A war of attrition is never pretty, but if you’re smart about overhead and scale, you’ll win it. — Seth Godin.

There’s a conversation going on right now among a group of consumer bankruptcy lawyers. They’re all talking about how the demand for their services is drying up. It’s happening more quickly for some than others, but the problem is that the need for their help is stronger than ever.

People are having a tougher time of it now than ever before. The difference is that many of them have too many problems to deal with at once, and ending their bill problems isn’t at the top of the list.

It’s more important to put food on the table than it is to wipe out that Visa bill you’re not paying anyway.

The phone calls from bill collectors will go to voicemail while you puzzle through the loan modification paperwork and try to save your home.

Soon enough, people will be able to re-focus on their debts. They’ll need help from good lawyers, people who won’t screw up the case.

Some time ago Seth Godin talked about how those who remain after an industrial fallout will reap the benefits. Specifically, he noted:

I was amazed at all the empty storefronts I saw in LA on my last visit. On one particular block, three or four of the ten lunch places were shut down. And the others? Doing great. That’s because the remaining office workers who used to eat lunch at the shuttered places had to eat somewhere, and so the survivors watched their business grow.

If you cut your overhead to the bone, learn new ways to practice and smarten up then your chances of outlasting the competition increase dramatically.

Have you cut any expenses or overhead in the past six months?

Image credit:  Zeessi

The latest technology will be outdated in just a few months. You should wait this one out.

Twitter probably won’t be around in a few years, just like MySpace and Friendster. Wait until things stabilize.

Blogging is so new an evolving, why bother? Wait awhile, it will quiet down soon.

Why optimize your website when the search engines keep moving the ball and changing the game? Sounds like a waste of time and effort to me. Better off just waiting until it all blows over.

Yup, you really should wait.

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. – Abraham Lincoln

Image credit:  Xtina Lam

It never ceases to amaze me how much attorneys care about things that don’t matter, while neglecting what really counts.

They spend time on trivial matters like what font to use in their pleadings, for example. And while everyone should avoid using totally obnoxious fonts like Courier, it’s nowhere near as close as spending the time to protect your online reputation; but few attorneys spend their time on this.

So for those of you who haven’t done much to protect your reputation on the internet, here are a few things you can do right away (without much pain or effort). [Read more...]

Some people have said that our legal services are being devalued. Our work is seen as being fungible, which is why self-help outfits are proliferating.

We need to lower our legal fees because consumers expect to pay as little as possible for what we do.

They say chapter 7 bankruptcy, for example, is a simple matter. Fill out some forms, file them with the court, and handle the meeting of creditors.

Uncontested divorces are straight-forward. So are simple wills and the like.

That’s what they say.

But here’s the thing. If you view yourself as being fungible, then you are.

Two bottles of apple juice sit on the same store shelf, separated by about 18 inches.  Both are 64 ounces and organic.  Both are manufactured by Apple & Eve.  Both are 100% juice.

They are exactly the same.

One is $2.99, the other $3.89.

Why the difference?

Big Bird.

Differentiate yourself in some way that is meaningful to your ideal client and the price pressure disappears. You’re no longer fungible – you’re the knight on the white horse that rides in to save the day.

So tell me, what are you doing to be Big Bird?

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To my friends at Avvo – a company that is doing lots of interesting stuff in the world of user-generated content – I ask why there isn’t some sort of spam filter on the outgoing contact requests.

In lots of systems, I can’t send a message with my email address or phone number through many services. There’s got to be something better here, Avvo.

I’ve been teaching legal marketing strategies to bankruptcy and consumer protection lawyers for a few years now.  Some of my clients have done very well for themselves, and I’m proud of that.

But during this time I’ve had a chance to watch how lots of other legal marketing consultants do things.   Not all of them, mind you – just a vocal and select few.

So much of what I’ve seen makes me sick.  It taints the legal marketing profession and makes the entire industry look like nothing more than a bunch of snail oil salesmen.

[Read more...]

Last week Google rolled out Google Plus, a social network that’s being called a “Facebook Killer.” Whether it is or is not remains to be seen, but this latest entrant into the social media space by the search giant is likely to have an impact on the future of how we interact on the web. I’m not saying Plus will take over the world, though; it may fail entirely, in which case it would serve as yet another testing grounds for Google for a future social media play.

As lawyers begin to get their Plus invitations and set about playing in this new field, there are likely to be questions and the common “what the hell is this Plus thing?” sentiment that we’ve experienced time and time again. To help you along, I’ve decided to put together this guide to some of the cornerstone posts from around the web about Plus.

Google Plus: The Basics

Google Launches Google+ To Battle Facebook (Mashable)

Google Plus Sparks – Staying Up To Date On What Matters To You

Should You Use Google Plus?

Google: Plus Or Minus? (Geoff Livingston)

Google Plus: Is This the Social Tool Schools Have Been Waiting For? (ReadWriteWeb)

Sorry Guys! I Love Google Plus, but it’s Destined to Fail (BuzzOm)

Google Plus (Google+): The Painful Realization (Social Media Today)

Tutorials And Getting Started With Google Plus

How To Invite People To Google Plus (Tutkiun!)

How to mention someone in the Google Plus

How To Video Podcast Using Google Plus Hangouts (Phandroid)

How To Blog With Google Plus (Chris Brogan)

How To Share Google Plus(+) Posts On Facebook And Twitter? (Buzzing Up)

Google Plus Tips And Shortcuts (Local SEO Guide)

How To Update Facebook From Google + (Without An Extension) (But Seriously …)

My Take

I’ve been playing around with Plus over the past few days, trying to make heads or tails of it.  For now I think it’s a potentially valuable tool but it all comes down to the network effect.  If enough people join Plus and start using it then it could be fantastic, what with the ability to silo your contact groups and direct conversations to the right people rather than vomiting it out to an entire stream of thousands of folks who couldn’t care less.

Look for more from me.  Until then, enjoy.  I’ll see you on Plus.