Many of you know I like to start each day with a cup of healthy green tea. I especially like to enjoy that first healthy cup of green tea while comfortably ensconced in the recliner in my bedroom, drinking tea and looking out to the silhouettes of the giant timber bamboo that surrounds our home reaching heights of easily 60 ft.

During the week I’m up at 4:00am and I love that the bamboo is one of the first things to greet me (second to Tom of course) as I sip my tea and before I’m off to the gym. I love to watch the gentle ballet of the bamboo as it sways in the wind. Even the slightest breeze will set it moving gracefully, dancing in the dawn light. A strong wind makes it look and sound like giant wind chimes and I love hearing the clacking of the stalks through the stillness.

This morning, I watched the swaying stalks and I started thinking about how much Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can learn from bamboo. Bamboo is unnaturally strong – just the way your CLNC^® business should be. It’s also flexible and will bend and flex a long way before breaking – just like your attorney-clients expect you to perform.

If its base grows weak and it begins to lean, it will rest against other bamboo and continue to grow, rather than become uprooted. A stand of bamboo supports each other just as CLNC^® consultants do when networking and subcontracting through the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. There’s also safety in numbers as a forest of bamboo exhibits as it blocks the wildest wind. Rather than break in the face of a strong force, it bends and twists, reactively dealing with changes in weather and wind direction. After Hurricane Ike, Houston was covered with downed trees and broken tree limbs but almost no bamboo stalks lay in our yard. When was the last time you networked, collaborated and masterminded with three to five Certified Legal Nurse Consultants?

Though strong, bamboo is also thin and lightweight. It reminds us to keep our CLNC^® businesses fast and agile – not becoming lumbering dinosaurs or institutionalized like hospitals. Bamboo thrives by co-existing with other plants just like your CLNC^® business can thrive as you co-exist with other CLNC^® consultants in the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Association. In my backyard, some stalks of my bamboo have grown taller than my house and do so by growing through a 50-year-old oak tree that separates my home from my neighbor’s. I like to think that each are helping support the other, like we all do in our legal nurse consulting businesses but I also remember that like businesses, are in competition. The bamboo is in competition with the oak for the water and nutrient resources in the ground. After more than 15 years, both seem to be doing quite well together.

Bamboo can also be used for many things. Once hollowed out, I’ve seen it used in the place of pipe. Its shoots can be eaten. An enterprising bird has created a nest at a location where four stalks come together high in the air (it seems a bit precarious to me). In Asia, I’ve seen bamboo used as construction scaffolding. How many other plants or trees can you use for that? In Hawaii, I’ve hiked through a bamboo forest that was so thick I almost needed a flashlight in mid-day to find my way along the trail. In Japan, bamboo is sometimes treated with reverence and there are entire parks dedicated to its beauty.

This morning, there was an unnatural stillness outside my windows. There was not even the slightest trace of a breeze and the bamboo looked like a still-life or black and white photo in the early light. I can’t wait to see what it looks like this evening.

Success Is Inside!

Welcome all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who are taking the stage for legendary CLNC^® success in Nashville for the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference. I hope you’re as thrilled as I am about this year’s show-stopping performances by the CLNC^® Pros, keynote speaker, Genevieve Bos and Tom’s comedy.

Since our Conference theme is Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success, here are some tips that will help you discover the award-winning secrets to achieve legendary CLNC^® stardom.

1. Stay connected with me and your CLNC^® peers on Facebook throughout the NACLNC^® Conference. Share the sessions you’re loving, the restaurant you just discovered, a new idea for your CLNC^® business, etc.
2. Kick off Day 1 with my Opening Session, Take the Stage for Legendary CLNC^® Success followed by the NACLNC^® Top 10 with Tom Ziemba.
3. Turn off your cell phone, pager, chiming watch and any other stress-producer you’ve brought with you. This is not only a courtesy to your fellow CLNC^® peers, but also a courtesy to yourself, honoring all you’ve invested to be here. (No texting either.)
4. Limit checking your email, voicemail, text messages or calling home to just once a day. But, do visit me on Facebook throughout the day to network with your CLNC^® conference peers.
5. Be open to all the new recommendations so you can achieve legendary CLNC^® success with your legal nurse consulting business.
6. Meet and get to know two new CLNC^® consultants at each break and reception. Eat lunch and dinner each day with three CLNC^® consultants you don’t know. Sell your expertise to each other. You are each other’s best resources for future CLNC^® subcontractors and experts.
7. Practice positive masterminding. Connect with two other CLNC^® consultants and mastermind together at the end of the day. Each of you will process and apply information differently. Focus only on positive ideas for your CLNC^® business. By coming together, you’ll take home new strategies you wouldn’t think of alone.
8. Don’t miss a session. Go in positively knowing that a single idea can increase your profitability 1%, 5%, even 10% and more.
9. At each session, write down at least one action step you will take to grow your CLNC^® business.
10. Commit to learn one thing from each speaker. While every presentation is packed with useful information for you, the key is being in the right mindset to grab the ideas when they come your way. I once attended a seminar where only 5% of the information was interesting and fresh. But the ideas I got from that 5% added to the growth of my company by as much as 10%. Because I was committed to learning, my mind was ready when the “good stuff” was presented.
11. Take the information presented and create your own new ideas. My goal when I sit in on a session is to come up with ideas that are even better than any I get from the speaker. This mindset will help you achieve a unique CLNC^® business – not a look-alike imitation of someone else’s.
12. Take it easy. If you allow yourself to get frustrated about anything – an airport delay or the person sitting next to you – you’re the only one who will suffer. Stay loose. If you aren’t happy with the person sitting next to you, sit next to someone else in the next session or get up and move. Stay upbeat and attract positive energy.
13. Exercise daily – even for only 20 minutes. Take a brisk walk through the hotel (the Gaylord is like a small city) and renew yourself. Visualize your CLNC^® experience as you indulge in a massage or relax in a hot tub.
14. Treat yourself to the NACLNC^® river dinner cruise, Monday March 15 on the General Jackson to network in a new way.
15. Remember to put on your comfortable CLNC^®Wear so everyone in Nashville will know you are a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Check back on March 17, 2010, when you can read my tips in How to Top the Charts After the 2010 NACLNC^® Conference.

Success Is Inside!

Read Part 1.

In Part 1 we discussed 6 Best Practices for subcontracting with Certified Legal Nurse Consultants to grow your CLNC^® business. Here are 9 more Best Practices.

1. Sign a formal contract with each subcontractor, and include a fair noncompetition clause. Use the recommended CLNC^® subcontractor contract from Vickie Milazzo Institute.

2. Have each CLNC^® subcontractor fill out a W-9 form at the time they sign their contract. Don’t pay their invoice until you receive a completed form. You can download a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification form and instructions from IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.

3. Market to your attorney-clients that you have a network of CLNC^® subcontractors in a variety of specialties to encourage them to send you more cases.

4. Communicate your expectations, deadlines and budget for the assignment clearly. Every attorney-client is different and there’s more than one right way to design the report. Clear communication helps to ensure that the CLNC^® subcontractor provides work product that meets your attorney-client’s needs.

Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC says,

“A mistake I made in the beginning was not giving the subcontractors a deadline. I found that by leaving the deadline to them, it was often last minute, and I got nervous about getting the report to the attorney in a timely manner. Now, I always give a reasonable deadline, allowing a bit more time than the CLNC^® subcontractor may need so that it can be done expediently.

I have also learned the importance of giving the subcontractor parameters and limits for hours allowed per case. It is the same as checking with an attorney before doing too much or too little. If you do not provide a budget, you could end up paying more than is necessary for details that are not needed quite yet.”

Nikki J. Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC says,

“I make sure my CLNC^® subcontractor knows the deadline and I have them check in along the way. I like to see the first page of their report. I just want to make sure they are on the right track. Once I approve the first page, they continue with the case.

About halfway through the case, I have them check in again to make sure it remains what I want. If all is okay, then they complete the work. If something is not meeting my expectations, I discuss it with them before they finish the entire report. I want to save them time also. I am confident that as long as we continue to communicate with each other, the report will be what I want for my attorney-client.

When the finished product is sent to me, I review it, make any necessary changes and send them the completed one so that they can see what I like and expect for the next time. I don’t believe in wasting their time or mine, so I like to be with them throughout the process.

One thing I always make sure of is that my CLNC^® subcontractors get paid on time. I like to keep them happy so they will work again.”

Don’t cut your deadlines too close. Get your work from the CLNC^® subcontractor as far in advance of the due date as possible to allow you to assess their work product.

5. Put each new subcontractor to the test. Start with small tasks and advance to more complex projects.

6. Be sure to review the work prepared for your clients by your subcontractors (especially beginners) before submitting it. Always allow time to carefully check and edit your subcontractors’ work. Share your changes so the subcontractor can learn to model your best practices.

7. Pay your CLNC^® subcontractors 50% of your billing rate. The attorney will be invoiced at your hourly rate. It is not necessary to indicate to the attorney the number of hours you worked vs. the hours your CLNC^® subcontractor worked. Pay within 30 days of invoice date to encourage loyalty and enthusiasm for future projects.

8. Treat each CLNC^® subcontractor as an individual. Focus on and use their strengths to supplement your own strengths. One CLNC^® consultant may write great personal injury chronologies, but is not as strong at analyzing medical malpractice cases. Likewise, the CLNC^® subcontractor who is masterful at analyzing malpractice cases may be easily bored by writing personal injury summaries.

9. Acknowledge and thank your CLNC^® subcontractors. Don’t take your CLNC^® subcontractors for granted.
   
   As Larry Frace, RN, CLNC says,

“Keep in constant touch with all of your CLNC^® subcontractors by teleconferencing, emailing and at the next NACLNC^® Conference.”

Follow these Best Practices and you will master the art of sensational subcontracting to achieve sensational results for your CLNC^® business.

Success Is Inside!

Read Part 2.

The quickest way to grow your legal nurse consulting business is to expand with CLNC^® subcontractors. Check out these Best Practices and how the CLNC^® Pros are using them to expand their CLNC^® business in sensational ways.

1. Hire only Certified Legal Nurse Consultant subcontractors. This will save you time and heartache in the long run. Through the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, you’ll find plenty of qualified CLNC^® consultants who can help you manage your cases. Working only with other CLNC^® consultants is the key to sensational subcontracting and the strongest method for building your CLNC^® business.

Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC says,

“I am a firm believer in using only CLNC^® subcontractors. In the beginning, I tried using non-Certified Legal Nurse Consultants because I thought, ‘Gee, she is a good nurse… she knows what she’s doing.’ But the reality was, I ended up reviewing the chart and writing the report all over again because it just wasn’t a product that met my standards or those of my attorney-client. Needless to say, this was exhausting, double the work, and just wasn’t worth my time, energy or money!”

Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PHN, CLNC shares,

“Many years ago, as a new CLNC^® consultant, I learned my first lesson about subcontracting. I knew so many RNs and thought I could use them as subcontractors. I found a couple of really good nurses who wanted to learn from working with me. Though I showed them reports I had written and clearly explained what I needed from them for the work product, they still lacked the CLNC^® training I had received as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant from Vickie Milazzo Institute.

These RNs wrote their reports and gave them back to me. To my great disappointment, I found that I had to rewrite most of what they gave me. These were not billable hours. Due to their lack of formal training, they were not capable of producing the same level of work product. I wasted a lot of time and energy, and have only used Certified Legal Nurse Consultants since that time.”

Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC recommends,

“Only use Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I repeat… only use Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I decided that since I was going to use subcontractors and had the agreement ready to go, why not start with nine CLNC^® subcontractors and cover the nine major areas of nursing. I chose CLNC^® consultants who had experience in long term care, emergency room, medical/surgical, neonatal, obstetrics, operation room, pediatrics, critical care, outpatient care and mental health. I had always feared that an attorney might offer me a case in which I lacked nursing experience. Now with nine hand-picked CLNC^® subcontractors in place, I feel confident that I can accept any case offered. No more fear for Larry, thanks to my CLNC^® subcontractors.

I had networked at prior NACLNC^® Conferences and from that networking, already had most of the names I needed to get started. I also accessed the listing of CLNC^® consultants from the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. The reason that I stress using only Certified Legal Nurse Consultants as subcontractors is because it’s smart to bring a team together who are all singing off the same page from the get go. We were all trained by the best – Vickie Milazzo Institute – why settle for anything less?”

2. Build your CLNC^® subcontractor network in advance of needing each one. This allows you to respond timely to the attorneys’ deadlines on cases outside of your specialty. The best way to find subcontractors is by networking at the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC^®) Annual Conference and with the NACLNC^® members on our password-protected website. The online directory is an exclusive benefit for CLNC^® consultants only.

Nikki J. Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC explains,

“I subcontract my cases only to other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I like to search from the cards that I receive at the NACLNC^® Conferences or look in the NACLNC^® Directory for someone who meets the criteria.”

3. Don’t become dependent on just one or two subcontractors. Continue to expand your CLNC^® subcontractor network. This frees you to meet tight deadlines or to let go of someone who is not the right match for you.
4. Hire CLNC^® subcontractors who live outside your geographical area. This will help to avoid any competitive attitude between you and your CLNC^® subcontractors. Avoid networking with local groups who may mean well, but are more interested in competing with you than helping you.
5. Look for a CLNC^® subcontractor who has three to five years of experience in the nursing specialty of the case and who is still connected to the healthcare system. This assures you’re subcontracting with a true expert on the issues.

Nikki J. Chuml says,

“I will contact the CLNC^® consultant and do a phone interview. Once I like how the telephone interview goes, then I will tell them a little about the case and see if their experience fits the case. After the agreement has been made, I will send the CLNC^® subcontractor an agreement to sign.”

6. Require all subcontractors to provide a resume and to produce some sample work product before you hire them. Assess the samples to be sure all work product is consistent and represents the same level of quality you provide to your attorney-clients.

Success Is Inside!

I frequently mentor Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who are challenged by the demands that go with their having created successful CLNC^® businesses with lots of cases and lots of attorney-clients.

Many CLNC^® consultants try to do everything themselves because they feel no one can provide the CLNC^® services to their attorney-clients the way they do. That’s what I thought when I first started my legal nurse consulting business and, it’s true. However, I quickly learned that if I hire the right CLNC^® subcontractor, that person might do some things better. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the many CLNC^® consultants who bring their unique expertise to my legal nurse consulting business.

From the beginning, you want to build a network of CLNC^® subcontractors who will help you offer a wider range of expertise to your attorney-clients. This is the smart way to increase your client list, your caseload and your CLNC^® business revenue.

Subcontracting ensures that as you take on more cases in different specialties, and add more attorney-clients, that you will continue to bring accurate and cost-effective opinions to the table. As you continue to promote your business more aggressively, you will still have time for yourself, which is why you got into business for yourself in the first place.

According to the LA Daily Journal, “On average, a nurse working at a hospital makes $40,000 annually, according to the American Nursing Association, while legal nurse consultants can make $200,000 a year or more if they consult full time….$400,000 a year for an established legal nurse consulting firm is not unheard of.”

There is only one way you can possibly earn $400,000 a year for your legal nurse consulting business: by leveraging time through other CLNC^® consultants.

Leveraging is the principle of using other people’s time, energy, talents, money, knowledge and effort to achieve your desired goals faster than you could on your own. Time and brain power are your two major assets. You can’t control time and can only work so many hours a day no matter how energetic you are. You have to leverage time with CLNC^® subcontractors.

Billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty once said, “I would rather earn one percent of 100 people’s efforts than 100 percent of my own.” That’s leveraging in a nutshell. Subcontracting is a way of leveraging your time, knowledge and efforts.

Larry Frace, RN, CLNC shared this with me about subcontracting.

“I cannot believe that I have been a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant for nine years and it took me eight of those years before I started using Certified Legal Nurse Consultant subcontractors. I must be a slow learner because I vividly remember Vickie saying in the CLNC^® Certification Program nine long years ago, that we all should consider utilizing CLNC^® subcontractors in our business. All I can say at this point is better late than never. I wanted to take my CLNC^® business to the next level and wanted to create my dream team by using CLNC^® subcontractors. Looking back now it was really quite simple to do.

I wanted my utilization of subcontractors to be something special and different. I wanted a dream team. Enter my PEA-POD Concept – I wanted all my CLNC^® subcontractors to feel that they were a part of a team, like Peas in a Pod. The POD would be my company acting as the Point Of Distribution of cases that I would obtain from marketing to attorneys; however, now my marketing focus would be showcasing the combined experience of ten CLNC^® consultants with well over 240 years of nursing experience!

My marketing package turned into a 25-page portfolio that I now send out along with Ghirardelli chocolates, educating attorneys how they will obtain ‘Sweet Results’ if they choose to use my company’s ‘Dream Team!’ I keep in contact with my CLNC^® subcontractors by group teleconferencing once a month and emailing them weekly at first and now as needed. You guessed it…the title of my emailing is PEA-POD PONDERINGS. What makes this concept dear to me however are the PEAS and how we connect with each other.

Professional and passionate CLNC^® consultants

Encouraging each other to take,

Action steps each day to achieve,

Success with spectacular results!

Avoid your fear of subcontracting. Get rid of your own stinking thinking! As I stated above, utilizing CLNC^® subcontractors is a simple way to expand your business by taking it to the next level. Once you decide to use CLNC^® subcontractors, plant that idea firmly in your mind and take action in order to cultivate your decision to grow your own PEA POD!”

This is the smart way to expand your CLNC^® business. Start building your network of CLNC^® subcontractors today.

Success Is Inside!

At the Vickie Milazzo Institute annual Christmas party we have three very inexpensive holiday traditions that bring us together.

Our first tradition is that each person brings four colored strips of paper. On two strips of one color, we each write two personal accomplishments that we’re proud of this year. It can be anything from something simple such as “I learned a new web-editing software” to something as complex as “I learned the administrative system for the Customer Management System software and created the new instruction manual.” It’s a great chance for everyone to “flaunt their stuff.” We all do things every day that no one but ourselves know about. Some are simple, some are complex and some are just unbelievable. This way everyone gets recognition for at least two personal accomplishments and we’re all allowed to go over that limit (as much as modesty allows). I think the record for someone who I won’t name was seven!

On the two other different-colored strips, we each write a company accomplishment, such as creating our online CLNC^® education program, virtualizing our server environment (guess who wrote that one) or making the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies again.

We go around the table at our holiday party and alternate with each person reading a personal accomplishment and the next reading a company accomplishment. Each strip of paper is passed to my assistant who creates a chain of alternating colors. No repeats are allowed for company accomplishments and we go until they’re all done.

The best part about this tradition is that we’re reminded of things that we’ve forgotten and people are recognized for their contributions. Every holiday season we decorate our conference room with these chains that just keep growing longer each year.

Our second tradition is that we each receive a business card Word^® template which has the first name of each Institute staff member on a card. On those we anonymously type a “nice thought” about that staff member. It can be anything you want to compliment that person on, such as “You’re always willing to lend a hand when I’m overwhelmed,” “You’ve had great input in our brainstorms this year” or “You’re the best in handling student requests.”

Two of my favorites about Tom from this year are: “You are an asset to this company not only for your contributions but you are a great example of dedicated work with a balance of fun. You have an amazing attitude and accessibility to us all even though your day may be a hectic enduring deadline. Thank you for your graciousness to remember our likes and taking measures to show us your acknowledgment of those.”

“Not just Vickie’s right arm; everybody’s right arm! I know our nurses love Tom and so do we. His talents are amazing and he is a complete pleasure to work with…when you can catch him!”

This tradition is easy and fun to do and it makes you think about each person’s contribution (like Tom’s) to your organization. These nice-thoughts cards are separated and secretly put into small containers by my assistant and placed at each person’s seat before the party. I must say, if later in the year I’m feeling low or having a moment of doubt, I’ve been known to pull out my stack of nice-thoughts cards and review them. They never fail to brighten up my day and put a smile back on my face.

Our third tradition is our “Guess Who This Christmas Ornament Represents” game where we draw names and buy or create a Christmas tree ornament that represents the person whose name we’ve drawn. This can, and often does, get a little spicy. It’s always fun with terrific laughs guaranteed. Sometimes it can be really hard to guess! And I often learn something new about many members of our team.

What I really like about the accomplishments and nice-thoughts traditions are how easily they can be applied to any Certified Legal Nurse Consultant’s business traditions. Your own chain of business and personal accomplishments can fuel your future successes. Your collective accomplishments are much more than you remember at a given time and this is a great way to save them for posterity. This is something you can also do with your staff, attorney-clients, CLNC^® subcontractors or vendors and it’s especially fun to do with your family.

We all contribute and we all create memorable accomplishments. Don’t just sit on your laurels, use them as stairs to the next level. If you ever need a quick boost or some high-octane encouragement, revisiting past successes and using them to fuel future accomplishments is a terrific way to drive you to higher and higher levels of success.

Success Is Inside!

Welcome all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who have stormed San Antonio for the 2009 NACLNC^® Conference. I hope you’re as excited as I am about our keynote speaker, Stedman Graham.

Since our Conference theme is Move Like a Maverick for Breakaway CLNC^® Success here are some tips that will help you maneuver through the Conference like a maverick.

1. Start Day 1 off with some fun. Don’t miss out on Texas-style mariachis at 7:00am on Thursday followed by my opening Move Like a Maverick for Breakaway CLNC^® Success.
2. Turn off your cell phone, pager, chiming watch and any other stress-producer you’ve brought with you. This is not only a courtesy to your fellow CLNC^® peers, but also a courtesy to yourself, honoring all you’ve invested to be here.
3. Limit checking your email and voicemail or calling home to just once a day.
4. Be open to all the new recommendations so you can achieve bold CLNC^® success with your legal nurse consulting business.
5. Meet and get to know two new CLNC^® consultants at each break and reception. Eat lunch and dinner each day with three CLNC^® consultants you don’t know. Sell your expertise to each other. You are each other’s best resources for future CLNC^® subcontractors and experts.
6. Practice positive masterminding. Connect with two other CLNC^® consultants and mastermind together at the end of the day. Each of you will process and apply information differently. Focus only on positive ideas for your CLNC^® business. By coming together, you’ll take home new strategies you wouldn’t think of alone.
7. Remember to sign up for your professional photo session while at the Conference to add to your legal nurse consulting website.
8. Don’t miss a session. Go in positively knowing that a single idea can increase your profitability 1%, 5%, even 10% and more.
9. At each session, write down at least one action step you will take to grow your CLNC^® business.
10. Commit to learn one thing from each speaker. While every presentation is packed with useful information for you, the key is being in the right mindset to grab the ideas when they come your way. I once attended a seminar where only 5% of the information was interesting and fresh. But the ideas I got from that 5% added to the growth of my company by as much as 10%. Because I was committed to learning, my mind was ready when the “good stuff” was presented.
11. Take the information presented and create your own new ideas. My goal when I sit in on a session is to come up with ideas that are even better than any I get from the speaker. This mindset will help you achieve a unique CLNC^® business – not a look-alike imitation of someone else’s.
12. Take it easy. If you allow yourself to get frustrated about anything – an airport delay or the person sitting next to you – you’re the only one who will suffer. Stay loose. If you aren’t happy with the person sitting next to you, sit next to someone else in the next session or get up and move. Stay upbeat and attract positive energy.
13. Exercise daily – even for only 20 minutes. Get outside the hotel and renew yourself. Take a brisk walk around the block. Visualize your CLNC^® experience as you indulge in a massage or relax in a hot tub. Treat yourself to a fun memory – buy a Texas souvenir.
14. Remember to put on your comfortable CLNC^®Wear so everyone in San Antonio will know you are a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Check back on March 16, 2009, when you can read my tips in Plan Your Moves After the 2009 NACLNC^® Conference.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. The quickest and easiest way to find me is at the Vickie Milazzo Institute exhibit.

P.P.S. Please comment and let me know how you’re enjoying our Conference.

I always joke that, “you couldn’t pay me to run the Houston Marathon.” But there are people who get paid to do just that. Marathon running can seem like a lonely sport but not all marathon runners run alone. Even marathon runners hire subcontractors (at least the ones who win enough races to be able to afford them)!

Deriba Merga, who won the Chevron Houston Marathon back in January, 2009 (setting a new Texas record) hired four runners, called “rabbits.” The rabbit’s job is to help him keep his target pace and keep the wind off of him. The rabbits are not going to finish the race (how could they?). Each rabbit is expected to start the race with him and then drop off at predetermined points along the way depending upon their own running ability. They often train with the main runner.

Nurses are a tough bunch. We learn early in our careers to be independent (Don’t worry – I’ll turn this 250-lb patient by myself) because we know better than to ask for help. As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you need to change this mindset and start to think and act like a world-class marathon runner. The fastest way to expand your business is by subcontracting with other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (CLNC^® consultants who have trained with you or you connected with at an NACLNC^® Conference). Like any world-class marathon runner, having great CLNC^® subcontractors will allow you to go the full 26+ miles, take a vacation and grow your legal nurse consulting business. Without CLNC^® subcontractors you can only bill for the limited number of hours you are able to work. The only way to fit 36 hours into a 24 hour day is with CLNC^® subcontractors.

Each additional legal nurse consultant you have working on your cases is an additional income stream. You can bill your attorney-clients your full hourly fee and pay your subs 50% of that fee. Subcontracting is what makes the difference between a part-time business and a booming shop. Have your CLNC^® subcontractors ready to go. That way, the next time an attorney tells you he has a bunch of cases, you can get your CLNC^® subcontractors on them quickly instead of saying “No, I’m too busy to take more than one case at a time.”

Even with CLNC^® subcontractors you are the one who has to run your legal nurse consulting business across the finish line. On that sunny January day in Houston, Deriba had to run the last nine miles (into a headwind) alone, after he left his last rabbit in the dust. He still set a record that day. Teyba Erkesso, who won the woman’s marathon that same day had a male rabbit who ran the entire race with her and she felt he contributed to her setting a record time. Think of subs as a multiplier. Instead of just one of you, now there’s a whole team of CLNC^® marathoners running beside you on your team. (Just don’t call them rabbits!)

I’ll be with you for the long run – just as long as it’s not the Houston Marathon.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Read more on Subcontracting Do’s and Don’ts.