I was in the gym working out with my trainer Jerome this morning, and after finishing my bench press, Jerome exclaimed “We did it!” That cracked me up and I joked “We? I’m the one moving that weight and hey, I don’t see you sweating.” He came right back at me with, “But I was right there with you, Vickie. I’ve got your back so you can concentrate on feeling strong.”

I like to think I’m your “Jerome.” Whether you’re just starting your legal nurse consulting business or simply trying to take your CLNC^® business to the next level, think of me as your trainer. While you’re concentrating on the work ahead, I’ll be right there with you. When you read my blog, stay connected on Facebook or receive my mentoring advice, remember the “we” in your efforts. Yes, I’m right there watching your back and if you hang with me, the CLNC^® mentors and your CLNC^® peers in the NACLNC^® Association I promise you’ll always feel stronger.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share what makes you feel stronger.

In honor of my favorite quote by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “Well-behaved women rarely make history”, my New Year’s resolution for 2012 is to be less well-behaved.

Whether it’s in an interview, a CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar or an individual mentoring session, you’re going to see more of the real Vickie in 2012. I’m going to let go and tell it like it is and in so doing, I hope to inspire you to realize your own best self as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Know that I remain in your service – it’s just going to be service a little more “Vickie style.” While mentoring one of you it hit me that I was holding back to spare your feelings. I owe you an apology. I not only wasted my time; I wasted yours too. I hung up the phone and vowed in 2012 to bring more of the realistic, optimistic, buck-up Vickie that my staff, friends and family know and many (or some) days love. This is the style that’s served me for 30 years in my legal nurse consulting business and now it’s time to crank it up a notch for you and your CLNC^® businesses. Here’s to being less well behaved in 2012.

Success is Inside!

P.S. Go ahead, comment and tell me what you really think.

Today when I was working out with my trainer, it seemed I was doing everything wrong. It didn’t matter if I was doing a chest-press, a squat or even lying flat on my back in exhaustion – he was correcting me. This could have had something to do with my late night at the Houston Rodeo’s Keith Urban concert (or not).

Jerome is a perfect specimen of muscle who has control over every part of his anatomy. He’ll tell me to fully engage my lat muscles and I’m thinking I’m a nurse and I didn’t know the lats went that deep. Somehow he coaches me until, yes, I find them and yes, I actually engage them.

Today he was relentless. “Vickie, pin those shoulder blades to the bench. Vickie, contract your gluts. Vickie, engage your ADs. Vickie, hold that plank for a minute longer.” For 60 minutes he was instructing, critiquing and continuously driving home the message. I was getting so tired of hearing my name called out that I finally broke down and said “Jerome, call your wife and tell her Vickie said don’t come home tonight, it’s not going to be pretty.” Jerome laughed and replied, “Vickie you are so funny. Now pull those shoulder blades down and back like I told you.”

When we want to do something right, we find a coach or mentor to instruct, critique and drive us no matter how tired we get. The best athletes on the planet have coaches for a reason. The next time a CLNC^® Mentor critiques you and drives home a message, sit up, pay attention and get to work. Your CLNC^® business depends on it.

Success Is Inside!

In my 28 years of legal nurse consulting education, I have personally mentored thousands of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants and CLNC^® graduates. After all these years, I still love to mentor. I think it’s in my DNA and I like knowing that the advice I’m giving doesn’t come from a textbook or some other expert. I’ve lived it for 28 years and I always pride myself on the fact that my advice is real and grounded – there’s no fluff. Of all the mentors at Vickie Milazzo Institute, I’m probably the toughest. I’ve always lived a “buck-up” lifestyle and don’t like it when a person makes excuses for why they can’t do what they know they have to do to succeed.

I’m also never afraid to say I don’t know or that I have to research a question (a skill I learned from working with attorneys). What I want you to know is that my advice is only as good as your willingness to receive it and do something with it.

Here are the true Hollywood stories of two different nurses and their very different reactions to my mentoring. The first is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who’s been in business for 10 years. He asked me to critique an audio recording promo he created for his attorney-prospects. When I communicated my input, I started by saying that I wasn’t sure if he wanted to re-record the promo, but that my feedback would require him to do so. His response was, “Absolutely, I’ll do it!” and I know he will.

The other is a student with zero years of experience. She has bombarded me and other CLNC^® mentors with question after question, all without putting any of it into practice. With every piece of advice offered, she instantly jumps in to say why the advice is wrong for her or just won’t work. Rather than becoming a “Successful CLNC^® Consultant,” she’s become an expert in what won’t work, never having tried to find out what will work. She’s imprisoned inside a cage of her own making. She has the tools to break out but won’t put them to use.

I have a dear friend who’s 79 years old. She’s embracing technology but always sends me text messages written in ALL CAPS. It’s harmless to me, and I don’t have the heart to correct to tell her she’s SHOUTING. But, when I’m working with a CLNC^® graduate or student, I feel it’s my obligation to correct their behavior and to tell them even those things they might not want to hear. It’s in my DNA to be honest and hopefully, it’s in your DNA to listen to my advice.

If I can borrow and paraphrase Danny DeVito’s great line from the movie, War of the Roses, “when someone who gets paid $400/hour wants to give you free advice, you should listen.” When you’ve asked advice from an expert, whether you’re paying for it or not, you should be ready to listen. It doesn’t mean you should blindly follow it. I’ve gotten advice from high-powered business experts that was clearly wrong for me, but I at least considered it before rejecting it outright.

When you ask an expert’s advice you don’t have to heed it, but here’s what I do recommend: use your own mind to decide your final course, but first receive the expert’s advice with openness and curiosity. Consider the experience of the person giving you the advice. Contrary to what the amateurs like to think, all opinions are not created equal. Look at the qualities and qualifications of the person giving you the advice. Have they ever run a successful business? Are they in business at all or are they living off someone else’s coattails?

If the advice is from a credible expert, ask yourself why you are resisting that advice. Is it because the advice is not a right fit for you? Or, are you rejecting it because it will require you to stretch yourself or do something inconvenient or outside the comfort zone you’ve built around yourself?

There’s an old joke about a woman who prayed every night asking to win the lottery. One day her prayer was answered by a voice telling her she needed first to buy a lottery ticket. You can get all the advice in the world, but until you put it into use, literally buy a ticket for the ride to success, or as I like to say, put some skin into the game, advice will be just that – advice. The only way you’ll learn whether it was good or bad is to take the advice and take action.

Remember, we are not defined by our past. We are not defined by our future. We are only defined by this very moment and what we do with it. Take my advice on this.

Success Is Inside!

Everyone knows that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant knows at least one CLNC^® consultant, if not more. If you’ve attended one of our CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminars, you’ve made lifelong CLNC^® friends. When you attend the NACLNC^® Annual Conference, you reconnect with CLNC^® consultants from all over the country. But all too often you only do it for those short periods of time. Not everyone capitalizes on their connections to make a strong chain or develop a mini-network.

In this information/communication-driven world of Facebook^®, Twitter^®, Skype^® and the Internet, the only thing holding you back is the lack of a plan. Given the myriad ways we can communicate these days there is nothing, and I mean nothing, stopping any Certified Legal Nurse Consultant from setting up their own CLNC^® Connection Chain (or “CCC” for short).

Set up your CCC in 5 easy steps:

1. Use Darwinian Selection. From your certified, but not certifiable, colleagues pick 5-8 other CLNC^® consultants you respect, who have different specialties than your own and who are in different parts of the country. This is Link 1 in your CCC.
2. Facebook’em Danno. Next, set up your own private group on Facebook and send an invite to each of the Certified Legal Nurse Consultants you’ve identified and ask them to join your group. You now have the second link in your CCC, a place where you and the CLNC^® members of your group can communicate freely and network with each other that doesn’t require any special skill. Remember to set your privacy settings to keep others from seeing your group’s discussions. CCC Link 2 is complete.
3. Get Yourself a Glam-Cam. Your next step is to go out and spend less than $60 and buy a USB web cam with embedded microphone for your computer (unless you’re lucky enough to have an Apple^® laptop or iMac with one built in). Install the camera. (Tom installed mine and claims it’s so simple even a caveman can do it.) Then sign up for the free version of Skype. This will allow you to have weekly video conferences in pairs or in groups with your CCC members. It’s much more fun than telephone conferences and much more rewarding in terms of retying the connections with the other CCCers. You can also use this to check in with your hi-tech attorney-clients. Link 3 checked off.
4. Tweet Like a Tweety-Bird. Join Twitter but be sure to protect your “tweets.” Protecting your tweets allows only those Twitter members you specifically approve to see your tweets. You can still follow Ashton Kutcher, but your tweets will only be seen by those you approve to view them. Use the initiation function of Twitter to send email invitations to your list of CLNC^® colleagues. If you have a texting plan for your smart phone, turn on the mobile tweets function of Twitter and select only those people in your group to update you via cell phone. You can read the rest of the twitterers using Tweetdeck or on Twitter. This way you’ll get texts of important updates from your CCC. Use Twitter to schedule your Skype calls, update your CCC on new attorney-clients or just to tell them what you’re doing. Link 4 in place.
5. Meet Up to Keep Up. When you attend the NACLNC^® Annual Conference, plan on flying in at least two days early to brainstorm with your CCC members. You’ll want to meet before the conference to get your face-to-face time in with your CCC members. Focus on learning from your group and grab new ideas for your legal nurse consulting business so you can rock back and enjoy the conference. Link 5 done and your CLNC^® Connection Chain is ready to pay off big!

Now put your CLNC^® Connection Chain to use. Set accountable and measurable objectives, and share them with your CLNC^® chain members. When you complete an objective, send out a tweet. Schedule at least two Skype calls a month so that everyone can update each other on the steps they’ve taken towards their accountable objectives. Research shows that being accountable to others for the action steps in your strategic plan help you implement them. Celebrate each others’ successes and brainstorm over what went well and what didn’t. This is your private brain trust, exclusive board of directors and personal planning committee – make use of them!

A CLNC^® Connection Chain is a great way to make sure your legal nurse consulting business succeeds. Here’s my challenge to Certified Legal Nurse Consultants – set up your own CCC and put it to the test for 60 days. I’ll be waiting to hear from you when you share with all of us how your CCC has helped your legal nurse consulting business.

Success Is Inside!

Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success. That’s right – take it. Don’t just wait for legendary success to happen to you.

You’re probably wondering: “Okay Vickie, how does someone just take what they want? Especially legendary success?” Easy. To have legendary success, you just have to be legendary. Likewise, to be legendary, you have to act legendary. So how do you act legendary?

First, ask yourself what would a CLNC^® legend look like?

How would they walk?
How would they talk to attorneys?
What would their marketing consist of?
What would their work product be?

And most importantly – what would you look like if you were a CLNC^® legend?
Even if to start, you’re only a legend in your own mind. Johnny Cash knew he was a legend long before anyone else knew.

Once you convince yourself that you’re a legend, and really believe it, you’ll find it easy to convince your attorney-prospects that you are indeed legendary. When you go to the attorney’s office, you’ll carry yourself with legendary confidence. You’ll stand apart from the crowd. Soon you’ll be walking out with more cases than you ever imagined.

People associate legendary with successful and so once attorneys perceive you as legendary, they assume you are successful and want you on their team. The more success you have, the more success you will have. That sounds unfair, but it’s true. Attorneys want to win so they want to hang with winners.

Once you’ve landed the attorney as a client, how do you prove that you are authentic – that you are indeed legendary? By being better today than you were yesterday. By being stronger and swifter each day. The same static behaviors day after day and year after year won’t cut it. Remember the definition of insanity? Doing the same behavior over and over again and expecting different results? To get different results, you need to change your behavior. In fact, just to get the same results year after year, you have to change your behavior.

That’s why I love what Geoff Colvin says in his book Talent Is Overrated.
His position is that high achievers are not just talented (i.e. have an inborn ability) – they might not be talented at all.

So what trumps talent? What separates highly successful entrepreneurs from the rest of the pack? Repetitive, focused and deliberate practice designed to specifically improve performance.

Now, if that sounds like hard work – it is. If you’ve ever watched American Idol or Dancing with the Stars you know it’s not always the most talented who advance. It’s the one who puts on the best show who wins. And to put on the best show requires repetitive, focused and deliberate practice.

Another distinction of people who are legendary – they are able to assess for themselves how they’re doing. They don’t need someone to watch over them or push them. You can only improve performance if you know what needs improving. That’s why honest and competent self-analysis is so important. You must act as though you’re on the outside looking in. You’re an active observer of your own actions.

We all know it’s easier to analyze someone else (like our spouse) than to analyze ourself. To analyze yourself objectively is truly a legendary quality. For example: if you’re about to interview with an attorney, you don’t just show up, you apply repetitive, focused and deliberate practice to make that interview the best one yet. Once in the interview, you need to be able to recognize if you’re off target and pull your act together swiftly. You must be able to self-analyze at the very moment something is going wrong, so you can rescue the situation. If you can’t competently self-analyze the situation, not only will you fail in that interview with that attorney, you’ll keep making the same mistakes over and over again in future interviews with other attorneys.

It’s no surprise that people who fail, fail often. And people who succeed, succeed often.

Practicing the answers to interview questions over and over is an important step to mastering your self-analysis skills. But, that only works if you’re practicing the correct responses. Repetitive, focused and deliberate practice is worthless if it’s the wrong practice. Practicing the same bad tennis swing over and over just produces more of a bad tennis swing. At first you need a tennis coach to straighten out your swing. And then you’ll be able to tell for yourself when your swing is off.

As Vince Lombardi said – “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” That’s why you must choose your mentors and advisors carefully. An inept coach doesn’t just fail to help you, they actually help you to fail.

I recently invested 8 months mentoring a woman at the Institute through repetitive, focused and deliberate practice on a job function I wanted her to master. I required her to do the job herself first. Then I gave her feedback so each time she was doing it more and more correctly. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. That’s why the correct mentors are so important to the process of learning how to analyze yourself competently. And I didn’t just give her feedback. At first, I would ask her to tell me what she needed to do differently the next time. I wanted her to analyze herself, before I mentored her. My goal was – she would become me. In other words, it would be like Vickie was standing over her shoulder guiding her every step of the way. I wanted her to be able to assess herself in the same way I would assess her if I were standing there.

It was time consuming, and sometimes painful for both of us, but this investment has paid off in tens of thousands of dollars each year. She still occasionally looks over her shoulder to see if I’m there. And sometimes I am! But not to correct her, just to ask her how her day is going.

I challenge you to apply repetitive, focused and deliberate practice to key parts of your CLNC^® business (such as marketing, report writing or anything significant of your choosing). When you do, you’ll never be the same Certified Legal Nurse Consultant again. Hey! You might even become legendary. Any of you can, because after all, talent IS overrated.

Remember – We Are Nurses and We Can Do Anything^®!
Especially something easy like becoming legendary.

Success Is Inside!

My experience in hospital nursing was filled with mixed emotions. The frustration level was one that I have never experienced anywhere else. But I kept being a nurse, and I kept going to work. Nursing jobs paid the bills but did not contribute to my soul.

When I saw Vickie Milazzo’s ad for the CLNC^® Certification Program, I wondered if this was a nursing career that I could be passionate about. I saw the ad several more times after that. Each time I felt a tremendous pull. The woman in the ad looked like no nurse in my facility. Vickie personified a victorious nurse dedicated to her profession, unlike other ads where the model-like woman leaps through the air with her hair blowing in the wind.

Little did I know I was implementing a business plan by showing the ad to my husband and proclaiming, “What an investment this would be for our future. We need to choose the VIP CLNC^® Business System and take advantage of all the available resources.”

My fear of flying could not hold me back. Several months later, I looked out of the airplane window after take-off. Dark thunderheads hung over the mountain tops. Lightning flashed sending streaks of light all around the plane. Down below, hundreds of colorful hot air balloons lit up Balloon Fiesta Park waiting for their early morning launch. My overwhelmed senses were full of expectations yet to come and I was calmed by the knowledge that I was so lucky to be the lead character in this new adventure.

That was the calm before the storm. WOW, is how I describe the CLNC^® 6-day Certification Seminar. I was amazed by Vickie and the course content. Then the 2-Day NACLNC^® Apprenticeship followed. I was brain-dead by the time it was over. I assumed the hardest and most challenging part was behind me. I went home and began implementing everything I had learned right away.

I went on my first marketing campaign in my hometown. I had seven promotional packets. Each one contained a personalized introduction letter to the attorney, a brochure, a business card and a professional profile. I marketed to all seven offices, but it took every ounce of courage I had. My husband went with me to the first office. I’m sure “amateur” was written all over me. I decided taking my husband wasn’t a good idea. The next office I went to was torturous. I stood there knowing I had to go in, but wishing I didn’t have to. My palms were wet and my mouth was dry. My husband reassured me from the sidewalk and I took a deep breath and went in. I met four attorneys that day. Each time I felt out of my element and left the office thinking, “There has to be another way.” I felt as wanted as a telemarketer.

I did the “busy thing” for awhile after that. We built an office and I set that up. I reviewed the advanced resources in my VIP CLNC^® Business System. Then I went to the NACLNC^® Conference in March. I talked with Certified Legal Nurse Consultants about their strategies for overcoming fears. Nothing clicked for me. I did discover other strategies to beef up my promotional packet and implemented them as soon as I got home. I went on several more marketing campaigns, but I could not overcome the fear of meeting attorneys. I went to their offices hoping I wouldn’t see any. I could relate to the office staff and break ice with them, but not the attorney. How was I going to get business with this mindset? The fear of meeting attorneys was bordering on a phobia.

The turning point came when a legal secretary called my office after receiving my promotional package and left a message for me to call. As usual, I contacted Vickie Milazzo Institute for mentoring. I listened carefully to the CLNC^® Mentor and followed up with the appropriate phone calls and sent a follow-up letter. Three weeks later, the legal secretary called to set up my first appointment with the attorney. I was thrilled, but it was short-lived as fear began to well up inside of me, again. I contacted Vickie Milazzo Institute for mentoring yet again. I was probably over-prepared for this meeting, but it was important to get it right. I would have to do this in spite of the fear.

I had no idea what to expect, but I was well prepared in every way right down to the power suit. I arrived at the office early to find out the attorney would be late. “That’s okay,” I thought, “I can wait.” There were a couple of gentlemen also waiting. We made small talk until the attorney arrived. After she arrived, she took one of the gentlemen in her office for about twenty minutes. He left and then the legal secretary ushered me and the other gentleman into a small conference room.

“What is this?” I thought. I was led to believe it would be the attorney and I, only. Everyone was introduced. It was very formal.

The attorney said, “This is Mrs. Schmitt. She is an expert and she is going to tell us how to proceed. Go ahead, Mr. Jones (not his real name), tell her your story.”

I felt my eyes bug out. My inner voice said, “Wait! I didn’t practice this! No time for a mentor request.”

The man started talking, but I could not understand him. His lips were moving and I could hear his voice, but I was so paralyzed with fear that I wondered what I looked like to him or, horror of horrors, what did I look like to the attorney?! I thought, “I better snap out of it because the attorney is going to expect something intelligent from me!”

Thank God this drama was only going on inside my head and not in the room. In a split second, I realized that sitting in front of me was a patient, Mr. Jones. My nursing instincts kicked in. I forgot about the power suit I was wearing and immediately began to assess his physical condition and his words became crystal clear. “The other guy dropped the air conditioner causing me to fall and hurt my back and knee,” he continued.

The 30 services that Certified Legal Nurse Consultants offer with a risk-free guarantee faded away as I asked, “How many days after the surgery did you notice the redness and swelling?”

My sample work products became forgotten when I told the attorney, “The infection that your client acquired after surgery was not the result of mismanaged care because they did a culture and treated it in a timely manner.”

The attorney asked numerous questions: “How can you tell if it was the hospital’s fault? What can you tell from the medical records?” The attorney mysteriously became a patient as well. She wanted to know what I knew. I answered all her questions demonstrating how I, the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, could help with her medical-related cases. I stated that in my opinion there was no medical malpractice in this case and that she should only pursue the personal injury claim. I explained vocational and functional capacity evaluations that could strengthen her case. As the conversation went on she was amazed at the information I provided. She was a criminal defense attorney and had people ask her about taking medical malpractice cases. She said she had five potential medical malpractice cases and set up an appointment with me for the next case.

That experience changed me. I had heard other success stories that sounded too good to be true; a CLNC^® consultant goes into an attorney’s office and walks out with armloads of cases. But this attorney was truly sincere.

I now remember that I’m a nurse when I market to attorneys, which is what I should have been doing all along. I am not a salesperson, I am proud to be a nurse. Now, when I go into attorneys’ offices, I hope I meet them and ask if they are in so I can meet them. I look forward to educating them about how I can cost effectively consult on their medical-related cases. The expertise of registered nurses is as important to attorneys as it is to patients. Thanks to Vickie Milazzo and the CLNC^® Mentors, this expertise is available to every attorney through all of us Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. It is our job to educate attorneys in every creative way we can.

Guest Blogger Profile

Diana Schmitt, RN, BSN, CLNC has 24 years experience in the health care industry and is the owner of Diana Schmitt & Associates Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. Her firm specializes in merit review, expert witness location, and medical literature research for medical malpractice cases.

For the first two months, nothing was happening. What was I doing wrong?

My husband said, “Give it a chance, Melanie. Let me help.”

He began calling the attorneys I had sent postcards to, and he got results. He booked me for presentations at law firms where I discovered that face-to-face interaction is my strong suit. Once an attorney agrees to a presentation, and I show what I can do, closing the sale is a given.

My first big client, however, came by way of a referral from my insurance agent. My agent’s neighbor is an attorney who referred his medical malpractice and personal injury cases to another attorney. That’s when I found out how useful it is to know people who know people who know people. He passed my name along, and I got a call.

“What can you do for us?” the attorney asked.

Boy, did I answer that question. Amazingly, their firm hadn’t used legal nurse consultants. Their paralegal was pulling her hair out, unable to provide what they needed.

In closing I asked, “When may I come to your office and show you what I can do?”

The Work Started Flowing and We Replaced My Husband’s Salary

I handle all of that attorney-client’s cases, including medical malpractice, personal injury and workers’ comp. This single attorney-client can keep me busy full time, but my goal is to grow big enough to hire CLNC^® subcontractors. We’re almost there. We have four attorney-clients now – and the work keeps flowing.

I say “we” now because my husband left his job and came to work for me full time as an office manager. That was one of the smartest moves I made. A disabled veteran, he’s able to take care of our children and still help with our marketing. He also answers the phone, which means an attorney gets a live voice, not an answering machine.

Being responsive is one important reason our business has grown so fast. We make $5,000-$6,000 per month and have already replaced my husband’s salary.

I Like Educating Attorneys – Once They Know You, They Need You

The most amazing thing happens when I give a presentation at a law firm: attorneys pay attention. I wow them with the CLNC^® services I can provide to help them win cases and they treat me as a professional. I use their feedback to refine my presentation for the next time I deliver it.

After attorneys learn what a CLNC^® consultant can do for them, they see the value. Later, when I actually work with them, they begin to rely on me in more and more areas, on more and more cases. Just recently, our biggest attorney-client emailed us to say we had become their best friends and they cannot function without us.

One thing I learned from Vickie is to hold my ground on nonmeritorious cases. That principle is working for me. After I review a case, my client will ask, “Melanie, what’s your recommendation? What do I do with this?”

If the case has merit, fine. I lay it out. But I sometimes have to say, “I understand that something bad happened, and your client is upset about it, but I don’t see merit here.” In the long run, the attorney saves money by not pursuing cases he can’t win.

My attorney-clients listen to me and respect my judgment. That makes me feel that my nursing experience and knowledge are making a difference.

While taking my CLNC^® training, I came up with the slogan we use in our marketing: We make you look best. My attorney-clients love it.

I Enjoy What I Do Every Day

Being a nurse is important to me, and my CLNC^® business makes me happy in many ways I never expected. I enjoy my attorney-client relationships. I enjoy feeling that I’m still helping people, even though it isn’t at the bedside.

On every case, I learn something new, which I can then use on future cases. That’s exciting. While I’m teaching my attorney-clients about medical records and the healthcare side of a situation, they’re handling the legal side and I’m learning from them, too. Together, we make a brilliant team. I help identify issues that will help them look good in the courtroom and win the cases that deserve to be won.

I also enjoy knowing that my children are not spending time at daycare. I used to feel guilty about leaving them, but now they’re getting the best care at home with their father. My CLNC^® business has positively impacted our entire family.

After serving his country in Iraq, my husband came home with limitations that make it hard for him to work outside the home. I created a job for him, and he’s a valuable asset to my CLNC^® business. No one could do a better job running the office, and I love working with him. This could never have happened if I’d stayed full time at the hospital. I’m proud that ours is a family business, that we can grow it together.

Recently, I’ve begun traveling for my attorney-clients, which is another exciting aspect of what I do. On one case, the attorney requested that I meet with his client who needed to be assessed for a life care plan. When I asked the attorney if he wanted me to find someone local to assess his client in order to save on travel cost, he insisted that I go myself because of the quality of my work. I was flattered. My office-manager husband made all the travel arrangements for me to fly in early one morning and come back the same day. This was a wonderful experience! I had never had a frequent flyer card before now. I feel professional!

We Keep Marketing Smart to Attract New Attorney-Clients Like Vickie Taught Us

One day we drove past a billboard for a law firm that specializes in personal injury cases. I told my husband, “We should call on them.” He called and booked me for a presentation.

That’s the sort of marketing that gets big results at low cost. This month we’ll be mailing out and following up on a hundred postcards, which is also low cost.

We offer a discount on the first case. Attorneys are like anybody else when it comes to saving money, they expect to get value for their dollars. The discount encourages them to take a chance, and it costs us nothing until a prospect actually hires us. We do a great job, the client is impressed and hires us again at our full rate. Marketing can be effective without draining your bank account – Vickie taught me that too.

Vickie Made It All Possible

I feel very lucky to have been trained by Vickie Milazzo. She’s amazing. When I came home from the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar, I told my husband, “She’s a tiny lady but powerful. She looks at you like you’re the only person on the planet. The world around her stops and she listens to you, giving you her time and all her attention.”

It has been a year now since my CLNC^® Certification. A very happy year. I think back to those first two months, when I doubted myself, and I have to laugh. My life has changed in so many wonderful ways since I became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Guest Blogger Profile

Melanie V. Paquette, RN, BSN, CLNC is co-founder with her husband of Paquette Legal-Medical Consulting Services LLC based in Texas. She has more than 13 years of clinical experience in emergency care, intensive care, level 1 trauma, cardiology, interventional radiology, neurology and has hospital and insurance experience as a case manager.

After working in a large clinic for 22 years, I retired. I was 48, my life was changing, my workplace was changing and I qualified for early retirement, so I took it. My family was growing up, and I began to wonder, “What am I going to do now?” Then I found Vickie Milazzo Institute’s LegalNurse.com website and became intrigued. I knew I had the experience as a nurse to become a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant – I decided to take the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar. Vickie’s CLNC^® Certification Program is the key to my CLNC^® success.

Becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant has such a positive impact on my life. It spells freedom – more financial freedom, being able to work from home doing what I love to do any time I want, but also being able to walk away from it at 3:30 in the afternoon. I’m free to walk downstairs to find my husband in his office – he also works from home. (Separate offices work best for us during the day because of business phone calls and other distractions.) We are then free to choose what we want to do with the rest of our day.

When asked by other nurses if a career in legal nurse consulting can be successful, I repeat what Vickie told me, “Absolutely, if you’re passionate about it.”

Market, market, market, even when you’re busy. Anywhere I market my CLNC^® practice, I show up with independence and confidence, just like Vickie taught me. I walk in the door and say, “Here I am. I can help you.”

My CLNC^® business really took off when I located a group of attorneys and camped out on their door step. Today those attorneys are some of my best clients. One of the attorneys recently told me, “The reason I hired you is because I was tired of stepping over you when I came through the door in the morning.” We laugh about it now, but my persistence paid off.

In Vickie’s CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Program, she encourages her students to send out a newsletter to attorney-prospects and clients. My newsletter helps me connect with attorneys and I can count on receiving numerous phone calls each time I send one.

My CLNC^® consulting work is always interesting. Many RNs think legal nurse consultants consult only on medical malpractice or personal injury cases. Some of my favorite cases are the ones that I wouldn’t think I’d be involved in, like a murder trial or a legal malpractice case involving a will.

The case outcomes can also be very exciting. My first big attorney-client asked me to review a medical malpractice case for merit. I found a gross deviation in the standards of care and located an expert for the attorney. That case went to mediation and settled for a larger amount than anyone expected.

While that litigation was in progress, my attorney-client asked me to begin work on another case. A doctor had previously reviewed the case’s medical records, but when the attorney asked for my help, I discovered numerous things the doctor had overlooked. Then, right before the case went to trial, the attorney asked me to accompany him to court. When the defense expert denied the validity of a particular radiology report, I whispered to my attorney-client, “Trust me on this – show him this report.” The second report invalidated the medical expert for the defense and upended their case. My nursing experience and Vickie’s CLNC^® Certification Program were the biggest factors in winning the case.

A large part of my CLNC^® consulting success is due to Vickie’s enthusiasm and her encouraging words, such as “We Are Nurses and We Can Do Anything!^®”

Vickie’s CLNC^® Mentoring Program is another part of my CLNC^® consulting success. I enjoy working through the problems I encounter with the CLNC^® Mentors and contact them any time I’m stymied. It’s reassuring to brainstorm with these CLNC^® Pros.

What makes my CLNC^® business successful? By thinking outside the box, using my nursing skills and remembering Vickie’s CLNC^® training, I successfully evaluate cases and help my attorney-clients gain the best outcomes. I’m so excited about my CLNC^® career. I’m living my dream of being a successful CLNC^® consultant, having a great time and being rewarded financially for the work I do!

Bobbi Black, RN, CLNC is an independent CLNC^® consultant in Iowa with 30 years’ clinical nursing experience. She is owner and principal of A Legal Resource Service since 2001 and offers consulting services to both plaintiff and defense law firms.

P.S. Read more CLNC^® Success Stories and send your CLNC^® Success Story to feedback@LegalNurse.com.

P.P.S. Comment if you would like to congratulate Bobbi on her CLNC^® success.

I could tell my story a million times because it’s so exciting to have finally achieved all of my professional goals.

I’m 47 now, and I’ve felt like I shortchanged myself my entire life and hadn’t reached my full potential. I wanted to achieve a certain status and financial level, and I never got that from nursing. I graduated summa cum laude with two degrees and it was always frustrating to have so much education, so little respect and such minimal compensation. I was sick of it.

For years I’d seen Vickie’s smiling picture in the ads for her CLNC^® Certification Program. I saw her program as the perfect combination of my two interests; law and medicine. When I realized how comprehensive her training was, I ordered everything she offered. It was my belief that if one nurse could do this, I could! And if I was going to invest in myself, I was going all the way. I was setting myself up for success. I ordered the VIP CLNC^® Business System.

As a side benefit I even lost 25 pounds when I started my CLNC^® business. It was effortless and I think it was because I’m so happy. Every day is spent doing exactly what I want to be doing. I finally feel like I’m getting the professional respect I’ve sought my entire life. I’m not only being treated like an equal, I’m being treated as a tremendous asset. The attorneys need me and they respect my intelligence. They pump me up constantly. Gone are the days of the “toxic” hospital environment.

Between the attorneys and Vickie Milazzo Institute, I am ecstatic! Vickie gives you all the tools you need, and the Institute holds your hand every step of the way. When something great happens, they’re there to cheer you on, as if they are family. That’s unheard of, especially in nursing. As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I finally feel like I’ve arrived.

I Billed $16,000 in My Fourth Month

The day I came back from the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar, I went half time at the hospital. I was determined to invest time in my CLNC^® business. I couldn’t work full time and start my business or someone would be shortchanged, and it wasn’t going to be my child.

Soon I was billing so many hours as a CLNC^® consultant – $16,000 in my fourth month alone! – that I could no longer work at the hospital.

I recently returned from a legal conference in Nevada. It was my sixth conference this year. I came home with seven new attorney-clients and 11 cases. In addition, I currently have several cases in progress and work with attorneys in 19 states. I’m scheduled for three more conferences in the next few months and have been asked to present at a legal seminar. I’m on track to achieve six figures!

With each new case, I learn more about managing a successful CLNC^® practice. In one early case, I was talking to the attorney and he mentioned that he already had his team in place and didn’t need anyone else. Nevertheless, the attorney went on to describe a case over the phone. I gave him some questions to ask his expert and the defendant. When I followed up to see how it went he said he had forgotten to ask some of the questions. He responded with, “Why don’t I send you some of the records to see what you think. Just put me on the clock.” What he sent was 18 pages. For a couple of weeks, I couldn’t think of a single thing I hadn’t already told him. But he’d said to put him on the clock, and I was determined to find something! Finally, I decided to put what I had already told him in chronology format to see if anything else popped out at me. Sure enough, I discovered a tampering issue. The attorney was so busy, he didn’t comment – but more than a month later he called and said, “That tampering issue you found blew this case wide open. All of a sudden we have additional discovery. Thank you so much!”

The VIP CLNC^® Business System Is the Nordstrom of Legal Nurse Consulting

If you have a choice of going to the best four-year college to prepare for your career, would you take a correspondence course instead? No, you’d choose the best, and that’s what Vickie provides. I absolutely recommend the VIP CLNC^® Business System. The added cost of the VIP CLNC^® Business System, when you divide it out over five years, comes down to pennies basically, but you’re investing in yourself by getting it all. As a VIP you also feel more successful while you’re in the program.

The unlimited mentoring with the CLNC^® Mentors is phenomenal. I tend to hold onto a problem too long – I want to solve it myself and then I panic because I need the answer right this second. The CLNC^® Mentors get right back to me. They support me all the way. They “have my back.” They want me to succeed.

Vickie gives you all the tools. She’s dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.” She could not do it better than she has. She’s right up there with Nordstrom. I went to college with one of the Nordstroms, and that’s who Vickie is. Someone could take what she has done with this business and use it as a business model at Harvard. Nothing is missing. She has everything down, from branding your business to supporting you while you learn and not dropping the ball afterwards. I’ve reached my professional goal as a CLNC^® consultant.

I hold phone consults on the white sand beaches of Pensacola while watching my son surf. Two days ago, I noticed the bay water in my “backyard” to be perfect glass. I took a break from my cases and went knee boarding with my 11-year-old and his friends. Twelve dolphins joined us and it was one of the best days ever.

Becoming a CLNC^® consultant has offered me the flexibility to catch the joys of life. Not only am I finally making the money I deserve; I have the freedom I have always dreamed of. The amazing thing is…it hasn’t even been a year since I took the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant course! I love my life!

Winner of the 2009 CLNC^® Success Story Contest Becky Mungai, RN, BA, CLNC, is a full-time Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and owner of Mungai & Associates. She has 23 years of nursing experience and specializes in consulting on birth injury and pediatric emergency/trauma cases for attorneys nationwide.

P.S. Read more CLNC^® Success Stories and send your CLNC^® Success Story to feedback@LegalNurse.com.

P.P.S. Click here to read Becky’s complete CLNC^® Success Story.