Serve First, Sell Later Marketing
Serve First, Sell Later Marketing
#40 What Most People Aren’t Telling You About Growing A Practice
In this special 40th episode of Serve First, Sell Later, Sylvia Garibaldi shares the lesser-known truths about growing a professional practice. If you're a legal or financial professional struggling to stand out, this episode will give you the insights you need to stop playing the social media game and start building a practice that thrives. Sylvia pulls back the curtain on four powerful strategies to shift your focus away from vanity metrics and move toward real, impactful growth.
Whether you’re grappling with marketing fears, confused by the noise of social media, or unsure how to clearly communicate your services, Sylvia offers practical advice to help you overcome these challenges and build a sustainable, successful practice.
Resources mentioned:
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Key Takeaways:
- Stop assuming people know what you do – You need to clearly explain your services every time to clients and referral partners.
- Overcome the fear of marketing – Marketing isn’t about being salesy; it’s about educating your audience on how you can help.
- Ditch the vanity metrics – Likes and comments don’t pay the bills; focus on content that converts into clients.
- Embrace a growth mindset and resilience – Learn from setbacks and continue pushing forward to achieve lasting growth.
Chapters:
- [03:31] Clarifying Your Services: Don’t assume people understand what you do; explain it clearly every time.
- [07:01] Overcoming Marketing Fear: Shift your mindset from selling to educating, and take small, consistent steps.
- [11:33] Vanity Metrics in Social Media: Likes and followers don’t translate to clients; focus on what converts.
- [18:27] Growth Mindset and Resilience: Challenges are inevitable; how you respond determines your success.
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00:00 - Sylvia (Host)
Hello everyone, and welcome back to episode number 40 of the Serve First, sell Later marketing podcast. I cannot believe that we've hit the big 4-0, 40 episodes and so I want to thank all of our listeners for your support and amazing feedback on how this podcast has really helped you in your professional practice, and so I'd be honored if you continue to spread the word about our podcast and share it with as many people that you think it can help, and I'm absolutely excited to bring you an episode that gets real, like really real about what most people don't tell you when starting and growing a professional practice. So for our 40th episode, I wanted to pull back the curtain and share the nitty-gritty details that often get glossed over, and I want to share four powerful ways to put your name on the map amongst all the noise out there, because most people simply aren't talking about these four things. So in this episode, I'm going to do a deep dive into the stuff that usually stays behind closed doors. So I'm going to bust the myth that everyone understands what you do, because the reality is they don't, and I'm going to tackle that knot in your stomach when it comes to marketing and show you how to release that. I'm going to expose the truth about social media success and it's not what you think and really share a mindset shift that could make the difference between struggling and thriving in your practice. So if you're ready for some hard truths, some really practical advice and insider tips, then please listen right to the end, as I will be sharing so much in this 40th episode. All right, let's dive into the first big truth bomb.
03:31
Don't assume people understand what you do. Let me say that again Don't assume that people understand what you do as a legal or financial professional. I know I know what you're thinking. You're probably saying to yourself come on, everybody knows what a family lawyer does or what a workplace mediator does. But here's the kicker they really don't. So let me paint a picture for you.
03:56
So imagine you're at a networking event, chatting with a potential referral partner and you say something like I'm a family lawyer, and they nod politely, but in their head they're thinking okay, so is it divorce, is it adoption, stuff? So the deal here is you need to spell it out every single time, whether you're talking to referral partners, potential clients, whether you're talking to referral partners, potential clients or a family member at a Thanksgiving dinner. You've got to break it down. So when you're speaking to referral partners, don't just give them your job title. Tell them exactly what problems you solve. So you could say something like I help couples navigate the complex process of divorce, ensuring fair asset division and fair child custody arrangements. Now they know who to send your way right. Do you see the difference here? So when you think about your presentations, your marketing materials, you need to define your role and expertise clearly. So don't use jargon. Use real life examples. So, for example, instead of saying I specialize in complex estate planning, you could try saying something like I help business owners protect their assets and ensure that their families are taken care of even after they're gone.
05:21
Let's take social media for a second. It's not enough to post just wrapped up. Another case, right. What is that telling people when they see that you need to tell people the how and the why. So you could share a post like today I helped a couple reach a fair divorce settlement without going to court, saving them time, money and stress. I'm so honored I was able to do that. See the difference.
05:47
So really, really important to pay attention to the language. So let me share an example of a divorce mediator client of ours. So when she started to work with us, she thought everyone understood her job, but when she started explaining her services in detail, like how she creates and expanding them, and speaking the language of your ideal clients. So the bottom line is please, please, never assume people get what you do as a professional. Explain it. And when you think you've explained it enough, explain it again, right, every time in plain language. Because I think when people truly understand how you can help, that's when the magic happens. Your referrals will go up, your client base will grow and you'll stop being the best kept secret in the field. Right, and that's what most professionals are on a journey to accomplish.
07:01
So let's move on to number two. So I wanna tackle the elephant in the room, and that is the fear of marketing. I know that just hearing the word marketing probably makes some of you break out in a cold sweat, but really stick with me here, because overcoming this fear could be the key to unlocking your practice's true potential. Because here's the deal I can't tell you how many legal and financial professionals feel uncomfortable with the idea of selling themselves, so you might worry about coming across as pushy or salesy and let's be real the fear of rejection or negative feedback. A lot of people feel that, so it's enough to make anyone want to hide under their desk and I get this because I've struggled with this myself. But here's the truth If you're not marketing your practice, you're doing a disservice to the people who need your help, and I think your potential clients are out there. They're just struggling with problems that you can solve, but they don't even know you exist. So how do we get over this fear? And I've got some actionable tips that I think can change the game for you.
08:16
So, first up, you need to reframe how you think about marketing, because it's not about selling yourself. It's about educating your audience on how you can help them. You're not being pushy. You're just sharing valuable information, which is most of the time educational in nature, that could really change someone's life, and that's pretty powerful stuff. Next, I want you to focus on consistency over perfection. You don't need to launch a massive marketing campaign. Start small. Maybe it's one social media post a week or a monthly email newsletter. The key is to keep showing up, and trust me when I say that these small, regular efforts add up over time and you will see a change in the direction of your practice. And here's a confidence booster for you Share testimonials and case studies. Let your happy clients do the talking for you. So share their stories, with their permission, of course, and know that it's not about bragging if someone else is singing your praises, right.
09:27
So let me share with you a quick story about a divorce mediator client of ours who is really brilliant at her job, but when she started working with us, she was terrified of marketing, so she'd rather have a root canal than post about her services on LinkedIn. For years she relied solely on word of mouth referrals and her practice was okay, but not great, and so she decided things had to change and she had to face some of these fears head on. So in working together, we started small, just one blog post a month about common mediation questions, and then she shared these posts on social media, primarily LinkedIn. She then started doing monthly webinars that she would invite her professional network to, which was all about divorce mediation, and guess what happened? Within six months, her client inquiries had doubled. Okay, so within a year she had to hire an assistant to handle all this new business and some of the additional administration that came along with that all because she consistently put herself out there and shared her expertise.
10:39
So what's the moral of the story here? Your fear is costing you clients, it's keeping you from helping people who desperately need your services and it's holding your practice back from the growth that it deserves. So I challenge you take one small marketing step this week. Write that blog post, send that email, make that social media update, whatever it is. Just do it, because on the other side of fear, that's where the magic happens. So remember, you're not just marketing a service, you're offering a solution to someone's problems, and what you're doing is you're extending a helping hand, and that's something to be proud of and not afraid of. So I hope this is resonating with you and I hope that you feel like you can take these actions to change the way you think about your business.
11:33
All right, number three. Now I want to tackle a big myth out there that's pretty frustrating, and I'm talking about the social media trap that's probably eating up your time and not giving you the results that you want, right? I'm sure a lot of you here can relate to this. So what is it that I'm referring to Well, simply likes, comments and followers. Likes, comments and followers don't pay the bills. I know it feels good when that post gets 100 likes, but let me ask you this how many of those likes turned into paying clients? Probably not many, and that's exactly what we're seeing. So this is why I want to bust this myth wide open. So all of those likes, reshares, comments. It might boost your ego and make you feel really good, but please don't fall into this trap, because here's the hard truth Social media engagement is what we call a vanity metric. So it might make you feel good, but it doesn't necessarily translate to revenue in your bank account, and last time I checked, you can't pay your office rent with Instagram likes. So what should you be focusing on instead? Clients and revenue those two things. That's it, pretty simple.
12:58
Now, I'm not saying you should ditch social media altogether Far from it but we need to shift our focus. Instead of chasing those likes and those reposts and those comments, we need to create content that attracts and converts your ideal clients. So let me break this down for you. Let's say you're a divorce attorney. Which do you think will be more effective? A funny meme about marriage that gets 500 likes, or a detailed post about how to protect your assets during a divorce that gets 50 likes but leads to three consultation calls. We help so many of our clients build a social media presence that actually converts into ideal clients and more revenue. So you might know some influencers in the legal and financial fields and I actually know quite a few of them that I see on social media that are posting pictures of themselves and getting hundreds of likes. But I caution this strategy doesn't always translate into client conversations.
14:08
Okay, so here's how you measure real success Track the number of new clients and consultations coming from your marketing efforts. Look at the revenue impact. These are the numbers that actually matter to your bottom line. Okay, so let's get practical here. What are some steps that you can take right now? Well, the first thing I want you to do is I want you to start regularly reviewing your marketing performance. Don't just look at likes and followers and comments and reshares. Focus on client conversations and look at impressions. Right, look at the impressions that you're seeing on your social media analytics. How many new clients did you get from that LinkedIn campaign or that Facebook campaign? What was the return on investment for that Facebook ad? Second, I want you to be ready to pivot. If something's not working, change it up slightly, adjust it and try it again. Maybe your long form posts aren't getting enough traction, but you're seeing that your quick tips are leading to consultation calls. So, guess what? Maybe it's time to add in more quick tip posts. So remember, the goal isn't to be an influencer unless that's your thing, of course but the goal here is really to grow your practice. So focus on creating content that speaks directly to your ideal client's needs and problems.
15:36
Who was doing really well on LinkedIn came to us and she had over a thousand followers, hundreds of likes on some posts, but when we sat down and looked at her actual client numbers, guess what? This wasn't converting into dollars. So we changed her strategy. Instead of posting on the power of managing your finances during divorce, she changed the strategy so that she started sharing specific advice for her target market, which was young families going through divorce and how to really best organize and manage their finances, while there was still many years ahead of expenses, parenting and managing a young family Okay. So that's the difference from just posting general advice about the power of divorce financial planning Okay, we got a lot more granular. We got more specific. So what happened was her likes, meaning the number of likes went down, but guess what? Her client consultations increased significantly and within three months she had more consultations with ideal prospects that converted into new clients.
16:51
So the lesson here is don't get seduced by big numbers on social media. Keep your eye on the prize actual clients and actual revenue. Actual clients and actual revenue. So here's my challenge to you I want you to take a hard look at your social media strategy. Are you chasing likes or are you actually converting them into clients? Are you measuring what matters? Because it's time to stop playing the social media game and start focusing on real growth for your practice. I know sometimes it's hard to do when you see your competitors out there getting all of these likes and conversations and comments, but at the end of the day, that's not what matters. What matters is the aftermath Is it converting Right? Is it converting? So, at the end of the day, as I said, it's not about being famous, right, it's about building a thriving practice that serves your clients and supports your goals as a business owner. So really think about ditching those vanity metrics and focus on real results. I promise you your future self and your bank account will thank you for that. So if you're feeling stuck and you're not sure how to create that social media strategy that I've just described, please book a call with me and we'll figure out the best course of action for you. So I'll put a link for this in the show notes, so feel free to book a call, all right, number four Number four having a growth mindset and resilience.
18:27
Having a growth mindset and resilience so these are the secret ingredients that can help you not just survive but thrive in the face of challenges. So what exactly is a growth mindset? We've heard this terminology before, and it's really just the belief that you can develop your skills and your abilities through hard work and learning. But it's about seeing setbacks not as failures, right, it's about seeing opportunities, the opportunities to grow and to improve. So just imagine looking at every hurdle as a stepping stone to becoming even better at what you do, right. This is the power of a growth mindset. Now I want to. I want to look at this a little bit more deeply here.
19:05
Every business, no matter how successful, faces challenges. Okay, maybe it's losing a big client, maybe it's a marketing campaign that didn't do well, or unexpected operational issues and expenses. The key isn't to avoid these challenges because spoiler alert you can't. The key is how you bounce back and how to expect challenges and what to do when you face them. Right. That's where resilience comes in. Resilience is your ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep moving forward, no matter what life throws at you. And it's about staying strong and persistent when things get tough, because we know things will always get tough. Right, it's kind of hard to avoid, so you know it's coming. So how do you prepare for it, how do you address it and how do you think about it when you're faced with it? So how do you build this magical combination of a growth mindset and resilience?
20:11
So I have a few actionable steps that you can take to get started on this journey of balancing both of those things. So the first thing is I think it's really important to embrace challenges as learning opportunities. Not always easy to do, I'm going to say that up front, but when something goes wrong, you need to ask yourself what can I learn from this and how can I do better next time? Don't shy away from failure. Instead, let's look at it as a valuable teacher, and I think that's really, really important to view it that way. Second, build a support network. Surround yourself with mentors, peers or coaches who can offer guidance, encouragement and really a fresh perspective. These are the people that will help you stay resilient when things get tough.
21:05
So I want to share a quick story with you. A family law attorney client of ours had started her practice with you know some high hopes and, of course, things didn't go as she had planned and she had lost a few big clients and her marketing efforts weren't bringing in new business. So she was on the brink of giving up. And I have to say, a lot of clients when they come see us, some of them have gone through a really difficult journey and are at that point where they just need to do something that's going to work to change up the way things are going from a business perspective. So this client she had a growth mindset. Instead of throwing in the towel, she took a step back and analyzed what went wrong. So she started working with us and we helped her refine her marketing strategy and improve her client communication skills, along with her thought process and mindset about marketing. So she worked with us during this time frame and, slowly but surely, things started to turn around, her practice began to grow and she even surpassed her initial goals, all because she was willing to learn, willing to adapt and to keep pushing forward. Now, I'm not going to say that it was easy for her, because it did get very uncomfortable for her to make these changes and market herself and her services, but she overcame it with our support and guidance and, of course, her own willingness to take the information and take action.
22:38
So the lesson here is challenges are inevitable, but how you respond to them is what truly matters. So, with a growth mindset and resilience, you can turn setbacks into comebacks and really build a practice that's stronger than ever. So here's my challenge for you Next time you face a setback, take a deep breath and ask yourself what can I learn from this? And just remember you're not alone. Lean on your support network and keep pushing forward, because, with the right mindset and resilience, there's really nothing that you can't overcome.
23:24
So I think it's important to put into perspective these things that I've discussed in this episode, such as some of the myths we busted, the marketing fears we tackled, the social media truths we uncovered and the power of a growth mindset and resilience, and it's really all within your reach, because you have the skills, you have the knowledge and you have the passion to grow your professional practice into something amazing. But it won't happen by chance, that I can promise you. It takes action, it takes consistency and a willingness to step outside of your comfort zone. So here's my challenge to you Take one thing that you've learned from this episode just one and put it into practice this week, whether it's clarifying what you do, taking a small marketing step or shifting your focus from vanity metrics to real growth. Right, take that action, because nothing changes if you don't take action Now. You're not just building a business, you're building a legacy that will help countless clients solve real problems and make a lasting impact.
24:28
So please don't wait for the right time, because the right time is actually now. And remember I'm here to help. If you're stuck or overwhelmed, let's have a conversation, book a strategy call with me and we'll figure out the best course of action for you. I'll put a link for this in the show notes. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey to episode number 40. I'm honored to be here with you every step of the way and I can't wait to see how you take your practice to the next level. Until next time, please keep pushing forward, keep taking that action and keep believing in the work that you do. You've got this. Thank you so much for tuning in today and if you found today's content valuable, make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode. And, of course, I'd be honored if you rate or review the show. Thanks for joining in and see you in the next episode.