Are you Listening? People are talking about you.

Call it Web 2.0, call it social media, call it Facebook and Twitter, call it whatever you want to call it – it’s here and it’s not going away.

People, lots of them, millions and millions of them are talking to one another on the web. 750,000 people join Facebook each day. They’re talking about themselves, they’re talking about you. They might move their talk from one site to another, but they won’t stop talking.

Today’s question – are you listening?

Do you know what they’re saying about you?

They’re going to say things you like. They’re going to say things you don’t like.

It’s critical that you know what they’re saying.

This screencast shows you how to set up a listening service. You can do it in five minutes and you can do it for free.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

How to Monitor Your Reputation Online

Sam Hasler has a solo, family law practice in Anderson, Indiana. His primary marketing tool, for the past two years, has been his Indiana family law blog.

He created the blog on a free service and posts, pretty much, daily. In this interview he reveals the secrets he’s learned to make it work for him and his practice.

In this episode of the Divorce Discourse podcast we learn the how and why of blogging from an expert. Sam is generous with his time and gives us insight into how he finds the time to blog, how many visitors to expect and whether he’s generating business for his practice. He gets specific about where the clients come from, what days are the busy days on the blog and how he finds the material he needs to keep posting everyday. Same explains how he set up his blog for free and why he went his own way without using one of the blogging services like LexBlog.

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Solo Practice Built with a Blog

I’d like to have a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS4 for tweaking my family photos. Unfortunately, it costs about $600 per copy.

Isn’t there something like Photoshop that I can use that will work pretty well and cost a lot less? What about alternatives to Norton Security or Microsoft Office?

This 3 minute episode of Divorce Discourse answers the question.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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How to Find an Alternative to that Expensive Software

I’ve got lots of opinions about websites for family law practices. Now I’m going to impose them on you – if you stick around for a few minutes.

I picked a site, at random, to review and recorded my thoughts for you. This time it’s Fetman, Garland & Associates. My plan, if I get some encouraging feedback, is to do this for other sites as time goes by. Of course, these observations are simply my opinions. Obviously, my thoughts are totally subjective. The only objective reality is the success of the site. Does it draw traffic? Does the traffic convert? Click on the video to watch.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Website Review – Chicago Divorce Lawyer

Where do you get clients? Last week Erik Mazzone and I talked about setting up a law office on a shoestring. This week we talk about how to fill it with good, paying clients. For most of us, this is the most challenging part of building a practice. It’s tough. Let us help you get started.

This week’s podcast is all about figuring out who to represent and getting them to walk in the door. Whether you’re a solo or in a firm, when you finish listening you will be well on your way to building a divorce marketing system for your family law practice.

We mention several sites during the show including Google Adwords Keyword Tool and  Duct Tape Marketing.

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Getting Good Clients – Step by Step

More and more attorneys are opening new practices. It’s tough to deal with financing a new firm and it requires careful thought regarding personal and business finances. How much money do you need to open a new practice? Where will you get the money? How long will it take for the money to start to flow?

Erik Mazzone and I provide the answers in this podcast.

I worked in a firm for three years before opening my own practice in 1990. It’s been awhile since I did it and some things have changed. But, lots of things remain the same. Erik advises new practices on a daily basis and is living on the frontline with many of these practices by providing advice as they go along.

We provide some specific action steps that are essential to the success of a new practice.

During the show we make reference to a couple of sites. The links to these sites are provided below -

QuickBooks Online
Google Voice

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Starting a Law Practice on a Shoestring

The day starts, the day ends and, sometimes, nothing is accomplished between those two endpoints. How can this be? How does this happen?

How can we be so easily distracted by shiny objects?

Two experts on wasting time, me and Erik Mazzone, talk through some of life’s greatest distractions. We offer some suggestions for getting things back on track.

Are we alone in being easily distracted or do you suffer along with us?

During our “picks of the week” segment we discuss Dial2Do and Remember the Milk.

Give us a listen.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

Easily Distracted: Time Sucks

Taking payments can be complicated, but it’s essential to the survival of your practice. You’ve got to make it easy for clients to pay the way they want to pay. Erik Mazzone and I discuss cash, checks, credit cards, fax and phone checks, wire transfers, and paypal as means of payment. Can your clients pay via the web? We tell you how it can be done.

Who takes the payments in your office? What if they aren’t available? Can someone else handle this essential task?

What are the ethical concerns? What about client agreements?

When you finish listening to this podcast you’ll know what you need to know to make sure you can take the money and get it in to your account.

During the show we discuss, among other things, Mint.com, PayPal and Jim Calloway’s book Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour, Third Edition: Strategies that Work

Article from: Divorce Discourse

Show Me the Money

Are you getting ready to cut your expenses by canceling your voluntary bar association membership? I think some lawyers are, but others won’t do it because their bar memberships have a terrific return on investment. In this podcast, Erik Mazzone and I discuss some ways to maximize your ROI and build your practice. It’s possible, even easy, to see a great return if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. Some benefits of your membership might involve simply researching and signing up for things (think discounted legal research or office supplies). Others may require you to do some leg work (think networking opportunities). If you’re going to pay the dues then go ahead and reap the benefits.

My American Bar Association membership dues statement came in the mail last week. Between my Family Law Section and Law Practice Management section dues I owe $520. Is it worth it? It sure is. I can’t even count the clients that have come to me over the years as a result of my section activities. On top of the referrals, I’ve learned so much from attending CLEs and from talking to other members. On top of all that I went on no less than ten all expense paid trips to Hawaii, Santa Fe, Chicago, San Francisco and other great places because of my membership. Listen in and I’ll explain how it happened.

This weeks picks include Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty : The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need by Harvey Mackay.

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Maximizing Your Bar Association Membership

I heard a story the other day about a lawyer opening a solo practice. He needed a logo for his website, business cards and letterhead. He hired an ad agency and they presented him with several designs. He picked one and paid the firm several thousand dollars for their services. Spending that kind of money used to be standard operating procedure. It doesn’t have to be done that way anymore. In fact, you can now have your graphic design work done for a fraction of what it formerly cost and the results are often better than in the past.

This video walks you through the process, step-by-step. The site I’m using is 99 designs. I’ll show you how it works, what it costs and the partial results of a design project I have running right now.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Great Letterhead, Cards, Logos at a Good Price

A professional looking website is essential to building a family law practice. Having a website is expected. Not having a site causes prospective clients to wonder about the legitimacy of a practice. After all, everybody has a website – even my drycleaner. And the site has to look good. It needs to be neat, clean and professional. It can’t look dated or amateurish.

It’s difficult to manage a practice, deal with the clients and be sure you have a professional web presence. In this podcast, Erik Mazzone and I discuss a number of low cost options for getting a site up and running quickly and inexpensively.

Thankfully, your options for building a site get better and better with each passing month. It is now possible to create a site that may, in fact, look much better than something created by another practice just a year ago and you can do it with less effort and expense.

We mention a bunch of sites in this show. Here are the links -

Law Practice Matters
Two at a Time Baking
Rosen.com
Squarespace
WordPress.org
WordPress.com
99designs
iStockPhoto
elance.com

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Podcast – Building a Website for Under $1,000

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve had two experiences in the past few days where things have gone off the rails in my life. One involved a restaurant, the other a hotel. They were both handled by front line employees and each had a different outcome. One involved a local restaurant that will remain nameless and the other involved the Hampton Inn hotel chain.

Makes me wonder what would have happened in similar circumstances in my office. I’d rather bury my head in the sand, sometimes, rather than find out. But that’s not an option. We’ve got to plan for the mistakes – the misaddressed envelopes, the documents sent to the wrong client, the lost phone message, the forgotten email and all the other mistakes that are, unfortunately, inevitable. It’s not the mistake that matters, it’s our response to the mistake that will make or break our relationship with the client.

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What Do You Do When Things Go Awry?

Can you add a million dollars per year in revenue to your practice from Twitter based referrals? Yes you can. Join Lee Rosen and Erik Mazzone on our latest podcast to find out how. We explain that Twitter will help you build a referral network, if you’re willing to do the work, that will generate as much revenue as you need. We assume, in this show, that you have a basic understanding of the ins and outs of Twitter. If you don’t already have basic familiarity with Twitter consider reviewing the great Twitter webinar presented last week by LexBlog.

In this show we mention, of course, Twitter along with some Twitter client applications -Tweetie, TwitterBerry and Tweetdeck. Just for fun we also discuss Cursebird. Listen in and see how you can build your practice with Twitter.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

How to Make a Million $$$ on Twitter

Some would argue that your receptionist is the single most important employee of your law firm. The receptionist makes your firm’s first impression and your entire relationship with the client can go south if things go wrong. In this podcast, Erik Mazzone and Lee Rosen discuss the receptionist and get down to the nitty-gritty of making this role work in your firm.

We’ve all had the experience of walking into an office, being greeted, and feeling really special. We feel like we belong, like we were expected and we know we’re in good hands. We’ve also had the opposite experience, the one that leaves us with the overwhelming sense that we should just leave and never look back. This podcast will help you design the most positive experience for your client.

This show follows on nicely from last weeks show about your lobby. Once you’ve listened to both of these podcasts you should have the “front of the house” well under control.

Our “pick of the week” segment features a book, E-Myth Revisted by Michael Gerber and the Jing Project.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

Podcast – Receptionists and Your Front Door

Your lobby matters. It’s the first impression many prospective clients have of your firm. It makes a big difference as to how the client processes the help and information you offer. In this podcast, Erik Mazzone and Lee Rosen discuss the impact of the lobby, some awful lobbies and some ideas about how you can make your lobby work for you. An effective lobby will impact your bottom line.

There are, at least, three ways to listen to this show. Listen to this podcast using the player below. Listen by downloading the file and putting it on your mp3 player. Or subscribe by clicking on the itunes button at the top of the page and the show can automatically be downloaded and loaded on your iPod.

Erik Mazzone is the Practice Management Advisor and the Director of the Center for Practice Management of the North Carolina Bar Association. In his position he visits law firms everyday and has a broad range of lobby “experiences”.
In our “picks of the week” segment we discuss Etsy and Water Wonders.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

Podcast – Your First Impression

Need to fill a position? Running a help-wanted ad? With the current economic situation you’re likely to receive more resumes than you can handle. How do you find the cream of the crop? How do you avoid committing days and days to interviewing? How do you avoid the mind-numbing boredom? Group interviews – that’s how.

Erik Mazzone, Practice Management Advisor and the Director of the Center for Practice Management of the North Carolina Bar Association, and Lee Rosen discuss this great technique for finding the best people in an efficient, fun way. Lee and Erik have both tried this aproach on many occasions and it works. Give us a listen for out step-by-step approach to the group interview.

Also, in our picks of the week segment, we discuss SquareSpace and PogoPlug.

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Podcast – Group Interviews

Erik Mazzone, Practice Management Advisor and the Director of the Center for Practice Management of the North Carolina Bar Association and Lee Rosen discuss initial consultations and how to close the sale. It all starts with the initial consultation and failing to do it right leaves the lawyer without a client. We discuss the basics and some major mistakes that people make – things that cause a prospective client to lose trust and confidence in the attorney.

Download this podcast, put it on your player and learn something on your daily commute. You can subscribe to these podcasts in iTunes (see the link above) and the shows will download automatically to your iPod.

As usual we have a couple of Picks of the Week that will help take you to the next level.

Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness

Lawyer Marketing Advisor – Trey Ryders Weekly newsletter

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Podcast – Initial Consultations and Sales

Erik Mazzone, Practice Management Advisor and the Director of the Center for Practice Management of the North Carolina Bar Association, talks with me about fixed fees and alternative billing arrangements on the latest Divorce Discourse Podcast. We’ve been charging our clients fixed fees for many years and we delve in to how it works out for us and for our clients.

In addition to billing arrangements we discuss several products and sites that will be useful to you.

Rosen Fee Calculator

Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour, Third Edition: Strategies that Work“>Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour

Google Docs

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Podcast – Fixed Fees & Alternative Billing

Referrals are the lifeblood of any practice and without them you’ll quickly cease to exist. In this episode of the DivorceDiscourse podcast, Lee Rosen and Erik Mazzone talk about the importance of building relationships with referral sources and a very practical approach to arranging and conducting meetings with these important people.

Picks of the Week

DuctTapeMarketing.com – A great site and a great blog on marketing.

Salesforce.com - A site that will help you manage all of your referral and sales activities.

Sugarcrm.com – An opensource alternative to SalesForce.com

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Get Referrals or Die

Erik Mazzone and I delve into Twitter and other social media sites. What is Twitter? Does Twitter help build a practice or is it just a giant time suck? How can it be used to help you? Does Twitter generate referrals? We discuss LexTweet, a directory of legal professionals on Twitter. Plus we offer our usual “picks of the week”. This week it’s TweetDeck and TwitterKarma.

Follow us on twitter at Lee Rosen and Erik Mazzone

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Podcast – To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Erik Mazzone, Practice Management Advisor and the Director of the Center for Practice Management of the North Carolina Bar Association, talks with me about cutting costs on the latest Divorce Discourse Podcast. We had at least ten good ideas for reducing costs – short term and long. We plan to get together weekly to talk about practice management ideas and post the shows here and at Erik’s blog – Law Practice Matters.

In addition to cost cutting we discuss several products and sites that will be useful to you.

QuickbooksOnline
SpeakWrite.com
FreeCalc
AccountingCoach.com

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Podcast – Driving Down Costs to Survive the Recession

I probably get a call once a week from a lawyer or legal administrator asking me to explain our approach to the paperless office. Finally, I’ve recorded a show explaining how and why we went paperless more than ten years ago. Feel free to post your questions if we haven’t explained everything. Maybe we will do a second show if it proves necessary.

Listen to the show with the player below or subscribe in iTunes with the link up at the top of the page.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

The Paperless Office

The American economy is deeply troubled. What does that mean for the practice of family law? Some argue that economic troubles result in more divorce. Some argue that a difficult economy results in people being unable divorce. The key for those making a living practicing family law is to monitor the situation carefully and to take action at the first sign of trouble. Listen in as I discuss my ideas about how to deal with an economic downturn in your practice.

Article from: Divorce Discourse

Staying Afloat in a Faltering Economy

How can you let your staff know how much they matter in a quick, inexpensive way? This three minute podcast gives you a special approach that will help your people feel the love and know they are appreciated. You may be suprised at how much positive feedback and personal satisfaction you get from employing this easy approach.

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Three Minutes of Praise – Part 2

Building your practice requires a good measure of management skill. A key element of good management is recognizing and acknowledging positive behaviors. This three minute podcast discusses this issue. This is the first in a ten part series.

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Three Minutes of Praise – Part 1

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Don’t Try This at Home