Integrity Marketing

What Are You Selling?

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

The IMS Spring Conference 2012 concluded two weeks ago today. Where does the time go? I don’t know, but I do know this… time is moving fast!

Accordingly, I believe it wise to take stock from time to time regarding how we are investing and spending our time.  So it is with our estate planning and/or elder law practices.  Here’s a question for you to ponder: What are you selling?

 

From my vantage point, as president of IMS over the past 16 years, I have had the unique opportunity to study hundreds of the practices of your peers across the country.  Based on that unique opportunity, I have determined that the answer to that question comes down to this: You are either selling a pile of paper or you are providing peace of mind.  Period!

I would take it a step further, though. If you are providing peace of mind, who defines that peace of mind, you or your client?  No, think about it. After you have been practicing estate planning and/or elder law for as many years as most of us, we all tend to fall into a trap.  This trap is best described by the old saying that if all you have is a hammer, then every problem is a nail.  Ergo, attorneys tend to “carpet bomb” the problems presented by our clients with piles of paper. And it works.

Problem:  LegalZoom.com and other DIY legal form services can create piles of paper too and almost free (by comparison).  What, then, is your differential advantage?  You empowering your clients to have a unique experience through a process that turns the traditional engagement process on its head. That, Charlie Brown, is your differential advantage. You are!

Picture this:  From the very beginning of the process, your clients truly prioritize the results they want to accomplish at the end of the estate planning process. Your unique process helps them do just that and then, helps them custom design their own estate planning results with your collaboration. This process has far too many moving parts to cover in a blog post (or even a series of blog posts). In fact, the first afternoon of the Conference, I only was able to give The ESSENTIAL Solution® attorneys in attendance a brief overview of the process.

I can tell you that it is a wonderfully satisfying experience for the clients, as well as the attorney. Oh, by the way, your fees are protected from the dreaded “downward” pressure. Want proof?  Read some of my client testimonials for yourself on Avvo.com or Martindale.com

Teaching Point: Intrigued? If yes, then stay tuned as this unique process will be made available only to The ESSENTIAL Solution® attorneys.

Five Business Tips from Successful Entrepreneurs

One of the most important things you can do to advance your business success is to find a mentor, someone whose success you admire and whose star outshines yours. It's good for the soul -- and to temper your ego -- to study at the feet of a master. Not only will you learn how to become more successful yourself, but you just may get a good dose of much-needed humility. After all, we must first accept that we need to learn before we actually can.

I was blessed last week to spend time with a great group of highly successful business owners -- folks who started out as entrepreneurs and went on to build multi-million dollar organizations. James and I joined David Goddard, Executive VP of IMS Local Search Authority, last week to attend the annual convention of the Association of Directory Publishers (David's keynote speech launched the convention with his 2012 Market Forecast).

Time after time, as James and I met each of the members, we were impressed with their success stories. Virtually every one had a rags-to-riches tale, punctuated with well-timed laughter and nods from their friends who surely knew the story by heart from many years of the re-telling. We were truly impressed by their cordial manner, gracious hospitality, and genuine joy for life. They told us about their families, many of them bragging about long-term marriages to a high school sweetheart or children off at college. They told us about their hobbies, which ranged from fly fishing to flying airplanes. Quite a few of them own horses and stables (though primarily for the enjoyment of wives and grandchildren).

As the week progressed, I noticed a few common themes from among the many stories, and a few common characteristics among these highly successful entrepreneurs. I pass them along here for your reflection as well.

What I Learned From Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

1. Stay Focused. There are lots of things to distract you from your goals, don't let them. Know what business you are in, and don't lose your focus chasing the latest fads.
2. Don't Be Afraid to Work Hard. Every one of the publishers we talked to last week started out somewhere near "the bottom" ... a few of them far below that. This did not appear to have any detrimental effect on their eventual success, though it did test their mettle. They were never "above" doing any job necessary to reach their goals -- and still are not. They will still lick stamps and stuff envelopes if they have to!
3. Treat People Right. Last year when a tornado ripped through Joplin, MO destroying businesses in its path, Ken Brock (owner of Names & Numbers, the Joplin phone book) had some decisions to make. The first thing he did was write off the bills for every business affected. Then he sent (and paid) scores of his own staff members in to help with the clean-up. Then he started an online campaign, updating almost daily, to get information out for the businesses that remained, those who relocated, and those who reopened. Eventually, he started reprinting and distributing new books. Ken's story is not particularly unique nor surprising. Many of his colleagues had similar stories to tell. You see, there is a "right" and a "wrong" and it's not "just business." I was perhaps most impressed by their unwavering commitment to doing the right thing.
4. Listen to New Ideas. The ADP refers to their vendor/ exhibitors as "Partners." The publishers took time to visit in the trade show with these partners. Whether they bought anything or not, they listened. They asked questions. You could see the wheels spinning in their minds as they considered whether this partner might be showing them a great business opportunity ... or not. They know their business can only grow if they are constantly implementing new ideas, and they will have to hear a new idea before they can decide whether it's a good one or not.
5. Be Kind. Whether you call it graciousness, hospitality, or good manners -- just plain kindness goes a long way in business. Smile and shake someone's hand. Try to remember their name. All of these kindnesses show that you value the other person. When you refuse to make eye contact, scowl, or brush people off, you show that you simply do not value the other person. And, in business, the "other person" is your potential client or customer. Simple kindness -- it makes life better, and what do you know? It will make your practice more profitable too!

 

My IMS Spring Conference Take Away

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Well, another IMS Spring Conference came to a close on March 16.

For the attendees and the presenting faculty alike it was a time to retreat, retool, and refocus together.

Based on the title of this post, you likely are thinking that old Kyle is going to wax about his own presentations at the conference. Au contraire.

While I may address the gist of my presentations in a future post, I want to focus on what really blew me away at the conference - A deeper appreciation of what IMS does every day behind the scenes to market our estate planning and/or elder law practices.

Here is what I learned:

1. Website: Our websites are optimized for search engines and every visit is tracked by IMS analytics, resulting in a monthly Marketing Report unique to each of us.  With our strategically optimized websites, each of us enjoys a strong presence across the internet when prospects are surfing in “search, compare and select” mode.  Consciously (or subconsciously) prospective clients perceive that page one attorneys are better than page two attorneys. Right or wrong, their perception is their reality. It needs to be ours, too. So, what can we do to enhance our rankings...
2. Blogging: Are you blogging?  Are you blogging daily or, if not, at least consistently?  Blogging may be one thing you can do to distinguish yourself from other attorneys in your area.  Note: Each blog counts as a new indexed page on your website and Google rewards you for being a “thought leader” on the internet.  As Jennifer teaches: “Talkers are hawkers, but writers are experts.” Properly done (in close coordination with your website, Twitter feed and Facebook page), blogging can help you land – and stay – on the coveted page one of Google.
3. Video: James and Michael Campbell, the dynamic duo, were show stoppers with their cheeky, but effective “Video Killed the Radio Star” presentation. They made a compelling case for having custom video on your website.  While I do not understand all of the details (hey, when I went through broadcast journalism, I used a manual Royal typewriter in my Reporting I class!), I know that Michael and James are college educated and real world trained in the details.  In addition, they stay on the cutting edge of video production technology.  Fact: We are a very video oriented culture. If you have custom video on your website, then you will blow your competition away. It is the “X Factor” and we have the talent to make it work for you.
4. Newsletter: In this economy, you will no longer be competing with the volume of direct mail advertising as in the past. When you send a full-color newsletter every month without fail, you will establish and own top-of-mind awareness for these most critical relationships. The emphasis here is on relationship.  You see, when the friends, family members and clients of these folks have an estate planning need, you will be the one to whom they will refer the work. My point: Are you sending your hardcopy newsletter to the homes of your top clients, centers of influence and referral sources? If no, then you are missing a golden opportunity.
5. E-Newsletter: Are you consistently building your e-newsletter distribution list, ethically and consistently?  Have you been automatically subscribing every new client?  When you follow-up with their other professional advisors (i.e., accountant, financial advisor, insurance agent, physician, etc.) with client permission, are you offering them a complimentary subscription to stay informed?  Don’t overlook everyone you meet at Chamber of Commerce gatherings, too. Everywhere there is networking and marketing.
   
   
6. Targeted Presentations: How many presentations have you given recently?  Speaking at your local Chamber of Commerce, offer to provide an educational program on estate planning for business owners.  Ours is titled “Business Owner Blues.”  Visit your bank and have a cup of coffee with the coordinator for retiree activities.  Offer to present an educational program focusing on the financial and legal concerns common to women.  Ours is titled “Women, Money & The Law.”  The opportunities are virtually unlimited, as every Rotary, Optimist, Sertoma, Lion’s and Kiwanis club is always looking for a guest speaker.
7. You: In the end, you must be committed to working the system. Suppose you were a fisherman and not an attorney. Unless you take that fishing pole and bait (i.e., your comprehensive marketing system) out of the basement and out to the lake (i.e., the marketplace of prospective clients and referral sources), it will be very difficult for you to catch enough fish (i.e., clients) to stay in business. On the other hand, if you simply work the comprehensive marketing system, then you will keep your appointment calendar full and it will resemble a winning BINGO card. As has been attributed to Woody Allen, “80% of success is just showing up.” So, are you showing up? Are you really doing all you can to market your practice?

Teaching Point: The ESSENTIAL Solution® is a comprehensive marketing system, tested and proven effective in my own law practice. We are here to help when you are ready to have an ever more profitable and enjoyable estate planning and/or elder law practice.

"Pause, Prioritize and Focus" Says Peter Bregman of Harvard Business Review

Posted by Roslyn Drotar, Strategic Planning / Personal Account Manager
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

After doing weeks and weeks of research on The Google Plus Project I was on information overload!  Those people at Google change everything all the time.  I was endlessly updating my presentation up to the last minute.  The morning I presented they had announced one of the biggest changes to their algorithms since 1996 to include semantic search!  I just couldn’t keep up.

Staying on top of all the innovation with Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can be exhausting.  And if you don’t stay focused on what’s important, you can waste a lot of valuable time.  I’m sure it’s the same for you in your law practice.  I recently came across an interesting article titled Two Lists You Should Look At Every Morning from Harvard Business Review that hit the nail on the head.  I wanted to share it with you.  The author, Peter Bregman basically says that in order to “pause, prioritize and focus” do two things every morning:

“List One – Your Focus List (the road ahead) – What are you trying to achieve?  What makes you happy?  What’s important to you?  Design your time around those things.  Because time is your one limited resource and no matter how hard you try, you can’t work 25/8.

List Two – Your Ignore List (the distractions) – To succeed in using your time wisely, you have to ask the equally important but often avoided complementary question :  What are you willing not to achieve?  What doesn’t make you happy?  What’s not important to you?  What gets in the way?”

Bregman goes on to share the moment when he’s so busy paying attention to the emails coming into his Blackberry and responding that he doesn’t notice the CEO of the company in the elevator next to him. When your wrapped up in the little things and don’t focus on the big deal, and then it all blows up on you.

Make note that the title of the article says to look at these two items “Every Morning” and be proactive about it each day.  Think about what you need to focus on everyday  before you sit down at your desk to dig into the tactical things.  Otherwise you get wrapped up in them and valuable time is lost on the things that don’t generate revenue or help you grow your practice. 

It comes down to focus and time management.  Focus on the important stuff and throw the rest aside.  Cast it to the wind and remove the rest from the equation.  Simplify…It even sounds nice!   Ask yourself….What’s your plan for today?

Workshop Take Away

Posted by Roslyn Drotar, Personal Account Manager / Strategic Planning
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Last week I was excited to jump on a plane and head to beautiful Kansas City to meet up with the rest of the Integrity Marketing Solutions Team for the Spring Workshop.  My biggest "take away" was the commitment from the attorneys that attended (as well as their staff and family members) and made the sacrifice to break away from their practice and spend time with their marketing team!  We did nothing but talk marketing for three days (and we had fun too)!

The program was full of marketing insight about branding, learning to find your right client, the client experience, marketing reports, analytics, video, social media, yellow pages and local search, Google, AVVO and SEO (to name a few).  By the end of the day my brain was pumped!  And a little on overload but it was some really great stuff.

I hope the people that attended go back to the office and implement some progressive steps that will make a difference in their marketing.  Go over their notes and slide presentations and pick a few things they can do to make some good solid progress with their marketing and generate some good old revenue.   Do at least a few things differently or something new that they have never done before.  And ideally renew their commitment to that activity every day.

I learned so much last week.  I enjoyed spending time with the team, our clients and feel privileged to be a part of IMS!

Three Words That Are Revolutionizing My Practice (And Life)

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

New Year’s Resolutions. Did you make any? If yes, are you still keeping any?

I made one that has paid off with big dividends daily over the past two full months. I have more time, energy and focus. It consists of a relentless adherence to three simple, yet powerful words.

 (1) Don't (2) Delgate (3) Do

Let me explain. Perhaps you will see a bit of yourself in me, as well.

Don’t. Do you take on a project because it is easier than disappointing someone. I have. As a result, I end up stretched too thin, with no time, energy and focus to take on what really matters to me. Now, I am happy to report that my first reaction to any project or proposal is a polite, but firm “no.”

Delegate. Do you ever take on a project and pound all of the nails yourself… even though you are trained as an architect and not as a carpenter? I have. As a result, I end up doing tasks better done by others. In fact, those others tend to be gifted in carpentry, while I am all thumbs. Now, I am happy to report that my first reaction when I take on a project is to delegate the work to others, except….

Do. Now, I ensure that I “do” only the work that only I can do, especially in my estate planning practice. It’s that Juris Doctor thing. I provide the legal advice. As a result, I have more time, energy and focus to be “all there” for my clients, family and friends. 

I have found in my life, both personally and professionally, that when I focus on doing the small things exceedingly well, then the big things have a way of taking care of themselves.

At the IMS Spring Conference next week, I will be teaching other very practical, transferable discoveries to help our Essential Solution® attorneys have an ever more profitable and enjoyable practice.

Teaching Point: Sometimes it helps reboot your life, personally and professionally, when you only add to your “to do” list after you have started your “stop doing” list.

Don't Just Sit There. Get In The Race!

Posted by, Roslyn Drotar, Strategic Planning / Personal Account Manager
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

The good news is you still have time to register for our Spring Workshop!  But please do it today because we want to help and give your practice the marketing attention it needs.  Are you worrying about your marketing?  Worrying about it won’t make it go away.  

The solution to your marketing and your worries requires you to get on a plane and join your marketing team in Kansas City!  Get away from your office, the phone, the appointments, the drafting, the consultations, etc., etc.  Come join us and give us your undivided attention and focus on nothing but your marketing.  Have you seen our agenda?  We promise to make it worth your time! 

I know you’re thinking…. How can you possibly take four days from your practice to travel and not be producing the entire time you’re away?  We know that can be difficult.  But, let me ask you this?  Can you afford not to?  Because everything we have on our agenda for the Workshop is solutions based.  That means generating revenue.   Sometimes you’ve got to get away from your practice to grow it.  Refresh, regroup and come up with a plan, a good solid plan of what you’ll do to get your marketing on the fast track!  And that’s what we’ll be doing.  It’s pretty much a risk if you don’t come.  And the consequence is not making progress with your marketing.  And if you’re not making progress with your marketing, and actively marketing, then it’s the ones who are participating and making progress that are winning!  They’re ahead in the race, crossing the finish line first, and you’re loosing the race.

Do not procrastinate!  Don’t be a talker, get in the race!  Show up, participate and execute on your plan when you return.  There is so much innovation in the marketing arena that if you miss this, you’ll be missing a lot!  Marketing, branding, our new KAPS process, trends, video, social media, yellow pages, local search, Google, AVVO, Search Engine Optimization, etc., etc.  I’m so excited to be a part of this workshop and help be there to rev up your marketing!  Click this convenient link to register!

Three Simple Ways to Give Your Content YOUR Personality...

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

If you are an Essential Solution® client then you consistently receive five (5) professionally researched, written , edited and re-edited blog posts each and every week to post to your Essential Solution® website.

When you post these blogs, they automatically trigger a “tweet” on your Twitter, show your face on your Facebook and even Linc your “solid, man” (anyone remember the “Mod Squad”?) on your LinkedIn.

You are blogging 5x per week, yes?

If not, then you ought.

You see, for the only integrated marketing system specifically for estate planning and/or elder law attorneys in the solar system to operate at the maximum efficiency and effectiveness as designed… it needs the commitment of the most important component…

YOU!

Good news: It never is too late to start. Make it a habit, just like flossing. And I practice what I preach, too. Today my 400th blog post hits the worldwide web!  And will also hit my social media and tickle the fickle fancy of that gal we all seek to impress – Ms. Google.

Not only should you post every business day to enhance your search engine ranking and visibility everywhere you want to be seen, but you should have fun with it.

That’s right. I said have fun with your blogs.

As estate planning and elder law attorneys, you are professional wordsmiths. Look at the five (5) blog posts delivered to your inbox each week as ready-to-edit text awaiting your own “personality.” You have your own voice, your own insights and your own sense of humor. Don’t be afraid to add anecdotes from your own practice and human experience along the way.

Here are three (3) simple ways to give your blog posts your personality:

1. Change the Title. One of the easiest ways to distinguish your blog post from another is to come up with a different title. I edit the five (5) weekly blogs on Thursdays for Jennifer to distribute to our IMS family on Fridays.  But then I return to them over a cup of coffee on Saturday mornings to re-edit just a tad for my post.
2. Change the Lead Sentence or Even the Lead Paragraph. After the title, the reader will quickly skim the opening “hook” in the blog to see if it may be worth reading. This is an easy way to tweak your blog by rewording or refocusing the content.
3. Upload Photographs. Face it, we are a visual culture. Post photos of you, your family, or hobbies to put a little warmth and human touch to your blog posts. Don’t overdue it, however.

With just a little bit of effort, you can have fun with your blogging!

Remember, if you focus on the little things then the big things will take care of themselves. In other words, if you work the Essential Solution®, then the Essential Solution® will work for you… and you have an ever more profitable and enjoyable estate planning and/or elder law practice.

Teaching Point: Blogging is but one essential component of a truly comprehensive marketing system we call the Essential Solution®. It’s a comprehensive marketing system, tested and proven effective in my own law practice. Come to the IMS Spring Conference and get on the fast track to learning how to leverage this marketing system to have an ever more profitable and enjoyable estate planning and/or elder law practice.