Law Firm Marketing | Financials and Other Questions

It's officially the last day of the year. I've already posted my law firm goals for 2011, which you can read here, so it's time to do a little reflecting back and a little question and answer. Here we go!

2010 Financials

This one is going to be short and sweet. My goal, I believe, at the beginning of the year, was to gross $100,000. I came up just short of that goal at about $96,000. Not too bad for the first full year as far as I'm concerned.

Now, I know what you all want to know - how did that break down month by month and with expenses? I hate to tell you this, but I don't know yet. I'll do a month by month calculation once I do my taxes and I'll let you know. I can tell you that my monthly expenses were about $4,000 for January through October, and about $6,000 the rest of the way. For me that adds up to about $52,000 in expenses. Means I netted about $44,000, and that feels about right.

Stay tuned for the month by month breakdown. It will give you a glimpse into the topsy turvy world of owning your own practice.

Starting a Law Firm Right Out of Law School

I got this question two or three times this week and I've gotten it a few other times in the past and I thought I'd talked about it before, but I haven't. So here it goes.

I think starting a law firm straight out of law school is fine - if you lay some ground work first. Pardon my french, but when you graduate from law school you don't know shit about being a lawyer. It's just a fact. But, you can help that out by doing some things while you are in law school.

First, get some experience. Go work for someone, even if it's for free. Decide the area of practice you want to be in and start calling those people up asking for work. Volunteer to do it for free until they feel like paying you something. The money isn't important, the experience is. And the great thing about volunteering is the lawyer you work for won't have to feel the need to make money off of you. That means you have the opportunity to sit in client meetings, go to court, and see how everything really works. You know how to write a research memo, you need to figure out how to sign clients up and what to do after they sign up.

Second, with all that free time you have in law school start working on your internet presence. Start a blog that is related to your practice and start writing. Check out my law firm marketing site to see the basics of getting started so you do it right. Blogging will not only help you get found on the internet it will help you learn some of the ins and outs of your area of practice.

Third, create a business plan. It doesn't need any financial projections (though start up and estimated monthly expenses are nice). The key is to think about what you are going to do to let people know you exist and how you are going to differentiate yourself from everyone else that is already out there.

Fourth, find a mentor. No matter how prepared you are to face the world when you get out of law school you are going to have some questions that need answering. You will face situations where you don't know what to do. It's nice to have someone to rely on (reasonably) to help you out. This would be a legal mentor, not a business mentor.

Fifth, and finally, find someone you can talk business with. I've got a buddy of mine who started his own firm about the same time I did. He and I meet up about once a month to talk about business. We talk about what's going on with our firms, what problems we are facing, and how we can fix them. It's important, I think, that this person be outside of your firm. Though you should be having these talks with a partner if you have one, you need an outside view of the situation to help you see things more clearly. This should be a no-bullshit relationship too. If they think you're acting like a child or slowly walking your law firm off a cliff, they should have the confidence to do so (respectfully, of course).

In addition to those five things, I do have one more recommendation - get some help from my buddy RJon. If you haven't read all the posts, RJon is a law firm management and marketing expert that I met when I first opened my firm. I bought his product, which was then titled "the revenue doubler" to help me start my firm. This product is like a law firm in a box - it gives you all of the tools you need to successfully open a law firm, from the business side of things.

Well, RJon finally got wise and has started a new program devoted to helping people that are starting a law firm. He's put together a bunch of free videos entitled "The 6 Most Common, Costly & Frustrating Mistakes Most of Us made when Starting a Law firm." The link is here. The videos are free so go check them out. I guarantee you will take away some extremely valuable information.

Additionally, RJon has a program called "How to Start a Successful Law Firm in 90 Day or Less." Although I haven't been through the entire program, he's been kind enough to let me inside to see how it works, and it's great. The thing about this program that is different from others is that you have not only written materials but group phone calls and one on one calls with RJon where you can pick his brain.

I had a one on one with him this week and he helped me shape a lot of the direction for my 2011 goals - the information is that good.

That's my little plug for him. In the interests of fairness he did let me into the how to start a law firm program for free if I promised to talk about it here. But if you've read this blog long enough you know I won't endorse something unless I think it's actually helpful - that's the whole point of this blog.

If you have any more questions about this, let me know. I know when I started I had a bunch.

SEO Questions

Here's a question I got from someone:

You asked for some questions and I have a lot. I'll focus on SEO.

1. How many calls a week do you get from the search engines?

2. How many clients?

3. How long did it take you to rank high?

4. I have an attorney with 3000 backlinks to his page. I'm sure he used an SEO company from India, because most of the links are blog comments and are senseless. Is this something I can overcome on my own, or should I hire an SEO company to spam blogs?

Let's take these one at a time.

1. How many calls a week do you get from the search engines?

Sadly, I don't have really concrete answers for this. I would say anywhere from 1-5 for DUI, 5-10 for traffic, and 1-2 for criminal. I'm going to start tracking this better in 2011, so I should have some better numbers for you.

One thing I want to point out, though, is that typically my potential clients are qualified. What I mean by that is they know a lot about me, have a good feeling about me, and generally want to hire me. I make no bones about the fact that I'm not the cheapest attorney out there, and that scares away a lot of price shoppers.

2. How Many Clients?

Again, tough to say. I'd say I get 1-5 traffic clients a week and about .50 DUI/criminal clients a week. My average fee for a DUI is $4,500, so by doing the simple math, if I signed up one a week (50 weeks) that would get me $225,000. Not bad. That's what I'm working toward for this year - one new DUI/criminal client a week.

3. How Long Did it Take You to Rank High?

This is a tricky question, because the answer isn't going to be the same for everyone. A lot of it depends on the competition in your area for a specific keyword and the sophistication of your competition (the sophistication part will be address in the next answer). My situation provides the perfect example.

I started my firm in June 2009. I put in about 2 months of work before that on the DUI keywords (DUI lawyer, etc.). It took me about 10 months to get to number one, and I've been there ever since. And my strength is growing.

For traffic attorney keywords, it took me about two weeks to get to number one.

The difference is competition. A lot of people want to be number one in DUI so there is a lot more clutter to get through. And there are more people that know what they are doing because of the lucrativeness of DUI law (and I'm actually not talking at all about attorney - the most unsophisticated group of people with regard to internet marketing out there - but think avvo, law.com, findlaw, etc., it pays for them to be high in the search rankings).

So, my answer to this question is, it depends. But you aren't going get any higher if you don't start working on it today.

4. Should I Hire an SEO Company to Spam Blogs?

NO! Let me put it to you this way, if any question you ever ask includes the words spam, fraud, or kickback, the answer is probably no.

I told the person that asks this question the truth about commenting on blogs - it's useless for SEO purposes. If you want to be social, fine, comment away. But Google's going to make you work to get the authority you need to be number one in the search engines, and commenting on blogs isn't it.

The best way to get to number one in Google is to create great content and then let Google know that you are the authority for that content by linking it to your site.

And, to answer the specific question, for example, I would wager that one link from this blog would outweigh all 3000 of that attorneys spammy comments. Why? Because if it comes from here it means something. Anyone can comment on a blog.

I think that's it for now. If you have any other questions, please let me know!

Oh, and Happy New Year!

New Year's Collage Party

Create yourself a collage party tonight or tomorrow--and envision your 2011 creatively!  Go to the search box on this blog and type in "creative collages" to find out more and see samples.  Happy new year!

Law Firm Marketing | Goals for 2011

Before I even get started I want to thank everyone for their questions, comments, and emails. They are all greatly appreciated. In a lot of ways my talks with you help me learn more about the business of law and starting a successful law firm and where I want to go in the future. Your participation is key to this blog's success, and it does not go unnoticed.

As you can see, this post is going to be about my goals for 2011 - my business goals for 2011, at least. And just so you aren't waiting on baited breath for Friday, Friday's post will be about two topics people have asked about - my yearly financials and starting a firm right out of law school. I thought I'd spoken about starting a law firm right out of law school but it doesn't look like I have. Sorry.

So, here we go, the annual "goals" post (every site has one it seems).

1. Gross $250,000

Looking at it on the computer screen, it seems like such a big number. Though I'll talk about it more on Friday, I'm going to gross just under $100,000 this year. That means I want to increase my revenues by about 150% (I'm not a math whiz so cut me some slack if I'm wrong). That's a lot. But it's not that hard, if you tackle the problem in the right way.

Broken down, I need to make about $20,800 a month. Broken down further, I need to make about $4,150 a week. I think that's entirely possible. But it's going to mean ramping up my marketing efforts even more, honing in on my ideal clients, and then showing them why I am worth what I'm asking for.

It's an ambitious goal, to be sure. But it's reachable. And it will drive many of the goals you see below.

2. Roll Out One New Location Based Website a Month

I'm a DUI lawyer and I'm number one in many Google searches for my major city's keywords. But there are a lot of other large cities nearby that are just waiting for me to take over their search queries. Creating a new site for each location allows me to focus my marketing efforts on those keywords and jump to the head of the pack quickly. It will also significantly increase the potential pool of clients, the number of calls, and, at the end, the number of clients I have.

And the great thing is, this is pretty easy to do. I've already got most of the content for each site at my old site. I just have to tweak it for the geography and it's ready to go.

To give you an idea, right now I probably have access to about 300,000 potential eyeballs (the major metropolitan area I'm in). If I reach my goal of expanding my websites, I'll have access to $3,000,000. That's a pretty big jump.

3. Have My Assistant Working For Me Full Time by March 1

Getting from part time to full time isn't that big of a jump, really. All I have to do is bring in enough money with the time she saves me to pay for her. Was that as confusing as it sounded when I wrote it?

Think of it this way, if I can bring her on full time she can manage the phones and calendar for me all day, every day. She can take care of the minor questions from clients that don't really need me. And that frees up a lot of time for me to do other things, like work on launching the website for that month, promoting a seminar I'm doing, or dreaming up new ways to churn up business. That isn't very hard to do.

I'm just hoping the year starts out fast enough for me to hire her full time without having to lose a lot of sleep over it.

4. Locate Long Term Office Space

Right now my office is serviceable, at best. My lease is up in May, and I'd like to find some space that we can settle into for a while. If it had an extra office for potential expansion that would be great too. But I'm really looking for a place we can settle into and start to make the firms. Right now, at only leasing for a year at a time, it feels like once we get settled in it's time to start looking for a new space.

5. Revamp the Website

It's that time of year to tweak the website. Or, maybe more than just a tweak. My website works well - people call. But I think it could work so much better. Remember my buddy RJon that I've talked about in the past? I spoke with him on the phone yesterday and he had a couple of good ideas. Here they are:

1. Figure out the rules of professional conduct in my state with regard to testimonials, and possible, get at least one video testimonial and put it on the first page of the site right at the top.

2. Create more tools to educate potential clients about what they can expect when they come into my office and what their charges mean for their lives. This includes written and audio materials, in particular a kind of interview to answer the most common questions people have about their DUI case.

As a side note, RJon pointed out a great side effect of providing all of this information. Not only does it make potential clients ready to hire you before they come into the office, but it screens out people that are only shopping for information.

3. Finally, create a button(s) on the site to provide access to these materials for only the small price of providing your name and email address. This will help identify potential clients and help them understand the benefits of using my services over another firms.

In addition to those things I also want to tweak the site in a couple of other ways, namely putting my picture back up, tweaking the language on the site, and updating my profile to reflect what's been going on the last year and a half and let people know that I'm not the only one working here any more.

6. Join Toastmasters

If you didn't know, toastmasters is an organization that is dedicated to the spoken word. There are toastmasters groups all over the country that meet bi-weekly or monthly to work on their speaking skills. I plan on joining one of those groups.

I think most people initially join these groups because they want to conquer a fear of speaking in public. That's not really my motivation. If you ever played sports, you know that practice makes perfect. Same with public speaking. In a courtroom in front of a jury isn't really the proper place to work consciously on getting rid of that "um" you put into every sentence. Toastmasters is.

7. Create a Sustained Social Media Presence

I don't think social media like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn can generate you a lot of business by themselves. But I think they can do a great job of keeping your business and what you do at the top of the mind of your clients and potential clients. I've got it set up right now where a post on facebook automatically generates a post on twitter and post on LinkedIn. All I have to do is come up with something interesting to say every day and I'm good. My goal is to do just that.

8. Explore Alternative Marketing Methods

This may or may not come as a surprise to you, but I don't have a lot of alternative marketing channels working right now. I rely on the internet and referrals almost exclusively. And, while it's been treating me well up to this point, I know deep down that the more pots in the fire you have the better (or something like that - fill in your own analogy that works).

There are a couple of things I've been thinking about that I'm neither ready to implement or tell you, so they will have to wait. But there are some other things that are probably worth exploring. One of those things, which I've just learned can be quite effective, is bathroom advertising (if done right). For me, that's a pretty low cost, high gain type of activity. Another is really pushing free seminars for how to deal with cops. There are a whole bunch of groups out there that would love to hear about that (particularly since my presentation is both informative and funny).

9. Create Checklists and Implement Systems for Everything

In my mind, this might just be the most important goal of all. And, it violates one my goal writing rules - drilling down into specific things that need to be done to either define the goal clearly or actually reach the goal. So I'll try to do a little bit of that here.

First, the checklists in general. I can already tell my legal assistant is good. And while I hope I can get her to stick around for a long time in the role she is in, at some point I'm going to have to find something else for her to do (my preference) or she is going to leave (not my preference). Either way, that means at some point someone new is going to come in here and have to figure out how to do everything, from answer the phones to file a notice of appearance to handle a call from a current client. Checklists can help make any necessary transition seamless and (sorta) easy.

Checklists can also help streamline the entire process of running and managing a law firm. For each DUI case, for example, there are a set of things that need to be done. A checklist not only helps to confirm that everything has been done but helps to remind everyone what needs to be done. It also provides an easy way for me to show potential clients all of the things I am going to do for them that other lawyers wouldn't. That's invaluable.

Now, systems. This is a little bit different, but still equally important. In my mind systems relate more to the business management side of things than checklists (which I would describe as the business practice side). Systems to me include tracking finances, tracking marketing measurables, tracking lead generation, tracking potential client conversion, and anything else that provides information related to how the business is running (including client management). I don't have too many systems in place right now, and I need some.

That's it. Those are my goals for this year. Piece of cake, right? Of course not. But that's the point of goals. And, to make things easier on me - to help me remember my goals, I'm going to write them up on a big dry erase board where I can see them every day.

If you've made it this far I know you've got questions or comments. Hit me! Oh, I do have one request, if you've got a comment or question that relates to a specific post, please post a comment instead of sending me an email. I'd love to get a little dialogue going with all the readers, and that's so much easier when we have a place for conversation - the comments!

Rest Breaks for Book Writers--Feeding the Artist

There are some important signs of burn-out that writers need to attend to.  An overactive Inner Critic.  A feeling of the blues about one's work.  A sense of deep depletion, despite enough sleep and exercise.

December rolled around with all of these symptoms, for me.  I'd just finished up a four-month teaching marathon at three different writing schools plus a new online class.  All were amazing, wonderful, and inspiring, but I gave
so much to each group, holding the creative space for them and their books when they couldn't see it.  At the same time, I was finishing the final editing of my forthcoming book on book-writing, Your Book Starts Here, working with wonderful editor and typesetter and publishing house.  Plus some creative opportunities came my way that I just couldn't pass up, including making a video to help book writers storyboard their manuscripts.  One day when the manuscript was finally out of my hands, the students signed off from the class, the video in the hands of the editor, I sat on the couch and stared at the mountains outside my living room window, wondering where I was.

More important, who I was.  I couldn't tell anymore.

Crying jags often accompany this, for me.  Wails of "Who am I?" or "I'll never write again" sometimes come too.  It's normal to dive even deeper as the tension releases and the stress lessens, as both body and emotions come forward with long-ignored needs.  Don't get me wrong:  I eat healthily, I exercise regularly, I sleep reasonable hours, and I have good family and friends support.  I'm living a good life.  But in the realm of manifestation and creativity, which is what my work is all about, I had been stretched to the max these past months.  I didn't know any other gear to drive than Intense.  I didn't know how to get back to the "necessary boredom" that Dorothy Allison talks about, the place where my own creativity bubbles up.

Somehow, though, I'd managed to carve out three weeks in my calendar.  My spouse started a new job about that time, my son was visiting friends for the holidays, so I was alone.

Blissfully, frightfully alone, with nothing to do.  Or, let me rephrase, nothing anyone else was asking me to do.

So what next?  How do I make use of this nothing, and let it heal me, fill me up again?  I hadn't a clue how to begin.

Taking a Creative Retreat for the Inner Artist
I have a wonderful book for these occasions:  The Woman's Retreat Book by Jennifer Louden.  It's packed with ways to disengage and reacquaint yourself with yourself.  I found it on a back shelf, went back to my spot on the couch near the mountain view.  I closed my eyes and opened the book at random.  Of course, it opened to this section "Feeding the Artist."  I read the first line: "If there is one cosmic law I know the consequences of ignoring, it is this one:  you cannot create from an empty well."

Duh.  Why didn't I see this before I had my meltdown?  Well, obviously, when one is empty, it's hard to see that.  Many of us keep running anyway, fueled by adrenaline, and the joy of life gets dimmer and dimmer.  We lose track of where we are, who we are.  We get swept up with other people's lives (and creative needs--if you're a teacher).  It's all good, it's all important.  I love my work.  But there's a moment to say, "Stop!"  Let yourself go back to yourself.

I decided I would ignore both calendar and lists for these three weeks, as much as I could.  Even my visioning lists went into a nice blue folder and into my desk drawer.  I began to putter, to play.

The first day I cooked two soups.  I love to cook, and two soups in one day seemed lovely and extravagant.  Besides, the vegetable drawer was foreign territory and I could use up a dangerous-looking butternut squash (fine with the dangerous part cut off).  I took a walk and went to bed by 9.  The next day I listened to Christmas carols and wrapped a few gifts then read a lovely novel (Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann) and let myself nap.  Day three I got out the card table and started a jigsaw puzzle.  I cleaned out my clothes closet.  I took myself to lunch.

You get the idea.

One of Jennifer Louden's most important directives in this chapter on "Feeding the Artist" is not to create while you're filling the well.  Stop working on your project, stop trying to manifest anything.  Ugh, that was hard.  I hadn't had enough time to work on my novel-in-progress, so these three weeks were planned as full immersion.  But when I took out the manuscript and my editing pen, I froze up.  It all looked terrible--a sure sign of the Inner Critic's negative notions surfacing--and I couldn't bring myself to do anything.  Reading Louden's advice felt like a reprieve.

Funny thing.  As I began to fill up again, new ideas started coming.  I would be watching a movie or marveling at McCann's amazing prose, and I would find myself thinking very lightly about my own creative projects.  Images would come.  An idea of how to solve a sticky plot problem in the novel.  A place to get information I needed.  I didn't pursue these, just took notes.

I'm letting the creative tension build for another week.  It's getting fun.  I look forward to my empty days, I no long dread the thought of moving so slowly.

This Week's Writing Exercise 
1.  Take stock.  Do you need to feed the artist?  Is she or he starving from too much output and not enough input these past busy months?

2.  If the answer is yes, can you carve out time for a rest break?  Even five hours in a day when nothing is needed of you is amazing and precious.

A Christmas Outing

We had a plan one evening recently to go and see the Christmas lights on a street famous for dressing up its houses (not quite American style though, New Zealand is a little more low-key). There were a few hours to fill in, between finishing work and it being dark enough to see the lights. We didn't want to go home so our plan was to have a drink in a pub nearby, then takeaways at a local park before heading to the light show.

We stopped at a Belgian Beer Cafe. Atlas soaked up the sun, and the compliments of fellow customers. I was asked if I wanted a small or a large beer when I decided on Hoegaarden. I said large, then changed to small. My husband went up to the bar and came back with the bucket that you see above (large). It was 'only' 500ml which he justified by saying it was less than 1.5 small bottles. It's bigger than Atlas!

'Never drink a beer bigger than your head' should be my motto, but I ignored it that day.

Next stop was the park with takeaways and a picnic rug.

Poodle relaxing in the sun once the dishes were washed up.


Back to the car, slowly. It was still very much daylight and we knew the lights wouldn't even be on yet.


Heading down the famous street in search of Christmas festivities.


One of the first of many cutely decorated homes (they must have decided against prettying up the wheelie bin).


Atlas cutting a dash on his Christmas leash (red with snowmen and Christmas trees on).


The sky was beautiful as the earth turned and darkness came.


One of my favourites - very subtle and stylish with plentiful round paper lanterns in varying sizes of yellow, red and orange.


The upper balcony is extremely tasteful I thought, and appropriate for a very hot early summer.


Impressive.


A long shot of the street.


It looks simple enough, but I bet outlining your home in lights is a big job.


Atlas walked all the way down the street (we parked at the top). It was a 10-15 minute walk and he skipped ahead like a puppy, pulling at the leash he was so excited to be out and amongst it all. It was a different story crossing the road at the bottom and walking uphill though. He started flagging and we took turns carrying him back to the car.

He conked out immediately on the drive home. I don't think he's ever had so much exercise in his life before he came to live with us.



Merci for reading How To Be Chic since I started in May of this year. I am looking forward to an exciting 2011, and will be back in January for my next year of living chicly. Merry Christmas!

Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Book Writers

This week's exercise is to do something wonderful for a beloved writer in your life.  Maybe yourself!  Here's a short list of my favorite last-minute gift ideas for writers trying to get a book written.

Online subscription to the Wall Street Journal.  WSJ has some of the best articles on writing I've recently seen in mainstream media.  Cost $2.29 a week.  More information at https://www.wallstreetjournal.com/Gryphon/jsp/retentionController.jsp?page=548

Scrivener.  A software program that's available now for Mac users, in 2011 for PC
users (out now in Beta version for PC), this is one of the coolest ways to do a storyboard online.  Cost $45.  More information at http://download.cnet.com/Scrivener/3000-2079_4-139287.html

Membership in International Women's Writers Guild.  Comes with information about Kitchen Table gatherings near your loved one's home for monthly writing groups.  Cost $55.  More information at http://www.iwwg.org/

Subscription to AWP's Writer's Chronicle, the magazine for serious writers.  Cost $20.  More information at http://www.awpwriter.org/magazine/

Claire-Fontaine writing notebooks.  I came across these when I lived in France.  They are gridded pages and nicely bound, but not too nice--so the writer can go wild with scribblings.  I fill about three of them for every book I write--notes, ideas, inspiring pictures.  Cost $10-12.  More information http://www.amazon.com/Clairefontaine-Classic-Staple-Bound-Notebook/dp/B003BCZSQK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1292597125&sr=8-2

From Where You Dream.  One of the most effective writing books for anyone wanting to learn how to show versus tell.  By Robert Olen Butler.  Cost about $11.  More information http://www.amazon.com/Where-You-Dream-Process-Writing/dp/0802142575/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292597178&sr=1-1-catcorr

Collage kit.  Make your own collage kit for a writing friend or family member who needs a creative burst.  You'll need a nice piece of foamcore or posterboard ( 11 x 17 inches is a good size), scissors, a glue stick, and a pile of cut-out photos and inspiring words from magazines.  Include a time to do your collages together (this way, you'll get to do one too).  Cost:  under $10.

Mantra Mug (cool coffee or tea mug) from the inspiring Empoword.   Cost $12.  They also have Window Clings and other inspirational items to keep writers feeling creative.  http://www.thinkempoword.com/

Gift certificate to Papyrus writing-supply store.  Some great journals and writing implements, as well as beautiful stationery for the long-lost art of letter writing.  Cost $10 and up. More information http://www.papyrusonline.com/gifts/journals.html


Gift of your time to give her/him some time to write.  Offer to take the kids for two hours, run errands, or otherwise free up your friend's time so she can write--alone!  Cost:  Free.

E-book reader.  Kindle is pretty darn popular, so if you want to splurge . . . Cost $139-189 and up.  More information http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002Y27P3M/ref=amb_link_354440742_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0FSRB3F68YEK0C273EAM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1282782162&pf_rd_i=507846

Writing class.  Check out www.loft.org (The Loft Literary Center) if you live near the Twin Cities.  Or www.grubstreet.org (Grub Street School) if you're near Boston.  Or Hudson Valley Writers' Center near NYC (www.writerscenter.org).  All are amazing independent writing schools that feature so many great classes, your mind will spin.  In New Hampshire, there's also the wonderful NH Writers Project (www.nhwritersproject.org) at Southern NH University.  And Madeline Island School of the Arts in Wisconsin (www.madelineartschool.org).  I love them all! 

Paid manuscript consultation or editing.  The Loft's website www.loft.org has a good listing of editors and professional writers who read and evaluate manuscripts.   

Subscription to this blog.  Weekly writing inspiration and exercises.  If you sign up someone, be sure to let them know they can unsubscribe anytime.  Where to get it:  www.marycarrollmoore.com/signup.  Cost:  Free.

Whatever winter celebration you're enjoying this month, I wish you the very best in family, friends, and creativity.

Starting a Law Firm | Randomness

I've been sitting here for about fifteen minutes trying to figure out what I was going to write about starting a law firm, and I can't really think of anything. None of you out there in the "blogosphere" are writing me with any questions, so I don't have anything to write about. Because of that, I'm just going to write. If you don't like it, ask me a question so I have something to write about. Here we go.

I Watch Entirely Too Much TV

I think we all have vices, little things that pull us away from being productive. For me, it's TV. I can get sucked into any number of shows at any time of the day. Movie, reality television, documentary, sports event, it doesn't matter. If I can see the least bit of potential for it to be interesting, I'm watching. And I need to stop.

One of my goals for the upcoming year is going to be to watch TV differently. No more plopping down to see what is on and getting sucked in for hours. I'm going to have several shows that I TiVO and I'll watch them whenever I sit down. If there aren't any of those, I'm going to go do something else.

My Website Hasn't Been Working Properly

One thing that gets lost in the shuffle pretty quickly when you start a law firm are all of the things that need to be maintained once they are up and running. For me, my website is integral to my business success. I've been in the top position for some important search terms in my area for a while now, which is great. The only problem, though is that my web hosting service sucks, and my site isn't loading much of the time. That is potentially costing me thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

So, to remedy that, we're switching hosting providers as soon as we can. Hopefully the site will be fully functional soon, and I'll be fielding a bunch of potential client calls because of it.

My Phone System Hasn't Been Running Smoothly Either

Some of this has to do with the new assistant I've got (who is crushing it, by the way - oh, and she's stumbled onto this site, I think to spy on me, so I'll turn the tables on her here - now go watch Christmas Vacation!). When she came on I wanted to have a set up where she was on the phones while she was here and the virtual assistant was on the phones when she wasn't. It's taken a little tweaking, but I think we've finally got the right set up. What are we doing? Glad you asked.

I have two Google Voice numbers, one for the east side and one for the west side. Until recently, I just had both numbers routing to my cell phone. I'd answer them when they rang, and I had it set up so I knew it was coming from the Google Voice numbers. When I got the virtual receptionist I forwarded the main number to them and kept the little used one forwarding to my cell phone.

When I hired Kelsey, I set us up on Skype. I wanted to have a phone system that would allow us to transfer calls between us, to forward to a cell phone if necessary, and one that could grow and shrink with our needs. And Skype seemed to work perfectly for that (plus it's really cheap). I'd never used Skype before so it took a little getting used to. And it took a little tweaking to get the phones to ring long enough before going to voice mail and to set up the system so that going from real life assistant to virtual assistant was seamless. We've finally got that done, and here' what we do.

I've got the Google voice numbers now set up to forward to the Skype numbers at all times. When Kelsey is here, the phone just rings in the office. But when she's gone, she clicks one button and all calls that come into our Skype account are forwarded if they aren't answered within 5 seconds. This ensures enough time for the call to reach the virtual receptionist, and makes switching between people seamless and easy.

By the way, you have no idea how much tweaking that actually took to execute.

Accountant

I'm in the market for an accountant. For more reasons than just this firm.

Here's the thing, I think that once you start one business, you can't help but constantly have your eyes open for other opportunities to get into new ventures. And that's exactly what's happened to me. In addition to the law firm, I've got a budding search engine optimization business going (and, technically, one I could start if I wanted to that would help law firms actually get the search engine results they were looking for), and I've got another business in the works related to helping lawyers get paid by their clients (wouldn't we all like to make this process easier?).

Two of the ventures I'm doing on my own, but the third is with a partner. And with all of that activity means there is going to be a lot of money coming and going to and from a lot of different places. And I'm not smart enough to keep track of it all. So I need an accountant. Know one?

Okay, that's all for now. If you have questions, ask. Have a Merry Christmas!

Law Firm Marketing | Putting in the Work

If you haven't learned this already, then you should know, owning and running a law firm is much less about the practice of law than you think. There is so much other stuff that goes into it that takes up your time, and you have to tend to those things if you want to be successful. One of these things is marketing. And it's an important thing.

I've got to be honest with you, I've been slacking off a little bit lately in the marketing arena. See, business is coming in fairly steadily now, and it's so easy to just sit back, relax, and take what you can get. And if that is all you want from your practice that's great. But that's not all I want. I want more.

Because I want more, that means I need to devote more work to marketing my law firm. I need to not only continue to do what I've been doing, which works and works great, but to continue to branch out into other areas that can also generate business. And I need to figure out what those other branches are (because I don't yet have a great grasp on that, either).

I've become a bit obsessed lately with start ups, entrepreneurs, and other people who have generally made their own money, and I keep seeing a recurring theme - they busted their ass for a long time to get to where they are. There was a lot of toil, a lot of hard work, and a lot of long hours throughout their climb to the top. And that's what it takes to succeed in this business too.

One thing I've learned in only a year and half of being open is this - no one is going to give you anything, but there is so much out there for the taking if you just go and get it. Seriously. It's that easy. But where people fall short is they see the kind of work that it's going to take and they just don't have the institution to do what it takes to get where they want. At the end of the day it takes a ten effort to succeed, and most people have trouble getting to a five.

I guess at the end of the day this post is less for you and more for me. I need to put in the work, I'm going to put in the work, and I'm going to crush this next year...

Living the Savvy Life - Book Review

I was so thrilled and flattered to be chosen as an early reviewer of a new book, due out next month. Melissa from The Savvy Life emailed me and asked if I would like to be sent an advance copy of her new book Living the Savvy Life. Yes please!

One of my other favourite topics (than French Chic) is personal finance. The two seem quite far apart I know. I worked for most of my twenties for financial planning companies and have continued my personal finance readings up until the present day.

Many of these books can be very dry. My favourite types are ones which have a bit of personality and make being fiscally responsible more fun than running up credit card bills keeping up with the Joneses. Living the Savvy Life makes it fun and chic. It’s much more than just a way to do better with your money, it’s a true lifestyle guide covering home, entertainment, wardrobe, beauty and food.

When I first received my copy in the mail (you can imagine how excited I was opening a parcel in New Zealand that came all the way from California), I immediately read the contents page and flicked to the Wardrobe chapter.

I didn’t mean to start reading it right there at the post office but the friendly and conversational style meant I couldn’t not. I only read one page and then forced myself to put the book back in the envelope and get to work.

Living the Savvy Life really is such a readable and enjoyable book, and inspires and encourages me to want to do better in the areas where I’m lacking, and give myself a Congratulations in the areas I’m doing well in.

Thank you Melissa for including me in your review panel, and I wish you all the best with your launch on Amazon on January 11th. For anyone considering purchasing this book, I think you’ll find it a useful and enjoyable addition to your bookshelf. File it between Anne Barone and Suze Orman!

Chic Habits

Having mystique at home/from your significant other. I read an article recently about two women who wrote a book on having a happy relationship. Julienne Davis and Maggie Arana have a book out called Stop Calling Him Honey and Start Having Sex. It sort of tells you right there in the title doesn't it?

Apparently there are a number of behaviours which can damage the dynamics of your relationship, and baby talk/names is right up there. By calling your sweetheart, well sweetheart, or darling or dear (even worse they say are baby-talk names like Beanybum or McMuffin Poopencakes - an actual one they came across) you are giving him the same generic nick-name as your barista or child.

I am guilty of this. I use 'sweetheart', but I also call kids in the shop trying on shoes 'sweetheart'. Better to use your husband's *gasp* actual name. Apparently as hard as that sounds (and it does to me, it sounds really formal), it will get easier and 'you'll soon realise you're thinking about him in a different way, and he's responding to you better.'

The authors are not professionals, but say the book is a result of 'ten years of the two of us searching and finally finding what really works to keep a couple's sex life hot'.

One of the authors said 'Looking back, I realised that my own sex life began to disappear when my partner and I started using pet names and baby talk with each other. We seemed like the perfect couple because we truly did love each other's company, but at home, we had so many bad habits going on that feeling sexual with each other was virtually impossible.'

Other bad habits include leaving the toilet door open (when you're in there), watching tv with dinner and letting 'bodily noises' hang out in his presence. These things are harmful to your sexual desire for each other. 'Apparently, failing to shut the bathroom door begins a downward spiral that ultimately turns lovers in roommates. "Certain barriers are worth rebuilding. Give yourself more privacy for a couple of weeks. Trust me, you'll feel sexier",' says one of the authors.

It made me think about how I conduct myself when at home with my husband. There are a few things to tweak to ensure our ongoing happy couplehood.

Close the bathroom or toilet door at all times. When I am brushing my teeth or washing my face doesn’t sound that bad, but why show him at all. Rather than see me with a whizzing toothbrush and foaming mouth, why not walk into the bathroom, close the door, then come out with a minty fresh smile.

Same with washing my face, I will go into the bathroom, close the door, before emerging with a fragrant, smooth and clean face. No hairband, no goo on my face, no raccoon eyes as I’m half done.

I mostly shut the toilet door, by mostly I mean if he’s near. But if my husband is downstairs and I am up, I don’t. It’s not a big effort to shut a door, so I plan to do this all the time, even when I am home alone. It’s a good habit to keep my mystique!

The authors say you don't need to dress up in sexy lingerie, you don't need to go see a therapist and 'you don't need to change who you are or spend a fortune to save your sex life. You just need to clear away all the stuff that's got in the way of the sexual dynamic you used to have.'

This is one thing I can start today (in fact I started yesterday) to improve my life with minimal effort and no expense. Just a change in thinking.

If you'd care to join me, please let us know what chic habits you would like to bring into your life, either on your own blog or in the comments here.

The Road to Remembering: How Do You Recall Accurate Memories for Your Memoir?

Judy, a reader from Minnesota, sent me a very good question about her manuscript:

"I took your class this summer on 'how to write a book' at the Loft Literary Center.  I am working on the second revision of my story and remember so little about the time when I was at the home for unwed mothers.  I didn’t think about it much after I left, so the memory kind of withered.  Much has come back to life with recall and thinking and writing but my question is like this: I have used dialogue and setting to recreate the feelings I had at the home.  This part of my story feels like fiction although it all could very well have been said or seen.  For instance, I don’t know if it was a sunny or rainy day… so how do I create story when I don’t have the solid memory details but want to stay genuine and true?  Could you offer some help on this topic?"

Writers of memoir need to be factually accurate.  Aside from your personal ethics as a writer, this has been made abundantly clear by agents and publishers in the past few years, as nightmares such as James Frey's A Million Little Pieces and Herman Rosenblat's Angel at the Fence, which made it to Oprah before it was pulled from production, have embarrassed the industry.  Publishers have gotten savvy, and I hear more stories now about background-checkers at major houses who make sure the facts are true before accepting a memoir.   If you fake an urban ghetto childhood or a romance across concentration camp wire, you're bound to be found out.  

But what about emotional truth?  What about the small details of how an operating room smelled forty years ago or whether it was raining when your son left for college?  A question that is debating frequently among memoir writers, this line is the sand is yours to draw.

I respect the writing of memoirist and essayist Patricia Hampl.  Her collection, I Could Tell You Stories, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award.  She writes that memory is " ‘an attempt.’ It is a try at the truth. The truth of a self in the world."

Each memoirist will decide for herself where that line sits in the sand.  I have published two memoirs and wrote about childhood experiences as well as ones from my adult years.  When I was unsure of a setting detail, I did my best to revisit the location and take notes to remind myself.  Often this is enough to trigger the past memory and bring in a rush of information.  Another writer suggested, when I was struggling with accurate recall, to focus in my memory on one small detail of the setting, such as the floor of a room.  I found this worked very well.  I thought about the floor in my grandmother's kitchen and could immediately see the speckled colors of its ancient linoleum.  

I had my basic facts of each story, each scene.  Things that weren't in question.  I had to grow to trust my emotional memory as well.  What did I feel that day, what did my senses take in, and can I paint a broader view with some contemplation, some traveling back to that past, some research, and above all, some renewed trust in my ability to remember?

Trust Your Ability to Remember
Not trusting their memories causes big problems with memoirists.   

A student was writing the story of her grandmother's untimely death, which caused an upheaval in the family.  This happened when she was nine, and it was very hard to say which details she really remembered and which she believed she was inventing out of desperation to have something on the page.  

This writer wanted to be honest in her writing.  She thought long and hard about the day of the funeral and finally a detail emerged:  the thick and cloying smell of bright pink roses set in huge vases near the casket.  So she wrote a draft of a scene for her memoir, focusing on the moment when she tried approaching the casket that held her beloved grandmother, but the noxious smell of those roses caused her to gag and run to the bathroom.  


She liked the scene but as she thought more about those roses, she wondered if the fleeting memory was really true.  After all, she was nine.  Maybe she gagged because she'd never seen a dead body before.  So my student decided to run it by her sister, an older and wiser (although opinionated) member of the family.  


"They weren't roses, Grandma hated roses," the sister proclaimed.  "Lilies is what Mom ordered."

 
What did this writer do?  Believe her own faint recall, so thin it felt quite unsubstantial against her sister's certainty? 

She caved.  Not only that, but it created a dilemma that stalled her writing.  Suddenly, the memories that were quietly flowing into her mind and onto the page every day ceased.  The Inner Critic began to create such havoc that she couldn't write a word.  Not about the funeral scene, not about anything.  The possible inaccuracy of flowers caused her to even doubt her integrity as a person. 


It sounds ridiculous, but it wasn't at all.  You laugh, because no one would ever do this.  Actually many writers have.  The story above is not unique.  In my memoir-writing classes, I hear this question of memory more often than any other. And I hear about the resulting stall-outs when the trust in oneself dies.

My belief is that you need to keep writing through these small details.  Trust what comes to you as you write, even if it's the fleeting memory of roses at a funeral.  As you begin to listen inside to such details, you'll begin to remember more of them.  Memory is an awakening of inner perception, in my experience.  It takes practice to build the trust but once you do, you don't care if your sister remembers lilies.  For you, the truth was roses.


Abigail Thomas, author of the memoir Three Dog Life, wrote a handy little writing book called Thinking About Memoir.  In it, she talks about memoir as a journey of discovery from where you were then to where you are now.  

The journey is the thing that is the most important.  Put down the details you remember, as best you can.  Research what you can't remember.  And begin to cultivate your own trust in your memory of the roadsigns along the way.  

Judy might want to start with what she can't quite recall.  Put in a sunny day, even if you don't really remember that.  Then keep writing the scene.  Test the faint memory of sunshine against the emerging event.  See if glimpses come through to verify it.  Maybe you suddenly remember light striping across a person's sleeping face from the sun coming through slanted blinds.  You've now proven your initial memory of sunshine.  

It's a technique you train into yourself:  the ability to recall, to bring back images.  These images are the basis for your emotional truth, which is the foundation of the discovery in your story.  And it's the discovery, the revelation of you as a person who learned something about yourself and the world around you, that the reader will follow.   

This Week's Writing Exercise
1.  Go into quiet inside yourself and put attention on a scene from childhood.  Begin to construct the setting details that you remember.  

2.  Write them down.  Trust them as they come forward, even if you're not entirely sure of their accuracy.

3.  Say to yourself, "If I could remember, what would I see?"  Write down one or two visual details that come to mind.

4.  Then ask yourself, "What am I not remembering hearing?"  Write whatever comes.

5.  Finally ask, "What is the smell I don't want to remember about that day?"  Write.

How To Write Badly Well – Live (Part 6)

How To Write Badly Well – Live (Part 5)

How To Write Badly Well – Live (Part 4)

How To Write Badly Well – Live (Part 3)

How To Write Badly Well – Live (Part 2)

Chic Goals

I've had many lovely emails from readers both during and after my 30 Chic Days of November, and I love reading all of them. In these emails you detail how you are making your life more chic and which parts were your favourites. Ani from California went one step further and made her own list of Chic Goals.

I commend Ani on her candidness. My favourite thing about a good blog is when the writer is honest yet edited. I really enjoyed Ani's list and thought you might too. I would love to hear your list, even if it doesn't reach an impressive 22 items long. Well done Ani!

Enjoy.

Ani's Guide to a Chic Life

1. Live all parts of my life with passion and be productive.

2. Eat less sugar and processed foods.

3. Eat less meat and dairy (I'm not going vegan or anything...but I believe everything needs to be eaten in moderation, and these foods are harder to digest.) And, I have given up those lunch meat things. I don't particularly like the look of them, and they have so much sodium and have been linked to increased risk of heart disease.

4. No bingeing (I've actually been good about this...I eat more slowly and if I feel like I'm having a crazy craving I just breathe deeply or do a couple yoga poses, and realize I don't really need chocolate or whatever...it's just stress.) or mindless eating.

5. Enjoy healthy foods and cook more.

6. Have active lifestyle and enjoy the outdoors-both of these things are instant mood lifters.

7. Be both athletic (not crazy athletic) and graceful.

8. Meditate

9. Journal

10. Be more calm

11. Practice piano

12. Practice Spanish

13. Listen to more classical music or other soothing music (I love Michael Buble, Paolo Nutini, or Carla Bruni after a long day). Or, some holiday music in the spirit of the season! ;)

14. More reading

15. Have gumption-I was inspired by Kate Winslet in the film The Holiday...she's one of my favorite actresses as well. Another scene I love in this movie involves Kate's character exploring Cameron Diaz's house (their characters trade houses for Christmas in the film) When Kate comes across the gym, she kind of laughs and closes the door, almost as if she is thinking...nope, not going to spend anytime in there! Although this is part of the script, it's this reaction which makes me adore Kate. She does watch what she eats and exercise, of course, but she's not obsessed about weight or being thin. She constantly speaks out against airbrushing and emphasis on being thin. And, she's one of the few celebrities without a personal chef and/or trainer. ;)

16. Go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

17. Sitting less, moving more. Even if you do formally exercise, sitting for long periods of time is just not healthy. My Grandmother is very European, so her approach to fitness and nutrition is more common sense than my crazy American ways. Her tip is to get up and walk around and stretch after every hour or so of sitting. I'm always really bad about doing this...but when I do follow her advice, it's actually easier when I take a break after I finish studying a chapter or section rather than keeping track of the time.

18. Practicing awareness, being present.

19. Be more consistent with skin care regimen.

20. Volunteer time, contribute to society.

21. Stay informed.

22. Watch less TV (I halved the number of shows I watch a week, and I no longer watch any other TV than those scheduled times) and spend less time on computer.

Other ones I have...I've been influenced by other books and quotes:Enjoy food. Enjoy life. Enjoy moving, being free, being/feeling alive.

Don't punish yourself with workouts/masochistic routines. Dance, run, skip, play, laugh!

Also, don't punish yourself with nasty food or overeating.

And, lastly, I love this quote by the chic Audrey Hepburn. "You have to be as relaxed as possible about food and fitness and the rest of it, or you'll be a slave to your beauty habits...you may have great skin, but you'll be a robot."

by Ani, from California

Holiday Chic

I've been enjoying Lenna's Holiday Chic series, which started on 1st December. Lenna is showing us ways in which we can feel more serene, organised and in the Christmas spirit. I need prompting and have found her ideas so far very useful.

I think you might like her series too.

How To Write Badly Well – Live (Part 1)

Hybrids: When You're Writing a Book That Straddles Two Genres

A reader from Virginia wrote me:  "I’m either writing a very boring memoir which is filled with the ME in memoir, or I’m writing some sort of self-help book which has stories filling in to illustrate my points. 

"I’m still writing 'islands' so I don’t have a clear structure yet. I just know there is a book in me so I write these islands each day which are sometimes short stories and other times observations of certain goals or principles I’m working on and how to overcome obstacles to get there."  She wanted advice on what she was writing--and how to go forward.

It's a good question, one I get often in my classes.  Many writers, myself included, are stretching the limits of genre.  We may have more to say than just meets one type of audience.  We want to touch more people, explore more forms, than just one.  

I learned this when one of my books, How to Master Change in Your Life, ended up being what's called a "hybrid," straddling the genres of self-help and memoir.  I didn't start out with the intention of writing one or the other, but as the story evolved, I realized I didn't just wanted to share my own experiences.  I wanted to give information about change and I wanted to give people ways to handle the onslaught of change that is occurring in most of our lives.  

When I began writing my scenes, or "islands," they mostly came out as memoir at first.  But then I'd read a fascinating article or talk with someone who'd handled big changes like a job ending or a relationship beginning or the loss of a loved one.  Since I am always trying to improve my own skills at living in flexibility and openness to change, I naturally wanted to share these ideas I was coming across.

How did I go from the mishmash of this accumulation of ideas and stories, to a completed, published book?  It took two steps:  deciding what was most important of the two genres, and choosing a structure that allowed them to co-exist happily. 


What's Most Important for Your Book?
There are many kinds of hybrids out in bookstores now, crossing many different genres.  For simplicity's sake, let's look at a hybrid memoir/self-help book.  

When you're working with a such a manuscript, you'll first need to decide what is going to take up the most real estate in terms of pages.  Are you going to spend 200 of the 350 pages in tips, techniques, information?  That means the book will lean more toward the self-help genre than the memoir genre.  Or are you having the entire manuscript pivot around a life-altering event, such as a death or illness?  Then perhaps the memoir part is the most important.  

Why is it essential to figure this out?  Because your book's structure will need to follow one or the other.  

You may not know what is more important until you have enough "islands" written; I usually start to get clues at about 40,000 words (the average completed book might be as few as 60,000-75,000 words, so this is a bit past the midway mark).  I look at what pulls me, what I am writing about most of the time.  Where is my heart?  This is the path the book is naturally taking.

A dear friend who is also a hair stylist told me that hair has a natural part, where the hair divides.  You can tease it and mousse it in any number of directions, but left to its own devices, it will most easily fall into its natural part.  This is what you're trying to discover about your manuscript.  Where is it most naturally moving?


Determining the Structure 
When you decide to write a book, especially if you haven't published one before, you need to get smart about what's out there, what structures are being used in publishing, what readers are reading.  Although there are many experimental forms and structures in modern literature, they are hard to carry off.  First find out what your two genres do, normally.  Here are some questions to ask as you do this research (often best conducted at a bookstore):

How many pages are books in these genres, on average? 
How do they begin?
Is there a triggering event--a moment that starts the story--and how far into the first chapter does it appear?  
Is there a resolution?
How are the illustrating anecdotes combined with information?
Are there sidebars or boxes?  Exercises?
Anything else you notice that tells you about this genre?


As you look into these questions, make notes.  Think about what you're writing, and how it might fit the format you're seeing in these genres.  


Your Weekly Writing Exercise
Try one of the two research steps above:  look at the real estate of your book so far--which genre predominates--or visit a bookstore to research recent published books in each genre you're straddling.

What did you learn? 

Atlas J. Poodle - The Update

It’s been a month now since I had a serendipitous conversation with a customer and ended up adopting a 12 year old toy poodle named Atlas. Now, I cannot remember how life was before the little fellow came to live with us.

I have learnt that some dogs watch tv (below). He also likes to check himself out in the mirror in the shop, often.


He really is such a sweet little dog, and has adapted amazingly well to his new life. Atlas thinks nothing of hopping into the car (with a little assistance) and going to work, harnessed in with his doggy seatbelt (safety first).

He is perfect in the shop too. You won’t hear a peep out of him, no barking or whining. He has his five-metre long leash which gives him almost free run, but stops him running outside and into the carpark. Customers love him too, one said he ‘gives flavour to the place’ when I suggested that it was unusual to find a dog in a shoeshop.

Below he is showing how he can stand up to see over the box barricade I constructed, before the leash purchase.


Now he has his long leash he is ready to greet customers almost at the front door.


This is Atlas working from home, when I was updating our shop website one day. He was quite relaxed about it.


And here is he relaxing on his glamorous flock dog bed, elevated on an arm chair so he can feel part of the family.


On a sunny weekend afternoon Atlas likes nothing better than to take a walk through a leafy and green park. Here we are on the way to the park.


Happiness is running off leash, although it is slightly illegal. He should have waited until he was in the leash-free area. There was no-one else around though so he took the risk.


Since he is almost like a cat, Atlas sleeps on the bed with us, just like our two dearly beloved and now gone to cat-heaven cats did. He is no problem during the night, lies exactly where you left him, no snoring even. In the morning however, he likes to sleep right up until the time we leave for work, so I have to make the bed last thing.

It's such a stressful life being a poodle.


Yesterday was just another day in the life of Atlas. He met his friend Zoey the tiny toy black poodle for lunch. Zoey's mum is the lovely customer who brought the existence of Poodle Rescue to my attention. And the rest is history!

RERUN WEEK #7: Present your research in the form of dialogue

‘My god,’ said Geoff, ‘so it’s true. We hold in our very hands the original draft of the hitherto unknown third treaty of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia signed by the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III himself.’

‘Yes,’ confirmed Sally. ‘Who would have thought when we set off this morning for this remote Swiss village that we would end the day in possession of the very document which marked the birth of modern European statehood?’

‘Certainly not me!’ laughed Geoff.

’Nor me!’ guffawed Sally.

‘And to think,’ Geoff extemporised, ‘the Ratification of the Treaty of Münster occurred exactly three hundred and sixty-one years ago last week!’