A lot of times, we’re told that the way to grow a business is by growing your revenue or cutting your expenses. And while those are both key components, there are ways to generate greater health for your business by increasing the amount on the bottom line - in ways we’re not taught to think about. 

My guest today is someone who thinks and focuses her practice on helping small law firms scale their businesses using sound financial policies. Her name is Danielle Hendon, and she is the founder and CEO of 4 Corners CFO, LLC. With more than a decade of experience working in corporate finance and accounting, and a passion for people that rivals her love of numbers, Danielle brings the benefit of big business financial analysis to entrepreneurs on a scale that fits both their company AND their budget.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Ways to generate greater health for your business by increasing the amount on the bottom line
• How to plan - and ultimately fund - your growth before you get there
• Your time is worth more for your growth than you’d like to pay a bookkeeper
• Looking at the bottom line is going to be the key indicator of the health of your business.  

Contacts - Social Media

Danielle Hendon Website: https://4cornerscfo.com/

Snip-Its

00:14:48 (36 Seconds) 

So there's a couple of different types of profit margin, one being that net profit margin, which just like we talked about earlier, net income is going to drive your net profit margin. That is, after all the expenses, you want that number to be 10 to 15%. That's the ideal range for a business to run a net profit. And that gives you what you need to put back into the business to continue to grow and scale the way that you want to. The gross profit margin that I mentioned just a minute ago is going to be your revenue minus the costs that go into providing that Revenue service.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

I'm a huge proponent of welcoming guests who don’t just sell a service but are tailored to the small law firm experience. And as a recovering attorney, speaker, and Founder and Chief Podcast Strategist of LawPods — Robert Ingalls fits the mold. Having worked with premier law firms including McGuire Woods, Blank Rome and The Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, LawPods helps busy attorneys create world-class podcast content that boosts SEO, builds relationships and drives revenue.

In this episode we discuss:

• Challenges lawyers face in a highly regulated profession.
• How we might be resistant to putting ourselves out there if we have not been a public speaker.
• How can we deal with the potential conflicts that arise from having your message out there.
• Speaking to your ideal clients.
• How to cross-market various clips that you will create from a podcast.
• The three P's of podcasting that are helpful when you want to start a podcast.

Contacts – Social Media

Website: https://www.lawpods.com

robert@lawpods.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lawpods

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lawpods

About Robert Ingalls

Robert Ingalls is a recovering attorney, professional speaker and the founder of LawPods, one of the first podcast production agencies for law firms. At LawPods, Robert and his team help some of the premier law firms in the world launch and grow branded podcasts that build relationships and drive revenue. 

Robert's path to Podcast Producer to the Am Law 100 was anything but direct. For years he battles anxiety from the pressure, long hours and constant conflict of a litigation career. When he was finally ready to throw in the towel, he had no idea what to do next. With no business/marketing background and only a love for podcasts he discovered while creating a podcast for his law firm, Robert decided to see if lawyers would pay him to help them launch podcasts. With very few takers in the early days, Robert spent two years in a corporate banking gig, grinding nights and weekends to finally bring LawPods to life. 

Snip-Its

00:19:36 (36 Seconds) 

So you referenced earlier this, this idea of using the podcast in different places and you just hearken back to it. So when someone is kind of thinking through a podcast as a portion of their marketing plan, right, they're going to have the podcast as kind of the pillar content, and then that content is going to go out to different places. How do you take it and alter it so it fits different platforms so you know where it's going to get the most bang for your buck? Like where is it in the line of, of, of a, I guess, nurturing from point of initial awareness to the point of sale where you're really getting your most bang for your buck.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

This is one of those topics that comes straight from the well of what I do here at Law Firm Mentor; coaching lawyers on how to look at things from a different perspective.

Oftentimes, it’s a little tweak in the way we approach something that can bring traction. 

Other times, we have to do something grandiose; something far different than what we were doing before. Because the most power tends to come when we are being ourselves and doing what we already know — just a little bit differently — that can make a dramatic change. 

In this episode we discuss:

• 3 key strategies for how to get out of your comfort zone that will lead you to grow.
• The risk of comfort is the notion that growth feeds itself.
• The main goal is what will compel you to do the work that will lead to growth.
• How your lifestyle will grow and evolve with inflation.
• Staying in your comfort zone will never satisfy your true purpose.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts – Social Media

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

Snip-Its

00:08:36 (30 Seconds) 

But growing doesn't mean growing your body count. Growing can mean growing your revenue. It can mean growing your free time. It can mean growing both. Usually, for lawyers, it is growing both. It can mean growing your reach, right? You could be taking on clients all across the United States, even all across the world, depending on what you do for a living.  So growing just means that you want more of something than you currently have. And that is a very real human instinct.

Heather Moulder is a lawyer leadership and business coach, and she helps lawyers ditch stress, overthinking and imposter syndrome. 

You’re probably thinking, “My goodness, that’s a lot,” but… it really isn’t. 

It’s about learning how to manage your mind and emotions, and create a successful pathway toward the life you desire. 

As a former big law partner, public speaker and host of the Life and Law podcast, Heather helps lawyers to become happily successful in law - and in life. 

And today, she joins me to talk about mindset blocks; how to manage your mind and a way to think about what you’re doing in a way that eliminates stress. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How to low stress to be more effective in your life and in your business.
• Having a successful mindset is empowering yourself to make better choices for yourself.
• How to stop overanalyzing,  start making decisions and take action.
• There are processes like exercises that you can use to get your mind back in control.

Heather's Contact:

• https://www.coursecorrectioncoaching.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathermoulder/
• Life and Law Podcast

Snip-Its

00:31:11 (34 Seconds) 

"And I, and I ask myself, okay, what can I do? What do I want to do? How do I choose, how do I choose to believe, you know, in moving forward in this moment? Do I, do I know I can handle it if the worst happens? Yes. I may not know all the answers, but I'll figure it out. I figured stuff out like this before. I mean, there are ways you can approach it. That massively take that stress down. And so it's not that you, I guess 100% ditch stress, but you kind of do because you view it so differently that it doesn't impact you in the same way in such a negative way."

We are joined today by entrepreneur, attorney, C.E.O, and innovator Matt Spiegel. Matt is an attorney, founder, and CEO of Lawmatics.  Matt shares how a bar grievance filed against him is what led to founding Lawmatics. Matt also shares why automation is necessary for your law firm's growth and providing star treatment for your clients. This is a great episode you don't want to miss.

In this episode we discuss:

• The areas of aspects of practice management software and legal automation.
• How to get a better client experience with automation software.
• Asking yourself as a law firm owner the right questions about how and what to automate.
• How to get into the numbers of your law firm with Lawmatics.
• The only way to get analytics and good reporting on where your leads are coming from are to have some automation.

About Matt Spiegel:

Matt Spiegel is an attorney and serial entrepreneur in the legal-tech space. He is Founder and CEO of Lawmatics, the #1 automation platform for law firms, offering legal client intake, CRM, marketing automation, billing, and much more, all in one easy-to-use software. With Lawmatics, law firms streamline their operations, impress clients, and win more business. Prior to Lawmatics, Matt worked as a criminal defense attorney for six years and founded MyCase, a legal practice management software company that has grown into one of the most widely used cloud-based law practice management systems. It was then acquired by AppFolio in 2012, where he remained as a General Manager for three more years.

In 2015, Spiegel founded ExpoGuru, an event marketing management software. Later in 2015 he became the CEO of Cammy, a global consumer tech company with headquarters in Sydney, Australia. In 2017, he decided that it was the right time to go back in the legal software industry with Lawmatics.

He is a golf enthusiast and passionate about making an impact on advancing the practice of law. He can't wait to continue reaching audiences in all consumer-driven practice areas; legal professionals wanting to build and scale a profitable law firm!

Contacts – Social Media

Matt Spiegel’s Contact:Matt@lawmatics.com

www.lawmatics.com

A lot of business owners have misconceptions around lines of credit and debt. Credit and debit are a necessary part of growing a business. Once debt has been accumulated, it is important to create a system to repay your debt. I will be going over all the ins and outs of taking accumulating debt to grow your business in this episode. 

In today's episode we discuss:

• Debt is an advance that affords an opportunity to invest in your business that will give you a greater return. 
• How to use debt and learn how to use it effectively.
• Recognizing that there is a great distinction between credit card debt and a line of credit.
• Creating a schedule of repayment as soon as there is any money on the credit card.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts – Social Media

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

Snip-Its

00:06:56 (32 Seconds)

Now, increasing the line of credit gives you a benefit of decreasing your income to debt ratio, right? So if I have a card and it has a 9000 credit limit and I have spent $3,000, I've used 33% of my credit. However, if I get them to increase that credit limit to 10,000, my credit utilization rate goes down to only 30%. So I've done nothing other than secure more credit, but that will typically trigger an increase in my FICO score, my credit score.

When it comes time to find a commercial rental for your office space, many lawyers are overlooking key strategies in their negotiation. In today's episode I will teach you the seven most overlooked strategies in order to prepare you for your next negotiation as well as get you the best deal and space for your business to grow. 

In today's episode:

• Why you should consult a commercial broker and not a real estate attorney.
• Why professionals are desirable to commercial landlords and how to leverage that in your negotiations. 
• What to look for when renting out a commercial rental property.
• Longer term space needs and what to do if your landlord can't accommodate them. 

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts – Social Media

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

Snip-Its

00:11:41 (25 Seconds) 

When you think about coming into a space, the landlord doesn't just have a vested interest in renting the space today, he or she is creating a relationship with you as the business owner, and professionals, professional practices tend to be one of the most stable lessees, less orders lessees, less orders, tenants, we tend to be really great tenants, right? We don't throw large parties, we don't do a lot of damage, we obviously want to keep the space looking professional. And so when a landlord is looking to create a relationship with a business owner, we are desirable, know that going in. Not only are we desirable because of our status as professionals, because we don't just have legal responsibilities under our lease, we have professional responsibilities as licensed attorneys.

There is a myth in business that managing your expenses means simply cutting costs. On today's episode, I will dispel that myth and teach you how to create a money system for your money coming in and going out so you can continue to grow your business. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How to create a plan for your money to know where it’s coming in and going out.
• Managing your expenses does not mean cutting your expenses.
• The way that you can create financial freedom through your business.
• How important it is to have an effective money managing system.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts – Social Media

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

Snip-Its

00:12:25 (36 Seconds)

The way that we create financial freedom through a business, through a law firm, is we create more money. And more importantly, we create an understanding of money in a way that we can produce it when we need it, as we need it. Instead of, I'm going to live like a pauper today so that eventually I will have enough to stop working, right? That's kind of the middle-class mindset that says save for a rainy day and save for retirement, and then one day you'll be able to stop working. Well, here's the thing. I don't want to have a poultry existence today so that I can have a somewhat less poultry existence tomorrow.

In today's market, in order to recruit new and retain existing employees, offering a flexible work environment is a great way. When your employees have flexibility in their schedule to achieve a work life balance they are happier and more productive. In today's episode I am going to teach you how to create systems for you to implement flexibility into your work environment. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How to structure a flexible work environment that will make your employees happier.
• 3-step query to ask of yourself to create a structure of flexibility in your workplace.
• Effective communication is necessary to make clear the goals that need to be achieved.
• How to manage your business by metrics.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts – Social Media

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

Snip-Its

00:07:59 (32 Seconds) 

Well, when I started adding people and I had that same general attitude, right, you give to me, I give to you, this is a relationship. I want you to be happy. I want your life to fit with your work and share that ethos pretty freely with people. We had one paralegal that just didn't work that way. This person would ask to come in late or leave early, and by this time I had gotten very clear guidance from an employment attorney that we needed to be keeping time records. So we were maintaining time records

The goal of marketing is to keep your message content clear and consistent across all platforms. Regardless if you outsource your marketing, having an in-house marketing team is important in order to achieve your goals and receive your return on investment. In this episode, I will give you three reasons why you want to invest in an in-house marketing team.

In this episode we discuss:

• How the in-house marketing team has to look like.
• 3 Characteristics that will justify making an investment in your in-house marketing team.
• You require someone who is the eyes and ears of your company.
• Have someone on your team who is looking for the next opportunity for your business to expand into marketing.

Allison Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest-growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm by 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest-growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining, and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications, and money management in law firms.

Contacts – Social Media

https://www.lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist

Snip-Its

00:11:01 (38 Seconds)

Now, this doesn't mean that if you have different people in your company marketing, that you all have to copy and paste each other's style. We do want you to be authentic in your marketing, but even as you are working toward authenticity, your goal is to make sure that there is consistency of your message and that when you are communicating in different places, that that data, if it is multipurpose, if you're cross-marketing, what you put on, what you what you say in a public speaking engagement to what you put in your newsletter or on your blog, you want to make sure that what people are consuming says we say the same thing, even if we say it in different ways because we are about this value.