The 80/20 Principle

Here are links resources mentioned during the episode : Financially Legal Podcast (Dan Lear's podcast) Dan's White Paper on Subscription legal services   How do you "show up" for your clients? (Dan Lear podcast episode with Kim Bennett)   Can you sell legal services by subscription?  (Dan Lear podcast episode with Jon Tobin)   Can you do that with your law practice? (Dan Lear podcast episode with...

Melissa Shanahan is a business coach who helps solo and small firm lawyers make massive changes to their practices —by harnessing the power of accountability. She does this through her 30-day "sprints" and exclusive Mastery Groups. In this episode, Melissa and I discuss things like super-thinking, meta-skills, and the vital importance of the "Monday Map" and the "Friday Wrap." We talked about the...

Getting clients to write reviews is vital to your marketing success, but most lawyers struggle to gather reviews. Andy Stickel has helped hundreds of lawyers develop solid marketing strategies, especially showing them how to effectively and most easily gather reviews that are posted online. His new book is a trove of valuable strategies and tactics for attorneys who want to get more great reviews....

After doing commercial litigation in an Oakland law firm, Pete Clancy and his wife started their own personal injury law firm. Pete is a member of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association where he strives to help fellow lawyers learn to improve their practices in various ways, including the strategic use of technology. In this episode, Pete and Ernie discuss the challenges of running a small fi...

In his law practice, Joey helps entrepreneurs protect their brands by securing trademarks. And he's also a brand strategist and entrepreneur. In this episode, he and Ernie talk about how he is able to find and hire virtual assistants for as little as $6 per hour. He also shares his special hack for learning things he needs to know by outsourcing the learning process. Yes, it sounds unusual but it...

Andy Wilson is the CEO of Logikcull, an e-discovery company that (in his words) aims to "democratize the process of discovery." With over 1,300 law firm clients, Logikcull has been responsible for helping process many terabytes of valuable data. And as a result, they have their finger on the pulse of digital discovery in a way that few lawyers could hope to have. In this episode Andy explains why...

Larry Weinstein understands the special needs of lawyers and helps them create clever tax plans to save more money. As he points out "the less you pay in unnecessary taxes, the more money you can invest in your life and business." In this episode, Larry shares six tax-reducing strategies that small business owners (i.e. lawyers) should be aware of and take advantage of. And then he and Ernie discu...

Lexlee Overton became a trial lawyer just like her dad, but then found herself anxiety-ridden and suffering from what she terms "trial psychosis." She learned to overcome her stress and turned to helping other lawyers. Now she helps lawyers learn how to use scientifically proven techniques to train their minds to release stress, anxiety, and fear; become power-performers; and love what they do all...

Visionary attorney Matt Homann shares insights garnered from practicing law as a solo lawyer, and as a consultant who now helps businesses innovate in practical ways. Among the topics discussed are the joys and practical benefits of systematically firing clients, the "ideal average client," and Matt's unique "client worthiness index." Below are some resources mentioned in this episode: Filament (M...

There are three important things to leverage to make your law business easier to manage: (1) The Tetris Business Model; (2) the power of short phrases, single words and even single letters; and (3) the importance of focusing on curiosity over opinions. Let's talk about how these things relate to each other and to your business as a whole. Exactly What To Say ( the magic words for influence and imp...

Below are the resources Ernie discussed in this episode. How to use free online "billboards" to market your practice , blog post by Ernie ( summarizes the points covered in the podcast ) Loom video demo - (Ernie demonstrates how he tweaks his LinkedIn "headline" bio on his iPhone) Linktr.ee service -Allows you to bundle several link sources and link to a page that hosts those links. Also allows yo...

Frameworks (or "mental models") help you better leverage high-value information, such as the kind you'll find in books like the ones I discuss in this episode. And when you're organizing information you should consider using tags as much as possible (and be aware of how they are better than folders or notebooks). Evernote For Lawyers , by David Ward The Effective Executive , by Peter Drucker The P...

If you feel like you have too many responsibilities, tasks or things you're "supposed to do," then you're probably feeling anxious. The key to ridding yourself of this kind of anxiety is learning to zoom out and put things in a larger context. In short, greater perspective will cure harmful perfectionism. Meditopia ; - meditation app that I use and recommend Traction , by Gino Wickman (a great boo...

Show Notes While some prospects want to talk to a person at the law firm, many want answers to questions without having to book a call. For example, in family law situations, many clients want to ask questions by texting so their soon-to-be ex-spouse won't overhear. So chatbots are being widely adopted. And there are lots of options to investigate but only one company, Gideon , is focused 100% on...

Learning to systematize your practice isn't that hard, and so it helps to hear how other lawyers are tackling this important aspect of running their businesses. Jeff Lewis is quite thoughtful and incisive because he just spent time focusing on developing systems in Ernie's new course on systems building. Jeff Lewis is co-host of the California Appellate Law Podcast . The Power of A System , John F...

Evernote is for lawyers as much as it is for anyone else. And no lawyer knows more about using it well than David Ward (the author of Evernote for Lawyers ). David shares his insights about how to get more organized with Evernote. But he's also is a thoughtful student of marketing, which many lawyers find daunting. He explains that successful marketing is merely an extension of who you are and not...

Show Notes Craig Ball is a highly successful plaintiff's lawyer who became a nationally respected computer forensic examiner. He is currently teaching a course on digital evidence at Tulane Law School. He teaches regularly at the University of Texas Law School (his alma mater) and Georgetown University Law Center, among other places. Visit Craig's website (or get his curriculum vitae here ) Visit...

Streamlining and improving your key workflows can result in improved revenues and profits for your firm, like Lori Gonzales discussed in this blog post (i.e. 260% revenue increase for a solo practitioner in less than six months. As she said, just being curious about how to leverage technology can propel you forward in astonishing ways. And I believe if you're curious about using a new app on your...

Information overload created by digital technology causes us a lot of anxiety. But the real source of trouble is less obvious. Once you get clear about the root cause of anxiety you can better understand how to counteract it. Information Anxiety , by Richard Saul Wurman (an invaluable guidebook for dealing with data overload) General Resources Learn to use technology to reduce friction & gain free...

Show Notes In the Information Age you need to understand how to more effectively process information, and how to create valuable knowledge. You need to be systematic and thoughtful. And you need a good way to capture ideas and refine them over time to create valuable knowledge. Let's talk about how to capture and refine ideas by using a solid note taking system. General Resources Learn to use tech...

Ideally, you should touch each email only once. You need a good system for processing your emails quickly and effectively, because how you make decisions about handling email says a lot about how effective you are at making higher level decisions. Hey.com ; the new email service that I'm trying out (using the email address ernieattorney@hey.com ) Jason Fried's books on Amazon Jason Fried's blog po...

If you want to survive in this world of constant change and massive disruption you need to efficiently and effectively process digital information. If you want to thrive you need to get to a higher level and find ways to leverage new opportunities that are arising from the exponentially increasing prevalence of digital technology. YouTube video re: Information Processing (this is a 5 minute video...

Show Notes Simplifying your practice is hard, but you can make it easier. First, learn to shift your mind and start seeing the power of simplicity in everyday language. The six word exercise discussed in this episode can be applied to your business in practical ways. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure The Hemingway app (a free online editing tool) Check o...

Show Notes You want to effectively manage your law business so that you get more work done, more easily, and more reliably. Technology can definitely help, especially automation. But there are other elements besides technology that you need to leverage in a delicate combination. In this episode, you'll discover the other 5 key elements that will enable you to make dramatic improvements to how your...

Show Notes Ernie ruminates about marketing with Ramesh Reddy, a young lawyer that he mentored in his early career. Afterwards, Ramesh focused on learning the fundamentals of marketing his law practice. Both Ernie and Ramesh have found success with the same principles, which they discuss in an informal, engaging way. Ramesh's law firm website Mike Kim (an exceptional marketer/copywriter) Ray Edward...