business

Welcome to “Web 2.0″ with its completely new terminology for the blogosphere. But don’t be scared, I’m here to help you master the art of Web 2.0′s social bookmarking and get you hip.

When the Internet was relatively new and you saw a website that you wanted to share with friends, what did you do? Most likely, you picked up the phone or sent an email. Now there’s a new alternative – social bookmarking, which is awesome because who has time to phone a friend about a cool website? Social bookmarking allows users to ‘tag’ sites of interest. Once a site is tagged, your tags appear in two places: your user profile, and the homepage of the bookmarking network. The bookmarking network will display the tag temporarily, before it is replaced by newer ones.

Delicious is a social bookmarking network that allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source. How many times have you bookmarked a website on your home computer, and then also needed to open it out of town? With Delicious, you can bookmark any website on the Internet and access them from any computer, anywhere.

Need to know the latest on Medicare fraud or toxic torts? Explore tags on Delicious.com and you’ll instantly get a list of all websites tagged by other users. If you’re working on a legal nurse consulting case that involves a specific drug, such as Vioxx^®, explore tags on Delicious. You’ll be amazed at what’s out there that someone else thought enough about to bookmark.

Bookmark what you like and it will be there when you come back – from any computer. Sounds good so far, right? It gets better. Since Delicious has an interactive “Web 2.0″ quality, you’re not just tagging websites, you’re conceptualizing with an entire community. Once a tag is entered into the bookmarking network, other users can rate it.

So, how is this beneficial to Certified Legal Nurse Consultants? Let’s say you want to reference a website on SIDs within a case report, but are unsure about the quality of the site’s information. If it has been tagged within a social network, chances are you’ll get an idea of what others think about it before including it in your work product for your attorney-client.

Social bookmarking can also help you market your CLNC^® business. After you’ve created your company website, let people know about it by creating a bookmark. Then ask other Delicious users within your network to rate your site. This even gives you a bit of page rank. Plus, it’s an excellent way to gain free traffic.

Using a social bookmarking network, such as Delicious, allows you to learn about new sites and tag your own sites while networking with new people.

Well, what are you waiting for? Go to Delicious.com and join. It’s FREE and easy! Make sure you bookmark Vickie’s Blog. Thanks!

Guest Blogger Profile

Brandy Mathews is a member of the marketing department at Vickie Milazzo Institute. She brings over 10 years of experience in computers, computer technology and the Internet to the Institute.

Let’s face it. Connectivity is king. The more we complain about getting away from things, the more we need to be connected whenever we get away. BlackBerries^® and iPhones^® have made being on the road a little more bearable. But we do need more than just email when we’re out of the office. Sure, those lucky legal nurse consultants who are iPhone users can surf the web, watch YouTube and listen to music, but for the legal nurse consulting “crackberry” users out there – we need the Internet and we need it fast!

What’s a business owner to do? Until recently, laptop owners were forced to limit ourselves to email and if we needed to communicate via a document, we had to boot up and head to Starbucks^®, camp out in the hotel lobby or line up for signal leakage outside the walls of the airline lounges. We’d go anywhere to find a free (or unsecured) wireless network, to get and stay connected. Even worse, in hotels we’re forced to pay high prices for unstable wired or wireless connections. So, what choice do we have? Not much more than to get up and shout, “I’m mad as can be and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”

Well now you don’t have to feel like roadkill on the information superhighway. Today can be your independence day as a CLNC consultant! Head on down to the nearest Verizon wireless store and buy a PC5750 wireless PC card or, to your AT&T store and buy a Sierra Wireless AirCard 881. These slick little Type II cards slide into a PCMCIA slot on your computer (USB models are available and work with MAC and PC) and, once activated, connect you to the Internet at a genuine broadband access rate of speed.

I’ve had a Verizon card for over a year now and it’s worked just about everywhere. I’ve checked email while on the van transfer from the airport, while on the runway (before they shut the cabin door) and even in traffic in the Big Apple (I wasn’t driving). It will free you from the vagaries of hotel wireless. And, best of all, in just about any area where you can get a cell signal, you can get on the Internet.

I recently test-drove the AT&T card and found its connectivity was less than perfect, but they’ve apparently upgraded their 3G network.

One caveat though, is that you have to watch your data transfer. Like many of the broadband providers will soon be doing, both AT&T and Verizon mobile networks have placed a cap on how much data you can transfer (stuff you can download) before you run into an overage charge. Verizon alone offers a low-end service of 50MB of transfer for $40/month and both AT&T and Verizon offer a mega-user service of 5GB of transfer (1,200 songs or 10 hours of video) for $60/month. Both services used to be unlimited but, no longer. Apparently they didn’t realize that people thought unlimited really meant unlimited. My guess is they’ll have to let you access an online meter so you can track how much data transfer you have left before going into overage charges.

Find out which provider has the better coverage in the areas you’ll be likely to use and then set yourself free! The cards can be pricey (there’s a rebate) and service isn’t cheap for a new Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, but if you’re a seasoned road warrior, one of these PC cards may be for you. Try playing one off against the other – remember what I say in my contracts lecture – “Everything is negotiable except your fee.”

There’s a bonus. If it works well at home, and you’re a one-computer CLNC^® business, you may even consider ditching your home broadband service.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Recession. Market downturn. Doom. Gloom. Bailout, schmailout. Nurses getting laid off in great numbers. In spite of all the negative headlines out there, according to the experts, a recession is actually your ticket to success as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. That’s right – kicking your legal nurse consulting business into high gear during a recession is a great idea.

It’s amazing, but true! Recessions are typically among the strongest times for new business startups. This means that the time to reignite your certified legal nurse consulting business is now.

5 Reasons Why a Recession Is the Best Time to Kick Start Your CLNC^® Consulting Business into High Gear

1. During a recession, injured people are more likely to pursue their legal rights and hold others accountable for their actions.
2. Fears of a downturn may cause fewer nurses to venture out from hospitals to become Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. That’s more attorney business for you.
3. Attorneys will worry about the cost of expensive MD experts who charge as much as $1,000/hr and quickly see the wisdom in relying more on cost-effective Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who charge $125-150/hr.
4. Lawyers will realize that they’re going to have to work harder to keep their clients happy – and they’ll need the specialized expertise of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants to do so.
5. Hospitals are freezing salaries and laying off nurses. Bonuses are unheard of. Your earning potential as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is unlimited.

“When everyone is running to the exits, the people that stand tall and firm almost always end up making a fortune. If you’re not yet in a business, this is the absolute prime time to get in.”

– Bill Bartmann (Self-Made Billionaire)

Success Is Inside!

Vickie,

I went to my first interview yesterday with a products liability attorney. He was so interested in my CLNC^® services that he asked me to present to a group of 20 products liability attorneys in the area. Do I charge for this presentation? I don’t think I should since he is basically presenting me to 20 other attorneys.

What legal nurse consulting topic should I present and how long should it to be?

I thought I might take some time on life care planning because the attorney was very interested in this topic and didn’t even know what a “life care planner” was. I also thought I would choose a common injury or issue that they come across. I asked the attorney specifically if there was something he wanted me to cover. He stated, “What we covered today and anything else you can think of.” It’s all up to me. I don’t want to bomb!

Jessica M., CLNC

Hi Jessica,

Congratulations on your interview! What an incredible marketing opportunity to present your CLNC^® services to a group of attorneys. I love it when the room is full of them. Do not charge for this presentation – look at it as an opportunity to market your CLNC^® services quickly and simultaneously to 20 attorneys face-to-face. Presentations like this give you instant credibility and are a powerful way to gain attorneys’ trust. It’s one of the fastest ways to become known as an authority in your field.

Take along plenty of business cards and brochures to hand out and remember to get each attorney’s business card. Do personal introductions before the presentation – it’s a huge mistake to ask them to introduce themselves in a round-robin manner – they already know who they are. They’re there to learn who and what you are.

Ask the attorney how much time you will have for your presentation so you can prepare appropriately and stay within the time allotted. Highlight your CLNC^® services and give quick examples relevant to products liability cases. Include a variety of products and injuries. Only speak about life care planning if you are an expert on it. You want the attorneys to see you as instantly credible, so stick to what you know and know well. Discuss the benefits to the attorneys and also emphasize the pain of their not hiring you on their medical-related cases. Save time for questions at the end. Afterwards attempt to set up personal interviews with each attorney. Get’em while they’re hot.

To prepare your presentation:

a. Identify the topic you would like to speak about.
b. Create a speech that includes an opening, body and close.
c. Prepare the presentation, practice it and time it beforehand.
d. Develop a handout that includes your contact information (take 20+).
e. Do not sell on the platform.

Congratulations on taking this step to expand your CLNC^® business through presentations to attorneys.

Success Is Inside!

Vickie

Dreams, like angels, can lift us up high above the world, taking us away from the daily grind. And that’s exactly what New Year’s resolutions are designed to help us do – lift us off the ground and guide us to a dream or goal.

But how often do you hear people say, “I gave up on resolutions years ago,” or “The last time I made a New Year’s resolution was when I was in 8th grade,” or “2 weeks into the New Year, those resolutions are blurrier than my thinking after that New Year’s hangover.” I’ve said all three. How about you?

Even without resolutions, we still have dreams. And oh how those dreams lift us up – for a while, until we let them get rusty with no intention and no action behind them. Those same dreams that once lifted us up now show up as failures, and make us so miserable that we’d welcome a strong New Year’s Day hangover as a relief.

Now, I confess I’m not much into resolutions. I’m not much into hangovers either. What I am into is making promises to my dreams – the promise to go for them all the way without any guarantee of success. So instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I make promises that are important enough and smart enough to keep (or break) all year long.

Make just one promise a year and you’re a different person that year and the next and the next. All you have to do is start with just one.

Take a moment to answer these five questions:

• If I earn 25% more income as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant how would that change my life?
• If I gained 5 hours a week for myself, how would that change my life?
• How do I want to show up in 2009?
• Where do I see my CLNC^® business next year?
• What do my attorney-clients look like in 3 years?

Or, you can ask your own questions that will fulfill your dreams, personal or professional. Writing them down is important.

Next, choose the question that you are most intuitively drawn to. Don’t analyze why you’re drawn to it. Just trust that you are and write an answer to your question. Now create one promise related to the question and the answer you chose. This question and its promise is calling you for a reason – give it a chance.

Finally, create a checklist of measurable, attainable actions you will take to live your promise for 2009 and start with the first one. Check in once a week with both your dreams (which can change) and your promise checklist to assess how you are doing. Keeping your promises will bring you close enough to your dreams to keep them lifted up. Give your dreams wings to fly and they’ll carry you to new heights – personally and professionally.

Honor yourself in 2009 by making and keeping the promises that are worthy of you and your dreams.

Here’s to keeping your dreams lifted up high in 2009.

Success Is Inside!