There really is no more effective way of having a good year than in setting goals for your law firm for this year, and then writing them down. It has been proven countless times that writing your goals down gives you a much better chance of achieving them. I have spent most of the holidays thinking in the background (whilst having a good rest) about what I want to achieve for my businesses over the coming year. In doing this, I have largely ignored one major point – all of the negative press and media about the state of our economy.

I do everything in my power to cut out this background noise as much as possible. If you listen to it all you might as well not go into your office, give up, sit at home and drown in a bath of red wine (or your tipple of preference if you have not yet gone T-total after over indulging at Christmas).

You and you alone determine how successful your law firm will be this year. Yes, the Government might change the laws to make it harder to make a good income, and yes some of your clients might not have the money to spend on moving home, making a Will or starting a business, but not everyone is in this position. There are still some people who have and are willing to spend their money, if you convince them to do so.

Yes you may well have to market your business twice or three times as hard as you have ever done before, or you might need to target a different profile of clients that do still have the budget for legal services, but giving up and giving in is not an option.

I was reading a preview of the London Boat Show over the weekend, and it was explaining that the biggest growth sector at the moment in the boating industry is in the over £10 million section. So whilst the doom and gloom is constantly spread by the media, there are still people spending money, and lots of it.

Interestingly, I have several marketing consultants who follow my marketing tips (looking for ideas for their own business). A few of them admit that they had a hard year last year, whilst I did better than the year before. I aim to do better again this year. I only make this point to show you that the advice I give applies as much to your law firm as it does to other businesses. You can choose to have a great year and work tirelessly to achieve it, or you can accept a bad year and achieve that one too! It’s your choice and your choice alone.

I would urge you to pick the first option, and if you would like me to help you, please see how my newly launched for 2012 ‘Half Day Hidden Profit Discovery Meeting’ can help you to achieve your goals in a faster period of time and without making costly and time consuming common marketing mistakes.

» Click to view the details and download the new Hidden Profits Discovery Meeting brochure.

Author: Nick Jervis