Your Law Firm is a Business. Take it to the Next Level

We are back with another episode of tech hacks! These episodes are becoming a fun addition to each quarter, so please continue to send your tech hacks over to us. Each episode is sharing technology tips that will help make life as a lawyer a little easier.

In this episode, Melanie and Mark share smartphone hacks for lawyers to improve productivity, time management, and more. From apps to daily practices, this episode is full of tips for getting the most out of your smartphone when your laptop is not available or when you have a few minutes to spare before court. 

Listen in for this quarter’s episode of tech hacks, and don’t forget to share any of your tips with us for future episodes!

Show Highlights:

• Take advantage of a practice management app like Clio.

• Use apps that are already programmed on your phone.

• Meditation and health improvement apps we enjoy.

• Recommended apps for scanning documents.

• Tips for not letting your phone own your time.

• The benefits of voice over IP phone apps.

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Supporting Resources:

• https://gngf.com/consultation 

• https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2022/11/08/fast-forward-comparing-1980s-supercomputer-to-modern-smartphone

ACTION STEPS:

1. Think about one smartphone tech hack that you want to add to your smartphone or a process you want to start using with your smartphone.

2. Use your voice assistant on your smartphone to set an alarm or reminder to set up the app or process. 

3. We also want to hear from you - send us your favorite smartphone or any tech hack to [email protected] and we might feature it in our next Tech Hacks episode.

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know I sent you.

Marketing funnels are a powerful tool for bringing in new business. There are workshops and courses dedicated to teaching business owners how to use them. Because marketing is tied to your business goals, you have to know which tools are the right ones to grow your practice.

Shiny object syndrome can create distractions. While some cutting-edge tools making their way to the market can be beneficial, there are some tried-and-true methods that can help swing your firm into another level of growth. The days of Yellow Pages ads may be gone, but the digital world has created more exposure opportunities.

In this episode, Mark and Melanie are talking about marketing funnels. Many law firms begin to move up the marketing funnel once they’ve built a foundation, leveraging CRMs to save money and attain huge ROI. There are many commonplace tools that you can implement to better meet your client’s expectations.

You’ll hear what the AIDA marketing funnel is, what marketing funnels are available to you, and the concept behind CRMs. Other attorneys are leveraging remote work tools in their practices to reach clients, and they’re probably things you’re already familiar with.

Show Highlights:

• Why many law firms are beginning to move up the marketing funnel once their foundation is built

• How CRMs can be leveraged

• Why commonplace tools are being implemented to better meet the diverse ways clients expect to learn and communicate with law firms

• What the AIDA marketing funnel is and how it works

• Awareness

• Interest

• Desire

• Action

• The different types of marketing funnels and their effectiveness

• The concept behind a CRM, how they can create a full-circle customer relationship management, and some examples of CRMs

• How you can save money and attain huge ROI by using a CRM

• How to use commonplace digital tools to meet the diverse ways clients expect to learn and communicate with you

• Why you should want to communicate with clients using different methods and the services you can use to implement these options

• How attorneys are leveraging remote work tools in their practices to reach clients

• Why you should take advantage of client portals

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The Legal Marketing Academy

https://gngf.com/consultation 

ACTION STEPS:

• Think about where you are with your law firm business and your marketing strategy. Would one of these strategies help you take your firm to the next level?

• For many firms, the easiest place to start will be incorporating more digital tools for client communication or implementing some tracking for their intake process that they can then incorporate into a CRM later on. 

• Write down the strategy you want to add to your firm in 2023 and start to do some research.  If you want some help, of course, feel free to reach out to my team. 

***

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know I sent you.

How much time could you save if you could automate some of the tasks in your practice? What would you do with those extra minutes or hours? It could change your ability to continue to grow your firm.

Software automation is getting easier to use. You no longer need an API to connect your apps. Instead, you can use one app to manage several tasks at once.

In this episode, we’re introducing you to Zapier and how it can make you happier. Zapier is an app that will let you connect different apps or software. What makes Zapier so valuable is that you don’t have to enter information twice or use multiple systems to do the same things with different files.

We’ll explain what “zaps” are, how they work, and why you need them in your life. Simplify processes like follow-up emails, scheduling consultations, and moving files into your designated DropBox folders. Don’t miss how adding Zapier to your firm’s operations can help take it to the next level.

Show Highlights:

• What Zapier is and what it does
• How Zapier automates digital processes, which can decrease time spent in other areas of your practice
• Using automated time entries and expenses in Zapier
• Letting Zapier help organize your files and folders in DropBox or OneDrive
• Allowing Zapier to send client emails for updates on their cases
• How you can use Zapier as a marketing tool
• Setting up zaps that schedule consultations after payment is completed
• Using Zapier to send a welcome gift to new clients
• How you can take your firm to the next level using Zapier

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We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

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https://streamlined.legal/videos   

https://zapier.com/

ACTION STEPS:

• First Step: Go back and listen to Episode 5: Where Do I Start with Automation, especially if you’re not sure where to start even thinking of automations that would be helpful for you and your team
• Second Step: Brainstorm one automation that will be helpful to you or your team; it can be small, there are no awards for the best law firm automation, and everyone has to start somewhere
• Third Step: Make a plan for setting up that automation
• Do you have someone in-house that can do it, or will you outsource it?
• Keep in mind that this may not be the highest and best use of your time
• However, depending on where you are in your practice’s growth, you may have more time than money and want to figure it out yourself; in that case, YouTube is your friend

***

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know I sent you.

Melanie has a busy schedule, so finding time to listen to an audiobook can be difficult. Surprisingly, though, when a popular memoir was recently released, she found the time to listen to several chapters.

Our priorities shift according to what’s important to us, and sales in your law firm business are no different. If you are not prioritizing your sales and sales goals, it could be time to consider delegating those tasks to someone else.

In this episode, Mark and Melanie share seven signs that you should fire yourself from sales at your law firm. If you don’t have time to handle these tasks, you’re probably ready to bring in some help.

Show Highlights:

• Why you should fire yourself from sales and put someone else in charge of it
• The reason you should still act as the sales manager, meaning you’re delegating sales to your employee--not abdicating from them
• 24 hours is too long to respond to a lead
• Why you should hand over lead follow-ups to someone else if you aren’t following up
• Giving potential clients an out means you need to fire yourself from sales
• Fire yourself from sales if you’re dreading consults and unsure when you’ll complete the work
• Service quality is suffering because you’re wearing too many hats
• You’re quoting different prices to different clients for the same service
• You have a consistent marketing message and cadence that brings qualified prospects to
  your firm
• The action steps you need to take your firm to the next level

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

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The Legal Marketing Academy

ACTION STEPS:

• First Step: Count up how many of these signs you’ve noticed within your own firm so you’ll know how urgent the situation is
  • 1 or 2: You may want to start thinking about the situation
  • 3 or 4: I’d prioritize making a plan
  • 5 or more: Find someone today!
• Second Step: Think about who will wear the hat next:
  • Do you have someone already on your team that has the time to do it and that you could train on how you want it done?
    • Don’t just assign it to someone else that doesn’t have the time; this is a critical function of the firm’s success so we want someone that can give it the time and attention that it deserves
      • Taking it off of your plate because you are overwhelmed just to put it on someone else’s full plate is not a good solution
    • Is this an opportunity to hire someone that will be able to pay for themselves with the amount of sales they are able to make?
      • Remember that this doesn’t have to be a full time position and the salary can be based on their sales performance

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

We hear it all the time: Writing down goals makes them more achievable. Before you write down the goals, you have to identify what they are. What if your goal this year was to make this your best law firm year ever?

Creating more revenue or profit isn’t necessarily the goal that will motivate you. Instead, as you’re planning out your year, you should also consider the other changes you could make in your business to make your law firm even better.

In this episode, Mark and Melanie share how to identify the goals you want to achieve for your law firm. They outline the specific action steps you need to take and break it down even further into quarterly, monthly, and even weekly objectives.

Show Highlights:

• How to identify when you made the most revenue, took home the most profit from your business, and you were in control of your time
• Why focus is the secret to creating your best law firm year ever and how to choose the key measure that will create your best year
• Why writing down a goal and the “why” behind it will help you keep going
• The one thing that separates last year from this year is change
• How to rank your goals to make the most impact on your year and overcome  the overwhelm
• Break the year into quarters and months, and create measurable monthly milestones

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We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

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The Legal Marketing Academy

ACTION STEPS:

• Go back and answer the initial questions about what were the things that mattered if you look back at your best law firm year yet?  
• Spend some time thinking about your NUMBER ONE goal for this year and WHY that goal matters? Spend a little more time on the WHY than the goal number
• Sketch out the things you need to be doing different by the end of the year to hit that number? Rank them in order of largest impact and also fastest to accomplish.
  • Remember, you may want to work on quickest items with biggest impact first
• Put the no more than three things you are going to move forward each quarter. And then break it down into months.
• DO NOT COMPROMISE ON YOUR MONTHLY GOAL - Think about having an accountability partner or even an outside coach if you have the resources.

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

Identifying trends in any industry is vital for forecasting where your law practice may be going and where you want to take it. Clio is a company specializing in legal software, and they also release a yearly report to pinpoint trends in the legal field.

This episode of Your Law Firm is a Business. Take It to the Next Level is part two of a deep dive into Clio’s Legal Trends Report. We’re recognizing and discussing items that stand out and analyzing what they may mean for lawyers in the future.

Josh Lenon, Lawyer-in-Residence and Data Protection Officer at Clio, joins Mark and Melanie again for part two of this breakdown. His job is to translate lawyers to technologists and technology to lawyers. He’s helping them break down what the statistics mean in Clio’s Legal Trends Report.

Show Highlights:

• Why reviews are an output metric and the reason attorneys should understand the influences behind the reviews they receive
• Why answering the phone is one of the strongest investments you can make and the reason synchronous communication is still preferred
• How your affordability and billing methods affect the clients you attract in your practice
• What offering a flat fee service can do to increase your business
• Why using technology doesn’t have to be impersonal

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

Supporting Resources:

Follow us on Twitter
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Book A Consultation at GNGF 
The Legal Marketing Academy
Joshua Lenon bio: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joshualenon 
Clio Legal Trends Report: https://4.gngf.com/nextlevel-clio-LTR 
Streamlined Legal videos: https://streamlined.legal/videos   

Action Steps:

• When you’re done listening today, go download the Legal Trends Report, we’ll put the link in the show notes but a quick Google search for Legal Trends Report will get you where you need to go.
• Review the Table of Contents, jump to the section that interests you the most and read that section.  
• Then, using what you learned in that section, come up with one Action Step of your own that you can implement in your firm using what you learned.   

***
Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

Identifying trends in any industry is vital for forecasting where your law practice may be going and where you want to take it. Clio is a company specializing in legal software, and they also release a yearly report to pinpoint trends in the legal field.

This episode of Your Law Firm is a Business. Take It to the Next Level is diving into legal trends of the past year, including revenue, attrition rates, and cloud-based law practice management.

Josh Lenon, Lawyer-in-Residence and Data Protection Officer at Clio, joins Mark and Melanie. His job is to translate lawyers to technologists and technology to lawyers. He’s helping them break down what the statistics mean in Clio’s Legal Trends Report.

Show Highlights:

• What Josh’s role is at Clio, and how he guides the technology based on his experience as a lawyer
• What information the Clio Legal Trends Report provides, and how it’s changed since 2018
• How utilization rates may change in the future
• Why cloud-based practice management is a driver of growth
• How digital freedom has changed the ability to work on the go
• Why lawyer dissatisfaction seems high right now

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

Supporting Resources:

• Follow us on Twitter
• Follow us on Instagram
• Follow us on Facebook
• Book A Consultation at GNGF
• The Legal Marketing Academy
• Joshua Lenon bio: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joshualenon
• Clio Legal Trends Report: https://4.gngf.com/nextlevel-clio-LTR
• Streamlined legal videos: https://streamlined.legal/videos 

ACTION STEPS:

• When you’re done listening today, go download the Legal Trends Report, we’ll put the link in the show notes but a quick Google search for Legal Trends Report will get you where you need to go.  
• Review the Table of Contents, jump to the section that interests you the most and read that section. 
• Then, using what you learned in that section, come up with one Action Step of your own that you can implement in your firm using what you learned.  

***
Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

As a law firm owner, you saw a problem and decided to try and solve it by starting your business. When you did this, you had to work hard. You had to put a lot of effort into professional development just to get your firm up and running. In this way, professional development comes naturally to many entrepreneurs.

The problem is, this makes the professional development of your team a challenge. You expect your team to work on it independently but many of them won’t. Not everyone wants to start their own business or has the perspective of an entrepreneur. It is your responsibility to make sure they are developing professionally.

If this feels overwhelming or confusing, this episode is for you. Tune in to learn why the professional development of your team is so important and practical strategies for promoting it!

Show Highlights:

• The benefits of professional development.
• How professional development opportunities lead to employee retention.
• Why professional development should be fostered, not dictated.
• Practical ways to build professional development into your company culture.
• Why having one-on-one meetings with your direct reports is crucial.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

Supporting Resources:

Harvard Business Review Article: https://hbr.org/2022/04/3-ways-to-boost-retention-through-professional-development

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The Legal Marketing Academy

Action Steps:

1. Write down each role at your company. Remember some people may be doing multiple roles right now, depending on the size of your firm. For each role, write down the key responsibilities that define someone being successful in that role.

2. Next, jot down the skills required to handle those key responsibilities.

3. In your next one-on-one meeting with each of your team members, review the document with them and ask them to score themselves on a scale of 1-10 in each of the skills so that you can help them identify areas to get additional training and improvement.

4. Let them know that you encourage them to take one hour a week or a couple of hours every other week for training or an all-day class once a quarter on company time.

5. Bring it up and follow up in future one-on-ones.

***
Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

We’re back again with another episode of listener questions!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve covered some great topics here on the podcast. We’ve talked about hiring coaches and consultants, compounding growth, building influence, and more. These are important things to consider and we received a lot of great questions about them.

Today, we’re going to take some time to answer a few of these questions. Joining us again is Corinne, problem solver extraordinaire over at Streamline Legal.

Listen in and get your questions answered!

Show Highlights:

• Things to consider when hiring a coach or consultant.
• Tips for choosing the best coach possible.
• How to choose the best task management software.
• Why you should start simple with task management software.
• How to practice reciprocity with your team.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

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Episode 67

Episode 68

Episode 69

streamlined.legal

Action Steps:

1. When you’re done listening today, hop back into your podcast app, grab one of the episodes we mentioned today that caught your attention, and give it a listen to take your firm to the Next Level.

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

Links are extremely important in your SEO efforts. You want to make sure you have enough links and that the ones you have are high quality. That is how you can ensure that your content will attract the right people and get more ideal clients through your doors.

We recently went through a situation with one of our clients at GNGF where they did some things they should’ve have with their links. We were able to help them through the situation and get them back on track but it taught us a good lesson. Today, we want to share more about this situation and explain what our client should have done instead.

Take this cautionary tale and apply the things you learn today regarding link building do’s and don’ts and you will be well on your way to massive SEO success!

Show Highlights:

• A review of local SEO.
• What backlinks are.
• What you need to work on before focusing on link buildling.
• The big mistake our client made.
• The right way to do link building.

Subscribe and Review

We’d appreciate you subscribing to this podcast and leaving an Apple Podcasts review. Reviews help others discover and learn what Law Firm Next is all about. It only takes a second and helps us out a lot!

Supporting Resources:

Book A Consultation with GNGF

Local “Without” Link Building Article

Episode 39

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Action Steps:

1. If you are paying for links, please stop. Additionally, delete any enticing emails that promise the world if you buy high DA (domain authority) links.
2. Start with the basics that we covered in the first few SEO episodes we did. Rinse and repeat this and track your metrics.
3. Start to think about how you can garner local-oriented links. Can you get some press on an important case? Can you speak at a local event or bar association and get a link to your website? Even having links for events and local teams you sponsor could help.

***
Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.