Lawyers With Purpose

Join Our Marketing Roundtable Member Webinar With Co-host Nicole Wipp November 7th

Join our Marketing Roundtable Member Webinar on Friday, November 7th at 12:00 EST.  Roslyn Drotar & Nicole Wipp will be discussing:  

12 Shades of Law Firm Marketing: Master Your Calendar and Dominate Your Market in 2015 With a Comprehensive Marketing Calendar.

• Setting your clear marketing vision.
• Ideas and strategies to master your marketing calendar (make it easy)!
• How to dominate your market in 2015.
• Rounding out your calendar with both retail and wholesale marketing.
• Getting your team on board.

For more information and dial up information, contact Roslyn Drotar at [email protected].  

Building vs. Growing

“The tools that got you out of Egypt are not the same tools that will get you to the Promised Land.” ~ Dan Sullivan

There is an inherent difference between what it takes to build vs. grow a business.  I see people buying into building when they need growing, and people buying into growing when they need building. In the law firm diagnostic calls I do, I see about 1% of entrepreneurs who need growth. I my personal opinion, those percentages should be more balanced, but buyers haven’t identified the status of the business prior to purchasing, so they just buy from everywhere. I can guarantee you when you call LWP, our sole commitment is to determine where attorneys stand, first and foremost, so we can determine what help they need.

When you’re in the infancy stage of your business, you need to build. Here’s what that looks like:

Building:

1. Time/focus management
2. Revenue Focuser
3. Goal-setting with SMRs
4. Project Focusers
5. Team development, training and implementation
6. Systems and processes
7. Weekly cash flow tracking and reporting
8. Lead generation and lead conversion systems
9. Lead generation and lead conversion tracking
10. Companywide communication skills that are consistent from initial contact to the closing of the file

Choosing just one of the above will not work long-term. Each piece is very much part of the global puzzle. In my experience, purchasing a lead-generation system is not going to be the magic bullet. Great, maybe it got your phone ringing, but if you don’t have a system to convert  those leads into paying customers, you’ll be quickly saying, “I bought that marketing guru’s X that she was guaranteeing would do A, B and C. And it didn’t. I didn’t get one person to hire me. It was garbage. She’s a crook.” Well, that statement may not be accurate; the product probably did get your phone to ring. But it wouldn’t matter without a system to process, track, follow up with and measure the lead. Where did the initial contact come from? What did we guide the client to do next? (Clients are calling for your guidance on what to do next; you must always have something to enroll them in that will give them that guidance.)

If you’re like most solopreneurs, you need to get money in the door before you can even think of purchasing a system for your client services coordinator, or putting in a time management system. “I’ll look into that after I have cash flow,” you think. So you may purchase a killer “Generate $10,000 a day in 3 easy steps” system. You generate your first $10K, but you pulled a few later nights, not realizing that the extra work is actually the “system” that it’s going to take to make the $10K a day.  Sure, this one piece of the puzzle that you purchased did produce what it promised, but at what cost? If you calculate your hourly rate, your team’s hourly rate and the possibility of shutting down other areas of your business to get this done, you would probably be horrified. (For the fun of it, email me if you would like our “what are you worth” exercise. Send me your completed exercise and I’ll lead a 30-minute analysis call to review your results. Consider it a gift.)

By now, you’re getting the picture. I have attorneys calling me daily saying, “I don’t need all that; I am just getting started and need to build my business first. I just need X.” Sadly, they come back a few months later (hopefully) or years later (more accurate) in a worse spot, with frustrated stories of how they bought this, did this program and “none of them produced what was promised.” This most often is not the complete picture.

What was missing for them was that they didn’t invest the time to lay out the big picture of what it takes to build a business. It is never one precise tool; it is very much an all-encompassing “and.” The “and” is a process that hits all areas of determining your monthly revenue goal and what it’s going to take to get there (how many appointments, what appointments are paying), time management (which days are money days, which are production days, which are project days),  lead generation, relationship management, system,  a team-centric approach to reach goal, etc. You get the point. In my experience, when your business is in the personal services industry, it is next to impossible to build a business without a widespread approach.

Building a business means implementing some or all of the items listed above. The pieces are up and running, on a consistent basis. There are not peaks and pits in your leads, referrals or paying clients. You’ve removed the revolving door at the entrance to your office for employees. Your business is systematized, with all areas automated and integrated. It is 80% team-led, freeing up the entrepreneur to spend 80% of their time in front of people (synergy referral meetings, existing and prospective client meetings and leveraged speaking events).

Once you’ve built your business, then you start to address the following growth components.

Growing

1. Actuary referral and client statistics to create target marketing
2. Elevation offerings for your existing clients
3. Professional and client advisory boards
4. Client and referral appreciation programs
5. Team empowerment and leadership programs
6. A  three-pronged marketing approach to double your revenue, year after year (and it’s only dependent on you as the business owner)
7. Tri-annual practice enhancement retreats facilitated by professionals
8. An annual maintenance program that allows you to be your own bank
9. An internal lead system that relieves the business owner from operations, team training and law firm management
10. Operating all areas of your business from an automated knowledge, workflow and CRM program that allows your business to be dependent on reporting and tracking instead of human familiarity
11. A system for creating an exit strategy for a saleable practice (when you’re ready)

When you’re striving to generate monthly revenue – and that includes keeping the lights on and paying yourself each month, not taking what may be left over – you shouldn’t be in the market for a robust CRM program that will hand you leads that you can’t even follow up with. You need a building a business plan. You need such a plan when you’re striving to remove yourself from day-to-day operations because you have complete confidence that your business is systematized and generating consistent everything. You need it when you’re ready to move on to your next chapter of making certain the profit margin grows each year, but it’s not solely dependent on you to get the work done.

That is what I am most proud of with LWP: our members. So many of them had the presence to see the difference between the two; they had the patience to get through the building phase and the shrewdness to consciously move into the CONTROLLED growth phase (our motto is, do not blow everything up for the sake of growth). I am honored to be on this journey with them.  

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

When It Comes To Medicaid, What Is The Break-even Point

The break-even point is the point at which it doesn’t matter whether the individual applies for Medicaid or continues to private pay.  Either way, the individual is going to pay the same amount. 

Let’s say that the minimum months to qualify is 20 months.  The break-even point is 40 months.  (60 minus 20).  If at any time the individual goes into the nursing home and applies for Medicaid prior to 40 months, you will “flip the switch” and apply for Medicaid.  The penalty period is 20 months, so the individual private will have to private pay for those 20 months.  If that was done in month 10, then the individual will pay the penalty until the 30^th month from the date of the funding of the iPug.  (10 months plus 20 months penalty = 30 months from funding).  The individual will begin to receive Medicaid benefits the 31^st month.  The individual does not have to wait until month 60 from the date of the funding to get their benefits in that scenario.

If the individual applies for Medicaid on the break-even point – month 40, they will still have a 20 month penalty, which will push them to 60 months from the funding date.  If they don’t apply for Medicaid in month 40, then the individual would have to private pay for those 20 months until month 60.  After which time, the individual will apply for Medicaid and Medicaid won’t see the transfer 61 months earlier.  Either way it costs the same; it doesn’t matter whether you apply for Medicaid or not.  (That said, know your local rules too - in Texas for example, there is a slight benefit for being on Medicaid and in the penalty period, so I would probably go ahead and apply at the break-even point for Texas residence).

Now, if the individual becomes ill in month 45 and goes to the nursing home and applies for Medicaid, then applying for Medicaid still triggers the 20 month penalty.  This will push the Medicaid eligibility out past the 60 months to month 65 (45 months from funding plus 20 months of penalty).  This is beyond the initial 60 months from funding, so you don’t want to apply for Medicaid after the break-even point.  If the individual makes it past the break-even point before they need a nursing home, they will private pay the nursing home cost until month 60.  After month 60 passes, the individual can apply for Medicaid and answer “no” to the question of have you given any money away in the last 60 months and avoid the 20 month penalty.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

Sometimes It Takes A Clear Vision Of Your Future To Prompt Change

I’ve been living in a construction zone for weeks, but tomorrow it will start to get better.   Three weeks ago we ripped out our carpet and started moving furniture and painting.  Tomorrow the flooring guys arrive with beautiful new carpet and we can finally move our furniture back in from the garage, the bathroom, the kitchen, the patio … wherever we’ve found a few inches to stash stuff.  My office is the last to go.  

Having my house upside down and walking on gritty concrete floors has made me just a little nuts.  I’m one of those “my home is my castle” people.

Why would anyone choose to go through this?

Through Strengthfinders I’ve discovered that while I’m not overly fond of change, it’s uncertainty and not having a clear vision or plan that keeps me awake at night.  Give me a clear vision of the desired outcome and I will make all kinds of sacrifices to get to that outcome.

Lately, I find myself working with an increasing number of teams interested in implementing an RMS process.   I know what the future holds for them – I have such a clear vision of it – and am so excited about the direction in which they’ve chosen to go.  What impresses me is that they trust the system enough to go through a transition period, a time of uncertainty, with faith that putting in hard work and carving out dedicated time will give them a breakthrough with their business.

A Relationship Management System is a systematized, dedicated, deliberate and painstaking approach to building professional relationships.  Doing it “right” means being fully committed and unwilling to give up or become distracted and neglectful.   It takes a clear vision of the desired outcome and an unfaltering commitment to reaching that goal.

Does your team have a clear vision of what the goal line looks like?  If you’re the team leader, how clear is your own vision?  How often do you, as a team, focus on your long-term goals?  Or are you totally consumed with putting out the day-to-day fires in your office?

If you are an LWP Member and you and your team are ready to take the next step – to set long-term goals and form an action plan focused on developing an RMS process and would like some help, let your CCI coach know!  

If you're not a member, reach out to Molly Hall at [email protected] or 877-299-0326 x 102 and she can walk you through what we have to offer to get your phone ringing and filling your pipeline.

Nedra Catale, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation - Lawyers With Purpose

When You Wake Up Monday Morning

Real quick, I’m not certain if you saw my two other previous blog posts and I wanted to make sure I kept you in the loop. I KNOW how Monday mornings feel with the email barrage…especially after being away from the computer all weekend (hopefully).

I wanted to make sure you were aware LWP announced it has made a few changes to our membership levels specifically designed to serve solo and small sized firms based on their customized needs.

WHAT is changing you ask? Here are a few of the CHANGES in the membership levels. 

1. LWP Silver Membership: This level of membership is currently $897/month which INCLUDES our 3 Day Technical/Legal training as well as the 3 hour VA accreditation program. Effective tomorrow this LIVE educational training program is no longer included in this level of membership. The tuition to attend this program will be an additional fee of $1,497 (A $1,497 SAVINGS if you enroll TODAY).
2. LWP Gold Membership: This level of membership is currently $1,497/month which INCLUDES everything that the SILVER Level of membership offers PLUS the hands on customized, personalized Coaching, Consulting & Implementation program for your entire Law Firm. Effective tomorrow the Coaching, Consulting and Implementation is no longer included in this level of membership. (A $997/a month SAVINGS if you enroll TODAY).
3. LWP PLATINUM Membership: NEW Additional LEVEL. This level of membership was never previously offered. It is $2,397/month which INCLUDES everything that the GOLD Level of membership offers PLUS a personal Attorney Mentor Coach. What this means is that you will have a successful LWP member that was sitting in the exact spot as you are now…nervous to commit to the monthly fee with an absolute need that this must work out. You will have a dedicated LWP attorney member, in addition to the CC & I program, to support you every step of the way on your journey to creating a salable, scalable business.

NOW really is the best time for you to take the leap of faith and join the LWP Community. Simply go to www.joinlwp.com to sign up TODAY.

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

New Program Wins Heart Strings & Purse Strings

When it comes to binding the generations of the family, heartstrings are stronger than purse strings.

I had the opportunity to meet Dennis Stack, one of the co-founders of LegacyStories.Org at our Tri-Annual Retreat in Phoenix. Formed in 2008, Legacy Stories provides values-based legacy education to consumers and professionals.

Their expertise was developed from extensive field research in assisted living, memory care, home care, estate planning and hospice, having trained more than 5,000 volunteers to assist families in building a meaningful legacy for their elder loved ones.

A survey conducted by Allianz Insurance in 2005 and reprised in 2012 asked 2000 participants, 1000 ‘boomers’ and 1,000 ‘elders’, how they define their legacy. When asked to rank inheritance priorities, baby boomers and their parents decidedly prefer to leave their ‘values’ more so than their valuables.

Despite their overwhelming desire to pass on their values and life lessons, only a small fraction of these generations has made provisions for doing so. The primary reasons are a lack of awareness of how to build a legacy portfolio and the inability to find qualified legacy advisors to guide them.

This vacuum presents an opportunity for estate planners to differentiate themselves by caring as much about a family’s heartstrings as their purse strings.

To answer the call, LegacyStories.org has created an innovative turnkey legacy consulting program.  The online system provides estate and financial planners the tools, best practices and marketing elements to successfully offer both the values and valuables sides of holistic estate plans.

The turnkey consulting program offers a full range of legacy consulting services from regularly scheduled session planning sessions to less intensive legacy asset discovery and guidance.

In the near future the company will be offering a free Legacy Advisor Starter Guide as an introduction to legacy planning.

The company is offering LWP members a 50% discount off the retail price of the Turnkey Legacy Planner Program. If interested, send a request for the discount code to [email protected].

To learn more, visit their webpage: https://www.legacystories.org/about/estate-planner

To receive a free Legacy Advisor Starter Guide, send a request to [email protected] and they’ll send it as soon as the guide is ready.

In the meantime, Dennis Stack will be happy to meet you and explain more. Stop by his table at the conference.  Ask him to show you their app!

Roslyn Drotar - Lawyers With Purpose, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation Coach, Marketing & Social Strategist.

Dangerous Productivity

“In today’s culture – where self-worth is tied to our net worth, and we base our worthiness on our level of productivity – spending time doing purposeless activities is rare. In fact, for many of us it sounds like an anxiety attack waiting to happen. We’ve got to get ’er done! It doesn’t matter if our job is running a multimillion-dollar company, raising a family, creating art, or finishing school; we’ve got to keep our noses to the grindstone and work!  Many of us still believe that exhaustion is a status symbol of hard work and sleep is a luxury. The result is that we are so very tired. Dangerously tired. But the truth is, we can’t handle it. We are a nation of exhausted and overstressed adults raising overscheduled children. We think accomplishments and acquisitions will bring joy and meaning, but that pursuit could be the very thing that’s keeping us so tired and afraid to slow down.”

The above passage is the wisdom of Brené Brown, one of, if not the, most highly referenced of today’s writers and researchers. Brené has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, and her published work is business - and life-altering. I have been studying it for the past three years and working with my business coach on incorporating much of her work into our organization.

Brené calls her syndrome “dangerously tired”; I would like to add “dangerously productive” to that diagnosis. As a follow-through, I am guilty of this. “Just finish up this marketing campaign and then I will close down for the day,” I’ll tell myself. “Muscle through, you can handle it.” “I can catch up on sleep this weekend.” There is a cost for this dangerous productivity. I see it in law firms every day. The challenge is that we trick ourselves that “it’s just this week” when the truth is that this level of muscling through becomes our norm. And if this isn’t our way of being? Then it’s almost worse, because we repeatedly beat ourselves up for not being motivated enough or not working hard enough.

The following exercise Brené rolls out in her book, titled “The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are,” was a game changer for me personally. And yes, I will be sharing it with the team this week.

STEP ONE – Create a list of specific conditions that are in place when everything feels good in your life (here’s an example of mine):

1. Starting my day @ 5:00 a.m. with exercise
2. Being present for & connecting with kids in a.m. before they head off for school
3. Dedicated 1 hr. Sunday evenings for my “Rock Star Week” planning
4. Weekly partner meeting to connect on strategic opportunities vs. operations
5. A scheduled vacation on the horizon to keep me moving to know there is time carved out for play, rest and connection with my family & friends
6. Operating from my written Marketing Plan with deadlines for the week
7. Weekly accountability meeting in place for the beginning and end of the week to hold my feet to the fire to stay focused on my goals

STEP TWO – Create your To-Do List (here is one of mine):

1. Type up notes from partner meeting
2. Schedule calls with DH & VC
3. Follow up emails to MO and RD
4. Call with AM on L/T webinars
5. Call w/RD about covering for me while I am in China

STEP THREE – Create your To-Accomplish List (Here is a sample of mine right now):

1. Automated Enrollment Process in Infusionsoft with triggers and chains for each step of the enrollment process
2. Meet “100 Days to Year End” goal by December 19,2014
3. Generate 16 initial contacts per week consistently
4. Replace myself in Operations by October 1, 2014
5. PPT up & running and generating $22,500 in revenue by December 19, 2014

The most revolutionary part of this exercise was looking at the pieces that must be in place in order to create and traverse (not muscle through) my rock star week.  The other “AH HA” was comparing my To-Do List and my To- Accomplish List. I loathe my To-Do List. It sucks the life out of me. It’s busy work that doesn’t challenge or inspire me. I quickly realized it’s time to delegate my To-Do’s for the week and put my To-Accomplish front and center. I am going to be incorporating this exercise every week in my Sunday planning time and I am going to immediately delegate my To-Do List to allow me to focus on my To-Accomplish List.

Dangerous productivity is not a long-term plan for success, whatever success means for your business. Dangerously productive is so “old school” and has been replaced with intentional laser focus, which in turns eliminates the exhaustion as a status symbol and replaces it with joy and meaning.

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

 

Welcome LWP Sponsor Asset Protection Strategies To Our Tri-Annual Retreat

As a busy attorney juggling multiple responsibilities, you know first hand it is smart to delegate what no longer serves you in order to provide your client with supreme service, up-to-date information, and most of all protect their assets.

The Medicaid application process can be grueling, uncertain, and ever-changing. Uncovering the meanings within the loopholes, clauses, and fine print is time consuming. Especially when time is of the essence for a successful Medicaid eligibility outcome for your client, your expertise and precision are called upon.

Cheryl and her team at Asset Protection Strategies offer a successful one-of-a-kind program - Medicaid Application Back Office. Some of the program’s features are: 

• Pre-planning for eligibility
• Pre-application intake, review, and verification
• Application preparation and submission
• Application management prior to eligibility decision
• Issue Resolution
• Proof and Verification

• Communications management
• Financial Institutions
• State Medicaid Offices
• Clients and Families

Successful Medicaid eligibility outcomes require communications with a variety of entities for application monitoring, communication management, issue management, and verification request management. APS initiates and manages these communications so you don’t have to.

For over 22 years, Cheryl has been building trusted relationships with estate and elder law attorneys, multiple state Medicaid offices, and direct clients. APS has built its long-standing, highly regarded national reputation from experience, expertise, focus, and genuine care of its clients.

We look forward to seeing you in Phoenix!  Come by the booth and say hello - Contact: [email protected] or 888-666-8578.

Cheryl Fletcher, Asset Protection Strategies

Cost vs. Price vs. Worth vs. Value

Two of the most common terms we hear used in economics are price and cost. They seem almost interchangeable, but that is not the case. So what exactly is the difference between price and cost?

Cost vs. Price vs. Worth vs. Value is always such a tricky conversation for attorneys to navigate with confidence and ease. Most times when we receive calls from interested attorneys they classically dance around the question of “What does it cost?” Sadly this is well after they asked for a detailed explanation of the worth and value. And why this is so sad is because they were unable to be present during the conversation of worth and value because the daunting price question was looming. No irony why the same entrepreneurs are typically the ones that struggle with inconsistent leads and unpredictable mood quoting of fees in their practices.

So, where am I going with this?

Over the last year you have contacted LWP to hear more what value our membership levels provide and what the pricing structure is. Well, if you’ve ever been seriously interested, now is the time to put pen to paper and weigh the Cost vs Price vs Worth vs Value because effective Monday, October 27^th, our Pricing, Services & Membership models are changing. And I think you will be pleased.

If you have been considering joining the Lawyers with Purpose community please contact me at [email protected] to schedule a 15 minute demo to see the upcoming Pricing, Services, & Membership changes and how the changes may impact you!

NOW may be the best time for you to take the leap of faith and join the LWP Community…waiting could possibly cost you.

In your corner,

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

 

How To Calculate The Minimum Months To Qualify & Assets At Risk To Break Even

What do they really mean? 

If you're an Lawyers With Purpose member, you know the minimum months to qualify is a term we use in to determine how many months that it will take to get a client’s excess assets down to zero by gifting money and paying for nursing home costs.  It is then used to calculate the breakeven point (60 – minimum months to qualify = breakeven point).

Before a client can be eligible for Medicaid, their excess assets much be zero.  We know that we want to protect as much money as possible and that to do that we have to give the excess assets away (we have already performed our spend down analysis at this point).  If the penalty divisor for the state is $5000 / month, then we know that if we give away $5,000, then we must pay for one month of nursing home cost.  At the point, we have already done the analysis to figure out the monthly deficit – that is, how much money will the client have to pay from their resources after their current living expenses, allowable Medicaid exemptions, and nursing home costs are taken into account.  Let’s say that is $10,000.  So we know that if we give away $5,000, we pay for one month of nursing home cost.  If we have to pay for one month of nursing home cost we have to pay $10,000.  If our excess assets equals $100,000, then to get through month one, we give $5,000 away, we pay $10,000, and that reduces our excess assets by $15,000 and leaves excess assets at $85,000.  The next month, we do it again.  We give away $5,000, we incur one month of penalty, and we pay $10,000 to the nursing home.  That leaves us with $70,000 in countable assets.  The next month we do it again.  We give away $5000, we pay $10,000 to the nursing home, and our countable assets drop to $55,000.  (Longtime members may remember this as the “MPS Dance.”)  This continues until our countable assets drop to zero, then we add up how many times we had to do the dance, and that becomes our minimum months to qualify.  A short cut is to take the total excess assets and divide by the amount needed each month, in this case $15,000.  In our example, that will give us 6.67 months.  In other words, we have to give away $15,000 for 6.67 times in order to get the excess assets down to zero. 

This number is then used to calculate the amount of money we can protect – the penalty divisor times the minimum months to qualify.  Here that would be $5000 x 6.67, which would equal $33,350.  Because we give away $33,350, we know we will have to private pay for 6.67 months (the penalty).  That money is protected because it will not need to be spent on the nursing home.  Then we calculate the amount of money that is at risk until breakeven – that is, if the client or spouse goes into a nursing home prior to the breakeven point, then this is the amount that they will have to pay before Medicaid will begin to pay for their care.  We know that we have to pay for 6.67 months of nursing home care in this scenario, so we multiply the cost of the care each month, $10,000, by the number of months we will need to pay for the care, 6.67, which gives us the total cost that is at risk to having to pay the nursing home as $66,700.  So, worst case, they will have to pay that $66,700 to the nursing home in order to protect the $33,350.  Not great numbers in this particular scenario, but it is still better that spending it all down and applying to Medicaid.

Announcing NEW Pricing, Services, & Membership Changes---Effective Monday, October 27^th

At LWP we are committed to innovation and continuous improvement. In an effort to augment our services and the value of our membership levels, LWP is excited to announce changes to our membership levels. All membership offerings were specifically designed to serve solo, small and medium sized firms based on their customized needs. Changes are applicable to all NEW memberships beginning Monday October 27^th. 

If you have been considering joining the Lawyers with Purpose community, please contact [email protected] to schedule a 15 minute demo to see the upcoming pricing, services, & membership structures! 

Existing LWP member? Great NEWS, you’re grandfathered in! 

Dave Zumpano,

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center