You can do everything, but you can’t do everything at the same time. Words to live by. If you don’t have the capacity to deliver an acceptable level of service and attention, turn business down or delay it until you open up more capacity. It’s a problem solos deal with all the time.

You do legal work. You do the work of managing your practice. You have to know how much time you need for both, and what that translates to in terms of your availability. Taking business you can’t handle is the worst client service move you can make. You’ll become someone who is afraid of phone and email inquiries from clients that are on stalled on the runway. You’re at risk for delivering work that doesn’t represent your capabilities. You are at real risk of missing deadlines. Reputational risk rises with every day you can’t meet your commitments.

The time to be organized and create the processes that support your growing business is BEFORE you are busy. Even if your practice is a part-time one, you should manage tightly. Build an environment with an eye towards the future. Processes, templates, checklists, formats. Estimate, plan, and review your estimating processes to make them better. Stay connected to your calendar- not just in terms of deadlines, but in terms of the actual work hours you need to deliver client work and manage your firm. Know how far into the future your current obligations have you booked.

The first approach to leverage is simply to leverage yourself with processes and technology.  Then comes outsourcing and/or hiring. If you plan on earning a solid income, you will be adding resources. From Day 1, designate a budget you save for that purpose. In the beginning, maybe it covers a phone or transcription service. Later, maybe a contract lawyer, paralegal, virtual assistant, associate, etc. comes into the picture.  It is a delicate dance, adding resources vs. overextending. Don’t fear it, get ready for it.

I get the fear thing. It’s normal to be afraid to miss opportunities. Normal and even responsible to be concerned about the expense and management time that adding resources involves. However, the moment you have one client that wishes you had turned him down because you’re clearly too busy to deliver on your promise- it’s not only that client’s future business but his future referrals that you’ve put at risk. I want you to be wildly successful. I also want you to be wildly responsible. Don’t take business you can’t handle, delay it if you can and turn it down if you must. Trust me- if you’re managing your future opportunities, better to NOT take the business than disappoint a client. A lot less stressful for everyone, to boot.

Life is short, struggle is optional. Get help just before you need it. Say “no, thank you, I am so sorry” and refer someone when you have to. Manage responsibly.

As we head to the end of the quarter, here are a few questions to consider for your strategy planning agenda.  That would be the strategy session you’re having, CEO to CFO, sometime next week or in early April. Depending on how the firm’s been doing, it can be a difficult time to be the CEO or CFO, but it’s always good to look at the facts and face the future.

• What are you leaving behind in the first quarter?
• What are you taking forward to serve you in the second quarter?
• Are you on track to meet the goals you’ve set for 2012? If YES- what are you doing to celebrate?
• Are there any changes you need to make to be more sure of meeting your goals?
• Is it time to reforecast? Revise goals?  (note- this can be because you’re exceeding your goals, or because you have more information now and you need to revise downward)
• What’s your “theme” or motto for the second quarter?
• What are 3-5 KEY Q2 goals? What are your top priorities, ones that you come back to for focus and clarity?
• If you had a coach, what would your coaching focus be for the next quarter? This can relate to action or to attitude. Need some examples?

Learn to let go of emotions that don’t serve me well much faster, roll with the punches.

Become connected to my calendar, “at choice” at least 80% of the time.

Follow-through, completion of one thing before moving on to another.

Be kinder, more nurturing in my relationships.

Learn to say no.

Every month’s end is an opportunity to check in with your goals, see what’s happening, make course corrections. If you’re doing that regularly, there won’t be any surprises in your quarterly review.  If you haven’t been consistent, take the opportunity now.  Check your financials and your pipeline. Look at how you’ve spent your time and the return you are seeing. If you don’t like what you see- then understand the ways that you might change those results going forward. (And put some monthly review processes in place. You will be more successful, I promise.)

Every milestone is a place to stop and take stock. Celebrate progress, learn from missteps, and create new energy around the future. Enjoy!

Had a recent conversation about asking for referrals, and here’s a photo I got in my mail later that day:

Remember to ask for the referral!

 Try it!

As a business coach for lawyers, I’m hearing this more and more:

I know it’s supposed to be good to be generous and provide value to prospects. I have all this great information that I give away on my website, but I never hear from anyone who downloads it! They just take the information and think they can do it themselves, or use it with a different lawyer…

All experts struggle with the desire to help and serve with their expertise versus the fear of giving it away. It’s the conflict between adding value and eliminating the need for your services. And, let’s be clear that I mean perceived need for your services, because one of the worst jobs of any professional is to fix the problems that people create by NOT hiring a professional! Sometimes lawyers earn higher fees to address issues related to the new do-it-yourself legal services than they would if they’d done the work initially.

I’m a fan of Hinge Marketing; they focus on marketing and branding for professional services firms and they offer a generous amount of free information. I sent them Fairytale brownies for Valentine’s Day, so you know I think they’re special. What I want to show you today is the description of one of the resources they offer for free:

Copyright © 2012, Hinge Marketing http://www.hingemarketing.com

 This is a great example of how you can give prospects information they’ll value- and still position yourself as the partner they turn to when they’re ready to act. Look at the logical path the material takes; it starts with when/why you need the services, includes information regarding the investment clients might need to fund, introduces a timeline and offers the prospect other resources and tools.  And wait- check out that 6th bullet: 

How to select your rebranding partner

I’m pretty sure that whatever that list of criteria is, Hinge Marketing meets it and you know it by the time you hit that section. By then, you’ll have an idea re whether you want to rebrand now, whether you can afford it, how long it might take, and whether or not you’re interested in an expert partner. That’s about as much qualifying as you can do with no interaction. If you are ready- then Hinge has established its expertise and already started to create a relationship with you. They don’t “sell” to you. They encourage “try before you buy”. Wouldn’t they be your first call?

Back to the point- the piece offers a great deal of value to readers and it demonstrates expertise. What it doesn’t do is tell you how to do it yourself. 

Generosity works. Unless you’re new to me, you already know I believe you can market without doing anything that feels tricky or sleazy. This is an example of a great way to offer value to prospects, do a bit of qualifying as you educate, and create an appetite for your services.  Is it a tactic you can use?

A very smart financial services firm has a commercial that contrasts two neighbor’s approaches to financial planning. One of them has calculated his “number” to the penny- while the other one has a target of “gazillion”.  Of course, the number is the elusive “how much money do I need to…”.

What’s the difference between the two? They live in nice houses next to each other, seem to have similar lifestyles- but somehow, we know that one will be more successful than the other.  One of them has chosen his future and is working purposefully towards it, while the other is leaving it up to chance.

I’ve been working with lawyers and other entrepreneurs for about 8 years now.  Before that, I was a highly compensated, ladder-climbing workaholic.  When I first started coaching, I was shy about focusing on the money.  I was tired of all the stupid things people do in the corporate world because of money. I was all about loving your life, balance, and so on.

Over time, I see that my clients who have specific financial goals and track and focus on them are the ones who build businesses that allow them to continue to work for themselves and pay for their kids’ educations, the trips to Galapagos that they’ve dreamed of, and handle emergencies that arise. It is a very good thing indeed to have a plan for your future that you bring to your present. If your aim is to support yourself and your family with your law practice or small business, then you need to have a financial goal.

Some of you carry a lot of “stuff” around money. You know what? Get over it. You’re wasting time. Pick a number.  More about that another time. This post is for folks who haven’t bought into the idea of monthly and annual financial goals.  Whatever the number is, just name it. Start with the minimum amount you need to clear to cover your expenses, if you’re reluctant to be aspirational.  The absolute value of the number isn’t so important when you start to set goals.  What matters is that you choose it with the intention of meeting it and that you track your results to it. As soon as you do that, your financials will improve. I promise.

So, pick a number. Start with ten grand a month.  If you’re there, double it.  If ten’s too scary, start with five. If you still feel anxious- well, that’s something you have to notice and move on. There’s no hidden trapdoor. No crowd of people waiting to make fun of you for setting a “crazy” goal. If you don’t meet the goal, you get to keep working and try something more or different so that you meet it next month.

Maybe your secret number is a crazy goal. Maybe you can’t meet it. Doesn’t matter. First, you have to get serious. Plan and action, geared towards meeting your goal. Making your number. If you prove you can’t make the money you need to make to have the life you want, the sooner you know that, the better. Then, Plan B. But that’s just reality, don’t let it rattle you. Better to deal with reality than be stuck with no options. Really.

Go for it. Pick a number. Start tracking it. You’ll be more successful.

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.