How Mediators Can Optimize Google My Business Listings

If you can’t afford to hire a digital marketing agency or SEO professionals, there are lots of tools that you can use for free to optimize your search rankings and one of which is the Google My Business.

As the name implies, Google My Business is a tool (free) provided by Google for businesses to manage how their details are listed in search. With this tool, you will be able to manage your locations on Google Maps as well as online reviews.

If you're running a local business you need to set up the location of your business on Google My Business so that customers will be able to find you easily when they search in Google Maps. But to make it possible you need to optimize your Google My Business listing.

Read on to learn how to optimize your listing properly.

Tips for Optimizing Google My Business Listing

1. Optimize your profile in Google My Business

When optimizing your listing making a profile that has updated, accurate, and comprehensive details is the first that you need to do. Your Google My Business profile has several parts like:

●      Name

●      Address

●      Phone Number

●      Business Category

●      Description

Aside from the above-mentioned parts, you can include other important details like availability, working hours, and URL of your website.

1. Load High-Quality and Relevant Pictures

Once you have included all the important details in your listing, you can start personalizing your Google My Business page’s visual aspects. Take note, a listing will not be completed without pictures.

A business that has images on their listings tend to obtain 35 percent more clicks and considered more trustworthy.

With this in mind, make sure to upload a logo, cover photo, profile photo, and general images to give customers an idea of what your business looks like as well as what services and products they can obtain from you.

1. Ask for online reviews and respond to them

When it comes to local searches, reviews are considered the lifeblood. Good online reviews is equivalent to sales. Meaning to say, if you have more good reviews then your sales will increase as well.

Whenever customers perform a google search to find a service, product, or business on Google, these reviews will show up. The online reviews and even the ratings allow people to compare competitors more rapidly and determine whether the business is trustworthy or if it’s selling good products and services.

Thank you for reading, hopefully, this article has helped you a lot in optimizing your Google My Business listing. If you can’t afford to hire a digital marketing agency or SEO professionals, there are lots of tools that you can use for free to optimize your search rankings and one of which is the Google My Business.

As the name implies, Google My Business is a tool (free) provided by Google for businesses to manage how their details are listed in search. With this tool, you will be able to manage your locations on Google Maps as well as online reviews.

If you're running a local business you need to set up the location of your business on Google My Business so that customers will be able to find you easily when they search in Google Maps. But to make it possible you need to optimize your Google My Business listing.

Read on to learn how to optimize your listing properly.

Tips for Optimizing Google My Business Listing

1. Optimize your profile in Google My Business

When optimizing your listing making a profile that has updated, accurate, and comprehensive details is the first that you need to do. Your Google My Business profile has several parts like:

●      Name

●      Address

●      Phone Number

●      Business Category

●      Description

Aside from the above-mentioned parts, you can include other important details like availability, working hours, and URL of your website.

1. Load High-Quality and Relevant Pictures

Once you have included all the important details in your listing, you can start personalizing your Google My Business page’s visual aspects. Take note, a listing will not be completed without pictures.

A business that has images on their listings tend to obtain 35 percent more clicks and considered more trustworthy.

With this in mind, make sure to upload a logo, cover photo, profile photo, and general images to give customers an idea of what your business looks like as well as what services and products they can obtain from you.

1. Ask for online reviews and respond to them

When it comes to local searches, reviews are considered the lifeblood. Good online reviews is equivalent to sales. Meaning to say, if you have more good reviews then your sales will increase as well.

Whenever customers perform a google search to find a service, product, or business on Google, these reviews will show up. The online reviews and even the ratings allow people to compare competitors more rapidly and determine whether the business is trustworthy or if it’s selling good products and services.

Thank you for reading, hopefully, this article has helped you a lot in optimizing your Google My Business listing.

Written by: Margie Heaneythe

A Few Minutes a Day

As mediators we know that professional personal interaction is imperative. As marketers, that same interaction shouldn't be overlooked.

As a professional resolutionist your time is probably pretty full. It can be difficult to add additional time-consuming tactics to an already demanding schedule.

So rather than overloading your schedule with a lot of frantic items for your already busy daily to-do list, try this tact instead: Personally contact at least one previous client every day with no other motive except to find out if they were happy with your service and ask if there's anything else you can help them with.

For the vast majority of your clients, this can be handled with a telephone call, and on the average should not take you more than five to ten minutes. Even the busiest of my clients can dedicate a few minutes per day. A five- or ten-minute personal marketing foray is a modest demand on your time and great investment in your practice. And if you're thinking this activity can be replaced by a text or email please reconsider.  In a world of technology you can make yourself stand out by having an actual conversation over a cup of coffee, on the phone, or via video conference.

Are You Making Any of These 10 Deadly Business Mistakes?

These traps/mistakes are common to many ADR entrepreneurs .

1. Getting Wedded To an Idea And Sticking With It Too Long.
Don't marry a single idea. Remember, ideas are the currency of entrepreneurs.
Play with many ideas and see which ones bring money and success.

2. No Marketing Plan.
A marketing plan creates the kind of attention you need to get in front of the right
types of people, companies, etc. It is what attracts people to you! There may be as
many as 25 ways to market your business at no or low cost. A good marketing plan
implemented effectively, efficiently, elegantly and consistently, will eliminate
the stress of so called "flying by the seat of your pants".

3. Not Knowing Your Customers.
Changes in your customers' preferences and your competitors' products and services can
leave you in the dust unless you get to know your customers well, what they want now and will likely want in the future, what their buying patterns are, and how you can be a
resource for them even if you don't have the right services for them now!

4. Ignoring Your Cash Position.
The world (aka customers) doesn't respond to even superior products in the timeframe
that you think they should. You'll need plenty of cash to sustain yourself in the meantime.

5. Ignoring Employees.
Motivating, coaching and managing your staff is probably one of your toughest challenges as an entrepreneur/business owner today! Without your patience, persistence and "people skills," your problems can multiply quickly. Morale, productivity AND PROFITS can easily be destroyed!

6. Confusing Likelihood With Reality.
The successful entrepreneur lives in a world of likelihood but spends money in the world of reality.

7. No Sales Plan.
Without a sales plan, there's no serious way to gage the financial growth and progress of
your business. You need a realistic map for where the sales will come from, how they'll
come and from whom.

8. Being a Lone Ranger.
You might be the key to everything BUT you cannot DO everything and grow at the same time.  Even modest success can overwhelm you unless you hire the right staff and delegate responsibility.

9. No Mastermind.
Get an advisory board or a mentor! Sounds crazy for a small operation? It's not! The board can be family members that you trust, or friends. Ask them to be your board of directors and review your business plans and results with them. Having someone to bounce ideas off and get an objective opinion is critical.

10. Giving Up.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs failed several times before doing extremely well.  So, if you're failing, fail. And fail fast. And learn. And try again, with this new wisdom.

Do NOT give up. Yet, do not suffer, either.

If any of the above situations are stopping you from achieving your success, give me call or email me and I'll be happy to give you a 30 minute consultation for free.

Building Your Own Think Tank

I received a question recently from one of my readers in New Zealand. He asked, “I've heard the term "knowledge network." What does it mean, and how does it fit into my business networking efforts”?

Thanks John. This is a great question.

This is a tool that I have used in my own business development for years.  A “knowledge network” or its more formal cousin an “Advisory Board” can prove invaluable to business people in the resolution industry.

I’ll use my own Board as an example.

Just like you, I have to make decisions about growth strategies, internal systems, and much more. As is frequently the case with any complex project, anyone will begin NOT seeing it clearly after a while. Personally speaking, I was relatively young when I started my company. It was important to recognize that there were lots of business experiences that I hadn’t had yet, and many that I didn’t want to know about first hand. In order to gather the information I needed and avoid some of the inevitable pitfalls, I created an Advisory Board.

My own Board is comprised of business people who have created their own business
successes over the last 45 years. Most of them are entrepreneurs and only about half of them are in the resolution industry. My Board was designed to involve resolution professionals who understand ADR, my business, and my clients’ needs. All of my advisors are very successful in their own industries (e.g. oil & gas, fashion, construction, real estate, healthcare, entertainment etc.). Their commonalities are that they are all highly successful in their own rights.

Since I have clients all over the world, I intentionally invited Board members who live and work around the globe.  Each of them are kept up to date about my business strategies, subsequent growth, quandaries etc. I don’t seek advice from all of them on every situational need.  Most often, a particular need can be matched with a Board member who has the corresponding specific experience. There are times when many of us meet via conference call and many more times that single calls are made to single advisors.

The Board is informal and not paid for their advice – however we have referred work to each other and frequently provide introductions that have proven to be quite lucrative.

How can you build a Board of your own? Seek out those individuals in your area that are successful business people. They will provide you much needed advice and may become tremendous advocates of ADR. Also seek out some of the successful resolutionists in your area to serve as both ADR and business mentors. Explain your current position as well as your goals and endeavors. Go to them with specific questions and challenges that your practice is facing and listen carefully to their advice. My experience has been that the advice from my Advisory Board has been a treasure trove of information that no college degree could ever provide.

The Personal Touch

One of the most rewarding things about being an entrepreneur and a mediator is how you personally identify with your company. Since most of us are solo-practitioners we tend to feel tremendous pride in our practice creation. However, too frequently practitioners treat their practices in an officious and overformal way. Instead try treating your small business a little more warmth.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I advocate that you never attempt to be something or someone you're not. Phonies don't fool many people for very long. Staying true to your nature almost always pays off in profits. You're not some multinational conglomerate or large bureaucracy. Take advantage of this fact and use the warm, friendly personality of your small business to your benefit. It has an endearing appeal that the 'big boys' would die to acquire, if they only could, and in fact an appeal that they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars feigning. So instead of putting on airs and pretending to be what you are not, put on a smile and get down-home friendly, figuratively speaking of course.

All the marketing dollars in the world cannot buy what you start out with, that friendly demeanor that comes with a new, small-scale entrepreneurial enterprise. Call it the corner store identity, or the 'mom and pop' atmosphere.

Call it anything you like, but take advantage of while you have it.

Begin capitalizing on your practice's small friendly nature, you can and should develop personal marketing habits, and make sure that you live by them, which also has the pleasant side effect of setting an example for your staff if you have one.

Remember that people do business with people they like.

Three Ways To Grow Your Practice (or How to Make More Money)

A confession: I have a reading disorder. A serious vice that requires between 2 and 5 books each week to be satiated.  I am a bookstore owner's fantasy and my library's least profit-producing cardholder.

On that note - while in my favorite bookstore, perusing the business section, I began to count the number of books that attempt to tell you how to grow your business.  I lost count, then lost interest. I have spent hundreds of dollars and euros to own a great number of these kinds of books,  and have read even more of them. If the book is any good, it will eventually get around telling you that the following 3 activities are key to growing any business.

1.Increase your caseload volume,

2.Increase your fees,

3.Increase the amount of repeat business.

Let me save you the time and money of buying or borrowing these books by explaining how each of these apply to resolutionists.

Point number one reads "Increase your caseload volume".

Clear and simple - promote your practice through networking, writing and speaking. These are the time and money-proven most effective strategies for a resolutionist.

On average a practice requires between 18 months and two years to build. Remember that to be successful, you must consider yourself a businessperson first and a mediator second. The same would hold true for any business. If you told me that because you're such a great cook you're going to open a restaurant, my first question would be "what do you know about running a culinary business?" You can't have the second (a mediation or arbitration practice) without the first (some business acumen).

Point number two reads "Increase your fees".

Again - pretty simple, but will depend on a couple of variables (and perhaps one mathematical formula).  If your background or current job is one in which you make money based on billable hours,  like a lawyer or consultant, then you will want to charge at least that same hourly rate.  Your time as a arbitrator / mediator is no less valuable than your time as a consultant or expert witness etc. It's simply a matter of cost opportunity. Your IQ does not diminish as soon as you stop into a mediation. Your time is valuable - put a value to it.

If you have a job that is a salaried position, that is not in the field of law, and you need to determine how much to charge - take the average fee charged by local attorneys within your same practice area. For instance, if you have worked for the State's Health and Welfare Department as a psychologist and are now building a practice with family as the focus, research the average hourly fees local family lawyers charge. If it is less than you make on an hourly basis - keep your current rate. Why on earth would you leave money on the table?

Or, if you just read the previous two paragraphs and are still unclear, try the following mathematical formula. You have to get paid for the work you do, or you will soon have to find some other way to make a living. Not only must you get paid, but you have to get paid enough. How do you know how to charge for your services so that you get paid enough? The economics of a mediation practice are so simple that they can be reduced to the following:

P= (H time B time R) minus C

Where:
H = total hours available
B = percent of those hours that are billable
R = hourly rate
C = costs

If you want to make more money you can lower your costs, increase the percentage of your time on paid work, or increase your rate. You can also work more hours - keeping in mind that as hourly-paid professionals we are all capped on how much our practices will earn unless we increase our rates. Why? Well there are only so many hours in a day dear reader. Once they've been billed out ... where can you go from there?

Point number three reads "Increase the amount of repeat business".

What's that you say ... just a beautiful theory? Wrong. They're more than just a theory, they're the reality for many of us. Referrals are out there. You only have to ask for them. Next time you find yourself in a networking situation, with someone for whom you've worked, or a friend or colleague who socializes or works within your target market, ask them for a referral. Ask them whom in their organization should you speak with about getting cases. Ask them if they know someone who could either directly benefit from your services or someone who could lead you in the right direction. You'll be amazed at the results if you just ask.

So there it is. Growth in a nutshell. My miniature course on "Success 101" and all you had to pay... was attention.

You’re Marketing Check Up

Time for your annual marketing check up. Use the short survey of Robert Middleton's
below to assess your practice development health. Give yourself from 1 to 5 points
on each statement. A perfect score is 125 points.

Positioning Solution. I have a clearly articulated solution statement for my business (Audio Logo) that tells that problems I solve and what solutions I provide my clients.

Target. I know who my clients are, where they are and what benefits and features they are looking for in my kind of service.

Benefits. I have outlined a number of specific client-centered benefits that my clients receive when they use my services.

Uniqueness. I have a Unique Competitive Advantage that explains why I am different than my competition and what that means to my clients.

Qualities. I am clear about the unique qualities I bring to my business and people know me for those qualities.

Packaging Identity. I have an attractive and appropriate "business identity package" with cards and letterhead printed with my own unique company identity.

Value. Everything that I offer my clients is presented as a value to the client. I always answer their question: "What's in it for me?"

Services - What You get. My services, what I do and how I do it, are clearly presented in a brochure, marketing package or web site. It's no mystery what you get.

Pricing and Proposals. I have a well-defined pricing strategy and proposal outline.

Personal Presentation. Everything about my business, including my personal presentation are presented in a way that truly represents who I am.

Promotion Relationship. Through all my promotional vehicles people get a sense of who I am and what my services are really about.

Referrals Systems. I have several ways to actively generate referrals from existing clients.  Referrals are one of my strongest sources of new clients.

Visibility Systems. I stay visible to my target market and expand my credibility through networking, social media and a web site.

Expertise. I communicate my expertise to my target market through speaking to groups and writing/publishing articles.

Keep-In-Touch Systems. I send information to clients and prospects on a regular basis through a newsletter, eZine, social media or other marketing.

Persuasion Focus. Whenever I speak to someone about my services and their needs, I am totally focused on what I can do for them - how I can help.

Needs. I am skilled at building rapport by learning the past and present situation of my prospects through a series of well-thought-out questions.

Objectives. I am skilled at motivating my clients to use my services by discovering
what future objectives are the most important to them.

Presentation. I have a well-structured and well-organized presentation designed to
inform my prospects about exactly how I can solve their problems and meet their objectives.

Recommendation. I am successful in asking for the business. I know what to say and do to win a prospect's commitment to my services.

Performance Communication. I understand that the key to successful client engagements is clear communication.  I work constantly at improving this skill.

Promises. I make clear, unambiguous promises for what I will deliver and what results clients can expect when I undertake an assignment or project. I keep my word.

Requests. I make crystal-clear requests of my clients so they know what I expect of them in a client engagement.

Extra Mile. I don't just offer good service. I do everything in my power to deliver service
that consistently exceeds clients' expectations.

Personal Performance. I stay motivated and true to my personal vision of my business. I get the things done not only for my clients but for myself to make my business successful.

Well..., how did you do? If you scored above 100 you're doing great - keep it up! If you
scored below 100 - you've some work ahead of you and if you scored below 50 - yikes - give me a call and I'll help you get on the road toward a healthy practice.

Are You Ready?

Are you ready to get business to come to you instead of having to spend your time drumming it up.  Odds are that you’re eager to get word-of-mouth and mind share marketing working for you.

But are you ready to do what it takes to get it?

To find out, complete this checklist and then stay tuned to the next six articles for a complete break-down of each component.  You might be surprised to find you’re not as ready as you think.  You might realize why you don’t yet have all the business you can enjoy.  And you’ll know what to do right away to get things going your direction.

Have you decided on a single thing you want to become well known for?

OR…

Are you still trying be everything to everyone?

Have you committed to spending all of your available time, money and energy into developing this one thing?

OR…

Are you dividing your time between numerous possibilities?

Have you developed your own niche that capitalizes on your background and expertise?

OR…

Are you doing what numerous other providers in your area are doing?

Can you clearly demonstrate why you’re the provider prospects should choose?

OR…

Are you just hoping that folks will believe enough in ADR to want to do business with you?

Do you have a long-term plan to reach your prospects and then maintain their attention to create mind share?

OR…

Are you marketing efforts sporadic and inconsistent?

Are you able to follow your plan with the consistency and frequency to attract the clients you’re interested in obtaining?

OR…

Do you let your marketing efforts wax and wane due to a lack of time or interest?

Unless you’re already exceptionally well positioned, getting business coming to you will take time.  How long it will take depends on how ready you are.  You might find that you’re ready immediately.  Conversely you might find that you have several weeks or months to get yourself and your practice in a position to begin attracting clients.  If you rush into trying to get business without positioning yourself solidly, you’ll just have to go back later and redevelop your practice into a better position.

Why not start now?  Check back next week for more.

If you need help with any of the above, just send me a message and together we’ll get you started on the right path.

Don’t Get Lost

Getting lost or overwhelmed by all the choices in social media platforms is easy to do.  It wasn't always this way.  Until the late 1990's marketing and promoting a practice was as easy buying space in newspapers and periodicals or on TV, and doing some smart networking to build trust and lasting relationships.  That was it.  That was the magic bullet.

But in today's market there's no such thing as a magic bullet.  Consumers are more savvy about who we are and what we do.  They know that there are many choices for resolution services.  Establishing trust and creating relationships with prospective clients is still a requirement.  In fact it's the primary asset that we're building.  And only connection, direct connection, does that.  Whatever platform you want to use is fine, as long as it leads to a direct connection with your primary, secondary, and / or tertiary target markets.  In that vein, I always recommend that you use the platform your target market is most comfortable using.  You may not like Facebook, but if that's where your clients are, you need to get really good at using Facebook.  If your clients love it you need to love it too.  The same goes for Twitter, Instagram, etc.

For most resolutionists, LinkedIn is the platform of choice.  Making best use of this platform is a great way to connect, establish credibility, authority, and availability.  Make best use of messages to invite people to connect, thank them for connecting, offering to be a resource for them, and providing them something of value will start the all-important dialogues to creating trust and building business.  If you have connected with previous clients, ask them to endorse you or write a recommendation - the best way to do this is provide an endorsement or recommendation to them first.  LinkedIn is a powerful library of articles - write and post one.  Is video your preference?  Record and post one.  Use LinkedIn to find groups and interact with them.  Comment on your connection's posts.  The key to LinkedIn is to connect and interact.

Regardless of your choice, log on to your social media platform profile and with a critical eye update your bio, update your photograph, make sure that your contact information is complete and correct.  Link to any other platforms and your website.  The goal is to make it easy for prospective clients to confirm your professionalism and contact you.

Being in many places is far less important than occupying one space extremely well.  Own that space and state it clearly eg: "I'm a blogger not a podcaster".  Be in that space in a way that other resolutionists without your tenacity have no way to occupying in the way you do. Do one thing and do it really well.

After all that, if you sincerely feel that you need to be on numerous platforms concurrently, that's fine too.  It can get overwhelming to manage all those accounts however.  You might want to simplify your life by using a social media management tool like Hootsuite.  The point is this ... don't get lost or overwhelmed by all the platforms and then not use any of them.

If you're not sure which platform is best for you, how to use your chosen platform(s), or simply don't want to become the social media master that your practice needs, give me call and I'll help you find the best solution or even help you manage your accounts.

I rather like the new normal.

I know that the last month or two have been strange for most us but hopefully we’re all settling into our new groove. 

One thing I like about this new world is the amount of effort if requires of me.  Last year in order for me to attend a conference I needed to register for the event, sometimes get a visa, book a flight and hotel, deal with airport security, figure out the public transportation from the airport … and on and on and on.  Until it was time to do it all in reverse.  It’s exhausting me just writing about it and I simply don’t have it in me to list the hundred other steps necessary.  But I don’t need to. You probably know them all too well.

In person meetings were a bit easier but only because the effort involved had become normalized.  Buy a car, maintain the car, or figure out how to public transportation, rent an office, furnish and maintain an office, wear a suit and heels, provide snacks and drinks, keep fresh flowers in lobby, set the date and time for us to meet, research and prepare for the meeting, confirm the date time, …. and on and on and on.  Again, I’m leaving out a bunch of steps and little tasks to large efforts.  But you know the drill. 

Now, I ask my clients to let me know the best date and time for me set up a Zoom call, I prepare for the meeting, confirm with them the date and time and send them the Zoom link, log on and get to work.  No heels or train stations necessary.  In fact this might just be the perfect answer for introvert who is cleverly disguised as an extrovert.

I hadn’t really though much about the first two scenarios.  They were just normal.  I didn’t measure the amount of time or energy either of them required because putting all that effort into working with clients was just what I did.  Part of the challenge of a worldwide shift is that all of us have to engage in new effort that we’re not used to. It’s nothing we asked for, and the old effort disappearing didn’t used to feel like much of a benefit.

But now? 

Although I do miss the first two versions of conferences and meetings, they were expensive, complicated and sometimes difficult processes.  This new normal has its own challenges for sure, but if new effort is required, we have the chance to do what we’ve always done in the resolution industry, which is figure out what works and to commit to it.

This is right in our wheelhouse.

How to Make Money from Pro-Bono Cases

Interested in how to transition your practice from non-paying to paying clients?

Pro-bono panels are where many ADR trainers suggest we go for our first mediations or arbitrations after we get certified.  They’re right to do that.  We need that real world experience to become the great neutrals we know we can be.  But unless you’re on the panel for purely philanthropic goals, building a business off that panel work may not be what you thought it would be.

Westernized consumer minds say ‘you get what you pay for’.  If mediators have an assigned monetary value of nothing – then the assumption is that we have no worth.  And that’s just wrong. Most consumers of free mediation or arbitration panels know otherwise too.  They know and understand the tremendous value we offer.  And they love the fact that we’re free.  Do we love that same fact?  Well that’s complicated.  Some of us love it because it’s our philanthropic choice.  Some of us love it because it’s where we hone our skills. Some of us love it because we THINK it will help us grow our private practices. Which are you?  If you’re in the philanthropic category read no further. This article is about building a practice. 

Let me use one of my clients, Phyllis, as the example.  She is an experienced attorney in downtown LA with a practice specialty that easily transfers into the world of ADR. After she received her certification as a mediator she received the same advice that most of us do.  Volunteer on the local court panel they said.  You’ll get lots of experience they said.  You’ll build your practice they said.  So Phyllis volunteered.  A lot.  And her trainer was right about the first two of those three things.  But not the last one. 

In a first consultation with her I asked for her volunteer stats.  Here they are:

5 cases per month for two years or 120 cases

3 hours free for each case or 360 hours mediating

2 hours admin for each case or 240 hours of admin

2 hours of commute / parking for each case or 240 hours

            Total of 840 hours

Phyllis charges $300 per hour in her private practice.

Her ‘practice development’ through the court panel has cost her $252,000 over two years!!!

How many paying cases has she directly received for her ‘volunteer’ efforts?  The answer is 5.  FIVE!!!  Is it worth it?  To me that’s not tough math.  The answer is a resounding no.  Spending the equivalent of a quarter of a million dollars over the course of two years to get 5 paying clients?

Nope.  No way.  Not worth it.

Of course she did have the opportunity to gain experience and give back to her community but that’s some extraordinarily expensive experience and I can think of lots of ways that I’d rather donate a quarter of a million dollars to deserving individuals. The truly painful aspect of all her efforts on the panel … she still paid good marketing money to promote her private practice.  She invested in a website, business cards, membership dues etc.  She writes, speaks, and trains her primary target market contacts. In those same two years of promoting her practice she spent $11,800 on more traditional marketing methods.  For that very reasonable investment she obtained 172 new and fully paying clients. Now that’s good math.  

If we did the same cost analysis for your practice what would it look like?

So the big question is what should you do?  I’m not suggesting that you forego volunteering on a panel if that’s where your heart’s at.  But let’s get real.  Volunteer for a predetermined period of time. Get the experience you need.  Make the most of the contacts you get from the panel, then move on.  And what if you don’t have $11,800 to invest in your marketing and have no other choice but parlay those pro-bono cases into paying clients?  Read on.

ð       Keep a separate calendar for pay vs. non-pay cases giving paying clients priority status for your time. Lack of preparation on your clients’ part does not constitute an emergency on your part. Limit the number of cases or hours you volunteer each month.  Don’t allow non-paying clients to bully your schedule.

ð       Determine in advance how many pro-bono cases you need to hear to elevate your skills. When you reach that magical number – stop.  Leave the panel and spend your valuable time, money, and brain power on promoting your private practice.  

ð    Dealing with the repeat ‘offenders’ or abusers of your and the courts generosity? Just mediate them.  Let them know that you’re sincerely flattered by their confidence in your skills. However, you mediate for a living and would appreciate them hiring you privately.  If they really want you – they’ll pay for you.  If they don’t want to pay – refer them back to the panel list and let them chose another pro-bono neutral.  Be sure that you check with the panel about this practice. You don’t want to find yourself in conflict with the panel rules or administrators.

ð    Selling before you mediate.

o   Be professional, considerate, be consumer oriented.

o   Offer something the other neutrals in your region or specialty don’t offer

ð    Selling while you’re mediating.

o   Remember that everyone in the room is your client.  

o   Wait until after the mediation is completed (settled or not) to give your business card and promote your private practice.

o   Whether the hearing is held in private office spaces or a court annex, be sure you make potential clients as comfortable as is possible.  It’s the little things that matter.  High quality coffees, snacks that keep dietary needs in mind, plenty of Kleenex, the ability to order in food or a list of local restaurants within walking distance, clean bathrooms, etc.  Pamper them where possible.

ð   Selling after the mediation.

o   Follow up after a settlement with a thank you letter (yes a real card)

o   Follow up after a settlement with a client survey

o   Follow up after a non-settlement with continued communication and support – offering mediation continuation (for pay)

o   Follow up with primary marketing tools like networking, writing, speaking, and training. Essentially – keep in touch with them until you’ve said the right thing at the right time to the right person.

Phyllis' choice to stay on the court panel regardless of how much she got from it or how much it cost her was a subsequent question. Her answer .... it's just what neutrals do.   Let's change that and volunteer wisely.

Volunteering can be a great way to gain experience, lighten the load on your local court docket, help people who really need help, and meet turn potential clients into prospective clients and then into paying clients.  But don’t let volunteering distract you from doing what you know you need to do – build your practice. Be a businessperson first.  Be a business person who happens to specialize in ADR, but be a smart businessperson.  For as much time as you network inside ADR associations, double that time networking with your primary target market.  Keep up on what’s happening in the ADR industry, but primarily keep up with what’s happening in your target market’s industry. Read about communication and ADR, but most importantly read business and marketing books. 

And as always, if you have any questions or concerns about building your ADR practice, contact me and together we’ll find the solution that helps you reach and surpass your goals and endeavors.

You’re Just 3 Easy Steps to Becoming the Go-To ADR Professional

In order to build up your reputation and create more visibility, it’s imperative to know and understand your prospective clients. If you do you will be able to craft messages that resonate and that create the necessary dialogue for true engagement.

One of the most common mistakes I see mediators and arbitrators make on their websites and social media platforms is that they focus on themselves rather than their clients.   This is an easy fix.   

1.     Make a list of the prospective clients that want to reach and the best way(s) to reach out to them.  They might like face-to-face networking, direct email, social media contact, videos, podcasts, etc.  In what medium(s) will your messages be most effective and efficient?  Wherever they congregate, in whatever way --- you need to be there.  Expecting clients to come to you is unreasonable. 

2.     Next you need to make it clear that you truly understand what your clients’ issues are.  Make a list of their primary, secondary and tertiary concerns, issues, or problems.  Next to each line item write up a short explanation of how each can be addressed and potentially resolved when they hire you. 

3.  Utilizing the list of concerns and the possible solutions verify your assumptions when you have the face-to-face opportunities with your prospective clients.  They’ll tell you if you’ve got it right or need to refine your ideas.  With a newly refined list of problems and solutions, write articles, record video or podcast messages, create a training, or provide a speech in which you address each scenario.  Using client-preferred mediums you’ll see a very positive cumulative effect of your efforts over a relatively short amount of time. 

If you need help with any of these 3 activities, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll help you design the right system to help you reach your goals.

CONVENING AND MARKETING

Whether you convene your cases yourself, have an assistant make the necessary contacts or belong to a professional tribunal – don’t kid yourself; convening and marketing go hand in hand. 

How your conduct yourself on the phone and in writing, how you answer the parties’ questions, the way in which you collect information, and whether or not you can get reluctant parties to come to the table – it’s all marketing and customer service.  One of the key ingredients is moving a potential case into the active mediation process.  This frequently proves to be one of the greatest challenges for providers.  It can be most difficult when the parties are unrepresented or involved in a highly emotional dispute.

Since Marketing Resolution is always in search of resources to assist providers in strengthening their skills both as mediators and arbitrators as well as powerful marketers, we’d like to direct you to https://joyceodidison.com/books/ where Mrs. Joyce Odidison offers seminars and workshops that will help you and your clients to prepare for mediation as well as a fantastic workbook (and many other books) for you and your clients.  Her site claims that the Pre-Mediation Workbook will increase your rate of successful mediation by approximately 90%.  The Pre-Mediation Workbook offers over 40 mediation preparedness tips and tools, will help you move potential cases from the convening process to the mediation process, transform high conflict into powerful bargaining and negotiating opportunities, reduce caucusing, gain tools to explore and deal with suppressed anger, and apply strategies to curb any power imbalance before mediation.

As marketing goes, it doesn’t get much better than Mrs. Odidison’s Pre-Mediation Workbook to help you move potential cases from convening into the hearing room.

***If you have a resource, tool, tip or technique that you’d like to share with our industry, drop us a line, send us a sample, or email a link and we’ll convey the information to our colleagues.

REALITY Vs. PERCEPTION

A great deal of a businessperson's time is spent creating the right perception of her business. She wants to be sure that her target market have the opinion she wants them to have. Is her practice a high-end boutique practice, an "every-man's" kind of practice or a practice designed to accommodate those who can't afford other venues? She might want to position herself as the friendliest, the most authoritative, most experienced etc.

The perception of her practice to her prospects should be based in the reality of her practice. Just ask her previous clients if their perception of her practice proved to be the reality. If she positioned herself as an expert in construction issues and was unable to read the blueprints put before her, well ... not only are her clients going to be a little more than disheartened, she might have done actual damage to the their case, the process, her individual practice and the industry as a whole. The reality did not support the perception.

On that note, a great deal your time should be spent on building an APPROPRIATE perception of the reality in your target market's minds. How do you do that?

First realize what your strengths are. Determine your niche. Then determine what position in that specialized market place you want to take. It could be based on your fee schedule, your expertise, your personality, your geographic location, or, well, pretty much anything.

Then design your marketing and promotional pieces to reflect the "personality" you've chosen for your practice. Be sure that your marketing choices give a true reflection of the perception you want folks to have. If you are trying to position your firm as the high-end provider in the area, don't scrimp on paper quality, real estate, or staff.

If you're a non-profit - the reverse is true. Recipients of your letters want to know that you're frugal with the little money you have. They want to see your information on less expensive or recycled papers.

In essence - the reality, and the perception of that reality, need to be the identical in order to avoid any cognitive dissonance in your target market, not to mention keep them coming back for more.

If you need any help in trying to determine whether or not the reality matches the perception you are trying to create, give me a call - we'll mediate the gap.

Some Questions (And their answers)

Here's a question that might actually be your answer. Next time you're working on your practice-building strategy, ask yourself this:

If I ran a competing practice, how would I beat mine?

Which weakness would I attack? What would I do to distinguish my new practice from my current practice?

Then --- eliminate that weakness from your practice. Either augment your activities, your location, your service, your support systems, etc. or outsource them. Your weakness is your soft underbelly, and probably the reason you are losing some business.

Next --- build on your distinguishing strength before someone else starts doing it.

Always ask yourself, "How would I beat me?"

Another good question to ask.

Whenever you consider your business's next steps, ask, "if we were starting this business from scratch, what would we do differently?"

Then do that. Every now and then it's good to start from scratch.

Wonder!

At an international conference of ADR consumers a while ago I overheard one gentleman say to another "Mediation is the greatest thing since sliced bread"!

Well, here's the thing about sliced bread.

It was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder in 1912. A simple yet brilliant idea: a machine that could take a loaf of bread and (voila) slice it!

Otto's machine was a complete failure.

Around this same time was the beginning of the advertising age (which meant that no matter how a good a product or service was, without good marketing it had very little chance of success.

It was about 20 years later, when a new brand called Wonder started marketing sliced bread, that the invention caught on. It was the packaging and the advertising that worked - not the convenience or innovation of pre-slicing bread.

How does this translate to your practice?

Well, I know your service is great and you know your service is great - but if your consumers don't know it ... well, frankly, it just doesn't matter how great your service really is. You've got to reach out to your consumers and tell them how great your service is. Tell why you're different, better, faster, cheaper, bigger, smaller,.... But the point is - you've got to tell them.

If you need help figuring out ways to tell you customers how great your practice is, give me a call and I'll you strategize some practice-building and marketing activities.

Promoting through Public Speaking

One of the most obvious and most effective ways to promote your practice is through public speaking. It puts you directly in front of your target market and establishes you as a credible authority on your topic ... IF you're a good public speaker that is.

If you need to polish your public speaking, one way to improve is to join your local toastmasters club where you can hone your impromptu and prepared speaking skills

alongside others like yourself. Another option is to join a local community theater

company where small speaking parts allow you to dip your toe in the sea of public

speaking with minimal attention. You might also try your local college for a public

speaking course.

In many regions oratory still thrives, and indeed is performed in clubs and associations that allow people like yourself to learn the trick of the trade and have an opportunity to engage in the honorable, ageless practice of public speaking. Most programs and organizations that offer such training and participation have nominal costs, if any. For those of you who don't want to pay for a private coach, but need the skills necessary to hold an audiences' attention, these group venues might be just what you need.

Once you're comfortable in front of a crowd it's time to your skills. But not on primary, secondary, or tertiary target markets. Nope. Try them out on us first. Speak or present to the resolution industry. Our organizations should be your comfort zone and will give you the right platform to take your expertise public. Speak to us. Teach us something that you're passionate about. Give us your best. From us you'll learn how to prepare for presentation, how to deliver it, and very importantly - how to follow up on it.

Now that you've got some practice it's time to swing for the fences and speak and present to your target markets. What do your perspective clients want to hear? Or maybe take the riskier route and deliver a speech about what they don't want hear - but might be necessary for them to know. As you reach out to associations and organizations to which you want to speak, it's always a good idea to ask the all-important question; what do the members want to hear or learn. That might better define or even entirely change the subject matter of your presentation.

Once you've got the gig be sure to share all about it on your social media accounts (which should be populated with your target market contacts) and if appropriate invite them to attend. under the spotlight people come to you be prepared to network come with cards aplenty  offer to give attendees whatever follow up they need - a phone call, a face to face meeting, or more information.  if the association to which you speak doesn't have a survey in place to determine how well you did - get their permission to survey the attendees. 5 or fewer short questions and (this next thing is super important) a place for testimonials. If you can post to social media during or immediately after the event do it. Be sure to thank the association or organization for allowing you the opportunity to speak to their members. update your bio credible authority on the issues your target market face

The key component now is to follow up on the connections you made and move those interactions in relationships. Send your new colleagues a follow up email whatever information they requested or you offered, meet them coffee, add them to your LinkedIn network, and continue to keep in touch. Keeping yourself front of mind and you'll turn potential clients into prospective clients and then again into paying clients.

If you need help finding places to speak, a topic on which to speak, or to get the most from your speaking gig, give me a call. I'm always happy to help.

Before, During and After

Before advertising mediators had word of mouth. Our services were talked about, referrals made, and our services purchased.

The best mediators had the best reputations and busiest practices.

During advertising it's pretty simple - if you advertise and market directly to consumers your sales go up. A partnership with an appropriate PR and Marketing firm means you can grow your company nearly as large as you can imagine.

After advertising, well, we're back nearly where we started. But instead of your practice growing slowly and awkwardly by word of mouth alone, the power of your network combined with intelligent PR and marketing can drive your practice to great heights at rocket speed.

Striking a balance between self-promotion and professional promotion can be the defining combination for success. If you're not a business-minded mediator find someone to help with business development. If you're not entrepreneurial find someone who is to help create that never-ending drive for you. If you're not a bookkeeper - outsource your books to a professional. Essentially - do what you do best (mediate) and find professionals to augment your business with their special talents.

The combination is unbeatable and the balance you create will pay for itself in more ways than just your bank account.

If you need help balancing your practice-building and marketing activities give me call and I'll help you with your strategic needs.

Your Website - Yes, You Need One

Do you have a website?

Do you need a website?

Here's what you should you know.

1. Your content should be 80% - 90% about your viewer, their concerns, their fears, their issues, their position. It's all about them and what's in it for them if they hire you. Speak to their problems and provide them the solution.

2. Graphics and colors should be developed based on the lowest common denominators of your viewers' computers' abilities. If your target viewers are not at all Internet savvy - don't ask them to download files or add software to view your site. If your viewers are older - use a larger font and use a font that is a True Type font so that the majority of the computer systems will view the font you want them to view.

3. Keep your navigational bar clean, clear, and consistent. The same buttons should be available in the same order on all pages.

4. Provide your contact information on every page.

5. Be careful not to provide your viewer a "back door" to your competition. You work too hard and expend too many resources to invite viewers to leave your site for your competitor's site.

6. Although providing your viewer with educational articles and links about ADR - you don't want to overload them with information on your site - instead invite them to contact you or to use your personal library.

7. Make changes to your site at least bi-annually and inform your clients and prospects about these changes.

8. Be sure you watch your website statistics. Make note of the pages on which viewers enter, leave and spend the longest amount of time. Change your site appropriately based on these findings.

9. Use your photograph so that viewers have the advantage of a virtual introduction.

10. Keep an eye on your web hosting. You shouldn't have to pay more than $8.00 per

month in today's market.

11. Links are free. Any web designer that wants to charge you for links is taking advantage of you.

12. Most providers don't need a site that exceeds 10 pages.

13. A template is great - one of my favorites is available from Mark Johnson (a mediator himself and webdesigner) at www.TKOwebdesign.com

14. If you don't know how to code your own site you can easily hire a designer to make the changes for you. If don't need to make changes often - don't pay for them. You can hire a designer to make changes at equally low rates for "change orders" as opposed to fixed contracts. If, on the other hand, you want to make regular changes a maintenance contract may be the route to go.

15. Unless your viewers read and speak in high Oxford English - write your content using kitchen English. You know the language you use in casual conversation - less any slang.

The goal is to make your viewer feel comfortable and confident in your knowledge of ADR and their dispute. Make your site as easy as possible for them to get the information they're looking for and to reach you once you've let them know that you're the right person for the job.

If you need help with developing an appropriate website don't hesitate to contact me.