May/June 2009

In this issue:

Welcome

Upcoming Events and What's New

Featured Product How to Grow Your Law Practice on Shoestring Budget

Feature Article: "Best Of" Get a Life (TM) Conference 2009

What’s Happening on the Legal Ease Blog

Welcome to all of the new subscribers to Lawyer Meltdown this month, and for all of you who asked questions. And a special welcome to the new subscribers who found me on Twitter! Thanks for joining us - we're happy to have you.

New subscribers have joined us from: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Florida. I hope you all enjoy the Lawyer Meltdown Newsletter.

Keep those questions and your feedback coming, but please do not respond directly to this email. You can send questions, comments or suggestions for future topics for the newsletter at Allison@LegalEaseConsulting.com. I can't wait to hear from you.

May was yet another month of traveling - I was in New Orleans for the ABA Law Practice Management Section's joint Spring Meeting with the Young Lawyers Division, and then last week I was in Chicago for the Total Practice Management Association's first annual "Get a Life" (TM) conference. I spoke at both events - in New Orleans I was on a panel with legal marketer John Remsen and attorney Ed Flitton talking about ways to take charge of your practice in the down economy, focusing on young lawyers. At the Get a Life (TM) conference, I spoke about good billing practices, how to talk to your clients about billing and communicate the value of your services.

Both conferences were great opportunities to meet lawyers as well as some of the fabulous speakers that were on hand to present - I had a blast and learned a lot.

If you're interested in seeing my presentation from last week, you can join the Total Practice Management Association (it's free).

Upcoming Events

Succeeding in the New Economy: Practical and Professional Strategies for Lawyers

June 15, 2009, 6-9 p.m., Suffolk County Bar Assoc., Hauppauge, NY

This program is FREE for members of the Suffolk County Bar Association and the fee for non-members is minimal, but pre-registration is required!. To register, call 631-234-5588 or visit the SCBA website.

I'll be talking about professional networking and rainmaking - developing a basic marketing plan and using online methods for developing business. But the program addresses much more, including cash flow management, cost cutting techniques and becoming 'green,' career counseling, developing new areas of practice, and work/life balance.

Thanks to all of my readers and clients for your support! I look forward to seeing you at one or more of the above events. Please stop by and say 'hi' if you attend!

How to Grow Your Law Practice on a Shoestring Budget Home Study Version

Looking for a better way to get quality clients in a challenging economy? Take a look at the Home Study Program, “How to Grow Your Law Practice on a Shoestring Budget.” You can even purchase audios of the individual classes if you aren't interested in the whole series.

Audio #3 covers the first step in attracting high value clients – creating your ideal client profile. After all, you’ve got to know who your best clients are before you can reach them. And once you know who they are, audio #5 will help you create a marketing message to attract exactly the kinds of clients you want.

You can buy individual portions of the program or buy the whole series, which includes: strategies for managing your activities to make time for marketing, tips on networking, speaking engagements and writing (audios #1, 2, 4 and 6) as well as tips on getting media attention and establishing relationships with reporters – regardless of the size of your firm (audio #8). And finally, you’ll learn how to create client loyalty and referrals through excellent client service (audio #7).Click here for more information.

"The 8 week teleclass was the best money I have spent on my law practice (and still is).   The class on Identifying Your Ideal Client alone was worth the purchase price of the whole class. I definitely saw a difference in my practice after taking that class.  The materials are so well put together and have so much information, they are great. 

Every few months I go back and redo the exercises, to see if things have changed, if I need to tweak anything and to see what's been working.  And, I still listen to the CD's when I'm driving sometimes." 

 Leanna Hamill, Attorney at Law
Estate planning-Elder Law
160 Old Derby St., Suite 25
Hingham, MA
P:781.749.2284
F:866.573.6429
http://www.hamilllawoffice.com

“I have really enjoyed listening to both of you. I have learned a lot from both of you, and it has caused me to do a lot of thinking about my clients and my practice. Candidly, the class exceeded my expectations about receiving information to "put it all together" to market my practice.

Thank you both for putting together and presenting a great class.”

Mark R. Callender, Esq.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

“The seminar exceeded my expectations because it contained so much information that taking the course again is something I think I would do.  There were many levels of marketing that were addressed and a ton of information.

My business has grown tremendously as a result of the marketing seminar.  I was able to increase my rates, fire bad clients or let them move on.  I now have a better evaluating tool for clients and can figure out who will be a good client by objective evaluation of the circumstances.  I now have a much better idea of who my ideal client is."  

Vaughn J. Buffalo
Buffalo & Associates LLC
26 Broadway, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
212-785-3232

To see my other products, visit my products and services page.

"Best of" - Get a Life Conference 2009

Last week I attended the first annual "Get a Life" (TM) conference sponsored by the Total Practice Management Association. In addition to an all-star lineup of speakers and great social events, the conference organizers made a concerted effort to show attendees that having a good time and building a successful practice aren't mutually exclusive. If you want to get a 'feel' for the conference, you can see photos, read the Twitter stream and get a conference recap at the Total Practice Management Association site.

The conference was conceived to show lawyers that there's a way to practice well and still have a life - a subject near and dear to my heart and my consulting practice. In order to create work/life balance, lawyers need to understand how to delegate and outsource, how to identify and attract the right clients, and how to get paid - all topics covered by the conference.

Tips from "Get a Life" 2009:

Here are a few of the 'tidbits' I picked up at the conference that I thought might be of interest to you (if they look familiar, you may have seen some of them on Twitter - I was 'live-tweeting' a good portion of the event):

Larry Bodine

1. Use free PR sites such as JD Supra. Put your articles in the public domain. If you put out good material, it will get picked up and help you get noticed
2. Many publications will require you to sign a contract re: copyright when you submit an article for publication. Often, those contracts put restrictions on how you can use your own material, but most publications will allow you to modify the contract so you retain the rights to reprint and republish your own material without permission or payment to the publication.
3. Follow @scglprnetwork on Twitter for info and press requests specifically for lawyers

Stephen Fairley

1. 85% of your visitors to your website will stay less than 30 seconds and will never return - that means you've got less than 30 seconds to get their attention
2. The #1 goal of your website is to capture leads - get leads by giving free information in exchange for contact information
3. You want to stand out in the marketplace, so look at what your competition is doing, and do the opposite
   

Alexis Neely

1. Focus on what you love to do, what provides the most value for your business and what you're great at - outsource the rest!
2. Increase productivity by getting out of your office - if you're not there, your team can figure out how to handle problems, but if you're in your office, your team 'needs' you more
   

Here's a sampling of recent posts on the Legal Ease Blog:

Every month, the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA puts out their Webzine, Law Practice Today. Whether you're a member of the ABA or not, you can read Law Practice Today for free on line. To give you an idea what's available, read my post about Law Practice Today webzine.

Getting ready to hit the beach or the pool this summer? What are you reading? Check out my list of good reads for lawyers.

Addicted to your "Crackberry?" Make sure you're not letting it hurt your reputation - read my post on the rules for good BlackBerry use.

Caring about your clients is good business. Your passion for your clients shows - read how one lawyer was reminded of that lesson and his tips for 'bringing back that loving feeling' for your clients.

I am always interested in your comments and input on my blog posts, so please continue to stop by.

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Thanks for reading -

All the best,

Follow me on : @allisonshields

P.S. Did you like this article? Want to use it for your own newsletter? Have suggestions for topics for future articles? Send me an email at Allison@LegalEaseConsulting.com.