This is how wayfinding works: you begin practicing certain skills just to feel better, but this seems to benefit other things too, until quite unintentionally you end up working to mend things you thought were far beyond your small scope.
—Martha Beck, Finding Your Way In A Wild New World

As often happens, just when I’m thinking of something I’d like to share- some genius shows up in my mailbox saying it far better than I’d drafted!  If you  “get” and follow Martha Beck’s advice,  you will see a huge impact in your life and the lives you touch.  “Begin to practice certain skills just to feel better.”

Burn out, frustration and exhaustion are all in the air this month.  In coaching conversations, it starts out looking like something else- failure to complete things, procrastination, complaints of being stuck, even rebellion.  When we get near the bottom of the issue, it’s often something like, “of course I’m feeling like this, I’m over-booked, not prioritizing, spending time with people that make me mad, and putting myself last all the time.”

Extreme self-care is a remedy.  I wish I knew the name of the gentleman in my presentation in Seattle who pointed out that the acronym ESC was the name of the “escape” key on your keyboard.  Sometimes extreme self-care requires escape, to a place where you really are focused on your “self”.  Other times, it requires your full presence and intention.  Boundaries are important.  Knowing when to say no.  Being intolerant, and, sometimes, impatient when people or things aren’t in alignment with your values.

Sometimes coaches call it “raising your standards.”  You start expecting more of yourself, of other people.  You stop “tolerating” less than the best of yourself and for yourself.  You meet deadlines.  Goals are achieved.  You work out, you pay attention and get enough sleep.  As you improve, and you expect more, you are raising your standards.   Just as Martha says, it starts small, but it grows.  The impact is huge over time.

I’ve already ordered her new book, by the way, and I’ll share more from her, as always.  Meanwhile, today’s a planning day.  What standard will you raise?  Spend an extra 20 minutes thinking about something you want to change, practice, improve.  Write yourself a post-it note; do something so that it stays top of mind.   Start feeling excited about the new possibilities of what you’ll create in your future.  Feel sure that things will be different.

Then- have a lovely weekend, with extreme self-care for all!

Your website serves two functions:

1. At a minimum, as a “brochure”, it provides necessary and sufficient credibility. 
2. At best, it is a valuable marketing tool.

Everyone in business today should have a website and an email address attached to the domain name.   Add an “about” page and other basic information, and you have an online brochure that will tell people who’ve met you in some other forum that, yup, your firm is a “real” business.  This is not difficult to do, depending on the level of design you choose and whether you want to learn wordpress yourself or outsource.  In today’s world, whether you think it makes sense or not, a website is the equivalent of a business card.  

As a marketing tool, your website attracts people who need your services.   Prospects, researching their problems and questions online, find your site.  Once there, they want valuable, actionable information.  They want to easily find what they want; they want to get it with no strings attached.   Finally, websites that serve a marketing role engage those prospects and help move them from being researchers to being buyers of your services.

I’ve come across a few folks who’ve just thrown a page up, their business is growing, they’re busy, they leave the page up.  They apologize when they point you to their site. Not OK.  Without going into a lot of detail- a bad website is worse than no website, but just barely.  It’s your business, the site represents you.  Even when the purpose of a site is solely to reassure someone who already loves you, please ensure it doesn’t detract from your reputation.

On the other hand- what if your website were responsible for 30% of your new business?  Paying clients.  As you think about your marketing strategy for 2012, consider what role your website might play.  There are different considerations across practice areas and target clients, but make sure you’re open to the possibilities.  The cost of acquisition might warrant an increase in your investment in your website.  Tomorrow’s clients could be researching the problems that you solve right now. 

So what?  As you head into a new year, planning your marketing investments and priorities,  answer the question:  why do you have a website?  Make sure your website serves its purpose.

Disclaimer:  I’m not a marketing guru.  My position is always that there are rocket scientists out there who offer terrific resources on most every topic I coach.   I’m about the rocket science of  action, using those expert resources.  Sometimes, however, I find it helpful to share something that sounds as if I’m positioning myself as a guru.   Au contraire, mon amie!  (if I were, I might feel compelled to get into the website vs. facebook/linkedin/etc. conversation, but heck no!)

Thankful for readers, yet stuck for what to write about, I rambled through Thanksgiving quotes.  Here’s the one that popped:

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.  ~William Jennings Bryan

Yup.  If you’ve lots to be thankful for, it’s likely that you’ve had help along the way.  Most of you can also think of the help you’ve gladly given others, and the thanks you’ve received.

So why is it so hard to ask for help?  Why do so many of us fear that we might look “stupid” if we ask for help? Why so hard to acknowledge dependence? 

Doesn’t matter.   What matters is that if you are at all reluctant to ask for help – get over it.  Struggle is often optional.  Use every option you have to get from here to there as elegantly as possible.  Asking for help will make the journey less stressful and faster.  There’s nothing more to it.  If you ask and are turned down, well, so what?  In the vast majority of cases, people are flattered when you ask for their help and will gladly offer it.

Need some examples?

I love doing this kind of  work and I’d like to add more clients  like you.  I’d really appreciate your help in growing my practice.  [ask for ideas, a referral, introductions, appropriately]

I’m working on a complex matter and I’m wondering if the approach I’m taking is the best one, would you mind spending a half an hour with me?  I’d appreciate your perspective.

You’re one of the most successful solos in the area.  I’ve been marketing consistently, but I’m not seeing a lot of clients coming in.  I wonder if I’m using the most effective tactics.  If you have some time to share your experience, I’d greatly appreciate your help. 

Give yourself permission to ask for help.  Here’s a homework assignment: ask for help at least once a day for two weeks.  On the flip side, offer help when you can.  This Thanksgiving, think about the balance of receiving and giving help, of thanking and being thanked.

All in all, you’ll be happier and more successful in less time if you master the art of asking for help.  I think that’s worth the risk of being turned down or looking “stupid”.  In fact, wouldn’t it be stupid if you could get help and just don’t ask?

(Maybe I should call this the “stupid” post.  Dang, does this post make me look stupid…?)

Bet you thought I was going to offer you a white paper.  Sell you a seminar?  Nope, I’m offering you someone else’s free marketing advice.  It’s terrific advice and I don’t think I could present it better, so let’s not waste cyber storage on another report.

There is no rocket science to marketing professional services firms.*  The rocket science is in the doing.  Everything you need to know has been put out there in enough formats that there is an effective one for you.  Written, audio, video, courses, webinars, etc.

Visit  http://hingemarketing.com/.  Check out their research reports, their library, their webinars.   DANG.  Lots of knowledge capital, some original, some in collaboration with other experts.  Very simple and presented extremely well.  Instructive.  Smart.  As a 5 year-old might say, I like it so much I’m in love with it. 

I leverage this terrific free material with clients, too.  Fully attributed, linking to the Hinge Marketing site.  Check out the sales closing webinar too, with another marketing wiz, Ian Altman, of Grow My Revenue!   Thank you Hinge Marketing and Ian, and many, many others- because you help me stay smart.  Is this dangerous?  Nah.  I think our target markets and what we deliver are different.  If not, I’m in the abundance crowd anyway.

If  your marketing isn’t delivering the results you want to see, change it.  If you don’t know what to do- research it.  If the problem isn’t what to do, but actually doing it, then you need a different solution.  That’s another topic. 

Let me know if you like these resources as much as I do!

* OK, there is marketing ”rocket science”, but most of my readers have room to create significant impact before they turn to outer space.  In fact, you can use what’s commonly available to grow to the point where you can easily fund rocket science!

What I’m asking clients to think about this week:

• Where are you versus your key 2011 goals?
• Review the time you have available versus what you have planned for the remaining weeks of the year – have you prioritized appropriately?
• Do you need to make any adjustments for holiday and/or end-of-year activities and attention spans?
• What, specifically is your marketing goal and what actions are you committed to through year-end? (if you are a Get Clients Now! alum, this will sound familiar, make a scorecard!)
• What key contact appointments or activities can you schedule through the end of the year?

Before pausing to give thanks this month, determine your mission for the rest of the year and turn on the autopilot.  Consistency in November and December set you up for a much better first quarter in 2012, and that’s a lovely way to start the year.

A recent solosezzer asked for ideas to reduce the number of no-shows he was seeing for first appointments.  One of my favorite responses recommends asking for a fee at the time the appointment is booked- a prepayment. 

Here’s what Christian M. Frank Fas had to say:

During the first phone call, whenever a PC tells me that they want to meet I tell them:  ”I’d love to meet with you, but in order to schedule a meeting you will need to pay the initial consultation fee of $X at least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting.  Would you like to schedule the meeting now?”  If they do, I write down the appointment in my calendar, and then send them an invoice or Paypal payment request.  If the fee isn’t paid EXACTLY 24 hours before, I just delete the appointment and carry on.  If it is paid, I sit in my office and wait for them. I’ve had a 100% show rate in 4 years. 

Before I required payment, and waited until they showed to get paid, my no-show rate was about 1/3 of all PCs.  Paying before is a way of guaranteeing their commitment.

 Some PCs have rescheduled the meeting, but they have already paid up front.  The logic behind this is that if they’re serious about meeting, they need to be serious about paying before.  In fact, if I have to send them my engagement letter twice, I won’t until they pay a certain “re-sending” fee for the work done drafting their first engagement letter, and then having to re-send it another time.

I DO credit their retainers with the initial consultation fee or re-sending fee if they choose to retain me. If not, at least I got paid for sitting in my office waiting.

Nicely done, and a script you can use as well.  If you need more of a “push”, check out another post I wrote on the topic of free consultations.

As always, the goal is to do what you can to ensure that you spend your time helping people who value your services.  Requesting a prepayment is one way to screen out anyone who is simply shopping around.

Try it.

Clients will choose or refer you because they know, like, trust & REMEMBER you.  Staying in touch with former clients, warm prospects and referral sources without feeling like a nuisance can be a challenge.  At some point, it gets hard to come up with new reasons to contact. 

There are always the holidays, including signature ones that you can customize to your practice, and you can use all kinds of current events or headlines as conversation points.  What about Irene, fires in Texas and beastly weather here & there?  If you’ve clients or referral sources who live in areas that might be impacted, send them a note, ”just thinking of you and hoping..“, something along those lines. Example?  What about clients you did a closing for?  Don’t forget their realtors. 

Send a “may your adventures lead to exciting discoveries” on Columbus Day, or something like “life’s not so spooky now that you have a will” for Halloween.  Oh, how about a “how to survive family holidays” postcard? Everyone could use that.  All depends on your style, you can guess what mine is, a bit lame.  I know it.  However, surely you’ll come up with a much better idea.  Build on it, readers!  The point is to think about what’s going on and use it to make a meaningful connection with people you already know.

Has Irene or anything else going on  inspired you?  Please share.  Or, if you receive a note from someone, share that too.  Obviously, I need some new ideas here!

Here’s what you need to do now, in September.  Define the 2011 goals you want to plan to accomplish by year-end.  FOCUS, prioritize and scope it down. You can do everything, but you can’t do it all at once.  Once you’re clear on those goals, chunk them into the remaining three months of the year.  Remember- we have some major holidays, like Halloween, in the mix.  Goals should be stretch but not impossible. Measurable, specific, all that SMART stuff.

Then, break October’s goals into weekly goals using your calendar. In fact, I’m attaching a tool to help you with the chunk-down process at every level.  [Or it's a separate post, WordPress and I aren't communicating well today.  Or email me if you want it and can't find it here!]  Goal calendar tool

Now you can block time for the October goals right into your weekly schedule.  Keep the list of goals in front of you and look at it daily.  October 21st, make an appointment with yourself to plan November weekly goals in the same way.  On a rolling basis, connect your goals with your calendar, and ultimately, your actions.   It’s the only way you can be sure to finish the year in the best possible shape for a brand new one.

Whatever you feel about how the year has gone to date- it really doesn’t matter.  I hope you feel awesome about 2011, but I know a few people who don’t.  What matters is the fact of where you are now and what you do now to have a great finish.  All of us have “what if’s”.  Honestly.  Learn and change, that’s all you can do.  Make time to plan ahead, and then –  stay focused and enjoy the days and the doing.

NOTE: These posts are rough, to say the least. If they add value, if you use the concepts, I’d love to know.  Now- get some time blocked to think about what you want to make happen by the end of 2011.  It’s on its way.

Naaa.  I don’t pay attention to what they say about the importance of post titles.  Anyway- that’s what’s on the whiteboard today.  September is a transition month. By now you know where you are going to be at the end of the third quarter, so it’s time to get ready to nail the last one. Yes, you need to plan where you want to be at year end, to start a strong 2012.

The idea is that you have this BIG VISION in your head, maybe on a vision board or written down somewhere.  In order to get there, you break it into goals that you can put on a time line. First break is where you want to be at year’s end.  Second is how that might break down over the four quarters, and finally, each quarter’s goals are broken into weekly targets.  Each new time period, you reset the model based on what actually happened and anything you might have learned or decided.

So- that’s it. The goal is to keep your BIG VISION in sight when you’re in the trenches of today.  To figure out how to make what you do today link back up to the vision as closely as possible.  Keeping track of whether you’re on target or if you need to make some changes.  It’s being present to both what you want in the future and what you choose to do today.

Chunk-a-Vision.  What did you think I meant?

Me too.  I’m revising a money worksheet I’ve been using to focus the Get Clients Now! classes.  The gist of the money worksheet is to help you to logically (& without flinching) think through:

• Your target revenue per year/month
• Target revenue per client or matter, focusing on your area of practice
• Estimated number of clients you need to close to deliver your target revenue
• The number of prospects you need to talk to or otherwise connect with to convert one into a client
• The total number of prospects you need to speak to in order to convert enough to reach your revenue goal

The worksheet conversation kicks off the program because all of the action we take over the 6 or 7 weeks of Get Clients Now!  is aimed at generating an adequate pool of prospects and then ensuring you have an effective conversion rate. 

Whether you take the class starting tomorrow or not- think through the money worksheet concept.  Facing facts might just kick you off on your own “get clients now” program!  The first step in this business-building journey is to name your destination.

(bet you thought this was going to be about time management, right? nope. even with time blocking, sometimes you just have to work on the holidays!)