Yes, I’m Still Helping Creative Business Clients

It’s been a busy couple of years.  I’m still working with ACT, Inc. (You probably know ACT as the college testing company). I’m in the National Programs group and help create and manage large-scale collaborations. 

Every week I am asked if I’m still taking on legal work. Most of the time, I have to say “not that type” and refer the work out to other attorneys. But I do say “yes” to some projects.  Those projects tend to be trademark, copyright, and creative businesses that are doing something that interests me.  The trademark and copyright projects are usually handled project-by-project. But the creative business relationships (formation, consulting, contracts, etc.) are being limited to the clients who want to work on my year-long flat monthly fee basis.  

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or need to see if I’m available to help.

-Kevin E. Houchin, Esq.

kevin.houchin at houchinlaw.com

I love creative clients.

I’ve been doing a lot of writing for other blogs lately, so my posting here has dropped off a bunch, and I want to do something to change that. What is that something? Get up early and write more.

I had a meeting with a new client yesterday. This man retired after 20 years in a corporate job for a major international company. Then he got really creative. For the last few years he’s been working on hobby-type projects—just stuff that interested him—and prototyping different products. One of the products is ready for market, well designed, a fun name, very interesting. (I’ll share more about this in separate post soon). One of the products is a learning system that he’s currently applied to teaching the use of foreign language verbs, and while I don’t do patent work, I think this system may be patentable. The third product is a journaling system that has a wonderfully modular set of components that he could produce and market and also license to others.

I LOVE this kind of person. The way their brains work. The joy they bring to creating products is contagious.

I couldn’t help myself, I started tossing out all kinds of ways to increase sales, leverage content, and share this client’s creativity with the world. What was scheduled for a 1 hour meeting lasted for 2.5 (until his parking time was up and I had another appointment – otherwise we might still be there…).  I love how that happens when there is no hourly-billing happening.

So, the level of our business relationship is moving into more of a coaching/consulting relationship instead of being limited to me just drafting contracts and protecting the IP. I’ll now be helping him craft his larger strategy and prioritize which elements should be developed first. Hopefully, this will allow him to spend more of his time doing the things he loves – creating new products and building prototypes.

That’s good. It’s valuable for both of us.

I’m happy to accept more clients like this.  If that’s you, come on down.  🙂

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.

SpaceBetween_logo_FA

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.

10 Basics of Services Marketing

I just met with a smart young attorney who is fresh out of law school and hanging his shingle. Like any service-based business, he was very concerned about how he’s going to attract the clients with whom he would love to work. Like I said, he’s smart.

Attracting clients is not just an issue for lawyers, it’s an issue for everyone – especially if you’re a service provider.

He’s doing his homework and asked me to share some ideas about how he should approach his target niche.

While this type of information is at the heart of the discussions we’re having as part of The Space Between Center lawyer mastermind groups (business law, estate planning, & collaborative/family law programs), I thought I’d share what I told this young man over coffee this morning.

Here’s what I suggested:

1.  Consolidate his knowledge of the target niche area of law into a short (say 20 pages) ebook that outlines the core issues his target clients should be thinking about.

2. Distill that ebook into a PPT presentation.

3.  Offer to give that presentation to as many groups in his target market as possible.  Free.  In person and via Webinar when he can.

4.  Constantly blog with short value-providing articles for his potential clients and use social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin, youtube) to build friendships and increase the number of people he’s helping with his blog.

5.  Break out sections of the ebook into blog posts and submit those post to other blogs/sites read by potential clients.

6.  Offer the full ebook as a free gift in exchange for people getting on his mailing list.

7.  Use the ebook and blog to qualify potential clients.

8.  Build a flat-fee engagement model to build relationships.

9.  Have a merchant accounts to take credit card payments.

10.  Tell clients that your initial consultation fee is rolled into the engagement if the potential client wants to engage, otherwise, it’s a fee of $XXX due at the end of the meeting.  He can always waive that if he wants, but it sets the expectation of value in the initial meeting and lets the tire-kickers move on to someone else for free advice.

These 10 elements work in every services business, not just for lawyers.

For the lawyers reading this:

If you’d like to learn more about how to attract more perfect clients to your practice using these approaches, you owe it to yourself, your clients, and your family to be on our informational call next Wednesday, May 19th at 2pm Eastern.  You can sign up for that call here. We’ll be sharing some tips and tricks and also giving you the details about how you can be part of The Space Between Center lawyer mastermind group.

Where did February Go?

It’s almost the end of February, 2010.  The last 8+ weeks have been a blur of activity, but some cool things have happened:

1.  H&A has welcomed a new client every week so far in 2010 on average, with another handful pulling a few final details together before pulling the trigger to start their new companies. Almost all of these new clients are start-up businesses with some incredibly creative plans.  Some are existing businesses that are launching new products and services and need our help structuring joint ventures or helping with intellectual property strategies.  We LOVE working with these kinds of folks and they fit right in with our existing base of creative business clients. On that front, our existing clients haven’t stopped their creative output – while we love new clients, it’s just as fun to see the growth and success of the people we’ve helped before.

2.  I get to say “we” now because now I have an Associate Attorney on staff again.  I had a part-time associate back in 2007, but I honestly didn’t have the consistent flow of work needed to support the position back then, so I took a couple years to figure some things out (including the flat fee model introduced last May – more on that in a minute).  I’m happy to announce that Christina Robertson has joined me as a full-time Associate Attorney as of a couple weeks ago.  Christina graduated with a J.D. from The University of Denver College of Law and will complete her M.B.A. this semester – with an emphasis on entrepreneurism.  Obviously, she’s a perfect fit for H&A and is already helping me catch up on work.  I REALLY needed the help and she’s stepped into the role quickly.  Welcome Christina!

3. I’ve officially started The Creative Business Lawyer Program with my good friend Alexis Martin Neely. This program is helping other lawyers who focus on the needs of small business people change their perspectives and business model to better serve their clients, themselves, their families, and their communities. One of the key elements of being a CBL member is learning how to implement the monthly, flat-fee client relationships that have literally changed my since last May.  I’ve basically eliminated hourly billing (which NOBODY likes). If you want to learn more about this program (I have over 30 clients on the flat fee model now), go over to www.creativebusinesslawyer.com and let us know you’re interested.  If you are an entrepreneur, we’ll send you a list of our attorney members and you can find one that fits your needs.  If you’re a lawyer who wants to make some SERIOUS improvements in your life, then let us know you’re interested and we’ll get you signed up for our next open membership enrollment call on March 18th.

4.  We’re finally settling into the new office space in the Fort Collins Museum of Contemprary Art.  This building is a historic landmark. It was built in 1912 as the Post Office for Fort Collins.  Wonderful vibes.  My assistant, Nora, just told me she has ideas for opening her own business now that she’s been exposed to so much entrepreneurial and creative spirit coming from our clients and our new location. Good things are happening.

5.  Speaking events.  I have a bunch of speaking events starting to book including Ignite Fort Collins on March 4th, a lunch lecture on Trademark on March 11th, and a couple fun presentations at The National Guild of Hypnotists Annual Meeting and The American Bar Association Annual Meeting – both in August.  I’ll post details on those soon.

I’ll try to do better about blogging, but it might take a little while.  I have several major writing projects that need my attention, but more on those as they get closer to completion.

Tobin (my 6-yr-old daughter) just woke up and is asking for breakfast.  Gotta go.