The Dreams of a Solo

The Dreams of a Solo: News and Developments

I am excited about a few new developments that I may be prepared to announce in the coming weeks regarding the future of this site.  I am currently talking with a soon-to-be solo attorney (my younger sister) in Nebraska about the possibility of her becoming an additional author for this blog.   She would undoubtedly offer a fresh and insightful perspective and the quality of her writing is outstanding.  I hope that we will work out the particulars of this arrangement in the next few weeks.  You will all be the first to know when it comes together.

I am still working through the details of another idea that I hope to put into action by the end of the year.  I wish I could divulge more information at this time but I will need some more time to fully develop the idea before I roll it out.  I can say that the next half a year will be even more action packed than the first half a year has been for The Dreams of a Solo blog.  There will be plenty more information related to starting, managing and building a successful solo law practice.

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www.thedreamsofasolo.com

The transition from Blogger to Typepad is complete for everything I could salvage.  The site www.thedreamsofasolo.blogspot.com has been deleted and as such will only lead to an error message.  Because that link is now dead it is necessary that other sites/blogs update links to The Dreams of a Solo.  I apologize for any issues that this change may cause.  Eventually we will get to a point where the linkage will not be an issue as sites are updated and as the search engine crawlers find this new information.  Thank you again for your patience.

The Dreams of a Solo Moving to Typepad

Please bear with me as I work out the kinks involved with moving from Blogger to Typepad.  Thanks.

Taking the Dreams to Typepad

Well the time has come for this blog to leave the Blogger platform.  I had a feeling from the outset that I would eventually make the move over to Typepad.  But I wanted to get a better sense for blogging in general before I decided to make the plunge.  Now that I have the custom domain name I will have the ability to pick up and take most everything with me when I turn the lights out on Blogger.  Obviously there will be some dead link issues from the older links to www.thedreamsofasolo.blogpot.com, since that address may not redirect to www.thedreamsofasolo.com once the move is made.  I have initiated the required changes tonight and hopefully they will update in the next day or two.  Then I will spend some time working out the kinks and moving my posts to their new home.  I apologize for any inconvenience this move may cause.  It should be well worth it in the end.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A friend and colleague of mine asked me that as his way of saying "What do you want your law firm to look like in the future?"  It is a funny way of asking the question, but it is appropriate when you consider the context.  When you start of solo law practice it is not just about what you hope to achieve in the next year or two.  A part of you has to think like a chess master in that you plan three or four moves ahead.  I started my firm because I wanted the autonomy that comes with being my own boss.  I also wanted to take my future and my firm in the direction that I thought would be the best.  Ultimately the decision for many solos is whether to remain a solo, partner with another attorney, or to hire associates.  I have given this decision serious thought already and I expect that I will revisit it again in the future, but to date I have not reached a conclusion one way or the other.

At the present time I cannot imagine anything other than building a completely solo law practice.  I will be bringing an assistant on board to help with some of the office related stuff, but I have no plans to partner up or hire associates in the future.  My friend mentioned something else to me in our conversation that applies to this decisions.  He mentioned that he made more money and had less management type responsibilities in the two years that he was solo as opposed to the five years he has built his firm, which now has 7 attorneys.   When you look at it that way it seems like a no brainer.  Why would you do something that costs you money and adds stress to you life?  His reason was that he grew sick of referring out matters that he himself didn't handle to other attorney and watching them muck things up.  I can certainly see his perspective since referring clients to outside attorneys carries some amount of risk.  But I respectfully disagreed with his answer to the problem since it affected him negatively in the end.  A better approach would be to find a better crew of outside attorneys that could sufficiently handle matters outside your reach.  This task can be accomplished by networking, which could also benefit the law firm business by increasing awareness of your firm and your practice areas.  There is nothing better than building a referral based business that routinely supplies new business.  The key is to get the word out regarding your narrow practice focus and to emphasis how the referral process will work in practice.

Chuck Newton: Move Your TV to Another Room? Move Yourself

Link:  Chuck Newton:  Move Your TV to Another Room?  Move Yourself.  This is another great post from Third Wave Lawyer, Chuck Newton, regarding his home office.  I am not a full fledged home office lawyer but I do work at home a day or two a week.  My reason for working at home is in line with Chuck's opinion that we all desire a little change of scenery from time to time.  There are days when I work or blog from my couch, dining room table or home office.  There are other days when I work from my actual downtown Appleton office.  And there are still other times when I can be found at my favorite local coffee shop.  I tend to move around because I have found that I am better able to focus on the task at hand in a fresh environment.  I imagine that the same can be said for most of you as well.  We all remember how creative and efficient we were that day we picked up and jettisoned the office with our name on the door right?  I am envious of Chuck since he has designed his firm to allow for this additional level of freedom each and every day.  We should all be so smart and follow his lead.

Solo Law Practice Multi-Function Machine

A few weeks ago I revisited a technology decision that I had delayed since I opened my law firm in July.  The decision involved the multi-functional machine that I would purchase for printing, scanning, and copying around the office.  In the end I went with the Brother MFC-8860DN (inset on the left).  Up to this point I had been getting by with a lower tier HP Inket multi-purpose model in my office and a laser printer/copier shared by all of  the office.  My reasons for delaying the purchase included the need to conduct enough research into the different options and my desire to build up enough working capital to make a few purchases with cash as opposed to using credit.  I was also sick of wasting money on ink cartridges and wasting time printing lengthy estate plans on a terribly slow machine.

As part of my research I spent a few hours last week rereading different blog posts and listserv discussion on the topic of laser multi-functions.  The consensus opinion seemed to be in favor of the Brother line of products, with the MFC-8860DN receiving high marks.  One motivating factor for me was the initial price ($399 after $100 mail-in-rebate at Office Depot) and the reviews that mentioned the toner for the Brother machines is less expensive than HP and Canon.  After seeing the potential cost savings I was convinced when I read that people were just as satisfied with the quality and dependability of Brother printers.  The machine does not have to be an absolute workhorse around my office.  I do have the need to print rather large jobs (200+ pages) around 7 times a month, but the lion's share of my printing needs involve much smaller jobs.

It took me about a half hour to unpack and setup the Brother MFC-8860DN.  The machine came with instructions and drivers specific to the Mac OSX platform.  The only drawback I can see right now is not related to the Brother product but to the service plan that I purchased from Office Depot along with the multifunction.  I needed a USB cable which was selling for $44.95.  Office Depot has a service plan package that runs $69 and it includes paper, the service plan for two years, some cable tags, and, most importantly to me at this stage, the USB cable.  So for a few bucks more I decided to purchase the service plan.  I hope I never have to use it, but if I do have a problem at least I have it.  The issue that I have with the service plan is that the software and registration material require Windows and I need to complete the registration before the service plan is activated.  Obviously that is a problem since I use my MacBook Pro and Mac OSX at the office.   I am going to try to get around that when I get home since we still have a Windows laptop around the house.

So far I am very happy with the upgrade to the Brother laser multi-function.  It should help make me more efficient and it should eliminate the headaches caused by my old inkjet.  I cannot believe that I was able to maintain my sanity as long as I did with that old HP.  I would highly recommend to anyone starting out that they pick spend some money on a quality multi-function machine.  It's well worth it.

Banner Image Not Abandoned Yet

Unfortunately the banner image that you see above in this post may be the only banner image that your browser is displaying for this site due to issues that I have not been able to remedy.  My plan is to attempt to work through theses issues one last time and if I am still unsuccessful I will have no choice but to make some sort of change.  That most likely will include abandoning the banner image that I put together using the Seashore imaging software a couple of months ago.  That would not be a happy day for me if it does come to that since I like the customized look and feel of this blog when the banner works properly.  But the reality is that if is does not work, then I will have to find something that does.

If anyone has any suggestions as to why I am having problems getting the banner to fully display each time the page loads, I would love to hear from you.  The problem should be easily recognizable if it in fact is still occurring.  Either you will see the image at the top left of this post as the banner on this blog or you will simply see the words The Dreams of a Solo.  If you see only the words than the banner is still not working properly.  Again, any feedback you may have would be very much appreciated.  Thanks.

Reflecting on my First 6 Months of Blogging

This post is not as timely as I would have liked, but it is the best I can do to reflect upon my first six months of blogging. The picture to your right is supposedly a depiction of an ancient Mayan calendar. I am by no means an expert in Mayan history so I cannot confirm its authenticity. I chose that image because the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world as we know it on December 21, 2012 and I find that intriguing. I am not sure what the future holds, but I can be more certain in where we have been over the last six months. For instance, in March of this year under the cover of anonymity I started this blog to chronicle my journey into solo practice. It has been one heck of a run thus far.  The truth is I started this blog so I would have a forum for my thoughts, plans, difficulties, etc during the start up phase.  In addition to the benefit of keeping this journal, I also had the opportunity to learn and experience the blogging process.  I had read various blogs for months prior, but I had not commented much nor had I even thought about writing my own.  I hope to relay some of the things I have learned through my experiences with the Dreams of a Solo blog so you do not have to reinvent the wheel when you start blogging.

One of my first lessons came very early on in the process.  At the time I had what seemed like a million things to write about.  That hasn't changed by the way.  I still have a number of ideas for topics, but now I find it increasingly more difficult to find the time.  I quickly came to appreciate how much time it takes to maintain a regularly updated blog.  It was easier for me at the outset because I blogged about the things I was thinking about as opposed to blog topics that required additional research.  But at some point you will find the need and desire to provide links to the sources of useful information and your topics will inevitably require research.  The good news is that it will require you to get a head start on creating a time-management system.  When you run your own law firm like I do as a pure solo, it is your responsibility to do everything.  That means I have to maximize the number of available hours in the day in order to get everything done.  To this point I have made the law practice a priority, which it will always be, but that has come at the expense of this blog.  I am hoping to strike a balance that will allow for both going forward.

The second thing that I have learned is that other solo or law related bloggers are a great source of support and insight.  I have made a number of friends since I started blogging and most of those people I have never met nor spoken to in person.  My wife initially got a big kick out of the small community that the solo and law practice related bloggers have.  She thought it was like a little club.  To some degree it is, but I have not noticed that it is a private club with strict membership rules.  In fact it is just the opposite.  I cannot speak for any other solo or law practice bloggers, but I can say that I am always willing to answer your comments and emails.  I have even spoken with a few folks over the phone or met them in person.  I really just want everyone who aspires to be a solo attorney or build their own law firm to have the resources that need available to them.  I know I am not the most seasoned solo attorney in the world, but sometimes a different perspective is all you need to get going.

The third thing is how much different it has been since I decided to reveal my identity.  It was much more difficult than I thought it would be.  The cloak of anonymity provided another layer of protection.   As Solo Dreamer I felt more able to write anything, even my innermost thoughts and dreams.  I was just a bit too scared to allow myself to be so open.  The problem with my mindset is that I haven't been able to really articulate my thoughts, feels and goals and that has left me without a forum.  I hope to improve upon this in the future.  I enjoyed blogging about the ups and downs, although admittedly I enjoy blogging about the ups much more.  But the truth is for this information to be helpful it cannot be simply one sided.  It shouldn't paint a picture that is skewed by too much sunshine and roses.  Going solo is hard, but it is also very rewarding.

There are many more things I have learned about blogging and about myself in the last six months, but I believe it to be prudent to stop there for now.  All told it has been a great experience.  One that I would recommend to anyone, in any industry or way or life.  Give it a try and see for yourself.

Banner Issues with The Dreams of a Solo blog

Recently I have noticed that the image I have uploaded to serve as the banner on The Dreams of a Solo blog is not showing up on my screen.  I am not sure if this is a localized issue with my browser or MacBook Pro, so I am hoping that someone can help me out by letting me know whether it is showing up on their screen.  It should be pretty easy to tell if it is working or not.  Either the image with the sky and clouds and the text The Dreams of a Solo shows up or it does not.  If it does not then you will just see the hyperlinked text "The Dreams of a Solo" in the upper left hand corner.  Thanks in advance for your help.  Have a great weekend.

UPDATE (10-19-07 - 11:15pm)

I just wanted to eliminate one of my initial theories as to why the banner is not displaying properly.  I am now at home on my wife's windoze laptop and the banner still is not displaying.  That leads me to believe that the problem is with some of my settings in Blogger or with the image file itself.  Has anyone noticed these display problems in the past?  Thanks for your comments.