What I want to discuss today is where you’re focusing your attention — and where the general populace is focusing theirs. Those two factors are going to have an enormous impact on your entire business.
During this time, are you paying as much attention to your business as you are to the Coronavirus and the stock market?
It’s almost funny that I’ve found business owners who know exactly how many new cases of Coronavirus there were in another country and how many points the Dow Jones went down yesterday, but then they don’t know what’s going on in their own business. They don’t know their average case value or cost of acquisition.
This is an interesting time because people will ask, “Where should I invest?”
If you’re a business owner like me, there is no greater ROI than investing in your business right now. None. Look at where people’s attention is. There’s more attention on social media right now than pretty much anywhere else.
Facebook consumption has doubled in the last seven days.
But you might be asking, “Is it appropriate to market my business in a time like this? Is it off-color? People have other things to worry about. They don’t want to see ads for my business.”
I understand where that sentiment is coming from, but remember your current and potential clients are going to be bombarded with content about the Coronavirus no matter what.
If you take yourself out of the conversation, you’ll only hurt your business and certainly won’t help them.
Let consumers decide and clients decide whether it’s appropriate or inappropriate.
I’m going to assume that you’re providing an ethical service that you operate with integrity. If somebody is injured in an accident and experiencing some sort of crisis, you’ll help them. Your job as an attorney is fundamentally to help people. Not getting your message out there is doing a disservice to your business and everybody in your community.
I’m not trying to sound insensitive because I know people are going through a very difficult time, but there’s a lot of opportunity because there are more viewers and consumers available to view your ads than ever right now, particularly on social media. It’s very cost effective. At Crisp, we’re doubling our investment on our social ads. You don’t have to do that with us, but I would strongly recommend doing it because it’s a rare opportunity.
People look at the world right now and say, “Well, the market is down 20%, 30% or more.” All that tells me is that it’s a pretty good time to invest in the market if you’ve got a long term outlook.
But if you have the choice between investing in the market, which you don’t control, and investing in your own business, which you do control, which do you think you should choose? I’m not saying don’t diversify, but remember that this is a truly great opportunity.
The other thing I want to encourage after seeing it play out effectively in my own life is being anti-frugal. I’ve seen a lot of people pull back and contract right now, but the most successful firm owners I’m speaking with are expanding, not contracting.
One tenet I’ve always operated by, and it’s even more relevant now is, “Spend the way you want to be paid.” If you’re being cheap and pulling back, hesitant to invest with your vendors and your team, yet you expect your clients to invest in you…well, there seems to be a bit of a misalignment there.
Pulling back on investments and laying people off might stop the bleeding today, but pulling back is not a growth strategy. Reducing your investment in your business, your marketing, and your team is not a growth strategy.
If you approach things from a growth mindset and you are spending in the way and investing in the way that you want to be paid, you’ll always see a comeback. Throughout my life that’s consistently been the case.
The ones that are doing the due diligence and investing now are going to reap the rewards later. So in a way, it’s like you’re building your business now and you’ll collect later when this does blow over. But don’t miss out on the opportunity right now.
As I mentioned earlier, the investment with the greatest ROI is the investment you make in yourself. I’ve got some book recommendations for you that really drive that point home.
First would be Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. It’s about how Navy SEALs lead and win. This is a truly phenomenal book, and I strongly encourage you — especially during this time — to take ownership of what you can control and approach things proactively rather than reactively. It’s worth noting that this book will have a great impact on your team as well. It’s not just for business owners and leaders.
Yesterday we talked about getting a grip and leaders leading and having calm. Extreme Ownership is a great book for that, but I also highly recommend Traction by Gino Wickman. If you don’t have a great organizational structure within your business, this book will quickly change that. Gino is the founder of EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) which is an entirely new way to look at your business. I use this system myself here at Crisp, and many of our clients have seen success with this as well.
There’s also the book that I wrote, The Game Changing Attorney. I wrote this book specifically for attorneys that were going through difficult times and challenges and that were struggling to compete and stand out. If you’ve read the book, this would be a great time to reread it. If you haven’t read the book, I certainly encourage you to. You don’t have to do any business with Crisp, but I believe there are some valuable insights in the book. It’s essentially all the knowledge we have on marketing, branding, and business mindset for law firms packed into a fairly quick read.
Given what we’re experiencing right now, we’re making the Kindle version 99 cents through the rest of March and April. So if you haven’t picked it up, I certainly encourage you to pick it up at this time — but you won’t offend me if you don’t.
Finally, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be learning about the updates of the Coronavirus and the updates of the stock market. Just make sure that you’re not neglecting your business along the way.
If people were to focus on their own business as much as they focused on Coronavirus and where the Dow Jones is, that would lead to many growth opportunities which would help them avoid the tough financial situation that they’re in. At the very least they would have proactive solutions for how to approach it.
Remember: information is power, and by knowing your numbers you can approach things in a different way.
Please know that I appreciate all of you. If there’s anything you need, please text me anytime at 404-531-7691.
