.

It could even be used as a video newsletter ;-)

See my marketing videos for solicitors using Screenr

Read more...

September 18th - Personal Testimonials For Solicitors via Linkedin

I am a regular contributor to the Law Gazette blog forum.

And this week there are a few things I mentioned.
One is a comment about Linkedin.

One good thing about Linkedin is that people
type in your name on the internet and discover more
about you via your Linkedin page.

You are being Googled .

Marketing is really about who knows you so it
makes sense to take advantage of Linkedin.

Of course I don't mention everything on the
Law Gazette blogs.

Hell, I'd have no reason to do this legal marketing website if I did.

One of the great things about Linkedin is
that it makes it incredibly easy for solicitors
to get personal testimonials.

If you are on Linkedin and you don't have 5 testimonials
take this challenge.

Ask one person a day, starting today,
to give you a testimonial.

If you want more ideas on testimonials for solicitors go here

(if you want a short email course worth £487 on how to
get testimonials for solicitors then email me today

Make sure that your title is search engine friendly
in Linkedin i.e. that when your name appears on
Google when someone types in your name,
the right title appears in search results.

E.g. Landlord Law Expert rather than just Solicitor.

Read more...

September 14th - People Buy When From Solicitors They Are Ready...

I've been trying a little marketing testing with a solicitor
in the South West.

It involves putting an advert in a local newspaper in Reading,
directing calls through to his Bristol practice and offering Wills by post.

It's looking promising. One of the key elements
though is the way the calls are handled,

(I listen to the calls as they are recorded) and the

follow up marketing sequence that the solicitor has in place.

I expect most solicitors don't have a follow up marketing
sequence for prospects.

And you are probably asking what it is.

It's simply a way of solving the problem
that most prospects only buy when they are ready.

And that's not when you want them to.

The stages of pre-contemplation, contemplation, liking,
trusting, learning, communicating and deciding over a
period of days, weeks and months before they part with their cash.

And if you don't have something that takes them
through this process then you are likely to end
up with a lot less business.

So make sure you have a marketing sequence
in place for your prospects.

And if you don't have one, get in touch and I can help you.

By the way, if you want to run the advert in your
local paper, let me know.

I'll even include a trackable phone number
so you can judge the results for yourself.

Read more...

September 1st - Co-operation or Competition for Law firms?

"Why should I bust a gut, I'm not a legal partner
so I ain't gonna earn more out of doing this!"

That's something you hear in all firms. It made me think of the "up or out" system within law firms.

If you are good enough you make partner
and share in the success. If not, you're part of the "rest".

At least that's how it seems to many people that work as lawyers.

If there's a them and us culture in your firm it means that people are not co-operating. It's more likely that they are competing.

Many people assume wrongly that competition
brings out the best in people.

And the Darwinian "survival of the fittest" is often
used as a scientific justification of this type of approach.

But does competition really help your law firm internally?

When someone wins - someone loses.

And 99% of people have been taught they
if they are not winners they are losers.

And if you lose how does it affect you and your staff?

If the answer is negatively then you are duty bound to find an alternative.

And that is co-operation.

Co-peration is win/win.

It's coaching staff so that you can transfer knowledge,
it's finding best practise and disseminating it, it's scheduling work
so that everyone gets interesting things to work on.

It's not having favourites, it's saying someone
is different not better, it's helping not hindering.

Think about how Amazon allows co-operation between
store owners and buyers.

Or how Linux allows programmers to co-operate on open source software.

Or how Betfair lets punters bet against each other.

There's an old football saying that there is no i in team.

So if you aren't referring internally, working with business
as partners or simply taking the time to help each
other then you are probably over-competing.

Try a bit of un-learning.

Try a bit more co-operation in your law firm.

Put on your next management meeting the words...

How Can We Co-operate More In Our Firm
And Externally With Partners To Make Our Business Win Win?

And make sure you invite all staff to contribute with
their ideas as to how you can market your solicitors firm better.


PS It is not the case that Darwin coined the term "survival of the fittest".

When you think about it his theories demonstrated that by co-operating
in distinct niches animals had the best chance of surviving.

was the exploitation of these niches that was observed.

What niches can you law firm thrive in?

Read more...

August 23rd - Big Win For Reading Firm - What Did They Do?

Boyd,

I hope that you are having a good holiday.
Just to let you know that we have been
awarded the work.

There were originally 65 applicants
at the first stage.

It went down to 14 applicants at the second stage
and at the interview stage there were 4.

Thanks for your help.

Rachel.

FIELD SEYMOUR PARKES SOLICITORS

They prepared, they thought about what the
client wanted, they presented well.

They got the business - (six figures).

Do you want to know what we went through to make the
presentation that helped win?

August 19th - Make All Your Calls "Great Calls"
click this link to hear a short message from me...

Find out how you can get my checklist for free.

Read more...

August 09 - Celebrity Solicitor Status Is Yours For Free

I once did some work with a commercial lawyer.

I asked him if he ever wrote articles or gave speaking engagements.

He said to me that

"he'd been asked to do an
article for the Chamber of Commerce
but he didn't have the time".

He didn't have the time or inclination to
demonstrate his expertise to 7000 business people!

Which is a real shame because most law firms would
benefit greatly by getting in front of that many business
owners for free.

And even if the law firm benefits and you aren't a Partner,
(what an excuse that is for not doing things)
you should still do it for your own personal development.

The moral of the story is,
"Stop watching TV that doesn't pay or educate or
make you laugh.

Write articles and give seminars instead.

Grab celebrity status for yourself in the local media.

It will make you better at presenting, writing and thinking.

You will enjoy it and meet new people.

You will make more money.

And certainly your family will think you are cool."

All you have to do is get lots of articles published and
be a reliable, informed expert in your own field and
help editors/producers/presenters fill their media
products with your good self.

Love him or loathe him, where do you go
if you've got a story to sell to the News Of The World.

Yep...Max Clifford. Being a celebrity PR has
made him more than £10 MILLION.

And in our celebrity-fuelled society,
it really is who knows you that counts.

Type your name into Google - what are the results?

Because that's what your next client is going to do
before he speaks to you.

And if you don't exist, do something about it fast.

If you want more info on this here it is....

Read more...

A Little Piece Of Free Marketing Lawyers Want To Try.

Having a conversation about new technology on the Law Gazette blog,

(you'll find it here) I thought about what new
products could help solicitors market themselves better.

One of those things is www.jingproject.com -
it's a tool that you can use to record screencasts.

That's a way of recording a video of what you
show on your screen and adding audio, i.e.
commentary to it, via a microphone.

Basically you highlight the area on the screen,
talk in a microphone, send the finished file by
clicking once and you have a passable presentation
that is so much more useful than an email.

Great for selling to companies.

Here's the sort of quick 5 minute screencast
I do instead of writing long emails

I haven't even up graded to the $15 version -
so there's no excuse.

Try it - you might like it. Let me know how you get on.

Read more...

Do You Innovate Enough?

Would you have thought that a handheld fan that dispenses mosquito repellent would be a hit product?

Innovation is important. When you get a headstart on a product that people want you attack a "blue ocean". Rather than swimming with sharks, cutting up an existing "red ocean" and trying to win marketshare, you get a clear run.

Is there a blue ocean for you? What can you tap into among your prospective customers that they are crying out for? Is there another industry that does something you can adapt? Gift vouchers, subscriptions, Will-While-U-Wait, buy one get one free, late night opening, can any of these be applied?

Skype video calls, twitter, text messaging, voice broadcasting - can these help you?

Think about how you can swipe and deploy things so you can get better at marketing your law firm.

Read more...

Can You Spot Opportunities Everywhere?

An independent school in Oxfordshire had to stop staff using the swimming pool
this summer because a health and safety consultant said
they were not legally covered in case of accident.

How many schools are there that are not covered
in this way in the private sector?

Would a disclaimer help? I am not a solicitor :-]
but I do fill in a disclaimer to use an open water
lake to go swimming - so maybe rather than
taking away a perk a disclaimer would do?

Nice idea for an article for private schools?
Or a video? How's that private school email
list coming along....Problems are everywhere and so
are your opportunities to solve them...

Read more...

If You Make It Difficult They Won't Come

Take a look at this law firm that spends money on advertising and then puts barriers in the way of prospects...

Read more...

From Nowhere To Google Champion in 4 Months

I congratulated one of the people I work with today.

Because they have taken their law firm from nowhere on Google to be a champion Google player in just 4 months.

So I sent him this "you are good but how good a law firm website are you" note.

Why am I telling you this?

Because all you have to do is;

put more relevant and regular content on your site,
get a few quality inbound links and
shoot some quick and informative legal marketing videos like this
or law firm videos like this.

That will really help you get more business from internet searchers.

And you can write the 9 bullet point script for your 2 minute video
in 10 minutes. Email me for the most effective way to structure your legal marketing video.

Then you shoot it in 10 minutes.

PS. You'll never know unless you try.

Read more...

A Quick Thought For The Day

“If it isn't your job to do it, perhaps it is your opportunity.” Napoleon Hill.

When you talk to Lawyers you sometimes hear fee-earners say that "it's not worth me making the effort because even if things did improve it's not me that will earn out of it."

Let me ask you. What do you earn by being able to walk? What do you earn by being able to read? What do you earn by learning a new skill?

I've got a t-shirt that is a reminder not to fall into the "it's not my job" trap.

It goes..."the more you read, the more you learn, the further you go, the more you'll earn." And I don't just mean big bucks when it comes to earning.

Earning means respect. It means that you get knowledge you can help others with.
It means you can quench (temporarily) a raging thirst for new ideas.

Everyone you meet is a teacher. Drink in their knowledge. And pass it on.

Read more...

Write To All Your Clients Who Have Wills

I saw that Certainty, the central wills registration service, is helping with some legal marketing ideas to existing clients. They do this by providing suggested letters to send out to the list of clients you have. I don't know too much about the service but what I do like is this;

Take the first 50 clients in your Wills list.
Write to them saying you want to register their Will with Certainty.
Ask them if there is any update they want.
And crucially, ask them if they want a LPA or anything else from you.

AND

CAN THEY REFER YOU TO A FAMILY MEMBER WITH THE SPECIAL OFFER?

And when you have done the first 50, try the next 50 making changes to the letter according to results from the first. It's affordable, it's doable, and it's profitable. An easy way for any solicitor to make a lot more money. And you don't need a legal marketing consultant to show you how to post a letter - do you?

Read more...

Republic Day In France.

14th Of July 1789 - The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution.

I always try some revolting on 14th of July.

What revolution are you going to start today?

Read more...

What's Going On In Your Prospects' Minds?

If a few thousand teachers around the country get this newsletter from their union then you can bet a few hundred schools might be open to a call from their lawyers.

Ideas are all around you. Just close your eyes and picture yourself as a headteacher of a school. The Head of Upper School comes in and asks you if there is any asbestos in the school because some of the teachers have been asking about the risk.

As the headteacher you were expecting this. You have a statement and policy ready. You mention you are going to be making it part of the staff briefing tomorrow morning.

Your document has been prepared by your lawyer. As has the letter for the parents of pupils.
Everyone is reassured. Everyone praises you for quick action. You've solved a problem.

News of problems is everywhere. Open your eyes, (or close them if it helps you to think) and see how you can use this news to get you what you want.

Read more...

A One Liner That Can Change Your Actions

"It's more important to be resourceful than it is to have resources."

Yes, it's in red print for a reason.
Red is a powerful colour.
It is a colour of action.

And action is the key message.

Do not procrastinate because you don't have the money for marketing.

Find a way to do it without paying upfront.

Do not worry about being perfect. No one will know you are perfect.
Because you'll never get anything done for people to see.

Don't use the words "if only". Substitute them with "I wonder how".

If you make a mistake. It's not you that didn't get it right. Say "it" wasn't quite right.

Every time you do something well, buy yourself something.
(I buy books or sea bass). You'll feel pretty good.

When it doesn't go right, buy something anyway.

Pretty soon you'll be feeling good all the time...and when your attitude is positive you are 99% certain to succeed in whatever you do.

See what that one-liner has done to me already!

Read more...

Do You Do Personal Injury Work?

I was browsing the Yellow Pages, (all 13 pages of lawyers not the whole book)
and I saw this advert for a solicitors which made me think. (It's low resolution to load fast).

Why doesn't every personal injury lawyer put what compensation might be worth in their advert, website and brochures? Unless you know it's worth claiming you might not do it... so make it easy for someone to choose from the menu.

And also I really like the testimonials and trackable phone number they use. Two things you should be using all the time. Want to have your Yellow Pages lawyer advert looked at by an expert? You know where to send it.

Read more...

Children Of School Age? - Use The School Run To Market!

Joe Reevy, owner of Words4Business, told me a great idea today for legal marketing. So I'm pinching it to give to you ;-)

He said one of his clients has put a sign on his car that publicises his family law team. When the car is used on the school run it gets in front of 500 parents. Many of whom want a family law firm! And on Saturday's the family car is parked at Sainsbury's for a couple of hours during peak shopping periods. Easy hey?

Just use a trackable phone number on the magnetic panel you put on the car and you've got free leads coming in to your law firm. Why not supply all your staff with magnetic posters for their cars? You can have a team bonus for leads brought in each month. You can even get free magnetic panels from Vistaprint. Email me for a promotion that should give you them free!

And check out Joe's website because he makes doing newsletters really easy so that you can keep your herd intact and get more business at a fraction of the cost of other marketing. He's usually got a special deal for my visitors/newsletter friends you just have to ask. (The secret codeword is "free").

Read more...

No Cost Personal Injury Referrals

You know what might be a good idea.

Go to all your local accident repair centres.

Speak to the manager.

Explain you are a local lawyer that represents people involved in
car accidents.

Tell him you'd love to offer his customers a free appraisal.

Get him to hand over your audio CD about personal injury and
motor accidents to every customer that comes in.

Thank him profusely when he sends you clients by sponsoring
his kids football team strip with his company name on it.

10 accident repair centres
50 customers a week
500 prospects a week for you
2000 prospects a month
24,000 prospects a year

500 new cases for you

Want to do it? And do more things like this?

Read more...

Can Michael Jackson Help Your Marketing?

The media circus over Michael Jackson's estate, final wishes, guardianship of his children has made will international news. If Jackson has died intestate it's a disaster for his children.

It reminds us that everyone should have a will, especially married couples.

How can you help avoid this disaster for married couples?

Get a story into your local media and set yourself up as the expert on wills.

Use the "news" i.e. the conversation going on in people's heads, to get your law firm in to their head as the solution.

Even if you just write to all your existing clients with the Jackson story you are going to get codicils and other wills by referral. And what's it going to cost? A few pounds on letters sent out. And 20 minutes to write a press release or be on the phone for the local radio.

Read more...

What Can Car Manufacturing Teach Us About Law Firms?

Taiichi Ohno, the architect of the Toyota Production System, used the five Why's technique to solve problems. In a manufacturing environment, the Five Whys might work like this:

Manufacturing Example Problem: The Production Line Stopped Again

Why did the production line stop? Answer: We blew a fuse.

Why did we blow a fuse? Answer: Because the bearings overheated.

Why did the bearings overheat? Answer: Because there is insufficient lubrication on them.

Why is there insufficient lubrication on the bearings? Answer: Because nobody oiled them.

Why did nobody oil them? Answer: Because we don’t have a preventative maintenance schedule.

Followed by Silence............ideally somebody should then pipe up with "we need a preventative maintenance schedule - I'll get it sorted for tomorrow."

In legal services marketing, you need to ask lots of Whys.

Mike Schultz, a US marketing consultant gives a law firm example.

Legal marketing problem: We Don’t Have Enough Leads Coming In.

Why don’t we have enough leads? Answer: Because the partners aren’t getting enough referrals to build their practices.

Why aren’t the partners getting enough referrals? Answer: Because the partners and the marketing group aren’t taking the actions needed on a regular basis to generate referrals and new business leads.

Why aren’t they doing what they’re supposed to do to generate leads and referrals? Answer: Because work expectations focus on keeping them billable, and lead generation isn’t a top priority in the marketing department.

Why are the partner jobs aligned so narrowly to billing, and why doesn’t marketing focus on lead generation? Answer: Because the managing partner hasn’t historically perceived revenue generation as an issue, and so across the board—from marketing to billable staff—there isn't much concerted lead generation effort, and, in marketing, there’s no budget.

Why? Answer: Now that it’s an important business problem to solve, why hasn’t he addressed this?

Why? Answer: Silence.

Without leadership support it doesn’t matter if you come up with the right answer because nothing will happen anyway. So Partners - it's up to you.

What I like about this technique is that it is common sense, easy to do, and gets actionable solutions. It’s also a way of “becoming your own consultant “and seeing things through fresh eyes. Very important if you want to improve what you offer.

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You Become What You Think So Work At What You Think.

One of my friends runs a website called Philosopher's notes. It's worth checking out. Every day he sends out a summary paragraph about one of his favourite thinkers/books. I'd thought today's was very appropriate so I decided to post it here. I'll probably use Brian's stuff from time to time - it's that good! Thx Brian;-)

“Experience has proved to me, time after time, the enormous value of arriving at a decision. It is the failure to arrive at a fixed purpose, the inability to stop going around and round in maddening circles, that drives men to nervous breakdowns and living hells. I find that fifty per cent of my worries vanishes once I arrive at a clear, definite decision; and another forty per cent usually vanishes once I start to carry out that decision.

So, I banish about 90 per cent of my worries by taking these four steps:

1. Writing down precisely what I am worried about.
2. Writing down what I can do about it.
3. Deciding what to do.
4. Starting immediately to carry out that decision.”

From, Dale Carnegie from How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

I've got a list of books you might want to read, It's short, my list is 100 + in the last year alone. So if you have read any good books let me know and I'll reciprocate. Deal?

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Email Security - Sending Secure Legal Documents

I just read about secure email and the
Independent Financial Advertiser market.

Research from Origo, (The IFA equivalent to the SRA) showed that the majority of firms (87%) did not currently have secure email systems, with over half of respondents (58%) highlighting that they were waiting for an industry standard to be put in place.

While this is the case, an alarming majority of respondents (94%)

said they did use email to send personal, sensitive or confidential data.

Now you won't get a lesson on IT Security from me.

I'm just here to question things and maybe offer an answer sometimes.

And my question is this;

"If you send an email and someone intercepts it and then changes it and then it gets delivered, then who's to know?"

I've got an article from a Canadian law firm about this - if you want it email me.

PS Having secure email is a pretty good USP too.
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When your mail is addressed to the bank, investment company, business partners, it can attract attention of IT staff that perform mail server monitoring. And there is nothing that can prevent unscrupulous IT staff with access to the mail server to open and read that message. Other problem is that unauthorized personnel or hackers can have access to the mail server where physical access security and network security are weak.

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Do People Open Your Emails?

If you are sending a newsletter by email or an invite to a seminar then maybe some people won't open your emails...first time round.

If you get unopened emails try a different subject headline...it won't upset those
that don't open the email by sending it twice because they never opened the first one.

Fact: Only 20-30% of your list will EVER open any
email you send them EVER....the first time.

Take the list of people who didn't open your first
email and send them the SAME mail again the
next day with a different headline.

Just a different headline. Takes about two minutes.

It's simple but powerful.

Re-mailing un-opens really works. And legal marketing is about what works.

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Do You Use Your Qualifications To Get People To Buy?

If a plumber from Reading can use his qualifications in such a fantastic way why can't you?

http://www.itsleaking.co.uk/qual.htm

A certifcate is no good in the cupboard at home. Get it out, display it and stick it on your website. Your qualifications are relevant. Most people don't have your qualifications and so they will be impressed by yours. It's an independent testimonial to your quality and something that helps deliver the preponderance of proof that you are the right choice for someone.

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Estate Agents Giving You Work

With the MD of an Estate Agents in Hampshire yesterday I looked at his Goals and Objectives lists on the wall. One of the goals was "Solicitors must communicate". His problem was that whereas he had to let clients know how sales were progressing, he was not told as frequently how the legal paperwork was progressing. All he wanted was a speedy and efficient way of being kept up to date.

How much work do you get referred to your legal practice by Estate Agents?

What are they looking for from you? Don't know? ASK!

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Midsummer - Make The Most Of The Next 6 Months

This weekend it's the longest day of the year. It's when the Druids do their Stonehenge stuff and some people start thinking about the nights closing in...but rather than the negative, focus on the positive. Where will you be in 6 month's time?

The only thing that will make a difference is the people you know, (or get to know) and what you learn.

Make the most of the time you have. Try 7 consecutive days without getting angry, shouting, or criticising. See if you can do it. And if you can't, start over again at day 1.

I'll send a small gift to anyone that can tell me honestly that they achieved 7 days in a row of being 100% positive.

PS to give yourself half a chance print the words 100% Positive on a piece of paper and put it on your fridge door. (It's the cupboard we visit the most).

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Action Is The Mark Of Genius

It's my grandfather's birthday today. 89 years old. I remember asking him when I was celebrating my 21 birthday what he did for his. He said D-Day. Omaha Beach. American Tank radio operator (normally he was a gunner but they didn't have enough radio operators so he swapped for the day). Lucky that. His tank got blown up and he survived. The other two didn't. Still Grandad recovered, went back to liberate Amsterdam and took part in the 1948 Olympics.......you couldn't accuse him of wasting his time.......

What's this got to do with legal marketing? I'll sum it up in one word. ACTION.
People that take action are winners. Because it doesn't matter how much you know or how many great ideas to market your Practice you have. Unless you take action you won't achieve anything.

Take action to make yourself a celebrity in your local area. Write for the paper. Go on the local radio station. Speak at the Chamber of Commerce. Just once a week if you take action and become a brand you will be more fulfilled, you'll make lots of friends and you'll attract more business. Remember...

A Goal Is A Dream With A Deadline. Just Do It.

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