Speakeasy Authority Marketing

Today's podcast covers two client monsters: the ghost and the backseat driver. The ghost is a potential client who talks to you, takes up your time, seems to really get along well with you, and then disappears; they go ghost, and you never hear from them again. Some of these ghosts may come back periodically and ask a follow-up question or promise to get back with you, yet they never do. Why do these creatures go ghost, and who is responsible? Is it you or is it them? Would they have made a good client or not?

I can tell you that the more you accept responsibility for ghosts, the better off you'll be. I'm not saying it's your fault that someone turns into a ghost, but there are certain ways to do your consults, run your practice, and serve your clients so that they are less likely to turn into ghosts. If you accept responsibility and do everything that you can to stop them from going ghost, then they are much less likely to.

No one likes ghosts. They take up time and money, and they haunt you with questions like, "Why and where did this person go?" Everything seemed to be going along very well…"How come they won't answer me?" Unfortunately, a potential client can become a ghost at any step of the process. It might be after you've been on a call with them, in a Zoom session, or even an in-person meeting for 30 minutes or an hour.

You've gone over the facts of their case and they seemed to be on track with you, and then they say they need to think about it, sleep on it, talk to their spouse, pray about it, speak to a few other attorneys, see if they can get money together, etc. The ghost makes the promise and then disappears, and all the follow up you do—the text messages, the chats, the direct mail, the phone calls, the emails—is just met with silence. They are gone, never to return.

What can you do to make sure this never happens? For one, make sure that you answer all of a potential client's questions. If you don't, or if you say to them, "We'll handle that when I see you in person," or "We are not going to address that right now, let's leave that for a little bit later," then the ghost may stew over these unanswered questions and use them as a reason to never come back to you. You don't want to overplay your hand, but you do want to answer all their questions and concerns, and not marginalize them or tell them to wait.

Unanswered needs cause people to be uncertain and leads to them ghosting. It leads to them having conversations with other lawyers who may not make the same omissions that you did. Or, they might talk to other lawyers who they simply get along better with, or they might find them at a time when they are ready to retain. Some of this you can help, and some of it you cannot.

The best thing you can do is be as complete as possible and make sure you ask the person what the single most important thing about their case is, and then use that in future communications with them. This will radically reduce the possibility that they'll turn ghost and disappear on you. If people feel listened to, heard, and understood by you, then they are much more likely to bond with you and not disrespect you and your time and effort by going ghost on you.

If you are representing a client who is showing signs of getting back to you less and less often or with longer and longer pauses, that is a warning signal that they might ghost you financially or just stop cooperating. They may not show up for important hearings, events, or phone conferences, which is a big danger, because if you have to withdraw representation or if their actions compromise your representation, then they may haunt you, write a bad review, or claim that you didn't do your job. You want to be complete in your representation and make sure that your clients have no lingering doubts, because if they do, they may ghost you and cause a big problem.

The second monster is the backseat driver. This is a client who is nervous and needs to have a sense of control. Perhaps they are facing criminal charges, jail time, a divorce, the loss of custody of their children, the loss of a significant amount of money, bankruptcy, a horrible lawsuit that's disrupting their life, or a business dispute with a long-timer partner.

They may feel that their whole world is turning upside down and like they have no control. They seek a reassessment and reassertion of control in their lives, so they try to be a backseat driver; they try to tell you how to do your job and question everything you do. They ask why you did or didn't do certain things, they bother and bedevil your staff, and they suck up your time.

These clients are hard to control and terrible to represent. Even if you do everything you can and get a good result, they are going to credit themselves with the result, and they are going to believe that if they hadn't bothered you and been on top of it, then they wouldn't have gotten a good result. They will not credit you for anything and will not write you a good review.

If possible, you want to root out these potential client monsters in the beginning and not take on any backseat drivers. If it's too late and you've already taken one, then you must assert your authority and demonstrate your knowledge, confidence, and capability; if you don't, they are going to try to take control of the wheel, run you off the road, ruin their case, and ruin your firm.

Tomorrow will be part two of 13, and we are going to cover some more client monsters. Thank you.

YouTubers, Instagram Influencers, brand ambassadors…they all do one thing: provide entertainment. It might sound fun and easy, but doing it requires a lot of work, as well as the ability to navigate myriad issues. This has always been the case, but COVID-19 has presented special challenges to some entertainers. Highly experienced entertainment law attorney Jon Pfeiffer explains who's being affected most, why, and what they can do about it.

The conversation addresses everything from how Google Analytics affects mainstream entertainers versus those who are considered more on the "edge," Google AdSense, knock-off merchandise on Amazon followed by cease and desist letters, collaborations (and what to look out for when agreeing to one), trademark infringement in branded posts, and the usefulness of carrying on as if things are as normal as they possibly can be. He also provides advice specifically for attorneys who do their own content creating for marketing purposes, and who are having difficulty getting established during these unprecedented times.

To learn more from Pfeiffer, visit https://www.pfeifferlaw.com/.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for change, and for innovation," says Attorney Freya Allen Shoffner, of Shoffner & Associates. It's no secret that COVID-19 hasn't necessarily treated small businesses well, but that doesn't mean that many small business owners haven't taken control of the situation and used it to their advantage. This is one thing that Attorney Shoffner has helped small businesses accomplish during these unprecedented and trying times.

She shares insights, experiences, and advice on today's podcast. Over the course of her 20-year career, her focus and mission has remained the same: take care of small businesses, whether they have annual sales of $100 million, or just $75,000. This mission has become more necessary and relevant than ever before.

What is the good news? What is the best thing you've heard today? What can you do tomorrow that would be good? These are the types of questions Shoffner encourages her clients to ask, because these are the ones that ultimately drive business and progress. She shares specific examples of how her small business clients have used COVID-19 to their advantage, and actually ended up with more business after the shutdowns—even those in industries that have been impacted most severely.

Tune in, and learn more by searching for Freya Allen Shoffner online and following her on social media at @shoffnerassociates, and on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Also feel free to call (617) 369-0111 any time, day or night

…And people want to hear it, whether or not you think they do. Richard Jacobs's thoughts, writings, and spoken word have helped many people over the years; he knows this because they reach out to him with positive responses and thank yous…whether it's a thank you for providing an insight, encouraging a new outlook, or pushing them to start a new business venture.

Jacobs draws from his personal experiences to illustrate why you should consider doing this too. By communicating regularly with past and current clients on your list, you will get more referrals, and contribute something valuable to other people's lives. It doesn't have to be time-consuming; crafting a short message about your life or practice once a month—or better yet once a week—is all you need. You have life and legal experience, so share it. Some people really need to hear what you have to say.

Call us at (888) 225-8594, email [email protected], or find us at speakeasymarketinginc.com with any questions.

"In times like these, you need to communicate with people in as visceral a way as possible," says Jacobs, acknowledging also that in times like these, it's particularly difficult to do that. If in-person meetings haven't completely stopped where you practice, they've at least been limited. There's no doubt that this could negatively impact your practice and the relationships you have with new and existing clients. Jacobs explains what you can do to counteract the effects of COVID-19 and diminished social interactions.

The answer is pretty simple: use text messages to your advantage. This means using them to send short messages, videos, appointment reminders, GIFs, and audio clips. It might sound time-consuming, but it doesn't have to be. These days, most answering services can easily incorporate text messaging, and texts can also be sent from laptops or desktop computers.

Text is one of the best and fastest ways to stand out among the other attorneys and really grab someone's attention.

Tune in for a short, compelling podcast where Richard Jacobs tells you all you need to know about communicating during the time of COVID-19

Feeling overwhelmed and less than productive in your at-home office? This high-energy podcast might have the solution you are looking for. In this show, Tracy interviews Jennifer Gersch, a partner at Nicol, Gersch, and Peterson in Colorado, about working remotely from home with spark and style. She begins setting the scene by returning to when the COVID-19 shutdowns starting clicking into place.

Jennifer had to return early from maternity leave to help transition the office to a coronavirus-appropriate remote work system but explains that they already had a highly digital work scheme, which was a huge help. As she explains why that system was already in place, listeners are given a fabulous list of inspirations for working-from-home productivity.

Before COVID-19 news hit the airwaves, Jennifer and her law partner identified as visionaries in how they wanted to structure their firm. Therefore, they crafted a system that diverged from old-school law offices and felt more adjustable for clients who couldn't take three hours from the afternoon to drive across town and meet. Because they were already utilizing virtual client meetings, she is able to discuss several pros to this arrangement, including a closing and payments system so much better that Jennifer insists she'll never go back to the old way. She also talks split-screen techniques, virtual file markups, and more smart ways to get to a place where digital might actually be working better than in-office systems.

So listen in for an attitude adjustment and envision a digital office that will work for you.

When the shutdown happened, Boswell Law Firm had one aspect well under control: because they are in a hurricane zone, Duana Boswell-Loechel had already made sure all their work was in digital format. The at-home transition was easier than many from this standpoint, but they faced another challenge: low morale and less efficiency resulting from no in-person meetings and discussions became an issue.

Listen in to hear how Boswell-Loechel and her firm were able to pull out of that dip and shore up the weak points in their practice. Ultimately, she was able to use the pandemic shutdown to look at their weaknesses, bulk up, and address those issues and become much stronger.

In this podcast, she discusses how clear expectations with employees and other steps made a difference. She also discusses her first Zoom trial and how the courts in Harris County have handled the protocols as well as her successes with video conferencing with clients. She shares one particularly successful move that involves Facebook live and finally offers key advice about clear goals and communicating them to employees, telling them how their work directly serves those goals. Listen in for some of her best practices.

Want to know how other law practices are meeting with clients and keeping business going during the COVID shutdowns? Then listen to this interview with Oklahoma's John Cannon of Cannon & Associates as he talks with Speakeasy's Tracy Merda about some of his best practice tips. He shares how they've adjusted and approached their business model while communicating effectively with their clients and among themselves to keep people safe.

Cannon is a strong believer in establishing trust with clients through physical office buildings and brand continuity. These things, he says, gives people a sense of trust and familiarity. He explains how he's worked hard to maintain their website presence and brand to keep up that trust after physical spaces started closing. For example, they've used video conferencing to give clients effective communication sessions, where they can literally point to laws and references and visually explain payment process for closings. In fact, some of the video conferences have been so successful, they plan to keep this tool for some client meetings even after it's safe to meet in person. He also offers listeners some key tenants he uses to run his business. His advice includes embracing who you are fully, finding people who compliment you and balance out your skills, and always giving potential clients information and content. He's found helping people can be a great path to success. So listen in for ways he turns these solid pieces of advice into concrete examples.

Managing member of Norred Law, PLLC, Warren V. Norred, discusses several suits his firm has filed on behalf of plaintiffs in Texas who have faced unfair COVID shutdown infractions. This podcast shares details of these cases but also the bigger picture of how Norred hopes to chip away at the top-down nonsensical enforcements. He explains

• How the shutdown policies have not adapted to what we've learned about how the pandemic spreads,
• How certain applications of the Disaster Act violate the constitution of the state of Texas, and
• What specific cases he has filed to show just that.

Warren V. Norred practices bankruptcy law, business litigation, and intellectual property law, which includes patent law and all things associated with it. About ten percent of his work is what he calls "white hat law," where he files suits due to matters of injustice. He talks about how Texas has moved into top-down mandates regarding COVID business procedures, often resulting in scenarios that make little sense and have hurt businesses. Furthermore, the governor and local bureaucracies are entangled in a way where no one is taking responsibility for these bad policies.

Norred says his firm is "adding spice to the recipe of the public discussion." He then talks about specific cases like that of Shelly Luther who was put in jail for contempt by continuing to operate her business after the court told her to stop. He describes the governor's retrograde statement about such jail time and then he gives a convincing description of how the Disaster Act of 1975 along with the 2005 amendment gave local leaders too much control in these situations. In addition, the act was written for major disasters, not disease management. He gives powerful descriptions of how unevenly the laws have been applied, which leads him to explain the most effective strategy: filing cases that show the Disaster Act is unconstitutional as applied.

Norred gives an impassioned explanation about filing these COVID lawsuits: it's not about the economy, but about people being able to live their lives. He's happy to take emailed questions from attorneys about how to join in on these kinds of battles.

See the Norred Law website and send him an email, [email protected].

He advises attorneys to look for over-the-top enforcements and think outside the box.

In this podcast, Richard Jacobs encourages action. During this pandemic, we've been given every incentive to stay still and do nothing. But that's harmful for our morale and our business. Listen in as he gives attorneys the means to accomplish a significant step forward in their practice. He speaks to his own struggles and tells listeners how he renewed his business in the face of the pandemic.

It's all about controlling what you can, he says, and points to an especially important avenue for control for business owners: media. That's why Speakeasy Marketing is offering a special promotion this month for your business back-to-school plan: our exciting Rise Promo. In addition to our already well-established speak-a-book package, we've added a tremendous media service to make sure your product will be covered by multiple major outlets.

This is about you grabbing control of your own business and speaking directly to the public. Listen in for an encouraging message and to learn more about this exciting opportunity to control what you can