Tammy’s tech toolbox updated

I get a lot of questions from mediators and other ADR professionals about the tech tools I use to market and manage my own practice.

A while back I established a Tools I Use page to offer folks who are interested. I update my tech toolbox periodically to keep it relevant and have just done so. [Read more]

Synchronizing without being rube goldberg: plaxo is my hero

Some would say that sychronization is the holy grail for small business owners. That is, synchronization of calendars, address books, and even email across multiple computers and PDAs.

About a year ago, I purchased a Mac for my home office, my first move away from PC-hood in over two decades. It’s proven to be just the right move for me, but it created a synchronization conundrum: How to sync my appointment and address books between my phone, my home office Mac, and my office PC, and how to access both from any Internet-connected computer when I’m on the road? Oh yeah: And how to do it all easily? [Read more]

Simplify how you handle email inquiries

A side effect of a thriving mediation practice is an increase in email inquiries, especially when you have a healthy web presence as part of your marketing strategy. I’ve seen my email inquiries triple in the last year and the increase shows no sign of abating…nor do I want it to!

But the increase made me realize that typing responses fresh each time was a monumental misuse of my time. So when I hired a VA in 2006, one of my first projects was getting her help in creating a series of pre-written email messages for my most common inquiries. [Read more]

ADR resources roundup, november 2007

My monthly roundup is a short list of links to services, ideas, and articles that help make marketing and managing your mediation practice more effective and efficient.

Have you been wishing you could hire an assistant but aren’t sure you’d want to go the traditional employee route? Then a Virtual Assistant may be worth your consideration. I’ve had a VA for over a year and it’s been well worth the investment. For ideas about how you might use a VA’s time, read Home Office Warrior’s The Top 100 Ways a Home Office Warrior Can Utilize a Virtual Assistant, Part 1 and Part 2. [Read more]

Let’s stop marginalizing fellow mediators

Here’s a little something I wrote that’s up on Mediate.com: Let’s Change Our Limiting Self-Labeling Practices.

When you’re marketing, be sure you avoid defining yourself by what you’re not. Or marginalizing others that way.

Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.

Free chapter of my mediation marketing book

I’m so excited that my mediation marketing book, Making Mediation Your Day Job is due out in print soon. If you’re a long-term reader of Mediator Tech, you’ll recall that I blogged portions of the book last year and received kudos and terrific, helpful feedback from fellow mediators.

My publisher recently sent me this comment from one of the editorial staff: “This is a wonderfully informative and engaging text that serves its purpose well. The author is reaching out to a specific audience–mediators looking to start a private practice–and is doing so effectively. The book is organized well and the writing is compelling.”

I’ve now made a section of the book available [Read more]

Thank you gifts for mediation clients and referrers

The day after Halloween I saw a Christmas ad on television. That scared me more than anything I saw on Fright Night.

While the ad did nothing to encourage me to go out and start spending lavishly on my loved ones, it did accomplish one thing: It reminded me that it’s time to get into gear for this year’s Thanksgiving gift to my mediation clients and people who referred clients to me.

Thanksgiving gift?

You bet.

I thank my clients and referral sources at Thanksgiving instead of in December because: [Read more]

Mediation marketing quote of the month, november 2007

“People don’t want to be ‘marketed to‘; they want to be “communicated with.”

– Flint McGlaughlin