Every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant started the way that you are going to have to start. They balanced a full-time RN job while building their legal nurse consulting business. Here, three CLNC consultants share exactly how they did just that.
I Got Creative with My Hours
When I began my CLNC business I was working the night shift and found working nights ideal for meeting with attorney-prospects during their normal 9-5 business day. With a creative sleep schedule I could make myself available to those attorneys literally anytime between 9:00am and 5:00pm. Then I found myself working the day shift Monday-Friday (with holidays off), a nurses dream! Working days however made it difficult to meet attorney-prospects in my region (east coast) so I switched to marketing to attorneys on the west coast, taking advantage of the three-hour time difference. When I got home at 5:00pm from my RN hospital job it was only 2:00pm in my new found marketing area, leaving me a three-hour marketing window each day.
– Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC
I Decided Rejection Wasn’t an Option
When I completed the CLNC Certification Program and returned home I remember thinking that I could do anything. I was employed full time working nights in a very busy labor and delivery unit. I knew that I needed to work my three 12-hour shifts each week, but I was also very excited to launch my CLNC business.
Because I had people in my life who questioned my ability to succeed, I knew I was really going to make this happen, but I started to doubt myself – how was I going to do it all? I took Vickie’s advice – I did one small thing for my CLNC business every day. I also made Vickie’s Promise that I was either going to go for legal nurse consulting all the way or reject it outright. Rejection was not an option.
When you complete the CLNC Certification Program you have all the tools you need to build a successful CLNC business, but the ball is in your court. It can be challenging to return home to your full-time job, family and other commitments. Only you can make success happen.
Take your CLNC business seriously and schedule time to build it the right way. Create a calendar and document everything you will do to market to attorneys. Even today, 13 years later, I still spend the first hour of my day marketing. I might send a letter of introduction to an attorney-prospect or follow-up with an attorney I’ve started a conversation with. Start with simple tasks. Reward yourself when you reach your marketing goals. This will help make all your hard work and effort worth it.
Working full time at your nursing job can be challenging when you are trying to start a legal nurse consulting business, but you can do it. I did!
– Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC
I Recruited My Family
Recruit your spouse to pitch in and cook dinner and help with laundry. My husband still checks my business mailbox, goes to the bank to deposit business checks, runs to the office supply store and even retrieves sealed information from my attorney-clients when I need assistance. If you have children, they can help with laundry, vacuuming and dusting. You can even factor such chores into their allowances as a bonus. A posted schedule helps to keep everybody on track, including yourself. Then when your CLNC business takes off, the added advantage of more vacations you can have as a family is an even greater incentive for them to be team players.
– Camille Joyner, RN, CCM, CLNC
Get creative, recruit your family and decide rejection is not an option. Soon you’ll be quitting your RN job at the hospital and balancing your full time legal nurse consulting caseload instead. 🙂
I’m Just Sayin’
P.S. Comment and share how you balance your CLNC business with a full-time nursing job.
Great tips. Thank you. I have a family member who works in IT. He is going to help me set up email notifications to all my attorneys on a monthly basis.
I needed this boost, thanks so much!