Episode 1: Building Your Dream Practice

These are the essential software options that many lawyers aren't using but should be using, or should be using more than they are (if they're using any of these options). BTW, I'd love to get your feedback or answer any questions you have (which can get to in an upcoming episode). Show Notes Here's a list of essential software that was discussed: Automated Scheduling (e.g. Acuity, Calendly, ScheduleOnce) PDF Manipulation software (e.g. Acrobat, Kofax PowerPDF, PDF Pen,PDF Expert) Dictation & Transcription software Dictation: (Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is now only supported for Windows computers. But Mac users can use voice control to get 80% of the benefit of Dragon on their computer. Smartphones now all have pretty decent dictation capabilities) Transcription (Otter.ai, which is free for 60 hours of transcription per month) Otter.ai transcript of this podcast episode TextExpansion software (e.g. TextExpander) Brett Burney's TextExpander for Lawyers courses Demo of Ernie's textexpander automation for this episode's podcast show notes Password Manager software (e.g. LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, Roboform) Backup software (e.g. Backblaze, Carbonite, Time Machine for Macs) Team Chat (e.g. Slack) or Microsoft Teams) Virtual Meeting software (e.g. Zoom), Webex, Microsoft Teams) Process documentation software (e.g. SweetProcess, Process St.) Register for Ernie's Systems Building Workshop Video recording software for explaining/training (e.g. Loom) Example of Loom recording Email broadcast software (e.g. ConvertKit, Mailchimp) Website: online presence (e.g. Wordpress, Squarespace, About.me) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

2 Maalis 202148min

Morning pages is a simple, easy tool that can help you overcome a lot of what's keeping you confused or stuck about many important things in your life and in your law practice. This simple daily exercise has made helped me make massive progress in areas where I was perpetually stuck. And apparently, this process has worked for thousands of people. Of course, just because it's easy and simple doesn't mean that you won't create excuses to not do it. In this episode I'll share my insights so that you can (hopefully) get past the debilitating resistance and fears, so you can experience the massive transformation that the vast majority of people who do this (94% of them) experience. Show Notes The Artists Way, by Julia Cameron (the original explanation of of the "morning pages" exercise) The Tim Ferriss Show (his podcast) Brian Koppleman podcast (The Moment) Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Tim Ferriss Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World, by Tim Ferriss General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

23 Helmi 202145min

In the Information Age (which we are now living in) there's a lot of information to keep track of. Most of it is useless, but some of it is powerful. The trick is to separate the signal from the noise, and having "information sherpas" will help you do that. Information sherpas are people who pay close attention to particular areas of interest. In this episode I'll share some of the best sherpas to help you learn the principles and best practices for becoming more productive. am Show Notes The Tim Ferriss Show (his podcast) 5 Bullet Friday (Tim Ferriss' weekly email blast) Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Tim Ferriss Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World, by Tim Ferriss Michael Hyatt website Podcasts by Michael Hyatt Focused (podcast by David Sparks) Mac Power Users (Mac-focused podcast by David Sparks) Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear The 3-2-1 Newsletter, by James Clear The Sweet Setup (productivity courses for Mac users) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

16 Helmi 202129min

Lawyers who fully understand what's known as "megatrends" will thrive. And those who ignore the megatrends or (worse) resist them, will probably struggle to survive. The megatrends we'll discuss are ones that are inherent in the shift from an industrial society to one based on the flow of information —specifically, digital information. Show Notes Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, by John Naisbitt Creating Online Courses (a video session by Joey Vitale, which was part of the 2020 Virtual Bootcamp conference) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

9 Helmi 202125min

Kerry Wallis practices family law in Los Angeles California, and aspires to spend more time traveling the world. She's been working on building systems by documenting workflows, and she's been traveling Europe with her family during the pandemic. How is she able to do this? Listen to this episode and find out. Show Notes Gray Law Corp (Kerry's law firm website) Slack (tool Kerry uses extensively) Otter.ai (free transcription tool) Otter transcript of this episode Evernote (online note storage) Google Docs (online doc storage) SweetProcess (online process documentation service) Link to Ernie's 28-day free trial of SweetProcess Loom (free video creation tool) The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber (seminal business book for small business owners) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

2 Helmi 202146min

If you're need to hire an associate but don't have enough work for a full-time person check out a legal outsourcing service called Lawclerk. In this episode Kristin Tyler (one of the founders) explains how their service works, and talks about their new subscription program. Show Notes LawClerk.legal home page Details on Associate Subscription Program (features & pricing) 50-State Review of Rules re: Outsourcing for Lawyers YouTube video discussion of program (featuring the two founders of LawClerk legal) Example of work product of attorney freelancer (a memo I outsourced the creation of for a talk I gave to the Texas Bar Assn) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

26 Tammi 202140min

You can learn to be more persuasive, but if you want to learn the most important elements then you should read the short book discussed in this episode. You'll also learn why polarization is persuasive even though it's usually immoral and improper. Episode Notes The One Sentence Persuasion Course - 27 Words to Make the World Do Your Bidding, by Blair Warren General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

19 Tammi 202143min

Learn how to recover 5 more hours of your time per week. Dina Cataldo is a criminal defense lawyer turned coach who helps lawyers master time-management, grow their businesses, and have more fun. In this episode, she and Ernie talk about getting leverage in your law business and gaining margin in your life. Episode Notes Dina's business website Dina's Be a Better Lawyer Podcast Dina's downloadable PDF guide: the Busy Lawyer's Guide to Getting 5 Hours Back Dina's Instagram page General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don't even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai. 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 EmeraldCity Pro.

12 Tammi 202144min