It’s called the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto Principle. Named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, this concept maintains that for many phenomena, 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. In business, this principle has been adapted to many efficiency efforts such as Six Sigma.

The message is simple enough – focus on activities that produce the best outcomes for you. This applies to both your business/working life and your “other” life. 20% of your efforts yield 80% of your results. 20% of your clients bring 80% of the profits, and 20% of your marketing efforts result in 80% of your business.

Don’t take it too literally.  For example, I’ve found that about 32% of my marketing accounts for about 68% of my business.  The bottom line is this – there is an inherent imbalance between cause and effect.

An article in Law Practice Today speaks to using 80/20 in your marketing efforts.  It’s an interesting read, but it doesn’t get to the real shining point in 80/20 thinking.  The key is not only to use 80/20, but to cut out the 80% that is bringing you only 20% of your profitability.  To do otherwise is to squander the majority of your resources.

Take, for example, direct mail.  “They” say that 1% response rate is very good.  I, on the other hand, say that means 99% of your prospects toss your mail piece into the trash.  So you’ve got two options, both of which are pretty good:

1. stop doing direct mail, knowing you can save most of your money and give up only a small number of viable leads; or
2. look at ways to make your direct mail more effective.

Easier said than done, right?  Wrong.  All you need to do is make sure you’re handling your direct marketing campaign properly.  Review your results with an eye towards a common bond among the people who take you up on your offer.  Do they all live in a certain area?  Do they all belong to the same racial or ethnic group?  Are their households similarly structured?  By answering these questions you can use direct marketing in a more effective manner, thereby boosting your response rate with very little effort.

Of course, you should also concentrate on why you aren’t getting the other 99% of the population when you send out a mail piece.  Look to your list, your mail piece design, the copy, and the offer.  By split-testing over a period of time, you should be able to create a piece that will appeal to at least 20% of those non-buyers; refining the next 80% will lead to higher response rates still.

Fast?  No.  Easy?  Not really.  Inexpensive?  Well, it’s certainly cheaper than wasting all those stamps and envelopes.

I’ve been working with a bunch of bankruptcy lawyers lately to help them re-work their web sites.  It’s very frustrating to hear one of my lawyer clients tell me that their site is excellent and needs only minor modifications when, in fact, the thing is a train wreck.
What, you ask, makes the site a train wreck?  Well, lots of things.  I won’t get into content in this post (though it’s the most important part of the web site); no, I’m talking about the user experience.  How easy is it to find the things your prospect wants to find, things like your name and phone number?  Does the site flow easily and intuitively, or does it take a lawyer to understand it all?  And is it written in a way that your prospects can readily understand?

I was reading Legal Ease recently, and came across this post about client online experiences.  Give it a read, think about it over the weekend, and take a hard look at your site.

Craigslist is a boon to legal marketers; it’s a terrific new-media version of the old classified ad listings. Free, free, free. And most people don’t realize you can post ads on Craigslist in HTML format; that means you can make ‘em really pretty, too.

Founded by a guy in his spare time and run out of his apartment until being purchased by eBay some years ago, Craigslist now boats over 55 million unique visitors per month (as of July 2009). This is a tremendous amount of traffic, and one that will pay off in marketing your firm if you cater to consumers.

I’ve been marketing my bankruptcy practice for a number of years with Craigslist, and the results have been mixed. But given the fact that it’s a $0 advertising medium it doesn’t take much to make money on Craiglist.

First off, what the heck is an elevator pitch?  According to Wikipedia, it’s

the concise description of an idea in the time span of an elevator ride, or a few minutes. Typically used when referring to entrepreneurs trying to pitch an idea to a venture capitalist or top executives in order to receive funding.

“That’s nice,” you say.  “But I’m not pitching the idea of bankruptcy to venture capitalists.  Why am I even reading this?”

If you can’t think of a reason for an elevator pitch, you’re not thinking like a pro.  When you meet someone at a party and they ask what you do for a living, which of these two answers sounds better:

1.    I’m a bankruptcy lawyer

OR

2.    I help people work through their financial difficulties so they can build personal wealth and get a fresh start

Clearly, it’s the second answer.  The first one elicits a response such as, “Oh, OK,” whereas the second one gets, “Really?  Wow, I know a lot of people who are having some tough times.  Do you think you may be able to help?”

The underlying issue behind an elevator pitch is the fact that you need to be remember that you sell a solution, not a service.  Bankruptcy conjures images of people panhandling on breadlines, and it scares the wits out of people who need it most.  That goes for your callers, people who come to see you, and the public in general.

Remember the debate leading up to BAPCPA?  Debtors were either sad, poor people on the verge of losing their homes or they were dishonest, greedy misers looking to game the system.

Who the heck wants to be lumped with either group?

Your clients and prospects need to know that they’re hard-workers, they’re honest, they aren’t going to be poor forever.  They’re having some problems, but it isn’t the end of the world.  They need help getting back on their feet, they don’t need a hand out.

What’s YOUR elevator pitch?  Comment to this post and let’s hear what you’ve got to say!