Sounds good, but does it WORK?

With all you have going on, why add more to your plate? Because adding the right thing at the right time can actually make your life less complex. I know it’s a paradox, but it’s true. The challenge is knowing when and what to change.

Hopefully, I can help. I’d like to make at least a part of your life easier.

Sounds good, but does it WORK?

I receive a lot of email with offers for all kinds of different programs. I’m sure you do too. It can be a bit overwhelming for sure – especially when you also have client work, family, and community projects that need your attention.

Yesterday morning there were 3 new urgent client matters to deal with and an urgent matter for one of the community organizations I’m serving – all popping out of the blue. You’ve been there; you know what it’s like to be a solo or small firm attorney.

With all you have going on, why add more to your plate? Because adding the right thing at the right time can actually make your life less complex. I know it’s a paradox, but it’s true. The challenge is knowing when and what to change.

Hopefully, I can help. I’d like to make at least a part of your life easier.

We’ve all faced the fear of not knowing where the money to pay the bills would come from next month, let alone 6 months from now. Most of us don’t even want to think about 6 months from now, and if we do, we know in our hearts that any planning we’re doing is really just a fantasy.

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That’s where being a member of The Space Between Center lawyer mastermind programs can help. One of the first things we do is help you free yourself from the trap of hourly billing and implement some flat fee models (customized to your practice, not mine) that will give you some benchmarks for REAL planning.

Does it work?

Here’s an email I received late last week from one of the founding members of The Space Between Center lawyer mastermind.  Remember this is after less than two months in the SBC program:

“I wanted to share with you that I landed one of the prospective membership clients considering my program (the other is just having me do a TM registration on a project basis for now) – his reaction was ‘I think that you have a great formula with the different tiers of service. Frankly, I wish we had met earlier so I could take more advantage of it…’- <- he is a very early stage start-up.

Once I showed the new membership client the math for the services they were looking for over the next year they signed up – at the $1500/month level!

Not only has this one client more than covered the cost of the Space Between Center program for me, but having knowledge of that recurring cash flow over the next year is already freeing me to focus on creatively growing my firm.”

Brian Fletcher, Esq.

The Fletcher Law Firm PLLC

Alexandria, Virginia USA

Founding Member, Space Between Center lawyer mastermind

Does it work?

Yes.

How good would it feel to know you had at least $1,500/month on the books through this time next year? How about $3,000, $5,000, $7,500?  How much better would your life be if you could look at contracted revenue of $10,000/month for the next few months?

That’s just one example and we’re too early in the program to have generally expected performance results to share, but it’s a great indicator of the results you COULD get if you become a member of our program and actually implement the approaches we’re discussing.

It’s about sharing.

It’s about experimenting.

It’s about moving through your fears and into the excitement & success that self-employment can offer.

It’s about being creative and taking control of your life and future rather than trying to fit your future into the model that some lawyer started using in England centuries ago. We’ve all been trapped by that guy. I’d like to throw some rocks at him. His billable hour model has caused unconscionable damage to lawyers and their clients over the centuries.

It’s time to get out of his trap.

  • Are you ready to take a few simple steps to get control of your life?
  • Are you ready to take a few simple steps to reach the potential you know you have inside?
  • Are you ready to share your knowledge and experience with like-minded business, estate planning, and collaborative family lawyers who would like to share with you?
  • Would you like some real support and guidance in building a legal services business and go beyond just “practicing?”

If you’re ready to get control of your life, then join us this Wednesday at 2pm for a free informational call about The Space Between Center’s lawyer mastermind programs.

We have openings in our small business mastermind group, and we’re introducing two new tracks:

Join us for the call.

The easy steps we’re talking about literally changed my life and took me from the depths of bankruptcy, fear, and anxiety to a place where I could plan, grow, succeed, and enjoy my profession. It can do the same for you.

Again, the call is this Wednesday, May 19th at 2pm Eastern.

You’ll be able to learn what we’re doing in the programs, meet the leaders of the different tracks, and ask some questions to make sure the program is a fit for you.

Sincerely,

KH-sig-formal

Kevin E. Houchin, Esq.

Founder, The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business.

P.S.  These programs are NOT for everyone.  If you’re satisfied in the billable hour model or if you have no intention of taking action to make the changes that will improve your life, then this program is not for you. If you’re ready engage with a mastermind group, share, implement, and receive, then you owe it to yourself to find out more.

Oh, and feel free to forward this post to other small practice attorneys that you would like to help succeed.

Space Between Center Update – Lowering Fees, Adding Value

The leadership team at The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business has been listening to our members, potential members, and friends. As a result, we’ve made some major changes.

Very quickly, those changes include:

  1. Lowering membership fees.
  2. Adding a program for family law attorneys.
  3. Adding a program for estate planning attorneys.
  4. Welcoming our first three “Fellows” to The Center.

We’re hosting a free informational call next Wednesday, May 19th at 2pm Eastern to explain the full details about what these changes mean for you, so please register to be on the call or receive the recording. You can find out a few more details and register for the call here.

Oh, and if you have never signed up for anything before you also will get a copy of my Fuel The Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law & Life Action Guide as a complementary gift for joining our community.

Go ahead, sign up for the call now.

What’s the dif?

I wasn’t planning to share this information until the informational call tomorrow officially launching The Space Between Center for Creative Spirit in Business, but my article @ Lawyerist.com and the recent Creative Business Lawyer call have resulted in a stack of emails asking me to share a bit more about how The Space Between Center’s lawyer mastermind group will be different from The Creative Business Lawyer program that I helped create, but recently left.

First, let me say that I have NOT been a part of the planning of the CBL program since I resigned a couple weeks ago – actually, two weeks ago today.  And, I was not on the call today. So, I don’t know all the current details of the program. A friend on twitter said this about the call when I asked how it went.

@kevinhouchin Not bad. Discussed changing the mindset from creating docs to becoming a trusted advisor. How would you distinguish your call?

So, what’s the diff?

First let me say that I still believe fully in changing the mindset from creating documents to becoming a “Trusted Advisor” (that’s one of my all-time-favorite business books…) and believe that any program that helps you do that will be worth whatever you’re paying (within reason).

Here are some elements that I believe distinguish the Space Between Center’s program from CBL. We’ll be discussing these in detail on tomorrow’s call.  Sign up, because even if you can’t make the live call at NOON EASTERN, you’ll be on the list to receive the replay link.

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Here we go:

  1. The context of The Space Between Center program is different.  The overarching mission of The Center is to help people reach their full potential through entrepreneurship. This lawyer mastermind program is only the first phase in that mission because I believe that entrepreneurs can be more successful when working collaboratively with their lawyers. The flat fee model that I created and implemented in my own practice is just the starting place.  An important starting place, but not enough.
  2. While working with the founding Creative Business Lawyer group, it became apparent almost immediately, that we can all learn from each other substantively. For instance, one of the member attorneys called me to ask if I could teach her how to file a trademark for a client. I’m no expert on employee agreements, so I was interested in learning from the members who had more experience in that area.  There are sub-niches in small business practice. Obviously, we’ll have a library to share forms, but we need to go beyond that.

    So, HERE’S a MAJOR difference: we are going to dedicate substantial resources and one hour a month to offer a substantive legal training session on topics such as Private Placements, NV Formations, Trademark, Copyright, Employee Agreements, LLC Operating Agreements, etc.  We’re going to invest and use our best efforts to get these sessions accredited for CLE credit in the home state of each member. We have the partnership in place to manage that process and it’ll just come down to the approval process in each state. We’re committed very firmly to making this a reality. If we’re investing in a program to learn and better ourselves as lawyers, we might as well satisfy our CLE requirements in the process!

    No, I’m not going to be the one teaching all these. I don’t have the knowledge, credentials, or time to do that.  The Center will offer opportunities for members to lead these sessions, and we’ll bring in outside experts when needed.  Founding members will have dibs on offering sessions, because these sessions are a great way to help members build their own “expert” brands.

  3. We’re going to dedicate one call a month to work/life balance.  Yes, some of this material will come from the CLE Ethics workshops I’ve done for the ABA and other Bar Associations, but a lot will come from outside experts. Success is more than money, way more. And, you have to feel successful as a human before you can ever have financial success. I learned that the hard way.
  4. Finally, at least for this post, we’ll dedicate one call every month to open mastermind discussions, tending toward the practical issues we all face at work and at home, leaning toward developing each member’s own unique expertise and branding. We don’t expect the power of this program to come from The Space Between Center brand (although we hope that will be a benefit). We expect the real power to come from enabling each of the member lawyers to reach their own full power and potential through this creative business we call “practicing law.”

Those are some major distinctions, at least as far as I know.  I’ll still have a few cool elements to share on the call tomorrow such as how the membership works and what the first few sessions will contain.  We’ll start the program with the kick-off call March 30th, so don’t miss tomorrow’s live call.  Again, if you can’t make tomorrow’s call at Noon Eastern, at least SIGN UP so you’re on the list to receive replay instructions.

Now, back to work.