Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> This happens more than you know. In the process of planning for a solo practice, building their web presence, letting people know they are going solo, the lawyer gets a job offer she simply can’t decline.  Unusual? Not at all.  I’ll explain.

When you embark on starting a solo practice you are consciously reframing your own attitude about what it means to be a practicing lawyer.  You are shifting from the mindset of ‘employee’ and ‘I need to be trained’ to ‘self-employed’ and “I need to start producing business on my own”.  You are no longer asking permission to function in the legal world based upon others’ judgment and acceptance of you.  You are now accepting yourself non-judgmentally and giving yourself permission to be a business person, rainmaker and legal services provider.  You no longer have your nose pressed up against any sized law firm’s window hoping you will be noticed amongst the crush of others. You have stepped back from the crush.  You have decided to build your own career and life.

This is really heady stuff.  This radical shift in your attitude about yourself and your relationship to the professional community, colleagues, judges and clients and the non-legal world you live in emanates from you.  You are putting yourself out there as an independent, free thinking self-starter.  You are now changing the way you connect with colleagues because you no longer view them as future employers but as peers. You are deliberately learning life long marketing skills to promote your capabilities, not sitting back in a job waiting for a senior partner to hand you a file.  You are actively defining and methodically seeking out your ideal client, not reacting to the mandates of others. You are building a laser-focused global ‘personal’ brand, not being absorbed by someone else’s vision of you and your place in the legal eco-system or lack thereof.

With this change in perspective and attitude, potential employers will actually start to take notice as you navigate yourself through the legal community both online and off.

I have been approached several times by headhunters specifically asking if I know self-starting solos who may be interested in joining a small firm for advancement and even partnership. Yes, they call me even in this economy.

Recently, I received three separate e-mails from people who started creating their business plans for solo practice, started to connect to colleagues in a different way….getting job offers which they took.

Why were they approached now? It’s a good question.  Here’s the answer. They showed confidence, initiative, a sense of how to build a business, understood what they needed to do to build a web presence, had already branded themselves…. and these are all very attractive qualities to prospective employers or those looking to even bring in partners in their small firms.  I just helped prep a young lady in the UK for an interview with an attorney.  What did she have to do for prep?  She had to show him how to improve his website.  No kidding.  She’s a highly skilled lawyer, top of her class. This is part of her job interview.

You may ask, “if these lawyers were so committed to going solo, why did they accept jobs?”  I have a motto:  Plant as many seeds as possible…you never know what will grow.  Life is about giving yourself options and the flexibility to answer the door when opportunity knocks.  By showing they didn’t necessarily need employment, they became desirable and were courted.  Yet, everyone is different.  What matters is whether or not it was the right choice for them and what the incentives were which made it appealing.

When I consulted I also had many clients accept jobs; jobs which would never have been available to them had they not started the process of going solo.  They openly acknowledge this because they are the ones who told me once they repositioned themselves in the community, changed their own perspectives, redirected their energies towards building a business rather than getting a job, they became very attractive to their new employers and the jobs offered were just too perfect to decline.

For some strange reason my clients thought I would be disappointed they got a legal job working for someone else.  Absolutely NOT.  Life is about options, the best options for each of us.  Just because I will help those who want to go solo doesn’t mean I’m unhappy when they don’t.  I want lawyers to feel fulfilled with their careers, to understand there are many ways to practice law.  There is happiness in all types of practices.  The Solo Practice University blog’s focus happens to be with the benefits one can derive practicing law as a solo.  But if you are happy practicing law in whatever form you’re doing so, that’s the ultimate gratification, for you and me.

Did you decide to go solo and then get a job offer?  Please share.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/04/29/youre-hired-but-i-just-went-solo/feed/ 1 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/04/05/legal-zoom-rocketlawyer-we-fear-what-we-dont-understand-and-to-our-detriment/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/04/05/legal-zoom-rocketlawyer-we-fear-what-we-dont-understand-and-to-our-detriment/#comments Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:24:00 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=7034

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> (Please note: the factual information presented is from disparate sources including presentations I’ve attended, personal conversations with employees from branded networks, independent sources, and my own research over the last two years. SPU is not affiliated with any branded network)

Intriguing title, I know. However, I learned a lot recently from the proverbial horses’ mouths.  Most any lawyer I talk to has almost an irrational and visceral reaction when they hear the name LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer,  companies which fall into the category of branded networks.  What is a branded network?

A branded network is a company that has created a single brand around their products and services which are marketed direct to the consumer (often abbreviated as “D2C”). In the case of legal services, these branded networks are providing legal forms and documents through document automation and assembly programs and various other delivery methods. These branded networks invite lawyers to join them in order to provide consumers with access to a licensed lawyer and to generate content for the company’s website. The branded network receives the benefit of the association with licensed lawyers and the lawyer receives the benefit of having their name and brand extended to a larger pool of potential clients. Because these companies have marketing budgets that far exceed those of most law firms, they are able to build online brand recognition that drives consumers seeking legal services online to their company’s website. Lawyers cannot compete with the online reach and marketing power of a branded network.

~ Excerpt from Stephanie Kimbro’s own excerpt of her new book  Consumer Law Revolution- Lawyer’s Guide to Working With Online Marketing Tools (Due out summer, 2013) I’m looking forward to reading this book when it comes out and learn even more about her take on this important topic!

Since Legal Zoom has a 60% aided brand awareness (put their name in a lineup and 60% of consumers have heard of them versus the biggest law firms with only 2 – 5% brand awareness) we’ll use Legal Zoom as our lead. Those lawyers who claim they aren’t frightened about branded networks such as Legal Zoom are generally flip about it and say that Legal Zoom’s clients would never be clients who would want their services.  And a smaller minority say they love charging these DIY clients to undo the damage they inflicted upon themselves because they didn’t want to pay for a ‘real’ lawyer.  Well, those are very foolish answers and each one shows a certain amount of false bravado and a willful lack of education about branded networks.  Most importantly, failure to understand branded networks and how they could potentially benefit a solo/small firm, can actually be detrimental to your practice going forward.  Or to quote Stephanie Kimbro in our recent conversation on the topic, ‘bad for business.’

Like you, I thought the Legal Zooms of the world were all about forms for DIYers and therefore felt they were no immediate threat to the majority of lawyers.  I imagined in time they would expand to include a network of attorneys to help those who struggled with the forms but I’d not heard too much about this until recently. (I am, actually, most impressed with what Jacoby and Meyers is doing and they are extending their brand into a branded network.)  I’ve also talked to a well established attorney who is becoming a franchise/affiliate of Jacoby and Meyers.  He’s not a stupid lawyer by any stretch.  His business is well established with many lawyers working for him and he wants to take advantage of the marketing might J & M will bring to his market.  He wants to be the first in line.

Here Are The Facts

The legal services sector is a 1/2 Trillion Dollar Industry.  The Legal Industry is one of the world’s largest and most inefficient service economies. There has been a 75% rise in legal costs over the past decade (compared to a 20% rise in non-legal costs) ~ Source: William Blair & Co., National Law Journal, Eversheds/Corporate Executive Board

Sounds like the tuition trajectory of law school, right?

These big branded networks have access to capital because of these statistics. And because of these statistics a huge latent market of underserved individuals has been identified.  And just as a heat seeking missile hones in on its target, so flows venture capital:

Legal Zoom – $66 Million 2011

Total Attorneys – $15 Million 2012

Rocket Lawyer – 29.3 Million 2011/2012

Who is their target audience?  Their traditional and most publicized target audience is different than the standard law firm’s target audience.  These consumers/clients are very price sensitive even though they have money.  They are hardcore DIY’ers who feel they have the intelligence to figure things out on their own.  Yes, most of you have a vague idea of their audience but inaccurately define it in a more derogatory way.  To put it bluntly, lawyers say these types of clients are both cheap and stupid.  What many of you may not know, though, is these companies are now broadening their reach into traditionally latent groups, those groups who have too much money to qualify for legal aid yet still have legal needs. They are not traditional DIYers.  What they’ve identified is what’s most important to you: these potential clients are not currently hiring lawyers but would if the right solution presented itself.  And this market is considered to be huge by those now looking to dominate.

And, to get it out of the way, the number one way to get business is word-of-mouth referrals.  That’s the brass ring of a successful practice, where you have so much referral business you have to turn it away.  But you have to get there first and this includes marketing your services effectively.

The Biggest Marketing Playground – The Internet.

As a backdrop, let’s look at some recent statistics on internet usage:

• 79% of adults use the internet
• 50% use smartphones

(Is it any wonder Facebook just came out with their own ‘Home Page’ on a smartphone!)

How Clients Find Lawyers On The Internet

(American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services February 2011)

These numbers paint the best picture and they are two years old. The top three are:

• Q & A sites
• Lawyer Rating Websites
• Lawyer Website (your own website)

Matching websites are creeping up there, too, after online directories.  If you follow the smart money it explains why Rocket Lawyer just purchased LawPivot (a Q & A site).  Interactivity between lawyers and potential clients is the name of the game and the interactivity is taking place on the internet.  The problem for you, however, is there are so many ‘interactive’ startups in the space that it’s hard to separate what is good and what isn’t  and what, if anything, is the best fit for your practice.  Some of these startups will thrive.  But most will die. The goal of this piece is to get you to think about where you want to be in the ecosystem.

Why You Should Investigate Branded Networks

Branded networks come in all shapes and sizes so let’s focus on the big two – Legal Zoom and Rocket Lawyer.  Yes, Legal Zoom has been around a while and Rocket Lawyer is the biggest ‘new’ kid on the block.  But there’s lava bubbling under the crust and to dismiss them as forms companies with clients you don’t want would be a huge mistake.

In relation to the latent legal market described above, Legal Zoom (the company I’ve the most information on) is rolling out with subscription services such as legal plans.  These subscription style legal plans are in many ways comparable to what a firefighter or another union-type or corporate employee might get as a benefit.  The employee has a set amount of money deducted from his paycheck every pay period for a menu of legal services either free with their subscription plan or discounted.  The difference with these branded networks is now anyone can sign up for a legal plan. You don’t have to be part of a company or union. That means your clients can sign up for these plans. While not aggressively marketed yet they are technically in 41 states offering unlimited 30 minute consults with attorneys – one consult per legal matter. Their attorneys will also do limited document reviews with the attorney offering a 25% discount for the work.  They have about eighty attorneys who work with their primary firms. Additionally, they work with about 100 local attorneys who take on matters outside the parameters of the subscription legal plans.  Again, their attorneys do so with a 25% discount off their regular ‘reasonable’ rates.

Legal Zoom is very built out in California.  California is essentially their testing ground as they address the ethical issues surrounding:

• Unauthorized Practice of Law – they are multi-jurisdictional and they’re adding a non-lawyer into the practice of law.
• Establishment of a Relationships via Q & A – some states claim disclaimers are inadequate.
• Confidentiality
• Cloud computing – this is becoming less and less of an issue as long as one takes reasonable steps to keep secure
• Professional Independence of the attorney -  is the process occurring in a way which compromises the lawyer’s independence of the branded network
• Rules of Attorney Advertising - fifty jurisdictions, fifty different sets of rules
• Fee Splitting – or the perception of fee splitting (even though asking an attorney to reduce their fees to be part of the network doesn’t appear to be fee splitting to me unless the reduction is conferring a benefit to the network and therefore construed as a ‘fee’ under the rules),
• Unbundling of Legal Services – or as some see it, aiding a non-lawyer with the practice of law. It is certainly more widely accepted than before and the ABA is actively promoting it as a means to provide Access to Justice (A2J) for those underserved.

Suffice it to say, they are aggressively addressing these issues and when they are successful, which I believe they will be, then these branded networks will dominate the legal market in ways most lawyers haven’t prepared for.  I think you should anticipate and decide if your practice would benefit from an association with a branded network.  They all have similar core models, some have more features, some less, but the principle is the same,  In exchange for discounting your fees a percentage, you buy into their aided brand awareness to drive business to your practice.

Is a Branded Network Right For You?

As these volcanos erupt (to keep my theme going), they are going to own internet legal marketing. With millions and millions of dollars behind them and teams of trained people employed to push their brand awareness through the roof driving traffic to their site, these networks (Legal Zoom already has a 60% aided brand awareness whereas the largest law firms have maybe 2 – 5%), are going to knock you back to page 15 in a google search unless the client puts your name or your firm’s name into the search bar. The advertising and marketing might they will unleash is something you will struggle to compete with as a solo. The time and energy and costs will be overwhelming especially to a solo who doesn’t already have a strong presence or a specific niche or a very strong referral base. I’m not trying to frighten you.  I just want you to be aware.

If you want to explore branded networks, here is a checklist of things for you to consider:

• Does the ‘brand’ of the network fit your image and what you are trying to create?  Does the association help or hurt you?
• Are you able to assess the quality of the product the branded network is producing?  If it’s a company like Legal Zoom or Rocket Lawyer or SmartLegalForms, do you like the product? Are you able to contribute to the product to improve it to meet your standards?
• Does the ‘cost’ of the relationship make sense for your bottom line?  All of these branded networks have an associated cost, mostly in some type of reduction to your regular fees as well as time you could be devoting to full fare clients.  Can you justify it as a marketing cost for getting the business or are they asking too much of you and it compromises your finances?
• Do they actively support your jurisdiction or just ‘say’ they are in your jurisdiction?
• If you try it and it doesn’t work out as you’d hoped, can you get out?
• If it’s a huge success can you scale up?
• Can you work with more than one branded network at the same time?

There is a lot to digest here.  But it’s happening.  The field is still murky.  There are no sure heroes and plenty of zeroes in this space, but it is happening.  Be aware and start investigating. Use the guidelines indicated above.  These companies have not even begun to really build out their network of lawyers yet because of the issues which need to be addressed. That means the playing field is pretty open.

If you decide to investigate would love to know your experiences.

And one last thought, there are those out there who mock the ‘hot’  and sadly overused and misused word ‘disruption’.  Some of them do it knowing what the word is and claiming there’s nothing out there which will cause a disruption.  The majority, however, really don’t know how it applies.  So, I’d like to share an analogy that will illustrate the difference between an invention, an innovation, and a disruption.

When the automobile was first introduced it was an ‘invention’.  It was a shiny new object, too expensive a novelty for anyone but the elite.  The majority traveled by horse, horse and buggy, or walked.  Then Henry Ford introduced the assembly line, brought down production costs and the masses were enjoying affordable motor cars.  The car was the invention.  The assembly line was the innovation and mass production of automobiles providing this invention to the masses changed transportation forever and this was the disruption.  The legal profession is about to experience a major disruption in many areas.  But my guess is the biggest one will be coming from the branded networks.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/04/05/legal-zoom-rocketlawyer-we-fear-what-we-dont-understand-and-to-our-detriment/feed/ 7 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/01/24/the-power-of-showing-up/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/01/24/the-power-of-showing-up/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:00:12 +0000 Kelli Proia http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=6645

Written by Kelli Proia]]> Amazing things happen when you show up in your life and work.  And I mean SHOW UP.  Not simply exist, but make your presence known and participate in the conversation.

The best example I can give is from a recent experience that I had.

Last month, I attended the Massachusetts Conference for Women.  8,000+ women descended upon the Boston Convention Center for a day of learning and inspiration.  The first breakout session I attended was a talk delivered by Author Whitney Johnson entitled “The Disruptive Innovation of You.”

I loved her talk, and during the Q&A I stood up, introduced myself as a disruptor in the legal field, and asked her a question.  She politely answered it, and moved on.

What happened next completely shocked me.

Ms. Johnson’s publisher rushed over to me and handed me her card.  She told me that she’s working with an author on a book about disrupting the legal industry and that I need to talk to her author.

The next day I emailed the publisher with a quick introduction email expanding upon our brief conversation.  The author got in touch with me.  It turns out she is not only writing a book, but she is teaching law and entrepreneurship at a local university and needs someone to teach the class on intellectual property this semester.

In no way could I have predicted that my asking a question about feeling lonely and scared as an entrepreneur would lead to me possibly teaching a class at a major business school in Boston.  The notion that something like this could happen, because I asked a question, intrigued me.  So I decided as part of my New Year’s objectives that I would dare to show up more, rather than be a wallflower on social media and at networking events.

And here’s how that’s going.

Yesterday, I saw a tweet from an attorney about a Start-up Weekend on Cape Cod.  I retweeted it to my followers. Then I emailed the attorney asking “How can I help?”  He then introduced me to the organizer of the event.  The Organizer and I will be talking next week about me being a judge and/or mentor at the event in March.

Fast forward to this morning.  I attended a brand new start-up coffee get together in Providence.  The man sitting next to me introduces himself as someone who is involved in Start-up Weekend Providence and Boston.  I ask him if he knows about Startup Weekend Cape Cod.  No, he doesn’t.  So I introduce him via email to the Organizer.  (You have to love Smart Phones!)

He then asks me what I do.  I tell him about my mission to provide an intellectual property education to entrepreneurs.   It turns out that he works with a professor at a local RI university and mentors her entrepreneurship students once a month.  She has NO ONE to help her with the intellectual property questions that her students have, so he introduced me to the professor.

Rather than just passively retweeting something I saw and then going to the Startup Weekend website for more information, I actively engaged the attorney.

Rather than submitting an application to be a judge to an anonymous inbox, I got a personal introduction which moved the conversation forward.

Rather than telling my new connection “Oh, there’s an event on Cape Cod you should know about”, I was able to make an introduction.  That increased the level of our interaction, and I believe that made him open to making an introduction for me.

Seriously, amazing things happen when you really show up.

Think about how you could be using this technique in your own practice to get referrals, contacts, and clients.  Rather than “like” someone’s post or simply retweet something to your followers, actively engage the author.  Start a conversation.  No one’s going to make a great introduction because you retweeted their tweet.  They should say ‘Thank You’, but they’re not going to go the extra step.

I am making a conscious effort to show up and engage in 2013.  How about you?  Will you join me and step out of your safe, comfort-zone and engage your friends and followers?

I’m still not sure what will happen from all of this but just having these opportunities feels amazing.  I am so excited for 2013.  I know it’s going to be a good year.

Written by Kelli Proia]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/01/24/the-power-of-showing-up/feed/ 0 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/01/10/what-have-you-done-for-me-lately/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/01/10/what-have-you-done-for-me-lately/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:00:02 +0000 Suzanne Meehle http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=6396

Written by Suzanne Meehle]]> David Wong’s brutally honest article, Six Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person, in Cracked made my day. Go read the whole thing. I’ll wait.

You done? Good. You may be a little offended by the blunt and sometimes belligerent tone of the article, but you just learned a valuable lesson: Your only worth in this world is what you can do for other people.

That’s right. Being a good person, being a “nice guy,” isn’t worth Jack. What have you done to make the world a better  place? To help people? Or, from your client’s perspective, what have you done for me lately?

You are only as good as the last thing you did for your client.

The practice of law is – or should be – utilitarian in nature. We do stuff for people that they cannot do for themselves. We write contracts. We navigate statutes and codes and case law. We attend hearings and mediations and negotiations and vigorously represent our clients. We write contracts that no one but another lawyer can understand.

Mr. Wong challenges his readers to “Name five impressive things about yourself. Write them down or just shout them out loud to the room. But here’s the catch — you’re not allowed to list anything you are (i.e., I’m a nice guy, I’m honest), but instead can only list things that you do (i.e., I just won a national chess tournament, I make the best chili in Massachusetts).”

As lawyers, listing those five things should be easy. We are, after all, attorneys at the bar. We negotiate deals and draft agreements. We go to court and argue. But those things are intangible. We don’t build bridges or buildings, make stuff, heal the sick, or feed hungry people.

If we are only worth what we can do for someone else, what good are lawyers? In other words, what is the real value of what you do?

I don’t mean monetarily, although certainly that is one measure. In human terms, what is your worth to society?

Do you do pro bono work? Awesome. But we as a society put little value on being so virtuous.

Do you do solid legal research and drafting? That’s the bare minimum of competency our clients expect.

If you litigate, do you win for your clients? Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. Winning the case has value. If you do transactional work, the equivalent of winning might be “screwing the other guy.” But the harsh reality is that you can’t win every case or triumph in every negotiation. Someone has to lose and sometimes that’s gonna be you.

So what good are you to your clients? What value do you bring to their lives?

My belief is that the real value in what we do is not in the outcomes – well, not just the outcomes. It’s all about the relationship. The relief of a grieving widow that her husband’s estate is being handled by their lawyer. The reassurance of a small business owner that her lawyer understands the corporate and tax codes that affect the business. The injured person who knows his attorney is fighting for him, win, lose or settle. Those things matter more than whether our clients get everything they want.

Connection matters. Phone calls matter. Emails matter. Christmas cards matter. Monthly newsletters matter. Letting your client know you are thinking about them matters far more than your billing rate.

No client wants to hear that you are too busy with other clients to take care of them. No client will forgive you if you fall out of touch.

I recently had a client leave my practice because I got really busy and forgot to return her phone call. Her feelings were hurt and she hired another lawyer. It doesn’t matter that I have done consistently good work for her. All that matters is that I dropped the ball.

When we get too busy, have too much on our plates to keep up with it all, the first thing we tend to let go of is connection to the client. If you get hundreds of emails a day, it’s pretty easy to let one or two or ten slip through the cracks. When your phone rings non-stop, it’s tempting to hit the Do Not Disturb button. But staying connected to the client is job number one.

My former boss at Big Law was an absolute MASTER of this fact. He might be several weeks behind on every single file, but by God he made sure every client knew he was “working on it.” He sent texts, emails, and returned phone calls like a champ. He never missed a client’s birthday, bar mitzvah or funeral. He stayed in touch with more people better than anyone I’ve ever known. That’s how he made partner at Big Law. And it’s impressive as hell.

He was a good lawyer, sure. But there are a LOT of good lawyers out there. What made his services worth a premium is that he delivered on the connection with his clients.

As Wong points out, it’s like the famous speech Alec Baldwin gives in Glengarry Glenn Ross. (Yes, that speech is about a lot of other things, too.) Baldwin’s character addresses a room full of real estate agents, telling them that they’re all about to be fired unless they “close” the sales they’ve been assigned:

Nice guy? I don’t give a s***. Good father? F*** you! Go home and play with your kids. If you want to work here, close.

For lawyers, that relationship is the “close.” That connection to our clients is all we have to build a business on.

So, I’ll ask it again: What have you done for your clients lately?

Written by Suzanne Meehle]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2013/01/10/what-have-you-done-for-me-lately/feed/ 1 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/12/31/how-creativity-will-save-the-legal-marketing-world/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/12/31/how-creativity-will-save-the-legal-marketing-world/#comments Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:00:18 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=6188

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]>

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/12/31/how-creativity-will-save-the-legal-marketing-world/feed/ 4 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/12/03/marketing-tip-zazzle-em/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/12/03/marketing-tip-zazzle-em/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:59:30 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=6169

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> Recently, I had the pleasure of spending an entire afternoon with one of my faculty, Deborah Gonzalez. While we were at lunch she went to check her iPhone and I saw her law firm’s logo emblazoned on her iPhone hard plastic protector.  Naturally, I asked her where she got it and she told me Zazzle.com.

This is a no-brainer. What is the one item we keep with us all the time?  What is the one item we are constantly holding in front of everyone we know whether it’s in court, in a restaurant, in the supermarket, on vacation?  Yes, our smartphones.  What’s conceivably one of the greatest passive marketing* tools we could inexpensively dressup in our logo, contact information, practice area, other valuable information and put to work for us?  Our smartphones.  Smart lawyers prior to this dressed up their laptops with a customized skin.

I’m sure Zazzle.com is not the only company who does this.  But for under $40 for a customized hard shell, a very easy to use website, constant specials, discounts codes and bulk rates, and a no questions asked return policy, I just ordered mine!

(No, this is not a sponsored post.  This is just a great find I wanted to share!)

*Passive marketing involves putting something out there, waiting for potential clients to find it and ‘pushing’ them to contact you.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/12/03/marketing-tip-zazzle-em/feed/ 1 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/11/05/get-your-clients-to-have-a-crush-on-you/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/11/05/get-your-clients-to-have-a-crush-on-you/#comments Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:00:44 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=5842

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> I have a confession.  I have a crush.  I have a crush on a company.  Is that possible?  Yes, it is.

We were very fortunate to come out of hurricane Sandy virtually unscathed.  As many of you experienced, are experiencing, or heard, this was a monster storm which has caused upwards of untold billions in damages and who knows how many weeks of disrupted business and life in general.

But this post is about a company I’ve come to know and love for 11 years.  They are in my home every day and I depend upon them 24/7. They are an integral part of my life and I would be lost without them. It is the small, town-owned electric company (or electric distribution center) which services our area, Wallingford Electric.

They don’t compete with the Big Boys. They physically can’t.  They are a small, geographically limited company and we are blessed to be within their geography.  But we didn’t know it when we moved here.

When we bought our home we had no idea who provided electricity to our home. We assumed it was one of the giant publicly-traded corporate monsters, United Illuminating or Connecticut Light and Power.  I didn’t have a thought for this little company until our new neighbor said, ‘you know you get Wallingford Electric’.  Okay. So what?  I was actually annoyed because when I bought our electrical appliances I couldn’t get the EnergyStar rebates offered as my company didn’t participate in the program. I also thought that if we had a little rinky dink electric company we would suffer if there was a big problem impacting the electric to our home.  Sounded like having Wallingford Electric was a negative with our home purchase, not a positive.

Over the years we’d get periodic snow falls or rain storms and our local news shows would talk about the power outtages throughout the state.  I just thought we were lucky each time because we didn’t lose our power.  Then my neighbor said after one storm, ‘you know we’ve never lost power here in 30 years.’  I thought that was pretty cool. We were REALLY lucky. I knew our electric bill was surprisingly low compared to others.  One day, instead of throwing out the inserts in our monthly electric bill I started actually reading the newsletter.  They would always include a graph of what we paid month by month compared to UI and CL&P.  Now I saw I was also really saving a lot of money.  I’m kind of psyched I’m saving this amount of money.

Then one day one of our trees came in contact with the electrical line.  My neighbor said, ‘call Wallingford Electric.  They’ll have someone out in no time.’  Out they came.  Technically, they should have only topped the tree so as not to impact the electrical line.  I offered to throw the workers a couple of bucks if they took the tree to the ground.  They said, ‘Sure, but we won’t take your money’.  Wow!

One monthly flyer told us they were offering a free energy assessment of our home.  It would take four hours but they would tell us what areas needed fixing and fix them at no cost and they would also provide us energy-efficient bulbs, as many as we needed.  We did the assessment and we got the bulbs and some repairs.  Everyone was very professional and accomodating.

One year the electric costs skyrocketed.  We got a notice with our electric bill which told us that this year our rates would not go up.  Wallingford Electric was going to dip into their coffers and absorb the increase for as long as they could.  Our rates stayed level while UI & CL&P went through the roof.

Then last year Tropical Storm Irene hit and then the October Halloween snowstorm which left almost the entire state without power and it stayed this way for a considerable number of homes for many weeks.  Live wires went unattended for up to two weeks. UI and CL&P came under fire for their lack of tree-trimming on private roads as well as tree-trimming maintenance on the state roads, poor overall storm preparation, poor disaster response time and poor planning.  One CEO resigned.  The state enacted new legislation and regulations to prevent this in the future. Yet these utility companies were always seeking rate increases and they were always granted.

We never lost power.  You know why?  Wallingford Electric has always trimmed trees prophylactically.  They didn’t need the state’s legislation or regulations forcing them to do the right thing.  Nearly 700,000 people lost power during each storm including Hurricane Sandy even after new leglislation and regulations were put in place.  Not the majority of Wallingford Electric’s customers. (Those that did lose power for a short period of time did so because of fallen trees which can’t be predicted but their electrice was restored very quickly by any standards).

But here is the kicker.  During this hurricane we ordered a generator.  We did so because we were told this storm would be like nothing we’ve experienced before. I wasn’t holding our little electric company to a standard they couldn’t possibly keep in the face of a 100 year storm.  Unfortunately, the generator did not come in on time so we hunkered down prepared for an extended power outtage.

However, wouldn’t you know it?  We didn’t lose power during Hurricane Sandy!

I have a crush on our electric company.  Originally, I dismissed them thinking because they were small they wouldn’t have the financial clout or the physical capabilities of handling our needs.  My thoughts could not have been more misguided. It was a built in prejudice all based upon size. However, being small, being focused on their customers first and not shareholders, being geared towards customer service and maintenance, providing economic relief by keeping rates down during an unexpected spike, providing educational marketing literature and some very valuable free services, I became a fan.  Who becomes a fan of their electric company?

Then I became loyal. Each month brings solicitations from independent energy companies telling us how great they are and we should switch over because we’ll save money.  I’ll never take the bait. Most impressive, when I did talk to one competitor out of curiosity and told them we had Wallingford Electric, they said ‘never mind’ as they already knew Wallingford Electric customers are incredibly loyal.

While money is always a factor, it’s certainly not the only factor.  After loyalty comes evangelism.  I’m an evangelist.  But the real kicker, when homes go for sale within Wallingford Electric’s geographical area, the electric company’s name is showcased within the advertising by the home owner and realtor.  What better evangelism is there than that?

“One of the most influential propositions in marketing,” McGovern and Moon wrote, “is that customer satisfaction begets loyalty, and loyalty begets profits. Why, then, do so many companies infuriate their customers by binding them with contracts, bleeding them with fees, confounding them with fine print, and otherwise penalizing them for their business? Because, unfortunately, it pays. Companies have found that confused and ill-informed customers, who often end up making poor purchasing decisions, can be highly profitable indeed.”

This story is no different than your solo practice squaring off against the Big Boys and Girls.  Don’t fight your size.  Embrace it as you lay the foundation of your practice. You provide an integral and necessary service to your clients. Your attitude towards your clients and your customer services can be oversized as well as the unique value you bring and your flexibility in unexpected situations.

You’ll always have those who want to take your clients from you. It’s the nature of the free market. But if you do things correctly, passionately and compassionately, there won’t be anything someone else can do to get them to leave you. Don’t profit off of your clients’ confusion or lack of knowledge.  Don’t profit off of your clients’ poor and uninformed decisions.  Earn your profits off of well-informed and loyal clients who evangelicize you and your services.

I bet you have clients who have a crush on you already.  Find out why and then keep doing what you’re already doing but do it even better!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/11/05/get-your-clients-to-have-a-crush-on-you/feed/ 5 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/11/01/you-can-no-longer-avoid-social-media-for-business-sorry/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/11/01/you-can-no-longer-avoid-social-media-for-business-sorry/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:00:00 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=5866

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> Hurricane Sandy has taught us a lot about the role of social media. Yes, we heard how in another country it helped foment a  revolution. One person’s query on Twitter tipped the world off that the assault on Bin Laden’s compound was in process. One person’s Facebook post that he’d been arrested in a foreign country got him help from the U.S. Individuals use social media all the time to help themselves or their cause or they act as lay reporters.

Hurricane Sandy was different. Maybe it was due to the enormity of the event and the massive amount of people impacted.  Maybe it was because New York City, the presumptive financial capital of the world and home to millions, was due to be hit head on. Whatever the reason, Sandy showcased the incredible value of social media as an information delivery system to 10s of millions by those charged with helping us through the crisis. Federal and local government, local agencies, public services and private companies provided timely and necessary, often critical information, through these channels to millions of people without power. Most people could only access this information through mobile devices because they had no power. This told us in no uncertain terms that the medium had taken its rightful place as a unifier, a recognized centralized emergency response center for dispatching of critical, often life-saving, information. Here are just a few examples from Facebook (screenshots):

TWITTER: Stories and actual tweets

Anyone impacted by #Sandy, including homeowners, renters and businesses, should go to disasterassistance.govto register for assistance.

— City of New York (@nycgov) October 31, 2012

RT @jacielcordoba SANDY UPDATE:Cabela’s in Hamburg has 700 generators available.#Cabela‘s #Sandy #generators

— WFMZ-TV 69News (@69News) October 31, 2012

Make sure you’re following your state #emergency management agency as #Sandy approaches @massema @maineema @rhodeislandema @ctdemhs @vemvt

— FEMA Region 1 (@femaregion1) October 26, 2012

VIDEO: Tips for returning home after #Sandy youtube.com/watch?v=1f7mJU…

— American Red Cross (@RedCross) October 31, 2012

Half as many cancellations today (13) as yesterday @austinairport due to #Sandy. Check your flight status here:ci.austin.tx.us/austinairport/…

— Austin-Bergstrom (@AUStinAirport) October 31, 2012

#NYtransit update: Grand Central Terminal will reopen to the public by 2PM #sandy

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) October 31, 2012

We’re resuming operations today at airports impacted by #Sandy with the exception of EWR, JFK, LGA. Latest update: bit.ly/ALERTAA1

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) October 31, 2012

Emily Rahimi, New York Fire Department’s one-woman response team

If it weren’t for the efforts of Emily Rahimi, even those New Yorkers who hadn’t lost power might have been in the dark. At the helm of the NYFD’s official Twitter feed, she made contact with and provided information to those having difficulty reaching 911. Rahimi also passed along updates from the mayor’s office and urged individuals, through Twitter, not to give up on calling the emergency number, assuring those waiting that help would come.

Mayor Cory Booker himself set out across his community, driving around Newark and urging residents to be safe and remain inside. He even participated in the relocation of the city’s homeless into shelters. He used Twitter to tell people to remain indoors and to update them on the storm’s developments.

200 Statistics to Help You Wake Up

The public (your clients) are turning to social media such as Facebook and Twitter for information on how to conduct their lives in a crisis.  But if you don’t believe me here are more than 200 statistics which may change your mind.  (I’ve shared some, bolded some and you can read more by clicking on the link above.)

General social media and Internet stats:

• 91% of online adults use social media regularly
• YouTube users watch more than 3 billion hours of video per month
• About 1 in 3 blogger are moms/mums (had to cater to both our American and British/AU audience there J) (source: Hubspot)
• There are more devices connected to the Internet than there are people on Earth (source: AllTwitter)
• 24% of people have missed witnessing important moments because they are too busy trying to write about them on social networks
• 83% of people believe platforms like Twitter and Facebook help them make new friends
• 25% of people believe social networks have boosted their confidence
• 24% of Americans and 28% of Brits have admitted to lying or exaggerating on a social network about what they have done and/or who they have met
• 40% of people spend more time socializing online than they do face-to-face (source: AllTwitter)
• Every minute of the day:
  • 100,000 tweets are sent
  • 684,478 pieces of content are shared on Facebook
  • 2 million search queries are made on google
  • 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube
  • 47,000 apps are downloaded from the App Store
  • 3,600 photos are shared on Instagram
  • 571 websites are created
  • $272,000 is spent by consumers online (source: AllTwitter)
• Internet users spend 22.5% of their online time social networking
• The web contains more than 8 billion pages
• There are more than 2.27 billion people online (doubled since 2007)
• 70% of adult social networkers shop online
• 53% of active adult social networkers follow a brand
• 80% of active internet users visit social networks and blogs (Source: AllTwitter)
• Almost 8 new people come onto the internet every second
• 79% of online shoppers spend 50% of their online shopping time researching products
• the average budget spent on blogs and social media has almost tripled in 3 years
• 57% of marketers acquired customers via blogging
• 44% acquired customers via Twitter
• 61% of global internet users research products online
• US Internet users spend three times longer on social media and blogs than email
• social media use has increased 356% in the US since 2006
• the average user spent only 3 minutes on Google+ in Jan 2012
• 65% of Pinterest’s traffic is from the US
• there are 152 million blogs on the internet
• companies that blog have 55% more website visitors
• 35% of consumer comments on Facebook Pages are compliments
• 93% of US adult Internet users are on Facebook
• 9/10 mobile searches lead to action – over half lead to purchase (source: Hubspot)

Facebook Statistics

• Each day Facebook users spend 10.5 billion minutes (almost 20,000 years) online on the social network
• Australians spend 26 minutes, 27 seconds on Facebook each day, New Zealand 30m31s, Singapore 38m46s, United Kingdom 26m27s, France 21m53s, United States 20m46s, India 20m21s, Brazil 18m19s
• Only 50% of Facebook users have more than 100 friends (source: AllTwitter)
• There are 955 million active users on Facebook that spend an average of six hours and 35 minutes per month on the network (desktop only)
• An average of 3.2 billion likes and comments are posted every day
• Facebook posted a 67 percent year-over-year mobile growth rate (543 million monthly active users on mobile).
• The 6:35 per month spent on Facebook is nearly double the time (3:20) spent on Google.
• 58% of users return to the site daily.
• In an analysis of more than 60 Facebook marketing campaigns, 49 percent reported areturn on investment of more than five times, while 70 percent had a return on investment greater than three times. (source: AllFacebook)

All of this begs the question, ‘Are you using social media in a meaningful way which begets business?’ Some of you have hemmed and hawed about creating a Facebook business page.  Some of you question the ethics of ‘friending’ clients or vice versa.  And there are issues about having your clients ‘like’ your page for fear they would be revealing they are clients.

However, is there anything wrong with creating the page, letting your clients know you do have a page and giving them the option to like the page explaining this potential confidentiality issue and then using it as an additional means of providing generalized information or more critical information in a time of crisis?  By no means should you state they must like the page and that all important information will only be dispensed there.  That’s patently absurd.  But you should know that people don’t have to ‘like’ your page to see your message.  They simply have to look up your law firm on Facebook to see what you’ve posted.  They can look up your Twitter handle and see what you’ve posted in your Twitter stream without even having to follow you.  So why not give them your social media information and post interesting relevant information they can use at all times.

The most important take away for you is to realize people are increasingly going to social media first for guidance and important information. For you to not be where they are looking can be impacting your professional relevance and ultimately your livelihood.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/11/01/you-can-no-longer-avoid-social-media-for-business-sorry/feed/ 1 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/10/02/does-your-solo-practice-need-to-pivot/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/10/02/does-your-solo-practice-need-to-pivot/#comments Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:30:24 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=5196

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> I stumbled across this blog post about an 11 year old company called Vertical Response and the change their company is now going through. This is a company that has done very well for 11 years until one day they realized if they didn’t ‘pivot’ they would fall behind technologically, lose their hard-earned customers and become a relic of the past. CEO Janine Popick discusses why she’s afraid of the ‘Pivot’ and understandably so. She’s not afraid of changing so much as ‘change management’ or the process of overseeing the change. Here is what she had to say and why it is so relevant to today’s law firms:

What we’re going through is what some in the tech and start-up world might call a pivot*. It’s a turn in a new direction and acknowledging that some fundamental things need to change so that the company–and our technology, in my case–can grow. All businesses–whether you’re large or small, young or old, in tech or not–need to embrace some form of a pivot at some point, because what’s worked in the past probably won’t work in the future. And while it might be scary to steer your company into unknown territory (and scary for your employees because you’re shaking up the status quo), the consequences of being stagnant might even be scarier.

This is the experience of law firms who have been around for awhile. Some succeed in pivoting. Others fail because they refuse to pivot. For the solo it’s a mixed blessing. It’s fantastic if you are just starting out today because you can embrace all that is new from the moment you decide to open your practice. “New’ becomes the foundation of your practice and the decisions you make will incorporate the latest approaches to doing business which will also embrace the professionally meaningful, responsible and profitable trends. You may also be required to pivot many times down the road as you find the right direction for your practice. It is a concept you need to embrace in theory and in practice.

For those who started out five or more years ago, what’s new is old in many ways because the speed at which technology (and now social media and marketing) and the economy have changed makes your need to pivot even more critical. And for the solo this concept of change management can be terrifying because you’ve finally reached a point where your business is doing well (or not), your systems are in place and the amount of time it will take to change your systems (or practice area) and relearn new ones while serving your clients can be daunting. As a result you are more likely than not going to kick the can down the road to avoid doing what you know you must do. You then will make the excuses, knock the technologies, knock those who would encourage you to pivot, and argue against your own business interests to avoid doing that which must be done. But as Janine says, ‘while it might be scary to steer your company into unknown territory…the consequences of being stagnant might even be scarier.”

Have you reached your pivot point? Have you already pivoted? How are you managinging the change?

*A pivot is an exchange sacrifice. You are exchanging the current advantages you hold for a different set of advantages. (Pivot – when used in the context of business strategy)

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/10/02/does-your-solo-practice-need-to-pivot/feed/ 1 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/09/12/massachusetts-divorce-app/ http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/09/12/massachusetts-divorce-app/#comments Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:00:22 +0000 Susan Cartier Liebel http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=5217

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]>

This post was written by Gabriel Cheong.

Website | Bio | Twitter

I give many presentations in Massachusetts to lawyers interested in effective marketing techniques for solo or small firms. Every year there are more and more innovations and resources for the legal marketing community. There are always more ways to provide added value to your services and reach out to clients in new ways. However, we all know that lawyers are stubborn, technologically stunted and mostly risk-averse individuals. So even though there are new tools, what I see most of the time is that lawyers jump on to the bandwagon but use the new tools in the same old way.

If you simply do a Google search for legal blogs or lawyer apps, most of the time you’ll see what amounts to nothing more than the lawyer’s phone book ad or website in a blog format or on an iPhone app. They’re using a new medium to do the same thing and not fully utilizing the new medium for its full potential. Smartphone apps are the new tech innovation for lawyers and  there are already businesses that sell apps to lawyers to promote their law firm. The apps are generic. It has the lawyer’s social media feed, a map, and a call to action button. I’m not going to download an app that’s a glorified Google listing and neither are your clients. Your clients want added value. If they’re going to download an app, they want one that will do something for them.

I recently embarked on building an app for my law firm because like so many other people, I have been diagnosed with SOS – Shiny Object Syndrome. If it’s new, I want it. I always have the latest iPhone because…well, it’s there. It has Siri (even though I never needed it before). It has geo-fencing reminders (even though I lived without it before)! But like my marketing efforts, I went about the app building process not thinking about how I’m going to market my firm, but instead I thought about the needs of my clients. Who are my clients? What do they want/need from a law firm app?

I figured out that my clients were pro se divorce litigants (since I do mostly divorce litigation). I also noted that my clients could be other divorce attorneys, just like myself. Well, what do divorce litigants and divorce attorneys like myself want or need in an app? Massachusetts just underwent major Alimony Reform and it would be really great if there was an app that would crunch the new alimony formula and also crunch the child support formulas and be able to tell me when I’m officially divorced after seeing a Judge. So I went ahead and hired an app developer and worked with him for months to build and refine an app that did exactly that. The result is the Massachusetts Divorce App which includes an alimony calculator, a child support calculator, and a date calculator. All the functions can integrate with Dropbox and forms can be generated by the app into a PDF which can be air printed or emailed or synced with Dropbox.

Marketing my firm was the least important component of building this app. As a matter of fact, it came as an afterthought. Only after the entire app was built did I say, “hey, let’s add a very quick splash screen so people will know who made this.” And that’s it. Because if you build a great product that people need and will use, they will associate that great product with your brand. You do not need to hit them over the head with your marketing and there’s no need to duplicate your website in every medium possible. If they see you provide a great product and service, they will find you.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel]]> http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2012/09/12/massachusetts-divorce-app/feed/ 0