LegalTypistnot listed as “VA” in ABA article on virtual “paralegals”/”assistants” http://tinyurl.com/m5u4hxWhat is up with that?! Can’t google the words “legal virtual assistant” or “virtual legal assistant” and not see LegalTypist… any of my ABA contacts want to inquire or get me added, feel free!
What is your tech comfort level? Be objective and use a scale of 1-10 with 10 being uber geek. I recommend if you don’t rate yourself a solid 6.5, find a local consultant. Use a professional well rooted in your community, preferably with experience in your industry. You may pay a bit for their knowledge, but in turn save yourself hours of research and the cost of testing, trial and error, or worse.
Less is best. Think about it, each new piece of equipment also ads cables/chargers, integration/software and care (not to mention upkeep and initial cost). So if you can perform five functions with one piece of physical equipment, why use three?
It’s not the gadget – it’s how you expect to use it. Think about how you prefer to work, then match your preference (along with tech comfort level) to the proper personal mobile device.
How much physical paper do you have to handle? Paper impedes mobility. You need to get it digital the question is at what point. For instance, using unified messaging will turn faxes to .pdf and your personal mobile device’s camera can capture business cards.
Mobility is all in the set up. You have to match how you “work” to mobility and not conform yourself to a one size fits all approach. For instance, I’m a lifelong Palm girl - but I don’t bash any other personal mobile device. My motto is - if it works for you…
Do it right and you will be free of the constraints of having to be in a certain physical location in order to process the information and data which is your business/life.
Law.com CLE center is having a blow out sale on their State and Premium bundles.
Receive 60% off of the regular price of $549 for one year of access to the New York State CLE bundle - which includes the required 4 hours of ethics or professionalism. You must use Promo/Coupon code: TWO60 at check out to receive the super discount and you MUST HURRY! The sale ends at 11:59 ET tonight (June 30).
I keep seeing all kinds of lists floating around these days. Lists of lawyers, lists of paralegals, lists of VAs on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook. All recommending those you should take the time out of your life to locate and follow, connect and friend.
Trouble is, it takes a lot of time to do such things and I keep seeing names on those lists that make me shake my head. A list only as good as those who are on it and not one of the lists I have seen published would I recommend to my peeps. Why?
Many of the “legal” lists for twitter appear to have on them a few of those who, by their very own actions (and probably in my sole opinion) are spammers. So, what do I mean by spam? I mean these recommended peeps publish unsolicited promotions about their own for profit endeavors far more than anything of value to those taking the time to follow their digital doings. In other words, they promote themselves. ALL THE TIME.
Others, while not spammers, don’t publish very often or when they do, they do so in huge bursts clogging their follower’s twitter streams - yuck! (FYI, I’m working on my second Twitter ebook: Twitter Etiquette and you can download my primer - Twitter 101 - How to Set Up An Account On Twitter from http://www.legaltypist.com/twitter.)
Anyway… since I have no lists I’m comfortable RT’ing, I figured let me give it a go and see if I could not find 20 peeps I would recommend to anyone interested in “legal”. FYI, it was much harder and took much longer than I anticipated.
Here’s @legaltypist’s list of 20+ “legal” peeps you should follow on twitter:
@taxgirl - attorney and tax pro; always interesting tweets
@JeenaBelil - really nice attorney who’s on LI with me
@bschorr - not an attorney - smart IT tech/Outlook guy located in Hawaii
@matthomann - attorney who travels the US helping make firms profitable
@nikiblack - attorney/blogger/great sharer of interesting information
@bren924 - in house law firm IT admin who reminds me why I’m happy I’m virtual
@RossRunkel - law professor and tweeter of interesting legally stuff
@jayshep - employer’s lawyer on a mission to “make lawyers suck less”
@mariloutheclerk - name says it all and every practice needs her (or someone like her).
+ @lilyhill - although her tweets are now silenced, her contribution to twitter and the legal industry through it gives @lilyhill a permanent spot on my list of legal peeps on twitter.
There it is. Not a spammer or marketer among them!
When you are in business for yourself, especially one that is conducted online, you’ll find there are a number of different things for you to learn about that can save you time and make you money. Locating and hiring an assistant, is by far one of the more exciting things to discover and put to use in your business.
All too common is the business owner who feels they have to do everything themselves in order for things to go smoothly. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! In case you’re curious about why so many business owners are singing the praises of outsourcing, keep reading to see just five of the many benefits hiring an assistant can bring you and your business:
More Value for Your Time
When you own a business, one of the most important things to remember is how much your time is really worth. When you think about the dull or repetitive administrative duties that you are doing, you’ll find this work actually detracts you from the higher paying or the revenue generating tasks.
When you delegate to an assistant, you’ll pay someone else to take care of those details, while you give attention to the more important responsibilities of servicing and growing your client base. Win, win, win… no more boring billing or hanging on the line all afternoon trying to get to technical support for something; more time to invest in networking and getting the word out about yourself and your business; more time to focus on your existing clients, in turn, fostering more business through word of mouth and/or referrals.
Let’s face it - if you can hire someone who is responsive and never seems disorganized vs. someone who is always busy and never has the time to call you back - who would you give more referrals/business to?
Saving Resources
Think about everything that goes into the tasks that you would delegate. This will range from things like your time and space to costs such as Internet and software. After awhile all of these costs add up. For instance, graphics software can get quite expensive.
If you are outsourcing an activity, you get more than just the task itself out of the way. You also get someone who specializes in areas of your business that you may not know quite as well or have no desire to learn. Your assistant will already have the tools, knowledge and software needed to complete such assignments. Depending on the project, this can not only save you money, but the time to learn how to manipulate complicated software or put a process in place for you to follow.
Going to the Experts
The tasks you are delegating might be ones that you have no desire to learn about, whether they are troubleshooting, appointment setting, website design and maintenance or something else. By handing the work over to an expert who enjoys and makes it their business to know these things, you’ll be able to take advantage of their knowledge in the area without having to learn it yourself. This will give your customers or clients more than you could possibly give them yourself.
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When you delegate, you will soon realize that you are in a great place when it comes to getting more involved with your business. You will be able to expand and provide everything your clients need. Outsourcing frees you up to try new things with your business, learn more and experience new aspects of your industry.
Accountability
When you delegate, you will have a contract with the person or company you are working with. By having someone else who is depending on work from you, you are more apt to stay ahead of the game by planning better and making sure that you’re tasks are getting completed as well.
When you first begin learning about and implementing outsourcing techniques within your business, you’ll find out those boring or repetitive tasks can easily be handed off to someone who enjoys doing them. This will allow you, as the business’ owner, to free up more time to concentrate on more important aspects of your business such as product creation, advertising, networking and other marketing practices.
These are the things that will help your business to grow even more profitable.
