Mediation marketing quote of the month, october 2007

“We’re living in a round-the-clock society, and people need access to you when it’s convenient for them. They need access to your e-mail, your voice mail, your pager, your fax machine, even a human being–anything that makes it easy for them to initiate or continue a dialogue with you. That means embracing the technology that allows them to communicate with you. A fishing and bait store in Maryland opens at 5:00 a.m., just the time when fishermen need it to be open. That’s also the time when none of its competitors are open. No wonder it’s doing such a brisk business.”

– Jay Conrad Levinson, Guerilla Marketing for Free

Mediation marketing and management vault, september 2007

The Mediation and Marketing Vault is a monthly feature that dips into the archives and shares still-relevant articles from one year ago. Here’s this month’s selection:

Marketing ADR: Emphasize Avoiding Negatives or Aligning with Positives?: What would make the public become more frequent consumers of ADR services? This piece of research offers some insight.

Blogging Law 101: Tubetorials Help You Stay Legal: A terrific, free online source of short videos about topics of import to new ADR bloggers (or those of you thinking you may want to become one as part of your marketing strategy). [Read more]

The business of freelancing

Freelance Switch, a community and resource for freelancers of all ilks, has begun a new series on The Business of Freelancing.

While the site tends to draw a freelance crowd that’s not full of ADR professionals, there’s relevant information for any mediator striking out into solo private practice and not yet comfortable with the business aspects of running your own show.

They described the series this way and as of today are two days into it:

“For many of us freelancers, while we love what we do, freelancing in the context of running a business can seem a bit intimidating. All the stuff about taxes, accounting and superannuation can leave you a bit non-plussed if like me, you’re [Read more]

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How mediation marketing is like a hole in the ground

September 24, 2007

There’s an old marketing story about selling shovels.

Some marketers sell shovels by focusing on features: The strength of the shovel, the comfort of the grip, the weight of the item, the durability of the materials, the beauty of the design.

The smart marketers sell shovels by focusing on the benefit they create. So they focus on the holes buyers want to dig, not the shovel they want to sell.

When you market your mediation services, are you selling shovels or holes?

Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.
Photo credit: Ronald Putnam

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Welcome, LEADR dispute resolvers!

September 19, 2007

This is a special welcome to participants in Geoff Sharp’s workshop at the LEADR 9th International Dispute Resolution Conference in Wellington, New Zealand. Thanks for stopping by!

(If you’re viewing this in a feed reader and can’t see the audio player, just click on the article title to be taken directly to the correct page on Mediator Tech.)

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Share files easily without email attachments

September 17, 2007

Need to privately send a file too large for easy emailing? There are a number of online services to help you out, but if you want to keep it simple, Senduit seems to take the prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Go to Senduit.com.
2. Upload your file.
3. Set the time period after which the file expires [Read more]

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   Do not call list: initial registrations are expiring

   September 11, 2007

   If you’re in the U.S. and were in the first wave of folks to register your phone number to keep the telemarketers at bay, your registration is about to expire.

   Registrations are good for five years and you can re-register now (or check the expiration date of your prior registration) by visiting the National Do Not Call Registry. You’ll just need your phone number(s) and the email you used for the original registration of those numbers.

   You can also register or re-register via phone at 888.382.1222. [Read more]

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   The relationship between mediation marketing and professional credibility

   September 10, 2007

   It’s tempting, when you’re trying to build business, to say yes to mediation and related gigs that are significant stretches for your skill level or experience.

   I’ll figure it out as I go along, you say to yourself. Or perhaps you subscribe to the “fake it until you make it” school of business. It makes me cringe even to type that!

   There’s a lot of wisdom in saying no instead, as pointed out by David Bresler of the Breakfast Network and quoted by Marketing Mentor Ilise Benun: [Read more]

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   40 adr sites you shouldn’t miss

   September 6, 2007

   Geoff Sharp has put together a terrific list of 40 valuable, interesting, informative ADR sites for LEADR’s 9th International Dispute Resolution Conference.

   Even if you don’t have the opportunity to benefit in person from Geoff’s paper, which he describes as “a romp through the ADR cyberspace stopping off at some of my favourite places,” your morning just got booked solid with good websites to visit!

   
   Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.

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