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212: John Lee Dumas Founder and Host of EntrepreneurOnFire discusses podcasting and business

John Lee Dumas Head ShotJohn Lee Dumas is the Founder and Host of EntrepreneurOnFire, an award winning Podcast revealing the journey of today’s most inspiring Entrepreneurs 7-days a week. EntrepreneurOnFire generates over $250,000 a month in revenue & offers a free 15-day course on Podcasting at FreePodcastCourse.com. With over 1 million unique listens a month, EntrepreneurOnFire has inspired Fire Nation to take control of their life and take the Entrepreneurial leap. Are YOU prepared to ignite?

Listen to the podcast

Show Highligts

  • John discusses the ripple effect of his podcast EntrepreneurOnFire.  He tells us how he sees the impact on the world through podcasts that have come out of his work on EntrepreneurOnFire and Podcasters Paradise
  • Listen as John tells us about his inspiration for starting EntrepreneurOnFire starting with this quote from Ghandi, “Be that change you want to see in the world.”  John saw a need for a seven day a week business focused podcast and no one was filling the need.
  • Initially John didn’t see the opportunity for Podcaster’s Paradise.  As soon as he recognized the need, he started Podcaster’s Paradise and hasn’t looked back since.
  • John describes how he solicits feedback from his listeners and uses their pain points and struggles to guide EntrepreneurOnFire and Podcaster’s Paradise.
  • Hear John tell the story of releasing his income reports and how he learned that producing value for people gets monetary results.
  • John reminds us that FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Success) is key.

Best Advice:

  • If you want to be, do. You have to be doing something to have something to talk about.

Favorite Resource

  • ScheduleOnce – John says that having a scheduling tool is vital for making sure things happen

Favorite Books:

  • The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results People are using this simple, powerful concept to avoid overwhelming distractions in their personal and work lives so they can focus on what matters most. YOU WANT LESS. You want fewer distractions and less on your plate. AND YOU WANT MORE. You want more productivity from your work. More income for a better lifestyle. You want more satisfaction from life, and more time. NOW YOU CAN HAVE BOTH—LESS AND MORE.

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

211: Cheryl Dunn Soto of Dunn Soto Law, APC discusses becoming a Lawpreneur with us.

Cheryl Dunn SotoCheryl Dunn Soto of Dunn Soto Law, APC is a San Diego attorney who represents individuals and entities throughout California. Her law firm, Dunn Soto Law APC, exclusively represents insurance policyholders in coverage disputes with their insurers. Cheryl has particular expertise representing businesses that have been denied insurance coverage under directors & officers, errors & omissions and other liability policies. She is passionate about helping policyholders obtain the coverage for which they have paid. Cheryl earned her Juris Doctor, summa sum laude, from the University Of Arizona College Of Law in Tucson, Arizona in 1993. Prior to entering private practice, Cheryl worked for five federal judges, including a Ninth Circuit judge. She is licensed to practice in California, New York, and Arizona, although she currently limits her practice to California.

Listen to the podcast

Fail fast to succeed faster

  • Listen as Cheryl describes how she began building her practice while she was of counsel for another firm.  She tells us that the firm took on a large case that had her working there more and building her own firm less.  Cheryl says that if she had it to do over again, she would put more effort in to building the practice around the work she was doing for the other firm.

Tell us something good

  • Cheryl tells a great story about saving a man’s business by writing a very persuasive letter that got the insurance company to reverse its denial over coverage then paid about $100,000 in accrued legal fees before providing counsel in the class action lawsuit valued at about $150,000 and ultimately a $500,000 settlement in the case.
  • Cheryl relates another story of a client she helped with an insurance company where the coverage was canceled because the client filed a claim on a car that was sold to her without the dealer actually having title. After receiving a letter from Cheryl, the insurance company reversed its stance and reinstated the coverage and covered the claim the client had initially filed.

Favorite Resource

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

210: Kevin Jordan of Redpoint Marketing Consultants discusses lead generation tactics for attorneys with us.

Kevin Jordan Head ShotKevin Jordan is the owner of Redpoint Marketing Consultants and the host of the Small Business Marketing Minute show, a video and audio podcast that teaches simple, affordable, and practical marketing methods to small business owners. He’s also a member of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network, and has recently authored a book together with four other consultants in that network entitled Small Business Owner’s Guide To Local Lead Generation: Proven Strategies & Tips To Grow Your Business!. Prior to starting his consulting business, Kevin spent six years as an airline pilot for US Airways Express before leaving that career to become an entrepreneur. He’s a native of Indiana and graduate of Purdue University, and currently resides in Farmville, Virginia with his wife Jen.

Listen to the podcast

Fail fast to succeed faster

  • Early on Kevin tried to sell the same products as all the other marketers were selling.  He quickly learned that didn’t work.  When he joined Duct Tape Marketing he found his differentiator because they sold systems that produced results.

Tell us something good

Marketing tips from the show

  1. You must have a rock solid marketing strategy.  That starts with knowing exactly who your customer is.
  2. Take care of your total online presence.  That includes:
    1. Keep your website fresh
    2. Email marketing has to be consistent
    3. Keep creating new content, including FAQs and SAQs (Should Ask Questions).
  3. Repurpose your content.  A blogs can be come a video, podcast, and section of a book.  And, you can do that in any direction, you could turn a video in to a podcast or a book section in to a blog.
  4. Referral marketing (for example BNI, LeTip, ProVisors or other local networking group)
  5. Use direct mail, well done it really does work.
  6. Manage your reputation everywhere, especially online.

Books

Small Business Owner’s Guide To Local Lead Generation: Proven Strategies & Tips To Grow Your Business! With the right strategies and tactics, it’s easy to attract and engage more ideal customers right in your backyard – and as a locally owned business, these are the only leads you really care about, anyway. People prefer doing business with folks they know, like, and trust – and they love being able to support local businesses in their own communities. “If you build it, they will come” only works in the movies. You need a simple, surefire way to market your small business… and one that won’t break the bank or distract you from your primary role in your business.

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

209: Barry Goldberg of Barry P. Goldberg, A Professional Law Corporation discusses competing against bigger and better funded law firms with us.

Barry Goldberg Head ShotBarry Goldberg of Barry P. Goldberg, A Professional Law Corporation is in his 30th year of practice and his small firm is growing rapidly thanks to an intelligent content marketing strategy.

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Show Highlights

  • Barry tells us that when he went on his own, he assumed business would come to him because he was a great lawyer.
  • Listen as Barry explains how he did it all when he first went out on his own.  After a conversation with a colleague Barry figured out that he had created a job practicing law not a business that could be developed.
  • Barry says that he comes from a generation of attorneys that thought advertising was crazy and that having a website was crazier still.
  • Hear Barry discuss how his turning point on advertising came when he started listening to the ideas of people promoting content marketing.  Barry says that he came to focus on uninsured and under-insured motorists.
  • Barry explains that he started blogging on uninsured/under-insured motorists following the lead of Kristen Marquis Dennis from WebPresence, ESQ.
  • Early on Barry wrote all of the content himself, though he does acknowledge that he doesn’t write all of it today.
  • About three years ago Barry started getting phone calls from people wanting to meet him and have him handle their case that had found him through his website and his organic search results.
  • Barry tells a great story of how he became such a strong believer in AVVO!

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

202: Cami McLaren of McLaren Coaching discusses Coaching Attorneys with us.

Cami McClaren Head ShotCami McLaren of McLaren Coaching coaches attorneys to create new ways to operate in their practice. As an attorney who practiced law for 16 years, she is passionate about assisting other attorneys to create lives and careers that are productive, balanced and fulfilling. Her fundamental belief is that practicing law does not have to be “hard.” Cami has worked in top law firms, and one-on-one with attorneys to help them reach their goals in a balanced and productive way. She works with attorneys to improve communication skills, create more effective and positive relationships and to improve time management skills and productivity. Cami presents workshops on topics such as communication, trust, accountability and time management in law firms, bar associations, and legal conferences. She writes articles for a variety of legal publications and is the co-author of Coaching for Attorneys: Improving Productivity and Achieving Balance, published by the ABA in 2014.

Listen to the podcast

Show Highlights

  • Cami tells us that she is always raising the bar on herself.  A recent example was her creation of a training program with over 100 people in attendance which was far outside of what she had done before.  Cami believes in the principle of being committed to an outcome, but not attached to that outcome.
  • Listen as Cami relates a sotry about a potential client who had asked for coaching for over two years but kept putting Cami off.  After just a few months with Cami the client, an attorney, stepped out and went on her own.
  • Cami relates to us that her passion is that things not be “hard.”
  • Cami explains that she helps Lawyers and Law firms in creating a management structure that works.
  • Cami says that her vision is that the practice of law shifts as the new generation of attorneys approach the practice of law as a business to be run.

Favorite Resource

  • Cami offers her list of blogs and resources here. (Check out who’s at the top of that list.)

Favorite Books:

    • Coaching for Attorneys: Improving Productivity and Achieving BalanceCoaching for Attorneys is more than just a book. It is a mentor – addressing common problems and concerns that lawyers experience throughout their careers – and provides specific tools along with specific step-by-step instructions on how to use these tools to help you make life as a lawyer easier. Coaching for Attorneys teaches one how to feel good about what you are doing thus resulting in better work, better health, and better family life.
    • The E-Myth Attorney: Why Most Legal Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It Many attorneys in small and mid-size practices are experts on the law, but may not have considered their practice as much from a business perspective.  The E-Myth Attorney fills this void, giving you powerful advice on everything you need to run your practice as a successful business.
    • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (25th Anniversary Edition)This is one of the rare books that has influenced presidents, CEOs, educators, and individuals all over the world not only to improve their businesses and careers but to live with integrity, service, dignity, and success in all areas of life.
    • Thinking, Fast and Slow In the international bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation–each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.
    • Cami has a long list of books that she loves that can be found here.

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

208: Ron Alikani of Irvine Law Group, LLP and Secure Runner discusses building a practice and a technology business.

Processed with PICSPLAYRon Alikani of Irvine Law Group, LLP and Secure Runner discusses building a practice and a technology business. is a graduate of Western State University College of Law and has been practicing law since June of 2000. During law school received an AmJur award for legal writing and academic scholarship. Ron is a founding partner of Irvine Law Group, LLP. Ron’s practice is focused on transactions and complex legal matters in both state and federal courts. Ron has been part of the legal team in several other high profile and complex cases involving prevailing wage, insurance fraud and export violations with local and international media coverage. Ron has been the lead trial attorney in over 15 bench trials and arbitration proceedings and he has prevailed in 90% of those cases. Ron is a member of the Federal Bar Association, Los Angeles Bar Association and Orange County Bar Association.

Ron has a great interest in technology, creative thinking and problem solving. Ron strongly believes that “zealous advocacy” has been misunderstood by many. Ron believes that Lawyers should be zealous problem solvers with their client’s best interest in mind.

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Show Highlights

  • Ron discusses the value of choosing to name their practice Irvine Law Group.  Ron and his partner knew going in that their names weren’t memorable and so they choose Irvine Law Group.  It tested well and they have had great success with that branding.
  • Ron tells us about SecureRunner and the ease of use that comes with being able to encrypt and send files quickly and easily to anyone that needs to receive the documents.  Ron also explains that the system has a built in tracking system that identifies who opened the files and when they were opened.
  • Listen as Ron discusses the time and money savings that comes with reducing what could be a forty minute process to less than five minutes.
  • You can sign up here for Ron’s newsletter PracticeToolsWeekly.com.
  • Secure Runner is offering Lawpreneur Radio Listeners a $50.00 credit on their account good  when the free trial period ends.  You can get that credit one of two ways:
    • ​Either ​email promotions@securerunner.com with the subject line Lawpreneur.
    • Or, you can like the post of this episode on LinkedIn.
    • This offer expires on July 30, 2015.  You will receive a $50 certificate for using SecureRunner. SecureRunner will also give you an additional $50 certificate for their upcoming products and services.
    • This offer ends July 30, 2015.

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

207: Michael Chasin of Lexicata discusses starting Lexicata with us.

Michael Chasin HeadshotMichael Chasin of Lexicata completed his JD/MBA at Loyola Marymount University but had started his first legal tech company, LawKick, during his 2nd year of law school.  LawKick continues to operate today. From there, he learned there was a major gap in the industry and that’s where he and his team came up with Lexicata, a CRM and client intake software built exclusively for law firms.

Listen to the podcast

Fail fast to succeed faster

  • Listen as Michael tells us about starting Lawkick.  They didn’t know about cost of client acquisition and other business fundamentals.  However, as Michael tells us, Lexicata would never have come about without Lawkick.

Tell us something good

  • Michael explains that Lexicata has been such a success because it solves a real problem that Michael saw his Lawkick customers challenged by.

How do you support a Lawpreneur?

  • Lexicata is a CRM (Customer Relationship Managment) and client intake software.
  • Michael reminds us that you have to understand your competition, e.g. LegalZoom, RocketMatter and the guys down the street, who are highly focused on the customer.
  • Lexicata helps the lawyer become more cometitive compared to his peers because software tools like that make the clients life easier and more convenient.

Favorite Resource

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

206: Nicholas Myers of Myers Berstein, LLP discusses how to be a resource, not just a lawyer, for your clients with us.

Professional Portraits - Nicholas 006Nicholas Myers of Myers Berstein, LLP  focuses his practice on intellectual property and business matters. He first hung his own shingle in 2011 as a sole practitioner and has since taken on a partner in David Berstein and together they have grown the practice to a five attorney firm.

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Fail fast to succeed faster

  • Nick tells us that before he started the practice with David Berstein he knew how to practice law and had never run a business.  He had to figure out how to wear all of the hats of a business owner, like being your own IT guy or secretary.
  • Nick says that he learned many ways to do things effectively and how to avoid being ineffective.

Tell us something good

  • Nick describes his watershed moment, that moment when he knew that he had made it, as the day that he fired his largest client because they weren’t a personality fit for the business.
  • Nick relates another great moment when he got a referral from two different people in two totally distinct networks.

What’s on your desk?

  • Copyright
  • Trade Secrets
  • Trademarks
  • Patents

Favorite Resource

  • Clio makes practice management easy with a suite of web-based tools targeted at small- to mid-sized law firms.
  • WebPresenceEsq for SEO
  • Regal Court Reporting for deposition services
  • Nick says that the various local Bar Associations are great for networking and building relationships

Favorite Books:

  • Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box Through a story everyone can relate to about a man facing challenges on the job and in his family, the authors expose the fascinating ways that we can blind ourselves to our true motivations and unwittingly sabotage the effectiveness of our own efforts to achieve success and increase happiness. Read this extraordinary book and discover what millions already have learned—how to consistently tap into an innate ability that dramatically improves both your results and your relationships.

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

205: Laura L. Bromlow of Bromlow Law discusses Elder Law and Special Needs Planning with us.

Laura Bromlow Head ShotLaura Bromlow of Bromlow Law is an Elder Law and Special Needs Planning attorney in Long Beach, California.  She is passionate about helping people who are stressed out because of the issues their aging loved ones or their loved ones with special needs are facing.  She is a wife and a mother of two and understands family is a priority.

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Fail fast to succeed faster

  • Laura reminds us that every failure leads to a success.
  • Hear Laura talk about the Open House that she recently hosted for her firm.  Only 10 people showed up and 8 of them were her in her support network.  She tells us that she learned the value of scheduling and the value of marketing.

Tell us something good

  • Laura relates that she gets a personal reward with each family that she helps to relieve a little of the strain and stress of an aging parent.
  • Laura tells us that one of her biggest professional successes came just recently when she launched her new website and created an online professional presence.

What’s on your desk?

  • Special Needs trusts to help protect public benefits when an individual is receiving an inheritance or a personal injury case settlement or award.
  • She also works with beneficiaries of such trusts and the trustees to make sure that the beneficiaries needs are being met.

Favorite Resource

Favorite Books:

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio

204: Jesse Randolph of Randolph Legal Group discusses Wearing Many Different Hats as a Solo Practitioner with us.

Jesse Randolph PhotoJesse Randolph of Randolph Legal Group is a former big-firm lawyer who, after 12 years in practice, recently decided to pursue a career as a solo practitioner. While the focus of Jesse’s practice is employment law, as a solo practitioner he inevitably works in a variety of different fields. In addition to practicing law, Jesse teaches law (Civil Procedure and Deposition Skills) as an Adjunct Law Professor at Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, CA. He actively serves in his church (Compass Bible Church, Huntington Beach) as a small group leader and Sunday School teacher, is married, and has four children (ages 8 and under).

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Show Highlights

  • Jesse tells us that it is important to choose a focus area for your practice.
  • Hear Jesse discuss how he leveraged his experience of having represented both sides in employment law cases.
  • Jesse reminds us that it is very important to focus on your community and that value will come from that service.
  • Jesse describes learning that billing doesn’t necessarily equal payment and that he has to budget his time for billable hours as well as practice development.

Favorite Resource

Favorite Books:

  • Holy Bible: New Living Translation This text Bible offers readers the clear and accurate New Living Translation along with features such as a topical verse finder and full-color maps. The eBook edition contains robust navigational links that help the reader quickly locate a verse or move around in a particular book of the Bible.

Thanks for Listening

This information is coming to you to inspire you and drive you forward. Be bigger than you know yourself to be! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to leave a quick 5-star review rating and honest review on iTunes by clicking here.
Miranda McCroskey – host of Lawpreneur Radio