How to "Black Out" During Your Next Presentation

Bert Decker has a great (and easy) tip to improve your next presentation:  Use Black Slides.  According to Bert, a blacked out slide (as opposed to justing hitting the "B" key) accomplishes three things:

1. Clear the screen.  Once you’re done with the picture, graph or supporting information,you want to remove distraction, and go to a black slide so you canamplify, tell a story, or make an additional point, etc.

2. Black out the screen.  Simply put, so you can walk in front of the projector. Almost allmeeting, board and conference rooms are poorly designed so that theyhave the projector screen right in the middle of the room or stage. Itshould be at the right or left, so YOU can be in the middle. After all,YOU should be the center of your presentation, not your slides.

3. Totally change your mindset.  Change he creation and emphasis of the presentation. This is by far the most important of all, and needs it’s own paragraph.

Pay Per Client?

Not sure where the legal ethics gurus come down on this one (I think I can guess), but Google has now rolled out a Pay-Per-Action advertising service, which requires you to pay only if the user completes a clearly defined action after clicking on an add -- such as buying something, joining a mailing list, etc.  Pricier than AdWords, but much more bang for the buck.

Is Your Business in Local Business?

Just noticed Google's Local Business Center.  It allows you to add your business' name, address, etc. to Google's listings.  It also allows you to offer coupons.  A must-do for all small businesses -- including law firms.

Advertise with the 'Hood

Roy Williams shares 10 Cheap Advertising Ideas in his Monday Morning Memo.  My favorite:

10. Spray-Painted Signs. In the early 1970s, "Hamp Baker says Drive with Care" was spray-painted on car hoods salvaged from crumpled automobiles, then those hoods were tied with bailing wire to barbed-wire fences across the state. Nobody in Oklahoma had ever heard of Hamp Baker, but his name was soon a household word. When he ran for public office, he won by a landslide.

If I had a personal injury practice -- especially in a rural area -- I'd think seriously about giving this one a try.  Just make sure you have your state's disclaimer painted somewhere on the hood too.  ;-)

Take your Client's Stakeholders to Lunch

Joyce Wycoff suggests taking internal stakeholders to lunch:

Identify all of your stakeholders … the people who are affected by your work, immediately and at a distance.  Your monthly report may only go to 3-4 people but the information in it may get passed along or acted upon by dozens of others.  Start to invite your stakeholders to lunch one or two at a time and just get to know them.

This is great advice, and equally applicable to the stakeholders in your clients' organizations.  Just make sure they know you are not billing them for the lunch!

Hang Around for Business Clients

Right after I wrote the Sand Imprint Post, I found another clever way to advertise:  Hangvertising.  From the geniuses at Hanger Network come EcoHangers(tm), a recyclable, paper hanger that has advertising printed on it.  Just think, you could find the dry cleaner in the most expensive part of town, and ask them to use the EcoHangers (with your business-appropriate ad) on all business suits they dry clean. 

Brilliant.

Footprints (and a toll-free number) in the Sand

Do you practice near a beach?  Here's a great marketing idea (hat-tip to Church Relevance) that just might get your firm noticed:  environmentally safe ads that are imprinted in the sand.

Of course, it may be hard to "save" the advertisement for those pesky bar advertising rules.

Branding on the Cheap

Here is a great resource for web startups that has a few gems for lawyers too:  Little Known Ways to Brand on the Cheap.  Just a few favorites:

26. E-profiles: manage your reputation. If a potentialcustomer types in your name into a search engine, what sort of resultswill they see in the top 10? It’s key for you to secure the top 10results in Google, Yahoo and MSN for searches relating directly andindirectly (if possible) to your brand. You need to be the one definingwhat people see when they search for you, not your competition. Startby building e-profiles on authority domains such as MySpace, Squidoo, AboutUs, WordPress, Blogger/ Blogspot, MSN Spaces, TypePad, Newsvine, LinkedIn, Rollyo, Wikipedia, etc. Don’t let someone else define who you are.

28. Get listed on local authority websites. Manycities will have a large, centrally operated online business directory.A link from a local government site (.gov) will boost your visibilityand build your search engine rankings. Often that requires no moreeffort than doing a GoogleSearch for “(your city) business directory”and emailing the webmaster.

36. Design with a focus on MDA. Design your blog with a focus on visitor experience that leads the user to your MDA (Most Desired Action). Test various designs before launch by asking friends and family to go to the site and see where they click and when.

39. Design for scanners, not readers. I know, you’veput a lot of time into your content, so you want people to read everylittle word. But the truth is, people online are scanners, not readers.So if you want to get your message across, you need to tell them yourunique selling points in a bullet list or in short crisp sentences.

77. Do something outrageous. Or at very least unusual, and document the action itself and reactions others had to it. Randy’s Affiliate Marketing Programs Blog discusses a few of the more famous outrageous branding ideas, from Alex Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage (the original dollar-a-pixel site) to John Freyer’s All My Life for Sale (a wildly-successful eBay project).

91. Guerilla marketing. Head down to your locallibrary and hunt down books relevant to your topic. Then insert yourbusiness card or flyer into the book at the very front. This guerillamarketing can work on an individual level, but the benefits canmultiply dramatically if your persistent activity starts to create buzz.

94. Be a star. Call up your local public cable access channel and ask to be interviewed. They are desperate for content and may go for it.

Hand-y Advertising for DUI Lawyers

Check out this post from Ankesh Kothari about a Bombay nightclub that stamps a public service message on the hands of entering patrons.  DUI lawyers, you've got to see the picture, and think about paying a bar to use a rubber stamp with your phone number on it to stamp the hands of everyone who enters the bar.  When they get pulled over later that night, they'll know who to call.  Not sure if ethics-safe, but inspiring nonetheless.

The 18 Percent Solution - January 23, 2007

I’ve been working with several great people to develop a small business seminar here in St. Louis on January 23rd called The 18 Percent Solution.  It takes place at the amazing Gran Prix Speedway in Earth City.

The entire event is focused on sharing innovative tips and tricks that help small businesses thrive.  I’ll have a lot more on the event over on my Idea Surplus Disorder Blog tomorrow, including a preview of the creativity and innovation portion of the program I’m running (think UnConference + LexThink + Idea Market + Go Cart Racing).

If you sign up at the link above and add “Homann” in the special instruction field, you’ll save $20 off the normal price ($95 before 1/3 and $125 after).

See you on the 23rd!

Didn't Get The Client? Here's Why

Mary Schmidt compiles a terriffic list of reasons why vendors didn’t get her business.  Just a few:

1. You returned my call in which I asked for a price quote…a week later.

4. Your web site looks abandoned. (Copyright 2004? Are you even still in business?)

6. You never, ever answer your phone. It always go to voice mail.

7. You did more talking than I did in our first meeting.

9. You talk about “solutions” but never tell me how you’re going to solve my problem.

13. You treat your employees badly.

16. Your “free education seminar” was nothing more than a sales pitch.

Via Christopher Carfi

Get Your Wills Here, Three for a Dollar!

I was grocery shopping today and found myself buying three pizzas, instead of just the one I needed, because they were on sale, “Three for $10.00.”  Now, I know that really means $3.34 for the first and $3.33 for the other two, but I bought three anyway, falling prey to the grocer’s power of suggestion.  So I though, if it works for supermarkets, it should work for lawyers, right?

This holiday season if you do wills (as just one example) and normally charge $500 each, try a “family special” where three wills will cost $1400 or something similar.  Allow people to buy three wills at once, with the ability to give two to others — think parents doing a will and then giving each of their adult children one of their own. 

Make sure the parents know they have no right to control or see what their kids do, and give yourself an out if there are conflicting interests, but if you market them as a package, you could see a significant increase in your estate planning business.

I need another blender!

I don’t really need another blender, but I want one after seeing this:  Will it Blend?  One of the best viral marketing ideas I’ve seen in a long while.

LinkedIn for Lawyers?

From TechCrunch:

LinkedIn, a social networking website primarily focused on business connections has added a section to their site that allows users to recommend service providers — a yellow pages based on user referrals. From web designers to doctors, users rate service providers in a thumbs up, thumbs down voting system similar to Digg.

Here’s another article article with more:

In the case of LinkedIn's directory of service providers, users can search narrowly for services recommended by friends, or they can widen their search to friends of friends. Failing that, a global search capability is offered to allow users to search across the full LinkedIn network.

Making the system work will depend on whether LinkedIn users bother to write recommendations for other businesses, building on an existing feature within LinkedIn that encourages colleagues to recommend other colleagues.

It also could draw in new users. Most LinkedIn members currently are executives, professionals, sales people and other office workers. The new directory could attract trade workers.

Are you ready for this?

Are Legal Services Like Vegetables?

Cathy Sierra has another great post on motivating web visitors, that applies broadly to anyone selling anything.  Cathy discusses the two levels of motivation:  “motivation to interact and motivation to do something as a result of that interaction.”  Think of your marketing as the first kind of motivation and your in-person client meeting as the second. 

Just how do you motivate your prospects to hire you?  Cathy first tells us how not to motivate them:

Trying to motivate someone to action by telling them it's good for them doesn't... actually... work …  because it doesn't invoke the right feelings.

In other words, don’t suggest your clients hire you because of what will happen if they don’t.  Instead, as Cathy suggests, citing a great Fast Company article , emphasize the positive things that will come out of your lawyer/client relationship.  Can’t think of any?  Try this exercise: 

Ask your clients to visualize a “best case scenario” conclusion to their matter .  Then ask them what personal or business benefits they’ll reap and how they expect to “feel” if the matter concludes in that positive way.  Keep track of their responses (maybe even suggesting they write them down).  After doing this for ten or twenty clients, you’ll start to see themes emerge.  These are the themes you should focus on when you are trying to motivate your clients to hire you.

Right Way Writing

Dumb Little Man has compiled a list of 50 Writing Tools from Poynter Online.  If you write at all, it is worth your time to check out some of the Poynter articles.  An amazing resource!

Provocative Post Pondering Provocativity

Kathy Sierra posts a tremendous article (even by her lofty standards) about how to be provocative and why it matters.  Please read it.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Robert Middleton writes about the benefits of sending three short thank you notes each day:

About two months ago I started sending 2-3 short notes daily to vendors, clients, contractors, colleagues, anyone I came into contact with, however minor the occasion. It's important to "smile as you write", as your article suggests, otherwise it will seem like some contrived, dashed off attempt at connecting while trying to do 20 other things at the same time. 

But the exercise has had two effects for me and my company so far:

1) In a very unexpected way, it has made me feel better about myself and my business as a service provider, which bleeds through into the energy I exude all day long.

To anyone who doesn't think it makes a difference in how you walk, talk, and carry yourself and your expressions, I would say try this for yourself and see. I also find myself following through with clients more thoroughly and attentively, and having better focus and productivity.

I think it has something to do with taking a few minutes to *slow down* and give someone your undivided attention. We all crave feeling listened to and acknowledged.

2) On a more tangible level, I have had two important corporate referrals and increased amounts of business from regular clients to whom I've dropped notes in the mail (one of them nearly double).

I have also received expressions of true, bona fide human appreciation from both clients and vendors we work with, whom really will go the extra mile now. Little human touches in the impersonal "we care, but not that much" ocean has an exponential effect on people's desire to know, like, trust, and do business with you.

Check out The More Clients Blog for more great advice.

Will Your Firm Be Better Tomorrow?

Black Belt Productivity suggests we Be Better Tomorrow Than We Are Today and I agree.  For some reason, the simple question, “How did I get better today?” has given me a productivity boost since I read the post last week. 

I also think it is an appropriate question to ask of your business.  When you have your daily/weekly/monthly “all hands” meeting, I suggest you ask everyone there if your business is better today than it was yesterday.  Despite their answers, I’d also ask them will they make it even better tomorrow.

A Lawyer's Blog Should ...

It has been a while since I’ve pointed you towards my friend Yvonne DiVita’s blog.  If it isn’t in your rotation of regular reads, it should be.  If you want to know why, check out her recent post, A Business Blog Should …