The Simpsons Live
Not sure how I missed this, but waaaayyy cool. The Simpsons intro, with live actors.
My Attempts at Better PowerPointing
Over the last several months, I’ve done quite a few presentations. Since I have been reading great blogs like Beyond Bullets, Presentation Zen and Powerpointless, I find that I am focused more than ever on using PowerPoint as a complement to my speech, and not as a replacement for it. In other words, I don’t want people to be able to read on a slide what I’m about to say. I’d rather them look to me for the information instead of the screen.
In my PowerPoint journey, three interesting things have happened. First, the more tuned in I am to the importance of “good” PowerPoint, the more offended I become by “bad” PowerPoint — I’m told former smokers experience a similar reaction to cigarette smoke after they quit. Second, I’m emboldened to try even more radical presentation experiments (my BlawgThink presentation in MindManager is one example). Finally, I’m amused at how others, only familiar with the “traditional” way of powerpointing, are mildly offended when I suggest my way may be better (or at least more fun).
If you attended my BarCamp or Techshow presentations, let me know what you thought. For everyone else to see what I’m talking about, I’ll attach my three most recent presentations to this post later today for your feedback. I look forward to your comments.
UPDATE: Here are the slides from my BarCamp presentation, as well as my two Techshow presentations, 60 Marketing Tips and Beyond ROI. All are in .ppt format.
More Smart Moves for Business
Here’s a list of Ten Smart Moves to Improve your Business that had a few gems:
On writing:
… take a topic that everyone has already written about but add a new twist to it. Children and Accessibility: It Matters was one such piece for me. It was well received and got some attention, which has ultimately led to people contacting me for other work because they saw something different.
On expanding:
Stay as small as you logically can: Small is flexible. Small can change direction in an instant if needed. I’m sure at some point my company will get bigger, but it won’t happen without good reason. Small is where it is at, baby (at least that is what all the other small companies are saying)
On pricing:
Raise prices every year: Just do it. Tell people about it beforehand so that they are expecting it. I’ve heard before that if you have never had push back from your clients telling you “that’s too much” then you aren’t charging enough. I’m not sure how true that is, but I look at it this way: I get better every year, and with more experience I can provide more value. Higher value = higher rates. Just do it.
Time Alone for the Zone
Jason Fried has some great advice on how to get into the zone:
Getting in the zone takes time. And that’s why interruption is your enemy. It’s like rem sleep – you don’t just go to rem sleep, you go to sleep first and you make your way to rem. Any interruptions force you to start over. rem is where the real sleep magic happens. The alone time zone is where the real development magic happens.
One tip to help you create some alone time is… Set up a rule at work: Make half the day alone time. From 10am-2pm, no one can talk to one another (except during lunch). Or make the first or the last half of the day the alone time period. Just make sure this period is contiguous in order to avoid productivity-killing interruptions.
How much more work would your business get done if you set aside “zone” time.
Is it all the same thing?
Will lawyers ever realize that it is all the same thing:
We don’t spend 2 hours every day on marketing, we spend all day on marketing. We don’t spend 1 hour every day figuring out the best way to communicate what our products do, we spend all day figuring out the best way to communicate what our products do. We don’t spend 3 hours on interface design, we spend all day on interface design.
When the edges are blurred, and one thing is many things, you can achieve so much more with less time, effort, and people.
Good work for clients is marketing. Sending a fair bill is client service. Returning telephone calls and e-mails is relationship building. It is all the same thing. Go read the original post and the comments. Great Stuff!
Mingling Advice
Always enter a conversations with a drink you are about to finish. If things don't go well, all you need to do is take one last gulp from your drink and excuse yourself to get another, never to return. If the conversation is going well, finish your drink and ask the other person if you can get them anything when you go to get another. They will appreciate the gesture even if they decline, and it impies that you'll be returning for a longer conversation.
Don't Worry About CopyCats
Startups worry far too much about people copying them.
First of all, it will take competitors a long time to realize that your idea is even a good thing to do. It seems obvious to you that your idea is good. You had it. Other people will take longer to see that.
Especially big companies-- as anyone can attest who has tried to convince a big company of something obvious. Often big companies don't want to see that an idea is good, because they already have a lot invested in some other plan.
Even when competitors realize your idea is good, (a) it will take them a long time to implement and (b) they'll probably screw up critical things.
And finally, working on your ideas will lead you on to new ideas. So you'll be a moving target; by the time competitors copy what you're doing now, you'll be doing more.
A lot of lawyers who want to implement some form of value pricing or flat-fee billing in their firms are reluctant to do so because they believe their competitors will just swoop in, copy their pricing model, and then undercut their price. My advice (and Paul Graham’s) is to stop worrying about that and just do it. Once your competitors realize just how good your idea is, it will be too late.
Writer's Block?
From this 43 Folders Post:
[Writer Anne] Lamott also mentions how she keeps a one-inch square picture frame on her desk. And every time she feels stuck, she picks it up and remembers that all she has to do to get started is fill one square inch with words.
Knowledge Arbitrage for Attorneys
Writing about 10 ways to get more ideas, Rajesh Setty shares a gem that should be in every lawyer’s toolbox:
4. Harness the power of association
The more you associate things the faster you will get new ideas. Knowledge arbitrage is one way of associating things. Here is a simple way to develop your association muscle. List all the people that are close to you in your network. Also list their current projects and interests - basically list what matters most to these people. Once you have this data handy, whenever you meet a new person, see if there is a match in the interests of the new person and one of your earlier contacts in your network. If there is a mutual gain possible, connect these two people without expecting a gain.
The hidden benefit from the above mentioned approach: The more you do this, the higher the chances that the power of reciprocation will kick in and more people will be introduced to you. The more new people in your life, more fresh perspectives they will bring into your life. In turn, more new ideas will flow in.
This is one of the best ways to keep your existing clients happy and to get more. Can you go though your client list and compile your clients’ current projects and interests? Do you collect this information in your intake process? You should.
Technorati Tags: knowledge, networking, relationships
Scanner or Planner?
“If you're a Scanner, you are a very special kind of thinker. Unlike those people who seem to find and be satisfied with one area of interest, you're genetically wired to be interested in many things. Because your behavior is unfamiliar -- even unsettling -- to the people around you, you've been taught that you're doing something wrong and you must try to change.
“But what you've been told is a mistake -- you have been misdiagnosed. You're a different creature altogether. What you've assumed is a disability to be overcome by sheer will is actually an exceptional gift. You are the owner of a remarkable, multitalented brain trying to do its work in a world that doesn't understand who you are and doesn't know why you behave as you do.”
I know I am.
Dreaming About Technology
I’ve been jonesing for a second monitor since I moved to California (I had a dual monitor setup in my law office). Adding a second monitor to your computer can increase work efficiency by leaps and bounds, and is probably the single best technology “tweak” you can make to improve your productivity.
Now that I’m coming back to St. Louis, and will be setting up a permanent home office, I’ve been on the lookout for a second monitor (or even a third) for my dream technology setup.
On one monitor, I’d have EverNote on all the time. I recently rediscovered this great program and have jumped head first back into it. It is essentially a digital doodle pad that resembles a huge, endless spool of paper. You can drag and drop nearly anything in to it, and it is an AMAZING note-taking/list-making application. If you can forego some of the bells and whistles in the $34.95 TabletPC “plus” edition, it is even free. I haven’t even scratched the surface of what it can do, but I’m already hooked!
On the second monitor (and since this is my dream setup, I’m running three monitors here), I’d have my trusty MindManager Pro with Gyronix’s Results Manager open. For me, there is simply no better way to flesh out ideas and keep track of them than with this combo of fantastic products. Pricey, to be sure, but if you pay attention to this blog, I’ll have an announcement soon telling you how you could win both.
On my third, and primary monitor, I’d have Outlook running in the background with my web browser (Firefox) in the foreground. If you use Outlook, you have to try Anagram. Outlook seems naked to me without it.
Once I get the new setup up and running after the LexThink Lounge, I’ll post some pics.
Technorati Tags: anagram, mindmanager, gyronix, productivity, technology
The Weekly Reader
Here’s a great management idea I’d never heard before from The Window Manager himself:
One of my tasks when I worked at Texas Instruments was to do a "weekly". For those of you not familiar with this little management tool, this is a bulletized memo that lists the tasks you accomplished for the week, the tasks you are going to do the following week, and what your upcoming schedule looks like, particularly if you're traveling. It also might include short summaries of customer meetings or market data that was picked up in the field.
My manager collected the weeklies of everyone under him, picked the "best" bullet points, and sent a weekly to his manager. His manager collected the weeklies from HIS people, picked the best bullets, and sent a weekly to HIS manager, and so on up the chain. At twenty-two, I thought it was an accomplishment if one of "my bullets" made it into the VP's weekly since it had to percolate up three or four layers of weeklies to make it to that level.
If you work for (or by) yourself, do your “weekly” on Friday, put it in a drawer, and then review it on Monday. However, instead of listing the tasks you accomplished, think a bit bigger. List the things you are proud you accomplished, and things you have to do next week that will make you proud and/or happy when they are done. If you are lucky enough to have a support group, share your weekly accomplishments with one another.
Sketch a Solution with Clients
Ever have a client that’s has a problem you are struggling to solve? Here’s a tip from Noise Between Stations that could help:
When you’re trying to solve a problem and you’re stuck it’s because you’re trying to solve it in your head. Just as you can do simple calculations in your head but need a calculator for everything else, you can’t solve tough business problems in your head.
When you draw, build, write, or use something that is physical, your physical senses help you understand more about the situation. You more fully understand the problem than if you only thought about it. Financial analysts do this by writing calculations on the back of a napkin or playing with numbers in a spreadsheet. Designers do this by sketching on paper or carving foam in the shape of a product. Engineers do it by combining parts they have on hand to make something new.
…
It’s important to ignore how well you’re doing what you’re doing, because that will distract you from accomplishing the goal. This may go against our usual inclinations to do things “right.” We’re taught to think things through and carefully design a solution. But when you’re stuck we need to overcome this tendency. Free your mind from all the rules you normally follow. Pick up the pencil and just sketch.
You might even use techniques you know to be incorrect because they help you move more quickly. This is good. The are only two guidelines here:
1. Do it quickly
2. Create something tangible
I can’t recommend this tactic enough. When I was mediating custody disputes, I used huge easel-sized 3M Post-It notes to sketch out custody scenarios with my clients. I’d draw a month’s worth of days in a grid, and would give each client their own big Post-it to diagram their ideal custody situation. Often times, once the parents got up and put marker to paper, they broke out of their mindset that a reasonable custody arrangement couldn’t be negotiated.
If you have an office or meeting room, take down some of your diplomas and expensive art work and instead throw up some big Post-it notes (or a whiteboard) on the wall and see how many more client problems you’ll solve.
That Giant Sucking Sound Could be Your PowerPoint Slides.
Kathy Sierra has another thought-provoking post titled Stop Your Presentation Before it Kills Again. In it, she shares her “Do My Slides Suck” test:
1) Do your slides contain mostly bullet points?
2) Do you have more than 12-15 words on a slide?
3) Do your slides add little or no new info beyond what you can say in words?
4) Are your slides, in fact, not memorable?
5) Are your slides emotionally empty?
6) Do your slides fail to encourage a deeper connection to or understanding of the topic?
7) Do your slides distort the data? (That's a whooooole different thing I'm not addressing now)
8) Do your slides encourage cognitive weakness? (refer to Tufte)
A "Yes" to any of those could be a huge red flag that something's wrong.
If you're still committed to slides, or if you're certain you need them, here's my favorite overall recommendation: Put each slide on trial for its life. Ask it to defend itself. Show no mercy.
As I finish up my preparations for the ABA Techshow, I’ll be giving my slides another once-over. I’ll post them up by tomorrow.
Be the Same and Be Second
Found this summary of the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing on Mike Vance’s absolutely fantastic MineZone Wiki, where there are dozens of business book summaries. Here is one great nugget:
If you're shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the market leader.
- "You must discover the essence of the leader and then present the prospect with the opposite. (In other words, don't try to be better, try to be different."
What's that Thingamy
I have to admit, I’m intrigued:
One single system to run your business.
No need for other enterprise software nor middleware.
No need for hierarchies nor information tree structures.
No need for management to run the workflow.
Enter the future at your own pace, start small or big.
Refine your business model and processes continuously.
And yes, you're not the first to utter unbelievable, bollocks, bullshit, etc. under your breath.
We like that, leaves us only one task: Prove that the system actually works.Would that not be kind of cool if we did?
Technorati Tags: thingamy, innovation, timekeeping, legal+software
I Believe that Children are our Future ...
At the Conferenza Blog, they just posted a great recap of the TED Conference. One of the three trends that emerged at the event was really fascinating, and its something I’d like to talk more about at our LexThink! Lounge event and maybe even at LexThink! 2020.
Youth, Innovation and 'Upgrade Paradox’. A variety of speakers addressed the issue of innovation, creativity, educating youth and our future. Sir Ken Robinson argued creativity is as important as literacy, and said we train it out of our youth. Zany astronomer Clifford Stoll suggested those who want to know the future 20 years out should ask kindergarten teachers, not technologists or futurists. Neil Gershenfeld of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms described how his $20,000 mobile fab labs are used by young children, who are often bedazzled and spend hours learning to build complex technical systems. Finally, NYTimes tech columnist David Pogue described the "upgrade paradox" by which well-meaning, consenting (presumably) adults work to "improve" a piece of software so many times "you finally ruin it."
WWJDTMAC - What Would Jesus Do to Market a Church?
Do you think legal marketing sucks? Then read Church Marketing Sucks, a great new blog focused on — yep, you guesed it — church marketing. Great blog design too!
Client Experience Matters
Found this article (via Digg) titled Why Features Don’t Matter Anymore: The New Laws of Digital Technology. In the author’s words, “user experience (along with a strong brand, and clever marketing) is much more important for the success of a device then technical specifications.” There is much to be learned here for all service providers as well, so I encourage you to read the entire article with that in mind. Here are the author’s 10 fundamental rules (read the article for his explanation):
1) More features isn't better, it's worse.
2) You can't make things easier by adding to them.
3) Confusion is the ultimate deal-breaker.
4) Style matters
5) Only features that provide a good user experience will be used.
6) Any feature that requires learning will only be adopted by a small fraction of users.
7) Unused features are not only useless, they can slow you down and diminish ease of use.
8) Users do not want to think about technology: what really counts is what it does for them.
9) Forget about the killer feature. Welcome to the age of the killer user-experience.
10) Less is difficult, that's why less is more
Technorati Tags: client+service, experience, marketing
KM for Law Firms
Jack Vinson summarizes the two days of a legal KM (knowledge management) conference he attended. Check out his posts about Day One and Day Two.
Technorati Tags: km, knowledge+management, law