It’s happened to us all.
Last week, my wife was called out of town suddenly to care for an ailing relative. This left me in charge of our three kids (aged 5, 3 and almost 1 year). Our usual babysitter was booked to help out for the week, and all seemed under control… until the babysitter had a personal crisis of her own, and had to cancel (on very short notice mid-week). I wasn’t able to find a suitable alternate, so for several days, I found myself staying home with the little ones.
As you might imagine, this threw my entire work schedule into disarray. (Out the window, actually).
When things like this happen, we go into triage mode… prioritizing our tasks, and allowing the less important stuff to slide. It’s natural, and it’s the right approach. But what many lawyers do when this kind of thing occurs, is to assign business development activities too low a priority. Urgent matters get their utmost attention, even if they’re not the most important things.
Marketing is important. It should be priority number 1.
There. I said it. If you’re not marketing, you’re letting the wrong things slide.
If you’re following my advice, and breaking up your business development tasks into bite-sized chunks, they only take a few minutes each day. If you place these first on your to-do list, they get done. Any lower… and they don’t. So, treat your marketing as an urgent task. Because it actually is.
You see, if you’re not marketing, you are stealing from your own future.
Think of marketing like farming. Every day, you need to do something on your farm. Maybe it’s planting seeds, watering, applying fertilizer, pruning, weeding, etc. Each day, the successful farmer takes some small action to assure that his crop grows and the harvest is bountiful. If he lets things slide, the crop will suffer.
The same is true of your marketing. Each day, you must take small actions to make sure your referral network and client attractors grow. Let things slide, and you’ll find yourself on a slippery slope. Eventually, you’ll wind up mired in the weeds, experiencing lackluster results and wondering what went wrong.
Tend your crops, even when things get out of control. Treat business development as the most important, most urgent task on your to-do-list. Get something done, and then move on to other priorities.
So, what did I do last week, while things were going haywire?
- I wrote a blog post at the kitchen table while the kids were playing.
- I recorded a podcast while the older kids were at school, and the youngest was napping. (I published it later that night, after everyone was in bed)
- I uploaded a video to youtube, and posted it to my website (I outsource my editing, so it gets done when I’m busy with other things)
And… I had time for a few conference calls, reviewing some contracts, sending out a couple of envagement letters, and a few other client matters. It wasn’t easy. There was background noise, distraction, and I was much less productive than I’d have liked.
and, yes, I DID have to let some things slide.
Guess what. My clients, colleagues and opposing counsel understood. Sometimes their lives go haywire too. (I made sure anyone who called or emailed knew what was going on, so they wouldn’t have unmet expectations)
Back To Normal. (?)
Today’s Monday. My wife is back, and I’m at my desk… If I play my cards right, I’ll be caught up sometime tomorrow. But I didn’t let my marketing slide. I wrote THIS… First!Don’t let life get in the way…
What do you do when life gets in the way, to make sure your practice is still vibrant when you’re back in “business as usual” mode?
The post When life gets in the way… Don’t let it! appeared first on Keys to 21st Century Lawyer Marketing.