In today’s episode, Jim and Tyson chat with Becky Zobl! They dive into the journey of how to do marketing in a way that works. If you’re interested in learning more about the better way to market, the systemization behind it, and making actionable decisions, check out this week’s episode.
Becky Zobl joined the LaFleur team in mid-2018 as a project and account manager. A West Michigan native and graduate of the communications program at Grand Valley State University, Becky journeyed to Los Angeles and worked in the fashion industry after college. She then spent time at a law firm in Chicago before coming full circle and settling back in Grand Rapids with her husband and two young children.
As a natural problem-solver and agent of order, Becky loves to break down problems and come up with creative strategies that sweep them to the wayside. We recently sat down with Becky to get her take on L.A. life, the importance of humor in the workplace, and the gratification of helping others do their best work.
2:29 marketing
5:14 a system to it and a science to it
9:30 we come up with a plan
14:21 understanding our client's full journey
18:51 we have an onboarding call
22:01 really understanding your clients
Jim’s Hack: Spend the necessary time to ensure your marketing is consistent across your brand.
Becky’s Tip: Be prepared! Block out time in your calendar to prepare for things, so you’re not flying by the seat of your pants.
Tyson’s Tip: When it comes to running a law firm, staying healthy is very important. Check out the Sweat Deck App. You hit a card and get random exercises to complete. You never know what you’re going to get with each card.
Watch the podcast here.
Join the Guild: www.maxlawguild.com
In today’s episode, Jim and Tyson chat with one another about speed. They dive into the journey of complicating systems. Check out this episode if you’ve noticed that your firm is creating complexity. It might be time to review your systems to see if things have become more complicated than necessary.
2:13 speed
6:14 we like to get cute with our systems
10:13 this is sort of obvious
14:49 sit and fix systems
18:52 maybe a pipedream
22:46 lets at least be deliberate
26:04 you’re going to be okay
Jim’s Hack: Leave more 5-star reviews. Be actively generous and give them out.
Tyson’s Tip: Check out Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential by Greg Crabtree. It helps you understand the difference between owner compensation and your salary.
Watch the podcast here.
Join the Guild: www.maxlawguild.com
Today we're excited to share a presentation by Paul Yokabitus from MaxLawCon 2021! Tune in to learn more about how to use Facebook ad campaigns as a mechanism for scale.
Paul is a talented and experienced Estate Planning Lawyer in Cary, NC who was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The economic downturn led Paul and his wife, Alix, to the Triangle where Paul attended Campbell University School of Law and later planted his roots in the Cary community. His focus on the client-attorney relationship and the peace of mind of his clients sets Paul apart from other traditional lawyers.
1:18 Facebook campaigns
4:26 pair that with an irresistible offer
8:04 webinars take it to the next level
12:16 trial and error
16:32 you’re probably giving up too soon
19:08 this is the 20 that makes the 80
Watch the podcast here.
Join the Guild: www.maxlawguild.com
In today’s episode, Jim and Tyson chat with the CEO of Iron Tech Security, Tom Kirkham! They dive into the journey of cyber security defense systems and educate and encourage organizations to establish a security-first environment with cyber security training programs to prevent successful attacks. If you’ve been thinking about how secure your law firm is, check out this week’s episode.
With over 40 years of experience, Tom is the creator of Iron Tech Security. A managed services provider offering IT services to law firms. It’s an all-in type of service providing a maximum relentless cyber security program.
3:03 structure
7:27 security team
9:55 Ransome wear attack
16:10 encrypted email service
19:49 recognize your threats
20:13 cost to protect your law firm
22:12 protect your privacy
24:20 be proactive
Jim’s Hack: Check out the Book, Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking by Jonathan Acuff. It’s all about the messages we repeat to ourselves over and over.
Tom’s Tip: If you want a deep dive into the topic of cyber security, check out these two books. This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth and my book, The Cyber Pandemic Survival Guide, that you can pre-order now.
Tyson’s Tip: Check out Tile. It’s one of the easiest ways to find lost items. Never lose anything. Tile can locate items like your cell phone quickly.
Watch the podcast here.
Join the Guild: www.maxlawguild.com
MaxLawCon 2022 Tickets are Live: www.maxlawcon2022.com
Jim: Welcome back to The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. I'm Jim Hacking.
Tyson: And I'm Tyson Mutrux. What's up, Jimmy?
Jim: Well, it's our first episode of the year, first time recording in 2022. I'm excited and happy to be here with you. How you doing? How was your break?
Tyson: Yeah, it's our first episode. My break was great. I gave the entire firm the week off between Christmas and New Year's. It's something that I know Ryan McKeen’s been doing for a while, but we decided and did do it. We gave everyone a goal to end the year and we ended it really, really strong, so it was a great way to really, I guess, reward everybody. It was fantastic.
But what about you?
Jim: Yeah, we took the week off, too. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth with my law partner and wife. She was very worried about whether it was going to work out or not. And the team got a ton of stuff out the door in December. So, I think it seems like today, you know, the second day back, we're right back at it. So, I think we missed nothing.
Tyson: I feel the exact same way. We wanted to settle 25 cases between like it was the second week of November and December 24th. So, I think we're about 30-- right around 30, give or take. I don't know the exact number because, once we hit 25, I really didn't care anymore. But we're right around-- I think we're at 29, what we ended up settling, but it was-- so, a great way to end the year. So, we were super excited about it. And so, all those checks will be rolling in this month which is even better. Fantastic.
Jim: Let me go ahead and introduce our guest today. His name is Tom Kirkham. He's the founder and the CEO of Iron Tech Security. They provide cybersecurity defense systems. And they educate and encourage organizations, like law firms, to establish a security first environment with cybersecurity training programs for all their workers to prevent successful attacks. Tom has been in the business for three decades.
Welcome to the show, my friend.
Tom: Oh, nice to be here. Hope everybody had great holidays. Sounds like you guys took a whole week off.
Tyson: Absolutely. Yeah, a lot of fun. A lot of fun.
So, Tom, tell us about-- I know you've been doing this for quite a bit but tell us about your journey and how you got into cybersecurity, and what you're doing these days?
Tom: Well, I've been in technology, it's actually 40 years now, not to show my age too much but in all facets of it both as an investor, software designer, network administration, and--
So, about 20 years ago, I created our company which is a managed services provider and that we provide IT services to law firms. You know, it's an all‑in type of service. So, we've structured our company in such a way that any law firm that uses us, we're on the same team. In other words, we're not billing by the hour. It's a one lump sum, call us as much as you need, you know, when office is acting up, you know, Outlook is acting up, you can't get your Word to run, your servers need to be managed and maintained. Basically, we make more money, the fewer problems a law firm has.
Now, what really changed, from a cybersecurity perspective, is when the FBI visited me, in May 2015, to advise me that I'm on an ISIS kill list. And getting over the initial shock - name, address, phone number, and I'm pretty well known in the community, and I'm named to be killed. And long story short, it was because of a hack of a database, presumably, in Chicago. And so, I created a new division for a company called Iron Tech Security. And that is strictly to concentrate on providing maximum relentless cybersecurity to law firms of all sizes and we do other vertical markets as well.
Jim: Well, that's sort of scary. And why don't you tell us some other like scary things that happen to law firms that don't have good security - good, you know, protection?
Tom: Well, the biggest threat to law firms, as well as to all of us, all around the world, is the scourge known as ransomware. And the last few years, ransomware attacks also have an extortionware component, so it's not good enough that you restore from backup and not pay the ransom because what they're going to do, if you don't pay the ransom, is they're going to take the data and either sell it on the dark web, publish it, you know, send it to WikiLeaks - whatever they can do to make the most money off of it.
So, what we're seeing is IT professionals - let's say a law firm already has an outsourced IT or they have an on‑staff IT, is the vast majority of people don't realize that InfoSec or-- that's what we call it inside the business, cybersecurity is a whole different discipline. If I had to make a comparison, it would be like hiring a divorce attorney to do intellectual property law, okay, or a neurosurgeon to do heart surgery. It's an entirely different discipline. It takes an entirely different mindset. Response time to security anomalies become super, super important in order to stop those threats.
And IT can't keep up with the pace of change in the cybersecurity world. You know, you think about it as being well, it changes every day. Well, take that and then combine it with the cops and robbers, you know, the bad guys and the good guys, combine it with geopolitical dynamics like with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and you quickly understand that it's a whole different deal. So, what we are in the middle of doing is educating people on those distinctions because it's super, super critical.
And it's not just us saying this, even the White House, this past year, about seven months ago, issued a letter saying you've got to do these five things. And one of those is to have a skilled security team already in place. And Iron Tech Security division is what's known in the business as a managed security services provider. It's not enough to have IT go in and put your antivirus on to secure your network, tweak your firewalls, put in a good spam filter. You've got to have a whole different class of products to protect yourself against ransomware and other attacks that you can't buy off the shelf. And it's usually beyond the skill set or the knowledge of IT.
You want IT to concentrate on their job, you know, keep your stuff up and running, make sure you're getting-- you know, you’ve got a 20‑person law firm, you bill an average of, I don't know, $800 An hour, you can imagine what just four hours of downtime, how that impacts the top line revenue, right? You want IT to focus on that. But you need a security team to be Johnny‑on‑the‑spot to proactively manage and protect that network, that client dataset, from breaches because it can put your law firm out of business.
Attorneys, the primary thing they trade on is reputation. And a single cyberattack can quickly destroy that even if you pay the ransom. That's what we do. That's what we do day in and day out - investigate anomalies, investigate events, keep tabs on geopolitical dynamics. Right now, we're concerned about Ukraine, a little bit less so on Afghanistan at the moment, but these are all threat vectors or threat actors that can attack law firms of any size.
Tyson: So, I'm curious. I'm going to ask you a different question than what I was going to ask you, because I'm curious about what you just said. How do you track that? How do you know where these threats are coming from predominantly?
Tom: Well, technically, you can track by IP address. And you can see that-- you know, the servers-- say, the ransomware requires a couple of different servers, one to distribute the email, you know, the phishing email, to get somebody to click on it, deliver the payload into the network which begins encrypting the file. So, those servers have an IP address and you can geolocate ‘em and you can see that that email server’s in Russia. Chances are the encryption server is also in Russia. They have a huge, huge criminal industry there. It's really Putin’s cyber mercenary force. And he allows them and protects them, inside of Russia, because their interests are aligned.
But, having said that, there's all sorts of organizations, both private and public, that keep tabs, that go on the dark web. They learn their tactics, techniques, who they are, and they can identify. And then, we build profiles, right, understanding their tactics, techniques and procedures, so we can better defend against them. So, cybersecurity is a huge industry with as many specialties that's under the roof of a good‑sized hospital.
Jim: All right. So, walk me through a nightmare scenario for a small law firm owner. He/she laying in bed. They wake up in the morning. What happens? What does it look like? And then, what has to happen?
Tom: So, the way a ransomware attack works, what the storyline-- that's an actual term inside of our industry, is they blast out tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Say, they could get all of the attorneys, say, in Missouri, a member of the Missouri Bar, or Texas Bar, or New York Bar, whatever it may be. And you can find that stuff on the web. And so, they'll send out emails to whatever context they have inside of those firms. They use psychological manipulation, social engineering.
It's really just a con job - a scam, you know, like the one‑to‑one con’s that you get on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. You know, I'll tell you where you got them shoes. Well, now, they're doing a one to many. They're doing one to 10,000 or one to 100,000. How many attorneys are there in Texas? You know, half a million, maybe. I don't know. But they blast out an email. And all they need, in those kinds of numbers, is a 0.1% conversion rate. And they think in these marketing terms. It's a volume game.
So, somebody gets an invoice. And let's say-- and I have to apologize because I'm not in the law business but, at one time, Westlaw was one of the big research deals that everybody subscribes to. So, if I were going to conduct a phishing email, I would use psychological tools such as, “Your Westlaw invoices remain unpaid. You know, your subscription is going to be cut off tomorrow if you don't pay these outstanding invoices,” and I attach a spreadsheet to it.
Now, maybe the bookkeeper, or the accountant, or whatever inside the law, firm, controller, whatever it may be, or you as the, you know, a smaller law firm, or your office manager, whoever's tasked with paying the bills, they get, “Oh my, we’ve got to pay these bills,” or “I thought I already paid ‘em.” They open the spreadsheet and it triggers the attack. Over 90% of successful breaches require an insider to let them into the network. It immediately begins encrypting all the files. And, after some time, depending on the volume of data, it'll pop up on the screen demanding a ransom. It could be 5000. It could be 10,000.
Everyone hears about the colonial pipelines, the JBS’s. These big ones, right, that hit the headlines on CNN. But the vast majority of ransomware attacks are 5000, 10,000 20,000 that you never hear of. When we do continuing education webinars in the law business, anywhere between 10% to 20% of the people, on those webinars, have either had a ransomware attack, or they personally know someone that's had a ransomware attack. That is the nightmare scenario because your data becomes unusable. Maybe your accounting files, all of your client data is now at risk, any other sensitive information. And that's the nightmare scenario.
And if you don't already have a security team in place to respond, possibly mitigate it, possibly restore from backup or learn who the attackers are, you're already behind the eight ball. You know, they're going to give you five days to pay the ransom, typically. That's pretty typical. And it's going to be done in and you're going to transmit it to, likely, a Russian criminal. That's the nightmare scenario.
Now, larger law firms have to worry-- especially if you're dealing with intellectual property. So, you're a patent attorney. Well, you've got to worry about China. You have to worry about nation states. The amount of intellectual property that China has stolen, over the past few years, some experts say it's the largest transfer of wealth in human history. And if you stay up to date on how China has gone from being a third world country to some of their cities are more advanced than any city in this country, much less Western Europe or anything like that, it's laid out right there in front of you. All of this intellectual property that's been stolen over the past couple of decades.
Another thing that complicates things is our own NSA (National Security Administration). Their tools have been hacked and they're available to download for free off the dark web and used by criminals and other nation states. These are advanced offensive cyberweapons available for free to enrich the attackers. The days of antivirus going to your IT are simply over with. You've got to go to specialists to protect your law firm. I can't say that enough.
Tyson: The Guild is an insanely productive community of lawyer‑entrepreneurs with a growth mindset who share their collective genius and hold each other accountable to take their careers and businesses to the next level. But in 2021, we are upping the game. In addition to exclusive access to the group, FaceTime with the two of us, discounted pricing for live events and front‑seat exposure to live recording and podcasts and video, we're mapping out, for members, the exact growth playbook with our new program, Maximum Lawyer in Minimum Time.
Jim: As a Guild member, you'll build relationships and experience content specifically designed to complement your plan for growth. For a limited time only, The Maximum Lawyer in Minimum Time program will be offered for free to all new Guild members. Join us by going to maxlawguild.com.
Tyson: So, Tom, I have a cat door. I don't have a cat but I have a cat door. The previous owner put it. It goes into our basement. And I've done everything I can to wall it off. I should hire a professional to come in and block it some way. But I put bricks up against it. But I just know, at some point, a rodent’s going to get through there, right? So, we know about the obvious robbers that will break through the window and they'll steal all your stuff, but it's the rodents that will come through, and weasel through, and they'll do a lot of damage.
So, what are the things that we're overlooking? I think most of us know about the obvious email that comes through and, if you click on it, you might screw up and next thing you know, you're paying a ransom. I know an attorney that it happened to. What are the things we're overlooking? What are our cat doors in our firms that we need to be closing and hiring a professional to close?
Tom: Oh, wow! That's a great question. I think your email servers and the content of your email is commonly overlooked in law firms. Most law firms should seriously consider using an encrypted email service. And here's the reason. I don't know how far in the weeds you want to get. I don't know how technical your audience is. Presumably, I would hope that they know a ton more about law than they do about technology.
But here's the deal with email, if it's not encrypted. The transport of the email is encrypted, right? The actual sending it over the internet. I mean, just check with IT and make sure that the transport is encrypted. If you're not, you find a new IT person.
But people overlook the data at rest component, okay? Where are those emails stored in the end in that it's going from me to you, let's say? Well, it's going to be in a spam filter. It's not received in the spam filter and then merely forwarded. It's actually kept there. It's going to be in the mail server. It's kept there.
So, people overlook that data being able to be accessed, that data at rest. And law firms typically want to keep their emails forever. So, that's another deal is archiving email which is yet another service you should seriously consider. It's not your email service provider’s duty to store your emails forever. It's a different service that you've got to do.
The weakest link, like I said earlier, is 90% of breaches require someone on the inside. And these are the volume breaches, right? These are the shotgun breaches. They don't know who you are. They don't care who you are. They don't care if you're in a little podunk town in the middle of Mississippi or Arkansas. You just simply got caught in the spray. You know, I'm not talking about targeted attacks. So, not putting cybersecurity awareness training in your firm, not treating it as a top‑down.
A very special component about cybersecurity that we can't do, as a firm, is bake it into the culture and treat it seriously. Passwords - reusing passwords is a huge, huge no, no. The firm should be using a password manager, requiring a minimum of 20 randomly generated passwords and never sharing those with anyone else. Never reusing passwords - that culture has to be established from the top down. That's a leadership issue - a management issue.
Those of you that may be listening, well, I get it. I do need to get better protection. We don't have-- I mean, all we're relying on is antivirus. Antivirus is pretty much useless anymore with these advanced weapons that are being used against us, literally, every single second of the day. I get that. So, I make a decision - a management decision to go out and find a good InfoSec company, a good security company to protect the firm. I get it. I'm going to invest in protection. Protect the firm's reputation. Protect the employees, the clients - all of those things.
Where it breaks down and where the cat door is, is so many attorneys and law firms, they don't mind spending the money on the technical protection. They don't mind spending the money on a skilled security team, but they think it's an impact on productivity or whatever it is to get security training. It's a hassle to use a password manager. So, they rely too much on just the technical components. Now, we can do a really good job with just the technical components but we've really got to have a buy‑in, top‑down, set the tone that we are all going to treat security seriously and recognize who our threats are and what our threats are. And it's different depending upon the firm's specialties.
Jim: So, I would imagine that you're right that the biggest thing that people complain about or the biggest hurdle to doing this is, they're like, “Man, I don't have to memorize a 20‑character password.” And they just don't understand the technology that's even there. But I think the other one is the cost. So, what does it look like to invest in protecting your firm? And I know that we could do the cost‑benefit, like what it's going to cost if you get held up? But what does it just generally cost for--? You know, walk me through that.
Tom: Well, it's really easy. Our stuff starts out at $20 an endpoint per month. And that is you're going to dramatically improve your defense posture. At that price, we have never-- even the clients that get the bare minimum. And you’ve got to think-- we've got to identify what your risks are, and where all the data is, and how big the law firm is, your areas of practice - things like that. But even at just the $20 a month, you've got a skilled security team. We're going to put in a class of product called an EDR (endpoint detect and response) that's going to replace your antivirus. And that, right there, with just those two things, we've never had a client have a successful breach. No successful ransomware attacks with just those two things.
Now, you can add more and more layers. We treat it as an onion-- or it's like an onion. At the core of the onion is the assets you're trying to protect - the data, your clients, your employees, yourselves, the firm's reputation, and on, and on, and on. Then, we add layers, and layers, and layers because we're going to presume that one of those layers is going to be pierced, like the human component, the 90%. So, that should give you a good idea. That's a good place to start.
Tyson: All right. So, I'm going to ask a couple of questions. I know we're running up on the time but what are the things we need to be looking at in the future because text messaging seems like it's going to be a problem going forward, messaging could be a problem going forward, any social media channel. So, what are some things we should be looking out for in the future?
Tom: As far as--
Tyson: As any, any--
Tom: --threat vectors?
Tyson: Yeah, any potential-- I like that. Any potential threat vectors?
Tom: Yeah. Well, of course, Facebook is a real-- you know, don't publish your vacation, tell people you're going to be out of town. This is perhaps a cat door. You've got to protect your privacy. Everyone has data that has to be kept private even if it's nothing more than your bank account credentials.
We had a commercial real estate company that came to us after losing about $400,000 on compromised bank account credentials. So, you’ve got to worry about that. If you're doing remote access, multi‑factor authentication should be a must. It should be. In fact, we require it for all of our attorneys.
And, believe me, March 2020, when COVID first hit, we had hundreds of attorneys that, all of a sudden, one day, needed to work remotely. We would not like those remote connections up without establishing multi‑factor authentication.
We can turn on remote access in minutes, right? And many of you probably, listening to this podcast, now, experienced exactly what I'm saying. The problem is to add MFA to it, it changes it from minutes to hours because we've got to reach out, install applications on their cell phone, and things like that. But we refuse to light ‘em up because we saw 1,000% increase in like overnight on attacks on that technology.
I guess, what I'm saying is SMS can be intercepted. You know, some of you may be using multi‑factor where you get a text message and then you type in that six digit. That's better than not using it. It's much better than not using multi‑factor authentication. But even better is an actual generated random number with a time bomb on it. You know, with Google Authenticator, or using a tool called Duo, a product called Duo, for remote desktop access.
Be aware that, if you're on Facebook and social media, that you're being monitored. If you're dealing with intellectual property, especially if you've got a significant‑sized firm dealing with significant‑sized clients that have intellectual property, you're on China's radar. Don't think you're not. Even if you're not handling the intellectual property itself, you're a threat vector into that Fortune 100 company.
It's really about treating it seriously and stop hoping that it won't happen to you - actually being proactive and to put the things in place that you need to protect your firm.
Tyson: Very good stuff, Tom.
All right. So, I do need to wrap things up. Before I do, though, will you tell people, if they want to reach out to you and they need your services, how can they get in touch with you?
Tom: Oh, they can reach me at my email, [email protected]. Our website, irontechsecurity.com. There's a hundred different ways to reach us, yeah. And if you just want to talk things out.
You know, many times, especially for the smaller firms, we already know what you need. We don't have to go through a significant assessment. The larger firms, we prefer to do the assessment. But we can literally roll out, within hours or days, to dramatically improve the security in your law firm and let you sleep better at night and you have the knowledge that you made a great decision, so.
Tyson: Very good.
All right. As we continue to wrap things up, I want to remind everyone to join us in the big Facebook group where we have over 5100 members and growing. Also, make sure you get your tickets to MaxLawCon2022. Go to maxlawcon2022.com. And if you want a higher‑level conversation about your firm, go to maxlawguild.com and join us there in The Guild.
Jimmy, what's your hack of the week?
Jim: All right. Well, first of all, thanks for coming on the show. That was really insightful. I really got a lot out of it. And I think, when I have my wife and law partner listen to this, she's going to freak out and we'll be a calling.
My hack of the week is a great book that our friend Joey Vitale sent me called Soundtracks by Jon Acuff. I really enjoyed it. I read it over the holiday. And it's all about the tapes that we play to ourselves, the messages that we repeat to ourselves over and over. And it has probably six or seven good chapters on how to sort of change those tapes and come up with new messaging for ourselves. And I've really enjoyed the book a lot.
Tyson: Very, very good. I've not started mine yet, Jimmy, but I plan to start my book that Joey sent me as well. So, very good. I know you’ve spoken very highly of it, so very good.
Tom. All right. We always ask our guests to give us a tip or a hack of the week. It could be a website. It could be a book. It could be a podcast. It could be an app. Whatever it might be. So, do you have a tip or a hack for us?
Tom: I certainly do. Do you mind if I share my screen?
Tyson: Go ahead.
Tom: And the reason I wanted you to see the cover of these books, This is How They Tell Me the World Ends. It's by Nicole Perlroth. If you want to deep dive into these things, and if some of these things I've said earlier today seem incredulous, you have doubts, this book will remove all of those doubts and you're going to hear even more bad things. This is the best cybersecurity book out there that's ever been written that describes the sheer scale of the threat. Nicole Perlroth, she researched this for 10 years. It's incredible.
And, finally, I'm going to plug my own book that's coming out, hopefully in February. And it's The Cyber Pandemic Survival Guide. Both of those are highly recommended, of course.
Jim: Awesome.
Tyson: Absolutely. Absolutely. Very, very good. Thanks for sharing those.
And, finally, my tip of the week. I don't know how secure these are but I'm sure that they're okay. Tile. I got a Tile in my stocking, I think, or got it from someone for Christmas. And I had always seen Tile and like commercials for Tile. And I was like, “Yeah, I don't know if I'll ever get those.” Actually, yeah, they’re cool. I've got one in my briefcase. And then, I put one on our pool key, so we don't lose our pool key.
But what's really cool about it is you could actually find your cell phone with it. So, let's say you're going around the house-- I usually use my Apple watch. But let's say you don't have your Apple Watch on, you can double tap the Tile and it’ll help you find your cell phone. So, it's actually a pretty cool tool. So, I highly recommend it. And there's-- you can actually see-- the app is really easy to use and everything. So, my opinion of Tile has completely changed. I think it's a pretty cool resource so check it out.
Tom, thank you so much for coming on. Like Jim said, I learned a lot. I think this is going to be a really, really good podcast for people to listen to. So, thank you so much for coming on and hope that people reach out to you.
Tom: Yeah. Well, it was absolutely my pleasure. That's my job is educating people. The vast majority of people do not understand the seriousness of the threats.
Tyson: Well, I think we have a better idea now. So, thank you so much, Tom. Appreciate it.
Jim: Thanks, Tom.
Tom: My pleasure.
Tyson: See you, buddy.
In today’s episode, Jim and Tyson chat with Maximum Lawyer’s Brand Manager Becca Eberhart! They dive into the evolution of Maximum Lawyer over the last two years and tease a little of what’s to come. If you like getting to peek behind the curtain, this episode goes behind the scenes of the Maximum Lawyer brand.
1:06 Becca’s journey
4:24 expectations
6:20 what’s included currently
8:00 growth mindset
11:10 small but mighty team
14:05 the conference
15:09 advice to future presenters
16: 20 tips for future presenters
Jim’s Hack: The Everyday Hero Manifesto by Robin Sharma - what is something new that you’ve tried?
Becca’s Tip: Be courageous and apply to speak at MaxLawCon 2022!
Tyson’s Tip: Try sharing your iPhone or iPad screen on your next Zoom call. On Zoom, click share and it gives you the option.
Join the Guild: www.maxlawguild.com
MaxLawCon 2022 Early Bird Tickets are Live: www.maxlawcon2022.com
Jim: Welcome back to The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. I'm Jim Hacking.
Tyson: And I'm Tyson Mutrux. What's up, Jimmy?
Jim: Well, you know, one of my favorite episodes of all time was Law firm Website Roulette. That was great. But I think this next episode is going to go down in the annals of Max Law history as a truly great episode.
Tyson: Yeah, I think this next guest is the most phenomenal guest we may have ever had. She's spectacular. And she found out about the podcast about a minute ago so that's even better.
Jim: Yeah, so our guest today is Becca Eberhart. You guys all know her. Most of you know her in the big group and in The Guild, of course, for all the wonderful things she does for us and for the wonderful conference that she just put on.
Becca, welcome to the show.
Becca: Thanks, guys. That was a wonderful introduction.
Tyson: So, Becca, tell us a little bit about yourself and about your journey.
Jim: Yeah, tell us your journey.
Becca: My journey. My Max Law journey?
Jim: Just in general. How'd you end up hanging out with us clowns?
Becca: Well, about two years ago, now, you guys had put an ad out through Horkey Handbook, with Gina Horkey, looking for a virtual assistant. So, we got started.
And not too long later, I want to say it was maybe like six months or so, I went from being part time with you guys to full time with Maximum Lawyer. And that was just a few short weeks before the pandemic hit. And, really, we've just grown a whole lot since then.
Jim: Yeah. So, we have really grown since then. I mean, you've been a great asset. I mean, most of the things we're doing right these days are because of you. Most of the things we were doing wrong was because of Tyson and I. What is--
Tyson: Hey, hey, don't use my name first, okay, because of Jim.
Jim: All right. Because of me.
Anyway, talk to us a little bit about what it's like working for two different people. I know that Tyson and I are pretty different personality‑wise. And what advice you have for people that might be listening that have partners or multiple people that they respond to?
Becca: Yeah. I mean, you guys might be different but you really give and take a lot on different things. And I think that's really helpful. I think that when you're working with people like that just being as self‑aware, as you both are, is very, very helpful when it comes to us coming up with ideas and making really big decisions.
Tyson: What are some things, Becca, that you think we should be doing differently?
Becca: I don't-- I don't know.
Tyson: We're really going to put you on the spot here.
Becca: You are.
We need to grow faster.
Tyson: Ah, what do you mean?
Becca: Well-- I don't know. I mean, it's part of what we're working on right now. We're bringing on another team member. So, we're going to have that.
Right now, really, what we can provide, whether it comes to content, or membership, or events all really comes down to our capacity. And so, we're going to grow the team. And then I think that we're going to be able to bring more to the group as we grow the team as well.
Jim: Well, I think that's great because the three of us have talked, from time to time, about sort of Maximum Lawyer is sort of like a baby law firm - a stage one law firm if you're using Maximum Law in Minimum Time. So, I definitely think that there are a lot of lessons that Tyson and I could transpose from our days growing our firm to growing Max Law. What, in particular, would you like us to focus on? When you say, “We're not growing fast enough,” I think you're probably right but what do you envision?
Becca: Well, we also have a meeting coming up very soon to talk about the vision.
I guess, I'm not sure. I have about two more weeks for me to gather all my ideas and then come and spill them all to you guys but-- I'm not sure. I mean, we've just recently added the quarterly masterminds to The Guild. And I'm very, very excited about that. I think that that's going to be a big part of our growth. I think that's something that they've been wanting. And I know that the pandemic kind of stalled that as well. But I think everyone's ready to meet more than just one time a year at MaxLawCon. So, I think, having more in‑person events is going to be really great. And then, really, just growing what we provide inside The Guild as well.
Tyson: I wonder what your expectations were, coming into this job, compared to like what it's actually like. Will you talk a little bit about that?
Becca: Well, they've definitely changed a lot for the better. But, like I said, when I started, I'm pretty sure that it was advertised more as a part‑time virtual assistant position. And, at that time, I also didn't understand that there was going to be the opportunity to be a part of a team. When you get hired as a virtual assistant, a lot of times you're just a task person and that is it. You don't actually-- a lot of times virtual assistants don't even understand the business that they work for. They're just doing the tasks that are assigned to them. And so, I'd say that that's one big change that happened between starting, and then going full time, and then even growing from there is really being a part of this team and being a part of growing the business.
Jim: Yeah.
And I think that, to me, where you've really add a lot of value, I mean, you definitely keep the trains running on time which is really nice. You know, the Meme Monday goes out, that the messages for new members go out, that all those things that Tyson and I didn't necessarily have the time to do but knew were important. I mean, I think that's one of the great things about having you. And then--
But I think the real value is that you’ve really helped us because you sort of study other Facebook groups, other, you know, mastermind sort of groups or coaching levels. And I think that you really bring a lot of sort of the expertise of coaching which I think, for the most part, you've taught yourself as far as how to structure this whole thing.
Becca: Yeah, absolutely. So, I do really love the infopreneur style business is kind of what I refer to what we're doing often. And we have a lot of different aspects to this which includes the podcast, and the membership, and in‑person events. But I think that a lot of infopreneurs have all of that. And what I like to do is I like to follow other people who don't serve other lawyers or law firms but they're doing the same thing and seeing how they're growing and then bringing that back here.
Tyson: So, we've got the podcast. We've got the conference. We've got things like the Zapathon, the events. We've got the quarterly Guild masterminds that we're going to be doing. We've got The Guild. Are there any other products or services that you think we should be adding on to the Max Law brand?
Becca: I don't think I have any big idea right now. Like I said, right now, I'm actually really excited about we're just adding in those masterminds on The Guild. And I think that's going to be huge. So that's one thing that I'm really excited.
Just last-- well, it's December now. So, in October, when we had the conference, that was just my first conference with you guys. And while I think it was a great success, I have a feeling that there's so much more that we're going to add and that we're going to do and it's just going to keep getting better. So, I'm also excited that we're already all‑in on planning next year's MaxLawCon as well.
Jim: Becca, you've, as an outsider, consumed a lot of our content - either you're helping to edit it or you're sitting in in sessions at the conference, you're hearing a lot-- probably a lot more than you ever wanted to hear about law firm ownership. What have you noticed about the people that are in our world that are the most successful?
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
So, one thing that I was pleasantly surprised with, when we got going with this and when I was more involved in listening to everything, is that our most successful followers, members, people who contribute are the ones that have the growth mindset. And I feel like-- because I've actually been there, you know, years ago, some people truly don't believe that that's important yet. And you can really see the difference in those people that they understand that, you know, “I am a lawyer and I am a business owner.” But there's also this mental aspect, this positivity that I need, and the ones that really understand the personal development side of it. Those are the ones that we see grow the fastest and the most.
Tyson: What is your favorite question that you've heard us ask - one of us ask on the podcast?
Becca: Oh, my gosh.
Tyson: Now, here's what we're going to do. Once you tell me that, I'm going to ask you that question.
Becca: My favorite question. I-- I don't know. What's a question that I want you to ask me? I don't know. You guys talk about so many different things. What do you want to know, Tyson? You tell me.
Tyson: I don't really have anything. But I'll ask you the one that I ask a lot of people.
Becca: Okay.
Tyson: What is the thing you struggle with the most?
Becca: Hmm. Probably just wanting to execute all of the things and then having to focus on them one at a time and grow it like that.
Jim: Talk about that a little bit more. Like, what do you see on the law firm side and what do you see for that on the Max Law side? Like, how does that play out?
Becca: Well, maybe I can talk about the Max Law side and we can just compare it to a law firm. So, the Max Law side, like I said, we're already planning MaxLawCon 2022. We're also starting-- we have a January mastermind in The Guild coming up. So, we're planning that and then we're going to roll right into the next quarter. I want to be doing all of these things at the exact same time. And then, I also have ideas for all of them at the exact same time. So, the good thing is I'm a list person so all of my ideas go somewhere and I have them, but I really struggle with wanting to just be able to do it all at the same time.
Tyson: The Guild is an insanely productive community of lawyer‑entrepreneurs with a growth mindset who share their collective genius and hold each other accountable to take their careers and businesses to the next level. But, in 2021, we are upping the game. In addition to exclusive access to the group, FaceTime with the two of us, discounted pricing for live events and front‑seat exposure to live recording and podcasts and video, we're mapping out, for members, the exact growth playbook with our new program, Maximum Lawyer in Minimum Time.
Jim: As a Guild member, you'll build relationships and experience content specifically designed to complement your plan for growth. For a limited time only, The Maximum Lawyer in Minimum Time program will be offered for free to all new Guild members. Join us by going to maxlawguild.com.
Jim: So, one of the highlights for me, at the conference, was literally being in the control room with you and Tyson and sort of hiding out because everyone was looking for us, right? And it was fun. But I know this list of which you speak and I remember you saying, “We're not doing that anymore. We're not doing that anymore. We're not doing this. And they better not try that again next year. Like, that shit's not going to fly. I'm going to get these slides in three weeks or four weeks early. Like, if they don't want to do it, they're out.” And it's been fun as we-- you know, we have sort of a short turnaround going from October to June. It's been fun watching you really implement those directives that you called out. You want to talk a little bit about that?
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
So, again, I mean, we're a small but mighty team. And so, what I found is just having the structure, having the SOPs, just having these standards are really going to help us grow and really streamline a lot of things that weren't streamlined before. And so, that's what we're really working towards. You know, adding to the team, and then adding to those processes, and just making those really clear are going to not only make it easier and better for us but make it easier and better for everyone who collaborate with us, who are our speakers, who are our sponsors - just everything.
Tyson: I want to go back to the conference for a second because, whenever Jim was talking about being in that control room and all that, I want you to think about when you first saw just everyone at the conference. I guess, what were your thoughts and what were your feelings?
Becca: I really think that it's an incredible thing that we have going here. And so, not only am I really proud of this company and this team but also everyone who wants to be a part of it.
Again, for me, yes, I'm in a room with a lot of lawyers and people in this industry but what I really was in a room with, which was a couple hundred people who wanted to grow themselves. Yes, they wanted to grow their businesses, but they also want to grow themselves. And I do get really excited about that - really excited about the personal development side. And I do feel like everyone who was there really understands that and wants to be a part of that.
Jim: You know, I had a lot of great moments listening to the speakers. And there was that one-- I think it was the first afternoon where like three Guild members, in a row, presented. I think it was Russ, and Mo and, and Steven. Were there any moments that really stuck out to you where somebody said something or, you know, something changed your mindset, or anything that sort of jumped out at you?
Becca: I don't know if I'm going to be able to think of a specific because there was a lot of things going on as well. So, while I was hearing some of them, I was kind of back and forth in between all of the rooms.
You know, I really-- I'll be honest, I'd like the messages to kind of-- even when we were wrapping up the conference, I feel like there was quite a number of people who had to miss out on some of that. So, I'm kind of excited for a lot of people to hear those playbacks but kind of just-- I felt like it was really impactful when we heard from some of the members in the audience. I really liked that. I liked how relatable that was.
So, Jim, you had pulled a couple of people up on stage. And I think that people really like to hear that. They like to hear from other people where they are, and where they're going, and why they're getting there because they heard something at the conference and they're going to implement that when they leave.
Jim: Yeah, I think we should end the conference with the mic’s, two rows, and people just line up and say the kinds of things that they want to work on.
Tyson: Yep.
Becca: Yes. That would be very cool.
Tyson: It’s a good idea.
All right. My last question. And then Jim, he'll have one more question because we’ve got to wrap. He's got a call at 10 o'clock. Were you drawn more to the like the woowoo stuff like Jim likes or were you drawn to more like the hands‑on practical stuff when it comes to the conference?
Becca: It's both because I'm about 50/50 myself. So, I have grown to recognize the value of having that positive mindset and then wanting the personal growth and, you know, following people and reading things and consuming content that has to do with that. But also, as Tyson said, I was a nerd at the conference. Then, I also have this part of me, the type A. You know, I like the SOPs. I like the lists. I like to have all of these procedures. So, I'm really a mix of both. And, honestly, I think that it takes both.
Jim: Yeah, it definitely takes both. And I think that we always need to remember, at the conference, to have sort of both those types of content interpose. I think that's important.
So, we are soliciting submissions right now for the conference and transitioning from that question about, do we like the woowoo? Do we like the standard operating procedures and checklists and those things? And, obviously, we want both those things. What advice do you have for people? And how can they go ahead? And, if they want to be up on stage, if they want to make a presentation? Maybe walk everybody through it. And then, any tips that you have, having seen the presentations and the suggested presentations that we've gotten over the years?
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
So, we do have a featured post in The Maximum Lawyer Facebook group, on the Maximum Lawyer Facebook page, on our LinkedIn page, and an email went out. If you cannot find any of those, you can always email me back at maximumlawyer.com and I can get you the link.
So, this year, we're doing a Google Form Application to be a speaker for MaxLawCon2022. And within that form, you're also going to submit a 60-second video pitch. The idea for the video pitch is that we can really get an idea of the type of speaker you are. So, we want to understand what kind of content are you bringing to the audience. But also, what is your energy like? What is your speaking style like?
So, that's what we're looking for. You just drop a link to your video in the Google Form and you could submit it there. we are going to take those until January 15, 2022. So that's going to be our cutoff date. If we get enough submissions and we fill it before, then it's going to be open until filled. Otherwise, the cutoff date is January 15.
And then, kind of like I said, I think some of the tips would be just make sure, in your video, that we can really understand your personality and your style. And then, also, just convey what value are you bringing to the audience because that's what we're really most focused on. That's what the attendees come for. So, we want to know that value that you're going to bring.
Becca: Good advice.
All right, we do need to wrap things up. Before I do, I want to remind everybody to go to the big Facebook group, join us there, lots of great members there sharing great information. If you want a more high-level conversation, join us at The Guild, maxlawguild.com.
Remember to get your tickets for MaxLawCon2022. Go to maxlawcon2022.com and get your tickets before they go up at the end of the year because they will go up again.
And, I guess, I can ask Becca, what are the rates? What do they go up to at the start of the year?
Becca: Yeah. So, we're at $997 right now for early bird special. And then, general admission is going to be $1297 after the first of the year.
Tyson: So, get them in before the end of the year because there is a jump.
Jimmy, what's your hack of the week?
Jim: All right. So, I'm reading a great book. It's called the Everyday Hero Manifesto by Robin Sharma. I've read most of his books, and it's a tad woowoo but it's also something that really pushes me for excellence so I'm really enjoying it. I'm doing it on the treadmill and I'm doing the audio and the actual physical book so it's sort of a little bit clunky on the treadmill. But the point that he raised today, in the part that I was reading, was asking ourselves this question, “What is something new that we have tried?” What is something new and that we really sort of can turn over the topsoil of our life by trying new things. And so, with me, it's working with this physical trainer that I'm working with for weight loss, and exercise, and strength, and stuff. So, I'll ask all of our listeners. What is one thing new that you've tried recently?
Tyson: Yeah. What was the question? When was the last time you tried something for the first time or something like that?
Jim: Yep.
Tyson: It’s a good question. Really fun question. So, good stuff.
Becca, what is your tip or hack of the week?
Becca: So, my tip is going to be related to what we just talked about with the MaxLaxCon speakers. So, I want to encourage the people who, when they heard that we were accepting pitches for speakers, they kind of got a little excited. And then, their next thought was, “Oh, but I couldn't do that.” So, I want to encourage the people who felt like that, when we put that out, you should go find the link and you should apply.
Tyson: I like that. That's very good. That's very good.
Becca and Jim. That’s funny, I put your name on it. I can't say it. But have you ever been on a Zoom call and then you wanted to show someone on your phone-- like something that was on your phone? Have you ever had that?
Becca: Yes.
Tyson: Yeah.
Well, you can do that now with Zoom. So, in the share, if you click share, there's a little thing that says-- and it's on a Mac. I don't know if you can do it on a PC, but it says iPhone/iPhone via cable. You can actually do that. But there's also one that says iPhone/iPad via AirPlay. So you can now show your screen on your phone via Zoom. So, it's a really cool function. So, I didn't know about it until fairly recently. So, if you want to show someone something on your phone, you can now do that. So, pretty cool. It's a good feature for us for depositions because, for Trialpad, we have it on our iPads and we can share iPads. So, pretty good.
So, Becca, thank you so much for being a guest on the show. It's been a pleasure having you.
Becca: Thank you so much, guys.
Jim: Bye, guys.
Tyson: Bye. See you.
Becca: Bye.
In today’s episode we’re sharing a presentation by Ryan Andersen, co-founder of Filevine from MaxLawcon 2019. Ryan wants you to ask yourself, "Are you swimming once, instead of building a bridge?"
Watch the presentation here.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss an interview, presentation or training!
Tyson Mutrux is the managing partner of Mutrux Firm, LLC in St. Louis, Missouri and co-founder of Maximum Lawyer. Mutrux Firm handles Personal Injury Litigation cases in Missouri and Illinois. Tyson started his firm as an alternative to the status quo of current personal injury law firms and offers “Complete Injury Law” – from beginning to end, they cover every aspect of the process.
Today we share his presentation Systemizing Your Law Firm from MaxLawCon 2018.
Watch the presentation here.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss an interview, presentation or training!
Between crossing the 100th episode mark and hosting our first MaxLawCon, 2018 was Maximum Lawyer's biggest year yet. Here's a look back at this year's 10 most downloaded episodes.
10. The Skills To Run A Successful Law Firm And Be A Good Lawyer ML089
542 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson discussed the different kind of skills you need to run a successful law firm and be a good lawyer.
9. Marketing Strategies of a Successful Law Firm ML092
545 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Chuck Boyk. We discussed his career as a solo practitioner and the philosophy and marketing strategies behind his successful law firm.
8. Using Adwords to Grow Your Law Firm ML106
547 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Jay Ruane. They will go over his background, his role in his firm and how he managed to grow and improve it, paying special attention to his Adwords experience and strategies. If you want to start using AdWords and pay per click or improve your strategy, this episode is for you.
7. The Business of Law ft. Billie Tarascio ML099
549 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Billie Tarascio a family law attorney who runs her own law firm: Modern Law. They will go over her firm and her business paying special attention to how she analyzes and track data, the systems to do it, and how she implements all this to run her law firm.
6. Running and Marketing a Business Law Firm ft. Marisa Portuondo ML109
555 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Marisa Portuondo, a solopreneur who runs her own business law practice in Miami, Florida. They will go over her journey as a lawyer and entrepreneur paying special attention to her marketing and discussing ways to improve it. Also, her biggest struggles and the value of assistants.
5. Patience and Long-Term Planning in The Business of Law ML111
560 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson catch up with each other. They go over what’s been going on with their businesses and then dive in into this week’s topic: where are they going to be 25 years from now. Also, they will discuss building a culture in a law firm and BHAGS.
4. 10 Things Lawyers or Law Firms Do That Prevent The Closing Of Sales ML105
563 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson check in on what’s going on with both of their practices, talk about MAXLAWCON and go over the Sales Prevention Department List; 10 things lawyers and law firms do that prevent the closing of sales.
3. Running a Law Firm Remotely ML100
573 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Shawn Hamp, a criminal defense lawyer who lives in the Cincinnati area and has an office in Arizona. They will go over his business and how does he run the law firm remotely. Management, employees, clients, intake, systems, logistics, team communication and more!
2. Performance Mentality and Mental Toughness to Run Your Law Firm ft. Jason Selk ML110
593 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Jason Selk. Jason is considered to be one of the top performance coaches in the United States; he trains individuals and teams to develop the mental toughness necessary for high-level success. They will go over the importance of having a performance mindset in your life and your business, and how mental toughness can help you grow your firm.
1. The Best Law Marketing Strategies ft. John Fisher & Seth Price ML112
597 Downloads.
In this episode, Jim and Tyson interview Seth Prince and John Fisher! They will dive into their marketing going through their systems, strategies, advice to people going solo, the future of marketing, and more!
Episode 1
Hacking´s Hack: Go on and listen to Dean Jackson and Joe Polish talk about marketing in their podcast – http://ilovemarketing.com/
Go back and start from the beginning, there are lots of great podcasts about marketing!
Before unit, during unit, and after unit: you come upon them at different stages of your project. Learn how to manage them.
Tyson´s Tip: Basic, but elemental: The Top Five.
Every day you should write 5 things to be done. The same with your week. At the end of the day and the week they must be done. Small tasks are just fine, but write them done and get them done, this will keep you moving forward. Green pen for the completed tasks, and red for the non completed. You will hate to take out that red pen!
Episode 2
Tyson´s Tip: Communication with your team, it´s important. Slack. www.slack.com
You can share everything and keep your communication in ONE place. It´s free.
Hacking´s Hack: The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber.
How to think about your business. Entrepreneur + Manager + Tactician. Learn how to balance your focus.
Episode 3
Hackings Hack: Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You (John Warrillow, Penguin, 2013)
Great book for lawyers to read and to think about as they start building their practice.
Tysons Tip: UpWork.
You can hire all kinds of assistants. It saves you a lot of money and it gets things done. Your firm running 24hrs.
Episode 4
Hacking’s Hack:
Zig Ziglar’s podcast. https://www.ziglar.com/
Automobile University. You can learn and listen in your car as you commute or travel.
Get the most out of everything. Maximize.
Tyson’s Tip:
You give more to referral partners, to your clients, you give and you receive. A simple book, it breaks things down for you with 5 principles.
Episode 5
Tyson’s Tip: Slack. https://slack.com/
An app for mobile and desktop to communicate with your team. It’s free. You can share and coordinate everything.
Hacking’s Hack: A simple Hour Glass (or 50 minutes) to FOCUS.
Shut down everything that distracts you and just work for 50 minutes. Then take 10 minutes to stretch, walk, talk with your employees.
Episode 6
Practical advice on bringing in business. Systems. Maximizing. Client retention and obtaining efforts. Go on and listen to it in your car!
Breaking your year into 12 weeks at a time and stop thinking annually. You get more done. Goal Setting.
Episode 7
Basic Setup for Recording Video:
- Video Camera (1080p, microphone input jack)
- Tripod
- Microphone (to the camera)
- Set of lights (You can learn how to in Youtube)
- Green Screen (Optional; If you want to overlay a firm logo digitally)
Tyson’s Tip:
Great book. It guides you through all the video production process; what to do and not to do. And it makes it easy.
Hacking’s Hack:
Owen Hemsath.
https://www.youtube.com/user/videographybyowen
He teaches you to use Youtube through Youtube. Lot of practical tips.
Episode 8
Book mentioned during the episode: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini. Harper Business; Revised edition (December 26, 2006)
Hacking’s Hack: https://overcast.fm/. Free app. Pretty interface, but more importantly, the player will delete the spaces between when people are talking. This feature will shorten up the podcast if you are short of time. Another thing, it will boost the audio of the speaker.
Tyson’s Tip: https://hootsuite.com/. An app that allows you to schedule up all of your social media network posts.Very easy to use and it saves a lot of time.
Be careful of how many posts you schedule and when you do it. A lot of scheduled posts loose the “original and live” feel of a content. There are some kind of posts that work great with an auto schedule, others don’t.
Episode 9
Hacking’s Hack: New podcast: “More Cheese, Less Whiskers”: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/more-cheese-less-whiskers/id1135262567?mt=2
Tyson’s Tip: https://www.purechat.com/
$20 a month to manage your web chats, web questions, etc. You can link it with InfusionSoft: https://www.infusionsoft.com/.
Episode 10
Hacking’s Hack: A podcast and a blog: http://www.lessdoing.com/, dedicated to outsourcing and finding people to do tasks for you and to make your life more automated. More optimized.
Episode 11
Hacking’s Hack: A website: https://ifttt.com/. You can set up rules and things that happen after certain events. Automate.
Basics of how to write a sales letter. You can do it as an email and as an actual letter. Marketing.
Episode 12
Tyson’s Tip: Infusionsoft. https://www.infusionsoft.com/. Sales and marketing automation software built exclusively for small business success.
Hacking’s Hack:
Learn the ins and outs of Infusionsoft: http://www.monkeypodmarketing.com/
Episode 13
Hacking’s Hack: A Chrome extension for Google Mail. It allows you to compose while hiding all your inbox. Protect your focus. https://inboxwhenready.org/
Tyson’s Tip: HyFy, Also a Chrome extension. It’s free and it records your chrome tab and your voice.
Episode 14
Hacking’s Hack: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Spiegel & Grau; Reprint edition (August 18, 2015).
Tyson’s Tip: If you wanna do something, go do it. Jump in, take risks.
Episode 15
Hacking’s Hack: Don’t work at home, work in the office. Stop looking at your phone, emails, to-dos, etc once you get out of the office. This will give you time to be with yourself and your family. Read books. Spend quality time with your kids.
Tyson’s Tip: The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies. By Chet Holmes. Portfolio; Reprint edition (May 27, 2008). The best book on how to run your business.
Episode 16
Jill’s Hack: Set up your expenses to be predictable. You can set up most of your utilities on budget billing, and anything that you can get to be the same amount every month and set up those plans can really help predict expenses and keep things static for you.
http://www.accounting-girl.com/
Tyson’s Tip: https://www.libsyn.com/ Libsyn provides everything your podcast needs: publishing tools, media hosting and delivery, RSS for iTunes, a Web Site, Stats, Advertising Programs, Premium Content , Apps for Apple, Android & Windows devices.
Hacking’s Hack: http://mastermindexperience.com/. The Mastermind Experience is a private event capped at 15 lawyers, so you’ll focus on working only with those who want to grow. You’ll have multiple opportunities during the day to meet everyone at the Mastermind Experience and focus on how you can help them, and how they can help you.
Episode 17
Hacking’s Hack: A podcast from Seth Godin. It’s on iTunes.
Tyson’s Tip: An app; Spoil. You can send gifts the same day. Check it out! https://www.spoil.co/. The Simplest Way to Give Beautiful gifts, delivered same-day, anywhere in the US.
Episode 18
Hacking’s Hack: http://sproutsocial.com/. Social Media Management Made Easy. Sprout’s collaborative platform ensures smarter, faster and more efficient social communications.
Tyson’s Tip: The Inc Magazine App. http://www.inc.com/. A great and easy app to use. Up to date marketing trends, business advice. Really cool.
Episode 19
Tyson’s Tip: A podcast; “How I Built This”. http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this
It is awesome. They bring on people with established businesses to talk about how they built their companies.
Hacking’s Hack: Believe it or not, an INK PEN. Write down your tasks and things to remember, you will be more effective.
Mike’s Tip: Ring Central. https://www.ringcentral.com/
A web based app, a cloud service. An online office. Lots of great tools, check it out.
Episode 20
Hacking’s Hack: An amazing book: “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk, HarperBusiness; 1 edition (November 26, 2013). It goes through all the ways you can communicate in social media but most importantly it stands for the proposition that you have to give value and then ask for someone to hire you or buy you something.
Tyson’s Tip: A book: “Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change“ by Jeremy Gutsche, Avery (September 1, 2009). It really simplifies how to exploit chaos in any environment, any economy.
Episode 21
Hacking’s Hack: A book, and it’s a little bit dated in the marketing message: it’s pre internet, but all the same principles apply.
It’s fantastic, it’ll give lots of ideas.
Tyson’s Tip: Actually, a tip! The “if when, then principle”. If you wanna stop doing something, or if you wanna achieve something in your life, one of the most effective ways of doing it is getting in the mind set where when something happens, then you do something that is healthier, better, or improves you in some way.
Episode 22
Hacking’s Hack: An app: Google Keep. https://www.google.com/keep/
Screenshots, tasks, notes, you name it.
Tyson’s Tip: iPhone app: Chartistic. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/charting-app-chartistic/id1127272574?mt=8
It allows you to easily create charts from your phone.
Lee’s Tip: An A.I. (artificial inteligence) personal assistant: https://x.ai/
It provides you with an artificially intelligent bot that helps you with scheduling meetings!
Another A.I. personal assistant but for travelling: https://pana.com/
A gift from Lee! https://divorcediscourse.com/ri/get-rosens-rules/
Episode 23
Randall’s Tip: You need to stand a lot of time on https://lawyerist.com/ reading a lot of articles. Free information for people who want to go solo.
Hacking’s Hack: Google Sites. It allows you to build internal or external facing websites, and you can use it as an intranet. Very easy to use!
Tyson’s Tip: A book; “What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn)” by Seth Godin. The Domino Project; 1st edition (December 1, 2014).
Episode 24
Seth’s Tip: 99 Designs. https://99designs.com
A great way to start. Design websites, cards, letterhead. It’s really fun and easy. Check it out!
Tyson’s Tip: A book. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini Ph.D. Simon & Schuster (September 6, 2016)
“Getting someone to make their decision before you even ask them the question.”
Hacking’s Hack. Facebook Groups.
Interact with people with common interests. Clients. Stay in touch.
Episode 25
Hacking’s Hack: 10 minutes of reading every day.
You can read a business or an entrepreneurship book in the mornings for example. It will help you focus and keep you motivated.
John’s Tip: https://www.indeed.com/. An excellent platform for hiring new employees.
Tyson’s Tip: A book. “Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think” by Peter H. Diamandis. Free Press; Reprint edition (September 23, 2014)
Episode 26
Hacking’s Hack: A book: Shoe Dog: “A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” by Phil Knight.
Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
He is one of us.
Tyson’s Tip: https://chetholmes.com. You’ll really dig deep into your business.
Read the book first. “The Ultimate Sales Machine”.
Episode 27
Hacking’s Hack: A legal keyboard! Check it out! Specially designed for lawyers!
https://www.legalkeyboards.com/
Found it in: http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2017/01/video-unboxing-using-legalboard.html
Tyson’s Tip: A cool book to read: Sapiens: “A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari.
Episode 28
Tyson’s Tip: A book. “The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM)” by Hal Elrod.
A lot of good takeaways.
Hacking’s Hack: A book. “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth.
About perseverance.
Episode 29
Hacking’s Hack: From Google Hangouts you can make calls! If you are a user of Google Hangouts, calls are really easy to make!
Tyson’s Tip: A book. “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us” by Seth Godin.
It’s great! About building communities and being part of them.
Episode 30
Hacking’s Hack: https://unroll.me/. Instantly see a list of all your subscription emails. Unsubscribe easily from whatever you don’t want. It’s great!
Tyson’s Tip: The Mevo Camera! It is phenomenal!
Edit video on the fly.Stream live or share later.
Episode 31
Tyson’s Tip: BestSelf The Self Journal – Day Planner Goal Setting System
ROADMAP YOUR LIFE: Goals are meaningless without a plan on how to achieve them. SELF Journal helps you create a road map toward the life you want by helping you define your goals and then creating a road map to reach them.
Hacking’s Hack: An app, WAZE. A GPS-based geographical navigation application program. It works on smartphones and tablets with GPS support and provides turn-by-turn information and user-submitted travel times and route details, downloading location-dependent information over mobile networks.
Gary’s Tip: Go home and be with your family. And work after your kids go to bed.
Episode 32
Hacking’s Double Hack:
- You should go to the 7 Figure Attorney Summit.
http://www.sevenfigureattorney.com/
Tyson’s Tip: Invest yourself. Masterminds, CLE’s, Events like the one Craig is hosting. Invest in your future.
Craig’s Tip: Time Block. Use time efficiently. If you can be disciplined enough to devote 2 hours a week to business stuff, you’ll be a success.
Episode 33
Hacking’s Hack: Get a trainer! Do some exercise, it will make you feel good… And work better.
Tyson’s Tip: Give Gratitud. Better in the morning; it changes the way you start your day. Write down 3 things that you are thankful for. And go from there.
Episode 34
Hacking’s Hack: This Blog. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/. Fantastic.
Tyson’s Tip: Simple. Sit down and break you practice into stages or phases from start to finish. Everything can be broken down into stages. Write it out, from point A to Point B, map it out. This is gonna show you deficiencies in your practice.
BONUS: Don’t get too fancy with your blogs. Just put something out there. Something simple.
Episode 35
Hacking’s Hack: A podcast. Perpetual Traffic. Mostly devoted to social media strategies and advertising. Check it out: http://www.digitalmarketer.com/podcast/
Tyson’s Tip: An app. Lucidchart. Diagram things very easily. Easy to use. https://www.lucidchart.com
Episode 36
Hacking’s Hack: Upwork! https://www.upwork.com
I’ve just found an immigration paralegal on Upwork! Great employee, simple, fast, cheap!
Tyson’s Tip: Create blog posts through WordPress from your phone whenever and wherever you want. Use your time! Create content!
Jason’s Tip: Test your site.
Test My Site is an easy way for businesses to measure their site’s performance across devices, from mobile to desktop, providing them with a list of specific fixes that can help their business connect more quickly with people online. Businesses just need to type in their web address and within moments they’ll see how their site scores. They can also get a detailed report with tips on what to do next, and where to go for help at no charge.
Episode 37
Hacking’s Hack: A great book. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield.
Tyson’s Tip: Turn off your unnecessary phone notifications that suck your time!
Episode 38
Hacking’s hack: Using Overcast (https://overcast.fm/) I found out about Andrew Warner and https://mixergy.com. GREAT INTERVIEWS.
Joey’s tip: Experience with Facebook Live in your business. https://live.fb.com/. And use https://obsproject.com/ to go live through your desktop.
Tyson’s tip: Google Adwords Express. From your phone. SUPER EASY. https://www.google.com/adwords/express/
Episode 39
Hacking’s hack: https://meetedgar.com/. Meet Edgar will take in all of your posts in social media and re purpose them. Also, great Blog. This article about Facebook Live is awesome. http://blog.meetedgar.com/what-you-should-do-after-your-facebook-live-broadcast-ends/
Jill’s tip: A new feature in the Ruby mobile app. “The return call” feature. When you host your phone number with Ruby and want to make a phone call through the ruby app, you can do that and it will publish your business caller id.
Tyson’s tip: https://www.stickermule.com. You can get custom labels, magnets and stickers of your firm or whatever you want. It’s really cool!
Episode 40
Hacking’s hack: An episode from GaryVee’s Audio Experience Podcast in which Gary is interviewed. One of the most inspiring, truthful, honest, brutal, harsh, motivating podcast.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-garyvee-audio-experience/id928159684?mt=2
Will’s tip: A practice management software. Pretty awesome and helpful. https://www.actionstep.com
Tyson’s tip: Read John Fisher’s book. The Power Of A System: How To Build the Injury Law Practice of Your Dreams.
Episode 41
Tyson’s tip: https://icomoon.io/. A really cool and simple app to create icons, designs and more!
Hacking’s hack: http://www.monkeypodmarketing.com/. A course to teach you about automation. It’s excellent.
Will’s tip: A book. MacCarthy on Cross-Examination, by Terence MacCarthy. A great resource on how to get what want out of cross examination.
Episode 42
Tyson’s tip: An app. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mail-cleaner/id977528375?mt=8
It helps you keep your mail inbox organized and clean.
Hacking’s hack: To read 2 books at the same time! Take 2 books about business and read one chapter at a time, alternating chapters. The idea is to find connections over the 2 books and to pull out new ideas from them.
Episode 43
Hacking’s hack: A book. Get more connected to yourself. Meditate. The Surrender Experiment: My Journey Into Life’s Perfection by Michael A. Singer
Tyson’s tip: https://www.tableau.com/
Tableau helps the world’s largest organizations unleash the power of their most valuable assets: their data and their people.
Episode 44
Thom’s Tip: Go old school. Send a handwritten note. Every week. It will improve your relations and you will grow your reputation.
Hacking’s hack: A Thom’s podcast episode. http://thomsinger.com/speaking-skills-for-engineers-academics-technologists-and-other-left-brained-professionals/
Tyson’s tip: If you use WordPress… Visual Composer. Easy to use. Great results.
Episode 45
Hacking’s hack: A simple Hack. Keep your downloads folder clean and in order. You will find your files really easy!
JoAnn’s Tip: https://www.ycombinator.com/. How To Start a Startup. A goldmine of information. https://startupclass.co/
Tyson’s tip: An app. https://www.youmail.com/.
Episode 46
Hacking’s hack: Great blog post from our friend, John Fisher. “Why email sucks!”
http://ultimateinjurylaw.com/blog/?doing_wp_cron=1496790122.0019700527191162109375
Tyson’s tip: “Google my business app” – A great app to keep your business rated and up to date on the web and keep on gaining clients!
Episode 47
Hacking’s hack: Also a book. “Oversubscribed: How to Get People Lining Up to Do Business with You”, by Daniel Priestley.About how to build a man in your firm.
Tyson’s tip: A book. “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene. It teaches rules of power and manipulation. Very interesting.
Episode 48
Hacking’s hack: GARY VAYNERCHUK has changed his podcast! Check it out! https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/podcast/Very motivational stuff!
Tyson’s tip: Outsourcing/Delegation. Tyson has been outsourcing his medical record summaries and this has helped him a lot! He found this assistance through Upwork!
Stuart’s suggestion: www.noodlesoft.com, this is on machine automation (mac only unfortunately). It as a level of local file manipulation that ties in with Zapier (move files locally & then end up in a monitored Zapier folder to trigger other things).
Episode 49
Hacking’s hack: Video Fruit by Bryan Harris. http://videofruit.com/
It teaches you how to get attention and how to build your email list. Awesome tools, check it out.
Tyson’s tip: https://gazelles.com/
All about strategies and planification.
Scaling Up – How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t
Episode 50
Hacking’s hack: Use the word “Lawyer” whenever describing your business on the web (for SEO purposes)! People search for that word instead of “Attorney”
Tyson’s tip: https://www.yourprimer.com/
Primer is a fast, easy way to learn new business and digital marketing skills. You can take our interactive lessons whenever you have 5 minutes free.
Episode 51
Hacking’s hack: An episode from I Love Marketing and a book! http://ilovemarketing.com/podcasts/
http://ilovemarketing.com/miracles-are-possible-you-are-the-one-kute-blackson/
by Kute Blackson
Tyson’s tip: http://www.cyfe.com/ All-In-One Online Business Dashboard
Social media, analytics, marketing, sales, support, infrastructure… monitor everything!
A great way to have all of your services in one place!
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