NEWS FLASH
Vickie Milazzo Institute Named to Top 100 Small Businesses in
Houston for Second Year in a Row
The nation's oldest and largest training institute for legal nurse consulting, Vickie Milazzo Institute is officially recognized as one of the "Top 100 Small Businesses" in Houston by the Houston Business Journal. We have achieved this prestigious milestone for the second year in a row.
It is an honor to be recognized as one of the leading small businesses in the fourth largest city in the country.
Vickie Milazzo Institute started with a dream. Today I am living my dreams. You can live yours too if you remember, we are nurses and we can do anything!
BEST PRACTICES FOR MARKETING
32 Ways to Network Your Way to CLNC® Success, Part II
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second part of our three-part networking series. As you may remember, we asked our CLNC® Pros to share their best methods for networking your way to CLNC® success. Here are their proven strategies.
Be sure to look for Part III of this article where you'll read more of their amazing free strategies in our next Legal Nurse Consulting Ezine, Vol. 15, No. 15, July 23, 2004.
Continue Networking Anywhere and Everywhere
Take a trip down memory lane. Get your high school or college yearbook and look up friends and peers you haven't seen or heard from in years. Call them and inform them about your thriving CLNC® business. Some of them may be attorneys or related to attorneys. Contact the leads they give you and mention the friend who referred you. This gives you an instant "in."
Volunteer in places where you might meet attorneys. Many professional people do volunteer work. Find a cause you believe in and devote yourself to it.
"I serve on the domestic violence committee in my community. The government and social service agencies on this committee send representatives to the meetings. Several attorneys are frequently present and can provide contacts with other attorneys. As a result of my participation, several assistant district attorneys have referred other attorneys to me."
– Robert Erb, RN, MA, CS, CLNC
Don't miss a single holiday party. Even a boring holiday party is ripe with juicy networking opportunities. Be ready with your 30-second commercial. When someone asks what kind of work you do, you can say, "Why, I'm a Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM. How about you?" "Why, I'm an attorney." Yes, it can be just that easy.
Network discreetly at your facility. Volunteer to participate in peer review and sentinel-event analysis. While you will not be able to consult or testify other than as a fact witness, you will gain excellent practice in reviewing medical records and administrative policies and procedures. You will also gain positive exposure that could lead to referrals.
"As a result of participating in task groups and investigating committees, other law firms have contacted me on several large cases based on the recommendation of hospital counsel and administration."
– Robert Erb, RN, MA, CS, CLNC
If you have a family member facing a legal issue, be assertive in offering to help their attorney. Usually the family member is distraught and finds comfort in having you involved. Plus your nursing expertise will contribute to accurate assessment of the merits of the case and a successful result if the case is meritorious. Offer to contact the attorney directly so that you clearly define your CLNC® role in the case. Do not expect to be paid since you are related to the prospective plaintiff; however, your consultation will assuredly result in future benefits.
Be active in a professional networking group. Don't just show up. Serve on committees and on the board. That way members of the group will get to know you and understand what you do. They will more readily refer prospects to you. At first many members may not know what a CLNC® does. To inform them, prepare a one-page flyer and perfect your 30-second speech explaining your CLNC® services.
"I recommend joining a group of high-level professionals and business people. Members of such groups have given me attorneys' names or had attorneys call me. Be active, be patient and your membership will pay off."
– Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC
Turn public speaking engagements into networking opportunities. Take advantage of every chance to speak in public, whether for a community group, attorney association, healthcare facility or at the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®) Conference. When you give a presentation, leverage the visibility you gain by networking furiously and by sending out a news release to your local media.
"As a result of a speaking engagement, I was interviewed in the local newspaper. The day after the article ran, several attorneys called to say they had seen the article and to discuss business. I also was invited to speak with another nurse-consultant at a seminar for long term care facilities. The contacts I made there have recommended me to attorneys and passed along my business information."
– Patsy Howard, RN, CLNC
Be Ready When Your Networking Opportunity Strikes
Always have your business cards on hand. Keep a supply in your purse, wallet, briefcase, car console and spouse's pocket. You never know when you'll need one or when giving one out will lead to more business.
"I was attending a deposition for a plaintiff attorney when co-counsel on the case gave me his business card. (We had not met before.) I retrieved my card from my day planner and gave it to him. At the break, we discussed a new case he wanted me to start working on ASAP. Even though I already did business with his firm, my card helped cement the relationship with this particular attorney."
– Gina I. Rogers, RN, BSN, CLNC
Carry your business cards to all functions – social and business. Never underestimate the possibilities even when you're attending a non-medical or non-legal event. Be ready to capitalize at a moment's notice.
"I recently attended a party sponsored by my husband's company. He is a civil engineer with a major engineering firm, so I was certain I would be talking about roadwork all evening. I was so wrong. I was introduced to the company attorney and immediately shared information about my career as a CLNC®. The attorney was very impressed and interested. Although he personally did not handle medical cases, his firm did a lot of them. He asked for my card, and I was so glad I had some to give him. He also asked me to follow up via email."
– Rachel Cartwright, RN, MS, LHRM, CLNC
Give your business card to people with whom you conduct personal business. This is an easy way of providing information they need about you, while also educating them about your CLNC® business.
"The man who sold me furniture turned out to be the son of one the top attorneys in town and passed my name along to his father."
– Patsy Howard, RN, CLNC
Be prepared to introduce yourself and your services wherever you go. Always be ready to give your 30-second introduction. Include your name and what you do as a CLNC® and why attorneys can't afford to litigate a case without you. Develop several versions to match the person to whom you are speaking:
A professional version for when you're talking to attorneys and healthcare providers.
A layman's version that is clear to anyone who does not practice in law or healthcare.
Practice in front of the mirror, record it on tape and say it in front of your family until it's perfect.
Network with Other Nurses and CLNC®s
Become active in your specialty nursing associations. This keeps you on top of your profession and provides innumerable networking opportunities for learning of attorney-prospects and meeting future testifying experts and CLNC® subcontractors.
"At quarterly meetings of my local chapter of the Intravenous Nursing Society, the topic of current lawsuits always comes up. At a meeting, one of my colleagues, a PICC certified nurse, learned about a pending case related to a catheter tip breaking off during insertion and lodging in the heart, leading to the patient's cardiac arrest and death. She sent the law firm representing the home health agency an information packet, stressing her expertise with PICC line and long line catheters, but not mentioning the pending case. Two days later the elated attorney called and asked for her expert opinion on the case."
– Holly Bedgio, RNC, BSN, CRNI, CWS, CLNC
Attend nursing conferences to expand your contacts. These contacts can pay off years down the road in the form of referral sources, testifying experts, future CLNC® subcontractors and even future attorney-clients.
"I met a fellow nurse at a conference years ago. She had just finished law school and went to work for a law firm. We exchanged emails and holiday cards for several years. When she moved to another law firm, she left my name with her former partners. About a year later the firm called me with several cases. They have also referred me to other clients. That nurse-attorney provided a golden door for me to walk through."
– Gloria Blackmon, RNC, BSN, LNHA
Stay in touch with your fellow CLNC®s. Take the time to communicate with your CLNC® colleagues regularly. You'll find your best and most prepared experts and subcontractors among your own peers. A small network of CLNC®s (less than 10) is all you need to start.
"Bar none, the best association I have made is my listing in Vickie Milazzo Institute's online NACLNC® Directory of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (CLNC®s). I have received numerous queries and several cases by being listed in the directory."
– Linda Bandy, RN, MSN, CSPI, CLNC
Attend the NACLNC® Conference for a fundamental way to network with CLNC®s.
"In this safe, motivating, enriching environment you'll learn and share information and make mutually beneficial contacts. These are the folks you can call on when you need help with your business or need some moral support."
– Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC
"I often call CLNC®s I meet at conferences and develop successful subcontracting arrangements. I call the ones who were courteous and professional."
– Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC
Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC, a CLNC® Mentor, is the owner of SEA Consultant Company in California, specializing in long term care cases.
Linda Bandy, RN, MSN, CSPI, CLNC is an independent CLNC® in Tennessee who has more than 20 years of nursing experience in a variety of specialties.
Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC, a CLNC® Mentor in California, has owned Barnes Medical Legal Services since 1999, and specializes in medical malpractice, bad faith insurance and general personal injury.
Holly Bedgio, RNC, BSN, CRNI, CWS, CLNC has more than 20 years of clinical nursing and management experience. Based in Florida, she specializes in medical malpractice and personal injury cases.
Gloria A. Blackmon, RNC, BSN, LNHA is the CEO of Blackmon & Associates Medical-Legal Consulting in Kansas, specializing in long term care issues.
Susan J. Burnham, RNC, CLNC owns Burnham and Associates in Washington state since 1996. She specializes in quality of care issues. She also serves as a CLNC® Mentor.
Rachel Cartwright, RN, MS, LHRM, CLNC, a CLNC® Mentor and guest faculty, owns Medical-Legal Concepts in Florida. She specializes in critical care and regulatory compliance.
Robert Erb, RN, MA, CS, CLNC is founder of Eagle Professional Management Services in California, and has more than 34 years of healthcare experience, including psychiatric, emergency and long term care.
Debra Gross, RN, MSN, CPC, CLNC is co-owner of Delor Legal Nurse Consultants, LLC in Ohio. Her specialties include OB/GYN, peds, CCU, compliance, HIPAA and Medicare fraud. Debra is a CLNC® Mentor.
Patsy Howard, RN, CLNC is the owner of Metro Legal Nurse Consulting in Missouri. She has 23 years of nursing experience and specializes in medical malpractice litigation.
Colleen Lindell, RN, MHSA, CNOR, CLNC is CEO of Med-Legal.net, Inc. in Wisconsin. She specializes in research.
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD is the founder and president of the Vickie Milazzo Institute. She was credited by The New York Times with creating the legal nurse consulting profession in 1982. Vickie has revolutionized the careers of thousands of RNs.
Gina I. Rogers, RN, BSN, CLNC is the founder of Medical Review Consulting, LLC in Kentucky. She serves as a CLNC® Mentor and guest faculty for the Institute.
