Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]>

This post was written by Barbara Mencer and has been reprinted with permission.

Sine qua non.

Whoa. Exactly when did we start speaking Latin?

Actually, other than phrases like status quo and Pizza Pizza, we really don't know much Latin, so we'll continue in English if that's okay.

Without which … not. That's what the phrase means. If you ain't got ______, you're going nowhere.

Let's look at a couple of examples. If you don't have great computer skills, you aren't gonna land a job at Apple. If you can't hit a curveball, you aren't gonna bat cleanup for the Yankees.

And if you don't have the ability to gain the trust and win the confidence of your clients and would-be clients, you're going nowhere in business.

But wait a minute. That presumes that being great at what you do isn't important, doesn't it? No.

Let me ask you a question. Which is more important … having people see you as trustworthy … or competent?

Ha. Trick question. Both are equally important. It's just that if your client or prospective client is unsure about whether they like or trust you, they're not likely to hire you in the first place. And if they do, they're not likely to openly share their problems with you, which hurts your effectiveness. This is true whether you're a lawyer, financial advisor, coach, or personal trainer. The field doesn't matter.

Without that trust, how good you are may not matter, because you may not get a chance to demonstrate your expertise.

Why are we talking about this? Because many people mistakenly focus on developing professional competence to the exclusion of thinking about what it takes to earn trust, instill confidence, and build relationships.

Doesn't doing a good job build trust? Absolutely. But we're talking largely about first impressions here … and early impressions. If you don't make a good early impression, you may not get … or keep … the business!

So, how do you build that trust?

It's developed in the intangible, the intimate. It flows from the way you're being, as well as the things you do that show you have your client's best interests at heart. Actions are involved, but much of that feeling of trust is generated nonverbally. It's more a vibe you put out than some sort of overt display.

You know what it's like to work with someone who seems approachable and caring and dedicated to serving you … somebody who really listens vs. the professional who's all business and has no "bedside manner." I want the warm, caring listener who understands my concerns to be the one taking care of me. Be that person.

Bottom line: Lots of service providers are reliable and highly skilled professionals. What differentiates the successful from those who struggle when it comes to attracting and retaining clients is their ability to connect at this fundamental level of being-ness. They're the ones who will easily attract clients and build thriving businesses.

Why? Because people tend to "buy" based on feelings and emotions and then justify their decisions with logic. It might make sense to think having the chops to do the work is all that matters, but that assumes all we care about as consumers is the know-how of the provider.

That leaves the heart out of the equation. Never leave heart out of the equation.

Building trust … give it the attention it deserves, because without trust, you have nothing.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> Deborah Gonzalez will teach the course "Intellectual Property" at Solo Practice University®.

Deborah Gonzalez, Esq. is the founder of Law2sm, LLC, a new legal consulting firm focusing on helping its clients navigate the legal issues relating to the new digital and social media world.

Deborah also teaches the popular course, "Social Media & the Law", at Solo Practice University®. You can view the syllabus for that course and read her full biography.

The syllabus for her "Intellectual Property" course can be found directly below.

Syllabus – Intellectual Property

An overview of topics is listed below. For more information, see detailed syllabus (pdf).

• Copyrights – Overview of copyright law and principles. Includes review of definitions, protecting and enforcing rights, and recent cases.
• Trademarks, Tradedress, Service Marks – Overview of trademark, trade dress and service marks law and principles. Includes review of definitions, the application and follow-­up process, enforcing rights, and recent cases.
• Music & Law: Representing Musicians as Clients – Overview of the legal issues musicians face to protect their music, their brand, and their careers.
• Art & Law: Representing Artists as Clients – Overview of the legal issues artists face to protect their artworks, their brand, and their careers. (Includes animation concerns).
• Film Law: Representing Film, TV, and Video Clients – Overview of the legal issues those in the entertainment industries of film and television face. (Includes business video concerns and documentary rights clearances).
• Digital & Game Law: Representing Digital/Game Clients – Overview of the legal issues application and game developers face to protect their technical creations, game elements, and brand.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> Eight lucky May, 2012 law school graduates will receive a three month scholarship to Solo Practice University®

Recently, we announced our stellar faculty at Solo Practice University now receive a stipend for their teaching.  It took three years to achieve this goal and we are thrilled to be able to do so.  However,  several faculty said it wasn't necessary. They were just truly happy to participate and hopefully help others who are trying to start a solo practice.

To honor their incredible generosity, we are awarding eight quarterly scholarships to May, 2012 law school graduates to help them kickstart their solo careers! 

The Rules Are Simple:

1.  You must be a May, 2012 law school graduate. No exceptions.

2.  You may not be a current or past student of Solo Practice University.

3.  In the comments to this blog post, you must tell us why you will benefit from a scholarship to SPU and your plans for your solo practice.

4.  You may enter with an alias if you don't want to publicize your name.  However, in order to be eligible you must immediately send a follow up e-mail to susan (at) solopracticeuniversity.com with your full name, address, phone number, law school, and identify which comment is yours. This e-mail must be from your current, active e-mail address.  If any of this information is missing your entry will not be considered valid.

5.  Quarterly scholarships do not include CLE.

6. All scholarships will begin on August 1, 2012 and end on October 31, 2012 (we know you're studying for the bar exam in July!)

 Winners will be selected by people affiliated with SPU. I will not be part of the selection committee. Winners will be announced July 2nd in a follow-up blog post.

If you are fortunate to win a quarterly scholarship, we will email you at the email you provided on June 22nd.  You must respond within 48 hours from the e-mail address you provided or you will forfeit the scholarship and it will be given to an alternate.  There are no exceptions.

Go for it yourself or share it with a new grad!  It's a graduation gift from Solo Practice University® and their awesome faculty members!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Debra Bruce]]> The iPhone 4S added a much advertised voice-activated feature called “Siri,” which performs tasks that legal blogger Ernie the Attorney called “purely magical” because Siri allows you to avoid typing on that tiny keyboard. Lawyers can speak to Siri to transcribe dictation into an email, a text message or a document. Siri can do web searches or answer any question that the WolframAlpha.com website can calculate.  Siri can provide weather forecasts and locate nearby office supply stores or other retail establishments for the lawyer on the go. You can ask Siri what time your dinner engagement is tonight, and then Siri can call your spouse so you can say you’re running late…again.

A busy lawyer can use Siri a bit like a personal assistant that keeps track of your appointments and answers questions you don’t have time to look up. That assumes, of course, that Siri understands you and you get an adequate signal wherever you are.  A lawsuit is pending by a New York man alleging that Siri does not perform to the level advertised in television commercials. I have to agree, but it’s still better than typing on a tiny smartphone keyboard. I expect future improvements. One day I will even be able to say “lawyer” to Siri instead of “attorney.” Currently when I say “lawyer,” Siri hears “law year,” “law you’re,” “logger” and even “Liger,” but rarely “lawyer.”

If you have an Android smart phone, many of the same or similar features were available in Voice Actions for Android long before Apple came out with Siri. Samsung has announced a new Siri-like voice activated app “S Voice” on its new Android smartphone Galaxy S III. So, using your smartphone like a personal assistant may be old hat to many solo attorneys. But, have you thought about using Siri (or Voice Actions) as your advertising agency?

Marketing Your Law Practice with Siri

As a solo attorney, would you like to find some new ways to market your services without spending a lot of money? Do you struggle to stand out in the crowd of competitors? Do you have a better chance of getting hired if you are the first lawyer a potential client calls? Are your typical clients under 30 or otherwise avid smartphone users?

If you answered “Yes” to all of those questions, you might get a little bump in business by strategically taking advantage of the increasing use of smartphone searches for business locations and information. Mobile search is a rapidly growing market, with survey respondents indicating that they often make mobile searches even with they have a computer available. This may be your chance to get out in front of your competition, at least for a while.

By way of example, when I told Siri to “find an immigration attorney in Houston,” she found only six of them. When I Googled “immigration attorney in Houston,” on my desktop computer, however, Google reported 949 results, with over a dozen law firms practicing immigration law listed on the first page. It can be very difficult to supplant websites that have already achieved high search engine ranking on Google, but the same law firms don’t necessarily show up on a mobile search by a voice activated app.

Getting Noticed by Siri and Voice Actions for Android

So how could you get to be one of the small number of lawyers turned up by a voice activated search on a smartphone? Here are 3 suggested steps:

1. Make sure you have a keyword-rich profile on Google Places and a business account on Yelp. Voice Actions searches Google Places for an appropriate business near the current location of the smartphone at the time of the query. Siri reports listings on Yelp. Entrepreneur online magazine reported that Siri also looks at reviews on Yahoo and listings on localeze.com.
2. Ask your happy clients whether they would be willing to post a positive review of your services on Google Places, Yelp and other local review sites. Both Voice Actions and Siri give first listing preferences to the businesses with positive reviews posted, as well as locations near the searching smartphone.
3. Optimize local information on your website and in your listings. Make sure Siri can see that your immigration law practice is in Houston, Texas and include your zip code. If possible, include the names of suburban towns and locations, too. It may help you get found in a narrower search naming the suburb.

We can’t really be sure about all the info that Apple or Android phones use to identify local businesses for a voice activated search, but the results are clearly different from desktop computer searches. With mobile searches rapidly increasing, it only makes sense to take advantage of this window of opportunity to get found in a smaller crowd of competitors. The advantage may not last long. The big spending legal advertisers are bound to notice eventually, and their ads will be hard for a solo to compete with.

How have you incorporated Siri in your practice?  How has it helped you?

Written by Debra Bruce

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> With so much social media hype these past couple of years, sometimes I think the reasons for taking the time to blog have been lost. We are inundated by Twitter feeds, Facebook streams, Pinterest Boards and we forget that all this great content we are consuming was created by someone else, someone else who continues to position themselves as the ‘go to source’ for information and ultimately the expert in their field. This someone took the time to share their thoughts and ideas, usually through a blog post. Think about all the people you ‘follow’ on Twitter. They took the time to share their opinions, ideas, observations. Are you doing the same…and in more than 140 characters?

You’ve probably thought to yourself, ‘what do I have to say that would be so different?’ ‘Hasn’t it all been said before?’ ‘I’m just too busy to do it first.’ ‘I’ll just retweet and share the great stuff out there.'

Let’s clear up a few misconceptions. There are very few "fresh ideas or observations" out there. Think about this: When you have an idea or observation in your small circle of friends or acquaintances or work place, chances are no one has voiced this "new" idea or made this observation before. When you enter the blogosphere and there are mulltiple millions of voices talking about multiple millions of topics on any given day, chances are your idea or observation isn't so "new."

When you are blogging, the goal isn't to necessarily to come up with the freshest idea. Nor is it necessarily to scour the web and comment on the latest news first (unless you are a reporter.) If that is your goal you will most likely fail as others make a living being the 'first'.  Your job is to practice law.

What you need to do on your blog is explore ideas, new or old, and then offer your perspective. This is what will distinguish your blog from others. If readers or potential clients can identify with your perspective, are intrigued by your voice on a given subject, they will prefer you as a resource over the next "voice" out there. Your tone, credibility, consistency and ultimately your reliability post after post, will bring you your clients, your referral network, and professional relationships and opportunities of all kinds.

And if you are on the various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, when people want to check out who you are they can be linked to a web presence that reflects you and your voice as you build up a body of work expressing your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and authority in your area of law.

Don't just strive then for the original idea. Strive for the original presentation. 

Find your unique voice on the subject that resonates with your potential client base. You can be the first to speak or even the validating second opinion….but have an opinion on the current topics in your field. Stimulate or respond to the discussion, but let your potential clients decide that, as far as they are concerned, your opinion will be the last word on the subject because they trust what you have to say.

And if you like what another blogger whom you respect has to say on a topic in their blog, comment on it, link to it. However, be careful not to associate or comment on those blogs you don't respect or show you disrespect or blogs that could ultimately bring your credibility into question. It's one thing to get excited to see 146,000 hits on your name with a Google search. But you don't want negative associations undermining all your hard work.

Be generous. Don't become a blogger who is afraid of associations. Isolationism is not conducive to growing a network of connections in cyberspace. You must connect with other bloggers. You need them. Do not be egomaniacal. Do not dominate the conversation; participate in the conversation. Be generous with your ideas, thoughts, comments and relationships.  Watch other bloggers you like and see how they handle the good, the bad, and the ugly of blogging.

Surprisingly, fellow bloggers even in the same field of expertise are not necessarily your competition; but they are possible referral sources and you should link to those bloggers.

Blogging is not something to be glossed over today simply because you have a LinkedIn profile. Blogging gives you a unique opportunity to extend your branding, have a web home of your own, an internet destination you control. It also gives you endless opportunities to burn yourself. Tread lightly but keep moving forward, even if it's in baby steps, as you explore the blogosphere. It's an exciting journey of discovery that should not be forgotten simply because it’s easier to create a profile on someone else’s platform.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> With the current economy, new grads setting up solo practices, BigLaw defectors going home to go to work, it’s time to revisit the rules of working from home. This  post is not, however, about how to comply with the specific issue of being a lawyer working from home but the emotional and physical challenges of working from home… period.

Working from home you need to figure out how to overcome certain unique issues which present themselves. This will certainly be easier for some, much harder for others based upon personality types. So, here we go!

1) Is Working From A Home Office The Right Choice for You?

Clearly, it is very attractive to eliminate the morning and afternoon commutes, childcare expenses, packing a lunch or the costs of eating out, not to mention having to get dressed up every morning when you know you don’t have court or client meetings and the dry cleaning bills which go along with the power suits .

However, if you need the physical socialization with peers and colleagues on a daily basis or you know you don’t have the discipline to work at home because instead you’ll shoot off to the supermarket or watch TV for a few hours after polishing off a quart of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey, then maybe, as attractive as the savings can be, working from home may not be the right answer for you as you build your solo practice.

But if creating a home office is for you, here are some tips you may not have given much thought to and should:

2) Create the (Ergonomically) Ideal Office Layout

This is critical. Be ergonomic. Be streamlined. When you sit down at your desk facing your computer, you should:

• Angle your pelvis so that it’s slightly open, at 100 to 110 degrees.
• Elbows should be bent anywhere from 90 to 110 degrees. You want your hands to be resting comfortably on your desktop and your upper arms should be in line with your torso.
• Feet should be placed flat on the floor.
• Position your head above your hips and look straight ahead. You shouldn’t be straining your neck at all.
• There should be no more than a space the size of an orange between the back of your knees and the seat of your chair.
• Wrists should be kept straight when using the mouse of the keyboard.

Go ahead and try it right now. You’ll be surprised at how comfortable it feels!

3) Schedule Your Day

This has been my personal nemesis. Routine. Yet, creating a structured routine will actually help your body and mind get acclimated to your new working environment. Create a structured routine, “which will help your mind and body adapt to a new working environment,” says Alan Hedge, Ph.D, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University. It doesn’t take more than 20 minutes for concentration to diminish. Here is a simple technique you can implement known as the 20-20-20 rule: Work for 20 minutes, break for 20 seconds, then while breaking, look 20 feet away to reset your focus and attention span.

But what if you’re a night owl workaholic and enjoy crawling out of bed at 10 or 11 a.m.? (Kind of hard if you have a trial calendar but let’s think about your non-court days). Did you know you can actually synchronize your body clock to help you stay alert during working hours by simply going outside for 15 to 20 minutes? Sunlight stimulates the pineal gland, which produces melatonin, a hormone which helps to regulate your sleep-wake cycle.

The beginning of darkness stimulates the pineal gland into action which is why melatonin levels remain low during daylight hours. During the day, the melatonin levels are barely noticeable. As the night arrives, the pineal gland starts releasing more melatonin into the bloodstream. When more melatonin travels throughout the blood, our body will start to get more and more tired. When the blood pressure is slowing down, our body will start preparing to fall asleep. Melatonin levels will keep increasing until they peak which usually happens around 3 or 4 a.m. After that, as melatonin levels slowly begin to subside, the body prepares to be awakened.

Anything that interferes the normal release of melatonin can also potentially disturb sleep patterns. Our body will know that the presence of less melatonin means that it should be alert and awake and ready for the day.

4) Keep “Time Sucks” To a Minimum

‘Time Sucks’ come in many shapes and forms. But for the 21st century there is no bigger timesuck than social media. Never , in my opinion, has it been more critical to keep track of not how much time you are spending working in a day but how much work you are accomplishing in that day. There is a book called CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD which highlights the reality that those who work alone fritter away huge amounts of time and usually this is on the internet or the phone.

You can find countless studies touting the value of social media sites and their value to advertisers based upon how much time users clock each day on their site. Nielsen tracks average visitors accumulated time per day and back in June of last year they found this average visit was a whopping four hours and thirty three minutes….each day!!

While you can argue it’s for business purposes only, clearly that’s a crock. It’is critical you schedule time for social media, work-related emails and responding to phone calls. Many people use a polite auto-response letting people know they’ve received your e-mail and your schedule for returning the e-mail. You should also consider using any number of programs which can be programmed to shut down your browser for a certain period of time to force a break from your monitor for any number of reasons including just stretching!.

Another time suck, but one you thought would be a perk of working for yourself, is scheduling too many out of ‘home office’ lunches or other socializing events which can always last much longer than you intended. Then you start doing non-work-related errands because it just happens to be on the way home. Before you know it, this one hour lunch becomes four unexpected hours away from your office.

If you have to do chores during the week, pick one afternoon or morning each week for these obligations.

5) Now, Don’t Be A Shut In!

Huh? Becoming more productive by developing disciplined habits does not automatically mean you have to be anti-social or become a shut-in. If you are feeling lonely, you can’t possibly be at your most productive. And, let’s face it, if you are feeling disconnected from others it’s just plain depressing. Developing habits to be more productive has to also address the need to for physical connectivity. So, whether it’s a lunch with your spouse fresh from your own refrigerator, a quick run to your local coffee shop, a thirty-minute walk with your neighbor, or just fifteen minutes playing with your dog, be sure to schedule time for facetime with other people or any other living creature. If facetime doesn’t work for you for whatever reason, there is enough technology out there to chat with others. Schedule a Google hangout with a bunch of your friends at a designated time when you all take a break together and share a laugh or commiserate about your work.  It's just not that hard today to connect in a meaningful way to alleviate some of the loneliness of a home office environment.

Having a home office should not prevent you from being as productive as possible.  Having a home office should not prevent you from healthy socializing just as if you were in a traditional work environment.  It takes knowing who you are, some time and a desire to succeed.

What habits have you developed to make your home office the best choice you ever made?  What challenges are you facing if you haven't quite yet become as productive as you could be.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Rush Nigut]]> Recently I gave a speech to over 500 human resource professionals on the use of social media in the workplace. I started the speech by asking how many of the attendees had an account for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Overwhelmingly the majority of the audience indicated they had both Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. Less than half of the audience used Twitter. When I asked how many used Facebook for work purposes, very few people raised their hands. The vast majority, however, indicated they used LinkedIn for work. But where it slipped for LinkedIn was when I asked the audience how many of them believed they used LinkedIn effectively. Almost no one raised their hands. The majority of the audience members used LinkedIn only to develop a contact list, but never actually took any steps to interact with that contact list or engage with other LinkedIn users. These same people often wonder why LinkedIn and other social networking sites don’t work for them.

Frankly, it reminded me of sage advice I received from a business advisor long ago. I was trying to decide whether to join our downtown Rotary and whether the time commitment would be help me develop new business contacts.  He advised me that I shouldn’t worry about whether Rotary would help me develop contacts. Instead, I should be concerned about whether I was committed to the organization’s ideals and willing to participate. That meant I needed to roll up my sleeves and REALLY participate. He explained that if I wasn’t willing to do that, I wouldn’t get much out of Rotary. Just being a part of the group wasn’t enough.

The same goes with LinkedIn. LinkedIn has become a very powerful networking tool for me. I’ve received several referrals recently due to some new groups I’ve joined and networked with some very influential professionals in my area of practice.  For the longest time I just responded to invite requests or occasionally invited contacts of my own.  But the more I’ve become engaged, the more LinkedIn has delivered for me.

To use LinkedIn more effectively you may want to consider the following:

1. Identify which groups are best for you. Hands down the franchise groups I belong to offer the best networking opportunities for me. There are a relatively small number of members (a few hundred) but a substantial percentage of those members are actively engaged.  Find the group that will work for you.
2. Target Popular Discussions. If you can add value to the conversation, you will likely become known as a thought leader of the group and start to become “Top of Mind”.
3. Start Your Own Discussions. My recommendation is that you don’t start discussions immediately. Rather engage in conversations with others and become comfortable within the group. I also advice you not to start discussions for the sake of starting discussions. It should be a meaningful topic and interesting to other group members. Asking for advice is a great way to start.
4. Start Your Own Group. I haven’t done this personally but one franchise professional I know has done this very successfully. It has elevated his status and he has become almost universally known in social media circles for franchising.  Is there something you’re interested in but no group exists? Start it yourself.
5. Connect Your Social Media Channels: Everything I post on Twitter and my blog go to LinkedIn. This is very easy to do. One of my business contacts told me just last week how much he appreciated the content I put out there.  He isn’t a client but at least I appear to be top of mind and that’s at least starting point.

Some resources to help you use LinkedIn more effectively:

• Linkedin Learning Center
• 100+ Ways to Use LinkedIn
• How Lawyers Can Use Linkedin More Effectively
• How Lawyers Can Use Linkedin to Connect to New Clients

Have you found success attracting clients, new business relationships, or anything else positive for your practice since joining LinkedIn?  Have you created your own groups?  Please share in the comments.

Written by Rush Nigut

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]>
QR codes are all the rage. More than 20 million mobile phone users used QR codes in the last quarter of 2011.  And mobile user searches on the internet have been growing exponentially.

QR Code is Quick Response Code – a bar code which can bring you to a designated internet location or QR Codes can be programmed to send a text message, call a phone number, send an email, or simply uncover a special text message providing coupons or sending you on a treasure hunt.

You see them popping up everywhere you go. Often times it's used incorrectly and so people have gotten a bad taste in their mouth when they've taken the time to snap on it with their smart phone app which is required to read these QR codes. Often times it is simply a link to a company's website or contact information which you could have looked up anyway or asked Siri.  This is what annoys people the most because if they've taken the time to read your QR code it should do more than just guide them to your website. 

Airlines have used them successfully to expedite boarding and it also eliminates paper. Hospitals are using them to help expedite patient care.  Smart companies have created contests and special offers, scavenger hunts and a host of interactive experiences for their customers.  The question is, how can lawyers take advantage of QR codes in their practice?

Here are just a few suggestions but the list is only as limited as your imagination and the Rules of Professional Conduct:

1.  Put them on the back of your business card directing them to a special page on your website offering a free consultation or a link to a special welcome video only accessible through the QR code.

2.  Put QR codes on your written and web-based marekting materials, a printable e-guide, all directing them to special page offering a free consultation or a discount on legal services or a free dowloadable e-book.

3.  Provide your contact information which a client can input right into their smartphone so if they lose your business card you're information is not lost.

4.  Provide directions to your office and validation for parking if needed.

5. Maybe it is a link to a quick tutorial video on what to do if you're stopped by a police officer for DUI and a quick link to your contact information but placed on bar napkins at your favorite community hangouts.

6. Maybe it is a link to what to do if someone violates a protective order and a quick link to your contact information

7. Maybe you creative an interactive book like Attorney Gerry Oginski  who wrote the book, The Secrets of Lawyer Video Marketing.  This book has numerous QR codes to scan while reading each chapter and each QR code brings the user to a video where he discusses the relevant topic in the chapter.  It's truly an interactive book!

Here's a quick tutorial on how to use QR codes and here is a site where you can create your own QR code for free. (There are several sites offering free QR codes.) They are so simple to create.  The hardest part is making it worthwhile for someone to scan it.   Be sure to scan our QR code in this post for a special offer.  (QR codes work beautifully on your website when you can use your smartphone to scan it on the desktop monitor or tablet.  It's a little harder to read a QR code online from your smart phone!)

Have you started using QR codes in any of your marketing?  If so, please share how you have used it.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> I know. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, now Pinterest.  Can you handle yet another distraction?  Well, when you first heard about blogging it was just for people journaling about their everyday problems…until it wasn't.  When you first heard about Facebook you thought it was just for your teenagers….until it wasn't.  When you first heard about YouTube you thought it was just a bizarre place where Spielberg wannabees posted pointless videos nobody wanted to see….until it wasn't. When Twitter came on the scene you thought it was just about people tweeting what they had for lunch….until it wasn't. Now Pinterest is becoming the rage and you're thinking it is just one more time suck which you have little or no interest in.  I felt the same way…until now.

I will certainly not be the first person to write about about how lawyers can use Pinterest.  But even in these past few months more compelling information on this Silicon-based company is surfacing explaining why you may want to pay attention even if you are not ready to get involved.

What is Pinterest?  'Vision boarding' is an old concept. It is also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or Creativity Collage.  Typically it is a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. (I remember doing one in college!).  Pinterest has taken vision boarding and brought it into the social media space. A Pinterest user’s interests are now accessible to the world in a truly visually gorgeous format.  Users collect photos which link to products and services they love, creating their own pinboards (or visual boards).  They also follow the pinboards of other people whom they find interesting.  But I find even this description very limiting as I'll explain later.  Pinterest has the potential for so much more.

As someone just tweeted to me the other day:

How can an attorney use it (Pinterest) effectively?  It's difficult when Pinterest is such a visual medium and the law is not.

What I was so happy about with this question was is it wasn't the automatic response, 'what a waste of time!' At least many have now learned their lesson to not dismiss a new platform out of hand but instead ask the question, ' how can I use it effectively if I choose to use it?'

So, why  should Pinterest even be on your radar? Pinterest has been one of the fastest-growing social networks to ever hit the web and is now the number-three most popular social network in the U.S. and seems to be dominated by women.  It comes up right after Facebook and Twitter, both of which are already known globally and have millions of users. LinkedIn is ranked fourth. Over 80% of 'pins' on Pinterest are repins (think retweets) which shows you how viral content on Pinterest can be.  It is also rumored to have surpassed Google+ in terms of referrals.  (For those who are dismissing Google+ and calling it a wasteland, do so at your professional peril.  There is more to Google+ than meets the eye  and there is renewed interest in the platform these past months.)  But more importantly,  the three founders of Pinterest  (really unknown entrpeneurs up until this point) have managed to secure financial backing from Silicon Valley to the tune of  $37.5 million in venture capital.  Money usually talks…and very loudly.  Here is a great infographic on how Pinterest may be a game-changer.  And now it's going 'pinternational'.

So, how can lawyers take advantage of Pinterest?  I don't think you should jump right in at all.  I do think it needs to be on your radar and you should be thinking about if you choose to use it, how can you make the best use of this very user-friendly platform to continue your ongoing online marketing efforts.  However, at the very least I would certainly recommend you create an account with your name/business name as you should on all sites of this nature.

Here are a few pointers for using Pinterest:

1. Repurpose your best online content. The time-conscious smart lawyer will recognize there's no reason to reinvent the wheel.  Repurpose your best online content and pin it up on Pinterest. Take advantage of Google analytics or, if your're a blogger, find your posts which have generated the most comments or retweets on Twitter or have been shared on other sites. Then pin it. You've now repurposed content and presented it to a whole new world of potential clients or referrers of clients.  The key: this is a visual board.  If you have to take some time to add an appropriate image to a current blog post, do so.
2. Be laster-targeted. Remember your key words. When you create and name boards use profession-related keywords. When you start pinning appropriate content to each board you can write a brief description of what you are posting to highlight the content.  This description should also contain those relevant key words. The more you are laser-targeted the easier it will be for your audience to locate and share your information. 
3. Share profession-related content. The same as Twitter and Facebook, share the content of others because, as you already know, in order to be perceived as an expert (and just plain generous, too), you need to show you have the pulse on what is happening in the world, not just your world, and share it with your Pinterest followers. You can have unlimited boards which is what allows you to be so focused within each board.  This requires you to truly stay organized, compartmentalize, and share. 
4. Share your interests: There is no harm in creating a board dedicated to an interest or hobby, too. If you're a runner or love movies you should share this.  The rules for Pinterest are no different than any other platform.  I love to tweet on a variety of topics relating to entrepreurship, demographics, economics, and health.  I'm doing so on Pinterest, too, and will probably add more boards as I get the hang of it.
5. Follow other Pinners and repin their content.  It's visual Twitter. The same rules apply. Pinterest has two critical elements to it: visual bookmarking and social networking.  While you are busy pinning your favorites, don't forget how important it is to also engage others.   One way, and it will take a while, is to find others whose pins you enjoy and showcase them on your site in a dedicated board, very similar to retweeting another's great tweet, or adding them to a 'list' you've created on Twitter of people you follow like 'solo lawyer gurus', 'tech lawyers', 'employment lawyers'.  You get the point.
6. Don't start pinning until you know why you're on Pinterest. This is just good advice for any platform. Know why you are spending time creating a space on Pinterest just as you do with Twitter and Facebook and YouTube.   Social Media Examiner also presents a list of the many ways Pinterest can benefit a business.  You just need to figure out if and when you are going to spend time here.   You can start by checking out Solo Practice University's nascent presence on Pinterest.
7. Make it easy for others to post to Pinterest. Even if you haven't yet developed a presence on Pinterest, if you have a Facebook, Twitter, Google+ share button on your website already, add a 'Pin It' button so others can pin your content if they want to!
8. A little caution should be used.  We all know Pinterest was highlighted recently because of copyright concerns.  However, it appears Pinterest is addressing the issues as users are apparently creating more good than harm for companies as pinners drive traffic to their sites, and I suspect this will be less and less of a concern going forward.

As a company, we care deeply about creating value for content creators. We’re spending a great deal of time reaching out to content creators to understand their needs and concerns. So far, we’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback and have created both tools for publishers who want to make it easier to pin their content (the “Pin It” button for publisher sites) as well as tools for those who would prefer that their material isn’t pinned (an opt-out code that content owners add to their site that prevents content from being shared on Pinterest).

Our goal at Pinterest is to help people discover the things they love. Driving traffic to original content sources is fundamental to that goal.”

 I'm no social media guru and I don't play one on the internet.  However, now that I've done some homework, I find there is a lot of potential here.  The numbers are playing out, Pinterest is fun and easy to populate if you've already have a body of work on the internet, and we are nation addicted to social media.  As solo practitioners, time is precious yet there is a great need to be a part of the environment where potential clients and referrers of clients congregate.  It's why 20% of your time is, or should be, devoted to marketing, socializing, networking.   I recommend exploring Pinterest at some point in the not too distant future.  Figure out how you want to use it because in my opinion the field is wide open on this one.  If you're already on Pinterest, let me know so I can follow your boards and showcase what you are doing on ours! If you want to follow SPU on Pinterest you can do so here.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Rachel Rodgers]]>

Should I partner with another attorney when starting my practice?

This is a question often asked by young lawyers who want to go solo. And the answer often given by seasoned solos is either 'no' or the more emphatic 'hell no.' This response is usually accompanied by a horrifying story of a partnership gone bad that wrecked the credit, reputation, sanity, etc. of one or both of the partners. Hence, the response, don't partner up.

Why Young Lawyers Really Want a Partner

Few of the young lawyers seeking a response to this oft-asked question are really looking for a partner. I think what these young lawyers are really looking for (as I was when I was in their shoes not long ago) is confidence.

These young solos are scared. For many of them, every lawyer that they share their solo plans with has negative things to say. Having a partner gives them someone to share their struggles with, someone to review their work and someone else with the seemingly-crazy idea of going solo. It also means instead of just having a solo practice that rests squarely on their shoulders, they have a "real" firm with more than one attorney. This gives young lawyers starting out a sense of legitimacy.

While some young lawyers will greatly benefit from partnering with the right person, having a partner in their solo venture will not solve the ‘lack of confidence’ problem. Additionally, the loneliness, responsibility and work review can be dealt with in a much simpler way.

What Young Solos Should Do Instead

As many a seasoned solo has told a young solo, taking on a business partner is like getting married. Therefore, finding the elusive “right” partner is like finding a spouse - often requiring years of searching. And, of course, maintaining the relationship is just as much work as maintaining a good marriage.

As any married person will tell you, being single is much simpler than being married. And the last thing a young solo needs is to further complicate the process of starting and running a law practice.

The fears that come up when considering the solo life can be resolved with one bold action:

Put yourself out there.

Announce your freaking firm to the world! Tell every lawyer, law student, recent grad, law professor, judge you know that you’re going solo. Attend conferences and other networking opportunities and tell the lawyers you meet that your a new lawyer and you’re going solo. And don’t say you’re thinking about it when you’ve really already decided it. Don’t downplay what you’re doing. Talk about it. Don’t sheepishly hide in your office. Put yourself out there.

Do this, even though you may run into negabots who will not be supportive of your solo plans. In my experience and the experience of many other young solos I know who have done this, you will make connections with colleagues who remember the fear (and exhilaration) they experienced when they went solo. They will support you. They will respond to your emails and send you resources. They will become mentors and friends.

That’s how you obtain mentors who can give you guidance and a boost of confidence when fear comes up. That’s how you obtain solo peers you can commiserate with when things are tough and celebrate with when things are going great. Its also how you get advice and referrals, find out about relevant events and develop a community of cheerleaders and friends in fellow lawyers. Coincidentally, its also how you will find the right business partner, if that is the right path for you.

Written by Rachel Rodgers