Family Wealth Planning

My night in the hospital ...

My 4-year old son Noah broke his arm Tuesday night around 8p.

Him and Kaia were playing airplane (she flies him on her feet) and his plane crashed.

He's okay now, but we spent a long night overnight in the hospital and he had surgery yesterday morning.

I had a conference call with the FWPI Personal Family Lawyers at 10a and a seminar I was presenting for 20 clients of a financial advisor at 12p.

I could NOT miss either of these two things.

But, I virtually did nothing else.

I responded to a few emails on my phone, but mostly to delegate things that needed to be done.

While I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone, it did teach me a VERY valuable lesson.  A lesson I wouldn't have picked up on had I not just finished reading the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss ... a GREAT book I recommend you read right away.

The 4 Hour Work Week

Here's the lesson.

In Tim's book, he points out that most of us fill our time with meaningless crap (he says it much more eloquently than I can at the moment going on as little sleep as I am) to "avoid the important."

In fact, he uses the Pareto principal to suggest that we spend 20% of our efforts generating 80% of our desired outcome and 80% of our efforts working against our desired outcome.

I have lots of thoughts about why we avoid the important that are too big for this email, but what I learned from this experience with Noah is that if I really decided I wanted to make time for anything else I wanted to in my  life, I could.  All I had to do was prioritize it.

Make Yourself a Celebrity Expert

In my April Law Business Secrets OFFLINE Letter I showed you exactly how I tweaked the copy for an event invitation sent out by realtor Abigail Dotson so that it positioned Abigail as the Healthy House Expert.

That positioning has led to a number of benefits for Abigail and you could be using the exact same strategy in your Law Business for huge success!

Let's look at a few of the benefits Abigail has realized:

1. In a downturn market, Abigail is as busy as ever.
2. Abigail was contacted by a man from Oregon who is moving down to Los Angeles and wants to buy a $1.5mm Healthy House.  Sweet comission for Abigail AND she gets to serve her ideal client.
3. The producers of the hit tv show Flip This House are considering Abigail's own new duplex as the subject of their upcoming show Green This House.  That would be incredible exposure for the Healthy House Expert!

All this from naming herself the Healthy House Expert.

How did we decide she'd be the Healthy House Expert?

Well, it all goes back to something I talked about in that same OFFLINE letter - Abigail's target market.

Are You Doing what It Takes?

I'm on a plane heading to the east coast to meet with two of my business mentors, Dave Dee and Craig Garber.

I spend tens of thousands of dollars and have to travel across the country for a piece of their time.

Why do I do it?

Because I am absolutely, totally, 100% committed to the success of my business.

I just got finished watching the movie Pursuit of Happyness and it struck me that very few people actually do what it takes to make it happen, usually because they are sleep-walking through life and not aware of the little extras that make all the difference between success and staying where you are.

You see, success happens at the margins.

The difference between the most successful is that the most successful people take small, very small actions, that have huge effect.

I'm sure you've heard the saying that little hinges swing big doors.  Well, it's true.

It's a Business, Not a Baby - 5 Steps to Freedom

When I first started my practice, I thought of my practice as my third child.  It was born 6 months after my youngest son, Noah and occupied just as much of my time!

Maybe even more.

Just as I met my children's every need; I felt it was MY responsibility to meet every need of the business.

Just as I was there for my children whenever they needed me, I was there for my business, whenever it needed me.

Just as my children took over my life, so did my business.

I even referred to it as my baby.

I didn't think much about this until I was listening to a CD produced by a friend of mine, Rjon Robins, who coaches small law firm lawyers, http://www.howtomakeitrain.com, and he pointed out that this was a major mistake of most small and solo firm lawyers.

Thinking of my business as my baby, made it all about me.  And, got me locked into a pattern that meant I had no life at all and my business got the very best of me.

Back then, I would never have been able to take off three days to go to a music festival.  My business needed me too much.

Now, I'm in my office AT MOST 8 days per month.  And, you can make this shift too.

You can change her (and your) life

This week, instead of sharing with you a practice management or marketing strategy, I am going to give you the opportunity to change someone's life.

Whether you take it or not is reflective of your own capacity for success.

It was my sister's 30th birthday and she invited me to share the evening with her and her friends.

What an amazing woman my sister is - in the past two years she has grown from an uncertain, lost little girl into a confident, happy, beautiful woman.  I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a sister like her.

At her party, I met an inspiring woman who is going for it as a pop/rock, singer/songwriter.  Her name is Arden Kaywin and you can hear her fantastic music on her website http://www.ardenkaywin.com.

If you've ever wanted to really make a difference in someone's life, this is your chance!

Your action RIGHT NOW can give Arden the break she needs. Vote for Arden at www.nextbighit.com and then send this email to everyone you know who can take 1 minute to make a difference.

Here is Arden's story - be inspired!

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My name is Arden Kaywin and I am a pop/rock songwriter and performer trying to take my music career to the next level.

I recently entered a competition called the Next Big Hit.

Out of several hundred songs, my song made it to the final round of the competition which is going on right now. The Next Big Hit is one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes and the winner of this competition (the artist/band who's song gets the most votes) will have their song featured on the iTunes homepage for a week.

This kind of exposure is huge for an up-and-coming artist like me - it could open up so many doors. Many music industry executives will see it, film/TV music supervisors will see it, and most of all, every single music lover who logs on to iTunes during that week will see it. That's millions of eyes and ears belonging to people who otherwise wouldn't know about me or my music. I am in 4th place (out of 16) right now.

You can help me get one step closer to my dream by voting for me to win this competition. Please go to: http://www.nextbighit.com and vote for me - Arden Kaywin.

Oh, and you can listen to my songs at http://www.ardenkaywin.com

Thanks for sharing my story with everyone you know who can help!

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Nothing Happens Until ...

I've often heard the saying that nothing happens until someone sells something.

This weekend though, I heard a twist on that phrase from one of the most successful copywriters alive today, John Carlton.

And, he's right when he says "Nothing happens until the copy gets written."

Think about it.

Each time you communicate with clients, prospects or referral sources, you are writing copy.

Copywriting has been one of the most important skills I've learned over the past couple of years and I still have tons to learn about it.

But, it's a skill worth learning when you consider it's the MOST EXPENSIVE part of your business to outsource.

My good friend Dave Dee wrote the copy for the extremely successful lead generation ad we run in local parenting magazines for our free 7 Steps Report and I paid him a pretty penny for it.

Carlton charges $30,000!! for a single ad.

The hidden money in your practice

I'm on a plane heading to Chicago for a marketing conference where I'll be learning the most cutting edge ways to reach prospects using the internet.

I can almost guarantee you I'll be the only lawyer there.

Why?

Frankly, I can't understand it.  There's NOTHING more important to your business success than your ability to attract quality prospects and turn them into lifetime clients who will provide the foundation for your scalable, saleable business.

And, yes, you read right, I did say "saleable" business.

I know we don't traditionally think of our law practices as potentially saleable, but that's a HUGE error.

Do you really want to stay on the marketing merry go round for the next 30 years engaging new client after new client only to have nothing to show for it?

Get Your Mail Opened!

If you are using Direct Mail in your practice (and, you should be!), the most, most, most important thing is to get your envelope opened.

No matter how compelling your message and how spot on with your market, if your envelope ends up in the trash it's all wasted.

Think about it.  Where do you sort your mail?  Over the trashcan most likely.  So does everyone else. Your job is to make it past the sort and preferably into the open right away category.

Here's what we do with our seminar mailings and it works:

1. Letter must be sent in the #10 envelope used by your law office with your logo, name and address for return address.  Our law firm envelopes say Personal and Confidential and I'm sure this helps get them opened.
2. NEVER use a mailing label. So, no you don't need to purchase the mailing label extras that are offered by the list companies.  You want your mail to look personal.  Labels don't.
3. Use an actual stamp!  Never, never, never use a postage meter stamp.  And, I'm not a fan of bulk mail personally, at all.

You Are Missing Out

You could be talking to me tomorrow about your most burning business challenge, but we don't have you listed as a member of my Practice Management and Marketing Mastermind.  But, you can still sign up.  Go for it now! www.LawBizSecrets.com/mastermind

Here's the email my *Silver* members got today about our open call-in times tomorrow:

Have you had a burning question you've wanted me to answer, but didn't want to pay my private coaching rates? I can understand!

A valuable part of your *Silver* membership in my Practice Management and Marketing Mastermind is my open-call in hours for laser coaching.  The next one is tomorrow!

So, here's what you do:

Call my special call-in line (but first click here to get signed-up) anytime between 10:00am PST and 12:00pm PST tomorrow and if you get through, you can ask your question.

What's a Tarket?

I was so excited to have so many of you on my call last night!  And, I could feel your excitement too.

I spent the evening reviewing your applications and getting excited about how much fun we are going to have together this year.

I am deeply inspired by your commitment to your business and to your life.

The group that is coming together is incredible!  It even includes one of the biggest and most respected names in our field - I'm keeping his name secret until all is confirmed, but I am honored by his confidence in me.

I have no doubt that the group that is coming together will be unstoppable in our ability to change the way the public thinks about estate planning and maybe even all lawyers!

On the call last night, I mentioned that one of the first things we'd be doing in the Personal Family Lawyer program is developing a tarket and after the call I got an email asking "what's a tarket?"