I am always talking to you about following your dreams, about breaking the mold, about going out on your own and creating the life that you want. Some of you take the leap, and some of you don't.

On this episode of The #AskChristopherSmall Show, all about law firm marketing, starting a law firm, and living the life of your dreams, I talk about automating your law firm marketing, plus all sorts of other cool stuff.

This week's questions:

01:03 - what is love?

02:27 - why can't a person get help when they really need it?

03:39 - how do I systematize and automate my marketing?

05:00 - why does the supreme court continue to allow unconstitutional bills to be written into law?

The Art of Lawyering | How to Start a Law Firm | Law Firm Marketing | Leadership | Mindset | Productivity

http://theartoflawyering.com/

MY NEWEST PODCAST - http://theartoflawyering.com/the-art-of-lawyering-podcast-episode-70-how-to-stop-doing-appointed-legal-work/

MY NEWEST ARTICLE - http://theartoflawyering.com/why-do-you-want-to-start-a-law-firm/

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM - https://instagram.com/theartoflawyering/

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK - http://facebook.com/theartoflawyering

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Christopher Small knows how to build profitable law firms. When he started his law firm in 2009 he looked around for resources to help, found none, and created his own based on the lessons he learned from books, courses, mentors, and the street.

That resource is The Art of Lawyering. This is his way of providing amazing value and relevant tips and tricks to help you market your law firm, start your law firm, and build your law firm the right way.

Christopher found that people wanted more, so he created Law Firm Confidential, a place where lawyers can go to discuss business, learn about building a profitable law firm, and talk to other lawyers interested in doing the same.

Find Christopher here:

Website: http://theartoflawyering.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/theartoflawyering

Twitter: http://twitter.com/artoflawyering

Instagram: http://instagram.com/artoflawyering

Newsletter: http://theartoflawyering.com/newsletter

Law Firm Confidential: http://lawfirmconfidential.net

On this episode of The Art of Lawyering Podcast I answer a question I get asked all of the time: how can I stop doing appointed/contract/low margin work and start focusing on building up my own law firm?

How to Stop Doing Appointed Legal Work

First things first, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with doing appointed legal work, so long as you understand you are going to look up in 10 years and be exactly where you are today.

No, strike that (see how I worked that legalese in there?). In 10 years you are going to look up and be much worse off than you are today.

Appointed cases are not going to start paying better.

Appointed cases are not going to start getting easier to litigate.

Appointed cases are not going to free up more of your time.

Now that we know that, let's talk about my five step process for getting rid of appointed legal work:

1. Believe You Can Do It

There is a certain subset of you out there that simply believe appointed legal work is where you belong. It's a confidence problem and you have to get over it.

Are there great legal minds out there? Sure.

But are most of the people you think are awesome just really good at branding themselves as awesome? Sure.

The sooner you start to believe you deserve better the sooner you get better.

2. Understand Your Mindset has to Change

Until you start seeing yourself as a law firm owner, and start acting like one, you aren't going to get to where you want to go.

Appointed lawyers are worker bees. Contract lawyers are worker bees. Cogs in a machine.

Law firm owners are leaders. Law firm owners control their own destiny. Law firm owners make shit happen!

Change your mindset, change you future. It's as simple as that.

3. Begin Marketing Your Law Firm

Now that you've decided you want a little more out of life, it's time to start making the phone ring.

What separates you from that guy or gal across the street killing it is they had the guts to get out there and start marketing. And now you can join them in the winner's circle because you are going to start marketing too.

What should you do? Easy.

Networking.

Blogging.

Google ads.

Facebook ads.

It's as easy, and as hard, as that.

4. Start Saying No to Appointed Legal Work

No discussion needed here. Just say no.

5. Get Rid of ALL Appointed Legal Work

One day soon after you start this process you'll look up and say "why have I been doing this for so long?" and you'll have to get out immediately.

I know because it happened to me.

Once that happens don't wait, cut the chord, get out, and start working on your own stuff.

Cheers!

This is a pretty cool episode of The Art of Lawyering Podcast. We are going to talk about something that I didn't have a lot of confidence could be pulled off.

Today we are going to talk about starting a non-profit law firm.

Shantelle Argyle is the co-founder of Open Legal Services, Utah’s first and only nonprofit modest means law firm. They take anyone and everyone, and their fee is based on their client's income.

In this episode we talk about all kinds of fun things, including:

Starting a law firm right out of law school;

Fighting the government;

The true definition of non-profit businesses;

Why starting a non-profit law firm is so hard;

Overcoming fear; and

Much much more!

Show Resources

Open Legal Services

Book Recommendation - Slaughterhouse-Five

Cheers!

This is the first version of the new #AskChristopherSmall Show where I answer not just one but three or four of your questions, no matter how crazy they might be.

TIMESTAMPS

1:24 - What do you think about Donald Trump as President?

3:19 - Is it worth it to go to law school?

4:56 - How do I set up the text service you use, like "text dismissal to 33444"?

6:09 - I am hosting a happy hour/launch party in less than two weeks. I am estimated 60 guests. What logistical/practical things do I need to do to ensure its success (i.e. do I give a thank you toast, what firm marketing materials do I have out for people to take, etc.)?

The Art of Lawyering | How to Start a Law Firm | Law Firm Marketing | Leadership | Mindset | Productivity

http://theartoflawyering.com/

#LINKS - http://theartoflawyering.com/leadpages

MY NEWEST PODCAST - http://theartoflawyering.com/the-art-of-lawyering-podcast-068-how-to-crush-your-law-firm-goals/

MY NEWEST generic valium price ARTICLE - http://theartoflawyering.com/why-do-you-want-to-start-a-law-firm/

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM - https://instagram.com/theartoflawyering/

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK - http://facebook.com/theartoflawyering

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Christopher Small knows how to build profitable law firms. When he started his law firm in 2009 he looked around for resources to help, found none, and created his own based on the lessons he learned from books, courses, mentors, and the street.

That resource is The Art of Lawyering. This is his way of providing amazing value and relevant tips and tricks to help you market your law firm, start your law firm, and build your law firm the right way.

Christopher found that people wanted more, so he created Law Firm Confidential, a place where lawyers can go to discuss business, learn about building a profitable law firm, and talk to other lawyers interested in doing the same.

Find Christopher here:

Website: http://theartoflawyering.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/theartoflawyering

Twitter: http://twitter.com/artoflawyering

Instagram: http://instagram.com/artoflawyering

Newsletter: http://theartoflawyering.com/newsletter

Law Firm Confidential: http://lawfirmconfidential.net

It's that time of the year again! The quarter ends next Wednesday, so we need to check in, revisit goal setting for law firms and make sure you are on the right track.

I think before we get going it's important to remember why we are even setting law firm goals: the main reason is that if you don't know where you want to go you'll never get there.

Whether you are thinking in terms of where you want to go in life or just getting a new car, setting law firm goals is critical to success.

SMART Law Firm Goals

Mostly because I butchered this in the actual podcast, I wanted to take a second to go through what SMART goals are really quickly.

SPECIFIC - like I said in the podcast, a specific goal is simply defined very precisely.

Becoming a better networker is not specific. Being able to enter into a room where you don't know anyone and have a plan of action is.

MEASURABLE - a goal is no good if you can never know if you met it. Measurable goals are often tied to numbers.

You don't want to make a lot of money this quarter, you want to make $50,000.

ACHIEVABLE - a goal is also no good if it's so far out of the stratosphere that there is no chance you can reach buy valium mastercard it.

If you made $100,000 last year, making $200,000 this year is an achievable law firm goal. If you made $20,000, it's probably not.

RESULTS-FOCUSED - goals that are focused on results make it all the easier to tell if they have been reached or not.

If your goal is centered around a "feeling" then it's going to be tough to know when you've reached it. The networking example above is a great example of a goal that is not results oriented and then one that is.

TIME-BOUND - law firm goals that have a specific deadline are much more likely to be reached than those that don't.

There is something about deadlines that force us to take action, even if they are self-imposed.

Law Firm Goals Success is a 3 Step Process

Step 1 is to simply look at where you are right now with your current goals. Are you on track to meet them? Think about why or why not.

Step 2 is to identify what you've been doing that is working toward your goals and what you've been doing (or failing to do) that is preventing you from reaching your goals.

Step 3 is to write down your goals for the quarter, adjusted for past performance, so you can be that much more likely to hit them this time.

On this episode of The Art of Lawyering Podcast I talk to John Grant, a lawyer by trade and a project manager at heart.

We talk about all kinds of cool stuff but at the end of the day we try to solve one problem: how can we get our work done faster and better?

John has an interesting path that lead him to where he is today, and his expertise in the area of project management shines through early and often. He's clearly a guy that knows what he is talking about.

If you are feeling like you've got a ton to do and you don't know where to start or what activity will give you the biggest return on your time investment, this is a must listen.

John does go through a quick rundown of the process, and I want to share that with you right now:

planning phase (what are you doing in the next two weeks)

daily stand-up (rules: 1 - everyone is there on time; 2 - only 2 minutes times number of people in room; 3 - what did you accomplish since last meeting (within context of board)?; what do you plan to accomplish before next meeting?; what is in your way (roadblocks)?)

sprint review (go back to planning meeting notes and review) - and, did you do it well?

retrospective - it's about the process used to get the work done - write the answers to these questions on the wall (what is going well that we should keep?; what is not going well?; what should we try that is different?)

Show Resources

Simple Gantt Chart

Simple Kanban Board

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Seyfarth Shah Law Firm

Agile Attorney Slack community

threadkm

lawcus

trademarkia

willing.com

legalzoom

Casey Flaherty

Kanban for Lawyers - John Grant

Book Recommendation: The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

Theory of Constraints

agileattorney.net

John on Twitter: @jegrant3

This is a question I am infrequently asked but often think about.

I think it's romantic to believe that anyone can go out there and start a successful law firm. To believe that we can all go out there and be a successful law firm owner goes right along with your standard American Dream.

But I don't know if that's the case. I don't know that everyone can start a law firm and be good at it.

Or maybe they can. :)

To get my thoughts on whether anyone can be a successful law firm owner, you have to watch the video.

The Art of Lawyering | How to Start a Law Firm | Law Firm Marketing | Leadership | Mindset | Productivity

http://theartoflawyering.com/

MY NEWEST PODCAST - http://theartoflawyering.com/066

MY NEWEST ARTICLE - http://theartoflawyering.com/5-steps-to-becoming-more-productive/

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM- https://instagram.com/theartoflawyering/

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK - http://facebook.com/theartoflawyering

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Christopher Small knows how to build profitable law firms. When he started his law firm in 2009 he looked around for resources to help, found none, and created his own based on the lessons he learned from books, courses, mentors, and the street.

That resource is The Art of Lawyering. This is his way of providing amazing value and relevant tips and tricks to help you market your law firm, start your law firm, and build your law firm the right way.

Christopher found that people wanted more, so he created Law Firm Confidential, a place where lawyers can go to discuss business, learn about building a profitable law firm, and talk to other lawyers interested in doing the same.

Find Christopher here:

Website: http://theartoflawyering.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/theartoflawyering

Twitter: http://twitter.com/artoflawyering

Instagram: http://instagram.com/artoflawyering

Newsletter: http://theartoflawyering.com/newsletter

Law Firm Confidential: http://lawfirmconfidential.net

In this episode of The Art of Lawyering Podcast I talk about how self-awareness is critical is you are interested in starting a law firm.

Self-awareness, in the context that I'm talking about, is the concept of being able to step away from your inner talk and and take stock of what is really going on in your life.

It means being able to stop blaming other people when things go wrong.

It means stopping making excuses for where you're at right now.

It means being able to, in the moment, course correct and get back on track.

Achieving self-awareness is one the biggest steps for starting a law firm successfully. You get there and you will see your profits, and your happiness, skyrocket.

Anthony C. Johnson is no average attorney. In just a few short years he's built a wildly profitable law firm and he did so lacking what many of you consider a critical component to success - experience practicing law.

Of course, over time, he has gained considerable experience, but when he was thinking about how to start a law firm with no experience he came up with a novel approach - he brought in outside attorneys to help.

Now, you may think it's a little order valium in canada online more complicated than that, and you'd be right. But Anthony takes the time to go through the process of starting a law firm with no experience, and make a ton of money doing it.

To get that, and much more, listen to the episode!

Resources

Johnson Vines Law Firm

American Injury Attorney Group

Anthony on Twitter

Book Recommendation: The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

ngagelive.com

textbroker

Law Practice Today Article: How to Check Email the Right Way

Contact Anthony C. Johnson