Inside BS Show

This is a Father's Day Special. Nicholas Lorenzo interviews Dave Lorenzo about his career and his life. One of the most interesting questions was: "How did you start your consulting practice in a recession?" Join us for this fun and heartwarming interview that will help you grow your practice and inspire you.

Spend a few minutes with the Lorenzo's this Father's Day. You'll be glad you did.

Rejection is a part of life. The only time rejection becomes a problem is when you let your fear of it prevent you from aggressively taking action. On today's show we talk about how you can make yourself rejection proof.

Here are the five ways to make yourself rejection proof.

First: Make sure you have lots of things happening so you don't rely on only one opportunity. This means multiple streams of revenue. Multiple lead generation strategies, multiple clients in each sector, multiple options for working with clients.  Options, choices and diversity in revenue helps take the sting out of any single set-back.

Second: Put your external orientation into practice each day. Give referrals, testimonials, and online recommendations each day. This helps you feel like you're helping people because you are actually helping people. This will come back to you in many ways, not the least of which will be referrals.

Third: Read the testimonials people have prepared for you. Watch the video testimonials people have shot for you. They are all true. Reflect on the value you delivered to those people.

Fourth: Call some clients. Talk with them about their business. See if they need help with anything. This will strengthen your relationship with them and make you feel great.

Fifth: Exercise. That's right, move around. This will help you change your state of mind. It will release endorphins (a chemical that helps you feel good) and it shifts your focus away from work for a little while.

Rejection is temporary. You will absolutely remember your big wins and every one of them came as a result of the experience you had from being rejected.   

There are five HUGE networking mistakes most lawyers make and all of them could be avoided. I outline these blunders below. How many of them do you make?

Mistake One: Not Showing Up Consistently

You need to show up, on time, every time. People need to find you reliable and predictable. That gives them confidence. If you constantly attend networking events and you always keep your appointments, people will trust you. Trust is the foundation fo referrals.

Mistake Two: Not Putting In The Work

When you show up, you have to connect with people and listen to them. This is hard work. Don't get me wrong, it's not swinging a sledge hammer or laying concrete, but it is hard work nonetheless. Making a true, empathetic, genuine connection with another business owner is critical to networking success. If you want multiple referrals each month, you need to do this over and over again.

That's work and you need to do it.

Mistake Three: Not Following Up

After the initial meeting the real work begins. This is the follow-up. Adding people to your contacts database, sending them weekly email newsletters and monthly direct mail newsletters, and reaching out to have regular conversations, is all part of the program. If you don't do this, you won't generate new referrals.

Mistake Four: Not Giving More Than You Receive

You cannot expect to get referrals unless you give referrals and it is not proportionate.

Successful networkers give about three times more referrals than they receive. So to get 10 new referrals during a month, you should be passing at least 30 referrals per month to people in your network. Why is this? It's because people need to 1). Build up their trust in you. 2). Understand your referral expectations. 3). Discover what to listen for to connect you with someone good. 4). learn how to make the connection to you in a way that is successful.

Teach people how to refer you by the way you refer business to them.

Mistake Five: Not Asking for Referrals

People will refer you if you ask them.

Ask to meet someone specific. Give them the name of the person you want to meet. Give them their title. Give them the name of the company they work for. Give them the industry. Tell them why you want to meet that person.

All of these things are essential.

When you ask with this level of specificy, you'll be successful.

If you want to get more referrals and be more successful networking, stop making these mistakes.

Your bank account will be glad you did.

If you're interested in a shortcut to referral success, join my Inner Circle Community. We not only teach you how to pass business and receive referrals, we help facilitate the referral process among our members.

One of the members of my inner circle community just received a closing on a real estate deal that will net him six figures. Another member of the community passes some business that was worth $17,000 directly to the attorney.

We are seeking attorneys in all practice areas, in several jurisdictions. In Miami we need a good trust and estates attorney, an immigration attorney, and a bankruptcy attorney, In New York we need trust and estates, real estate, family law and personal injury.

In other areas of the country, we are open to suggestions.

The investment to become a member of this community is $1,099 per year. This is easily recouped from just one new matter.

To join follow this link:

https://davelorenzo.com/inner-circle-special-invitation/

The investment will increase on June 15, 2020. Don't wait. Take advantage of this offer right now.

https://davelorenzo.com/inner-circle-special-invitation/

Each week five or six new people (sometimes more) come to me looking for help in growing their professional practice.  They all start the conversation with the same phrase: "I don't know what I'm doing wrong."  In today's show I give you the answer.

You're not moving fast enough.

There are three reasons why this happens:

You don't realize the problem. This is typical of people who make just enough money to survive. I was once one of those people. Then one day I realized that if I increased my expenses, my income increased to match them. This told me I could make as much money as I wanted. So I set my mind to implementing as many business growth strategies as possible and as quickly as I could.

You lack clarity of purpose. We discussed this earlier this week. Your print purpose is to grow, If you're not growing, you're dying. Do Something today to enable the growth of your business.

You don't believe in the real solution. If you're stubborn, set in your ways, you're doomed. That's all I need to say about that. If you're not "ALL IN" on business development strategy for your firm - and your individual practice - nobody can save you.

Here are the five things you can do today to increase the speed of your growth:

First:  Abandon perfection. When it comes to marketing your professional practice, you need to fail, forward, fast. Don't worry about typos. Forget the little stuff. in most cases you can fix anything that is broken before most people notice.

Second: Grow each day. I shared a list of ten things I try to do each day. I consistently do 3-5 of those things. I'm clear on the purpose of my business and I complete that mission daily.

Third: Set goals. write them down and review them each day. If you have goals and you focus on them, you'll eventually crush them. If you don't, you won't.

Four: Ignore unsolicited feedback. There are people all around you who will tell you, you can't or you won't. Remove them from your life.

Fifth: Model successful behavior. There are many people who can help you. Look at your peers and copy best practices from those who are successful. If you want a true shortcut, apply to join my Inner Circle Community. We attract the best practitioners, share their success habits and refer business to each other.

Follow the link below to join.

https://davelorenzo.com/inner-circle-special-invitation/

Many businesses are dealing with creditor calls during the current economic downturn. This recession is different because it was caused by a pandemic and many businesses have been impacted. How should you handle it? This interview has the answer to that question and many more.

Join us for an interview with Miami Bankruptcy Attorney, Jeff Bast.

About Jeff Bast

Jeff has been practicing insolvency law for more than 25 years. He represents clients on bankruptcy and bankruptcy avoidance, emphasizing corporate reorganization, workouts, creditors’ rights, and commercial litigation both in and out of bankruptcy court. He also provides insolvency-related transactional advice and has extensive experience with all aspects of bankruptcy sales and acquisitions. Jeff represents corporate and individual debtors, shareholders, trustees, receivers, indenture trustees and creditors’ committees, as well as secured and unsecured creditors in complex workouts, reorganizations, and liquidations.

After law school, Jeff completed two bankruptcy judicial clerkships in Texas and Florida. He then practiced law in the restructuring groups at two international law firms, where he was elevated to equity partner. In 2008, Jeff left the big firm life to start his own practice. In 2009, he founded Bast Amron LLP with his partner Brett Amron. The firm is now widely recognized as one of South Florida’s top boutique firms delivering sophisticated advice to an array of clients with complex commercial disputes.

Jeff is a frequent speaker and writer both in the U.S. and abroad on topics related to insolvency. Jeff has been recognized by his peers and numerous publications for professional excellence including: Best Lawyers in America, Chambers and Partners, Martindale Hubble, South Florida Legal Guide and Florida Super Lawyers.

Contact Jeff Bast

Jeffrey P. Bast
Partner

Bast Amron Attorneys

[email protected]
SunTrust International Center
One S.E. Third Ave., Ste. 1400
Miami, Fl 33131
T:305.379.7904
F:305.379.7905

This is a great interview of Dave Lorenzo about growing a professional practice on your own terms. If you want a business the enables your lifestyle and you want it while practicing law, listen to this interview today. 

If you're looking for entrepreneurial inspiration, this is the interview for you. Lisa Larter runs a highly successful professional service business that includes both online and offline revenue streams. Lawyers, CPAs and all professionals will all benefit from her insights. Enjoy my interview with Lisa Larter.

Lisa Larter is a digital marketing expert, business strategist and the founder of Lisa Larter Group.

She believes that if someone else can start a business, so can you! And she knows this because she did it herself. As a high school dropout, Lisa successfully built and scaled her own business. And today she helps businesses navigate entrepreneurship to increase their profit.

Lisa is the founder of The Pilot Project, a business program that thousands of business owners have gone through to better understand how to build their business.

She is known for her no-nonsense approach to helping business owners get results. 

Highlights of her life have been meeting Oprah Winfrey, helping Deepak Chopra navigate Facebook, being chosen to speak a number of times at the eWomenNetwork International Conference and Business Expo, completing her first book Pilot to Profit: Navigating Modern Entrepreneurship to Build Your Business Using Online Marketing, Social Media, Content Marketing and Sales as well as hosting the annual Ottawa business conference, Money, Mindset and Marketing.

If you want to learn more about Lisa, click the links below.

Website: https://lisalarter.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisalarter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisalarter

Here is your guide to my interview with Lisa Larter

02:51 How Lisa became an entrepreneur
06:13 The moment when Lisa realized she was in the right business
07:45 How Lisa made the transition to a coaching and professional service business
10:00 The way you can transform your business to meet the needs of your client
10:47 The breakdown of Lisa’s revenue streams
13:45 Going from doing the work to running the business
14:32 Lisa’s recruiting strategy for an all virtual team
16:49 Lead generation strategy
19:58 How do business owners generate new leads in a pandemic?
24:24 Lisa’s advice to people who want to get new business right now.
27:58 What is Lisa excited about in online marketing?
32:48 Lisa talks about the lifestyle her business has enabled
34:35 Lisa’s best advice for making the pivot in a pandemic
 

You must approach each day with clarity of purpose. That means you must focus on the main reason for your business’ existence each day. The reason my business exists is to grow through helping people, so I need to do something to grow my business each day before I do anything else.
 
This means if I have a client project that will take up most of my time, I first focus on doing something to grow my business, and after I’ve accomplished that task, then I focus on the client project.
 
I realize that without new revenue – there is no business.  Growth is my business purpose. I am TOTALLY clear about that.

Before I do anything else, I focus on growth in my business. Growth is my purpose. 

Here are the ten things I do each day to focus on growth. I may not be successful at all of these, but I make sure I am successful in accomplishing at least one.
 

1. Close a Deal: Of course, getting a new client on board is great. I try this first. 
2. Send out a New Client Proposal: I have a high closing rate of these proposals so if someone is waiting for one, every minute they wait delays me attracting a new client. 
3. Give a Referral: If I give one, I will get one down the road.
4. Give a Testimonial: This helps me deepen a relationship and that will lead to new business.
5. Receive a Referral: Getting a new referral means I have a deep relationship with a referral source. 
6. Receive a Testimonial: This again reinforces a deep relationship. 
7. Book a Speech or Webinar: This is a great lead generation opportunity.
8. Write and Email or Sales Letter: This will potentially attract a new client.
9. Call a Prospect: I pick up the phone and have a conversation. I don't try and sell I simply ask how the person is doing.
10. Add a New Person to My Database: This is someone I suspect will be a client or a referral source someday. Growing my list is not only important, it is necessary

You must have clarity about what you need to do. Growth is job 1.
 
If your business doesn’t grow, it dies.

If you want to close more deals you have to cut off all the other options. This means asking for "NO" a lot. What do I mean? How could this possibly work? Listen to today's show and find out.  

Please note: The notes below do not do this strategy justice. I've used this for everything from closing multi million-dollar deals to getting my kids to clean their rooms.  You've got to listen to this episode. Please click the link and listen today. 

Most people who make decisions are afraid of risk. They're afraid they will get burned or look stupid or not get a great deal or be laughed at or have someone tell them they made a mistake - or all of those things and about one thousand others. This leads them to say "NO." a lot.

"No" is safe. "No" makes them comfortable. "No" is empowering.

When you give people permission to say "No" they trust you. 

That's when a real dialogue can begin.

When you are starting a sales process or a business development process or a negotiation, always give people questions they can answer with a "no" right at the outset.

"This isn't a good time to talk is it?"

"You wouldn't be interested in helping me put my kids through college would you?"

"You don't have an extra million dollars in your budget to invest in my services, do you?"

Those are funny little throw-away lines and they can break the ice but they also have a powerful psychological impact because they give your counterpart the opportunity to say "no" to you and that makes him comfortable.  

As you go through the sales process you need to keep testing your counterpart and let him know you expect him to say "no."

"So Mr. Smith, you said you didn't have a budget number in mind and I understand that.  Would spend one million dollars on this service?  

"No."

"Ok. Would you spend $100,000?" 

"No." 

Ah. So, How about $50,000? If the return on investment looks like it's 100%?

"Maybe."

You see how that worked? We went from "I'm not giving you a number!" To a reasonable range.

You can do this with any question or situation.  

"Mr. Jones, when would you like to start?"  

"I'm not sure."

"Tomorrow?"

No.

"January?"

No.

"Okay so sometime in the next three months."

Here's the bottom line, at the outset of your conversation, you give your counterpart the opportunity to say "No" and you can then get the answers you want.

On this episode of the show I share the secret to attracting new referrals for lawyers (actually I share three secrets and a shortcut at the end of the show. be sure to join us.

Listen right now!

Here are some show notes:

Everyone wants to attract business through referrals for three reasons:

• Your credibility is already high with someone who is referred to you. Why? Because someone they trust introduced this prospective client to you.
• Referred prospective clients are qualified to work with you. It's highly likely the person referring business to you shared your business terms with the new potential client. If the prospect didn't agree with those terms they wouldn't have agreed to speak with you.
• Referred clients are less fee resistant. Again, the person referring the new client to you probably shared your fee structure and they shared your terms. If the new client didn't agree with them, they wouldn't be speaking with you. 
• So everyone wants referrals, but many of your former clients and evangelists do not know that you specifically will accept business by referral. Sometimes people forget - either about sending a referral to you or about you entirely.

Reminding people in a way that is professional and aggressive (without seeming needy) is critical to your financial success.

I teach people in my Inner Circle Community how to do this.

I also teach them other things like:

• How to connect with new clients using speaking engagements (delivered via Webinar or Zoom meeting as well as from the front of a room on stage).
• How to get articles published in places where your ideal clients will see them.
• What to say to a client to increase the fees you charge.
• How to develop life-long relationships with clients who invest in your services over and over again.
• In addition we discuss:
• Prioritizing your time to make sure you never lose focus on the most important business growth initiatives
• Setting up a business or a practice that runs without your day-to-day involvement so you can enjoy life.
• How to hire the best possible administrative assistant (either in real life or virtual).
• And much more.
• But that's not the best part of membership in this community. The best part is the REFERRALS.

That's right. If you are an active participant in the community - meaning you attend some of the Zoom meetings and share your knowledge - people in the community will refer business to you.

Right now we have members from all over the United States and even some from foreign countries.

Just this past week, one of our members reached out with a $17,000 referral to another member. As the community grows, these referrals will increase - both in size and frequency.

If you like referrals, you should apply for membership.  If you are accepted, you'll be a member of a group that has been vetted by me for:

• Having a high level of integrity
• Understanding how to qualify and pass a referral
• Puts the good of the community ahead of personal interest and wants to foster a community of selflessness. 
• Do this now:
• Review the information on the webpage below.
• Pay your membership fee and I will interview you.
• If you're accepted, I will introduce you to the community at our next weekly meeting.

Here's the link to pay and apply.

http://WorkWithDaveLorenzo.com
 
If you are not accepted, your fee will be returned.  

Oh and the best part: It only costs $1099 per year to join. One referral will literally pay for your membership for ten years or more. 

Here's the link:

http://WorkWithDaveLorenzo.com