Like almost everyone who is tired of trading moments of their life for other people’s money, these professionals are creating products that can help people 24/7. In the hypnotherapy industry, this shows up as self-hypnosis audio, video, and written content. Hypnotists become specialists in a niche – “Experts” who are positioned as THE go-to person in their chosen area of passion.

Maybe you’re just like that.  Maybe YOU are trying to figure out how to align your passion—who you are as a person—with what you do to make a living.

Last year I presented on the topic of copyright to a standing-room-only audience at the conference. I also presented a talk on The Power of Acceptance in the context of discovering one’s authentic niche.  Both presentations received outstanding reviews, so the organizers asked me back this year for expanded offerings.  I’m happy to be attending again.

This conference is different.

This conference is dedicated to helping people get the full use of everyone’s primary asset – our mind.

This conference is full of fascinating programming.  There are usually 7 or 8 concurrent sessions happening for 3 days.  The program has something for everyone, so even if you’re not a hypnotist, you might strongly consider attending anyway.  Relative to most 3-day conferences, the registration is VERY inexpensive, only $395.00 for the full three days.  You can take a look at the program here. It’s EXTENSIVE.

This year I’ll be giving a 1-hour version of my No Lame Names: Trademark & Branding presentation on Friday, August 12th and a 2-hour version of my Alchemy of Creative Business: Copyright/Copywrong presentation on Saturday, August 13th.

The Bigger Opportunity

The bigger opportunity this year is a 2-day Workshop on August 15th & 16th tilted “How to Create a Highly Profitable Practice in Your Authentic Niche: Identifying & Creating Information Products and Services that Sell Themselves.”

Download the Session Flyer

This workshop is for ANYONE who wants to align who they are with what they do. The tuition is only $375 for the workshop ($50 less if you’re a full conference attendee).  During the two days I’ll be leading people through the processes of identifying one’s “Authentic Niche” and then outlining the process and developing a strategy for sharing one’s passion through business in order to become what I call an “Authentic Expert.”  We’ll be discussing business formation, business relationships, intellectual property (copyright & trademark), marketing, social media, branding, blogging, public relations, and speaking.

If you want to understand more about this workshop and get a few hints that you can implement right away, listen to this teleconference recording.

Download Free Teleconference Recording

I hope to see you at the conference.  Tell your friends. This workshop is open to anyone.

Click Here to register for the 2-Day Authentic Niche Workshop on August 15th & 16th.  It’ll be well worth the investment.

Finally, don’t worry – nobody will make you cluck like a chicken (unless you volunteer of course…).

FREE Call Details:

June 29th – 9PM EASTERN

1-321-354-6946

Conference room ID is: 191630#

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Conflict is an unavoidable part of our lives. The question is: How do we handle that conflict? Do we handle it with grace or outrage? Do we look for opportunities in conflict or do we let ourselves stew in anger?

We know our lives are more fulfilling when we are able to prevent most conflicts, while handling the unavoidable conflicts in a healthy, dignified, and proactive way. At The Space Between Center, we believe there is opportunity in every challenge, and healing is available inside every conflict. This is why The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business is proud to offer Conflict Management services for individuals, businesses, and public organizations.

What is Conflict Management?

Conflict Management is a distinctive combination of prevention, resolution, and education services offered to you exclusively by The SBC. Read on to understand how The SBC uniquely weaves together conflict education, prevention, and resolution to provide creative ways to handle conflict in your life and business.

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Conflict Education:

Often, conflict can be resolved without the need for third-party help if it’s addressed early. Our education services help you learn how to identify a potential conflict, analyze the issues involved, and work toward an appropriate solution before the conflict has escalated. Think of our third-party mediation services as insurance for the big stuff, while using what you learn in our education services to deal effectively with the little things that come up day-to-day all on your own.

1. Negotiation Coaching

When you don’t need a full mediation process, you will still benefit from some negotiation coaching to help form strategies to make the best deal for achieving your long-term interests. Negotiation coaching focuses on a particular relationship or situation.

2. Negotiation Training

Negotiation training helps you or your group learn the critical interest-based negotiation skills needed in every relationship. Training services are focused on the process of interest-based negotiation generally and are not intent upon resolving any single issue or situation as in our coaching engagements.

3. Negotiation Skills Presentations

The professional conflict managers from The Space Between Center are available to give negotiation and deal-making presentations to your group, team, or organization.

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Conflict Prevention

Identifying a conflict after it’s happened is easy. Feelings of anger, hurt, and discontentment come to pervade a relationship–whether in our personal lives or in our business lives–making communication difficult or at worst, impossible. Mediation, arbitration, or litigation, are great tools for settling a conflict after it’s happened.

At The SBC, we believe that conflict management can begin at the start of a relationship. Investing extra time laying the groundwork minimizes potential for future conflict. Granted, this approach isn’t practical for all relationships, but in relationships where stress and conflict could potentially cost a great deal, it makes sense to invest energy forming the relationship correctly right from the start.

Relationship Formation Mediation

Similar to conventional conflict resolution mediation–only without the conflict–our process helps people identify and resolve the key issues in a relationship with the goal of minimizing the potential for future conflict.

When to Use Conflict Prevention Services:

• Important business deals
• Multiple owners/investors forming a business
• Key employee hiring
• Significant customer contracts
• Significant supplier contracts
• Pre-nuptial agreements
• Public policy making

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Conflict Resolution:

Even with extensive planning and foresight, conflict does happen–and it happens everyday. The SBC has a thorough process for humanely and fairly helping you resolve conflicts outside of the legal system–saving you significant time, stress, and money. We offer three approaches.

1. Mediation

We work to help the parties in conflict find their own creative resolution to the conflict. We do not make decisions or sell a specific agenda, but instead provide a safe space and process within which the people searching for resolution can find a solution. We don’t do this the same way as most mediators, so be sure to read the “what makes us different” section of this page.

2. Conflict Assessment

If you’re unsure of whether mediation or coaching will work in your situation, we can conduct an assessment to help identify issues and risks associated with attempting to mediate the conflict.

3. Conflict Coaching

If you would like us to coach you through dealing with a conflict yourself, we’re happy to help counsel you through this stressful situation. This is NOT a legal service. If you need legal counsel in a conflict situation, we can refer you to lawyers we trust.

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What Makes SBC Conflict Management Different?

Core Beliefs

1. More than money is at stake in any conflict.
2. The mediation process should be used as an opportunity to heal relationships and look for new opportunities for collaboration whenever possible.
3. Opportunity is hidden in almost every conflict.
4. Understanding the individual personality types at the negotiation/mediation table is essential for finding resolution.
5. Given a fair and safe process, most conflicts can be resolved between the parties rather than decided by a third party.
6. The mediator is NOT the decision-maker. The mediator facilitates resolution between the parties by helping the parties discover and agree upon a solution themselves.
7. People have done and will do the best they can in any given situation.
8. Creative solutions are encouraged and honored.
9. Measures of “quality” are inherently subjective, at least in the creative industries.

Niche Experience

• Creative Services Industry
• Technology Entrepreneurs
• Information Entrepreneurs
• Internet Marketing
• Business Start-up
• Business Divorce

Distinctive Mediation Process

Many of the processes of conflict management are universal, especially in mediation situations. However, at The Space Between Center, we do a few things a bit differently. We think our approach brings added value to the process and increases the chances that you will find a successful resolution to conflict or make a better deal to avoid future conflict.

Focus on Preparation

We invest more energy in preparation than many mediation professionals because we think it is better to go into a mediation session with great information and conscious strategy rather than walking in cold and hoping the process will magically yield a wonderful solution. Because conflicts are the result of personal interaction, we invest time understanding the people and building strategy in two primary ways.

1. Personality Assessment

We ONLY work with conflict when everyone at the table is willing to complete an Enneagram Personality Assessment and share this report with the mediator/coach. This process is built into our engagement fee and allows everyone to understand the personal approaches to conflict, stress, success, and communication much more quickly and accurately than trying to build that picture during the course of the mediation. We encourage (but do not require) both parties to share the top-level results with each other in an effort to facilitate understanding and effective communication. Finally, we believe that the assessment report is a valuable tool for personal understanding and development outside of the mediation context, which insures at least one ongoing beneficial outcome from any conflict.

2. Negotiation Toolkit

We invest significant effort coaching each party to achieve the best result from mediation. This includes:

a. Issue Identification

It’s part of our job to make sure all the issues in the conflict are identified. We may not need to address them all in mediation, but we want to make sure that each party is making conscious choices about what is on the table and what is not.

b. BATNA Definition

Perhaps the most important element of successful conflict resolution or negotiation–especially in the mediation setting–is having a clear statement of your Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement (“BATNA”) or, what happens if we walk away. We’ll make sure you know your BATNA before you come to the table so that you can recognize and accept a better alternative when you see it.

c. Technology Training

Because we use online video conferencing technology during mediation, we make sure that each party has practiced using the technology and is comfortable before the group session(s). We want the technology to assist in resolution, not add anxiety or frustration. We’ll schedule the group meeting only after each party is comfortable and competent using the online systems.

Mediation Technology

In-person mediations are the norm in most firms and we are happy to facilitate in-person, meeting either in our Fort Collins, Colorado offices, or at your location. But, for those of you who do not want to invest the travel time and expense for your team or the mediator, we offer secure, confidential mediation services via the Internet using state-of-the-art video- and audio-conferencing technology. While there are some undeniable advantages to in-person meetings, our investment in pre-mediation preparation combined with the right technology-savvy parties allows for effective online mediation–saving you time, money and stress. The technical requirements are only your telephone, web cam on your computer, and a decent Internet connection.

Agreement Drafting

Many wonderful mediators are not lawyers, and many mediators who were or are lawyers focused their careers in areas other than agreement drafting. The Conflict Management professionals working through The Space Between Center are attorneys who have drafted literally hundreds (probably thousands) of agreements between individuals and businesses. They know how to get the essentials drafted into the resolution document without wasting time and energy on things that just add confusion.

People

The Space Between Center’s Conflict Management Team is lead by Kevin E. Houchin, Esq. Kevin is the Founder of The Space Between Center, an attorney, and a negotiator with deep experience in the creative business niche. Kevin has been negotiating deals and resolving conflicts for over 20 years.

Other conflict management professionals may be engaged on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature of the conflict prevention or resolution situation.

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Contact Us.

To discuss hiring The Space Between Center to help with your Conflict Management strategy or situation, please call 1-970-493-1070 or email kevin@spacebetweencenter.com.

There have been some major accomplishments including:

1. Completing the manuscript for my next book: The Secrets of Creative Leadership.

I’ve been working on this book for several years. I was frustrated because my understanding and thoughts kept evolving far faster than I could write and re-write. Finally, I had the break-through thought of shifting it from a focus on entrepreneurial business to a more inclusive approach to leadership (which is really what the book has been about the whole time). Then I took a day off during spring break and focused to get the whole manuscript ready to share.

I had not realized that some of my general frustration and discontent with something I couldn’t identify had to do with wanting to get that project finished to make room for the other things I wanted to do. I’m usually pretty good at finishing projects (even though I have a lot of projects going at once), so it shouldn’t have surprised me so much to be so relieved when I finished the manuscript. A project that stood in “open” mode for over 3 years is stressful. While it’s still not “finished” (which it will be when it’s published and on the shelves), we’re on the down-hill side of the project now.  I know it WILL be shared with the people who are interested, it’s not just sitting in my drawer waiting to be completed anymore.

That feels good.  It was a major goal, but I didn’t have a plan for when it would be finished this year. Each of the 3 years prior had me planning to finish the book, then failing to implement my own plans. This is one instance where it appears surrendering my plan actually helped accomplish my goal.

Let me know if you’re interested in reading the manuscript and perhaps providing a quote or publishing a full review.

2. Mediation Training

I’ve been wanting to move into mediation for a long time because I’m good at helping people reach agreements in order to avoid conflict in the first place, and to resolve conflict after it’s come up. I find myself coaching people in negotiation strategies almost daily. I also do a lot of multi-owner business start-ups where I find myself being “the lawyer for the deal” which is really a perfect example of using mediation techniques to minimize the potential for serious conflict before it has a chance to ignite.

I’m working right now to craft service offerings using these mediation skills in a few different categories:

• Negotiation Skills Presentations
• Negotiation Skills Training
• Coaching (separate from representation) individuals/organizations in Conflict
• Conflict Assessment: Analysis of Situations with Suggestions for Resolution Approach
• Pre-Conflict Mediation: Facilitating Deal Negotiations at the Beginning of the Relationship with the Intent of Minimizing Potential Conflicts in the Future.
• and, yes, actually Mediating Conflict.

I’ll be offering these services through The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business rather than through my law firm, although the Coaching and Assessment services might sometimes fit into or require engagement through the law firm.

Of course I now have a list of blog posts about negotiation and mediation that I’ll be working through (probably over at lawyerist.com).

I’m also thinking of putting an unusual emphasis on the preparation and planning elements of conflict resolution and prevention, maybe going so far as to require everyone at the table to complete an enneagram personality assessment and share the results with me so that I can coach them more effectively relative to how they personally approach conflict, as well as how to use their strengths and weaknesses in the conflict at hand, and in future negotiations.

I like the idea of finding as many opportunities for growth in conflict as possible.  If you’re interest in this kind of approach to your next negotiation, please shoot me an email.

I did not have a plan for when this would happen either. In fact, I had hoped to take the certification course in January, but it was full.  So, my plan would have been ruined anyway – and if I would have had a full plan, I would have been attached to the outcome and gotten ticked off when the plan didn’t come together in exactly the way I wanted it to. So, in this case, not having a plan made my life easier because I didn’t get angry when I got the news the January workshop didn’t have a seat open for me.

3. New Space Between Center Program.

We’re looking at launching some new mastermind programs for entrepreneurs and lawyers starting in June and continuing through the end of 2011.  We’re still shaping the content, but of course it will include coaching on flat-fee/membership client engagement models for service businesses including law firms. I MIGHT come up with some programs specifically around interest-based negotiation approaches as a separate series of calls/webinars.

If you would like to be kept informed about what we’re doing at SBC, please visit the Center’s Website and join the mailing list.

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So, in summary, the first few months of life after surrendering my former preoccupation with planning seem to have resulted in several major accomplishments that historically did not happen when I WAS planning. There may be a spiritual paradox unfolding around me—that planning might sometimes actually get in the way of accomplishing one’s goals.

Before you get all up in my face about about that last statement, know that I’m not saying one should never plan. I’m just saying that my experiment with focusing on the “what” instead of the “how” seems to be resulting in some nice progress. I still plan, but I’m trying to keep the plans flexible, and most importantly I try not to get attached to the outcome. That attachment to outcome seems (for me) to happen almost at the instant of planning. It may be different for you.

I’d love to have some more conversations about this in the comments section if you’re willing to share.

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Thanks for reading this far.

Take a look a the other great Ignite Fort Collins talks while you’re on the site.

I’ll be doing two full 4-hour versions of my Fuel The Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law & Life CLE Ethics Programs in the next few weeks.

A couple things previous attendees have said:

“A Massage for Your Career.”

- ABA Annual Meeting Program Participant.

“The Best CLE Program I’ve Attended in 27 Years.”

- Program Attendee, Reno NV

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If you’re in Northern Colorado, attend:

Friday, December 17^th, 2010

8:30am-1:00pm

General Credits: 4.0

Ethics Credits: 3.5

Jury Assembly Room, Larimer County Court House

$60 in Advance. $75 at the Door.  All proceeds go to the Larimer County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

(Compare to $199 CoBar Home Study CLE Program)

REGISTRATION:

Young Lawyers Division, Larimer County Bar Association

c/o Josh Dart, Esq.

19 Old Town Square, Ste. 238

Fort Collins, CO 80524

For more info:

email: josh@dartlegal.com

phone: (970) 407-0090

NOTE: The Jury Assembly Room only has space for 50 people, so you’ll want to reserve your seat early. Tickets will go fast.

If you can’t attend in person, you can join online via a Webinar hosted by my friend Kendra Brodin and her Women Lawyers Online group.

Dates: December 8th & 9th @ 3:00-4:30PM EASTERN

Location: Online

Fee: TBD

Credits: (3-4 General & Ethics – will have final details soon)

Registration Information: kendra@kendrabrodin.com

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All Participants will receive:

1. 1. A copy of Kevin Houchin’s most popular book: Fuel the Spark, 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law and Life.
2. 2. 40-Page Fuel the Spark Action Guide to help you integrate the content into your practice and life.

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Program Description:

Sometimes we all need to look at things from a different perspective. This applies to both our personal and professional lives and how they blend into a successful and fulfilling legal career. Join Kevin Houchin for this nationally recognized Ethics program devoted to finding a more balanced perspective on the rules of professional responsibility and how we can put the rules into an easy system for finding more success in our practice and our lives. This intensive interactive workshop could be the best 3 hours you’ll invest in yourself this year.

Topics

The most profound choice any of us make is either to accept things the way they exist, or to accept our personal responsibility to change them.

PR Rules:

1.2: Scope of Representation

1.7 & 1.8: Conflict of Interest

1.13 Organization as Client

1.18 Duties to Prospective Client

Many successful people have found the simplest rule to success in anything is to “show up.” However, deciding where to show up and how to manage yourself when you get there can be a challenge.

PR Rules:

1.4: Communication

7.1: Communication Concerning a Lawyer’s Services

7.2: Advertising

7.3: Direct Contact with Prospective Clients

7.4: Communication of Fields of Practice

One of the hardest things to do in legal practice and in life is to truly pay attention. We get pulled in so many directions, so how can be do a better job of staying in the moment and how does that help our clients and colleagues?

PR Rules:

2.1: Advisor

5.x: Series

It’s easy to get bored and it happens to us all, so how can we avoid boredom and stay sharp? The answer is to keep multiple irons in the fire at once, paying attention to each in turn.

PR Rules:

1.1: Competence

1.3: Diligence

True fulfillment in legal practice and in life comes when you take the time to give back. Stewardship is the combination of giving ones time, talent, or treasure. This portion of the program helps define how you’ll make your greatest contribution.

PR Rules:

6.1: Voluntary Pro Bono Publico Service

6.2: Accepting Appointments

Faculty

Kevin E. Houchin is a different kind of lawyer. First, he has a fine art degree in graphic design and a dozen years of brand development and small business consulting before going back to law school. He uses both his marketing and legal skills every day in his efforts to help creative people reach their potential.

Kevin counsels creative people about how to maximize their creativity, build their businesses, and protect their intellectual property. Discussions tend to turn toward relationships and creative collaboration often, so sometimes Kevin plays the role of business and life coach in addition to attorney and marketing consultant. He truly enjoys the role of trusted advisor to his clients.

Kevin is the author of the book Fuel the Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law School and Beyond (March 2009). He is also the author of the forthcoming book The Secrets of Creative Business. He contributed a chapter on the legal issues of social media in the best-selling book Twitter Power, and is featured in KaChing, both by Joel Comm, published by Wiley Brothers Publishing.

Kevin is expert at helping people reach their creative potential, whether as an entrepreneur or as an attorney. He is the Founder of The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business – an organization to helping entrepreneurs including attorneys align who they are with what they do. In addition to working with clients, Kevin writes a regular column for the leading business journal in Northern Colorado, blogs regularly at his several sites, and enjoys one of the top legal followings on Twitter.com. He speaks regularly for creative entrepreneurial business, continuing legal education, and law school audiences throughout the United States.

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Those Annual events intended to bring joy, hope and love. Sometimes they bring anxiety, stress, depression and exhaustion.

• Thanksgiving
• Hanukkah
• Christmas
• New Year’s Eve

And all the family, business and social gatherings to celebrate the season.

Oh, and the shopping.

And the kids’ programs. Those incredibly long kids programs filled with other peoples’ kids who really aren’t THAT cute.

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer, doctor, or pro coffee barista–we can all use a few pointers on dealing with the Seasons’ Feelings.

ACCEPT OUR HOLIDAY GIFT TO YOU – no strings.

Join professional coach and attorney Kendra Brodin as she joins Space Between Center founder and entrepreneurial lawyer Kevin Houchin on Tuesday, November 9^th at 12:00 Noon EASTERN for a free “Seasons’ Feelings” conference call.

This call is really a free gift from us to you in this hectic season. We take work-life balance seriously for ourselves, our members and our community. We want you to join the discussion of how to deal with holiday stress.

Kendra and Kevin will help you understand and implement with:

1. The cultural underpinnings of seasonal stress.
2. The primary stressors themselves and how to recognize effects of stress in your life.
3. Coping strategies for making the most of the opportunities for joy and happiness at the heart of seasonal events.

They will be sure to save some time at the end of the call for YOUR questions.

Get the holiday season off to a positive start and give yourself the gift of tools for staying in the positive holiday season. Make the most of these opportunities to share who you really are with the people in your life.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

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Some More Information on the Hosts

KENDRA BRODIN

www.kendrabrodin.com

www.womenlawyersonline.com

Kendra Brodin, MSW, JD, is Founder and CEO of Kendra Brodin Companies, LLC and WomenLawyersOnline.com, the premier online resource for women lawyers. Kendra’s work focuses on consulting, training, and the creation of products and services with the ultimate goal of reducing gender bias in the legal profession by increasing the attraction, retention, and advancement of women lawyers. With a powerful background as a social worker, lawyer, and consultant, Kendra supports women attorneys and their law firms.

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KEVIN HOUCHIN

www.houchinlaw.com

www.spacebetweencenter.org

Kevin E. Houchin is the founder of The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business. He advises creative people on how to maximize creativity, build businesses, and protect intellectual property. Kevin has a BFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University, 20 years of conventional and online marketing experience, and a JD from The University of Iowa College of Law where his studies focused on small business and intellectual property law. Kevin writes about how to get the most out of law practice in his book Fuel the Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law & Life. He is also the author of the forthcoming The Secrets of Creative Business.

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First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Introducing the new Space Between Center “Inside-Out” Development Program. If you’re looking to get your act together and finish strong in 2010 with the momentum to have an outstanding 2011 – this is for YOU.

Visit the INVITATION PAGE for the program details.

1. Space Between Center Lawyer Mastermind

We’ve had a huge response to the F-Word Manifesto talk at the ABA Annual Meeting. So, we’ve scheduled an informational call for attorneys interested in learning more about flat-fee billing models for their law firms and potentially joining our lawyer mastermind group. That call is Thursday, September 23rd at NOON EASTERN. The call details are:

(205) 747-2164
PIN: 324614
PW: 0923

2. INSIDE-OUT Development Program

We’re introducing a new Personal/Professional/Business Development program for ANYONE wanting to escape the billable hour trap and align who they are with what they do. You can find out more about that program and join us by clicking INSIDE-OUT INVITATION.

I’ll be letting people know about this as part of my F-Word Manifesto talk tonight at Ignite Fort Collins. You can watch the presentation via live streaming here tonight starting at 7pm MOUNTAIN: http://bit.ly/ifclivestream

Exiting times.

Of course I jumped at the opportunity. Then I jumped on a plane. I’d been hoping for an opportunity to get to San Francisco on business ever since Missing the Flight.  This was it.

I was picked up at the Airport by Mary Kay (my biological mother) with whom I would be spending the first time together ever in my almost 42 years of life. We got to spend some great time.

The next morning I was able to hook up with one of the Members of The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business lawyer mastermind group, Kristen Kuse and have our first in-person chat. Then off to the venue.

The presentations were given in a segmented area of the Exhibit Floor of the Annual Meeting. Mine is titled: “The F-Word Manifesto” and deals with 4 F-Words: Fear, Fail, Flat & Free.  Here’s the presentation.

You can pop over to the F-Word Manifesto Web site and sign up to receive the freebies.  Also take advantage of scheduling a 20-minute “Ask Anything” conversation with me.  I’m convinced that my flat fee model will work in any service business if you do a little homework, get past your fear, and have a little faith.  I’d love to help you figure out how to implement this system in your business too.

You can find the other ABA Ignite presentations here.

I’ll be doing a similar presentation of The F-Word Manifesto talk at Ignite Fort Collins #6 on September 22st.  You can get your Free tickets here.  The presentation I’ll do that night will be tailored for service businesses in general rather than just for lawyers.  I hope to see you there or talk to you soon on a 20-minute Ask Anything call.

Replies & Comments Welcome.

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