NEWS FLASH Workforce Management Magazine Features Entrepreneur Expert
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
Institute founder Vickie L. Milazzo was recently featured in Workforce Management magazine to its 65,000 subscribers. The article, "A Reward Money Can't Buy," spotlights Vickie as an entrepreneur expert who genuinely practices what she preaches.
"I want my employees to feel an ownership of the company on some level, but since we're a private company, they can't buy stock," she says. Instead, the 22 employees are rewarded for overall company success with time off.
The company uses many other motivational techniques, but the days off are by far the most popular.
Workforce Management is the only publication designed for business leaders who deliver stellar results through a company's most important asset, its employees.
As a CLNC® you should think about innovative ways to motivate and reward your CLNC® subs and employees. Start today. It works and it's fun.
As a Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM (CLNC®), you receive FREE membership in the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®), the world's largest legal nurse consulting association.
I encourage you to use every one of the remarkable FREE benefits you receive as an NACLNC® member. This specialized collection of information, free mentoring and networking opportunities will build your CLNC® practice quickly and profitably.
NACLNC® Membership Benefits
1
FREE Coaching and Mentoring – a benefit you'll enjoy not only as a student of the Institute but for a lifetime as long as you remain certified. A practicing CLNC® Mentor is just an email or phone call away to answer all of your legal nurse consulting questions.
2
FREE Opportunity to Network, consult and subcontract with over 5,000 CLNC®s nationwide with your FREE access to the online NACLNC®Directory of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (CLNC®s).
3
FREE Listing in the online NACLNC®Directory of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (CLNC®s). Your listing will be easily accessible to attorneys and more than 5,000 CLNC®s seeking testifying experts and CLNC® subcontractors from all over the U.S.
4
Exclusive NACLNC® Conference Pricing to attend the world's largest legal nurse consulting conference where you learn from the top legal nurse consulting experts in the country. It's the best place to network with NACLNC® members to locate your CLNC® subcontractors and testifying experts.
5
Exclusive Products for CLNC®s only – Vickie Milazzo Institute is the leader in developing cutting-edge products for CLNC®s.
6
FREE NACLNC® Community Website Benefits:
You receive FREE and exclusive access to the Internet's preeminent legal nurse consulting source – the private, password-protected online NACLNC® Community where you will find these unrivaled resources:
Marketing – Step-by-step checklist for your marketing packet.
Online NACLNC® Directory – Access over 5,000 CLNC®s by state and nursing speciality.
Interview Questions – Each question comes complete with proven knock-the-attorney's-socks-off answers.
Recommended Authoritative Nursing and Medical Textbooks – Locate the right reference quickly and easily with this extensive medical and nursing index.
Legal Nurse Consulting Ezine Archive – Access hundreds of tips, techniques and best practices from the CLNC® Pros.
CLNC® Resource Links – Target hundreds of the best Internet links for medical, nursing and business topics.
Sample Reports – Study brief, moderate and comprehensive reports from a CLNC® Pro.
Computer Recommendations – Use these guidelines to select new hardware and software for your home office.
As a CLNC®, your membership in the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants gives you free resources you can immediately put to use. You'll take your business to the next level with the NACLNC®.
Success Is Yours!
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
P.S. If you are not yet a CLNC®, call 800.880.0944 today to inquire about our trademark CLNC® Certification Program.
CLNC® SUCCESS STORY
I Love Going for It as a CLNC®
by Jeannie Shoeman, RN, BS, CLNC
I have 15 years of psychiatric nursing in a county hospital, private hospital, group counseling and individual counseling, and I've worked every field of nursing. I had heard about Vickie and over the years, I'd met nurses who had taken Vickie's CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar and become Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantsCM (CLNC®s).
In 1989, I got my bachelor's degree and went to work for various insurance companies as a workers' comp medical case manager. From 1990 to 1998, I worked with managed care insurance until that company went bankrupt and I lost my job.
The insurance company had used nurses in marketing because people would listen to us. We could get our foot in the door, and I realized I was good at it, maybe because of all my years in psych and personal communication.
Working in the Insurance Field Sparked My Interest in the Law
Working in insurance, I became fascinated with the law. When my job ended, I got depressed and gained weight. I decided it was time to try legal nurse consulting, and I went to the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®) Conference to find out more.
However, despite my successful track record in marketing for the insurance company, I discovered how different working for myself was. Making that first call to an attorney was hard. I looked at that long list of attorneys and felt daunted.
I remembered Vickie telling us we'd have to make several calls to get an appointment. I had to remind myself to be confident. At that point in my life confidence did not come easily. I had a lot of personal problems, including a death in the family. My adult son was seriously ill, and supporting him had drained my funds.
My daughter – my rah-rah cheerleader – helped me create a brochure and business cards. The one lead I followed up on turned out to be a catastrophe. When I got the attorney on the phone, he said, "I have a client in Alaska committing suicide as we speak." I didn't have the nerve to follow up after that call ended.
Vickie Gave Me the Extra Kick to Start Calling Prospects
I was totally discouraged, but Vickie gave me that extra kick I needed. After the NACLNC® Conference, I took the CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar and left the training feeling empowered and full of energy. I now looked at that intimidating list of law firms and decided, "Why shouldn't I go after the really big ones?" I picked out the top 10 firms and made the calls.
Rather than sending letters to lawyers who already had nurses or weren't interested, I wanted to qualify my leads first. Otherwise, the gatekeeper might throw my brochure right in the trash. But whether I phoned or went out in person, the gatekeepers were carefully guarding the gate.
Finally, a woman at the office of a medical malpractice defense attorney said, "Our senior founding partner has thought about hiring a legal nurse consultant. I want you to leave him a personal voice mail."
After a week he called me back. He asked about my resume. My one reference was an attorney who had recently been appointed judge. My prospect said, "I've know Bill for years. Why don't you send me your packet?"
When I met with the attorney, he seemed excited, taking me around and introducing me to the other 11 partners and the entire staff. He bragged about my wonderful qualifications and said he planned to hire me as a consultant.
My First Case Was a Win for the Attorney and Me
After the meeting nothing happened. I waited three months, thinking he wasn't interested after all. Then he called with the first case. Later, I learned it had taken him that long to get the records.
I had never done medical malpractice or worked for the defense. My experience was with workers' comp and personal injury. This was an involved case, and I was afraid I couldn't do it justice. I told my attorney-client I had an extensive network of CLNC®s and could find him a nurse who specialized in that area. However, he wanted me, nobody else. He saw something in me that I didn't. As a result, we both were winners. He won the case, settling for a lot more money because of the information I found in the chart, and I won repeat business.
Since then I've completed six more cases for him. I worked up the last one from inception, billing for 60-plus hours. The checks I received were amazing – $2,500, $5,000, $6,000 – for not that many hours of work.
Vickie's Training Helped Build My Confidence and Discipline
Even though I landed a big firm with those first calls, I still procrastinate doing the marketing. This year, at the NACLNC® Conference, a speaker talked about taking one step a day, even if it's small. Vickie's impeccable image also impressed me. Her suits, her matching shoes, her colors have such punch. I'm still working on building my confidence, and I realize now that looking good and taking that one step every day make me feel more confident.
Using what I learned at the marketing workshop and the other valuable tips from the NACLNC® Conference to build my confidence and discipline, I know I will succeed even more. I believe you have to aim for the top, go for the big one, just like I did when I landed that first top-10 law firm. I love going for it as a CLNC®.
Jeannie Shoeman, RN, BS, CLNC owns JMS Medical-Legal Consulting in Iowa. She has 25 years of nursing experience.
