Success leaves clues: diane levin and geoff sharp 2

I’ve been pondering Geoff Sharp’s response to my first question in this new interview series, Success Leaves Clues. In reply to my question about the intersection of technology and the marketing and management of an ADR practice, Geoff noted that he’s seeing some practitioners who are great with flashy websites but whose skills don’t yet make the cut:

“We all need to remember that…you’ve got to have substance for what you’re selling. The intersection of managing a business, technology and marketing starts with what you do at the table…be good at the table first.”

As I listened to Geoff, I was reminded of something I’ve seen and again and again from business development coaches selling their services to people like us: “Get your services and products out there, market the hell out of them, and don’t worry if you don’t yet think you’re the expert you hold yourself out to be…that’ll come.” Yikes! I cringe when I hear that advice because it means some think it’s ok to hold yourself out as something you aspire to be instead of what you really can do for your clients now. Your clients don’t care about your aspirations. They care about how good you are now.

I agree wholeheartedly with Geoff that good marketing has to have excellent substance behind it. A great blog, a pretty website, a great marketing plan will only get you so far. You can win at the marketing game over the short run, but you’ve got to be a good to carry it off for the long run.

In their next responses, Diane and Geoff offer some terrific wisdom about leveraging technology in their own ADR businesses:

Tammy: What’s the most successful way you’ve leveraged technology to build your ADR practice?

Diane:

It’s funny you should ask me that question, since it was on my mind recently. I got a call a few weeks ago from an attorney I trained as a mediator. He called to tell me that he was planning to start a mediation practice and wanted my advice. “What’s the best way to market myself,” he asked. “I’m thinking about taking out an ad in the local phone directory. What do you think?”

What did I think? I told him I had a one-word answer for him: “Blogging.” And then shared with him the following reasons.

Blogs are a great way to define and build your web presence. This means that you can control the content of the conversation about you and the services you deliver. Today, everyone googles each other. Your clients will be googling you. What does the web say about you?

Blogs invite people to keep coming back. Blogs by design are meant to be updated with new content. Unlike a directory listing, which people may refer to once but not again, blogs contain information, provide links to useful resources, and share ideas with their readers. Fresh and relevant content keep readers coming back for more.

Blogs can help you network and build relationships with clients and colleagues. A blog is an ongoing conversation, allowing the blogger to use her unique voice to connect with her audience. Blogs are designed to allow readers to comment, and the conversation grows. Other bloggers respond, and the conversation expands. They can shape the positive conversation about you on the web. Meanwhile, readers send emails, asking questions, offering feedback. Blogs let you network with the world.

Blogs can help your professional development. To publish a blog with fresh and relevant content means staying on top of developments in your field. You will discover new ideas that can reinvigorate your practice or that your clients may benefit from. And clients appreciate a professional who is well informed and knowledgeable. In addition, the conversations with other ADR practitioners around the world has deepened my appreciation for the work that we do–and the many different ways in which we all practice.

Blogs don’t end up in the recycling bin or lining hamster cages. Every blog post you publish continues to exist in cyberspace, within reach of anyone with a computer and an internet connection–and there are millions of internet users in the U.S. alone.

Blogs are affordable (either free or no more than $10 a month–less than what you spend weekly on double-mocha lattes). And they require only a small investment of time to maintain. Blogging can be done to fit your schedule–there are no hard and fast rules about how often you should post. Once a month may be enough.

For me, nothing has been more rewarding on so many levels than blogging has been. Building your reputation, building relationships, and building your understanding–it does so much.

My advice to mediators? Leave the directory advertising in the hamster cage where it belongs and launch a blog.

Tammy: I share Diane’s thinking about clients Googling you and about yellow pages ads. Here’s Geoff’s response to my question, with superb advice about using tech to create replicable office systems:

What are your thoughts in response to the questions and answers so far? What questions you’d like me to ask as part of this interview series? Continue the dialogue by leaving a comment.

Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.