Maximum Lawyer

In this episode, Jim, Tyson and Randall Ryder will try to identify bad clients, and explain why it’s a good idea not working with them.As many of solo practicing lawyers, Randall has the “good” struggle of not having enough time to do everything. He’s in a point in which he may need to add an associate or an assistant. He’s having trouble letting things go that he SHOULD let go.Every client is not created equally and there are some clients who really aren’t worth 5 times what your normal fee would be.You can’t bill for waking up on the middle of the night. You can't bill for sitting in front of your computer willing to smash your keyboard because someone isn't listening to you.They’re just not worth it.So, how do you identify those clients? With experience. When somebody calls you and something just doesn’t feels right about what they said, or something about how they’re talking to you just doesn’t feel right, something doesn’t line up; just go with your gut.“I have a great case!”... No you don’t!Bad clients can crowd out good clients, they leave you without energy to deal with new clients or with actual good clients. Re-allocate your resources from all the bad places to good places. Randall’s Tip: You need to stand a lot of time on https://lawyerist.com/ reading a lot of articles. Free information for people who want to go solo.Hacking’s Hack: Google Sites. It allows you to build internal or external facing websites, and you can use it as an intranet. Very easy to use!Tyson’s Tip: A book; “What to Do When it's Your Turn (and it's Always Your Turn)” by Seth Godin. The Domino Project; 1st edition (December 1, 2014). It’s inspirational and motivational. The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

Nowadays, Marketing can be found in so many forms and be applied in so many ways that it is really important to have some criteria and pick the things and strategies that really make sense from a marketing standpoint.1. Sometimes you are already doing enough and the thing that you are doing have a lot of potential to grow. You need to do deeper, not broader. Stick to what you are good at and what’s working You are already doing plenty, just keep going with that, don’t add something new to the mix.2. You ought to pass on a marketing tactic if you don’t understand it. Do not put money on the line for things you don’t understand.3. Feel it in your guts. If you feel a tactic it’s not for you, then it’s not for you. DON’T DO IT. You ought to be excited and energized about any marketing idea you are considering.4. Don’t do the marketing tactic because somebody else is doing it. Pick your own tactic, the one that works for you.5. Don’t do things that don’t work. If you are being pitched on a tactic and there is no evidence that it works, don’t believe it works just because this company is still pitching it to you. Get references, real life lawyers. Don’t buy it unless the vendor can prove to you that it actually works.6. You don’t trust the vendor: STAY AWAY. Trust your instincts.7. Commitment. There is no reason in the world we live in today, to sign a 1, 2 or 3 year deal. The things that today work best for us, involve no commitment.8. Ethics. Beware of unethical tactics.9. Expensive tactic. Today, we can market our practices on a small budget. There are incredible possibilities!Hacking’s Hack: An app: Google Keep. https://www.google.com/keep/ Screenshots, tasks, notes, you name it.Tyson’s Tip: iPhone app: Chartistic. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/charting-app-chartistic/id1127272574?mt=8 It allows you to easily create charts from your phone.Lee’s Tip: An A.I. (artificial inteligence) personal assistant: https://x.ai/ It provides you with an artificially intelligent bot that helps you with scheduling meetings!Another A.I. personal assistant but for travelling: https://pana.com/A gift from Lee! https://divorcediscourse.com/ri/get-rosens-rules/The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

In this episode Jim and Tyson talk about the advantages of thinking long term and transforming one happy client into many.Think long term. How many referrals will I get from a particular client down the road, or how many more times will this person is going to hire me if I do a good job.Cost Per Acquisition Of a Client: if your lifetime value of your client is less than your acquisition cost, then you are doing something wrong.Calculate your cost per acquisition of clients = How much do you spend every month/year in your marketing_________________________________________________Clients that you acquire that month/year (You can do the same with leads instead of acquired clients) How much is worth you to get a new client… As long as you get out more than you are putting in, then it’s OK, right?Once you figured out what the value of a client is for one case, then the next step is to figure out how can you increase the number of transactions you do with this client and how can you orchestrate referrals down the road and transform 1 client into 5. In other words, increase the lifetime value of this client. Therefore you are going to be willing to spend more money to get those leads.Follow up! If you take that extra step and you create things and stay in touch with your former clients, that makes a big difference.If you just market to the people who are already in your tribe, it is cheaper and more effective.Hacking’s Hack: A book, and it’s a little bit dated in the marketing message: it’s pre internet, but all the same principles apply.“Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition” by Jay Abraham, St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (October 12, 2001).It’s fantastic, it’ll give lots of ideas.Tyson’s Tip: Actually, a tip! The “if when then principle”. If you wanna stop doing something, or if you wanna achieve something in your life, one of the most effective ways of doing it is getting in the mind set where when something happens, then you do something that is healthier, better, or improves you in some way.From the book: “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition” by by Robert B. Cialdini, Harper Business; Revised edition (December 26, 2006). The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

If one person is asking then more than one person is asking. In this episode Jim and Tyson discuss how to get attention from the marketplace; how to differentiate yourself and let people know that you are not a typical lawyer.   Focus on the customer; what do they want? What does the client want from us?   It’s not only just about pounding your chest and showing in your website all the awards and diplomas you have. Create content, answer questions. That will make people find you better on the web.   Track how customers come in and improve it.   The more competitive your legal area is, the more important it is to have a greater quantity and quality of content (It doesn’t cost anything!). A good way to create content is to write down the questions people make you and answer them to all the ones having that same question.   You can do videos, podcasts, or even keep it simple and just do a blog. Just keep track of your topics and put a simple system in place.   Hacking’s Hack: An amazing book: “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk, HarperBusiness; 1 edition (November 26, 2013). It goes through all the ways you can communicate in social media but most importantly it stands for the proposition that you have to give value and then ask for someone to hire you or buy you something.   Tyson’s Tip: A book: “Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change“ by Jeremy Gutsche, Avery (September 1, 2009). It really simplifies how to exploit chaos in any environment, any economy.   Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

In this episode Jim and Tyson interview Attorney Mike Campbell and go through the issues of running and growing your own law firm.One of the things of growing a firm; it’s like raising a kid, it’s like an organic thing; it’s alive. Mike Campbell graduated from the University of Missouri in 2011 and after working as an attorney for other lawyers for a couple years, he decided to take the leap and open a solo practice. He runs his own law firm since 2015. http://mikecampbelllaw.com/   StaffingShould I hire someone?Major issue for Mike. As the firm grows, more work needs to be done, and if you want to keep on making a good job with clients and results, you’ll need to eliminate, delegate and/or automate. If your systems are in place, sometimes the only way is staffing, and having people working for you is not easy.  What are we doing well? What should we do better? And what we should stop doing?Tyson’s Tip: A podcast; “How I Build This”. http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-thisIt is awesome. They bring on people with established businesses to talk about how they built their companies. Hacking’s Hack: Believe it or not, an INK PEN. Write down your tasks and things to remember, you will be more effective.   Mike’s Tip: Ring Central. https://www.ringcentral.com/ A web based app, a cloud service. An online office. Lots of great tools, check it out.   The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm.   Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

Some people are just don’t made to run a law firm or solo practice.You don’t like hustling for clients.Finding the people that need our services in a way that is energetic, purposeful and deliberate in a way that attracts people to you and makes them want to hire you.  When you run a solo practice, hustling is fundamental. It’s the only way you will get clients and grow, therefore, it’ll be the only way to keep your firm running. You don’t want to monitor your numbers. KPI’s.Key Performance Indicators. The number of potential clients. Cash in - Cash out. Numbers, statistics. Information that will show you how the firm is and how it will or can be.KPI’s will let you modify, improve, reduce, fasten, the way you work and systems and that way maximize your firm.RiskYou’d rather be comfortable with a monthly paycheck as opposed to the risk and reward of running your own firm.There is definitely some internal strength that you are going to need in order to be able to soldier through when things get tough and there are ups and downs to practice.Sometimes you feel the risk is greater than the opportunity. Hacking’s Hack: http://sproutsocial.com/. Social Media Management Made Easy. Sprout’s collaborative platform ensures smarter, faster and more efficient social communications.   Tyson’s Tip: The Ink World Magazine App. http://www.inkworldmagazine.com/ A great and easy app to use. Up to date marketing trends, business advice. Really cool.   Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

Things don’t always go our way...In this episode, Jim and Tyson are talking about how to stay motivated, focused, how to keep going; how to get past all the negativity.As lawyers we will have those moments when we are down, when we are bummed out, when a case goes against us; clients won’t stop calling and they are mad at us.  The headaches of collecting money, paying bills… STAY OPTIMISTIC. STAY POSITIVE.If you have people in your lives who bring you down or complain all the time and they’re constantly bringing their negativity to you, just don’t spend time with them, cut them loose, they will bring you down! If you spend any amount of time with them, you are gonna spend all your attention focusing on them and not on bettering yourself, not improving your firm, not improving your results for your clients. Surround yourself with people who are motivated.    What do you do to keep on task? To stay motivated?   Hacking’s Hack: A podcast from Seth Godin. www.buildingnewlaw.ca/about/. It’s on iTunes. Tyson’s Tip: An app; Spoil. You can send gifts the same day. Check it out! https://www.spoil.co/. The Simplest Way to Give Beautiful gifts, delivered same-day, anywhere in the US.   The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

Are your accounting books in order? As we always say: let the experts do their expertise.In this episode, Jim and Tyson have Jill Ulett: The Accounting Girl as a guest and discuss about the importance of having tidy accounting books!As a lawyer you will have to keep your books tidy: the IOLTA accounts are tricky and should be set straight. Get a system in place, get somebody who understands how to move the money back and forth and can help you figure out these processes.In accounting and law practice you have to have your clients best interest at heart, you have to view them as a whole person. Sometimes you are dealing with damaged people, injured people, and life frustrations. Invest in your client. Feel and root for them. Support.Relationships. Partnership. “We are going to meet each other halfway to make your life or business a little bit better.LAWYERS! Get your IOLTA accounts in order and get your retainer reports in order. Know what is a billable cost and what not, and make sure that the ones which are billable are tied to clients. Operating costs, get everything categorized properly. When you are able to give your CPA proper financials that flow correctly, it makes their job easier and keeps your costs down.Accounting Girl is your personal part-time accountant and virtual CFO, rescuing your company as if in the next phone booth, er… office. Accounting Girl senses when she’s needed (usually by receiving a signal via phone or email) and is at the ready! Her virtual CFO signals are so strong, she picks up your accounting distress from anywhere in the continental U.S., from her St. Louis-based accounting radar.http://www.accounting-girl.com/   The Accounting Girl uses https://quickbooks.intuit.com/online/: QuickBooks makes online accounting easy.   Jill’s Hack: Set up your expenses to be predictable. You can set up most of your utilities on budget billing, and anything that you can get to be the same amount every month and set up those plans can really help predict expenses and keep things static for you.http://www.accounting-girl.com/   Tyson’s Tip: https://www.libsyn.com/ Libsyn provides everything your podcast needs: publishing tools, media hosting and delivery, RSS for iTunes, a Web Site, Stats, Advertising Programs, Premium Content , Apps for Apple, Android & Windows devices.   Hacking’s Hack: http://mastermindexperience.com/. The Mastermind Experience is a private event capped at 15 lawyers, so you’ll focus on working only with those who want to grow. You’ll have multiple opportunities during the day to meet everyone at the Mastermind Experience and focus on how you can help them, and how they can help you.   The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

You answer your own phone.It telegraphs to potential clients that you’re really not that busy.It telegraphs that you don’t have enough business going on to be able to support someone answering your phone.  It demonstrates you are sort of desperate for the call.It keeps you from doing good work. It distracts you.It is a lack of time management.Clients are expecting a receptionist. It’s more professional.You have a non professional email account.You need to look professional. Be professional.You meet with potential clients at Starbucks or Panera.It telegraphs you are small potatoes, and that you don’t make enough money to spend money on an office, or you don’t care enough.You need an office. Because of what it represents, because of the privacy.You lower your fee when pressured by a potential client.Set a fee which is fair to you and fair to your client.You don’t wanna be dealing with client who are looking for the lowest cost denominator.It telegraphs to clients that we as lawyers will fold to others when dealing with another attorney or the government.It sets the tone for the relationship. Clients could end up bossing you around.People are smart, they are gonna try to get the best deal possible.You offer many practice areas in your website.This telegraphs that you will do anything.It shows you don’t have the systems nor the expertise built out to handle a particular matter.How can you target with so many practice areas!?  Hacking’s Hack: Don’t work at home, work in the office. Stop looking at your phone, emails, to-dos, etc once you get out of the office. This will give you time to be with yourself and your family. Read books. Spend quality time with your kids.   Tyson’s Tip: The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies. By Chet Holmes. Portfolio; Reprint edition (May 27, 2008). The best book on how to run your business.   The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn

Why in the hell did I do this?! Sometimes in your career you have to face difficult situations. Situations that will make you doubt of yourself and what your doing. Be strong, move forward. You’ll learn a lot from those bad experiences. There’s always something to learn and to improve. Hacking’s Hack: Given the fact that both of the examples in the show touched on the issue of race and African - American defendants. A book. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Spiegel & Grau; Reprint edition (August 18, 2015). Tyson’s Tip: Be a go getter. If you wanna do something, go do it. Jump in, take risks. The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Partner up, and maximize your firm. Resources:Join the Guild MembershipSubscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube ChannelFollow us on InstagramJoin the Facebook GroupFollow the Facebook PageFollow us on LinkedIn