by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Sep 20, 2020 | (Re)Launch, 90 Day Known Expert
Today we explore maybe the hardest and most important principle to understand for a would-be expert: positioning. David Baker says it’s what you do and who you do it for, which is a fine definition, but awfully services-oriented. That kind of elevator pitch...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Sep 19, 2020 | (Re)Launch, 90 Day Known Expert
Your role as an expert is not to own a chunk of specialized knowledge and charge for that scarcity; your job is to help people make decisions. That may be the most important mindset shift of this 90 day exercise. Humans Make Decisions Much has been made of robots...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Sep 18, 2020 | (Re)Launch, 90 Day Known Expert
What do you do if the smartest person in the room is the room? David Weinberger asked this question in his book Too Big to Know. What he meant was that the technology in the room—everything from the computer to the light switch—is connected to the network. When you...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Sep 17, 2020 | (Re)Launch, 90 Day Known Expert
After I wrote Lawyer Forward—a book that argues explicitly for more specialization and collaboration—I got a fair bit of pushback. “I don’t want to specialize. I’ll get so bored.” Or, “I can’t specialize where I live. I have to take...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Sep 16, 2020 | (Re)Launch, 90 Day Known Expert
Are you a lawyer who wants to—ya know—lawyer? It’s easy to feel like there’s no place for you in the future of law, especially if you’re a solo. When you look for advice on building a law firm, often you only see information on topics like hiring a...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Oct 8, 2018 | (Re)Launch
Clio’s 2018 Cloud Conference did so many things right. The community they’ve built really is impressive, both in terms of the quality of attorneys and the size of the tribe. You’ll see many positive reviews of the conference this week, and every one...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Jul 16, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I remember my oldest sister’s 16th birthday party. We’d packed our long Arlington, Texas driveway with activities like ping pong and foosball. We drank soda (a rare treat) and ate taco boats (taco salad packed into banana split trays my mom picked up from the local...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | May 25, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I wonder if we realize how far behind we are. Here’s what mature marketers are figuring out: how to create custom experiences that are perfectly-timed. Here’s what lawyers are figuring out: how to write a blog post. We’re so screwed. (This was a rant on the phone...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Apr 9, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I didn’t have a great weekend. The pressure got to me, and I had to leave the house for a while. I could feel depression turning into anger and I didn’t want to take it out on the kids, so I left. Sometimes building a law practice really sucks. The grind...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Apr 2, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I want to share with you an exchange I just had with a contract employee. I hope it will change the way you think about your writing. First, Brief Background I don’t intend to write every word of the content my firm creates. That’s an inefficient use of my...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 23, 2018 | (Re)Launch
One thing I’ve been talking with #lawtwitter about recently is the difference between a freelancer and a solopreneur. Dan Lear of Avvo and I have been batting around a couple of podcasts with marketing genius Seth Godin on the subject. Let me quote from him to give a...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 13, 2018 | (Re)Launch
The one problem that really confronts [lawyers] in the 21st century is [lawyers themselves]. I’m taking a little liberty with a quote from behavioral scientist Angela Duckworth there. She talked about humans generally, and lawyers are more or less humans, so it...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 12, 2018 | (Re)Launch
Imagine you’re an alien from a distant star. After a forceful takeover, you go to the local grocer for a bite and end up in the cereal aisle. You stare at all of the new options for a long, long time. How the heck do you choose which cereal box to take home? In short,...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 7, 2018 | (Re)Launch
This blog, honestly, is a little self-indulgent. It’s me. To use the words of Donald Miller in the great book Building a StoryBrand, I’m making myself the hero. The center. I’m the protagonist, and that makes me cringe. Particularly because I just...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 5, 2018 | (Re)Launch
John Grant can be kind of a jerk. Not because he’s a mean-spirited person, but because he’s not all that invested in my assumptions. He knows I like my assumptions, but he doesn’t care. Let me tell you about one assumption he had no particular...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 2, 2018 | (Re)Launch
Yesterday I gave you a rant about why I think John Grant is so great. But I wasn’t very specific. Today let me give you a window into what we accomplished together. Design If you’ve been around me at all, you know I have a bit of a mantra, stolen from the...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Mar 1, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I have four homeschooled kids right now. Often, when I want to discuss an issue with them, I use the Socratic method. I’m nicer about it than the dude from Paper Chase, but it still drives them crazy. My kids call it “melting brains.” It definitely...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Feb 27, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I’ve mentioned before that I’d rather not write boring posts. I’m inclined to educate clients, but not to regurgitate what is already on the web. The only problem, of course, is that clients have questions and expect the Google Machine to answer...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Feb 26, 2018 | (Re)Launch
I’ve added staff before, which has rarely gone well. And it was entirely my fault. During my stint in a partnership, we tried our hand at hiring for different roles. We brought in an office assistant, an associate attorney, and a marketing person. Every person...
by Mike Whelan, Jr. | Feb 23, 2018 | (Re)Launch
Taxes are the worst. When you own a small business, you begin to appreciate everything an employer has to do with regards to your taxes. Unlike my first go round, for this (re)launch I want to be very deliberate about how I handle my taxes. Let me just point you...
