Episode 1: Building Your Dream Practice

Leveraging strengths and conquering weaknesses is vital to your success. When you harness strengths you can make big improvements in your practice that make your life a lot easier. The key to doing this is with a well-known 4-step analysis called S.W.O.T. which many business managers find to be indispensable. In this episode, we'll delve into what the SWOT analysis looks like for a solo or small firm lawyer. Episode Notes Click here to download a 1-page S.W.O.T. worksheet (PDF) Click here to fill out my online S.W.O.T. form 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.

5 Jan 202121min

The less paper you handle the more freedom you have in your practice. David Sparks is a California business attorney who teaches others how to use technology to shed paper and be more productive and less stressed out. While he focuses on Mac-based technology in terms of the tools he uses, his systems are platform-independent. In this episode, he talks about how he created his paperless practice and the challenges he faced. He also explains how modern lawyers should go about making their practices as devoid of dependence on paper as possible. Episode Notes MacSparky website (David's personal website, with links to his books and courses on using Mac-based technology) SparksEsq website (David's professional website for his law practice) Paperless Field Guide (David's course on Mac-based tech tools and general systems for being less dependent on using paper) Drafts (Mac-based tool for iPhone, iPad, and computers that is a launching-off point for text automation that works with other apps). Drafts Field Guide (David's free course on how to get the most out of Drafts) How I Name Files (David's MacWorld article on the system he uses for naming files ) Evernote (cloud-based PC & Mac note-taking, storage tool) NotePad (cloud-based note-taking tool) Dragon Dictate (PC based Hazel (an amazing Mac-based automation tool) Hazel Field Guide (David's course on how to use Hazel most effectively) Adobe Acrobat (Mac & PC software for editing and working with PDFs) PDF Pen (Mac-based PDF editing software used by David) Liquid Text (innovative PDF viewing, editing, note-taking tool) Scanner Pro (iOS app for scanning docs with an iPhone ScanPro (iOS, Android app for scanning with a smartphone) The Pen Addict (a weekly podcast about pens, paper, ink, and stationery) Rhodia notebooks (classic orange notebooks in various sizes) 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.

29 Dec 202058min

You want your practice to run better, with less involvement on your part. But there are several challenges to making this happen. One is finding the best tool to document, refine, and optimize all your workflows. The more workflows you document the less involved you can be. The better those workflows are described (and optimized over time) the smoother your practice will run. In this episode, we will delve more into this important topic with Owen McGab Enaohwo, the creator of SweetProcess, one of the best tools for documenting systems and workflows. Here are links to resources mentioned during the episode: SweetProcess (workflow documentation company run by Owen) Four Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss (2007 book that discussed the use of virtual assistance) Mixergy (Andrew Warner's podcast) Zapier (interconnect cloud services to automate more effectively) Ernie's recipe for Christmas cookies (documented with SweetProcess) Ernie's Process Consultant page on SweetProcess website. 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.

22 Dec 202045min

Your intuition is a vast repository of life experiences, insights, and deep knowledge. There are times you should trust your intuition, and times when not doing so will put you in peril. In this episode, you'll discover when and how to tap into the immense power of your subconscious knowledge to get more good clients more easily. 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.

15 Dec 202032min

Documenting your workflows is boring but essential if you want to crank the gears of your law business, and evolve into something that doesn't depend on you doing all the work and making all the decisions. Why is it so hard to document workflows? Well, it has to do with the nature of the work we do, which is mostly information processing that's intangible and ephemeral. But if you learn to visualize the work in the way I describe in this episode you'll find it a lot easier to map your workflows, and then steadily refine them in a way that leads to blissful freedom. 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.

8 Dec 202038min

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 Megan Zavieh) Could you be an outsourced general counsel? (Dan Lear podcast episode with Beth Lebowitz) 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.

1 Dec 202050min

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 War of Art, "the resistance," and why process saves you from the poverty of intention. Resources discussed Velocity Work website (learn more about her 30-day accountability sprints) VelocityWork podcast The Practice, by Seth Godin (his newest book) The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield (about overcoming "the resistance") The Trillion Dollar Coach, by Eric Schmidt (about Bill Campbell who coached Steve Jobs and other top Silicon Valley CEOs) Indestructible: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, by Nil Eyal (follow him on Twitter @nileyal) FocusMate (free virtual co-working accountability to help you stay focused) Dan Pink on Information Asymmetry (Forbes article) Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind & Defy The Odds, by David Goggins (check out his website also) 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.

24 Nov 20201h 6min

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. In this episode, Andy explains how to get client reviews that help Google rank you higher by using 5 basic questions. And he explains why getting a few bad reviews can actually wind up being a good thing. Episode Notes Social Firestarter (Andy's company website) Andy's YouTube channel 5-Star Attorney Waiting List (get Andy's new book on gathering reviews & testimonials) Lawyer Marketing Facebook Group Free Training On How To Get More Clients (by Andy) Hug Your Haters, by Jay Baer (why embracing complaints is a good thing) Derek Sivers TED talk (keep your goals to yourself) Never Split The Difference, by Chris Voss (about negotiation strategies and tactics) There's a Customer is Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum's Secrets to Business Success, by Joe Vitale Didn't Hire Survey (article by Andy Stickel) 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

17 Nov 202048min