But I believe the world is burning to the ground

Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out

Let's see how far we've come

Let's see how far we've come

Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end

Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,

Let's see how far we've come

Let's see how far we've come

That's the chorus from a semi-recent (as in 15 years old...not 30 years old) Matchbox 20 song.  

As a child of the late 80s/early 90s, I am a big fan, and it's crazy to see how many bands from my childhood are still making music, touring, etc.

And while this song is mostly about the world ending (which, knock on wood, it's not), I have been thinking about at least the concept of seeing how far we've come.

No World War 3?

Violent Crimes at the lowest rates per capita in recorded history?

Star Wars trilogies are finally over (but now with TV shows)?

Because here's the thing - bad things happen at the moment, but good things take time.

You work out for 6 months and barely see any progress, but you destroy an entire pizza and jump on the scale, and well...it's not good.

You put in your all for a job for years... made one mistake at trial...and now you're starting your own firm.

And to get even further, you don't get out of the car after a long drive and think, "wow...I didn't get into an accident or even hit crazy traffic, that was awesome!"

But in reverse...it stands out.

So on top of bad things usually being quicker...we also notice them more. And it makes biological sense, right?

If you hear rustling in the bushes and think it's a lion and not, no major worry.

But if you just think it's the wind and it is a lion...uh oh, you can't reproduce anymore.

So here's where I want you to take a few minutes to give yourself some credit.

What's been your BIGGEST accomplishment over the last year? 3 years? 5 years?

Is your firm hitting your numbers?

Are you getting more and more of the right cases?

Are you HAPPIER?

And if you're not...or if you aren't satisfied with the results as a whole...well the first step is being aware of that. Then you need to make some changes (but the RIGHT changes).

Albert Einstein said that insanity was doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Maybe you need to change your focus,

Maybe you need to change your habits,

Maybe you need to make some staffing changes,

Or hire someone who is an expert on the things you struggle the most with.

The beauty of some of this is that a lot of things really are OUR fault, and the more it's our fault, the more it's in our control, the easier it is for us to change and fix it.

And look...if you ARE happy with your progress, awesome! That's amazing.

So then your only work is how can we make a system to make sure you celebrate those wins at the moment?

Some people like to journal, and others might incorporate wins into a weekly meeting. Maybe you do this exercise every month or every quarter.

Maybe it's time for a Treat Yo Self day!

Seriously, you've come a LONG way. We all have. And also, you didn't come this far only to come this far.

You got this!

Until next week! May you not struggle to capture the magical shot of an alien spacecraft on your horse ranch next to Glen from The Walking Dead (to be fair, if Get Out was his 6th Sense and Us was his Unbreakable...Nope was more Jordan Peele's Lady in the Water than Signs)

Until Next Friday,

Jordan Ostroff

Redefining Connections: The Power of Referrals and Rethinking Business Cards

<< Test First Name >>,

Confession time - I COMPLETELY stopped keeping business cards on me.

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Not that I have anything against them, you just usually only need them in 2 situations

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1) the more you have long-term relationships with other referral sources or centers of influence the more you need cards for THEM to pass out

2) the more you sponsor events/have a booth somewhere/etc the more you need cards for YOU to pass out.  

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Otherwise...you might not need them at all. From the standpoint of a 1-2-1 lunch or a small networking event, I hate them. And here's why:

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If I give you my card, what are the odds you will follow up with me?

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If I DON'T have a card, then either 

A) you were just asking to be nice and now you're off the hook, or

B) now you can give me your card and I can control the follow-up, or

C) we have to exchange info in a more two-way manner (phone numbers back and forth, social media connection, etc)

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Either B or C gives ME the chance to make sure I stay in touch.

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Plus Captain Planet is my hero.

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Why Referrals?

Let's start here - most law firms start 100% referral based, right?

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Referrals are cheap - I don't have to pay $1000 for a referral as I do for ads, instead, I can attend free or cheap events, maybe pay for coffee, etc

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Referrals are easy - at most, you have to learn to like other people, there aren't any tricks or hacks or such for referrals (and if you think there are, then I know who to avoid)

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Referrals are fun - at their core, it's just doing what you want to do with who you want to do it with

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And the more you put the relationship first the more the cases will come organically and genuinely.

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My contrarian take - ALL law firms should ALWAYS have a consistent stream of referrals. Or better yet, all LAWYERS should have a group of referral partners.

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And I get why this is a unique point because most people either sell you referrals (or referral strategy) or they sell you other marketing tactics and the more you split your marketing $$$s the less you will give to them.

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But let's be honest for a moment. It's in YOUR interest to diversify your marketing efforts, and nothing is more diverse than 50 random people who think of you when a legal issue comes to mind.

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If Google totally changes its algorithm tomorrow, your referral sources can still send your work as your SEO rankings tank.

If Facebook goes down for a few hours, your referral sources can still think of you as no one sees your ads or social media anymore.

Heck, if someone convinces one of your referral sources to refer to them and not you...your other referral sources are still out there.

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My $.02 on the ideal breakdown is you want a stream of referrals that cover your overhead, and then everything else is the gravy on top.

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For example, if your average case value is $5000 and your monthly overhead is $50,000 then you want AT LEAST 10 referred cases per month (you might need 15 referrals to close 10 cases to make the money).

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You can still spend money on SEO, billboards, social media, mailers, events, etc...but if you have a pretty good idea that your overhead is covered without other advertising it's a LOT easier to do that advertising correctly. The less you need it, the easier it is to do well.

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So over the next few weeks we will dive deeper into this, but I wanted to start here:

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How many referral sources do you need?

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ONE MORE!!! Kidding, that's not a good answer.

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We need to do some math (I know, I know, if you're like me you went to law school to AVOID math...but marketing requires it).

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Number of referrals x close rate x average case value = $$$

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To follow from the example above we need 15 referrals per month at a 66% close rate to get 10 cases at $5000 per case to make $50,000 per month.

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15 referrals per month is 180 referrals per year.

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If your average referral source sends you 10 cases per year...you only need 18 people - that's EASY!

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5 cases per year - 36 people - still doable.

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2 cases - 90 people - that MIGHT be stretching it.

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And let's be honest, what is more likely is that you have: 

a core group of 10 people who send a case a month (120)

a group of 10 people that send a case every quarter (40)

another group of 10-20 who send 1 a year (10-20)

and a larger group who maybe send a case a year or maybe don't (0-50)

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No more math, I swear.

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Who's that Core Group?

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Here is where it's going to differ for everyone. But ultimately that core group needs to check 3 boxes

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1) they see your clients in their time of legal need

2) they refer people who need help to people they like and trust

3) they like you (and/or trust you)

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That's it.

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They See Your Clients in Their Time of Legal Need

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Estate planning lawyers - financial advisors

PI - pain management doctors

Criminal Lawyers - bonds people

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Every type of law has its go-to referral source, but it all comes down to some form of this:

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Where does my client go when they need me other than to me directly?

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For reactive law (PI, criminal defense, divorce papers given to them) they HAVE to get some help from somewhere.

For proactive areas of law (estate planning, real estate, considering divorce) even if your clients don't KNOW they need you, they still might get advice from someone else.

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That's who you build relationships with.

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I suggest you find some way to segment that CORE group of referral sources that makes sense so you can genuinely be a referral partner for more of them.

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For chiros, we look at different cities or parts of town. Our clients don't want to drive 30 minutes each way 3 times a week to a doctor. So we can make it easy that way.

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For financial advisors maybe you have ones in different areas of town, maybe you have some that are older/younger, male/female, speak Spanish/don't, own their own business/work for a big well-known entity, etc

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Then it comes down to figuring out how many you can support back.

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For my law firm, we try to get just under 50% of our referrals from doctors and just over 50% from everyone else (other lawyers, clients, other business owners, etc)

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This way we send out about as many cases as we get (and while some clients come to us with a doctor they already like, we can refer out a lot of the cases we don't take but they can still get great medical care).

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It should be a give and take, or even better a win-win-win (for you, the referral source, AND the client). It's like a tricycle only without everyone judging you for not having a bike.

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They Refer People They Know Need Help

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Here is the BIGGEST mistake I made when I first started trying to get referrals. I thought I was better off trying to convince someone to refer to me who didn't already refer.

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WRONG.

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Why? Because they have NO idea when to refer, or how to find people to refer, or how to best get them over to me.

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And this also applies if they are great referral sources, just not for what you do. (e.g. my Financial Advisor has sent me 2 PI cases in 2 years, but I know he sends out more than that per week to estate planning lawyers, I just don't do that type of law).

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Think about it, what is easier

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Someone who already sees your clients, identifies their needs, and makes a connection to a lawyer to do that same thing, but just make the connection to YOU instead of someone else.

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Or teach someone how to find clients for you, how to figure out who's a good client, how to make a strong transfer to you so they hire, etc.

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Trust me on this...learn from my mistakes.

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They Like/Trust You

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If you find that people tend not to like or trust you...I don't know how to help you there. That's more a Man in the Mirror kind of change. My message can't be any clearer, if you want to make more referrals, take a look at yourself and then make a change!

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But seriously, this all comes down to likeability.

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Do people like you because you're funny, smart, caring, helpful, selfless, modest, optimistic, etc

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Find your reasons and work on accentuating them.

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Next week we will dive into how you find more referral sources and how you vet them.

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Until then, have a WONDERFUL week! And may your college football team of choice have a great game (or if not, may the stadium's internet go down so you get free food ala Nebraska/Northwestern).

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Until Next Friday

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