Crushing Chaos with Law Firm Mentor
Law Firm Mentor is a business coaching service for solo and small law firm attorneys. We help you grow your revenues, crush chaos in business, and make more money. Take the next step at: lawfirmmentor.net. Join Allison C. Williams, Law Firm Mentor founder, and our host, as she shares the systems and strategies that will help you crush chaos, win back your free time, and level up your practice. Be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.
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Key Levers To Drive Profit Margin -- Featuring Danielle Hendon
10/14/2022
Key Levers To Drive Profit Margin -- Featuring Danielle Hendon
A lot of times, we’re told that the way to grow a business is by growing your revenue or cutting your expenses. And while those are both key components, there are ways to generate greater health for your business by increasing the amount on the bottom line - in ways we’re not taught to think about. My guest today is someone who thinks and focuses her practice on helping small law firms scale their businesses using sound financial policies. Her name is Danielle Hendon, and she is the founder and CEO of 4 Corners CFO, LLC. With more than a decade of experience working in corporate finance and accounting, and a passion for people that rivals her love of numbers, Danielle brings the benefit of big business financial analysis to entrepreneurs on a scale that fits both their company AND their budget. In this episode, we discuss: Ways to generate greater health for your business by increasing the amount on the bottom line How to plan - and ultimately fund - your growth before you get there Your time is worth more for your growth than you’d like to pay a bookkeeper Looking at the bottom line is going to be the key indicator of the health of your business. Contacts - Social Media Danielle Hendon Website: Snip-Its 00:14:48 (36 Seconds) So there's a couple of different types of profit margin, one being that net profit margin, which just like we talked about earlier, net income is going to drive your net profit margin. That is, after all the expenses, you want that number to be 10 to 15%. That's the ideal range for a business to run a net profit. And that gives you what you need to put back into the business to continue to grow and scale the way that you want to. The gross profit margin that I mentioned just a minute ago is going to be your revenue minus the costs that go into providing that Revenue service. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts
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Podcasting For Lawyers -- Featuring Robert Ingalls
10/11/2022
Podcasting For Lawyers -- Featuring Robert Ingalls
I'm a huge proponent of welcoming guests who don’t just sell a service but are tailored to the small law firm experience. And as a recovering attorney, speaker, and Founder and Chief Podcast Strategist of LawPods — Robert Ingalls fits the mold. Having worked with premier law firms including McGuire Woods, Blank Rome and The Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, LawPods helps busy attorneys create world-class podcast content that boosts SEO, builds relationships and drives revenue. In this episode we discuss: Challenges lawyers face in a highly regulated profession. How we might be resistant to putting ourselves out there if we have not been a public speaker. How can we deal with the potential conflicts that arise from having your message out there. Speaking to your ideal clients. How to cross-market various clips that you will create from a podcast. The three P's of podcasting that are helpful when you want to start a podcast. Contacts – Social Media Website: Facebook: Instagram: About Robert Ingalls Robert Ingalls is a recovering attorney, professional speaker and the founder of LawPods, one of the first podcast production agencies for law firms. At LawPods, Robert and his team help some of the premier law firms in the world launch and grow branded podcasts that build relationships and drive revenue. Robert's path to Podcast Producer to the Am Law 100 was anything but direct. For years he battles anxiety from the pressure, long hours and constant conflict of a litigation career. When he was finally ready to throw in the towel, he had no idea what to do next. With no business/marketing background and only a love for podcasts he discovered while creating a podcast for his law firm, Robert decided to see if lawyers would pay him to help them launch podcasts. With very few takers in the early days, Robert spent two years in a corporate banking gig, grinding nights and weekends to finally bring LawPods to life. Snip-Its 00:19:36 (36 Seconds) So you referenced earlier this, this idea of using the podcast in different places and you just hearken back to it. So when someone is kind of thinking through a podcast as a portion of their marketing plan, right, they're going to have the podcast as kind of the pillar content, and then that content is going to go out to different places. How do you take it and alter it so it fits different platforms so you know where it's going to get the most bang for your buck? Like where is it in the line of, of, of a, I guess, nurturing from point of initial awareness to the point of sale where you're really getting your most bang for your buck. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts
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The Risk Of Comfort
10/07/2022
The Risk Of Comfort
This is one of those topics that comes straight from the well of what I do here at Law Firm Mentor; coaching lawyers on how to look at things from a different perspective. Oftentimes, it’s a little tweak in the way we approach something that can bring traction. Other times, we have to do something grandiose; something far different than what we were doing before. Because the most power tends to come when we are being ourselves and doing what we already know — just a little bit differently — that can make a dramatic change. In this episode we discuss: 3 key strategies for how to get out of your comfort zone that will lead you to grow. The risk of comfort is the notion that growth feeds itself. The main goal is what will compel you to do the work that will lead to growth. How your lifestyle will grow and evolve with inflation. Staying in your comfort zone will never satisfy your true purpose. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:08:36 (30 Seconds) But growing doesn't mean growing your body count. Growing can mean growing your revenue. It can mean growing your free time. It can mean growing both. Usually, for lawyers, it is growing both. It can mean growing your reach, right? You could be taking on clients all across the United States, even all across the world, depending on what you do for a living. So growing just means that you want more of something than you currently have. And that is a very real human instinct.
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Managing Your Mind In Law -- Featuring Heather Moulder
10/04/2022
Managing Your Mind In Law -- Featuring Heather Moulder
Heather Moulder is a lawyer leadership and business coach, and she helps lawyers ditch stress, overthinking and imposter syndrome. You’re probably thinking, “My goodness, that’s a lot,” but… it really isn’t. It’s about learning how to manage your mind and emotions, and create a successful pathway toward the life you desire. As a former big law partner, public speaker and host of the Life and Law podcast, Heather helps lawyers to become happily successful in law - and in life. And today, she joins me to talk about mindset blocks; how to manage your mind and a way to think about what you’re doing in a way that eliminates stress. In this episode we discuss: How to low stress to be more effective in your life and in your business. Having a successful mindset is empowering yourself to make better choices for yourself. How to stop overanalyzing, start making decisions and take action. There are processes like exercises that you can use to get your mind back in control. Heather's Contact: Life and Law Podcast Snip-Its 00:31:11 (34 Seconds) "And I, and I ask myself, okay, what can I do? What do I want to do? How do I choose, how do I choose to believe, you know, in moving forward in this moment? Do I, do I know I can handle it if the worst happens? Yes. I may not know all the answers, but I'll figure it out. I figured stuff out like this before. I mean, there are ways you can approach it. That massively take that stress down. And so it's not that you, I guess 100% ditch stress, but you kind of do because you view it so differently that it doesn't impact you in the same way in such a negative way."
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Why You Need Automation In Your Law Firm | Feat. Matt Spiegel C.E.O Of Lawmatics
09/20/2022
Why You Need Automation In Your Law Firm | Feat. Matt Spiegel C.E.O Of Lawmatics
We are joined today by entrepreneur, attorney, C.E.O, and innovator Matt Spiegel. Matt is an attorney, founder, and CEO of Lawmatics. Matt shares how a bar grievance filed against him is what led to founding Lawmatics. Matt also shares why automation is necessary for your law firm's growth and providing star treatment for your clients. This is a great episode you don't want to miss. In this episode we discuss: The areas of aspects of practice management software and legal automation. How to get a better client experience with automation software. Asking yourself as a law firm owner the right questions about how and what to automate. How to get into the numbers of your law firm with Lawmatics. The only way to get analytics and good reporting on where your leads are coming from are to have some automation. About Matt Spiegel: Matt Spiegel is an attorney and serial entrepreneur in the legal-tech space. He is Founder and CEO of Lawmatics, the #1 automation platform for law firms, offering legal client intake, CRM, marketing automation, billing, and much more, all in one easy-to-use software. With Lawmatics, law firms streamline their operations, impress clients, and win more business. Prior to Lawmatics, Matt worked as a criminal defense attorney for six years and founded MyCase, a legal practice management software company that has grown into one of the most widely used cloud-based law practice management systems. It was then acquired by AppFolio in 2012, where he remained as a General Manager for three more years. In 2015, Spiegel founded ExpoGuru, an event marketing management software. Later in 2015 he became the CEO of Cammy, a global consumer tech company with headquarters in Sydney, Australia. In 2017, he decided that it was the right time to go back in the legal software industry with Lawmatics. He is a golf enthusiast and passionate about making an impact on advancing the practice of law. He can't wait to continue reaching audiences in all consumer-driven practice areas; legal professionals wanting to build and scale a profitable law firm! Contacts – Social Media Matt Spiegel’s Contact:[email protected] www.lawmatics.com Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:07:57 (32 Seconds) But, but the catalyst was, it was actually, to be honest with you, Allison, it was a bar complaint. I got a bar complaint and it was like it was stupid. It wasn't like, that I was a bad lawyer. It wasn't that, you know, I got a bad outcome or that I was malpractice or ineffective assistance of counsel or anything. It was quite literally, I didn't call you back quick off. It was attorney-client communication. And so then I went down. That which was the number was that it was the number one complaint in 2009, and it's still the number one complaint. And it's, it's ridiculous and actually embarrassing that that is still the number one issue that we have as lawyers
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Effective Use of Credit in Law Firms
09/16/2022
Effective Use of Credit in Law Firms
A lot of business owners have misconceptions around lines of credit and debt. Credit and debit are a necessary part of growing a business. Once debt has been accumulated, it is important to create a system to repay your debt. I will be going over all the ins and outs of taking accumulating debt to grow your business in this episode. In today's episode we discuss: Debt is an advance that affords an opportunity to invest in your business that will give you a greater return. How to use debt and learn how to use it effectively. Recognizing that there is a great distinction between credit card debt and a line of credit. Creating a schedule of repayment as soon as there is any money on the credit card. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:06:56 (32 Seconds) Now, increasing the line of credit gives you a benefit of decreasing your income to debt ratio, right? So if I have a card and it has a 9000 credit limit and I have spent $3,000, I've used 33% of my credit. However, if I get them to increase that credit limit to 10,000, my credit utilization rate goes down to only 30%. So I've done nothing other than secure more credit, but that will typically trigger an increase in my FICO score, my credit score.
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Seven Overlooked Strategies In Negotiating Your Commercial Lease
09/13/2022
Seven Overlooked Strategies In Negotiating Your Commercial Lease
When it comes time to find a commercial rental for your office space, many lawyers are overlooking key strategies in their negotiation. In today's episode I will teach you the seven most overlooked strategies in order to prepare you for your next negotiation as well as get you the best deal and space for your business to grow. In today's episode: Why you should consult a commercial broker and not a real estate attorney. Why professionals are desirable to commercial landlords and how to leverage that in your negotiations. What to look for when renting out a commercial rental property. Longer term space needs and what to do if your landlord can't accommodate them. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:11:41 (25 Seconds) When you think about coming into a space, the landlord doesn't just have a vested interest in renting the space today, he or she is creating a relationship with you as the business owner, and professionals, professional practices tend to be one of the most stable lessees, less orders lessees, less orders, tenants, we tend to be really great tenants, right? We don't throw large parties, we don't do a lot of damage, we obviously want to keep the space looking professional. And so when a landlord is looking to create a relationship with a business owner, we are desirable, know that going in. Not only are we desirable because of our status as professionals, because we don't just have legal responsibilities under our lease, we have professional responsibilities as licensed attorneys.
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The Money System
09/09/2022
The Money System
There is a myth in business that managing your expenses means simply cutting costs. On today's episode, I will dispel that myth and teach you how to create a money system for your money coming in and going out so you can continue to grow your business. In this episode we discuss: How to create a plan for your money to know where it’s coming in and going out. Managing your expenses does not mean cutting your expenses. The way that you can create financial freedom through your business. How important it is to have an effective money managing system. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:12:25 (36 Seconds) The way that we create financial freedom through a business, through a law firm, is we create more money. And more importantly, we create an understanding of money in a way that we can produce it when we need it, as we need it. Instead of, I'm going to live like a pauper today so that eventually I will have enough to stop working, right? That's kind of the middle-class mindset that says save for a rainy day and save for retirement, and then one day you'll be able to stop working. Well, here's the thing. I don't want to have a poultry existence today so that I can have a somewhat less poultry existence tomorrow.
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The Structure of Flexibility
09/07/2022
The Structure of Flexibility
In today's market, in order to recruit new and retain existing employees, offering a flexible work environment is a great way. When your employees have flexibility in their schedule to achieve a work life balance they are happier and more productive. In today's episode I am going to teach you how to create systems for you to implement flexibility into your work environment. In this episode we discuss: How to structure a flexible work environment that will make your employees happier. 3-step query to ask of yourself to create a structure of flexibility in your workplace. Effective communication is necessary to make clear the goals that need to be achieved. How to manage your business by metrics. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:07:59 (32 Seconds) Well, when I started adding people and I had that same general attitude, right, you give to me, I give to you, this is a relationship. I want you to be happy. I want your life to fit with your work and share that ethos pretty freely with people. We had one paralegal that just didn't work that way. This person would ask to come in late or leave early, and by this time I had gotten very clear guidance from an employment attorney that we needed to be keeping time records. So we were maintaining time records
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Why You Need An In-House Marketing Team For Your Law Firm
09/02/2022
Why You Need An In-House Marketing Team For Your Law Firm
The goal of marketing is to keep your message content clear and consistent across all platforms. Regardless if you outsource your marketing, having an in-house marketing team is important in order to achieve your goals and receive your return on investment. In this episode, I will give you three reasons why you want to invest in an in-house marketing team. In this episode we discuss: How the in-house marketing team has to look like. 3 Characteristics that will justify making an investment in your in-house marketing team. You require someone who is the eyes and ears of your company. Have someone on your team who is looking for the next opportunity for your business to expand into marketing. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:11:01 (38 Seconds) Now, this doesn't mean that if you have different people in your company marketing, that you all have to copy and paste each other's style. We do want you to be authentic in your marketing, but even as you are working toward authenticity, your goal is to make sure that there is consistency of your message and that when you are communicating in different places, that that data, if it is multipurpose, if you're cross-marketing, what you put on, what you what you say in a public speaking engagement to what you put in your newsletter or on your blog, you want to make sure that what people are consuming says we say the same thing, even if we say it in different ways because we are about this value.
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Why Do So Many Professionals Think SEO Is A Hoax?
08/30/2022
Why Do So Many Professionals Think SEO Is A Hoax?
If You Are Reading This, Then SEO Is NOT A Hoax. Key questions you need to ask when you hire a marketing company to manage your SEO. Clean-up work needs to be done on your website when a marketing company starts to work with you. How to communicate appropriately with search engines. You have to partner with your marketing company and provide the right information to succeed. Which is the best marketing strategy that will work best for your law firm. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:04:53 (38 Seconds) And the more information that there is on your website, the easier it is for the search engine to say, yes, this is exactly what the searching party is looking for when this person's content comes into our awareness. So the more content that a person has generated over a course of time, the more likely that they are to show up when they are doing things like altering keywords on their website, because they already have authority. They already have a reputation, if you will, with Google, or Bing, or whatever search engine that says this is a reputable source that is highly connected with the service that people are searching for.
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3 Questions You Need To Ask BEFORE You Institute Your Associate Bonus Compensation Plan
08/26/2022
3 Questions You Need To Ask BEFORE You Institute Your Associate Bonus Compensation Plan
Associate bonus compensation is vital in retaining top talent at your law firm and motivating your employees. In order to create a bonus incentive plan, however, you need to have an answer to three specific questions: What does your business need? 2. What will motivate your associates? 3. What is your M.V.P.? In this episode, we discuss: The 3 questions to start the process of configuring the bonus compensation plan. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:16:57 (36 Seconds) As your company grows, you might not want to differentiate the types of benefits that you give from person to person, but you might, right? You might want to have a structured bonus plan whereby people get to elect at the beginning of the year what bonus they're going to be pursuing. You can build out your entire budget around if a person hits a budget, a goal so that they are entitled to bonus compensation that it's already paid for by virtue of you starting at the beginning of the year, setting aside the funds that are going to be necessary for that. But the worst thing that you can do is presuppose that the only thing people care about is money. Try to create parity between what's expected and what's delivered. How much should be going to the base compensation based on the market. Be sure what will motivate your associates so you can create the right incentive plan. What you are going to create in the future so you have the balance of your profit and your expenses in appropriate ratios
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How To Onboard A Star Performer In Your Law Firm
08/23/2022
How To Onboard A Star Performer In Your Law Firm
Onboarding is necessary, but it is one of the things most people do not want to do. Learning the basics of onboarding can be the difference between hiring someone who works out miraculously or hiring someone who can’t get the job done. These five key strategies will help you onboard your star performer. In this episode we discuss: 5 Key Strategies you can use to be more effective at onboarding new members of your team. How important it is to be organized so your employees can make associations in their minds of the content that's covered. Breaking down the big picture into key components in each onboarding. Create a repeat pattern of the key points that you want the person to understand. The value of taking handwritten notes creates a connection with the memory. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Snip-Its 00:14:54 (34 Seconds) It's really important that they get into the habit of taking your words and translating it into their words. And then the final strategy ultimately is going to show you why that's so critically important as a part of further reinforcing what they've learned. But for purposes of number four, super important that you emphasize and require that notes be taken and that you make sure that you check in periodically to make sure that those notes are really the person's reiteration of key points and not the person's kind of brain dump if you will, or recording of what you've had to say.
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How To Properly Integrate Your Marketing Team Into The Operations Of Your Law Firm
08/19/2022
How To Properly Integrate Your Marketing Team Into The Operations Of Your Law Firm
Let’s chat about integrating your marketing, and more specifically, connecting your front end and your back end. As the owner of the company, you can never truly be hands-off to the success of your business. You need to be able to connect what is going on for their end with what is going on for your end. That way if there's a problem, you can troubleshoot it effectively. In this episode we discuss: How to connect your front end and your back end effectively. Make sure your website is working correctly so your leads will be directed to the right links. How important is it to track all the possible leads that go into your webpage. Consider the use of tracking charts consistently for your data. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.
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How To Lead Your Business To Success | feat. Steph Tuss
08/16/2022
How To Lead Your Business To Success | feat. Steph Tuss
Steph Tuss is an extraordinary woman who took advantage of every opportunity she was given because she was able to live by the mantra, “just say yes.” She has a vast knowledge of business even though she didn’t come from an entrepreneurial background, and didn’t even major in business courses. Yet, she is now the CEO of a hugely successful company, Life Is Now, Inc. In this episode we discuss: How people will be smooth when they have an agreement. Being able and open to experience whatever you need to experience knowing that whatever happens, you're going to be okay. The importance of beginning with a framework to face difficult conversations. How to manage vulnerability as a leader About Steph Tuss: Steph Tuss is the CEO of the multimillion-dollar global coaching company Life Is Now, Inc, helping thousands of entrepreneurs, experts and self-employed professionals gain the confidence and find the right mindset to increase their revenue, turning their endeavors into seven- and eight-figure ventures. Prior to her work with Life Is Now, Steph was a school teacher turned entrepreneur, who built and sold her first business by the age of 33. She has a passion for helping others create their vision mixed with the nuts and bolts of solid business strategy. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.
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Take The Bookkeeping OUT Of Your Hands
08/12/2022
Take The Bookkeeping OUT Of Your Hands
There are many benefits to having a bookkeeper and using automation in your business. They save you time, money and energy that can be put back into your lawfrim. How will you know when it is time to hire a bookkeeper? In this episode we discuss: How doing your own bookkeeping is taking time, money, and energy that could be going into your law firm. What are the benefits of choosing the right bookkeeper. Bookkeeping will save you time and energy while you run your business. What your numbers are telling you about the health of your business to be able to hire. Asking the right questions when interviewing a bookkeeper as he/she will act as an advisor. How automation is an important and essential component of law firm management. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contacts – Social Media Book: Simple Numbers Big Profits! By Greg Crabtree Snip-Its 00:11:49 (35 Seconds) The more we fear things that seem to be harming us, the more action we take to secure them to, to resolve those issues. And the problem with that is that as we are looking to resolve those issues, because we are in a state of fear, we are oftentimes making knee-jerk reactions, knee-jerk responses today without a long-term plan. We are deciding in a state of lack a lack mindset rather than an abundance mindset. So we are restricting, we are limiting, we are forcing rather than allowing and fostering and supporting.
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Defining Roles in Your Law Firm
08/09/2022
Defining Roles in Your Law Firm
When we are talking about role description, we are actually talking about role differentiation. What are the key differences between a task list and a job description? In this episode we discuss: What is the difference between a task list and a job description. How to make sure that the content you are defining for a job description is not a static idea. When you create a job description add a growth path for the person's future. Be aware that all the gaps or activities should be covered in advance to grow your business. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: 00:10:33 (34 Seconds) Now, for a lot of lawyers, there is resistance around even asking the question of what's not being done, because we fear that if something's not being done, that means that I'm putting my business at risk, I'm putting my license at risk, I'm committing malpractice, I'm going to have clients that are upset. And those are not the gaps that we're talking about. I mean, obviously, if you are servicing legal clients, you have to do so ethically. You have to meet the requirements of serving the client
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How To Plan Ahead for Summer Productivity
06/28/2022
How To Plan Ahead for Summer Productivity
School is out for a lot of you that are parents and for a lot of people, the warm months are the time of the year where they like to get away. They like to lawyer at the beach, they like to do a lot of things that will support overall mental health, but of course, rejuvenation so that they can be their best selves. So, of course, we want to make sure that you are planning your law firm in a way that allows you to be able to not just take time off and to have your teams take time off, but to do that in a way that does not take your profits. I want to give you three strategies today as to how you can do that, how you can plan for a successful summer, knowing that you're going to meet your numbers, knowing that you're going to hit your targets, but also making sure that you are ahead of the curve for the fall ahead. In this episode we discuss: Communicate and give realistic expectations how the work this year is going to look like. Stop and pause and remind your employees the metrics expected throughout the year. Plan around what is the ebb and flow of your work. Sharing strategies that are conducive to the individuals that you work with. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact info Snip-Its 00:12:29 (28 Seconds) But when you think about where work is coming in and when you are going to be at your most busy, that might be at a time where people really want to go on vacation. So how do you accommodate that? Well, what you have to do is you have to plan for staggering of time that people are going to be taking time out of the office so that sometimes we are hard-hitting, heavy charging, working hard, and other times we are off and we are truly off. Now, what I mean by that is I'm a big proponent of allowing people to take vacation and encouraging them to do so without interruption from an office.
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REPLAY - Creating Your Virtual Community
06/24/2022
REPLAY - Creating Your Virtual Community
A virtual community is about how we stay connected as people, despite the fact that we're not physically working with each other. What's important is how to master your work communications in a way that builds a strong collective culture in your law firm, even when it's virtual or a hybrid of brick and mortar and virtual. In this episode we discuss: How to master your work communications in a way that builds a strong collective culture. 3 Key Strategies to create your Virtual Community at work. Encouraging people to engage in light chatter through an app, helping you to start the day in a positive way. Helping your employees be successful at home, encouraging them to have their own workspace in a specific location. The importance of regular check-in meetings with someone in the management of the business. Sustaining a quality business while working virtually. How important is it to create engagement with and between your team. Encouraging your employees to take time off will reduce stress and make them happier. Contacts – Social Media , , , , Snip-Its 00:09:22 (38 Seconds) Remember, we learned about llamas through talking to this employee, right? So like, there's little things that you don't really think matter. And they might seem kind of like, why does that why, why take additional time for that? But it really does create cohesion between people. They feel closer to each other, actually, when they are intentional about communicating with each other, and communicating about something positive sets the tone so that over the course of time, everyone's message has gotten increasingly more positive and everyone has gotten more excited about the things that we are learning about each other and sharing with each other through that channel. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.
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REPLAY - Never Too Late for Succes
06/21/2022
REPLAY - Never Too Late for Succes
We set business goals at the beginning of the year with every intention of meeting them. But life can get messy and this year things got VERY messy. In today’s episode I am going to teach you three strategies you can use to get your business back on track. These are concrete strategies that you can not only use right away but you can work on RIGHT NOW as I outline them for you. In this episode we discuss: What to do when you find yourself off course from making your goals due to unplanned challenges out of your control, such as covid. The importance of knowing your numbers when evaluating your business. How your reaction to unplanned challenges can impact business outcomes. Taking personal responsibility for your choices as they influence and contribute to outcomes going forward. Owning control over the things that you can control. Taking stock of your mental health and mindset. Asking yourself how you have maintained or changed your standards to adjust to a changed workplace. The impact PPP loans may have on your tax bill due to be paid next year. How there’s still time for an amazing fourth quarter with the right course corrections. Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Wall Township, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is a member of the New Jersey Board on Attorney Certification (NJBAC) – Matrimonial Committee, a New Jersey Supreme Court committee that determines eligibility of candidates to be certified as a recognized practitioner in the field of matrimonial law. Ms. Williams has been named a Rising Star Attorney by the New Jersey Super Lawyers franchise continuously from 2008 – 2013, and has been named a Super Lawyer by that organization for 2014 – 2019. In 2016, she was featured in the Super Lawyers publication (Williams v. The Rubber Stamp), she has been named one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in New Jersey from 2017-2019 and in 2019, was voted in the Top 100 Super Lawyers in the State of New Jersey. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications and money management in law firms. She received her B.S., magna cum laude, and her M.S., summa cum laude, from Florida State University. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law. Snip-Its: 00:17:21 (47 Seconds) Almost instinctually, we go to the mindset of if something is happening in the external world, we have no choice but to accept the ramifications of that in our law firm. And many times that is not true. Many times we are making choices that have adverse consequences for our business and if we were to make a different choice, the consequence would be different. And so you have to start thinking about what exactly is the cause of the current circumstance that you're experiencing in your business, whether it's an uptick or a downward slide in business. Where did that come from and what are all the pieces that contributed to that so that you can start making different choices to change the outcome that you're experiencing. 00:35:57 (43 Seconds) There are ways for you to keep the standard the same in terms of production, but allow for some modification of what will actually be produced, meaning if I don't have the work to give to a client, I could give the work into a marketing initiative or I could give the work into a system for the firm, or I could give the work into, you know, pouring into the cultural morale, depending on how high your standards are. Ultimately, that will dictate whether or not your standards should be modified. But if there's a modification, the modification should be a revamping of your structure and it ought to have very clearly defined parameters around it. It should not be simply a wholesale walking away from the standards that you created. 00:41:31 (19 Seconds) But your goal is to be fully educated and to make decisions that are best for your business based on your business metrics and separating your emotional connection to those decisions from the analysis. And this is where taking stock of yourself and why you are doing what you were doing is very important.
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Stop the Vanity Networking
06/16/2022
Stop the Vanity Networking
There's a great skill set that comes with being a people person who knows how to make connections, who knows how to drive engagement, and get people interested in your message. Vanity Marketing, however, is done by those who go into a networking opportunity as an experience of being social and making friends instead of finding a way to get business in the door. In this episode, we discuss: Vanity networking means those people that don't network with intentionality. How important is it to have a map of the people that are attending the networking event. Focus on the idea of who you're going to speak to. Spending your time effectively before and after the event. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:08:55 (25 Seconds) You want to be the person that's proactively taking the bull by the horns and inviting that prospect or that prospective referral relationship partner out for some type of contact. Right. That and buy out, by the way, I don't mean you don't necessarily have to go out. You can invite them to a Zoom meeting, you can invite them to coffee. You could just stop by their office. Right. But you want to have a planned event where you two are going to be intentional about discussing business.
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How To Implement Process And Structure And Use Your Time Efficiently w/ Steve Fretzin
06/14/2022
How To Implement Process And Structure And Use Your Time Efficiently w/ Steve Fretzin
Whether you are a big firm, a solo practice, or something in between - you need process and structure. Today I chat with Steve Fretzin about how he helps his clients by understanding their personalities and leverages that to create processes and structures that give them the best chance to succeed in efficiency. No one has to be terrified of winging it, or feeling like they are flying by the seat of their pants with a proper structure in place. In this episode we discuss: How important is developing your time management skills. Learn how you are spending the time doing business development. Spending your time efficiently Steve Fretzin Podcast: Be That Lawyer Books: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science Sales Free Selling Legal Business Development Website URL: LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.
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Finding Comfort And Efficiency In Delegation
06/10/2022
Finding Comfort And Efficiency In Delegation
The major problem with delegation is that you have to develop a rhythm for how you delegate, the same way that you develop a rhythm for how you pay your bills or a rhythm for how you hire your staff or how you market your law firm. If you just kind of pinch-hit and do it here and there, you get pinch-hit results. In this episode we discuss: Develop a rhythm for how you delegate. Practice intentionality around delegating so you can trust your team members. Explain to your team the why behind your system in your law firm. Empower others to be a force for your delegation benefit. SEE THE FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW Allison Williams: [00:00:05] Hi, everybody. It's Allison Williams here, your host of The Crushing Chaos with Law Firm Mentor podcast. Law Firm Mentor is a business coaching service for solo and small law firm attorneys. We help you to grow your revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Allison Williams: [00:00:26] Welcome, my dear Steve Fretzin to the Crushing Chaos with Law Firm Mentor podcast. Steven Fretzin: [00:00:31] Hey, Alison, how are you doing? Allison Williams: [00:00:32] Hey, I'm doing well. You know, I'm excited to have you on. We've had you on before. Every once in a while, you get a really great guest. We have a great conversation and a lot of value to the audience. So you're definitely one of those people I wanted to have come back, but even after I made the decision I was going to invite you back, I saw that once again. You're at it in this, in this author biz that you're in. And I wanted to talk to you specifically about your book, because I know that it is starting to get a lot of buzz in the legal industry. Steven Fretzin: [00:01:03] Yeah, it was a, it was a blast to do. And I got a really big kick-off even without doing like a book launch party, which I would normally do. Non-covid I got a really big international bestseller status in four countries and I was just so excited about it. And it's six years of work into this book, so really thrilled about it and I appreciate you having me back. Allison Williams: [00:01:24] Yeah. So congratulations on the international bestseller status. For those that are watching us on YouTube, you can actually see the title of the book over Steve's right, right Shoulder. But for those of you that are listening on the podcast platforms, the name of the book is Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science 250 plus easy and actionable ways to grow your book of business in less time and with greater results. So I know that was a, that was a mouthful, but it tells you everything you need to know about why this is going to be such a great resource for those of you that really want to expand your legal career and generate more business. So let's talk about the book and let's start first by giving some people that have not been introduced to you before or have not heard you on this podcast before. Learn a little bit about you. Right? The fact that you are not a lawyer, but you play one on TV, I think is remarkable because you blend right in with us. But tell us about you, Steve. Steven Fretzin: [00:02:20] Yeah, so I'm someone who got pulled into the legal industry in 2008, never realizing or even considering that lawyers needed help with business development. My father is a retired attorney now, but he always, as a solo, had plenty of business, plenty of work, he made plenty of money. There was all, he was the total package, not having to network, not having to do. It just was natural that relationships would happen for him. So he didn't really have to think about it. He never wrote a plan. He never considered time management or any delegation skills or anything that we're teaching lawyers on a daily basis just wasn't a part of his makeup in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. And so I got pulled into this in 2008, working with an individual attorney in the real estate space. And what he loved about working with me is that I actually Teach Sales Free Selling, which is one, which is the name of my first book. I love to work with lawyers to teach them, you don't have to pitch, you don't have to convince, you don't have to sell. It's all about relationships. It's all about being consultative and understanding and walking people through a buying decision to see essentially if it's a fit. Steven Fretzin: [00:03:26] So one lawyer turned into two, two and a three, then a firm, then another, and it just took off. And within about a year and a half to two years, Allison, I looked at my numbers. I was like, Wait a second. I think 80% of my total business this year are attorneys. And I didn't even oh my God. So I had been teaching lawyers about specialization and all that. I said, you know, maybe I need to practice what I preach a little. So I pushed my chips in, changed my name from a very salesy name. Sales Results Inc Which lawyers go you to Frets and Inc, which they were like, okay, that's just his name. We're used to that, right? So that's how I got going in. Even recently, I've adapted even more where I've, I've stopped working with law firms a couple of years ago. I only work with highly motivated and ambitious individual attorneys at all levels and all practice areas. And I also run peer advisory groups to help them win their successful to maintain and continue to develop even after they've become a great, be that lawyer type of lawyer. Allison Williams: [00:04:25] Yeah. Well, since you mentioned be that lawyer, for those of you that don't know, Steve has an amazing podcast affectionately known as Be That Lawyer. And so a lot of your work actually does stem from some of the major concepts that I always learn about as a, as an avid follower of your podcast. So talk to us a little bit about the podcast and then we're going to shift back into the book. So I really want to get some of those, those meaty topics covered in your book talked about today. Steven Fretzin: [00:04:52] Yeah. So the show, you know, jeez, you know, it's one of those situations I think you can you can understand where I'm coming from or I wish I had started at five years ago, not two years ago, but we're coming up on 200 episodes at the end of this month. And I'm doing two a week right now. And the reason is, is I keep meeting so many amazing people like you, Allison, and others that have so much to share and so much to give to the legal community that it allows me to get to three or four takeaways from every single show because I'm drilling down similar to you to get to the, the nuts and bolts tactical stuff. How does, how does this actually work? So it could be anything from time management to health and wellness to marketing, branding, and of course, business development, networking, and developing that book, that almighty book of business, which we all know is so important. So that's the podcast and I just love doing it similar to like you and I just we enjoy it. We enjoy meeting people, we enjoy interviewing people, and having these fun conversations. And sure enough, if we can get sort of like to the middle of that onion from peeling away some layers, it ends up being a really interesting show with lots, again, takeaways for the audience. Allison Williams: [00:06:01] Yeah, yeah. So and you are such a great interviewer, Steve. I had the pleasure of not just being on your podcast, but also you did a celebration for Women's History Month and you brought together an amazing panel. And we talked about a lot of different topics relative to business development in the law. And I just I wanted to make a special nod to you for that program because I don't think a lot of people really refine the art of being a good interviewer, and I think that you really excel at that exceptionally. Steven Fretzin: [00:06:29] I appreciate that. And it's funny because if I'm going to do a 200 episode special and if you go back and listen and I've done this a couple of times to like the first ten or 20 episodes, they're very different than the last 20 or even the last 100 because as you know, it's, it's one of these skills that you have to keep refining. You have to keep considering how am I getting more out of the guest? How am I getting so I might ask someone to explain something to me and then I'll say, Hey, do you have a specific example of how you did that? And then they talk about how they worked with the client to get a result. Well, that's going to resonate with people more than just an explanation of something. So that's the kind of stuff that Howard Stern and Oprah and some of the best interviewers on the planet do. And I, and I'm just trying to emulate what I'm, what I what I'm hearing from others, and what I'm what I know will resonate with my audience. Allison Williams: [00:07:21] Yeah, well, we definitely want people to check that out because we have I have had the pleasure recently of some of my clients saying, oh, yeah, you know, you have gotten better at this. And I say, God, well, how bad was I? And said, Well, it wasn't that it was bad, but it has gotten better. And so I love getting that feedback and I know that it's something that it's kind of the universal experience of people that do what they love and love what they do and really lean into it. So let's now shift back to the book because, you know, when when you think about the idea of a legal business development book, I am sure lawyers have thoughts about what that means, what that could be. But why don't you kind of in a nutshell encapsulate for us, what does the book offer to someone who wants to learn about legal business development and why is it a resource that you recommend that people check out. Steven Fretzin: [00:08:09] I would say in the most important part of the book is that you can read it cover to cover, but it's not a book you have to read cover to cover if you're in a solo practice and it's really important for you to get out in network, well then there's some chapters on networking and you can just read those chapters as a starting point to kind of start get your skills together, your mind together, your plan together as it relates to networking, best practices. And what I do when I write, and I write articles for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, I write for impact lawyers out of, out of the UK and stuff like that is I try to write in a very simple tactical, here's what you do, here's what you say. And it's not that I have all the answers, but it's evolved over time where I'm, I'm getting feedback from clients, what's working, what's not, what I do, what that's working, and what's not. So that when I put together an article or a book or a chapter, it's going to, it's going to be something that people don't just, Oh, that was a great idea but I don't know how to execute on that. No, no. Here's what you do and here's what you say. And just do what I'm saying and tweak it for your own personality, tweak it for your own practice area, whatever you want to do. But I try to write in that, in that type of here's three bullet points that you can follow, and here's the actual quote of what you would ask or say so that it's going to hit home for the people that read it. Allison Williams: [00:09:30] And so when you say 250 plus examples, I mean that, that is a lot. So you're calling this information where, where are these examples or these strategies coming from? Steven Fretzin: [00:09:42] So what I try to do, and this is in every chapter, but most chapters I try to pull from an experience in my life. So this one isn't in the book, but I'll give it is because it's such an easy one for me to pick on. I'm dealing with a teenager at home. All right? And I was a teenager and I was difficult. And guess what? I'm getting it back. It's coming back to me now. So my teenagers up here, moody and Dad, come on, I want to talk about it. And then he's down here where he's like, Hey, you want to hang out and want to do this? And then the other. I don't necessarily always know what teenager I'm going to get from day to day, from hour to hour. So I'm like, Where's the support group for this? So I decided, you know what? I had like an experience with him recently where I was like, You know what? I'm just at the end of my wits. Here I am. Teaching lawyers, building $1000 plus an hour how to build a successful law practice. Steven Fretzin: [00:10:30] They're listening to every word I have to say. They're at the edge of their seats, but my teenager thinks I'm a moron. My teenager thinks that everything I say is just the dumbest thing, one after the other. So it's like, All right, there's an article here and there are some takeaways here from this so that I think the article is like, are lawyers really just moody teenagers? And then, of course they're not, but I make a goof about it, and then I give like, here are some things that we need to consider as it relates to how to how to do legal business development and keep a straight mind about it. So then I'll break it down and give some bullet points on that, on that topic. So it could be fishing, it could be a sport I'm playing, being competitive. It could be swinging a golf club. It could you know, there's all different ways to create content. And I just try to use my own life experience as a way to make it a little more interesting for the reader. Allison Williams: [00:11:19] Well, and I think that that's just really the key point there, right? Because as soon as you say teenager, you know, you heard me sigh childfree by choice and revolves around the idea that teenagers are not something I ever experience intentionally. But as, as somebody who is a father, and a business person, and somebody who works with lawyers, you know, you have a lot of, of your unique personality that comes through in what you read and what you write and what you say. And I think that bringing that to the legal marketplace, it's just going to make for an entertaining read. And if not just the immense value that, of course, I know you bring from your years of experience doing this. Steven Fretzin: [00:11:58] Yeah, I mean, think about business development for lawyers. So they're not taught in law school. They're generally not taught at the law firm level. And you know this because you're in that you're in the space that it's a learned skill. But then the question is how many attorneys are interested in learning the skill or putting time into this skill? 5% of the population, maybe. So this is a book that if you're going to learn business development and you're interested in business development, you need a place to start or you need a place to kind of like, I'm doing it, but I want to just kind of check how I'm doing and see if there are maybe some additional ways to do things better or more efficiently, etc. Well, that's what I'm doing. I'm not giving ideas that aren't going to move the needle. I mean, I'm working with attorneys, you know, 8 to 10 hours a day, every day, five days a week. So I'm in the weeds with the lawyers. It's just a matter of, of what can, what can we all keep improving? We all need to keep improving. And so why not learn from someone who's been in the, in the in that, you know, in the weeds with attorneys as long as I have. And see if there's nuggets that you can pull out of it that, that you can use that are going to improve your game or make it more fun or interesting to do business development. Not such a drug, such drudgery. Allison Williams: [00:13:08] Yeah. Well, so I love that you put the phrase put fun together with business development, because I don't think that most people, when they hear that, especially most attorneys, are going to think of fun and business development. But that's really your approach to it. So talk to us about when you say you're kind of been in the weeds with the lawyers, you know, you've been in the struggle with us. What are some of the things that lawyers really struggle with that you help with? And how do you help them to ultimately over overcome those struggles so that they can get to the success that they desire? Steven Fretzin: [00:13:40] Yeah. So what I do is I sit down with an attorney that I meet through a presentation, through referral, through whatever, and I always do like a 30 to 40 minute evaluation. And it's interesting to go through these evaluations every week, multiple times, and hear the same things over and over again. So I'll give you the top three and then if we can go from there. But number one, poor time management, they're not really they never learn time and so again, learn skill time management to learn skill. I am the perfect example because I'm a feather on the wind. I am the least organized person you would have met 15, 16 years ago. And it took really learning and dedicating time and energy. And now I don't have an open email. At the end of the day, everything's been been handled. There's no paper on my desk. Everything's done through my remarkable two, through Dropbox, through whatever. So organization is something that's number one on the list. Number two is how are they spending their time doing business development? And in most cases, it's not being done in the most efficient way. They're not in the right place with the right people. They're out spinning their wheels, presenting all over. They're networking haphazardly. There's no plan in place of how to go after low-hanging fruit, how to go after where the business is. So I say this to attorneys all the time. You realize there's a table right in front of you with a pile of money on it, and you're walking around it all day and they go, What? I go, Yeah. Like all the business you ever need and will ever need is right in front of you and you're not taking it. They go, Well, why? Well, okay, so you have 250 clients that think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread and you're not asking them for introductions to people they know to get new business. Well, I'm not comfortable with that. Well, there you go. There you go. So where's the gap? Well, the gap. Is the lack of process and lack of language to make it comfortable, to make it easy. So that's where we're in the weeds, that's where we're working every day, and most importantly, getting in front of decision-makers and, and having a process to walk them through a buying decision. So most lawyers call it a pitch meeting. Hey, we're going on a pitch meeting. Right. And I hate it. I hate pitch, I hate convince. I hate sell. I'm very anti-sell. My first book is Sales Free Selling. Why? Because I'm teaching lawyers, you don't have to go out and be a salesman. All right? You can do it through relationships, consultative, questioning. You can do it through empathy, listening, and most importantly, qualifying. They go qualifying. What do you mean? Well, you're presenting and giving solutions to people that aren't qualified and they go, What do you mean? I go, Well, they're not the right decision maker. They're not committed to sign up with you. If, if they, if they, even if they wanted to and they don't have any money to pay you, but yet you're spending a year chasing after this person that's never going to work with you. So how quickly can we figure out that someone's real or not is a huge part of where lawyers spin their wheels and spend their time inefficiently. Allison Williams: [00:16:32] Yeah. So a lot, a lot there that you just shared with us. And the thing that I think that of all that you just describe that really resonated with me is the idea that it sounds like just having a system and an approach to doing things can take away the stress of the unknown, right? It can give you a certain level of you might not immediately feel comfortable, but it can at least give you the bravery to get out there and do it. Scared, right? Steven Fretzin: [00:16:57] Yeah....
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Crush Your Email Chaos
06/07/2022
Crush Your Email Chaos
Email really does require a level of maintenance and I wanted to share the rules that I actually created around email, the email inbox, and why I constantly struggle with email. In this episode, we discuss: The email requires a level of maintenance. Setting rules and boundaries around communication through emails will help you to prioritize. How to use the tools that are available electronically to manage what is getting in your inbox. Making time to check and deal with email and how to stick to it Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:20:36 (38 Seconds) So we talked about email management as a strategy, and then I asked the person, How are you currently dealing with email? And the person told me, Well, every morning I get up, I wake up at 6 a.m., go to the bathroom, come back, lay in the bed for another 10 minutes and during that time period, I am usually checking social media, checking my email, checking my calendar for the day, kind of kickstarting the day. And so they've already taken in ten, 12 to 15 communications that have come in since they left the office the night before. And they're absorbing all of the problems of the day before they even get out of bed in the morning.
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Presentation Skills 101
06/03/2022
Presentation Skills 101
What are the things that you have to work on in order to get to a place where you are magnetic on stage, where you draw people in, and where you’re able to cultivate either referral relationships or new clients from being in front of people? I have three major strategies for you… In this episode, we discuss: How amazing your life can be when you learn the skill of being decisive. Creating what you desire when you have a thought that continues to come to your mind. Allowing yourself to feel and think what you desire without judging. Give yourself permission to speak out loud. Making decisions no matter if they are good or bad those will take you to learn a lesson. Writing it down is a process that solidifies in your mind that you are creating something. Getting the right people could show you what you need to materialize your desires. Trusting your instincts and your inner voice. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: Four Transplants and a Microphone Podcast My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:07:09 (33 Seconds) But because I didn't have society's definition of a family, I didn't feel entitled to a house. So honestly, I was kind of waiting for me to just magically arrive at a family and there's a whole host of reasons why that's not happening, either, which we're not going to talk about today. But I said, finally, you know, I can't delay making the best financial decision for myself because I don't have the appearance of the family that society says I'm supposed to have in order to buy my house. So I just went out and said, Yeah, now's the time, and I decided what I wanted and I ultimately bought a house.
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There Is No Such Thing As One And Done In Networking
05/31/2022
There Is No Such Thing As One And Done In Networking
Are you making the most out of your network? Make sure that every opportunity, every speaking engagement, every networking event, every referral partnership is one that can produce a snowball effect of opportunity. This episode will include three things that you have to do in order to ensure that your activity and your marketing events are never one and done. In this episode, we discuss: Every time you go out, you represent your business. When you're speaking on a stage, you might be in front of your ideal client. The mindset has to be that every opportunity produces multiple opportunities. How to perfect your follow-up and engage with potential clients or opportunities. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:07:28 (34 Seconds) So that means you should never, never, never, never go to a marketing event, marketing event of any sort with the idea that it is going to be done when it's done, it's not done until you have the next one scheduled. So again, never one and done. You always have to be thinking when I'm leaving this event, what is my next opportunity? Who is the next person that I'm going to speak to? Who is the next potential client I'm going to have a connection with? Who is the next stage I am going to visit? Right. Where am I going to find my next opportunity? Marketing should be snowballing.
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How To Add Two Zeros To Your Income
05/27/2022
How To Add Two Zeros To Your Income
What would life look like if we added two zeros to our personal income? I want you to go with me on a journey to contemplate that for a moment. If you are a law firm owner and you have ever contemplated the idea of adding more money into your business and more money into your personal income, I'm sure you've thought about having more, right? That's kind of the first place that we all start. I don't like what I have because I want more. In other words, if I have X more dollars - I’d be happy. Fine. How do we get there? In this episode, we discuss: Every time you go out, you represent your business. When you're speaking on a stage, you might be in front of your ideal client. The mindset has to be that every opportunity produces multiple opportunities. How to perfect your follow-up and engage with potential clients or opportunities. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:02:58 (31 Seconds) So we were taking this yacht trip and we were looking out at all of the celebrity homes that are right on the water with their own individual yachts in each slip. And I just thought, Wow, this is really inspiration for what we want to create. Some people are really moved by the idea of having $100 million house other people, not so much. But whatever your vision is, ultimately, at some point we had to think about where these people started before they acquired the multimillion-dollar residence.
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How To Shift Your Law Firm Culture
05/24/2022
How To Shift Your Law Firm Culture
Shifting culture takes time. It's not as simple as kind of going in, firing everybody and starting over again because, frankly, most of us can't afford to do that. So, how do you shift the culture? Here’s what to do, and, especially, what NOT to do. In this episode, we discuss: Having a reset conversation and following through with new rules. The importance of enforcing the new rules. Hiring people that will fit your culture and know the rules from the start. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:04:18 (40 Seconds) You have to induce people to follow your rules. Right. Just simply saying, hey, I know we've been doing it this way for the past five years, but now new rule. And hope that they simply follow the new rule. Some people will, right. Some people by virtue of you stopping and having a conversation with them, it's going to jar them into a new course of behavior. But for most people, the vast majority of people are creatures of habit, right? So they have been pretty automatically engaging in behavior in a certain way, not because they wanted to do something to you or even for you, but because they fell into a modus operandi. To change that, it is going to take some time.
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Law Firm Hiring in a Tight Market
05/20/2022
Law Firm Hiring in a Tight Market
What do you do when it’s a tight market, but you need people now? Here’s what it comes down to: you have to be more aggressive about going after talent. How do you do that? Get Off Your Ass and get into action. In this episode, we discuss: G.O.Y.A. and what it stands for in the context of this podcast. Breaking the habit of waiting for good people to respond to your boring ads. The importance of creating a careers page on your website. How to get the right people looking at your careers page by using ads. The secret to writing more powerful ads. Making use of database information on key resume sites. Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: To request a link to the Law Firm Hiring in a Tight Market Webinar, email Register for the next webinar – Law Firm Interviewing 101 – May 26th at 10 AM ET My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:04:58 (40 Seconds) And one of the things that you should do in your careers page is not just describe the job, right? You don't want to just take the ad that you would post on Indeed or on Craigslist and put it on to your website. You want to go really, really deep into your ideal employee avatar, right? Who is that person that is perfect for the role, perfect for your culture? And how does that person fit with the rest of the team, i.e. you want to introduce that person to the rest of the team and the easiest way to do that is on the website so you can do things on your careers page, like embed links to other pages of the website so that you can draw someone's eye to things that really matter.
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Taking Prospect Calls After Hours
05/17/2022
Taking Prospect Calls After Hours
In this episode, we cover a topic fueled by a question posed to me recently by one of our clients here at Law Firm Mentor. The question was, should I be taking calls from prospective new clients on nights and weekends? I always love when this topic comes up because there are a lot of strong opinions out there about the right way to build a law firm and whether or not you should be taking calls during hours that are not your typical business hours. I want to give you both of the competing views on it and then a framework for making that decision for yourself. In this episode, we discuss: The virtual law firm movement and how to create the lifestyle you choose How quality of life is determined by your season in life, and how to make the decision that fits your life about after-hours prospect calls Ways to assess your financial situation before deciding on after-hours prospecting Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms. Contact Info: My favorite excerpt from the episode: TIME: 00:16:02 (30 Seconds) When making that choice, you have to say what is most important to me as a value proposition if what's most important to you is your goal. Whatever your goal is, right? Your goal could be to have a $5 million law firm in five years; your goal could be to have $200,000 of personal income; your goal could be to set up a savings plan that affords you to save a certain amount of money for your children's education. Whatever your goal is, the goal is not to judge your goal. But you do need to be clear on what that goal is. And then think about the timeframe that you're going to want to achieve that goal.
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