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Thinking Of Becoming A Sponsor For The Next LWP Retreat? 5 Things To Know

June 15, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Legal Marketing Team Building

Guest post by Laura Lee Sparks:

Almost seven years ago, I had the privilege of facilitating an estate planning conference with Dave Zumpano as one of our guest speakers. He was there to educate our members on his proprietary estate planning and elder law software.

I remember watching the presentation and thinking that he was ahead of his time in creating and designing technology that not only generated comprehensive documents, but also automated every need of the client. It inspired me to hone my own skill set and shift my focus to helping the public see estate planning in a more holistic and forward-thinking way.

In 2010, I restructured my business, Legal Marketing Maven. My husband was dying from cancer, and he urged me to devote the majority of my efforts to helping lawyers spread the word about their services to desperate families and caregivers in their greatest time of need.

In less than six months, Legal Marketing Maven doubled its profits, as well as the size of our team. More importantly, we were out there making a difference. Our efforts have continued to grow and evolve ever since.

One key strategy that contributed to our rapid success was choosing to exhibit at legal events across the country. We’ve been to many conferences as sponsors, some of which have been worth our while and others that have been very expensive learning experiences.

Rewind two weeks ago. I had the opportunity to be a sponsor for the first time at LWP’s June Tri-Annual Practice Retreat in St. Louis, MO – and the event was unlike anything I have experienced in the legal conference space.

Maybe you do funding, financial services, drafting, complimentary legal services, marketing or some other business that serves estate planning and elder lawyers. All I can say is that you are doing a huge disservice to your company by not getting yourself and your team to LWP’s next live event.

Here are just a few ways that my experience at the Lawyers with Purpose event stands out from other vendor opportunities I’ve had:

1. LWP is a family – and they invite you to be part of it. When you attend an LWP event as a sponsor, you are not looked at as just another “salesperson” lurking in the hallways. The culture is one of family, so even vendors are accepted with open arms into the LWP tribe. It was a great feeling, and we made many amazing new relationships as a result.

2. All sponsors are personally vetted by company leaders. Because attendees know that the LWP team carefully selects the sponsors for a reason, there are more opportunities to build relationships with prospects and educate them about your services without skepticism or jumping through hoops to get attention.

3. LWP supports your business and APPRECIATES your contributions. The entire LWP team has been in your shoes. They are practice owners, entrepreneurs and experienced marketers. They know what it takes to grow a business and they are sensitive to the needs of complimentary business owners who attend their events as sponsors.

4. LWP’s unique abundance mentality leads to amazing collaborative opportunities. LWP does a wonderful job of helping lawyers shift their mindsets from one of “I have to crush competition at all costs” to one of abundance. We had the opportunity to sit down with “competing lawyers” in over-saturated areas who wanted us to help them WORK TOGETHER to support each other’s efforts through marketing. This happened more than once! The collaborative environment among attendees, as well as sponsors, was unlike anything I’ve seen before.

5. LWP staff and attorneys have the most fun. Enough said. You’ll quickly forget you are there on business with all the friends you’ll be making.

We’re planning to attend the October Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat, and we hope you’ll join us, too! There is no greater opportunity to connect and partner with a group of forward-thinking lawyers who are literally changing the world and making significant and impactful differences in their local communities. Don’t wait to reach out to the team about sponsorship. We’ll see you in Arizona!

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities at the October Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat, please contact Roslyn Drotar at rdrotar@lawyerswithpurpose.com for dates, location and a Sponsorship Prospectus.

Laura Lee Sparks, CEO, Legal Marketing Maven

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The Bottom Line

June 8, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Legal Marketing Systems & Processes

Are you tracking your closing rate? You should be, if only for self-evaluation. Your Pipeline Focuser will quickly show how many prospects became clients at each of your Initial and Vision meetings. If your closing rate average is lower than 70% you should investigate further.

A low closing rate is not always attributable to the attorney’s lack of skill in the Initial or Vision meeting. Sometimes the prospect just isn’t qualified. While it would be great if you could weed out those unqualified prospects before you invest your time in meeting with them, if they attended a workshop and you promised a complimentary Vision Meeting™ for example, you don’t have much choice.

However, if your closing rate is low and your prospects are largely qualified, then consider investing time improving your close.

On the LWP member website, in the Vision Meeting™ folder (located in the Estate Processes tab), there are four videos designed to help you “close the deal.” Two of them deal specifically with boosting your closing rate by using the Vision Clarifier™.

Are you using the Vision Clarifier™? It’s the tool that visually demonstrates the solution to issues identified in the audit. If you’re skipping this tool, then you’re not visually demonstrating your recommended solution(s).

During the workshop, the attorney tells stories that are memorable, colorful and interesting. Using a PowerPoint presentation, the attorney is able to anchor stories that are easily visualized by attendees. Adding props such as the little red wagon and the dollar bill maintains interest in the illustrations.

At the subsequent Vision Meeting™ the attorney continues educating prospects in a one-on-one setting by connecting the workshop stories to the Estate Planning Audit™ and then demonstrating solutions with the “Vision Clarifier™, leading directly to the firm fee schedule.

This is where the “rubber meets the road.” The bottom line truly is do you believe in the solution you are recommending? Are you able to clearly see the value? If you are, you won’t hesitate when it comes to naming your fee. That printed fee schedule you worked so hard to develop will boost your confidence and demonstrate to the prospect that you are not pricing based on his/her assets. You really do have set fees.

I invite you to track your own numbers, but from my personal experience I found that 80-90% of people who walked out the door without signing an Engagement Agreement saying they wanted to “think about it” and asking to be “followed up with” at a later date, never moved forward.

What does that mean? It means that if prospects walk out of your office, “wanting to think about it,” the odds dramatically decrease that they will ever become clients. Being able to properly demonstrate the benefits of your proposed plan in that first meeting is a priceless skill. Putting in the time to hone and improve this skill will have exponential impact on your bottom line.

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

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Social Media Guide For Lawyers

May 27, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Legal Marketing

Let’s talk about lawyers getting social. What does that mean, and how can it support your marketing? Social media is an umbrella term for programs that connect individuals through an online platform (such as Facebook or Linked In). Social marketing is more of an approach to connecting with your audience for their “social good,” not necessarily for financial reasons.

One of the biggest challenges faced by small law firms is how to get started in social media. Where do you start? Which platform should you focus on? What and when should you post? How do you get followers and fans? It can be overwhelming!

There is so much to think about and so much to distract you, because researching this is like going down a rabbit hole. Information and opinions are everywhere. It can also be a moving target – the best practices of last year are often today’s don'ts. But one thing remains consistent: It’s not going away. So let’s do something with it.

One of my favorite quotes sums the situation up perfectly: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Start where you are: Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting your practice or already have an existing client base, just start now where you are so it can begin to grow and evolve. Don’t worry about where it should be a year from now. Get started, because if you don’t, it can’t go anywhere.

Use what you have: You might not have a budget for social, or employees to support it, and you probably think you have no content. Remember, it’s social. So just showing your personality and your law firm brand, and sharing your moments, is enough. And, you have resources right there in your office, and you have opinions, so share them. That’s what’s valuable to your audience. I bet each person reading this has content sitting on their desk they could share and comment on.

Do what you can: If you can only post one time a day on one platform, start by blocking out the time in your calendar to make sure it gets done. Once you get the hang of Facebook, for instance, it won’t take as much time to add Twitter or LinkedIn after that. Don’t try to post three times a day if once is all you can commit to in the beginning.

Remember that quote: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

If you’re still stuck on why? The reason you should use social marketing is that it has become an integral part of our world and continues to evolve. The new theory with social marketing is that it is more than just a channel or tactic, it’s a strategy that should be present in your marketing plan. The question is no longer whether you should do social; it is, simply, why wouldn’t you do social?

Social marketing is really beyond your website and participating in social platforms. Statistics confirm that having a social presence (whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter) can boost your career and build your reputation. Prospective clients are Googling you and your name after hearing about you through word of mouth. And Google archives social pages! So 9 out of 10 times if you Google someone’s name, you’ll find a social profile on Facebook or LinkedIn along with their website – and it's typically the top result!

Think of social as lead nurturing, touching, top-of-mind awareness, further defining hot leads – or those that want to “think about it” to be sent to conversion at a later date. You are creating connections and showing up in their world.

How to Get Started:

It’s important to decide which social platform you want to start with and what your objective is. If the plan is to provide workshop information, Facebook is probably the best channel for that, and it’s a good place to start if that’s where you’re most comfortable. If you want to work your RMS, then the best platform would be LinkedIn.

If you already have your social going but it’s not active, then allot enough time to decide what you will post, create that content, and make at least one post two to three times a week. That will probably take you two hours if you include time to respond to conversations.

The content you want to contribute is valuable content or insight for prospective clients. Ask yourself, what’s in it for them? Why would they want to “like” your post? What do they get out of it? It’s not all about you!

Suggestions for Posts:

Have a sense of humor
Share pictures or photos of fun times within the firm
Relevant information and insight on estate planning – think educate to motivate
What do they want to know?
Share the most common questions you get asked, and answer them
Current events

Do’s & Dont's

Do:

Focus on the people
Experiment and have fun. It’s social!
Answer any questions posted, tweeted, etc.
Participate in conversations
Discuss the passions of your audience
Anchor to the 80/20 rule – only 20% about you and your offerings/selling props – 80% valuable content
If you have published work – a book you authored – share the content
Post photos of you at your workshop, or of you participating in community events

Don’t

Focus on making money
Do the same thing over and over again
Go dormant – ignore your audience
Be afraid to connect with others who do what you do
Don’t just talk about you and your practice

Best Times to Post:

Facebook – Best from 1-4 p.m.; peak time Wednesday at 3 p.m. Facebook is a good platform for engaging with your prospects, so you’ll want to run content relevant to them.

Twitter – Best from 1-3 p.m. or 5 p.m.; peak Monday through Thursday. Twitter is great for B2B. You’ll find a lot of other estate planning attorneys already on Twitter, along with marketing companies, power partners and other relevant connections.

Linked In – Best from 7-9 a.m. or 5-6 p.m.; peak between Tuesday and Thursday. LinkedIn is best for wholesale marketing. You’ll get a good array of referral sources.

Google+ – Best from 9-11 a.m.; peak during work hours. Google+ is good for SEO and authorship.

Reporting:

Do the best you can with tracking and reporting your social reach, but be aware that the reporting you get from the different platforms is all over the place. People don’t tend to always chime in or react when they see something they like. It’s like if you were to do something funny at a dinner party. People don’t come up to you and congratulate you, or pat you on the back after.

We all see things on social that we think are funny or interesting, but we don’t click “like” or “retweet” for every little piece of wonderful content we come across. So do not gauge your ROI on the likes, shares, etc., that you get.

I read an interesting anecdote on Lexblog that really illustrated the return you get. Dan Goldman, chair of Mayo Clinic’s business law practice group, was at a conference for legal marketing and business development professionals. When they began discussing the need to measure the return on investment on their social efforts, he chuckled a bit.

Goldman explained that Mayo’s 43 in-house lawyers taught him that people tend to hire the lawyers they know, like and trust. So the ones who got hired were the ones who use social media. Mayo’s in-house lawyers became known and trusted through their social efforts.

Goldman cited recent studies showing that lawyers who don’t use social media are becoming increasingly irrelevant to the people who would hire them, especially, as he put it, “when they’re just not connected.”

Here’s hoping the info above might help you avoid the same fate.

If you don’t nail all of this right out of the gate, don’t worry. It’s social; give yourself permission to just show up at the party and have fun!

Roslyn Drotar – Internet Marketing Strategist, Lawyers With Purpose

Informing The VA You Plan To File A Claim

May 26, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Marketing Legal Technical VA

I don’t think anyone really expected a great announcement from the VA on March 25, 2015, with the end of the 60-day public comment period on the proposed VA rule, RIN 2900-AO73, regarding net worth, asset transfers, and income exclusions for needs-based benefits. However on that day the VA did announce several changes effective March 24, 2015 that directly impact all claims. One of these changes was the amendment of the adjudication manual M21-1MR to introduce a new intent to file procedure which replaces the informal claim process to lock in an effective date for an Improved Pension claim (with aid and attendance) prior to the filing of the Fully Developed Claim.

The VA web page http://explore.va.gov/intent-to-file, as well as the March 2015 Fact sheet issued by the VA, explain that there are currently three ways to declare an intent to file a claim:

Electronically via eBenefits.
Completing and mailing the paper VA Form 21-0966, Intent to File a Claim for Compensation and/or Pension, or Survivors Pension and/or DIC.
Over the phone to the VA National Call Center or in person at a VA regional office.

eBenefits is accessed from the VA website via this page https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/apply, However the link for filing pension claims currently generates an error. The content is blocked in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox web browsers as an untrusted connection.

If you prefer to continue using a paper form to lock in an effective date, you are now required to use the VA form 21-0966. What happens if you filed an informal claim on or after March 24, 2015? Pursuant to M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section D, 2b, “Consider a request for benefits not filed on an appropriate prescribed form on or after March 24, 2015 a request for application.” The VA will respond to a request for application by sending correspondence that instructs the claimant which forms are needed to formalize the claim. Nevertheless no effective date will be locked in until a complete intent to file or a completed application is submitted. There is no recourse if the VA rejects an informal claim filed on or after March 24, 2015 as the final rule of 38 CFR Parts 3, 19, and 20 RIN 2900–AO81 “also eliminate the provisions of 38 CFR 3.157 which allowed various documents other than claims forms to constitute claims.”

The option of declaring an intent to file by telephone or in person at the VA regional office has the disadvantage of lack of documentation. Furthermore the average waiting time for calls to the VA National Call Center to be answered is over an hour and, thus, would not be an efficient use of your time to use this option. Thus for now if your firm chooses to lock in an effective date prior to the filing of the fully developed claim, you must use the second of the three options listed above. Our firm has changed our process to start using the form 21-0996 with all future VA claims. The new form will also be included in a future update of the Lawyers With Purpose software.

The easiest way to receive important notices directly from the VA is to subscribe to the email delivery of VA News Releases at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USVA/subscriber/new or visit their website at www.va.gov.

There is still time to grab a seat for our 3.5 day Practice With Purpose Program in St. Louis next week! We'll be talking about Asset Protection, Medicaid and the following on VA Benefits planning:

Service Connected Benefits (Veterans & Widows/Dependents)
Non-Service Connected Benefits – Improved Pension, Housebound, Aid & Attendance
Asset Eligibility
Application Process
Correct Forms
Annual Reviews
Appeals Process
Representation and Marketing – Getting Veterans to March in Your Door

Click here to register and grab one of the few spots remaining.

By Sabrina A. Scott, Paralegal, The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC and Production Coordinator for Lawyers for Wartime Veterans, LLC.

Victoria L. Collier, Veteran of the United States Air Force, 1989-1995 and United States Army Reserves, 2001-2004. Victoria is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation, Author of 47 Secret Veterans Benefits for Seniors, Author of Paying for Long Term Care: Financial Help for Wartime Veterans: The VA Aid & Attendance Benefit, Founder of The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC, Co-Founder of Lawyers for Wartime Veterans, Co-Founder of Veterans Advocate Group of America.

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Avoiding The Five Major Threats To IRA’s: Part 4

May 22, 2015

by David Zumpano with No Comment Asset Protection Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Marketing Medicaid VA

As I have been discussing there are five threats to qualified accounts that most people don’t typically consider when doing estate planning. The five major threats to qualified plans are unexpected loss to income taxes, excise taxes, long-term care costs (all covered previously), estate taxes (today’s topic) and to beneficiaries and/or their creditors. As we’ve previously outlined, the threats of incomes taxes and excise taxes can easily be avoided if planned for, and the threat to long-term care costs can be planned for with the least risk by completing an IRA analysis to determine if an IRA should be liquidated or annuitized when the IRA owner becomes subject to long term care costs. When it comes to protecting qualified accounts from estate tax, it is more challenging.

If an individual dies with assets greater than $5,340,000.00 their estate is subject to a forty percent estate tax. When this occurs, the IRA (or other qualified asset) can be subject to more than seventy five percent in total taxes. How? Well assuming a $1 million IRA is part of a $7 million estate, the IRA will be subject to estate tax of forty percent ($400,000.00) and upon the liquidation of the IRA by the beneficiaries it could be taxed at a rate of up to thirty nine point six percent (39.6%), which results in an additional $396,000.00 in income tax if the beneficiary is in the highest income tax bracket. To add insult to injury, there is no deduction on the value of the estate tax return for the income tax due on the IRA. As if federal taxes were not enough, there can be state income taxes dues when the IRA is liquidated to pay the federal estate tax. It gets even worse if you live in a state that has an estate tax. A state estate tax is yet one more tax on top of the federal estate and income taxes, and state income taxes. Most states estate taxes are up to an additional sixteen percent. And so the question becomes, how do you protect qualified accounts from estate tax liabilities?

The answer is you really can’t, without first liquidating the IRA and paying the income tax (other than an annual $100,000.00 gift allowed to charity). So in order to protect IRA’s from federal and state estate taxes requires the reduction of a client’s non IRA estate during lifetime so the total estate evaluation does not exceed the estate tax limits. One strategy to do this is annual gifting, which can be effective, but often requires a significant number of beneficiaries to distribute the annual growth on an estate of that size. For example, if an individual had a $7 million estate and it grew at three percent the individual would have to give away $210,000.00 per year just to keep the estate from growing. That would require fifteen beneficiaries to distribute $14,000.00 to or eight beneficiaries if the client is married.

Another strategy to reduce estate taxes is to give away money to charity. An individual can have the ability to benefit charities and their family by use of various strategies which is outside the scope of this writing. A third way to reduce estate taxes is by using legal strategies to discount the value of assets by use of various tax planning techniques. Unfortunately none of these strategies work to reduce an IRA’s value other than outright gifting after withdrawal and the payment of income tax or use of the annual allowance for distributions from qualified account to charity. In summary, subjecting qualified accounts to estate taxes is a significant burden to the tax payer which only can be minimized by ensuring their non-qualified estate is reduced and moving to a state without income tax can reduce the income tax burden. Obviously qualified accounts are very appealing as they have tax referral advantages, but one must weigh the long term benefit of the difference with the tax cost upon receipt or death.

If you want to learn more about what it's like to be a Lawyers With Purpose member, join our 3.5 day Practice With Purpose Program (you can find the agenda here). We still have a few spots left so grab them now! It's a jam packed 3.5 days that include all the essentials on Asset Protection, Medicaid & VA for your estate or elder law practice.

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

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Today at 5 p.m.

May 15, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Legal Marketing Legal Technical

Real quick, I want to make sure you know the DOORS ARE CLOSING at 5 p.m. sharp today on registrations for the Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat, which happens the week of June 1 in St. Louis.

If you are remotely considering making the event happen, you MUST reserve your seat (and hotel) today. The hotel has extended our room block TWICE, and there are only a few rooms left before the entire hotel is SOLD OUT. We honestly will not be able to work our magic after 5 p.m. TODAY.

To recap what the “Retreat Week” has in store:

A boot camp on Medicaid, asset protection, VA and all things estate and elder law
Speakers school (the first in three years and not slated to be held again until 2017)
Creating your Money Plan law firm retreat
Nine different 90-minute focus sessions on legal technical, marketing, law firm operations, team training, trust drafting, cloud-based CRM workflow systems and MORE!
A personal and professional development day led by Dave Zumpano

Just to name a few items.

Don’t fool yourself and say (possibly yet again), “I can’t afford (time, money or both) this one, but I definitely will get to the next one.” In my experience, when the timing couldn’t be worse, that is the very reason why you need to be in the room. Maybe your business is booming and you’re drowning and you don’t know when that will stop, or maybe a team member just quit, or possibly you have a team member you’re on the verge of firing, or cash flow is down, etc., etc., etc.

“Reasons are the cemetery of your dreams.” Reasons that emerge from any rendition of the above are the very reason why you need to be in the room.

This WILL be our last invite. No more reminders or captivating blog posts tempting you to take the leap of faith and say, “It’s now or never.”

To reserve one of the last seats, just click here.

Can’t wait to see your name on the “A List.”

In your corner,

Molly

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Not Signing Enough Appointments From Live Events? 3 Quick Fixes & Training For You!

May 8, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Legal Marketing

Have you ever been invited to speak to a group, or hosted your own event, where a majority of the attendees failed to request an appointment at the end of the presentation?

Of course, everyone can have an “off” day where your presentation doesn’t go quite right or the event itself is a dud. But, if this is happening to you consistently, something is MAJORLY wrong.

You should be booking appointments at EVERY event that you do—whether you are invited to speak in front of a networking group, or you are hosting your own estate planning workshop, or presenting for a referral source.

At LWP’s Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat, happening June 1-5, we have included a high intensity boot camp known as “Speakers School” where we teach lawyers the art of speaking to not only educate, but to SELL estate planning or elder law services right on the spot.

If you are struggling right now to turn more attendees of your presentations into paying clients, or you are not doing as much speaking in the community as you would like to, I would encourage you to go here NOW and reserve your space.

We are hosting Speaker School because it works. Past attendees often tell us how they are now forced to carry their calendars with them or bring staff to handle scheduling because people are so anxious to get their appointment on the books after the talk (…don’t worry about what to say or do to make this happen… we’ll teach you our entire presentation outline and success formula!) If you can follow a recipe, you can host a 5 figure ROI event!)

This event is limited to 20 attendees, and spaces are filling up. If you are even remotely curious how Speaker School can help you boost your results and make speaking the most profitable thing you do in your practice, view our agenda and reserve your space HERE.

Until then, here are three areas to investigate if you are hosting a ton of workshops but failing to fill up your calendar with fresh appointments from your efforts:

1. Your marketing– If you are hosting your own events or handling the promotion of events for referral sources, it is possible that your marketing materials are attracting the wrong prospects. Try tweaking your invitations, flyers, etc. to help prospects better “prequalify” themselves or tweak the demographics of where your materials are being sent.

2. You are not speaking to SELL- Anyone can give a lecture; speaking to sell is an art. If your presentation is not designed in such a way to “seed your offer” from the start of the talk and lead your prospects down a funnel where the only obvious choice at the end of the workshop is to schedule an appointment with you, you are wasting your time, effort and resources.

3. Zero or Insufficient Follow Up– Some people need a few days to digest all that you’ve taught them before they make a buying decision. If you did not cleverly capture their email or phone number during your workshop, you will have no way to contact those people who are still on the fence a few days later. Talk about leaving money on the table!

Of course I am here to chat if you have specific questions about Speaker School or any of the other workshops we are hosting this year at our Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat. Just email me and let me know how I can help.

Best Regards,

Molly

Do You Have Your Purpose Story Down?

May 8, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Coaching & Implementation Legal Marketing

Are you using the same dull biography to introduce your workshop, synergy meetings, and presentations and generally what you do and how you tell people. When they feel connected to you, they trust you more, and when they trust you more, they’re more inclined to hire you. Your Purpose Story will help you create the know, like and trust triad.

What you will take away from “Master Your Purpose Story” Training on MONDAY, May 18^th:

• The Ability to Instantly Connect with Any Audience, Anywhere, Anytime
• The Unstoppable Combination of Credibility and Vulnerability - The Trust Factor
• The Ability to Be Vulnerable with Any Audience Without Losing Credibility
• An step-by-step Structure to Create Your Purpose Story with Ease
• You'll Know Exactly Where to Insert Your Purpose Story in your Presentations
• Your Conversion Rates Will Increase as a Result of Mastering Your Purpose Story

If you’ve registered for the TAPER Specialty Program “How To Protect Your ‘Stuff’ In Three Easy Steps” on June 3^rd OR are planning on attending Jeff Bellomo’s focus session on “Comparing The Three LWP Workshops” you’ll want to make sure to get this 90 minute session on your calendar (and show up!) as this is a vital piece of your homework to make your attendance at these Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat events effective for your practice.

The LIVE May 18^th 90 Minute Training Workshop “Master Your Purpose Story” takes place on MAY 18^TH at 4pm EST. Members, to reserve your spot email Amanda at aross@lawyerswithpurpose.com. Seating is limited to the first 100 that register. The registration link has also been posted to the LWP ListServ.

How Are You Showing Up?

May 3, 2015

by David Zumpano with No Comment Coaching & Implementation Legal Marketing Systems & Processes

Do you know how you show up in the world? Most people don’t. Most hand out evaluations after they give a speech or presentation but most of the questions are canned and quite honestly useless, “On a scale of 1 to 10 please rate…”

What if you knew, really knew what people out in the crowd were seeing? And the real impact it is making on your practice.

I remember my first presentation at The National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys. I thought it was a home run. I was on fire and the evaluations were off the charts. The room was packed. So naturally they invited me back. In between the 6 months of the first presentation, and the 2^nd one, I met one of the Co-founders of Ridge Associates at a local Entrepreneurial Society meeting in my town. I instantly enrolled in his Speakers School and the next presentation for NNEPA people were mobbing me in the hallways (including the owners) saying “What happened to you? You were not even close to the same person you were 6 months ago on stage…can you teach ALL of our leaders how to do what you just did?”

That night at dinner one of my closest buddies at NNEPA said to me, “I didn’t know how to articulate it after your May presentation but after seeing this 2^nd presentation I have to tell you that your 1^st presentation was painful to watch. But, the first 5 minutes of today’s presentation…. HOLY SMOKES….NNEPA wants you back for the Spring Collegium as a KEYNOTE SPEAKER! WHAT. DID. YOU. DO? - what did you do? And can you show me how to do it too?!”

It wasn’t anything I did. I just showed up.

Trust me, get in the room. We don’t know when we will offer Speakers School again. We are fortunate enough to get Bob Gabor, my trainer, and it took a few years to get him booked. I don’t want you to wait a few years to get the single thing that I attribute ALL of my success too.

I know, I know…YOU don’t need it. That’s what I thought about myself 14 years ago. But apparently the audiences I was speaking too thought differently.

I am personally excited to sit through Speakers School again, 14 years later. Click here to join me. This will be the best investment you make in your practice in 2015. I cant wait to hear how your conversion number soar.

I want you sitting next to me.

Dave

P.S. Oh yeah…. 2 of my staff members will be sitting in THIS Speakers School WITH me. They want to get more workshops and presentations to our area power partners for my practice (nursing homes, adult daycare centers, etc.). Talk about a SURREAL moment. Your team is invited too but there are only 8 seats remaining so RESERVE your firm seats NOW.

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15-25 Initial Consults For Just Two Hours Of Your Time? YES!!

April 22, 2015

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment Coaching & Implementation Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Marketing Systems & Processes Team Building

Filling your calendar each month with new initial consults shouldn’t be such a struggle.

In fact, when you know how to easily generate 15-25 initial appointments in just two hours of your time, you’ll never have to lose another wink of sleep worrying about where new business is coming from.

You can just dip into your “toolkit” and make magic happen… on your own terms and on a budget that you feel comfortable with.

So how is it done? SPEAKING!

We’re not talking about those generic, Chicken Dinner Estate Planning Workshops, either. Chances are, you’ve tried them before–only to spend a ton of money with very little results.

Here at Lawyers With Purpose, we have a unique methodology for conducting workshops that have worked consistently for 35 years to “put butts in seats,” keep audience members engaged, and close the presentation in such a strategic way that listeners can’t help but rush the podium to schedule an appointment with you.

15-25 new initial appointments per workshop is just the average that our Lawyers With Purpose members experience. And many are conducting more than one a month!

What would your life and practice look like if you started each month with 15 + initial appointments already on the books?

We’ve got 2 programs just for you! Our Train the Trainer Speaker School AND “How To Protect Your Stuff in 3 Easy Steps” are where you learn how to make it happen.

We are opening these two intensive workshops to just a handful of attendees happening during the week of June 1st in St. Louis, MO on a first come, first serve basis.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never conducted a workshop before or if you’re an experienced speaker who just wants to “sharpen the saw” and boost results. These two programs will teach you, among other things, how to:

Fill the room with only your ideal prospects
Engage your audience and hit deep emotional pain points with our training on platform perfection, value proposition and measuring the effectiveness of stories.
Speak to SELL by “seeding” your desired outcome, leading audience members down your unique funnel and closing in such a way that incites listeners to take immediate action.

Plus, attendees of the “How To Protect Your Stuff…” Specialty Workshop will leave with our ENTIRE “done-for-you” seminar package, including handouts, PowerPoint presentations, speaker notes, evaluations marketing materials, video & audio of the workshop and audio of stories to use in your presentation.

All you’ll have to do is pick a date and venue and you’ll be ready to host your first workshop as soon as you get home!

If you’re even remotely curious about either of these programs, don’t wait to go HERE now to get all of the details and registration information. Spaces will go fast—we fill up each and every year.

To your success,

Molly

P.S. You do not have to attend the entire retreat to participate in Train The Trainers: Speaker School or the “How to Protect Your Stuff…” Specialty Program. Feel free to join us just for just these events, or stay for the entire week for the best experience and opportunity to grow your practice. Register now: retreat.lawyerswithpurpose.com