Break’s Over

Seems to me we’ve all been taking a little break. Thinking about our personal lives or thinking about keeping our jobs. Breaks are good. It’s not a bad idea taking a break every now and then. I know how hard you all work. Break’s over. – President Josiah Bartlet

For the past few months I’ve been sitting on the sidelines, tending to my new home in Southern California and preparing to be admitted to practice law here. I’ve ordered business cards and letterhead, commissioned a reboot of my firm’s website, and gotten used to working with my partner at a distance of over 3,000 miles.

I’ve also been spending time meeting with new friends out here, getting to know colleagues and networking my ass off. Lots of online stuff, but a ton of offline work as well.

Good stuff.

Here’s a lesson for you – don’t discount the power of offline marketing.

In my spare time I’ve been working with Cathy Moran to put together the Bankruptcy Practice Workshop in Dallas, a two-day fiesta of marketing, technology and management for consumer bankruptcy lawyers.

We decided to do it once it was clear that the workshop put on by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys this November in Amelia Island, Florida was going to be bereft of any decent education on these subjects.  The Amelia Island workshop is going to be excellent, by the way. Just not for business-building purposes.

You should look into the Bankruptcy Practice Workshop as well. And you should definitely go to it. It’s going to be more awesome than a basket of puppies.

To the outside eye, however, I’ve been on a break. Thinking about my personal life, thinking about my firm. It’s been fun, but break’s over.

Why? Because I’ve got too much to teach you. The landscape is changing pretty fast, and I’m sick and tired of a bunch of idiots who proclaim themselves to be legal marketing gurus tell you that you’ve absolutely, positively got to do [fill in the blank] or your practice is over and done with.

I read their blogs and I cannot for the life of my fathom why anyone in their right might pays them a dime for anything. These are the folks who ghostwrite LinkedIn interaction, who set up hundreds of fake Twitter accounts to make it look like they have thousands of followers, who will sell you the keys to the kingdom in exchange for your personal check, credit card or other valid form of payment.

Ain’t nothing wrong with trying to make a buck, but can we please stop shoveling horse turds and pretending that it’s a shower of gold and platinum?

Break’s over. The ass-kicking begins anew tomorrow.