Thursday, January 28, 2010

Special Forces or the whole Army?

I was in a meeting the other day with some clients and they asked me a very interesting question, “What should I tell my friend that is looking for an attorney and trying to decide between a smaller law firm and one of the larger, multi-state firms?” Good question and one that always makes you a bit nervous to answer. By the way, this is not the first time I have been asked this question.

Not knowing any of the circumstances around their friend, I decided the best way to answer it was to refer them to a blog post from a fellow Wealth Counsel attorney, Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Lofton LLC. I thought Dennis had one of the best and simplest answers to this question I have seen in a long time. His post was titled, Special Forces or the whole Army. I would encourage you to click on the title and read his description.

What more can I say – this is perfect. We are the “Special Forces” group and whether we are Rangers or any other Special Forces team, we are all about “expediency”, and “efficiency” in getting done what our clients need. We aren’t encumbered by red tape and politics or a host of other barriers that exist in larger firms. We just simply get it done. Thanks Dennis, well said.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Where's the Personality in the Yellow Pages?

When the Yellow Pages first came out it was really great an innovative – and really the only place that was easy to go to find something you needed. And we usually made our purchases based off the size of the ad the business had placed. Why? We figured if they could dump a ton of money into something like an ad in the Yellow Pages they must be stable enough and reputable.
Then came the internet and the world changed. Today, who needs the Yellow Pages? Who cares about the size of your ad? Who actually goes to it and looks anything up anymore? For most, it goes from doorstep to recycle bin. Why? Because it is faster and more informative to do a Google search and get a list of options for anything and everything we need.

Now, we have an even stronger way to accomplish this – social media. Social media takes the internet and websites to a whole new level – again – just like the move from Yellow Pages to the website. Now, we don’t just want information, we want to know what others are saying about the law firm or business and what “experiences” have others had with them. Then, based on what others have experienced, we can make a much more informed and accurate buying decision.

This is awesome for attorneys. Now, through the use of simple blog, I can share with you my thoughts, ideas, issues and stories to help you both “learn” and “experience” what we do for our clients and how we solve their problems. So no longer do you need to pick the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages and hope they meet your need. Now you get to “hear” what others “experienced” and can decide (with a ton more information) whether we are right for you and you are right for us. The world just got easier and better.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Would you choose an Attorney for their CROSSWORD PUZZLES?

One of my colleagues, Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Lofton LLC, wrote a very timely and “spot on” post in his blog the other day that I wanted to share with you. It was so perfect for exactly what we deal with all the time in deciding the best way to bring value to our clients.

In Dennis’s posting, Would you choose an attorney for his RECIPE’s?, Dennis described a universal dilemma all attorney’s have in how to best communicate and provide information to their clients and prospective clients. We tend to focus on the “newsletter” and as such have spent countless time and dollars on producing these “works of art.” Dennis found the real truth behind the “attorney newsletter” and I wanted to share his story with all of you.

Suffice it to say we have the same experience – only we use Crossword Puzzles in ours – how appropriate. I am now on a quest to find out if what Dennis and his firm experienced is what our clients feel as well. If you are willing, we would love to hear from you and see if one of the main reasons you read or like our newsletter is because of the crossword puzzles instead of the content. Don’t worry, we won’t offended – in fact, we will be very appreciative. Thank you in advance for your comments and/or e-mails letting us know how you feel.

Friday, January 8, 2010