PRACTICE MARKETING blog

It happened today again. A managing partner of a boutique law firm had never “attempted marketing” because he felt he wasn’t creative enough. In fact, most of his clients already come from [what I dub, passive] referrals. I’m guessing you’re a bit more creative (or at least you have your moments)… You’re at least pro-active enough with your practice marketing to read this blog post!

As you know, most attorneys and CPAs aren’t “good at marketing,” nor do most claim to be (… or want to be, in some cases). I am often challenged with the “I’m not creative” belief from my clients. They hope to get “new ideas” from me.

As a marketing advisor I must coach my clients to develop doable pro-active marketing skills. They need not become Mad Men! Practice marketing need not be very creative (ingenuity is always wonderful). In fact, too many ideas can become distracting.

I’m sure you also know many peers who think they have tons of great ideas… and fail to execute diligently. In fact, I contend that most of ‘client development’ is an accumulation of simple, everyday, habits. It may be as simple as turning reactive “waiting for referrals” word-of-mouth into pro-active education networking.

Creativity is fun and imaginative.
Still, it takes consistency, diligence, perseverance to complete a task, a project, a goal.

As a marketing advisor I help to generate ideas.
We brainstorm and prioritze.
Moreover, I help my clients to stay the course.

Way beyond creativity lay consistency.
After all, we learn through practice, practice, practice.
Branding is a matter of repetition, repetition, repetition.

Unfortunately, staying consistent can become boring.
Armchair “idea research” seems productive, but rarely yields clients.
What do you think?

Read Full Post »

When I begin working with a law or accounting firm, one of the first steps I go through is a braindump between all the managing partners of current, past, and urgent marketing efforts. We categorize it these 4 groups, so that we can then prioritize, with goals. Soon, a Dashboard can be employed to monitor the projects’ progress.

Take a moment right now to list all your marketing efforts: The ones you’ve tried, with little follow-up (or “didn’t work”). The ones you are planning to do. The marketing projects you want to do but aren’t quite ready to launch. And the projects that must be part of your day-to-day world.

We’ll explore specifics in upcoming posts… for now brainstorm in these 4 categories:

Strategic: These marketing projects tend to be longer-term and help to position your firm differently than others in your specialty or niche. For example, a strategic project can be developing a Client Appreciation Seminar series.

Wishlist: These are marketing projects are ones that you want to do. They may not yield new clients right away, or be significant revenue generators. Like strategic projects, they tend to be longer-term… They need not be as “important” as Strategic projects, but they help contribute to your firm’s culture (and/or your personal development). A Wishlist marketing project may be developing a book based on your expertise.

Opportunistic: These marketing projects are urgent and serendipitous (right place, right time). These are opportunities to promote your firm in a way that you weren’t planning. While it is not yet integrated into your Marketing Action Plan (it may be for next year), it is well worth it (yield is greater than cost) to pursue it. Hopefully, it does not derail the other important marketing projects. An Opportunistic marketing project could when you are invited to speak at a trade conference.

Tactical: These are your everyday marketing habits. These are the basics that should be reviewed at least monthly, if not weekly. Nothing dramatic happens if you don’t get to it today, but if days or weeks go by, your firm’s pipeline will be affected. For example, Tactical marketing includes your networking events, 1-on-1 follow-up, or e-newsletters.

By brainstorming in these 4 categories, you can ensure that your short-term Tactical are becoming systematic while engaging in more fun, long-term Strategic & Wishlist projects. Opportunities are everywhere… this will help you to hone your antennae.

Read Full Post »

In an Advisory, Consulting, Coaching model, potential clients often start out skeptical, then get enthusiastic when you show them the results that are possible for them when they engage with you. Then the reality sets in - that they will have to do something & be in action in ways that they are not comfortable or familiar with, and certainly they are not in the habit of doing things the way that you propose.

This all leads to their concern (fear) over what it’s going to take from them to “get over the hump” in order to get the results they want. Ultimately many then become resigned, focusing on all the reasons they can’t do what you propose, and then come up with every conceivable “objection” (real or imagined) to engaging with you. Price is the most prevalent objection, even though it is rarely the “real reason”. The real reason is that they either don’t see the value, or more likely, that they are afraid they won’t be able or willing to do what they need to do (their part) to create the results they want.

I recently converted a prospect into a client that followed this path. They were originally a “yes for sure”, then canceled, then a “not now, but definitely later” and finally a “let’s get started now” confirmed new client.

As for the how – I went above & beyond in offering Business Coaching (I’m also an experienced Business Coach) to help them move past what was standing in the way (themselves). This was as simple as a no-fee coaching session, and a couple of phone calls & emails. More importantly I refused to just give up (I wouldn’t buy into their resignation in the matter), but I was also not “attached” to gaining their business or desperate in any way. I just committed myself to their success – and – committed to their becoming a client now vs. later and the value that I could provide for them if they did.

The question is – where can you go above and beyond for a potential client, adding value up-front, that shows your commitment to their success? Perhaps you could show them a path forward, a way that they can do what they don’t believe they can’t do, to get the results they want.

Mark V Bullock Partner / PMA www.PracticeMarketingAdvisors.com www.MBullock.com

Read Full Post »

First, number 1: When I donated to President Obama’s campaign, I didn’t receive any collaterals (e.g., bumper stickers, t-shirts, pins, etc.) to showcase either my donation or adoration. I suppose I was as vocal without this minor expense; regardless, the Obama campaign did miss out on an opportunity with millions of others: silent, passive viral marketing. Perhaps I was a small oversight (commensurate with the donation?).

President Obama’s governance scorecard is debatable… he’s only 50 days in. His policies, including the Stimulus Package and the Budget, are also debatable… I’ll leave that up to the pundits and politicians. More than administration, Obama is making a major marketing mistake.

Obama’s Marketing Mistake #2 is more serious: (more…)

Read Full Post »

On Friday, one of my clients, Bruce Maasbach arranged a seminar for his circle of real estate agents. While much of the time should have been dedicated to a tactical, Web 2.0, Marketing Action Plan… my inspirational preamble was more valuable. First a mindset change, or a paradigm shift, has to take place for a Real Estate Agent to do business from 2009 on. Hear what I mean:

Three 10-minute parts will automatically be on the right-hand of the video above when I upload to my blip.tv account. With the poor lighting and zoom, the video quite frankly sucks. But my audio silhouette - with hand gestures - gets my points across!

VIDEO 1: I go through how the market has changed over the past 10 years.
VIDEO 2: I explain how ludicrous the real estate industry has been, and a brave new vision for them.
VIDEO 3: I talk about how real estate professionals can begin creating a new business model.

Originally, I had brought my projector, my laptop, with a PowerPoint… but there was no table for the equipment, screen (or white wall), and I’m sure WiFi would’ve been “too secure.” I’m a speaker, not a presenter, so I didn’t care.
LESSON TO BE LEARNED: I did bring hand-outs, which are low-tech and guaranteed to work.

What do you think about the new Business Model Vision I proposed for real estate agents/brokers?

Read Full Post »

This write-up will soon appear in the NCCPAP Nassau-Suffolk newsletter. On Tuesday, January 6, I facilitated the first meeting of our NCCPAP Marketing Roundtable. I would like to extend a special thank you to Doug Sinetar, a Roundtable member, for opening up his conference room to us. The small CPA firms represented ranged from solo practitioners, to partnerships, to firms with around 7 accountants.

Each member received a copy of my book, “365 Marketing Thumb-rules: Daily reminders for rainmakers.” I used the book to remind our members of the different types of marketing channels and marketing collaterals. It will continue to be our workbook, reminding members of what can and should be doing.

Unlike a seminar or workshop, I asked the Roundtable a series of questions; thus each member had an equal opportunity to share their backgrounds, their marketing questions, and marketing experiences. After our introductions, we began to share some marketing questions and concerns. For example, one member felt she may have been doing “too much networking.” Another member was more concerned in general lead generation, while another chimed in that he wanted to “upgrade” his clientele.

On the other hand, another CPA wanted to (more…)

Read Full Post »

On December 16, I was invited back for a 3rd time to address the Preferred Providers Network of the National Network of Accountants. My topic included a worksheet that would help the room of CPAs, attorneys, and financial advisors to “Trigger More Referrals, with a catchy 1-liner.” You can practice along, with the worksheet attached, and the video below. Better yet, add your 1-liner below in the comments. (The video seminar brightens up after about 15 seconds.)

I introduced our Community Hexagon™ to the room. Many had been to a previous seminar (Target your Market to the 4°), which went over the Community Dartboard™. They are similar concepts - in that they outline the 6 facets of a “community,” a like-minded demographic that shares lifestyle aspects that encourages culture & identity. It’s not so esoteric: Dog lovers and trial attorneys are sub-cultures, that is, they share all 6 facets of the Community Hexagon™.

Likewise, we can take the more-general community of pet owners and the community of professionals and go to the “4th degree” in the Community Dartboard™. By doing so, we would be able to check-off all 6 criteria on the Community Checklist™ with which the worksheet begins. How far can you go on the downloadable Worksheet? Does your target market meet all 6 facets that would make it a Word-of-mouth buzz-friendly group?

 Ebook: Download | Hits (395)

Read Full Post »

CPAs and attorneys are actively marketing themselves now more than ever; financial advisors have been savvy for years now. Yet most professionals fall into the same branding quagmire as most marketers: They get mesmerized by the Madison Avenue marketing jargon like “branding.”

First of all, most professionals (and marketers) confuse a brand with a logo. Your logo (or face/fashion for a personal brand) is not the brand… it’s the branding iron.

Remember that the concept of a brand comes from the cruel practice of singing the hides of cows, etc. The brand isn’t the tool the cowboy (or factory farm) owns. Rather, it’s the image burnt onto the animal. Cowboys branded their cattle to showcase ownership (and prevent theft from competitors). At the risk of relating our clients to cash cows, our brand is meant to be a sign of ownership over them. That means we should first and foremost be “branding” our clients. They should know our branding irons… our marketing materials, especially a S.M.A.R.T. 1-liners [click for related post].

Secondly, we should presume ownership over our target market community. That is our brand should quickly showcase to whom we are best suited… our ideal client. This is more easily done with a S.M.A.R.T. 1-liner trigger than even a logo.

As you design or improve your marketing materials and Marketing Action Plan, keep your brand in mind. Not its image or even “brand experience,” but keep the result of your branding irons in mind. BTW: The original brands were simple geometric shapes (that could be easily fashioned by blacksmiths). Lesson? Keep it simple.

By focusing on your brand - and not just your irons - you can more quickly practice marketing your expertise and personal brand, within your codes of ethics and compliance obligations.

Read Full Post »

Are you getting any comments from prospective customers like “our budgets being slashed”, or “It’s not in the budget”? (more…)

Read Full Post »

We all have a marketing budget. Is it a line item? Is it consciously invested? Is it monitored? Is it planned?

Our marketing budget is the time we spend on networking, asking clients/COI for referrals, improving our website, writing our newsletters, and all the other W.A.T.E.R.S. endeavors. And of course, we all have a money budget for marketing. We may only spend money on events, mailings, phone calls, and collateral development — and some of us may make media ad buys.

All too often we find clients more interested in making a Splash, to keep up with the larger firms out there. Yet, time and time again, we find that that it’s the consistent small actions - marketing habits in routine drips - that really provides the biggest bang for the buck.

Splashy ads and campaigns can spark buzz. But it’s the consistent drips that sustain word-of-mouth marketing and follows up on results.

Start a drip campaign of e-mail, phone, regular mail, and meeting campaigns. You can do so today. When was the last time you had breakfast, lunch, or dinner with one of your top clients?

Splash campaigns should be planned, executed, and managed more strategically so as to not waste precious time and money.

In both (and you should have both), Your Practice Marketing (aka, W.A.T.E.R.S.) Action Dashboard becomes pivotal and center stage. See attached.

 Ebook: Download | Hits (317)

Read Full Post »

What do your clients think about you, but aren’t telling you? What comes to their minds when they think about making an appointment with you? What do they unconsciously know they can count on from you?

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Several years back I had a tech consulting practice. It was reasonably successful ie. I was making a living. There was only one problem. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, working 60 to 80 hours a week, and frankly I was burning out fast. I was very much a generalist and charged an hourly rate that was a “bargain” in comparison to many of the other practicing generalists in my area. In short I was working my tail off for a modest income, and really didn’t enjoy working with many of my clients, most of which I struggled to get paid from, and I was doing an awful lot of unpaid work because I didn’t understand my own value….

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Personal Branding – Thumb Rule #48

Belong to very few networking groups, and be active in them.

So its 8:30am, you walk into the grand ballroom with your pocket thick with business cards. The room is buzzing with conversation, there are about 150 professionals dressed in their business attire. Each has that “Hello My Name Is” sticker hopefully on there right side of their lapel. You start to weave through the crowd to find a familiar face. Ah you see one but they are engaged so you wait close by until you decide to seek another face. As you begin to walk thru the maze you notice many faces of net workers whom you have seen at other events over the past few weeks.

I have been attended countless of these types of events for the past 15 years. A learning experience yes, but a lot of wasted time and dollars spent out of my own pocket. So here is the scoop

Eliminate the word networking from your mind and replace it “Relationship Building”

Do not belong to more than 3 groups, and one to be a non-for profit.

Get involved, become active, and join a committee. Become valuable to the group.

Build relationships that are based on trust, integrity and that you are an expert in your field.

If you give you will get without trying. Approach conversations whit a how can I help get you business. Once you help another they will do the same for you.

Order a professional name badge, include your logo, and name. Get the one with magnets. Just by being distinctive you will be noticed. Where the badge at every event you attend including tradeshows, and sales calls.

Be patient in my experience it takes 8-12 monthly meetings to get a referral. Don’t give up.

You need to continue to build these relationships between meetings. Meet for breakfast or lunch with at least on member of the group each month.

Go to every event and get there 15 min before it begins, that’s when the rainmakers show up.

Always smile, present an optimistic view, act energized, give complements, be genuine and follow up, follow, up follow up. Oh and please don’t forget the breath mints.

For example, check out this blog post: http://marketingcatalyst.blogspot.com/2008/08/avoiding-people-traps-at-networking.html

Read Full Post »

On Ethical Selling Thumb Rule #11: Book A Meeting From A Meeting

Tarzan could travel through the jungle faster than anyone, never breaking a sweat, while at the same time avoiding the pitfalls (think snakes) that awaited him on the path everyone else took. He did it by becoming intimately familiar with his environment and using it to his advantage.

We all know that Tarzan would race through the jungle by swinging from one vine to another. The trick was to grab the next vine as his ride on the current vine was ending, then smoothly transition forward.

Back here in civilization, we would be well advised to become intimately familiar with our client development and client service environments. One simple way to transition from one vine to the next is to set a date for your next meeting at the end of your present one.

I learned this simple, highly effective marketing/service habit from my chiropractor (whether you “believe in chiropractors” or not is not relevant for this discussion). Every time I finished getting adjusted, it was protocol for me to go to the reception desk and book my next appointment. Depending on how I felt I was doing, I would make the appointment or choose not to.

So by booking a meeting from a meeting, my chiropractor (or his assistant) didn’t have to make a note to call Dominick to see when he wants to come in again. He did a better job of fixing my problem, made his practice run more smoothly and had more billable visits.

Even if you “pencil in” an appointment with a client or prospective client for a future date, it’s “in the book” until one of you calls to take it out. Suppose a tax accountant sits down with her client in March to prepare his personal returns. Might it make sense to pencil in an appointment for a quarterly review before the client leaves the office?

If it typically takes several “touches” for a prospective client to become your actual client, “book a meeting from a meeting” can be your Plan B if the prospect doesn’t hire you at the end of the current meeting. Have a reason (or quiver of reasons) to reconnect again at an appointed time.

This method is also can work if you don’t like selling, or if your prospect doesn’t like deciding. If a prospect meets with you three, four, or even five times, there comes a point where you can take the lead and let them know when to expect their bill.

Read Full Post »

Ok, so you decided to bite the bullet and shell out the investment for a trade show exhibit. You got yourself a nice backdrop, table display, handouts, etc. You showed up on time, and “manned” the booth from opening to closing waiting for people to walk up to you. Now I’ll bet you’re very disappointed with the results. What did you miss?

You’re not alone, and indeed there are more than a handful of reasons you got far less response than you were hoping for. One of the biggest is – you didn’t bother to tell anyone you were going to be there! Why? Because you assumed your reason to exhibit was only to get new prospects – and – that it’s the show’s organizer’s responsibility to provide you throngs of fresh walk-up prospects.

Trade shows usually require a large investment of your time & resources to exhibit, but only a very small portion of the exhibitors do everything possible to leverage that investment.

The first leverage point; In advance of the show - invite everyone, everyone in your contact database, everyone in your customer database, everyone in your prospect database – in short everyone you know, & let them know you’re going to be there! Not only that, but provide them dates & times, where you will be located on the floor, and MOST IMPORTANTLY – WHY they should come to see you at the show! And equally importantly – WHY they should bring a friend!

Exhibiting can be your big chance to present yourself in person, to provide a temporary “store front” if you don’t have one, and to create “buzz” around you and your brand. Exhibiting helps you forge new relationships, reinforce existing relationships, and provide a high impact platform to grow you business and your brand IF well planned and leveraged. Inviting anyone, and everyone you can think of (in a compelling way of course), is just one of your key leverage points.

Mark V. Bullock Partner/PMA PracticeMarketingAdvisors.com

Read Full Post »