Doomsday!!!!

Be prepared for a series of brief, but still well-written posts. If you're operating off of Bryan Gardner's Garner on Language & Writing paradigm (affiliate link), these are more madman than carpenter or judge.

I have a number of reasons for this warning: 39 to be exact. That's 18 + 21.

I've just finished the remarkable book "18 Minutes Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done (affiliate link)," by Peter Bregman. It's part of my end of year study of the best and most recommended books of 2013.

Bergman recommends prioritizing the things that will bring you closer to your objectives for the year. One of my objectives for 2014 is to write more. I wanted to get the habit started before the new year.

Getting started on your new year's resolutions in the 21 days left in the year is a great way to make sure those resolutions get done in 2014. It takes 21 days to make a habit stick.

Want to lose weight? Start exercising now. Stop eating so much sugar. Drink 1 less soda each day. By January 1, you'll have the habit that will get you in shape by the end of the year.

Want to watch less TV? Stop watching 1 hour at night, and read a book or plan a vacation.

Want to get better grades or impress your client? Listen for one new thing.

Want to love your to do list? Pick one thing you absolutely WANT to get done; write it down. Do it. Every single day. If you find yourself writing the same thing dow every day, evaluate if this is a new habit and treat it as such.

The other advantage? I just spent the last week taking inventory of my objectives for 2014, and I'll continue to do that through December. As I hone those objectives to the 4 or 5 I really really want to do, I also explore why they are important to me. That gives me ownership of the objectives.

What happens if I own them? Research shows I'm about 100% more likely to get them accomplished when I do.

What are your objectives for 2014?

The Blue Book of Happiness - Back to the Future

Last month, I climbed into my DeLorean and darkened the door of my alma mater for the first time since 1998, ready to "celebrate" the 25th anniversary of my release into the wild. I was actually eager and excited to see people I hadn't seen for more than a decade.

Fortunately, I had been prepared for low turnout by Carolyn Elefant's excellent post on her own 25th Reunion. Of the 130 or so graduating members of the class, around 15 showed up for the reunion. I'd say more than 50% of our class live and work on the Wasatch Front of Utah, yet the reunion committee was only successful in shaming 4 or 5 from the area to show up.

Thanks to the great work of Professor  James Backman I was able to learn how really entrepreneurial the my law class turned out to be. (NOTE to Law Schools: find one professor or support staffer to develop a series of online "yearbooks" for each class. Professor Backman's effort is irreplaceable.) According to Professor Backman's yearbook project, easily 30% of the Class of '88 had gone to work for start-ups, or created their own companies or firms -- right out of law school. Many of them are still at it; one has formed and sold two law firms and at least one company. Of the people who were in actual attendance, only 3 could boast a 25-year record in the same firm. The rest of us had started our own solo firms or gone into business with 2 or 3 other partners.

And there we stayed. I believe it's because Law As A Practice is inherently entrepreneurial. Young lawyers bring with them the tools to create a practice that will follow them wherever they go.

I feel bound to take up Ms. Elefant's banner: Why don't law schools prepare students for the inevitable?

Like it or not, the most successful lawyers -- those who still adore what they do 25 years on -- will be the entrepreneurs. Those that don't much care for the practice will go on and form businesses, and still be entrepreneurs. Isn't it a good idea for schools that depend on the bonhomie of their alumni to provide their students with entrepreneurial training during law school?

Why Law Students and Recent Grads Are Unhappy

Okay. I know I promised to be more faithful in updating this blog. I love my work. I love that I'll be heading out to Utah to work with law students at my alma mater, the J. Reuben Clark Law School. I'll also be there to attend my 25th reunion, celebrating the fact that someone actually let me out of law school in the first place. I sort of made it a point to be as loud as possible while I was there; it assured my graduation simply because the dean and faculty wanted some peace and quiet.

As I'm preparing for the program, I came across another worthy and fun website: waitbutwhy.com. This week's post was enlightening. I'm part of the lost generation (neither baby boomer nor Gen Y) but the words rang true for me.

You can find it here.

It's a good retelling of the reasons young entrepreneurs and professionals are so frustrated right now. It's also a great explanation of why the sharp knives in my drawer were talking to me last winter. The gist is this: Where our parents and grandparents sought security in their careers, my stepchildren's generation seeks "fulfillment." Note, for example how the phrases have waned and waxed in popularity:

The phrase "secure career" started going out of fashion about the same time I started law school. But a fulfilling career has surged into the public consciousness:

While we're seeking fulfillment, we're bombarded with Facebook Friends who constantly brag about their fabulous careers and fancy offices and trips to Europe. This is discouraging.

The bloggers at Wait But Why have sage advice for those of us who have ditched security in favor of fulfilling:

1) Stay wildly ambitious.  The current world is bubbling with opportunity for an ambitious person to find flowery, fulfilling success.  The specific direction may be unclear, but it'll work itself out—just dive in somewhere.

2) Stop thinking that you're special.  The fact is, right now, you're not special.  You're another completely inexperienced young person who doesn't have all that much to offer yet.  You can become special by working really hard for a long time.

3) Ignore everyone else. Other people's grass seeming greener is no new concept, but in today's image crafting world, other people's grass looks like a glorious meadow. The truth is that everyone else is just as indecisive, self-doubting, and frustrated as you are, and if you just do your thing, you'll never have any reason to envy others.

For a change, I haven't anything to add. 

Awaken Something!

Over the weekend, I was at a memorial service for the amazing Mary Pam Kilgore, who died after a quiet but valiant battle with cancer. Before the folk singers let me hop into their rendition of Angel Band, I sat down with one of my Six Friends, Joanne Quinn Smith. Joanne is also the founder of Positively Pittsburgh Live Magazine.

"So," Joanne said, "when are you going to wake up LegalShoe? Mary Pam always wrote Planners Pointers for me and now I need content."

Inside Menopausal Me was saying: "Not yet. I'm still trying to recover from whatever depression thing laid me out last summer. I'm moving. I have to pack. No one reads my stuff anyway."

The Outside Me, the Third Child Me, said out loud: "This week. I'll do it this week. Yay."

I've been retooling LegalShoe in my head for the last year. I've been retooling me for the last 3 months. It's time to wake up LegalShoe, whether anyone reads it or not.

With the goal of helping Joanne with her content problem, LegalShoe isn't just about legal issues. It's about the problems that face lawyers and other professionals who are uniquely entrepreneurial. Problems like planning a career, building clientele, and liking a chosen path. Back breakers like depression, debt, and uncertainty.

Nobody really seems to be talking about those. It gets lonely when you're the only person who feels this way. So here are some scary statistics that make me feel less isolated (courtesy the Dave Nee Foundation).

• Depression among law students is 8-9% prior to matriculation, 27% after one semester, 34% after 2 semesters, and 40% after 3 years.
• Stress among law students is 96%, compared to 70% in med students and 43% in graduate students.
• Entering law school, law students have a psychological profile similar to that of the general public. After law school, 20-40% have a psychological dysfunction.
• Psychological distress, dissatisfaction and substance abuse that begin in law school follow many graduates into practice.
• Only half of lawyers are very satisfied or satisfied with their work.
• Chronic stress can trigger the onset of clinical depression.
• Lawyers are the most frequently depressed occupational group in the US.
• Lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from depression than non-lawyers.
• Depression and anxiety is cited by 26% of all lawyers who seek counseling.
• 15% of people with clinical depression commit suicide.
• Lawyers rank 5th in incidence of suicide by occupation.
• 19% of lawyers suffer from statistically significant elevated levels of depression, according to a survey conducted on lawyers in Washington.
• Over 25% of North Carolina lawyers experience physical symptoms of extreme anxiety at least three times per month during the year.
• 37% of North Carolina lawyers suffer from depression.
• 11% of North Carolina lawyers suffer from suicide ideation.

Entrepreneurs aren't immune either. Aaron Schwartz suffered suicidal depression and ultimately hanged himself in the face of a federal investigation over downloading documents from the MIT JSTOR library. Ecomom's Jody Sherman, Diaspora's Ilya Zhitomirskiy  and more anonymous entrepreneurs have lost their fight with depression. Sadly, LegalShoe's research department couldn't find any hard statistics for entrepreneurs. Perhaps it's because "entrepreneur" isn't exactly a profession. Oh, and most entrepreneurs don't like to talk about it.

One entrepreneur is doing a noble work to get other entrepreneurs to talk about their depression. Check out Jonathan Malkin's interviews and articles here. They are fascinating, and super helpful.

Last summer, Ben Horowitz called entrepreneurship "The Struggle." You can read that post here. It's a familiar manifesto.

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Farragut actually said: Damn the torpedoes!..Go ahead,  full speed

I'm invoking Admiral Farragut for a reason.


My syndicator, PositivelyPittsburgLiveMagazine.com, or PPLMagLive, reached 2.5 million page views during THIS YEAR. 


By reading this blog, you've contributed to that!


This syndication page routinely gets 62,000 views a month, with a 11.6 % monthly growth average.


This is a big deal for Joanne Quinn-Smith, who founded the online magazine five years ago. It's a portal for radio shows, tv channels, and just about everything you could want from the New Media. It wasn't even a domain name five years ago.


Her "damn the torpedoes" attitude has inspired literally millions. 


And Joanne has turned into the Goddess of New Media. Her course, Web 2.0 Gorilla Branding, and her Techno Granny talk shows are remarkable. Her patience as a mentor is unparalleled, since she is my mentor and hasn't kicked me to the curb yet. She's supported or helped dozens of entrepreneurs get on their feet -- including me.

Now, Joanne has a new project: to create the world's biggest hug!


Full disclosure: I am a sponsor of the Hug-A-Thon. For a good reason - who DOESN'T like a hug? See below for ways you can help.


Anyway, back to the topic at hand.


Joanne has been an entrepreneur and entertainer for as long as I've been alive. She's the only one who can do her story justice, but she's started and lost more businesses than my granddaughter has unicorns. And that's a lot.


She started PPLMagLive 5 years ago when her limousine business floated down the Ohio River during Hurricane Ivan. A grandmother starting a business about Web Technology on the Web is unusual now, but in 2007 it was unheard of. But she persisted. And she made it work. 


And now she wants to say "thanks" to her hometown.

 The first, annual Hug-a-Thon Pittsburgh™ Day brings local, regional, and national exposure and recognition for the City of Pittsburgh and to four, non-profit organizations—Cancer Caring Center, Sickle Cell Society, Inc., Pittsburgh Passion’s Passion for Life Foundation, and Operation Troop Appreciation. A number of activities during 2012 will culminate in a major event on September 6, 2012. The places to get hugs are tentatively scheduled at the City County Building, Market Square, Katz Plaza, and underneath Macy’s Clock from 2:30 to 5:00 PM.

You can "LIKE" the Hug-A-Thon on Facebook for the best information. 

But funding for a non-profit project like this doesn't come easy. A Hug-A-Thon needs huggers and funding for silly legal things like insurance and venues. If you can't actually spare a hug, sponsor the event and the charities it supports. If you have any ability to manage an Indie-Go-Go or Kickstarter campaign, contact the program or leave a comment on this blog. 


Big hugs to Joanne and her team at PPL and the Hug-A-Thon.

Rule Your Domain: the importance of choosing carefully in 5 reasons flat

You want to pick a domain name. Someone told you it was important to have a Web site. Cool. welcome to the late 20th century!

But what domain? Foremost, you should always own your name and any variations. You should own your business name. You should have a tagline, and own that. You should own all of the suffixes:.co,.mobi,.com,.net, and so forth for all of your domain names.

"So what do I call it?" you ask. Don't just pick anything that's available or funny.

Here are five reasons why your domain name can be one of the most important business decisions you make:

1. It tells potential customers you understand a problem they have.
2. It tells potential customers that you, and only you, can solve their problems.
3. It tells potential customers what kind of audience you help.
4. It solidifies your brand in potential customers' heads.
5. It's your virtual storefront.

You may have noticed something: the only part of that list that concerns you is the last item.

Now, before you even start, memorize these rules.

·     

RULE 1

RULE II

Finally, imprint this in your marketing DNA:

THE ONE RULE TO RULE THEM ALL

Your domain name needs to instantly position you as someone who a) cares about your potential client's problems and b) can SOLVE them. 

If you're serious about a domain name, you need to see it as an extension of your marketing, and you need recognize that this will be your first introduction to your potential clientele.

Ask yourself: 

What's the primary objective for my domain name? 

Do you want new clients? Do you want to announce a new blog or build a tribe of attorneys who will recommend you? Do you want to get people excited about a new book?

For example, I want people to know about my upcoming book, DOMINATE: How Smart Lawyers Crush Their Competition. I want to reserve a domain and create a place where people can learn about the book.

Do I use the title, or do I use something that will inform about the book? How about DominateHow2CrushCompetition (title)? Or do I use YouCanCrushYourCompetition (goal of the book)? I have a friend whose website is icanmakeyourich. He's a marketer. That gets people's attention.

Then ask yourself:

What's my target population (T-POP)?

Let's assume you're an estate planning attorney.  Your T-POP is easy: people who want estate planning. 

• But what age? 
• Parents of young children? 
• A couple where one or both travel for work? 
• Sandwich generation caregivers? 
• Retirees who have just now realized that they really need to do something?
• Does your T-POP know what "estate planning" is?

Your domain name has to be memorable and appeal to the tribe you want. That will only work if you address your T-POP's needs and problems.

Choose a name that will speak to those needs and problems. For example, estate-planning-sucks.com might really appeal to GenX and millennials, because it's funny and it says how they feel about writing a will. But your potential boomer clients could be really offended by it. They may agree that it does, but the phrase has a different meaning for them. Always use the right language for the right T-POP.

It's like wearing a really nice suit to court as opposed to a t-shirt that says "They killed Kenny!" I saw this at the store the other day. Ouch - mainly because the picture was stretched across the guy's ample belly.

Say you want your domain name to convince new college graduates or new parents that they need estate planning. Numbers and letters will work because the domain name will look like a text message - wills4u or plnurfutr. That's how millennials communicate, and they'll remember the site and assume you speak their language.

Something like "myestateplanningattorney" works for aging boomers, and perhaps the sandwich generation because it's more formal and gives them the sense of ownership and belonging. I quibble with this one because it doesn't tell the client anything about your practice. Neither does the name of your firm or business. You want to reassure this T-POP that writing a will or setting up a trust does not mean they will die or lose their independence.

Remember it's about your T-POP and their needs and problems. Address issues that keep them awake about not having a will, or planning for their future, or leaving a legacy.

Why not do something with pieces of estate planning that your desired tribe will recognize? Wills are the most obvious thing, although "Trusts" will appeal to certain crowd too. "Avoiding probate" will appeal to caregivers. Words like "protect" and "future" and "generations" appeal to retirees.

It's important not to simply think of some clever names and throw them up to see what sticks. Go to the Google keyword tool and check out what people are looking for. See which proposed domain gets the most hits and go from there.

Remember your PO and T-POP and your domain will be your most valuable asset.

Cloudfundraising for Lawyers: How to Confuse a Counsel

BoingBoing.net brings us this week's education in cloudfunding. I have long thought to review the legal and ethical mechanics of the thing ever since President Obama signed the cloudfunding provisions of the JOBS Act. He did this over strenuous objections from the SEC, which is new in and of itself. BoingBoinb beat me to it, and reality is stranger than any hypothetical I could have created to illustrate the possibilities of cloudfunding.

The entire story is posted here.

It sort of reminds of the Flying Circus sketch, "How to Confuse a Cat."

Long story short, FunnyJunk and The Oatmeal are sort of the Hatfields and McCoys of the create-and-repost world of the internet. The thing started when The Oatmeal claimed FunnyJunk stole its original comics, reposted, and monetized them. The Oatmeal produces original content that's actually pretty good.

In a gesture of bonhommie, the owner of FunnyJunk to some of the stolen material down. Nice.

If you're The Oatmeal, all done and settled, right? Wrong.

Enter Charles Carreon, the litigator who successfully litigated the sex.com case. For Internet geeks like me, this is the case that made website domains personal property. So, apparently, he knows a thing or two about shenanigans on the internet.

Carreon is no slouch. He sent a demand letter to TheOatmeal, requesting damages for defamation because TheOatmeal's post accused FunnyJunk of copyright violation, which can - under certain circumstances - be a criminal offense. Oh, and that TheOatmeal had defamed FunnyJunk. When a defendant defames a claimant by accusing them of a criminal act, that's Defamation Per Se. For such defamation, FunnyJunk required $20,000. If it was not paid, FunnyJunk and its incredibly successful internet lawyer would take TheOatmeal.com to federal court.

Matt Inman, TheOatmeal's founder, responded in kind, sort of, by proposing that any $20,000 paid in response to the letter should go to cancer research. Inman then started a fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo to get the $20,000 for cancer. Inman raised the $20,000 in 64 minutes. To date the campaign has raised $142,000.

Carreon has filed a complaint with the crowdfunding site, asserting that the campaign violates IndiGoGo's standards. IndiGoGo remains silent on the matter, but Carreon is confused, according to an MSNBC article:

"I really did not expect that he would marshal an army of people who would besiege my website and send me a string of obscene emails," [Carreon] says. ... "It's an education in the power of mob psychology and the Internet," Carreon told [the reporter].

Now I don't post this to mock FunnyJunk or it's attorney. They're doing that job very well themselves. The true lesson here is not the power of the Internet or mob psychology. 

Rather, lawyers should be aware of the power of crowdfunding and educate themselves - there is a powerful new game out there, and it's a frontier worth exploring.