Your Law Firm is a Business. Take it to the Next Level

An article recently came out in the ABA Journal entitled “Are Women Lawyers Paying Enough Attention to Upward Mobility.” Today I, Melanie, am taking the floor to discuss it. 

In order to help me, I brought on my friend Valerie Fenchel. Valerie founded the firm Fenchel Family Law where she helps women break free from unhealthy relationships.

Throughout our conversation, we are addressing multiple aspects of this controversial article. The entire concept forced us to focus in on the idea of working moms in the legal industry. Valerie and I come from different perspectives (me being a mom while Valerie is not), allowing us to bring diversity to the conversation.

Whether you’re a man or woman working at a law firm, I believe our discussion today will teach you something of worth. Tune in to hear some of our thoughts on this article and on the role of females in the legal industry.

Show Highlights:

• What Valerie’s legal journey has been like.
• What opening her own firm taught her.
• What upward mobility means.
• Why men and women need to share domestic responsibilities.
• How overwhelming the expectations of legal firms are.
• Why we need more women partners.
• What the follow-up article by the president of ABA was about.
• The importance of revealing our vulnerabilities.
• Why everyone deserves the same chance to succeed.
• The importance of knowing your employees and relating to them in a way that gives them confidence.
• Why law firms need to focus on mindset and culture.

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Supporting Resources:

Original Article: https://www.abajournal.com/columns/article/are-women-lawyers-paying-enough-attention-to-upward-mobility

ABA Follow Up: https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/womens-success-in-legal-careers-lack-of-advancement-is-not-a-woman-problem-its-a-profession-problem

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

If you’re a small business owner, you are doing a lot of online marketing. This is obviously something that Mark talks about all the time. It covers any kind of marketing that has an electronic component to it. This includes channels such as LinkedIn, MailChimp, Facebook ads, and SEO.

Because there is such a wide variety of ways to do online marketing, Mark gets frequent questions on which one is the best. People want to know what program to add to their online marketing repertoire that will change everything for them. The truth, though, is that there is no “magic pill” when it comes to online marketing. There are, however, some great tactics and strategies for you to implement in your firm.

In this episode, we’re talking about those tactics and strategies. We’re walking through the importance of mapping your marketing strategies to your business goals and the best tactics to match that strategy.  

Show Highlights:

• The difference between tactics and strategies.
• Why you should differentiate between tactics and strategies.
• Why you need to map your marketing strategy to your business goals.
• How to be realistic about your business goals.
• Some client examples of all of this.
• How to choose marketing tactics after mapping out your strategy.

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We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

ACTION STEPS:

1. If you haven’t done this, write down your business goals (SMART goals). Think 10 year, 3 year, and 1 year.
2. Ask what marketing goals need to be met to help you achieve your business goals.
3. Based on what you know or after connecting with a marketing expert, ask what the best tactics are that can help you achieve your marketing strategy and meet your business goals.

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

Is it possible to run a law firm without paper?

Here at Law Firm Next, we believe that it is. Not only do we believe it’s possible but we also believe that going paperless is the best option for law firms. 

Traditionally, law firms have always used a lot of paper. That translates to spending a lot of money on paper, ink, other supplies, and printers. You’ll also have the added stress of having to figure out where you’ll store all that paper. You may need a bunch of paper files, more furniture to store all of the paper, larger offices, or maybe even an extra storage space for everything.

All in all, paper just creates more problems for law firms. It creates finance and space challenges. The idea that law firms have to be swimming in paper this way is a myth and we’re busting it today. 

In this episode, we’re going to share what kind of paper you really need, the tools you need to make a paperless office happen, and tips to make the transition as successful as possible. Tune in to learn it all!

Show Highlights:

• How to be intentional about how and when you use paper in your law firm.
• Where to start when going paperless.
• Tools you need to go paperless.
• Practice management systems that have document storage built in.
• How to actually make this transition.
• How to save the information on the paper you get rid of.
• Why you need to do training with your whole team when you go paperless.
• What the “cold turkey” method is and why you should do it.

Action Steps:

1. Find the paper you can’t live without, write it down, and share it with your team so that everyone knows what paper you are keeping.
2. Work with your team to decide where to put the information that used to be on physical paper (a scan, in your practice management, etc.)
3. Stop printing - not for the environment but for better access.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at https://nextlevel.legal/episode/lfn009/ to download it.

Supporting Resources:

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

As the owner of a law firm, your highest goal is probably to get more clients coming through your doors. This is why we do all of the marketing that we do. However, we need to do more than just apply some marketing techniques or hire a marketing agency. We need to figure out a marketing system and know if our marketing is successful.

Melanie thought about this issue with regularity when she was running her law firm. We get questions on it all the time, too. Obviously, many law firm owners ask themselves how to know if their marketing is successful.

This is a very important topic. Knowing the benefit of any investment you make in your firm is crucial and marketing is one of those significant investments.

So today we are talking about why we measure our marketing and what to measure. We’re discussing which metrics matter and which actually aren’t that important in the beginning. Finally, we will talk about ROI (return on investment) and some practical tips for figuring out and applying your ROI number. 

Show Highlights:

• Why we measure.
• Which metrics matter.
• What vanity metrics are.
• Why you should work backwards.
• What ROI is.
• How to find your ROI and why it doesn’t need to be a perfect number.
• Actions steps for you to start measuring your marketing today.

Action Steps: 

1. Let’s get a sense of your conversion rate at different steps in your intake (sales) pipeline. If you don’t have tools to track, in a spreadsheet start tracking:
2. 1. How many people contact your firm and set up a consultation?
   2. How many show up to a consultation?
   3. How many become clients?
3. Do you know where your leads are coming from? Try to have real numbers behind where your leads are coming from.  With a great system setup you can get these from your CRM system, but if just starting at least ask people how they found you. It is not perfect but better than nothing
4. Pick one marketing strategy that you are working on and figure out the cost over time and how much profit you made that you can tie to that marketing strategy (see action step 2) to figure out your general ROI. 

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

Many business owners struggle with this question: “Why am I the only person moving these cases forward?” In law firms specifically, many attorneys are frustrated with this feeling.

We must take a step back when we notice these feelings within ourselves. They can come from a variety of sources, one of the biggest of them being decision fatigue. If we let this go on long enough we will become exhausted and cranky and will begin to lash out at those closest to us. Let it go on even longer and it could lead to burnout. At that point, you’re not going to do any good for your clients or your team.

Therefore, it’s important to take responsibility for these thoughts. We must reflect on why we’re in this situation in the first place. 

So today we’re going to help you figure that out. We’re going to explain why you feel like you’re the only one moving cases forward and how to change that. If you and your team need some sweet relief, tune into this episode today.

Show Highlights:

• Why you feel like you’re the only one moving cases forward.
• What a system is.
• How to create the systems you need.
• Where to start implementing a system.
• The power of creating systems for one thing at a time.
• Why you need to include your team in a discussion on how to improve things in your business.
• How setting expectations upfront reduces the need to micromanage.
• Why you should document every process and expectation.
• How creating systems saves you time in the long run.
• How getting all of this in place makes it easier to trust your team.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Identify one step in your process that you or your team does a lot
2. Include your team in a discussion about how they do it now and how it could be done better
3. Document it (don’t let this be the last time that someone has access to the info and don’t keep it in your head)

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

Supporting Resources:

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

One of Melanie’s biggest challenges when running her law firm was knowing what to focus on. There are so many voices shouting at law firm owners from every direction and they’re all saying different things. Some say we should focus on SEO while others say PPC is the way to go.

On top of that, as a law firm owner, you’re wearing so many different hats. You’re trying to focus on a million things at once. How are you supposed to know what to spend your time and money on?

Mark has extensive experience with this issue as a result of his years working with law firms on their marketing, so today he is discussing it at length. He is filling you in on all things SEO and PPC so you can make an informed decision on which one to prioritize and invest in first. 

Additionally, he’s going to explain why both are important, how they help with marketing, and which will take your law firm to the next level. Tune in to hear it all!

Show Highlights:

• What SEO is.
• Why it’s important.
• Whether or not it really works.
• What PPC is.
• Why it’s valuable to law firms.
• The difference between SEO and PPC for marketing.
• Where to spend your investment.
• An action step for you to boost your traffic.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

Supporting Resources:

• Clio Legal Trends Report 2019 https://www.clio.com/resources/legal-trends/2019-report/
• Clio Legal Trends Report 2020 https://www.clio.com/resources/legal-trends/2021-solo-report/

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

We all want to make the best use of our time. We all want to maximize the limited number of hours we have in a day. In sum, we all want to be productive.

Automation is an incredible tool that can help us become more productive. As busy business owners, there’s no way we can get everything done if we don’t automate. Little things will slip through the cracks that, when added up, become very big things. Eventually, our profitability and efficiency will decrease exponentially.

Knowing this, it’s no surprise that we get questions on the topic of automation all the time. So, in this episode, we’re diving into it. We’re discussing what should be automated, how exactly to do it, and what you may be doing wrong that’s harming you and your business. Tune in to learn all of this and how you can start saving yourself hours of time today.

Show Highlights:

• Why automation applies to both licensed attorneys and non-licensed employees in your firm.
• What you should automate in your firm.
• Why reflection is priceless.
• Automation tools for email.
• What Zapier is and how it helps with automation.
• Tools that help with document automation.
• Why your automation isn’t working.
• How to build consistency.
• The things automation can free you up for.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

Supporting Resources:

Zapier

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

Many law firm owners have a similar nagging fear. They wonder if their online marketing can compete with the big firms. When Melanie was running her law firm, she worried about that same thing.

It makes sense why you have this fear. The big law firms can afford to spend tons of money advertising on TV and billboards. It can certainly feel like it’d be impossible to compete with them!

However, we believe here at Law Firm Next that you can still compete with these big firms. It comes down to 3 things: the different types of competition, online marketing, and social proof. 

Mark is going to help us understand these 3 things through the lens of his extensive marketing background while Melanie will provide input from her personal experience running a law firm. Tune in to hear it all.

Show Highlights:

• Why your competition in town and your competition online are so different.
• Why you should look up your competition on Google.
• How online marketing levels the playing field.
• What a non-branded search is.
• How to utilize online marketing well.
• Why social proof is so important.
• How to influence your social proof.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

***

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

Both of us get asked all the time which practice management system is best. Many law firm owners out there are either just getting started in their operations or don’t like the program they’re currently using. They want to know which system they should choose instead.

This is a big decision. It will impact the way your firm operates on a daily basis. It also plays a large part in determining how far your firm can scale.

As a result, we want to help you make this decision. In this episode, we will help you understand what practice management systems are. Then, we’ll talk through some of the choices out there and answer your biggest question: which one should you choose? 

Show Highlights:

• The difference between a practice management system and a CRM.
• The key features of practice management systems.
• The benefits of condensing individual technologies into one system.
• The different practice management system options.
• How to decide which system is best for your law firm.
• Which system to pick if you have analysis paralysis.
• Why you shouldn’t keep analyzing for months.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

***

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

There are so many legal podcasts out there. Why should you subscribe to another one?

Well, today we’re telling you why. We are diving deep into the motivation behind launching this podcast.

One of the most distinctive features of this show is the variety of perspectives your hosts will bring. We have extensive knowledge and experience on both the marketing and operational sides of running a law firm. 

These are the very things you need in order to build, scale, and succeed in your law firm. They are the elements that make up a strong business, take you from start to finish, and protect you when the unexpected hits.

Come join us on today’s episode to hear more about why we are doing this podcast, what the structure of each episode will look like, and why you should subscribe!

Show Highlights:

• How Melanie got started with her law firm.
• How organization helped her scale.
• The gaps in law school education.
• Some of Melanie’s “aha” moments when building her law firm.
• The benefits of workflows and systems.
• Why you need to view your firm as a legal practice and a business.
• What the structure of the podcast will be.
• Some of the top questions we get asked and will answer on the show.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Your Law Firm is a Business, Take it to the Next Level is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

If you enjoyed this episode, we've also created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from it. Just go to the episode page at [enter podcast page here] to download it.

***

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com