Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Please follow me at my new location

My blog has moved and is now integrated into my website, http://www.caseconsultant.com/blog.

Parts II and III of "Tuning up and toning down your website presence" are there, and more posts are on the way.


See you there.
Alice

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tuning up and toning down your website presence - Part One


This blog entry (Part One) is not about choosing the technical format of your website...html vs php vs flash…this blog is about presenting yourself in a professional manner to those who would contract for your services.

When I launched my first website, I believed that merely making my presence known would be the catalyst my business needed.

That was four years and four websites ago. I have learned that word-of-mouth trumps any form of print advertising. The odds of someone stumbling onto a website called elizabethcrownmorgan.com are slim, but if an attorney hears about Elizabeth’s services, he will want to know more about her. For those that know you, or have heard of you, a website presence is invaluable.

If you need a reason to slow your rush into the internet marketplace, this is it: invariably, you will later groan at something you have written and want to change it. It is really quite simple. I may not know how to write the next great novel, but I certainly know how to recognize it when it comes across my desk.

Your goal is to have your website represent you in a professional manner. Concurrently, you want visitors to:

• Remain on the site for an extended period to read your information
• Click through the pages of your site to have a full understanding of your services
• Understand your professional goals and objectives
• Return for updated information on a regular basis
• Recommend that others visit the site

General Recommendations

I. Graphics make the first impression, but if those Google image downloads appear on other sites, using them will not product-differentiate you from other legal nurse consultants.

There are resources for making your website look professional and aesthetically pleasing.

I highly recommend istockphoto.com. There, you will literally find thousands of professional photographs that touch every concept in marketing. You can search by profession, city, theme, color – the choices are extensive. It is a painless way to make your site unique. Choose the smallest and least expensive size since the small .jpg’s are perfectly adequate for site usage.

II. Visit the websites of large law firms. Most are tasteful and understated, reflecting the serious business of hiring legal representation. This is the tone to strive for – elegance and sincerity. I realize as I say this that there are many who would disagree with me.

But this is my blog. Stay tuned for Part II.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Just what kind of attorney are you working with?

This is a question that we as legal nurse consultants should ask ourselves when we embark on a new attorney-client relationship. I am not referring to the attorney’s area of specialization or their orientation towards defense or claimant work. I am speaking about their business and personal preferences, their personality, their quirks. Despite having your own (dare I say strong) personality, you must adapt yourself to the communication and business style of your client.

I have a good relationship with all of my attorneys and a close relationship with a select few who share anecdotes, snippets of family life, do not begin emails with salutations nor end them with good wishes. We save our grammar and formatting skills for professional reports and forgive the incomplete sentence, lack of capitalization and generally casual style of email. When I consult on their cases, there is little if any direction given to me. The records appear as if by magic, sometimes with a dolly. We have a telephone conversation; they are open about their knowledge of the case, but often hold back their own impressions until they have mine.

There are also those attorneys who are very formal. You will recognize them immediately by their communication style and you should respond to them in the manner they address you. If their emails address you by title, respond accordingly and do not dangle your participle. These people may have a sense of humor but they are not ready to share it with you.

They often have a very specific idea of what they want from your reports. They may want a detailed chronology and your personal opinion, but they may not want to share it with colleagues, experts, or their own client. They may want a second chronology that does not have your name on that report, or your opinion in that author's column. They want to keep you as their private resource and they want the opinions of others to be based on clinical facts, not your intuition or experience. They may not want anyone to know you exist. This is where software like Casemap truly shines, by the way. This type of attorney is not for the nurse who uses MS Word for tables.

There are also those attorneys who simply do not know what they want. This may be a case that falls outside their comfort zone. They will call you and ask you how to proceed with experts, or if you think their reasoning is sound, and they are generally open to input. While this may stroke your ego, it is the trickiest case to manage because you cannot cross the line between nursing and the law. Their neediness rapidly translates into blame if events do not proceed as expected.

Be comfortable with yourself, and never accept demeaning or verbally abusive behavior. But...you must also put aside your ego for your attorney-client. I can tell you that this is a challenge for most nurses. We are an opinionated bunch and our opinion is what gives us value. Nonetheless, remember that no matter how close your affiliation with an attorney may become, it is first and foremost a business relationship. Their chief goal is to advise and satisfy their own client. Your primary assignment as a legal nurse consultant is to help them achieve that goal by asking them what kind of report, what kind of information, and what type of presentation they expect of you. And then deliver.