End-of-Summer Sessions at MyShingle.com
Coming Soon!!
End-of-Summer Sessions at MyShingle.com: Tried and True Strategic Initiatives to Build Your Law Practice That REALLY Work!
- Are you tired of pricey programs or costly coaches that promise to have revenues rolling through your door in sixty days…but fail to deliver – and then blame you for not putting in the effort to make them work?
- Are you too dignified or embarrassed to incorporate tactics like ghost-written, keyword-pimping blog posts, car salesman-like elevator speeches or fake friends and followers into your marketing portfolio?
- Have you been burned by marketing practices that turned out to be unethical in your jurisdiction?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then MyShingle’s End of Summer Sessions may be for you. The four sessions each cover a discrete strategic initiative that you won’t be ashamed to put to use or feel cheated that they didn’t work. Here’s why
- The four strategic initiatives covered — ebooks, DIY teleseminars and webinars, creating a trade association or non-profit and building a business networking group — provide valuable educational content to members of the public, support efforts to effect change in the law or facilitate creation of trusted, meaningful relationships with other lawyers and professionals within your industry or community.
- Each strategic initiatives costs little or no money to implement. And while some of the initiatives may involve time, the work that you put in to them (such as researching and preparing an ebook or webinar or securing speakers for a networking group) will provide immediate benefits to your practice by keeping you up to date on new developments.
- These strategic initiatives actually work! Carolyn has successfully implemented each initiative in her law practice, and each one has directly resulted in one or more significant client matters.
END OF SUMMER SESSION PROGRAM DETAILS:
Instructor: Carolyn Elefant, author Solo by Choice: How to be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be, creator MyShingle.com, principal attorney Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant in Washington DC. Carolyn is a frequent national speaker on topics such as starting a law firm, social media, small law firm marketing and ethics of solo practice.
Topics and Dates (click link for additional information about each topic)
Build Your Own Business Networking Group
Create Your Own Client By Starting A Trade Association or Non-Profit
Cost: Several options are available for end of summer sessions. The “live” webinar option, priced at $35 per class, includes participation in a webinar online with opportunity to ask questions during the session, plus a full recording of the program and supplementary materials such as checklists, ebooks and resource links.
The recording-only option costs $30 per class and includes recorded versions of the sessions along with supplementary materials.
OR – you can register for each INDIVIDUAL session by scrolling through the course descriptions below.
PLEASE be sure to include ACCURATE email information and phone contact in registration materials so that we may contact you and keep you up to date on any changes.
Full description and registration for each program below:
- Do prospective clients call your office asking the same questions over and over again?
- Do prospects come to you with with unrealistic expectations about the strength or likely duration of a case based on information from a friend or colleague?
- Does your website attract dozens of visitors but fail to convert them into paying clients?
- Do you turn down more cases than you’d like simply because a prospective client made a grievous mistake that compromised his or her strongest argument?
- Do colleagues fail to refer you certain matters because they don’t know that you handle them?
If you’ve experienced one or more of these situations, an ebook can help turn them around.
At its most basic, an ebook is an electronic document in PDF format that educates clients or colleagues about some aspect of your practice. But an ebook, if done effectively, can also be used for other purposes as well — to convert website visitors to clients, to prompt viewers of traditional advertising to call your office, to build a law firm mailing list or give others a means to promote your firm. In this course, you’ll learn:
- How to choose the appropriate ebook topic and format for your target audience;
- What kinds of formats are available (FAQs, blog post compilations or scholarly-article format) and which formats are most effective for your purposes;
- How to research your ebook, and what type of copy works best for your audience;
- How to create cool graphs and info-graphics that can help your ebook go viral;
- How to create an attractive, professional-looking ebook on a budget on your own using low cost graphics and typography – or how to outsource the project to a designer;
- What kinds of options work best for circulating your ebook (registration, free availability or purchase)
- How to promote your ebook to the public.
This course is taught in online webinar format, with a supplemental “ebook on ebooks” that will contain added resources to create and design an ebook on your own, as well as resources for outsourcing.
Note: One of Carolyn’s lengthy ebooks, Knowing Your Rights When An Interstate Gas Pipeline Comes to Your Community has lead to three substantial cases. Her ebook is circulated widely in landowner circles and by several government agencies involved in the pipeline siting process.
Register for Live Webinar(includes recording and supplemental materials)-$35
Register for Recording ONLY (recording and supplemental materials)-$30
DIY Teleseminars and Webinars
With the rise of the Internet, consumers now have a wide variety of options for delivery of content – from digital, written format to online audio or video. Just a few years ago, producing online audio or video content was out of the price range and financial capability for solos and small firms, now, a wide array of free and low cost, high quality professional platforms are available that you can use to host your own teleseminar or webinar.
This course will cover the follow topics:
- What is a teleseminar, what is a webinar and why should I care?
- How to choose between a teleseminar or webinar format?
- What types of topics should I cover in a teleseminar or webinar?
- To price or not to price – should you make teleseminars or webinars available at no charge – or for a fee?
- What kinds of platforms are available for teleseminars or webinars and what other tools do I need?
- How can I publicize my teleseminar or webinar and register attendees?
This program will include a checklist for sponsoring a webinar or teleseminar as well as a list of tech tools to support your program.
Register for Live Webinar(includes recording and supplemental materials)-$35
Register for Recording ONLY(recording and supplemental materials)-$30
Create Your Own Client By Starting A Trade Association or Non-Profit
- Are you a new bar admitted who hasn’t yet found a job?
- Do you have a longer term goal of working for a non-profit or serving on a corporate board or as an in-house counsel?
- Do you represent clients or companies in an emerging field who can find lower rates at big firms that volunteer to take on the work pro bono to get a foot in the door of a new industry?
- Do you represent several clients who individually cannot afford to participate in a regulatory or legislative initiative that would serve their mutual goals, but could do so if costs were shared?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, starting your own trade association or non-profit organization can help you meet your goals. Trade associations and non-profits aggregate the resources of members so collectively, they can pay for certain initiatives that they cannot handle on individually. Meanwhile, many non-profits can compete for funding and grants and thus, provide a source of income.
This program will cover:
- How you or your clients might benefit from a trade association or non-profit;
- The differences between a trade association and non-profit and how to choose which structure best meets your goals;
- Examples of trade associations and non-profits of potential interest to lawyers;
- Creating a short-term association for litigation or amicus purposes;
- Red flag ethics issues related to starting an association or serving on a board, particularly potential conflicts of interest,
- Basics of how to create a trade association or non-profit and resources to support your efforts.
Supplemental materials will include how to’s on starting an association and resource links for additional assistance.
NOTE: Carolyn has helped set up both a 501c(6) trade association, Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition and 501c(3), Foundation for Ocean Renewables (as well as other associations for clients). However, she does NOT routinely practice in this field.
Register for Live Webinar(includes recording and supplemental materials)-$35
Register for Recording ONLY(recording and supplemental materials)-$30
Build Your Own Business Networking Group
- Are you tired of being the low man (or woman) on the totem pole in established bar or trade association meetings?
- Do the association meetings you’d like most to attend cost big bucks or take place at inconvenient times?
- Or does your state bar prohibit membership in certain business networking organizations (check your ethics rules if you haven’t already!)
Maybe it’s time to consider starting your own networking group. Though starting your own group involves far more time commitment than simply joining an existing group, the benefits are substantial: you can handpick other members and develop programs and events that match your interests and budget. Best of all, because you’ve started the group, others will be grateful for your efforts – and you’ll stand at the center of all interactions.
This course will focus on the benefits of starting a business networking group, and teach:
- How to decide what type of group to form;
- What types of activities to consider sponsoring;
- What kind of structure – from free and informal to a paid, incorporated entity – will work best for your needs;
- How to pick group members who will best contribute to the group and avoid free riders and competitors;
- How to ensure that other group members share responsibility;
- How to leverage social media and online collaborative tools to support and sustain your group.
We’ll also offer numerous case studies of successful groups started by other solo and small firm lawyers and identify any red flag ethics issues.
Supplemental materials will include resource lists and more extensive discussion of case studies.
Note – Over the years in her practice, Carolyn has sponsored several lunch gatherings at her office for participants to discuss law practice issues or learn about new developments. These events have resulted in several referrals from colleagues.
Register for Live Webinar(includes recording and supplemental materials)-$35
Register for Recording ONLY(recording and supplemental materials)-$30