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Well, here's
the first issue
of the Rainmaker
Report for the
New Year.
Personally, I
find January to
be a great month
to reflect back
on what I
achieved
personally and
professionally
in 2005 and plan
for the coming
year.
Last year was
great for us.
Over 2,500
attorneys
attended our
Becoming A
Rainmaker seminar at more
than 20 state
and local bar
associations. We
are planning
more seminars
this year and
launching
several new
programs to
better assist
you in growing
your law
practice. Stay
tuned.
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Creating
Your
Power
Plan |
One of
secrets
of
highly
successful
attorneys
is that
they
make
time to
plan for
the
future.
We
recommend
meeting
at least
once per
quarter
with
your
senior
partners
(even if
You are
the
entire
partnership)
to
evaluate
achievements,
set new
goals
and work
on your
power
plan for
the next
quarter.
I was
recently
coaching
a
partner
in a
small
west
coast
law firm
about
their
plans
for this
year
when he
said, I'm not
sure I
see a
point in
setting
goals
because
everything
seems to
quickly
conspire
against
us and
we
easily
get so
caught
up in
the day
to day
operations
of the
firm
that we
don't
have
time to
focus on
our
goals.
Then by
the next
time we
meet,
the
priorities
have all
shifted."
Perhaps
you can
relate.
It's
easy to
set
goals;
the hard
part is
staying
focused
on them
long
enough
to
accomplish
them.
Here
are 4
tips for
staying
focused
and
achieving
your
goals in
2006:
- Ask
someone
to
hold
you
accountable.
Accountability
is
key
when
it
comes
to
keeping
your
commitments.
Whether
it's
your
business
partner,
an
attorney
in a
different
firm,
or
one
of
our
business
coaches,
set
up a
regular
time
to
meet
with
someone
you
trust
and
who
has
your
best
interests
at
heart
and
request
they
keep
you
accountable.
Simply
knowing
that
they
will
ask
you
about
your
progress
every
week
can
make
a
big
difference
to a
lot
of
people.
- Make
sure
they
are
S.M.A.R.T.
goals.
This
is
an
acronym
for
Specific,
Measurable,
Achievable,
Results-oriented,
and
Timed.
A
good
goal
needs
to
incorporate
all
of
these
criteria.
It
is
not
sufficient
to
say
I
want
to
be a
millionaire.
That
statement
may
be
measurable,
but
does
not
include
time
frames,
it
does
not
lay
out
a
specific
game
plan
for
how
you
will
accomplish
this
goal,
and
it
may
not
be
realistic
for
you
at
this
point
in
time.
An
example
of a
SMART
goal
is:
I
want
to
meet
in
person
with
a
minimum
of 4
different
potential
referral
sources
every
month
for
the
next
6
months
and
ask
them
to
send
me
business.
- Make
your
goals
smaller.
While
this
may
seem
contradictory
at
first,
we
have
found
that
sometimes
setting
a
goal
that's
so
big
it
feels
unreachable
actually
kills
your
motivation.
Break
up
your
long-term
goals
into
smaller
ones
that
you
can
reach
on a
regular
basis.
For
example,
gaining
50
new
clients
in
2006
may
sound
overwhelming,
but
this
works
out
to
about
1
per
week.
If
you
know
that
you
convert
50%
of
prospects
that
come
to
your
office
then
you
only
need
2
new
people
to
walk
in
your
door
per
week
in
order
to
achieve
your
goal.
- Focus
on
the
right
goals.
Whenever
I
have
a
coaching
client
that
goes
more
than
2
weeks
without
achieving
the
goal
they
set
in
their
coaching
session
I
start
asking
questions
to
determine
if
this
is a
goal
they
really
feel
passionate
about.
If
there
is
no
commitment
to a
particular
goal
it
will
be
very
difficult
for
most
people
to
devote
time
to
accomplishing
it.
Before
you
commit
time,
energy
and
resource
to a
goal,
make
sure
it
is
something
you
truly
care
about
and
that
will
make
a
noticeable
difference
in
your
practice.
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In The
Spotlight:
Practice
Made
Perfect |
- Are
you
tired
of
waiting
around
for
referrals
and
need
to
rapidly
increase
your
revenues?
- Are
you
satisfied
with
how
fast
your
revenues
are
growing?
- Do
you
want
to
stand
out
and
stand
apart
from
your
competitors?
Practice
Made
Perfect
is a
90-day
intensive
marketing
program
specifically
designed
to help
attorneys
at small
law
firms
create
and
implement
a
comprehensive
marketing
strategy.
- Discover
how
to
give
your
firm
an
edge
on
the
competition
- Create
and
implement
a proven
6-month
marketing
plan
- Find
out
how
to
create
dozens
of
referral
partners
- Leverage
your
technology
and
beat
the
big
boys
- Significantly
increase
your
revenues
in
2006
Our
next
group
starts
February
16 and
is
filling
fast.
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New
Teleseminar
Exclusively
for
Attorneys! |
|
Speaking
of
goals,
have you
taken
time to
create
your
2006
marketing
plan? If
not, we
have a
great
resource
for you:
on
January
26 we
will be
sponsoring
a 1-hour
teleseminar
on
5 Easy
Steps to
Create
Your
2006
Marketing
Plan.
In
this
1-hour
teleseminar
you will
discover:
- A 6-step
process
for
creating
your
12-month
plan
- What
a sample
marketing
plan
looks
like
- Creating
metrics
to
define
your
success
and
Return
on
Investment
(ROI)
- How
to
apply
a
systematic
approach
to
new
business
development
- 3
Tips
for
finding
3
new
clients
in
the
next
30
days
- A
simple
approach
to
begin
experiencing
results
from
your
growth
plan
in
the
next
30-60
days
Your
|nvestment
is only $29
(Regular
$49) this
includes
access
to
downloadable
recording
of the
seminar
for
future
learning
and a
workbook.
Space is
limited.
Register
today
online
or by
calling
800-447-3852
|
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Upcoming
Events... |
|
Announcing
the
Rainmaker
Retreat
We
are very
excited
to
launch
our brand
new 2-
day
power
workshop
for
attorneys.
Join us
for a
weekend
that
will
forever
change
the way
you
market
your
firm.
At the
end of
these 2
power-packed
days you
will
understand
and be
able to
apply
the core
concepts
and
secret
strategies
of top
leg@l
marketers
and you
will
experience
dozens
of
opportunities
to put
these
into
practice
in your
firm
through
the use
of
Action
Steps
and
Action
Groups.
Our
first
event
will be
co-sponsored
by the
Los
Angeles
County
Bar on
March
29. More
info to
come.
See
Stephen
Fairley
present
the
"Becoming
a
Rainmaker"
seminar
at:
- The
New
York
State
Bar
Association's
Annual
Convention
(Jan
23)
- The
Los
Angeles
County
Bar
Assoc
(Feb
28 &
March
1)
- The
Maryland
State
Bar
Association
(March
30)
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4
Tips for
a Better
Website
More
than 70%
of all
law
firms
now have
a
website,
yet only
a small
percent
make
money
from
their
website.
Many law
firms
spend
thousands
of
dollars
on
creating
massive
websites
and
never
recoup
their
investment.
Here
are 4
tips to
help you
build a
more
effective
website
to
attract
clients:
- Compel
visitors
to
give
you
their
contact
information.
You
can
do
this
by
offering
them
a
give-away
like
a
1-hour
audio
CD,
a
speci@l
report,
or
list
of
tips
they
can
use.
In
an
upcoming
teleseminar
we
will
share
with
you
how
to
quickly
and
easily
create
these
products
and
integrate
them
into
your
website
for
maximum
effect.
- Give
them
a
reason
to
pick
up
the
phone
and
call
you.
Most
attorneys
give
compl�mentary
consults
now.
Do
something
different rew@rd
them
for
coming
in
for
a
consult.
The
highest
goal
for
your
website
is
for
a
visitor
to
feel
so
understood
that
they
immedi@tely
pick
up
the
phone
and
call
you.
- Make
your
homepage
copy
compelling.
The
average
website
visitor
spends
less
than
10
seconds
at
your
site
before
deciding
whether
or
stay
or
leave.
Invest
the
most
time
on
the
copy
of
your
homepage,
but
don't
use
a
lot
of
text
use
bullet
points
to
quickly
guide
them
to
the
information
they
need
(people
don't
read
online,
they
scan).
- Focus
on
the
benefits
not
the
features.
A
common
mistake
with
website
copy
is
writing
about
all
the
various
services
you
offer.
People
don't
care
about
your
services.
They
care
about
how
you
can
help
them.
Focus
on
what's
in
it
for
them
and
how
your
firm
can
benefit
them
in
resolving
their
challenge
quickly
and
relatively
pain-free.
February
teleseminar
will
focus on
how to
leverage
your
website
to
attract
more and
better
clients.
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