Written by Suzanne Meehle]]> I am blessed to have a couple of law firms as clients. These are, by and large, lawyers that do not specialize in business law (as I do) or maybe really didn’t know much about running a business when they hung a shingle. I say I am “blessed” because lawyers make really wonderful clients. They understand that this is how I make my living, and they don’t tend to waste my time.

Recently, I was approached by a friend, a solo lawyer who was looking at renting space in my office building. He has been focused mostly on raising his two small children, and only recently decided to put more into his practice. His confusion, he said, was whether to put the money into a brick-and-mortar office or whether to put the money into marketing the practice.

“What are you doing now to market your practice?” I asked.

“Nothing, really,” he said. “I don’t even have a web site.”

Nor did he have a defined set of practice areas (“whatever walks in the door” not being a practice area), an idea of what an ideal client looked like beyond “paying,” or even an established place to work in his home. He had been meeting clients at Starbucks or borrowing my conference room as needed, but without a plan for how he was going to serve those clients.

I sent him home with some homework: “I want you to do a SWOT analysis on your business,” I said.

“A what?” he replied.

“A SWOT analysis,” I answered. “An analysis of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats,” I added as I drew him this chart:

“I want you to write down what you feel are your firms greatest strengths under, ‘STRENGTHS,’” I said, “then put the greatest threats under ‘THREATS,’ and so on with your biggest opportunities and your biggest threats.”

“Ah, I think I remember doing this back in business class in college,” he said.

“Yes,” I said, “only this time you are doing it for your law firm, not just as a hypothetical. This is where you start your business plan.”

“You need to do an assessment when you are done making your SWOT chart,” I continued. “How will you use your strengths to address your weaknesses? How will you leverage your opportunities to lessen your threats?”

That, you see, is what my friend was missing. He had done no analysis of his business, so he had no idea where he was going with it. How would he know where to best put his money – office space or advertising – without knowing what weaknesses or threats he needed to address?

For example, I know that one weakness I have is that it is just me – I’m the only attorney, so there is no one to pick up the slack if I have an off day or if, as I find myself lately, I am swamped with more work than I can get done in a day. To address that, I knew hired my assistant, Wendy, for a few more hours each week to give me less time doing administrative tasks and more time for client production. So I addressed a weakness (being too busy to get it all done) with a strength (Wendy is an AWESOME assistant!).

Similarly, when I planned my business, I knew that there were plenty of business transactional attorneys in this town. So I addressed the threat of having lots of competition with an opportunity: I specialized in small businesses and offered my services on a flat fee basis, differentiating myself from a typical business lawyer.

A SWOT analysis will help you to find focus for your law firm as a business. Because if you are a solo attorney, you run a business, not a law practice. “Legal work” is your product. Your business is how you make and sell that product. Don’t confuse the two.

When I was at Big Law, I never had to worry. I was a part of a law practice factory, cranking out the work and letting someone else worry about the business. My boss, the firm’s managing partner, was very, very good at what he did, which was hiring associates to do the work while he “made it rain,” oversaw the bookkeeping and made sure the lights stayed on. I will admit, when I first went out on my own I did not give enough thought to whether I wanted his job as well as my own. But when you run your own firm, you are the business manager, the marketing manager, the rain maker and the work producer. It is vastly rewarding, but you had better know that you are in business or your firm will fail.

Whether or not you ever do a formal business plan, I strongly encourage you to do a SWOT analysis at least every year or so to make sure you know where you are going and how you plan to get there, what you are up against and how you plan to survive in spite of it.

My friend called me back on Friday to thank me for making him do his homework. He has a better idea of what direction he needs to take his practice in, and asked me to work with him on a low-cost marketing plan. In short, he now thinks of his law firm as a business, and I think he’s going to be OK.

Written by Suzanne Meehle

Written by Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton]]> One of the things that plagues we rezoomers is the question, “How do we get back in the game?”

I asked myself this question as I restarted my legal career in 2010. For 29 years I was a member of the ABA and the New York State Bar Associations (NYSBA). Yet in all those years, I had never attended a Bar Association meeting. I had done nothing with these bar association memberships. I simply paid my dues and attended stand alone CLE’s to maintain the active status of my license to practice law.

In January 2010 I said, heck, lets see what these Annual meetings are all about. I attended three programs; one sponsored by the Committee on Women and the Law, one by the Committee on Animal Law and one by the Dispute Resolution Section. As I sat there, I realized I’d missed a whole chunk of the experience of what it meant to be a lawyer in NY. I was actually sad. I love camaraderie.

This experience encouraged me to volunteer to help put together the NYSBA Women and the Law Program in 2011. I found myself offering up speakers in the field of mediation because I was the only one who had pertinent knowledge of the movers and shakers in this group. I moderated the 2011 ethics section. In 2012, I am moderating, along with Linda Radlisky, a brilliant solo practitioner, the Trial, Tribulation and Tips of the Women Trial and Appellate Lawyers section.

In April 2010, I attended the ABA Women Rainmakers Conference. Yes, I am bold as brass. Rainmaking was not something I’d ever done or was currently doing. Again I said, heck why not. It was awe inspiring. My age may have helped me blend in, since one does not assume I am starting out. It was the single best conference I’ve attended. It inspired me to volunteer to assist in creating the program in 2012. This enabled me to keep in touch with a bushel full of wonderfully talented, rainmaking women attorneys.

I now have credits to my name, in connection with statewide and nationwide bar association events. I have colleagues whom I consider friends and feel secure calling and asking questions, even if they are partners in international Fortune 500 firms. In fact the ABA Women Rainmakers blasted an email touting “one of their own” as a section moderator of the 2012 NYSBA Women and the Law event this year. If you hadn’t guessed, they were talking about me.

If I had not “Bellied up to the Bar (Association)” and put myself out there, taken a chance, I would not have obtained the experience I have today. I can now say I have helped put on several statewide and national programs, working alongside colleagues from every legal venue and constructed written materials from panelists for attendees. It isn’t easy. It takes time you don’t have, skills you may need to acquire on the job, and the guts to throw your ideas out there to see if they sink or swim.

I have heard so many solos say the Bar associations have ‘lost touch with the Solo practitioner’ or have a ‘large firm mentality’ and ‘cost more then they are worth’. I am here to tell you, you are misinformed. Today, the Bar Associations are recognizing Solos as the wave of the future. As more new grads start their own firms in order to survive, the Bar Associations are adjusting their focus to meet the demand of a changing legal environment. Ask Susan Cartier Liebel. Business is booming for Solo Practice University. Law schools are asking SPU to help them teach their students the nuts and bolts of going solo. It is seen as a viable option for a goodly number of their graduates to survive post graduation.

If you are like me and want to get the most for less, always ask if you qualify for a reduced membership or CLE fee. No one will know and you can get all the benefits of full membership for one third the cost.

Once you join, pick a Section to dive into! Make a commitment to be uber involved. You will be amazed how welcoming they are to worker bees with new ideas. Keep your ego in check. Listen more then speak, and do what you say you will do. The street cred is unbelievable and the networking priceless

By the Way, in the ABA published, The Road to Independence-101 Women’s Journeys to starting their own firms, several of the contributors credited getting involved in their local Bar association as a stepping stone to their firms success.

So my rezoomer friends, “Belly up to the Bar (Association). You will be glad you did.

The next Women Rainmakers event is in Lake Tahoe on October 19-21. Come if you dare. It may be the change you have been searching for in your rezooming quest.

P.S.

My NYSBA Women and the Law Committee Program went fabulously. Try not to miss our program next year in NY, mid January. The attendee’s take away from our first panel, ‘Where have all the Women Litigators Gone?’ was each became heavily involved in their local bar association and a section that interested them from the get-go. Several were past presidents of their local Woman’s Bar Associations or Section Presidents. Don’t worry if you have never attended a Bar Association meeting before. As Rezoomers we have street cred, age and alternative experience on our side, something these groups prize more highly then gold.

Written by Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> I can hardly believe it’s already February. What a great start to 2012 it’s been. Besides the fact the weather has been unseasonably warm in New England, we are pleased to say our SPU faculty members continue to produce outstanding classes:

Recent Classes

• Stephanie Kimbro shared some valuable information in her post: Update on Ethics Rules Impacting Virtual Practice.
• Daniel Gershburg made available his newest classes:  Marketing a Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure and Practice Advice.
• Jonathan Ginsberg shares a couple of great Practice Tips in his classroom –  Using Social Security’s Forms to Prepare Your Direct Examination.
• Fraudulent Financial Reporting by  Roman Matatov is another classes in his course.
• Michael Brown has Lesson 7 – Case Feasibility of an Employee Rights Matter and Lesson 8 – Setting Up an Employee Rights Practice in his in-depth Employment Law course.
• Entertainment Law Update Podcast 25 can now be seen in the Entertainment Classroom from Gordon Firemark.
• Marc Garfinkle rolls out Criminal Law 101 with Class 1 – Developing a Criminal Clientele, Class 2 – The Initial Client Interview and Class 3 – Jailhouse Visits.
• Gene Goodsell kicks off International Sports Law with Class 1 – What Is International Sports Law?
• Richard Maseles keeps providing great information in Real World Legal Research: Face the Rule, and New Chapter (Finally) Case Law.
• If you’ve wanted to learn how Google can help our practice check out Lesson 1 – Introduction to Google and Lesson 2 – Everything Gmail which is now available with  Martha Sperry
• Susan Cartier Liebel continues How to Hang A Shingle Right Out of Law School…or Shortly Thereafter with her  Lesson 8 – Business Plans (Part 1)
• Chris Hill has shared Classes 23, 24 and 25,  Use Your Solo Status to Your Advantage, The Necessity of Written Change Orders and A Wrap Up and Preview in his popular Construction Law course.
• Gerry Oginski’s latest in Creating Online Videos for Lawyers. Also find out about The Most Powerful Testimonial Formula Ever.
• Lesson 4 – Getting Started with WordPress, Lesson 5 – Maintaining Your WordPress Site, and Lesson 6 – Customizing Your WordPress Site by David Carson
• Celeste H.G. Boyd returns with here latest Lesson # 2 – The Ethics of Freelancing.
• Rochelle Richardson gives us Lesson 2 – Establishing Service Connection for PTSD and Other Psychological Disabilities and Lesson 3 – Navigating the VA Claims Process in the Introduction to Veterans Law classroom.
• In the Unemployment Appeals classroom –  Lesson 3, Unemployment Procedure from Claim to Judicial Review, Lesson 4 – Disqualifications for Misconduct , and Lesson 5 – Voluntary Quit and “Able and Available” by Bruce Godfrey
• Want to understand Social Media and the Law? Deborah Gonzalez kicks off her Social Media and the Law classroom with Lesson 1 – Overview of Social Media & the Law, Lesson 2 – E-Professionalism, and Lesson 3 – Privacy and Ethics
• Greg Yaghami updates his classroom Trial Techniques with Lesson 14 – The Fit Lawyer.
• In Landlord Tenant Law Lesson 10 Kira Founteneau delves into The Proper Care and Feeding of Tenants

New Faculty Announcements, Guest Bloggers & Guest Lectures

• Martha Sperry Joined SPU and will teach Everything Google – Using Free & Cheap Tools To Ease Your Workload And Budget
• Gene Goodsell will teach on the very hot topic of International Sports Law.
• Douglas Greenberg joined SPU as a columnist discussing his experiences going solo.  There are already eight columns filled with great info.
• Rush Nigut has joined as our new columnist discussing  Business Law & Tech. Learn about the best advice he ever received as a lawyer in his inaugural column.
• Rania Combs, Annie Tunheim, Roy Ginsburg, and Micheal Whelan provided excellent guest blog posts ranging from their adventures as savvy solos to lessons on networking.
• Jared Correia gave a phenomenal guest lecture answering new solos frequently asked questions.  It’s a must listen if you are new to practice (and not so new!)
• Omar Ha-Redeye , also a Savvy Solo, gave a riveting guest lecture on GIS – Geographic Information Services.  Seriously, you need to listen to this area of law which affects all of us!

If you are interested in becoming faculty or guest posting, please e-mail susan@solopracticeuniversity.com

Faculty News and Accomplishments

• First, we want to congratulate  Stephanie Kimbro,  as she celebrates her 7th year of practicing law virtually. She lives what she teaches. Very Impressive Stephanie!
• Recently, Virginia Business Magazine announced its 2011 Legal Elite.  The magazine received 1,483 completed ballots nominating nearly 3,900 lawyers. Of that number roughly 20 percent, made the cut for the Legal Elite.  That being said, Christopher Hill was announced by his peers in Virginia as Legal Elite in the Construction category.  Chris has been given this honor for the past 5 years!
• Then back in December, Toby Bloomberg who teaches Social Media at SPU, was awarded the “Social Media Leader” award by the Atlanta Women in Social Media. Wonderful news, Toby!
• One of our founding sponsors, Clio, announced  a $6 million Series B financing for its cloud-based legal services package. The company principals Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau made the announcement at the opening of the ALM LegalTech conference and trade show. These funds will enable Clio to implement their vision of moving many more solos into the cloud with their excellent practice management services.
• Solo Practice University was featured on Forbes.com in an article called ‘Occupy Solo Practice University‘.  Check it out.  I also had an opportunity to contribute to Forbes.com in an article touting the virtues of virtual practice and women who have used this technology to their advantage in Women Lawyers Without Borders Rock Legal Practice.

Best of the Season Blog Posts

• ‘Closing The Deal’ – The Lawyer’s Version
• You Only Fail if You Don’t Get Up Again.
• You Ask…I Answer. Should I Put My Picture on My Business Card?
• Celebrating 2 Years Solo: Lessons from the Trenches
• Did a Groupon Really Work for a Solo Lawyer?
• Best Advice I Received as a Lawyer: Don’t Forget to Take the Time to Think
• Step 1 – Get Clients.
• Don’t Let Pro Bono Work Put You Out of Business
• How to Dabble in Delegating
• What Do You Do When….
• The Misunderstood Virtual Law Office
• The Referral Power of Positive Reviews on Yelp.
• Making the Leap From BigLaw to Solo Practice
• Strategies For Making 2012 Your Year To Rezoom
• Lessons Learned From a Hard First Year of Solo Practice
• How To Gain Experience As A Young Lawyer
• Learning How to Be a Lawyer Under Fire. Hitch A Ride On Someone Else’s Ego
• Keeping The Grinch At Bay.  Managing Your Student Loans
• Ready, Set, Goal!
• Forget LLC or PC.  Simpler Is Better
• You Ask…I Answer:  I Want to Fire a Pro Bono Client.  What Say You?
• Don’t Let Pro Bono Work Put You Out of Business
• Why People Hate Lawyers. Getting Beyond the Stereotypes
• 10 Reasons Why Thanks Can Improve Your Law Practice
• Networking Can Be An Ethical Landmine.  Be Careful.

SPU Keeps Growing

Our Bridges Program is expanding steadily! Chapman University and UALR Bowen School of Law have just recently brought our program to their current students and alumni. You will see more ‘public’ announcements soon as we grow our strategic partnerships with forward thinking law schools who recognize Solo Practice University® is an excellent resource for their law students and alumni who are or will be going solo.

Where’s Susan?

If you’re going to be in Athens, Georgia on March 3rd participating in the WIPI (7th Annual Working In the Public Interest Conference) sponsored by the University of Georgia Law School, let me know.  I will be moderating a panel on, you guessed it, going solo.

Or, if you are going to be in Orlando May 18th attending the Barry University School of Law  ’How to Hang A Shingle’ day long CLE, let me know so we can connect.  I will be teaching on my favorite topic, once again.

Law Without Walls

I have also been very privileged to be invited to participate as an Entrepreneur Mentor in the Law Without Walls Program created by the incredible team of Michele DeStefano and Michael Bossone out of the University of Miami School of Law.

LawWithoutWalls is a part-virtual, collaborative academic model, created by Michele DeStefano and Michael Bossone at the University of Miami School of Law, that brings together students, faculty, practitioners, business professionals, and entrepreneurs from around the country and the world to innovate legal education and practice. It is motivated by a desire to help those engaged in the education and practice of law to realize the impact our changing world is having upon our shared legal enterprise and to embrace that change to create a resonant, efficient, and sustainable future. Our goal is to jointly develop creative solutions to real problems in the way law is taught and practiced.

You can learn more about the program here as well as see who the ‘players’ are.  It’s innovative legal education at its finest.

SPU Classes Can Now Be Enjoyed  on Your iPad and iPhone!

Ready to Enroll?

Don’t need CLE? Want a monthly tuition less than your cell phone bill? Check out our new Solo For Life program.  Stay just for the classes you need…or as long as you like.  Tuition is never more than $45 per month after the first month. Check out our Tuition Prices, pick your plan and get started!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Rachel Rodgers]]>

A-B-C.

A-Always,

B-Be,

C-Closing.

Always be closing,

always be closing.

- Alec Baldwin as Blake in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross (see a clip of this great scene here)

Focus on Closing

My first couple of months as a solo, I spent a lot of time talking to prospective clients. At that time I was offering free consultations. During these consultations I would give away the milk, which meant that very few potential clients were buying the cow. Even worse, I didn’t clearly express to my prospective clients what the cow was and why it was worth my fees to get it. I had no idea what the hell I was doing and was quite perturbed that many of these prospects weren’t becoming paying clients.

Unfortunately, how to sell is among the myriad of things that we lawyers need to know yet didn’t learn in law school. When I was just starting out, I didn’t understand how important the mantra, “always be closing” really was. After months of being disappointed at how few clients I had, I realized that closing clients needed to be my numero uno priority.

Now I have a method that keeps closing at the top of my mind at all times. You should try it:

Get a whiteboard and write down how much revenue you want to make this quarter. (Go ahead. I’ll wait).  Under your goal number, write down how much you’ve made so far this quarter and subtract it from your goal number. The new total is how much you have left to make. Be sure to include the date every time you update the board – it adds a sense of urgency. Now every time you get paid, deduct the amount of revenue to date from your goal number. Here’s an example:

Goal for Q1:                             $20,000

Revenue to Date (2/2/12):  $   6,500

Need to Make:                       $ 13,500

By doing this you will have the exact number you need to make staring you in the face everyday. Its amazing how that number can keep you focused on acquiring clients so you can meet the bottom line. Remember, that

what gets measured, gets managed. – Peter Drucker

Selling Isn’t Icky

In addition to not knowing how to sell, we lawyers often feel uncomfortable selling. I’ve heard lots of lawyers and other service professionals say that selling makes them feel icky. They say, “I don’t want to force anyone to buy from me.” This position requires a re-frame. Thinking that you are forcing someone to buy from you is giving yourself too much credit. No one can force me to part with my money if I don’t I want to (except the IRS and an armed robber); likewise for your potential clients.

Instead, realize that you offer a valuable service and people need to know that your service is available and understand how it can help them. I can’t tell you how many emails and phone calls I have received from giddy prospects who are thrilled to discover my practice. If I wasn’t spending time sharing information about what I do, people I can help would never know I exist and therefore, never be able to benefit from my services. My point here is that people WANT to buy from you.

When you have a new prospect in front of you, do these three things with an eye towards either closing the sale or discovering that you and this prospect don’t belong together. (Either one is good. You don’t want to work for someone who isn’t a good fit for your practice anyway – it will only lead to headaches.)

1. Listen. Spend lots of time listening very carefully and asking open-ended questions. The more you listen to your potential client, the closer you’ll get to understanding what they truly want. When you know what they really want, you can express the reasons why your services are valuable to them. Additionally, knowing a lot about your potential client will help you to frame the conversation when it comes to discussing fees.

2. Educate. By being a good listener, you will make the potential client feel comfortable that you understand what they need. Then you can spend time educating the client about the particular legal issue their facing and how you can resolve it. Sharing a small portion of your knowledge will help the prospective client trust and believe in your expertise. It will help them understand their options and the true value that you can bring.

3. Close. Once you have spent some time listening to your clients wants and educating your client about the legal issue and the value that you bring, its time to close. Closing is pretty simple, just ask them if they would like to hire you. If they say no, you can move on. If they say yes, you can take the next steps to making them a client (collecting an intake form, sending an engagement agreement, accepting payment, etc.). If they say maybe, let them know you’ll follow up in a specific amount of time (2 days, one week, etc.). Then when you follow up, if they still don’t have a definitive answer give them a deadline by which to decide. When the deadline arrives, if they haven’t said yes, remove them from your sales process. Perpetual maybes can be an enormous time suck. Cut them off and move on.

Ideally, you should want exactly what your prospects want: the satisfaction of their desire or the resolution to their problem. – Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA

Selling is only icky if you’re selling something you don’t believe in to someone who doesn’t need it. Your true goal is to deliver your services to clients who need them. So don’t make it hard for your potential clients to buy from you. Focus on closing for your benefit and theirs.

Written by Rachel Rodgers

Written by Jack Whittington]]> A belated Happy New Year to all of you. Now that we’re a few weeks into 2012, hopefully you’ve all settled into a routine and you’re holding fast to those resolutions you set for yourselves. As a February Bar Exam taker with a full time job I find routine to be crucial. When I studied for the Bar last summer, routine seemed impossible due to a series of life altering events. However, reflecting back on it now – if I had been able to just carve out time each day in the midst of all the trial and trauma I might not be taking this thing for a second time. Now that I have a full time job it would be easy to make excuses once again as to why I don’t have time to nail down and study like I need to. However, if I am to meet my resolution, I need to adapt and overcome to achieve. After reading, researching, and speaking with colleagues and peers on approaching the Bar Exam for a second time, I’ve taken away some tips that I’d like to pass on to those of you similarly situated….(heh bar exam humor for ya)

Motivation

The easiest way to do something is to be motivated while doing it. What motivates you? My motivation is still and always has been to practice law. Moreover, my motivation is to prove to myself that I am capable of passing the Bar Exam. That motivation makes a little easier to study at night after working twelve hours. It makes me a little bit more adamant about carving out time each day to sit down and really make use of the time that I do have to study. Admittedly, during summer preparation I did waste a lot of time that could have been used to studying. Maybe a little extra time going over Evidence or Civil and Criminal Procedure was the difference between passing and failing. What if I had made studying more of a priority all the times that I chose to put off studying. This time around I don’t want to have to ask myself what if. With the proper motivation, it is said that a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. Again, I ask, what motivates you?

Resources

Have you ever tried to complete a job without the right tools? You may still be able to get it done but often times it requires double the time and effort required. Bar preparation is no different. I am not paid by any commercial bar program nor do I advocate one over the other, but I do know this. You need the right tools to succeed and bar courses can provide you with them. Odds are you have probably marked up all your old books, done most of the questions in them and won’t take the time to go back through the notes and outlines thoroughly. Most of the things I read about taking the Bar Exam a second time all said the same thing. Approach the exam as if you were taking it for the first time (again). The logic is simple, if you only focus on the subjects that you did poorly on the first time, then odds are the subjects you neglected will suffer drastically. Make sure you have the right tools for the job.

Routine

As a sports enthusiast I tend to watch a lot documentaries on various world class athletes. One constant among them is that they all found a routine that worked for them and committed to it religiously. Bar Prep is no different. Perhaps the first time around you had the right formula for success but just didn’t follow it like you should have. Or maybe you were just studying in a way that wasn’t effective as you had previously thought. One of my favorite movie series, Rocky, is case on point for what I’m talking about. Remember in Rocky III when he lost the title to Mr. T’s character, Clubber Lang?

He lost because as his trainer, Mickey, stated he had gotten soft, didn’t train hard enough, and didn’t want it bad enough.

After losing, Rocky goes out and recruits his old nemesis, Apollo Creed, to help him train. Everything Apollo had Rocky do was completely different from the way that Rocky had always trained. Sometimes you have to change it up, but when you do, make sure you fully commit to it (remember Stallone whining that he couldn’t do it, that he was afraid to change?). Once Rocky made up his mind to commit to training the way Apollo wanted him to we got a typical montage of Rocky working up a sweat and doing work and I hate the spoil the movie for you, but guess what…he won!

Is it a little cheesy to draw a Rocky parallel to taking the Bar Exam a second time? Perhaps, but it illustrates the point I’m trying to make. Rocky lost because he didn’t train like he should have and he got popped in the mouth by an opponent that caught him off guard. With the right motivation (the eye of the tiger), the right resources, (Apollo Creed) and the right routine (speed and footwork over strength training) he was able to come back and knock it out the second time. Keep motivated, make sure you have the right resources, and commit to a routine whole heartedly. I can’t guarantee that you or I will pass the Bar by doing this, but I do know that I won’t be asking myself “what if” if I should fail again. Do everything you can to get it right this round.

Written by Jack Whittington

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]>

Question: Susan, I can think of no better person to settle this debate than you.  Recently, I was in a law practice course and it was suggested that solos put their pictures on their business cards –like real estate agents commonly do, and make them “glossy.”  Some say this is sort of unprofessional –again, like something a real estate agent would do.  I can see the benefit of it, especially after considering the rationale –the person may forget your face and this is a reminder, etc. and the glossy surface can’t be written over.  However, I also think it is a bit cheesey –especially when people use outdated pictures, etc.  I will say that when my card (which has a nice logo, etc) was placed next to a glossy one with a picture and what-not, mine looked plain….What is your take on this?

I believe the ultimate answer is very personal to the individual attorney.  And the individual attorney has to consider who their audience is. Using face recognition is valid because if after meeting you, whether an event or a free consultation, if they go to your website to check you out where you DO have a picture they know they’ve landed on the right site. This alone can make it worthwhile given the number of website’s out there.

More importantly, the more they see your face the further it pushes the potential client down the road toward conversion  to paying client which is the goal, right?  The more touching points a client has with you, the more likely they are to connect with you, again, and again.  And if this idea of putting a picture on your business card seems cheesy, think of this;  You put your picture on your website, your Facebook page, your YouTube videos, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google +, possibly brochures.  Why would not put your picture on this small square of paper to reinforce the connection once having actually met the potential client?

You also mention in the same paragraph that some are of the opinion that real estate agents do it and therefore it is unprofessional.  Is it? Or maybe they know something lawyers don’t – visual recognition is a powerful tool. In the next breath you say you believe it to be ‘cheesy’.  Is it cheesy?  Or is it that historically lawyers have never done it so you question the validity of doing it?  Given what’s happening in the legal profession today, it seems to me we should all be looking for ways to break away from the pack.  Imagine you are at a networking event just having collected thirty cards.  Which one is going to stand out to you when you review them later? (A little secret?  I’m a visual person.  When I scan the Facebook Timeline, LinkedIn and Twitter I’m looking for pictures of those I follow, not names. I forget names easily, but never faces. When someone changes their avatar I get thrown off. How many potential clients are like me?) The better question to ask is ‘does it help me more than hurt me to have a picture on my business card?’

Personally, if I was practicing today. I would consider it and not dismiss it out of hand simply because realtors (who are professionals) do it and realtors are sales people and lawyers don’t like the association with sales people. If you think it’s cheesy because people use outdated pictures, don’t use an outdated picture! But do use the same professional picture on all your advertising such as your web presences and brochures so clients and colleagues can continue to make the connection to you.  The more often they connect, the closer you get to a new client.

What do you think?  Do you use a picture on your business card already?  How has it been received?

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Written by Rania S Combs]]>

“On the eve of launching my solo practice, I had a knot in the pit of my stomach. I’d worked for a firm right out of law school, and then did freelance work for other attorneys, but I’d never been completely on my own. I never had to be a rainmaker. I never had to run a business. I always had other attorneys in my firm to bounce ideas off of. What if I couldn’t do it?”

Nevertheless, I pressed on. I sent out a letter to family and friends telling them I was open for business and ignored the nagging voice of doubt reminding me how humiliating it would be if my efforts failed. Some of you who are on the verge of hanging your own shingle might be having the same anxieties. For you, I offer a few of the lessons I have learned in the past two years.

Rome wasn’t built in a day

In the months before I launched my website, I purchased what I thought was a really good domain name: www.texaswillsandtrustslaw.com. Having decided to start a completely web-based practice, I understood the importance of having prospective clients find my website. I figured people who were looking for estate planning attorneys may use key words such as Texas Wills and Trusts to search for them. That should elevate the ranking of my site. Or so I hoped.

Delusional as it may have been, a part of me really expected being found online to be as simple as choosing a domain name. So a few days after my website became public, I ran a Google search for “Texas Wills and Trusts.” Surely, I’d be able to find my website using that phrase.  I was wrong. Much to my dismay, my website was not on page 1 or even 10 for that matter. I gave up after page 26. Prospective clients would have given up long before that.

Discouraged, I called my brother. How would clients find me when my website was buried on the Internet? “Rania,” my brother said,

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nothing worth having ever was either.”

The truth is that building a practice, whether web-based or brick-and-mortar, takes a lot of time and hard work. It doesn’t happen overnight. There are no shortcuts. For me, the more I blogged and connected with other bloggers, the more traffic showed up on my website. The more articles I wrote and the more personality I injected into those articles, the longer prospective clients spent on my website.

It took time, but clients started knocking on my virtual door.

Business is often slow the first few months. Don’t get discouraged.

Virtual doesn’t have to be impersonal

Technology has influenced every aspect of our lives, including the way we communicate. Because so many of us are comfortable keeping in touch electronically, it’s easy to assume that people are content with less personal contact.

That was my assumption when I started my web-based law practice two years ago. So for the first couple of months, I didn’t engage in much offline communication with my clients. I figured that since I was operating a web-based practice and clients contacted me through my virtual law office, communicating electronically was expected.

That was a mistake.

Exchanging messages online is great for productivity, but is not very conducive to building a real relationship with clients. In order to do that, I needed to move communications offline as well.

Nowadays, the first thing I do when a new client contacts me is schedule an introductory phone call. The call serves a couple of purposes. First, it allows me to learn about his or her needs and determine whether those needs can be met in an online environment. And most importantly, it allows me to make a personal connection that I couldn’t make if I simply responded with an online note.

By taking the communication offline, I have been able to build real relationships with my clients, even though I have never met most of them in person. As a result, even after I’ve closed a case, I’ll hear back from them about major life events, such as the birth of a new child or grandchild, and also from the friends and family members they refer.

Don’t sell yourself short

During the first few months I was in solo practice, a couple engaged me to do their estate planning. After investing some time talking with these clients and discussing my fees, they said someone they knew referred another attorney who would prepare their estate planning documents for less. They wanted to work with me, but asked me to match the other attorney’s rate.

Their request took me by surprise, but I really wanted the work. So I agreed to reduce my rate. Rather than feeling happy that they had chosen me, however, the experience left me feeling resentful and frustrated for compromising on what I knew was a very reasonable fee quote.

“If someone hires you because of price, they’ll fire you because of price.”

Over the past two years, I’ve come to realize that there are always going to be attorneys who may offer their services at a lower rate. And if the lowest price is the most important factor for the client, they’ll likely be much happier choosing that option. But I think clients recognize that the lowest fee does not necessarily equate to the best value. It’s up to us to differentiate the value in our services.

Since going solo, I have been pleased with the amount of positive feedback I have received regarding the value of my services. In fact, a couple of months ago, a client sent me a check in excess of our agreed fee because she believed the value of the services she received exceeded the fee I quoted.

New solos are under a lot of financial pressure, so they’re often reluctant to turn away a paying client, no matter what the compromise. Try to resist the temptation. Do a lot of research. Understand the value of the services you provide. Before beginning any work on a client’s behalf, provide a fair quote based on his or her unique circumstances. But don’t sell yourself short.

Be open to constructive criticism

I spent months designing my website. It took me months because I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew nothing about WordPress or blogging. I didn’t know a widget from a plugin. But I didn’t have the budget to hire someone to do it for me. So I labored away until I finally had what I thought was a visually attractive website.

However, several months after I made my website public, I met an attorney who asked an interesting question: “If I were a prospective client and clicked on your website, would I immediately know how you can help me?” Tentatively, I answered, “I think so.”

So this attorney took the time to pull up my website after he got to his office and then called me after he’d seen it. I’ll spare you his point-by-point critique (it was very long), but the bottom line was that my website was not effective. While it looked nice, it was neither client-focused nor easy to navigate. To attract clients, it needed to be both. I was crushed.

Although the criticism was discouraging, I took it to heart. I made several of the changes he recommended and reaped the reward. Soon, the bounce rate on my website decreased and the time prospective clients spent on my site increased. With that came more clients.

It’s much easier to tell people what they want to hear. It takes a lot of courage and time to be bluntly honest and to back up that honesty with practical advice. But what a difference it can make! There are several colleagues and professionals around the country who I know will tell me the truth, no matter how discouraging it may initially be. I appreciate them. If someone is willing to offer that kind of feedback, don’t be offended. Accept it graciously.

You don’t have to do it alone!

And that brings me to my last lesson: You don’t have to do it on your own. There are plenty of attorneys willing to help if you just ask.

The general public’s perception of lawyers may often be negative, but the attorneys I’ve encountered in the past two years have been incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. Before I started my practice, I talked to as many lawyers as possible about what it would take to build and grow a law firm. And I still do. There is so much more I can learn and improve upon, and I’m grateful for those who take the time to help.

So go ahead. Take the first step. Call a respected attorney in your area of practice and ask for help on an issue that has you stumped. Make connections with attorneys whose marketing acumen you admire or whose blogs you enjoy. Call a colleague in another jurisdiction with whom you’d like to collaborate.

Most likely, they’ll be flattered you called and happy to offer you advice. I know I always am. Every time someone calls me, I remember all the attorneys who have mentored and encouraged me in the past two years, and I’m happy to pay it forward. I hope that those I help will one day do the same for others.

Looking ahead

I’ve learned so much in the past two years, both personally and professionally. In some ways, it seems like I’ve been in solo practice for much longer. In other ways, I feel like I’m just getting started. I have accomplished things I never thought I could, and I can honestly say I’ve never worked harder. But the process of building my firm has been an incredibly rewarding experience.

As you start your own solo journey, I hope it will be the same for you.

Written by Rania S Combs

Written by Suzanne Meehle]]> I’ve talked a lot on this blog about the differences between BigLaw and Solo. What I haven’t spent enough time on is what it took to make the transition from BigLaw to Solo.

How exactly did I make the leap?

First and foremost, I got fed up. Yes indeed. I had to hate being a cog in the BigLaw machine badly enough to give up what there is to love about BigLaw. Because, really, there IS a lot to love. I loved my co-workers, who were among the best and most talented attorneys I’ve ever known. I loved having a huge support staff. I loved having people nod in satisfaction when I told them what firm I worked for. I loved getting a regular, fat paycheck. And I seriously loved breaking down a few barriers: I was the first person from my law school that was hired into my old firm; and while I worked there we had more women associates and partners than at any other BigLaw firm in town I can think of. Not too shabby.

I really loathed what I didn’t like about BigLaw.  I hated being measured by the number of hours I billed over the quality of my work. I dreaded having to collect on some pretty outrageous bills racked up by some of my clients who needed a little hand-holding. I despised feeling that what I contributed to the firm made little difference. And I hated being metaphorically thrown in the deep end of the pool without swim lessons – practicing a new areas of law by the seat of my pants and hoping I didn’t screw up so badly that a client or a partner would notice.

That last one – that doesn’t go away when you go solo. You are still flying by the seat of your pants, but at least you have control over the direction. You can control what clients you hire, what work you take on, what CLE you take, what treatises you buy and read, and what forms you use as a jumping-off point.

But I grew to hate my job at BigLaw more than I feared hanging a shingle. And boy howdy, was I ever afraid! It took me more than a year after I knew I didn’t belong at BigLaw to screw up the courage to leave.

Hanging a shingle meant, as a good friend put it, “saying ‘F*** you!’ to the cliff and jumping into an abyss.”

I talked to everyone who would listen about my growing dissatisfaction with BigLaw. I started reading about so-called “alternative” ways of practicing law, and eventually started taking classes at SPU. I saved my pennies and wished for the day that I could finally walk away from my job at BigLaw. I commiserated over lunch, on the phone and via email with a good friend about how much we wanted out of BigLaw.

And then it happened: the director of Human Resources walked into my office and handed me a self-assessment form in preparation for my annual review. In filling it out, I realized that my honest answer to most of the questions would get me fired from BigLaw:

1. How would you rate your performance? Pretty lackluster of late, because I hate coming to work in the morning.
2. How would you rate your legal abilities? Better than average, but I really don’t know since I’m the only lawyer in the firm who does what I do, even though I’ve only been here for three years.
3. What are your goals for next year? To not be here by the end of the year.
4. How would you rate your loyalty to the firm? See #3, above.

I absolutely could not be honest in my self-assessment and keep my job. I knew right then that I had to leave. Now. Right now!

On the drive home that night, I called my friend and soon-to-be business partner to schedule a lunch where we hatched our escape plans. We were giving notice the following week, and we would open our firm on the first day of the following month. We each thought we could attract a few of our existing clients to come with us, which would give us a much-needed push-off. We could operate on a shoestring budget. I threw together a rough sketch of a business plan and we hired a marketing firm to help us figure out that piece of the puzzle. We set up a professional limited liability company.  We each borrowed start-up money from our respective families. We found a small office to rent. In short, we did a few things right and made a few mistakes.

We did OK borrowing the money, but we should not have spent it on a marketing firm. We did well starting with a business plan and a shoestring budget, but we should never have leased space right out of the gate. We attracted clients right away, and we were right that we could survive without BigLaw salaries and perks. We eschewed practice management software at our peril. We underestimated the need for a clear operating agreement. We overestimated the power of a good friendship to translate into a good business partnership. We learned. Eventually we broke up the firm and went our separate ways.

This time I did a few things differently. I started out in a home office for six months, and did not lease space until I had outgrown my existing space. I did my own marketing: I set up a website using WordPress so that I had control over the content and search engine optimization (“SEO”) that drives traffic to the site; I ordered business cards and letterhead on the cheap; and I networked my butt off. I immediately signed up to use Clio’s practice management system. I took every SPU class that seemed vaguely relevant to my practice. I paid off what I owed to my family for the loan to set up my first firm, and I now operate in the black. My business plan is a constantly-evolving, but I’m still on a shoestring budget.

Now, having transitioned from BigLaw dropout to successful solo, I am happy.

There is nothing wrong with working for a BigLaw firm. But if you are dissatisfied with your job at BigLaw, I have some advice: say “F*** you!” to that cliff and jump!

Written by Suzanne Meehle

Written by Douglas Greenberg]]> In his seminal guide on solo practice, Jay Foonberg predicted that the Internet would change everything about the way consumers shopped for goods and services. And in his opinion, the practice of law was no exception. Today, Foonberg’s vision seems to be materializing more each day. Consumers size up lawyers not just by their artwork and furniture but also by their online reviews at sites like Yelp.com. Indeed, for some potential clients, searching for an attorney may be just like searching for a restaurant: pick up an iPhone and start perusing reviews (perhaps with Siri as a guide.) In fact, Yelp is one of the three main ways that clients come to me (I’ll leave the other two to future posts).

When I first began my practice, I was ambivalent about having a presence on Yelp. On one hand, I knew it was a great (and low-cost) way to gain much-needed exposure. On the other, I feared it because it was entirely outside of my control. Review websites are great for obtaining information, but also largely unregulated. Despite some refinements over the years, users can go on them and say anything about anyone, anonymously, without fear of repercussions. This allows anyone with an internet connection and an agenda (including an unscrupulous competitor) to post a false or unfair reviews and manipulate ratings. And yet, true or untrue, strangers would potentially take those reviews and ratings at face value.

This frightening truth is part of the brave new world that modern lawyers and other business owners confront. Review websites are here to stay. As a result, your control over your reputation may not go much further than your ability to foster positive reviews and ratings on review sites like Yelp. Ultimately, I decided to embrace the inevitable. I encouraged a client to post a review on Yelp and he did. Since then, I have gotten a surprising amount of business from users searching on Yelp. As time has gone on, more reviews have been posted (all of them favorable, thankfully). And if anything, I would like to believe that the site has showcased my honesty and good customer service.

Yet, in reality I know that this view is simplistic. As others have attested, many reviewers are simply unfair and much of the Yelp game may be more about your likability and luck and the inevitable outcome of a legal matter than about your competence and skill. Some businesses have even sued Yelp for poor monitoring of their site. Since I began riding the wave of the modern Internet review site, I have learned a few basic tips that can help make Yelp and other websites a positive experience:

Encourage satisfied clients to post reviews. Personally, I do not believe there is anything unethical about doing this. Indeed, law practices have used testimonials for years in their advertising. Only here, the client is telling their own story, in their own words, which I personally feel is better.

Treat everyone with respect. Perhaps the most lasting influence Yelp will have on the legal industry is the way lawyers treat their clients. Gone are the days when an attorney could chew out a nuisance client and kick them to the curb. Such actions now risk damaging retaliation by way of nasty internet complaints. In my practice, frankly, I am so terrified that this might happen that I treat everyone quite politely and will bite my tongue no matter how unreasonable the person is being. Such is life in the new age. Every call or meeting is a potential review, so do your best to send the person home satisfied (or at very least not unsatisfied).

Lastly, it pays to engage clients who are having issues rather than avoiding them. At the veterinary hospital where my wife works, they have recently begun encouraging people to come to them before posting a Yelp review. The idea is to catch problem cases before they wind up on the Internet. Whether the strategy works remains to be seen, but the concept is important. By addressing the source of dissatisfaction as early as possible, you have the greatest opportunity to fix the problem. And, even if the problems are not fixable, there’s always the possibility that if unhappy clients at least have the opportunity to air their grievances to you, they will be less inclined to do so at home on their computer.

Are you considering using Yelp? What has been your experience on Yelp or other review sites?

Written by Douglas Greenberg

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> Last week someone I know sent me an e-mail and asked if I was following the hashtagged conversation #MPF12. I guess it was a marketing convention in Miami. I wasn’t following it; didn’t know about it. But the thrust of this lawyer’s concern was as he watched the tweets he was appalled as what he was reading…from lawyers! We good naturedly went back and forth about legal marketing but it reminded me of how misunderstood true marketing is by most. So I am resurrecting this post about marketing I wrote a few years ago which ultimately got highlighted by the ABA Journal Online. I certainly would like to know your thoughts, as always.

“If a young man tells his date she’s intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he’s saying the right things to the right person and that’s marketing. If the young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is — that’s advertising. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is — that’s public relations.”S.H. Simmons

In the past week or so the great debate in the legal profession – legal marketing – has reared its head, again. And it has brought out the zealots on both sides. Within the profession legal marketing is a hot button issue like abortion, gay rights and stem cell research. There are extremists on each side of the debate and the majority who reside somewhere in the middle.

The problem is everyone talks about marketing as if they know what it really is. The reality is most don’t but they have strong opinions, nonetheless. While the above is illustrative and done with humor, here are some definitions which might help enlighten and provide you some intelligent dialogue when someone starts the ‘great debate’:

The Philosophy Marketing and the Marketing Concept.

The marketing concept is a philosophy. It makes the customer, and the satisfaction of his or her needs, the focal point of all business activities.

Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise. Drucker.

This customer focused philosophy is known as the ‘marketing concept’. The marketing concept is a philosophy, not a system of marketing or an organizational structure. It is founded on the belief that profitable sales and satisfactory returns on investment can only be achieved by identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs and desires. Barwell.

The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition. Jobber.

Implementation of the marketing concept [in the 1990's] requires attention to three basic elements of the marketing concept. These are: Customer orientation; An organization to implement a customer orientation; Long-range customer and societal welfare. Cohen.

From the Marketing Teacher

Another popular definition is:

Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer.

Therefore, it is fairly obvious that true marketing is all about the customer or (in the legal profession) the client and client-orientation is the cornerstone to client satisfaction which results in profitability (hopefully) for the lawyer. If done correctly it is positioned as a 100%/100% win for client and lawyer.

To say in any way shape or form that lawyers, new or old, should not market, shows a lack of understanding about what marketing is. It is my experience that those who claim lawyers ‘shouldn’t market…it’s not dignified’ are not really talking about marketing at all. We all market in everything we do intentionally or not. What they are talking about, in my opinion, is less the actual concept or philosophy of marketing and more the manner in which a marketing plan is ‘executed’.

Strategies and Tactics

Strategies are best explained as the direction the marketing effort takes over some period of time while tactics are actionable steps or decisions made in order to follow the strategies established.

And this is at the heart of the great debate.

When one lawyer says, “that type of marketing drags down the profession” they are passing judgment less on the marketing philosophy and more on the ‘tactics’ they find distasteful. But is it to the benefit or taste of that lawyer’s potential client? If the goal is ‘customer orientation’ and ‘an organization to implement a customer orientation; long-range customer and societal welfare’ we have to look through the eyes of the client.

Strategies and tactics that would appeal to me or make me feel repelled or ashamed in many ways are irrelevant unless I’m the client purported to be served. Is it geared towards the needs of the client and societal welfare and does it reach them in the manner they need to be reached? In order for the service provider to achieve these goals that’s what matters.

If your client is an urban immigrant who takes the bus and speaks poor English, distrusting of lawyers for a myriad of reasons and your goal is to reach and educate that consumer on legal services they require, what is the best strategy devised and the best tactics to implement to get the message across to help them? It clearly isn’t bar association lunches, public speaking engagements at the chamber or high-profile articles in a national law journal (unless you have also developed a secondary strategy to cultivate professional referrals or some other goal.)

In this regard, the legal profession is no different. If you, my potential client, don’t know I exist, how I can help you? If the lawyer can’t overcome identified barriers for a successful client/attorney relationship through relevant ‘tactics’ how can a potential client decide to utilize the lawyer’s services and by extension, how will the client’s legal needs be met?

I’m a purist. I believe in the marketing philosophy. I believe all solos, especially, need to understand why ‘marketing’ is not a dirty word in the legal profession. As stated above, “it is not a specialized activity at all.” It includes among other activities networking, social media, public speaking, educational seminars, pro bono work, joining bar associations, traditional advertising, appropriate pricing and packaging of legal services. It is not a ‘thing’…it is a philosophy.

Let’s take it a step further. Not every solo can nor wants to utilize every strategy or tactic. Not every activity is suitable for every lawyer’s personality or professional mission nor can every strategy or tactic achieve the goal of reaching the client they seek to serve. And many lawyers simply don’t know how to assess their skill sets appropriately, nor do they know how to cost-effectively and efficiently reach the clients they want to serve. If the message can’t be delivered, both the legal provider and the public are harmed.

Do some lawyers choose marketing strategies and tactics which make me cringe? Absolutely. But I am also not their targeted client. If their behavior is egregious, I’ll leave it to those who govern the profession to take proper action. If those governors overstep their bounds, I leave it to the lawyers to sue to protect their rights and in doing so protect all our rights.

So, before people disparage those who would teach lawyers to create a client-driven solo-practice and the strategies and tactics necessary to reach their client base, remember, everything you do is marketing whether intentional or not. If I were starting out today, I would seek the help of someone who is knowledgeable to devise a marketing strategy to reach my clients while I created a client-centered practice.

It would be executed in a manner which reflects my ethics and morality and taste and be within the professional guidelines governing such activities. But I would be out there marketing my ability to serve clients with legal needs. And so should you.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel