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New book on Social Media
September 14th, 2010Ok, it’s for lawyers, but the advice and knowledge should be very adaptable to mediators.
Disclaimer, I haven’t read it yet, but Victoria Pynchon (whose opinion I value) has, and it is on my to do list.
Caroline Elefant and Nicole Black have released a new book, Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier.
I have to confess I have been slow to jump on the twitter bandwagon, I joined almost 2 years ago and have done next to nothing in the intervening time period.
Well, it is time to get on the ball and take some action.
Like everything, you will need to analazye your marketing basics — who are you trying to connect with, what’s your message, and how are you going to provide value?
Are you looking to develop referral source relationships? (e.g. other professionals who may not be clients per se, but who may refer you business).
Or, are you looking to connect directly with potential clients?
How can you integrate all of your social media efforts into one cohesive marketing strategy?
I will post more once I am involved in the fun and have read the book.
Committed to your success,
Kristina
Mediation Business Summit…
September 4th, 2010Well, here is some exciting news for all you mediators out there…
While I have been away from the mediation marketing blog world for a year (oh my time Does Fly!). I certainly have not been away from marketing a professional service.
I have been having fun marketing my start-up law practice Haymes Law Group. Although, I have benefitted greatly from some business associations (and marketing programs) that have been very useful and yes, expensive. Much of the marketing I have done for my estate planning law practice has been a bit old-fashioned and I am looking forward to adding on some complementary social media and newer marketing methods.
But one thing is for sure, it is important to invest in marketing and business development because it does not just happen on its own. And investing in your own education is helpful.
So, you aspiring mediators, struggling mediators, or well-established mediators will undoubtedly benefit from taking a look at the Mediation Business Summit. It looks like Tammy and crew have a great line-up of business folks and entrepreneurs to teach you how to make your mediation business work!
And after all, whether you want to mediate part-time or full-time, marketing is essential.
Your partner in peace,
Kristina Haymes
p.s. I’m still wading through trying to figure out if all the RSS feeds and feed blitz subscriptions and everything can still work from my new domain www.mediationmarketingsystem.com/blog
Posted in Mediation Biz & Marketing Success System, Marketing Strategies
Top Of Page | Leave a Comment »Mediation Marketing…
September 1st, 2010Wow, it has been over a year since I have posted on this site… AND in the intervening time, my domains expired and someone gobbled up my domains.
So, please bookmark the new domains for now: www.mediationmarketingsystem.com (which is the new home to the audio product where people can buy a digital version of interviews with successful mediators and an action plan booklet on putting it all into practice using my Mediation Business Mastery Model ™.
And, my own mediation practice is very part-time right now as I opened my own law firm last year focusing exclusively on Trusts and Estates. Hopefully, the mediation work will circle back in because once people die, there are often trust and estate disputes that are perfect for mediation and conflict resolution outside of court.
Plus, I advise my clients to include mediation provisions in their estate planning documents.
This blog’s new home is .
If I manage to get the old domains back, I’ll let you know.
Please bookmark or add to your RSS feed this new address!
Anyway, marketing and business development whether it be a mediation practice or a law practice or a combination of the two, is still very critical.
I have been building a brand new firm from the ground up here in San Diego and it is very rewarding and yes, challenging.
So, look for some posts about my real life, real time experiences and what is working and what isn’t working… in posts to come.
I hope you are living your dream and building your dream practice whether it involves full-time mediation or like me right now, where mediation is part-time and your primary focus is building an ancillary practice first!
To your success,
Kristina Haymes
Managing Your Time and Energy
August 21st, 2009Has this ever happened to you? You get the same message from several sources?
Call it the power of focus, God whispering to you, or whatever you like…
Lately, I’ve been getting the message on time, energy, and life priorities.
I value productivity and accomplishments, I tend to be achievement oriented. I like to have goals that I’m working on… But in order to accomplish tasks, we must manage our time, our energy, and prioritize.
What about you?
We have an environment of 2-3 hours of “focus time” each and every day. It is amazing what you can accomplish if you set a time to do just focus on a task. It is important to be vigilant about avoiding the time wasters (e-mail is a big one for me).
I have also found that writing out (by hand) on my daily calendar what I want to accomplish that day helps me stay focused.
Have you heard of the “Success 6?” — Writing out the night before the top 6 things you want to accomplish the next day?
It’s also helpful to impose deadlines - even false ones to increase productivity.
This level of managing yourself is on a task basis.
What about the bigger picture?
Your Life Priorities? Your Vision for Your Business?
I must admit that I have a fear (concern), that I will get caught up in the doing of so many things, that I come to the end of my life and I won’t have focused enough time or energy on the crucial things. My life priorities.
So, I remind myself that on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis I need to keep my priorities in mind.
What about you?
Do you have a clear vision of what it is you would like to accomplish with your business?
Can you set aside 5-10 hours per week to invest in marketing your business? Set marketing goals, write them down, ask someone to keep you accountable, and get moving.
If you have a clear vision for your business, it will motivate you to work on marketing and business development. Of course, there is so much more, but actually doing the marketing strategies (on a consistent basis) in a way that is integrated with your personal brand, target audience, niche etc. is critical to see your mediation (or other professional service) business grow.
Here are some action steps:
Identify the marketing strategies you will do, set goals, write them down, set a deadline, and get started.
Marketing is to your business as sleep is to your body… your business cannot survive and thrive without consistent marketing. Just because I had a fabulous night of sleep last night doesn’t mean I don’t ever need to sleep again, or that I can skimp by on 5 hours…
Dream It, Define It, Implement It, Shine It, Do It…
Never Give UP on your hopes and dreams!
Kristina
Posted in Practice Management Tips, Marketing Strategies, Practice Building Advice, Coaching Corner
Top Of Page | Leave a Comment »Tough Times
August 11th, 2009Questions of the day: Are you still believing? Are you still focusing on the possibilities?
Or have the news, the economy, your diminished retirement, lay offs, and other financial set backs taken the wind out of your positive sails?
It’s easy to get discouraged during times like these. Often times you may find that you are driven more by fear than faith.
Yet, it’s times like these that build your character and test your resolve. It’s times likes these that we have to sit back and ask ourselves, “who am I and what character traits will define me?”
In every situation there are possibilities…
What are the possibilities before you now?
Some mediators are thriving right now like never before because people are more eager to save money on litigation and settle their claims.
Lawyers point to ADR as a thriving practice area right now.
I know for a time earlier this year, mediators were responding to the need for foreclosure mediators to help with the mortgage crisis.
The gaps in the marketplace may change, and circumstances may create different and new opportunities, but the opportunities will always be there.
Where are your opportunities?
NEVER GIVE UP!
Kristina
Two of the most important things for your mediation business…
August 7th, 2009I said a hearty amen when I read this article by Sheri McConnell.
As I wrote in my previous post, I think who you are as a mediator and your mediator brand is the number one thing (no matter how great your mindset or how great your marketing, if you are not a great mediator or what people are looking for in a mediator, it won’t matter)… but it is all interconnected. To really make mediation your day job, or to engage your mediation business to the level that you want to be engaged at, you will want to put them all together. One does not work without the other. I created a Mediation Business Mastery Model for my success system that has four quadrants for mediators… this article discusses two of them.
Ok, enough said. Enjoy this article by Sheri McConnell.
Pay Attention to the Two M’s and Your Business Will Soar
After ten years of running a 7 figure online business, I have concluded that success can be narrowed down to two specific areas of mastery.
I call them the two M’s — Mindsets and Marketing
And I want to make a BOLD statement here and say that if you can focus your efforts on mastering the Mindsets and the Marketing in your business, you will be successful!
First, let’s discuss the Mindsets…
After years of learning and growing and accomplishing many goals I have set for myself, I decided that no matter what you decide to do in and with your life, your mindsets matters most.
In fact, your mindsets make or break your success in life in three ways:
1. Believing in Abundance
Right now you believe many goals are attainable and many are not. The way we were raised and our current environment dictate our beliefs and unless we are challenged and taught to believe differently, we stay stuck. Today–open your mind up to abundance. Take a goal and rewrite it in an abundant mindset. Try to make yourself believe that you can accomplish it even if there is a nagging voice saying “no way!” Then put it where you can see it every day. It can be a financial goal or the number of articles you want to write next year. Whatever you want to accomplish, have, or do. It doesn’t matter. Think abundantly and think big for yourself.
2. Manifesting What You Want
Once you begin to think more abundantly and do it enough that it becomes a practiced mindset, then you will begin to easily manifest what you need, want, and deserve in life. Since manifesting is done in the mind, it in itself is another mindset. You should begin to consciously manifest what you dream of and what you need to accomplish your dreams. That is why writing down your goals is so powerful. It forces you to consciously manifest your wants and desires.
3. Welcoming the Change
The third mindset and the hardest and most important is being open to change. Many of us are very fearful of change and don’t recognize that we are resisting an abundant life because of the safe choices we make. Me included. We limit ourselves because of that risk of failure. We get used to believing what other un-abundant thinkers think because at least then we don’t have to put ourselves out there and fail. Change is good–it helps you grow. When you begin to expect change and thrive in the middle of it, you will increase your speed at which you succeed at your goals.
And second, let’s discuss Marketing…
Outside of your mindsets, marketing is the next most important area to master in my opinion. Why? Let me list the many reasons that Marketing is so important to you–the visionary of your company! By the way, I define marketing as anything you do that lets other people know that your company exists.
Marketing is how:
1. You Build Personal and Professional Relationships With New Leads-There are so many interactive ways to market on the Internet today that let solo-preneurers to CEOs of large companies personally build relationships with those they serve in their businesses. And marketing is the only way that exists for new leads who don’t know you exist to find you. Some of the interactive strategies available to your business (no matter what size) are video, blogs, social networking, webinars, teleseminars, and audio. Non-interactive strategies are article marketing, online newsletters, advertising, direct mail, and search engine placement.
2. You Build Overall Brand Identity and Awareness-The more marketing strategies you incorporate into your business, the more “instances” people will see your company. There are a number of different ways to encourage your leads and customers to easily identify you. Keep the color and design the same throughout your website and newsletter and all marketing materials. Make sure every product and service you launch is in line with what you say your mission is. Write books and information products that represent you and grow your brand.
3. You Answer Questions Your Current and Future Customers Didn’t Know They Had-One of the best reasons to incorporate live radio or live teleseminars or webinars into your marketing is so that your leads and customers have an opportunity to learn from others who are ahead of them. It lets you the owner of the company or your employees serve them and help them solve their problems on the spot. And because much of this marketing is recorded and sent out via internal company lists and social networking, the marketing is automated.
4. You Create Physical Energy So Customers Can Learn More About Your Products and/or Services-I believe energy always balances itself. And I have found in business that the amount of time, expertise, and money energy I am willing to put into my marketing, it comes back to my companies proportionally. The key is to put in place marketing energy that is automated and keeps working long after you implement the marketing. For instance, Facebook, Twitter, Article Marketing, Online Newsletters, Direct Mail, and so on.
5. You Serve Your Customers-For Instance, your educate your leads when your write articles and blog posts. Always be of service in your marketing and your leads will return to uplevel to your product and service offerings when they are ready to take action.
Sheri McConnell is the CEO of Sheri McConnell Companies, Inc. and the president and founder of two national organizations, the National Association of Women Writers-NAWW and the Global Institute of Associations-GIA. You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and find out more about all four of her companies at www.sherimcconnell.com. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, their four children, a weenie dog, and two cats.
Never Give UP!
Kristina
Posted in Mediation Biz & Marketing Success System, Keys to Inner Mastery, Marketing Strategies, Coaching Corner, Internet Marketing
Top Of Page | Leave a Comment »The Short List…
June 30th, 2009The question of the day is: how do you get on the short list?
For those of you who don’t know to what I am referring, I am referring to the “short list of mediators.” When lawyers advise their clients to mediate a case, the lawyers will usually circulate a list of mediators to the other side. Now, I’m talking about litigated cases (and not situations where parties will hire a mediator directly).
Now that for the time being I am focusing on lawyering (since we relocated back to California) I am a consumer of mediation services more than a provider. Check out my new firm www.brownlawgroup.com (I love it!).
I am just beginning to get a feel for the market here for mediators. It’s interesting to me when a particular mediator gets the response of “absolutely not.” What makes a lawyer say, “absolutely not” we will not use that mediator. Alternatively, what makes someone say, “yes” we will go to him or her?
Some mediators are perceived to be too partisan (favoring one side of the bar more than the other). Other mediators are known to use “strong arm tactics” or to cross the line into being disrespectful.
It’s a useful exercise to ask yourself, “How do I want to be perceived?” When the lawyers get together and talk about me, what do I want them to say?
You are your brand. Your reputation is your gold. Define it, visualize it, and then work hard to be consistent and implement your strategy. The work you do at the table is some of the most important marketing you do. You still need to get out there and network and have marketing strategies, but do not neglect developing your brand.
For example, you may want people to think, she is persistent, she is trustworthy, she has integrity, she is respectful, she gets the job done…she is excellent. She will follow through, free of charge.
Develop your brand, define how you want to be known and then go get em.
Never Give Up!
Kristina
p.s. we now have digital copies of the mediation business and marketing success system, for easy download of audio interviews with successful mediators and an ebook action plan. www.mediationmarketingsecrets.com
What makes ideas stick? A book excerpt
April 14th, 2009As you go about the business of marketing your mediation and/or ADR practice, you will want to develop a compelling marketing message, and concepts and ideas about conflict resolution that will “stick” with your target audience.
How do you do this? I have been reading about sticky ideas and I am enclosing an excerpt below from the book, courtesy of the publisher. Enjoy and never give up!
Kristina
What Sticks?
by Chip Heath & Dan Heath,
Authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
A friend of a friend of ours is a frequent business traveler. Let’s call him Dave. Dave was recently in Atlantic City for an important meeting with clients. Afterward, he had some time to kill before his flight, so he went to a local bar for a drink.
He’d just finished one drink when an attractive woman approached and asked if she could buy him another. He was surprised but flattered. Sure, he said. The woman walked to the bar and brought back two more drinks — one for her and one for him. He thanked her and took a sip. And that was the last thing he remembered.
Rather, that was the last thing he remembered until he woke up, disoriented, lying in a hotel bathtub, his body submerged in ice. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. Then he spotted the note:
DON’T MOVE. CALL 911.
A cell phone rested on a small table beside the bathtub. He picked it up and called 911, his fingers numb and clumsy from the ice. The operator seemed oddly familiar with his situation. She said, “Sir, I want you to reach behind you, slowly and carefully. Is there a tube protruding from your lower back?”
Anxious, he felt around behind him. Sure enough, there was a tube.
The operator said, “Sir, don’t panic, but one of your kidneys has been harvested. There’s a ring of organ thieves operating in this city, and they got to you. Paramedics are on their way. Don’t move until they arrive.”
You’ve just read one of the most successful urban legends of the past fifteen years. The first clue is the classic urban-legend opening: “A friend of a friend . . . ” Have you ever noticed that our friends’ friends have much more interesting lives than our friends themselves?
You’ve probably heard the Kidney Heist tale before. There are hundreds of versions in circulation, and all of them share a core of three elements: (1) the drugged drink, (2) the ice-filled bathtub, and (3) the kidney-theft punch line. One version features a married man who receives the drugged drink from a prostitute he has invited to his room in Las Vegas. It’s a morality play with kidneys.
Imagine that you closed the book right now, took an hourlong break, then called a friend and told the story, without rereading it. Chances are you could tell it almost perfectly. You might forget that the traveler was in Atlantic City for “an important meeting with clients” — who cares about that? But you’d remember all the important stuff.
The Kidney Heist is a story that sticks. We understand it, we remember it, and we can retell it later. And if we believe it’s true, it might change our behavior permanently — at least in terms of accepting drinks from attractive strangers.
Contrast the Kidney Heist story with this passage, drawn from a paper distributed by a nonprofit organization. “Comprehensive community building naturally lends itself to a return-on-investment rationale that can be modeled, drawing on existing practice,” it begins, going on to argue that “[a] factor constraining the flow of resources to CCIs is that funders must often resort to targeting or categorical requirements in grant making to ensure accountability.”
Imagine that you closed the book right now and took an hourlong break. In fact, don’t even take a break; just call up a friend and retell that passage without rereading it. Good luck.
Is this a fair comparison — an urban legend to a cherry-picked bad passage? Of course not. But here’s where things get interesting: Think of our two examples as two poles on a spectrum of memorability. Which sounds closer to the communications you encounter at work? If you’re like most people, your workplace gravitates toward the nonprofit pole as though it were the North Star.
Maybe this is perfectly natural; some ideas are inherently interesting and some are inherently uninteresting. A gang of organ thieves — inherently interesting! Nonprofit financial strategy — inherently uninteresting! It’s the nature versus nurture debate applied to ideas: Are ideas born interesting or made interesting?
Well, this is a nurture book.
So how do we nurture our ideas so they’ll succeed in the world? Many of us struggle with how to communicate ideas effectively, how to get our ideas to make a difference. A biology teacher spends an hour explaining mitosis, and a week later only three kids remember what it is. A manager makes a speech unveiling a new strategy as the staffers nod their heads enthusiastically, and the next day the frontline employees are observed cheerfully implementing the old one.
Good ideas often have a hard time succeeding in the world. Yet the ridiculous Kidney Heist tale keeps circulating, with no resources whatsoever to support it.
Why? Is it simply because hijacked kidneys sell better than other topics? Or is it possible to make a true, worthwhile idea circulate as effectively as this false idea?
The above is an excerpt from the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath & Dan Heath. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Excerpted from Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath Copyright © 2007 by Chip Heath & Dan Heath. Excerpted by permission of Random House, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Author Bio
Chip Heath, co-author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, is a professor of organizational behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He lives in Los Gatos, California.
Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, is a Consultant to the Policy Programs of the Aspen Institute. A former researcher at Harvard Business School, he is a co-founder of Thinkwell, an innovative new-media textbook company. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
http://www.madetostick.com/
Spring is here!
March 20th, 2009Today is the first day of spring. Here in San Diego this is of much less significance to me than it was last year when I was on the East Coast.
Nonetheless, I heard an interesting quote today — “Growth is always followed by pruning.”
When we lived in Northern California along the bay, I had several tree roses and smaller rose bushes and after a hard day lawyering, it was relaxing for me to trim my rose bushes. In winter, I gave them a good pruning.
So, when I heard this quote today it reminded me of my roses. Right now at this crazy time in history — are you experiencing pruning?
In what areas of your life have you been pruned? Perhaps financially, professionally, spiritually? Has your practice suffered during these turbulent times?
Whether or not you will experience growth again in spring, summer, and fall is in large part dependent upon how you respond to pruning. Do you embrace pruning?
Do you learn, ask, seek, and dig down deep into the soil of your life. Have you been nurturing your vision and your dreams during the dark of winter?
Pruning can be a wonderful time of healing and when embraced can lead to future growth.
Where are you at right now? Is it time for spring in your life, or is winter lingering?
Embrace pruning and make room for new growth!
Never give up!
Kristina
A Networking Lesson
February 19th, 2009I couldn’t help but write about today… it just seems that inspiration is everywhere lately.
So, let me set the stage. I’m downtown at a lawyer’s lunch event. People sign in and mingle and then sit down at tables for lunch and to listen to a key note speaker.
At the conclusion of the lunch, as I was leaving a woman came up to me and said, “I guess I better talk to someone before I leave.” So, we had a nice little chat and she explained what she did (which took me awhile to figure out - she wasn’t a lawyer). She then said she would walk out with me when she was approached by another woman. So, I turned around to see what the delay was. This other woman had a name tag which I believe reflected the fact she was a retired judge (nothing at all against retired judges!). She had a stack of business cards in her hand and she was handing them out. She quickly asked the two of us what we did and she said something quickly and then ran off to talk to someone else without even saying goodbye.
Frankly, I found the situation a bit humorous and shocking. The retired judge had apparently concluded that we were not future prospects for her.
Or are we?
You see, no one knows what tomorrow will bring. She could not have possibly known where I may be working tomorrow, next year, or in five years. She may not know that I could be in a position to send her referrals.
Lest we forget, the world we live in is small. You trade on your reputation. Treat all whom you encounter with respect. Obviously, this particular mediator (I believe that was her current line of work), had forgotten the golden rule. And, I suspect she subscribed to an ineffective and out-dated definition of networking as going to functions and “working a room” and passing out business cards to as many prospects as possible.
A simple reminder: networking is about building relationships. Yes, you can be strategic and work on networking in centers of influence. But, at its core networking is about providing value to others (not business cards), and being of service. By providing value and serving, you build trust, connection, and rapport. You foster the desire for others to reciprocate and send you referrals.
Alas, networking is a great opportunity for mediators to use our skills: ask lots of questions and listen. This is the only way you will know how you may provide value.
Never Give UP!
How can you provide value today?
Kristina