2006 October

This is my Shingle

October 31, 2006 By Grant Griffiths

I have watched the conversation going on today concerning whether we should call it hanging your own shingle or something else. Chuck Newton over at the Spare Room Tycoon had a post today called, Spare the Shingle, Reward the M-Theory. Carolyn Elefant had a post called, You be Trendy, I’d Rather Run My Shingle at her blog, My Shingle.

I have read both, including a third post by Robert J. Ambrogi, Shingle-Minded Devotion at Legal Blog Watch.

I am not quite sure what the problem is with either approach. In fact, I view my own practice as hanging out my own shingle. But, it is more. Recently I have been writing about “The Connected Lawyer.” And, I have even gone so far as calling my blogs, “my shingle.” Being a connected lawyer could be considered trendy. But, being a “Connected Lawyer” enables me to hang MY OWN shingle and work out of my home.

How many years ago would we have to go back to, to get raised eyebrows about the technology some of us trendy lawyers use in our law offices? In my case, I could go back to this morning in a court hearing I had. Even today, in 2006, some lawyers can not accept the fact that we no longer use the IBM Select typewriter. Again, the technology I use in my own practice enables me to have the opportunity to hang my own shingle, be a solo, and work out of my home. Does it really matter what we call it? I don’t think so. Whether we call it “Third Wave Lawyer”, “M-Theory”, “The Connected Lawyer”, or Shingle, aren’t we all looking at the same thing. Ambrogi mentions in his post:

“Rather than hang shingles, Third Wave lawyers should pursue the M-Theory. This is a principle of physics that somehow translates into “doing what you love, while keeping your sanity, your earnings and your clients happy”

And what is wrong with “keeping your sanity, your earnings, and your client’s happy?” Which is actually my new slogan on this blog. And all three go hand in hand. In addition, for me and as Carolyn states, solo practice is not a trend to me, but reality and a lifesaver. In fact, even more for me, being a solo working out of my home is a reality and most definitely a lifesaver.

Without hanging my own shingle, being “Connected”, part of the third wave, trendy and pursuing the M-Theory and of course BLOGGING, I just don’t think I could do what I do. And they all work together to allow me to keep my sanity, more of my earnings and hopefully my clients happy.

Filed Under: Untethered Lawyer

Let Your Personality Shine Through When Marketing Your Practice

October 30, 2006 By Jay Fleischman

Marketing a bankruptcy practice can be tedious. How many stop signs can one possibly look at? How often can you say in your ads, “Stop repossessions! Stop foreclosure! Free consultation! Evening and weekend appointments available! Payment plans!”

You already know you aren’t saying anything unique, not standing out from the crowd. So you blend in, doing the same old thing forever. But here’s a lesson for you:

If your marketing blends into the crowd, nobody is ever going to have a reason to hire you!

So what do you do? Stand out!

Easier said than done, right?

There’s a great post over at Web Ink Now about letting your personality shine through in your online marketing efforts. David Meerman Scott says:

It is important for all organizations to create a distinct, consistent, and memorable Web site or blog, and an important component of that goal is the tone or voice of the content. As visitors interact with the content on your site, they should develop a clear picture of your organization. Is the personality fun and playful? Or is it solid and conservative?

Look at your law firm’s website or blog. What does it say? How does it say it? Can someone tell anything remotely interesting about you, any reason whatsoever that might make them want to actually connect with you on a personal level?

Do you show YOUR personality? If not, take out the pencil and start writing – you’ll be glad you did.

Photo courtesy of Joe Penniston.

Filed Under: Legal Marketing

When Shopping Online, Use This Site To Find Promo Codes

October 30, 2006 By Jay Fleischman

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to price compare. I view it as a personal quest, with a lower overall price as my Holy Grail. Why spend more than absolutely necessary? After all, more money left in my pocket can go to buy more stuff!

So anyway, here comes this new site called RetailMeNot which helps you find promo codes and discount coupon codes for online stores. It’s developed by the folks who brought you BugMeNot, a service that lets you find and share logins for websites that force you to register so you don’t get spammed endlessly.

RetailMeNot is pretty simple. When you buy a product online, always check if the shop or store provides an option to add a promo code to get a discount on the product.

Users can submit their own coupon codes at RetailMeNot and share them with others looking for discounts and promotional offers at online stores and web services. Even better, you can download their bookmarklet and you don’t even have to visit their site again.

Thanks to QuickOnlineTips for letting me know about this new service.

Filed Under: Law Office Management

Bringing Information and News To You Automatically

October 30, 2006 By Jay Fleischman

I’m an information junkie, and that’s good because it helps me keep on top of all the information I need. Without the most current information I might be sunk when it came to dealing with an adversary in settlement negotiations. Worse, there may be a developing point of law that could help my client – and if I didn’t know about it, I’d be in big trouble.

I am a big user of Google Alerts, which is a great (and free) tool for keeping up with breaking news. All you do is go to go to Google Alerts, and set up a search string and then decide how often you want to be notified (i.e. once a day, as it happens, or once a week). Google will send you email if there is news that fits your search.

You can also use an RSS reader in conjunction with Google to keep track of this information. If you are interested, here is the Google page that describes Google alerts.

Thanks to PDF For Lawyers for the original article.

Filed Under: Office Technology

Zillow.com Faces FTC Lawsuit

October 29, 2006 By Jay Fleischman

Robert Ambrogi reports that zillow.com, the real-estate valuations site that has turned into an essential resource for consumer bankruptcy lawyers seeking to verify property valuations as part of their due diligence, is the target of a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission. Ambrogi reports that the National Community Reinvestment Coalition alleges that Zillow is “intentionally misleading customers and real estate professionals to rely upon the accuracy of its valuation services.”

Stay tuned, folks. This could be interesting.

Filed Under: Office Technology

Don't Forget That Web Searchers Can't Spell

October 27, 2006 By Jay Fleischman

It’s no secret that people who search the web for information sometimes slip up in their typing. Maybe they type in “bankruptcy,” maybe they type in “bankrupcy.” Either way, it’s important for you to consider the options when doing your SEO and pay-per-click advertising.

Why? Well, chances are pretty good that the cost-per-click for “banjruptcy” is significantly less than “bankruptcy.” And just because someone slipped up when hitting the “k” key doesn’t mean they aren’t looking for your service.

Just to show that people misspell stuff all the time, check out this post on the top misspellings on Yahoo.

Filed Under: Legal Marketing

Flat Fees and Making Money

October 25, 2006 By Grant Griffiths

myShingle has a great post today called “Make More With Flat Fees.

I use flat fees a lot in my own practice. In both my family law cases and my criminal law cases. Clients do like it better as they know what a matter will cost. For the more complex matters, I still bill by the hour. But for uncontested divorces and those cases that are pretty much document preparation, flat fees works well.

Filed Under: Law Office Management

Treo Family Comparison Chart

October 24, 2006 By Grant Griffiths

Treonauts has a post today called, Treo Family Comparison Chart: Understanding the Differences.

It is a great source to compare the features of each of the Treos. If you are considering the purchase of this wonderful tool to stay “Connected”, I would encourage you to use the chart.