Ross Fishman speaking to the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)

Ross Fishman spoke in Miami to the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) regarding Networking Tips for Professionals, including lawyers, accountants, bankers, wealth-protection experts and other professionals.

It was particularly a interesting session because the 200+ attendees were from all across the US and Central and South America, bringing their unique technical expertise and local communication styles into the discussion.

The conference at the Conrad Hotel in Miami was exceptionally well run by Hal Webb  and Lowry Brescia of Cantor & Webb, and STEP/Miami's Laura Obregon.

Ross Fishman teaching Networking skills to STEP members.

Hal Webb of Cantor & Webb speaking at the STEP/Miami conference.

AAM Webinar - Branding and Social Media (Standing Out in a Crowd). May 14, 2014

Speaker: Ross Fishman

Wednesday, May 14, 2014 | 1:00 - 2:15 pm EST

Program Description:
Branding and differentiation is among the hottest topics in professional-services marketing - that is, how to stand out in a crowded marketplace using the full range of marketing tools including websites and social media.

This program will discuss how to use today’s most-powerful techniques to market yourself, your practice, your group, office, or firm.

Whatever you do, wherever you go, you have to get noticed to succeed, and this fun, fast-paced, and visually powerful program will show you how to do so.

Learn how the marketing tools fit together, to help select the right techniques for your particular situation.

Help guide your firm, accountants and other professionals, students, or practice or industry group to stand out in a positive and client-oriented way. Understand how to identify a unique differentiation strategy, supported by networking, social media, and niche-marketing.

We will provide white papers, sample plans, and a detailed marketing checklist.

Registration: $59 Members; $109 Nonmembers 

Register Today! 

A speech that's "good enough" isn't good enough.

In the 1990s I was a Marketing Director and Marketing Partner at a couple different law firms.  We did some pretty interesting marketing back then, and I was frequently invited to speak on those topics, e.g. to a bar association or Legal Marketing Association (LMA) chapter.

I usually spent a few hours preparing, sometimes when I was very busy, I had my assistant prepare my PPT slides.  I thought it was enough -- my content was good, and in that narrow area I was a legitimate subject-matter expert.  

I thought that was enough.  I stood up and told our story.

Boy, was I wrong.

It wasn’t that those speeches weren’t fine, I’m sure they were.  But in retrospect, they couldn’t have been too more than that.  They were good, maybe even very good.

But no one cares about "very good." No one wants to waste their valuable time out of the office and money to watch a speech they’ll later rate as a 3.5 out of 5.0.

They deserved great.

Looking back, I’m embarrassed.  No one ever complained, and I actually got quite good reviews.  But I’m trying to make up for it now with fast-paced presentations and lots of visuals.

Today, 250 presentations later, I have a better handle on how to give the audience what they want (entertainment), while also giving them what they need (education).

I'll never forget what my old friend Paul Lisnek once told me - "If they want good content, they can go read an article. What they're paying you for is A SHOW."

That was probably the best presentation advice I ever got.

Don't miss this Friday's "Build Your Book of Business" ABA Webinar.

Don't miss this ABA marketing webinar on Friday at 12:00 noon CST!  

Moderated by the terrific Kathy Morris, I'm co-presenting a marketing webinar with the verbally formidable Julie Eichorn.  Just 45 fast-paced minutes, we're going to pack a lot of content into a very short amount of time.

Click HERE to register. 

Kathy Morris

Here's the general description:

Build your book of business

CareerAdvice Live! is a free monthly webinar series that offers practical tips on selected topics — some for seasoned lawyers and others for new lawyers or law students. Experienced career counselor Kathy Morris, an author and speaker at attorney career programs nationwide, will host the 45-minute webinar at 1 p.m. ET on the second Friday of each month.

Building Your Book: The Nuts and Bolts of Business Development

1 p.m. ET, Friday, March 14

Surviving and prospering in today's highly competitive environment requires learning and implementing improved business development techniques and marketing strategies. Solo practitioners, small and mid-size firm members, and big law senior associates and newer partners will all benefit from this fun and fast-paced program highlighting proven approaches to building your business.

Join our series moderator and two internationally renowned business development and marketing experts who will guide you regarding:

• Best practices for business development — what works and what doesn’t.
• Ways to overcome typical lawyer concerns about business development.
• The top 10 differentiators lawyers use to market to prospective clients.

I hope you can join us - it should be lots of fun!

Don't miss Ross's popular Chicago Bar Assoc "Rainmaking" CLE breakfast program, January 23

Breakfast Basics: Client Development - How to Become a Rainmaker.

Ross Fishman, Fishman Marketing

Often called "the best marketing program I've ever seen" by associates and marketing partners, Ross Fishman's presentation just might open your eyes to a more efficient, more successful, and more fun approach to marketing your law practice.

Attendees will learn: The number one thing clients are buying today, and how to offer it to them The Top 10 differentiators lawyers use, and how to select the right one for you How to use LinkedIn and social media more effectively How to identify and dominate an industry Ways to identify your unique strengths and differentiators How to get started Speaker: Ross Fishman, CEO, Fishman Marketing, Inc. Moderator: Jonathan S. Jennings, Partner, Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson

You can attend either in-person (register here to register) or via webcast (register here): 

We look forward to seeing you!

Simple solution to the Backwards Name Tag problem

I was presenting on "law firm marketing and cutting-edge websites" at an international law firm network conference recently, and encountered the very-common "Backwards Name Tag" problem. 

Providing lanyards is an excellent idea, particularly helpful for women who (a) might not have a jacket lapel to clip a name tag onto, or (b) might be unwilling to affix a big "Hello, My Name Is" sticker to a silk blouse. 

 

The challenge with lanyards is that precisely half of them have the name and contact information facing backwards. And that doesn't help anyone.  

(Actually, although it's statistically implausible, it always seems like 2/3 of them are worn backwards.)  

The simple solution?  
Print the attendees' names on BOTH sides. 

For conference organizers who are trying to facilitate effective networking, this can be a cheap but very helpful solution.

Ross

Looking for a entertaining speaker for an upcoming law firm retreat, an interesting CLE Ethics program, or a law firm marketing training program?  Give Ross Fishman  a call! +1 847 432 3546 or ross@fishmanmarketing.com.

Olympic Scoring and Dishonest Speaker Evaluations.

“But the Russian Judge Gave Just a 5.2.” 

[The second part of a two-part series regarding Speaker Evaluations.]

This blog post discusses the integrity of anonymous speaker evaluations.

I spoke recently at the ALA Greater Chicago Chapter’s Educational Conference and Expo on “The Hottest Trends in Websites and Digital Marketing.”  We discussed LinkedIn for Lawyers, SEO, Responsive Design, etc.  There were ~40 attendees, one of whom was a web-development competitor of mine.

25 attendees took the time to turn in evaluations.  About half hand-wrote brief but thoughtful responses to “List specific highlights.”

Every single evaluation was great. 
For example:

Every single one.

Except one, that is.

One terrible unsigned evaluation.  Secretly.  From my "anonymous" competitor:

;-)

In the Olympics and other international competitions with a panel of judges, they throw out the high and low scores to reduce the chance of secret bias.  History has shown that judges sometimes vote politically, unfairly, unethically, or use considerations having nothing to do with the actual performance. 

Many of us remember how unfairly the communist countries seemed to score the US Olympic gymnasts and divers during The Cold War:

"5.9.  5.9.  5.8.  And oh, the Russian judge scored her a 5.2!  Too bad!" 

That sneaky negative evaluation? 
I know why he did it.  But it's still not nice. 

Ross Fishman

CEO, Fishman Marketing, Inc. 

+1 847.432.3546

ross@fishmanmarketing.com

www.fishmanmarketing.com