Many of you are familiar with that famous line, the first one to email us the name of the group who sang that famous line will win a free ticket to the Fall Summit social on Friday evening October 14^th. Email it to the email address at the bottom of this message.

We were sitting at lunch the other day and talking about a comment made to us by someone we did not know while we were in a common area of the office building where the Academy is located. Someone said, “It is a beautiful day and here we are stuck in an office.” Funny thing is we do not feel stuck and, hopefully, none of you feel stuck either. We are not just talking about feeling stuck in the office but more importantly stuck in any way at all.

By “stuck” we mean not moving forward, lack of progress and or frustration with not getting things done and implemented. Not a day goes by where we do not encounter hearing or reading from someone that a task is on my “To Do” List. We all encounter this either personally or with colleagues, staff and maybe even at home! The tools for success are there but some things never get started or they get started but never get finished.

There are many complex reasons why this occurs but let’s look at we think are the top three. One is no ability to see the result or goal, another is not knowing all the steps needed to accomplish that goal and the third reason we get stuck is our failure to control our TIME. Of course, failure to control time is the same as the fact that we all get “distracted” or more accurately we allow ourselves to be distracted.

Distraction control: Let’s start here because this is something we have total control over – our time and limiting distractions. Distractions come in many forms. We distract ourselves by getting involved in trivia. We are looking for something specific on the internet and we wind up Googling something else, then watch a video on it and then go to a website. Before long 15 minutes is gone and we barely remember where we started. So here it is, we let ourselves get distracted. Discipline is in order to control this all too common form of time robbery.

Another favorite is the infamous interruption. How do we stop that from occurring? We need to control our environment where we work so we can focus. Interruptions come in the form of people and electronic interruptions. We need to train all around us to not interrupt and provide a set method and set time to address important issues. On the electronic front, you need to make some decisions. Email and cell phones are the biggest concern. Compulsive checking of phone messages has given way to compulsively checking email and for some checking text messages or checking the latest new communications tools. All of this destroys the ability to focus and accomplish and implement.

Action:  Immediately identify the top three distractions in your daily work environment. Phone, email, employees, you make the list and determine how to eliminate (control) them. Set a deadline and communicate the new system to those involved. For example, can anyone reach you by phone or do they have to go through a gatekeeper? Can you limit access to you by a DND button on your phone? Whatever it is it can be controlled as long as you decide to control it.

Your time will be controlled based upon what your agenda happens to be. You will use your time according to your agenda, someone else’s agenda or randomly because you have no agenda! Use your calendar and plan for the year, the month, the week, the day, the hour. Schedule everything. When to start and when to stop.

A small amount of time allocated to addressing this issue can result in a significant ability to get work done and get programs implemented.

Sanford M. Fisch
CEO & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
info@aaepa.com

UPDATE: ‘Jacquelyn Leuener’, from Brad Anderson’s office wins for submitting the first right answer! ROLLING STONES

To many lawyers, marketing a law practice is collection of dark arts, where the focus is on a confusing array of the latest tactics. This kind of approach is bound to fail and waste a lot of money in the process. Because attorneys are often a logical group, I thought I’d offer some strategic step-by-step concepts so you can see if your marketing activities are on track.

Step number one is to identify your ideal clients. No use having a fabulous marketing campaign generating lots of business from clients that are unprofitable, or worse, that you hate working with. Construct a virtual avatar of all the perfect clients’ traits and demographics. That’s right, actually construct a vivid picture of these folks or companies. Where do they live? What kind of income and net worth do they have? What organizations do they belong to? Where do they spend their leisure time? You get the picture.

Next, identify the lifetime value of those ideal clients. In other words, over the full lifetime relationship with your firm how much revenue will they generate. This is an important and often surprising number because it will influence how much money you spend on marketing efforts. After all, if you knew that over many years clients typically generate $35,000 in fees to your firm you would have no problem spending more money acquiring that client as opposed to focusing just on the $3,500 initial transaction. The question you should always be asking is how much would I gladly pay to acquire a client worth $35,000 to my firm. The answer will change the way you look at marketing expenses.

With the ideal client profile and the lifetime value of the client firmly fixed in your mind, you’re ready to start the 7 step marketing funnel that we can discuss in our next blog.

Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

It looks like the recession is continuing to hit law firms – especially the big ones – hard. According to California Lawyer, in 2009, the number of associates at the top 250 firms in the U.S. declined by 8.7 %, while the number of lawyers overall shrank by 4%.

The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the legal sector as a whole lost 3,900 during the month of June, and it’s lost over 22,000 jobs since this time last year. The large firms have cited reasons like lack of demand for legal services and “price pressures” for the drop in the number of jobs.

In this economic climate, solo lawyers and small-firm practitioners might have some advantages over their counterparts in big firms. If you’re on your own (or the head of a small office), you have a certain degree of flexibility that you can take advantage of in adapting to market demands. For instance, you can evaluate client demand, and make the decision to add or expand a practice area. Even more importantly, you can put systems in place to make sure that your firm develops the best possible relationship with each of your clients, making you the lawyer they come back to again and again.

Keep a lookout for an upcoming post on the specific things elder law practitioners can do to survive… and maybe even thrive… despite the dismal economy.

Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Road, Suite 240
San Diego, CA 92124
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com