LMME 035 : How are you doing with your goals for 2014?

Today I wanted to take some time to review where I stand on my goals for 2014 (both personally and for the law firm), and share some news on where I see both Legal Marketing Made Easy and my Law Firm heading as we look to close out the year.  It’s really important to take a step back every so often to reflect on your practice, where you have been and where you are looking to go – and today, in the wake of closing out the enrollment for the first edition of my Academy Training program, I felt that this was as good a time as any to do this.

Enjoy!

Right click here to download the mp3

Items Mentioned in the Podcast

• Guy DiMartino, Florida Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Attorney
• My 2014 Goals Episode [Podcast]
• Sign up for updates on the next enrollment of the Legal Marketing Made Easy Academy (and receive 3 legal marketing training videos, for FREE)

Summary of the Show

Today’s show notes are slightly more casual than usual.  During the past 2-3 weeks, I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes to get ready to open enrollment for The Academy, my Legal Marketing Training Course for lawyers.  I’ve been setting up a membership site, sending out emails and creating videos and other presentations.  It’s been no small task.

But now that registration is closed, I must focus on my current members and making sure that they have the best experience possible during their training program.

If you missed the deadline to register for this training program, that’s ok.  There will be another – I’m just not sure when.  I anticipate it will happen before the end of the year.  For that reason, I recommend that you sign up for the 3-part video training course I prepared in anticipation of this enrollment, and then sit tight – I’ll let you know as soon as the next course opens up.

Now, as for today’s episode, I took a lot of time to talk through the goals I made at the beginning of the year and update you on my progress.  Here is a quick summary:

1. Double my law firm revenue – This isn’t going to happen this year.  However, I’ve got a plan in place to make sure it happens next year, and I talk all about it on the podcast.  I also talk about why my current practice area is really holding me back from reaching my full potential as a lawyer (and why you should evaluate your current practice area as well).
2. Begin a weekly divorce podcast – Also not going to happen, and I talk about why on the podcast.
3. Write and publish a book – My book is finished, but I’ve decided to hold off on publishing it for reasons I go through on the podcast.
4. Hire a full-time associate – Unless I do this, I will not be able to meet my revenue goals.  Simply put, I can only bill for so many hours in a day – and I’m about maxed out.  I’m getting close to meeting this goal and hopefully it will happen before the end of the year.
5. Pay off our new minivan – This probably won’t happen before the end of the year, but we are making substantial progress.
6. Max out retirement – I am on pace to do this prior to filing my corporate tax return in September.  If you are a solo and are not contributing to your retirement account, you need to start thinking about how you can do that.  It’s an often-overlooked consequence of owning a solo or small firm law practice.
7. Take a one week vacation – Done.  Went to Florida in February.
8. Lose 30 pounds before Christmas – I’ve lost 21 pounds so far by running 3 times a week since March.  I’m up to over 4 miles with each run.  However, I’m having ankle pain in my right ankle (possibly due to an injury to that ankle in college).  If anyone has suggestions on how to deal with that, please leave them in the comments below!
9. Hire a virtual assistant – Haven’t done this yet, but anticipate this will happen within the next several months.
10. Attract 500 visitors per month to Legal Marketing Made Easy – Done.
11. Attain $1,000 per month from passive revenue sources – Not there yet, hopefully this will happen soon.
12. Build 10 referral relationships – For reasons discussed on the podcast, I’m not there with this yet.

Action Items

1. CLICK HERE to order the Free, 3-part video training on legal marketing and get updates on the next launch of The Academy training program.
2. Follow Legal Marketing Made Easy on Twitter
3. Post a review of the Legal Marketing Made Easy Podcast on iTunes and if you like what you heard today, then share with your friends on Twitter using this link.