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BUILD. NOT BILLED.
TM
OCT 2018
BUI LDING BLOCKS
www.lovelawfirmpllc.com 516-697-4828
ARE YOU AFRAID OF YOUR BUSINESS? Learn to Control the Fear
One of the things that makes Halloween so much fun is that we all know it’s make-believe. Last year, our family dressed up as a cadre of pirates. Not one person asked me how my pirating on the high seas was going. They know I’m not a pirate in any sense of the word, and we all had a blast. For most people, Halloween represents a kind of controlled fear. When we go to a haunted house or dress up as something scary, we know we’re perfectly safe. We’ll go out, have fun, and the next day, it’s like nothing ever happened.
after the relationship has soured. I try to untangle the mess and make it better (or something resembling better) for the parties involved.
Another bad decision people make out of desperation and fear is to simply quit. Yes, sometimes we do need to walk away from a situation, but all too often, people quit just before a big win. It’s not always easy to see a big win coming, but it can be there waiting.
There’s a quote from Nelson Mandela that I’ve always loved: “I never lose. I either win or learn.” When something isn’t working, turning it into an educational experience can make the difference. You may want to quit, but you have to ask yourself if it’s really worth it. How can you learn to control fear? It’s not easy, but here are a few steps you can take to put fear in its place: 1. Learn from past mistakes. Look at your own mistakes and the mistakes of colleagues, peers, and those who have found success. Today’s most successful entrepreneurs have all made huge mistakes, but they learned and grew. When you understand what it takes to overcome a mistake and a fear, you can press forward with confidence.
When it comes to being an entrepreneur, a lot of people end up dealing with uncontrolled fear. For some folks, it’s like Halloween every single day, with a few major exceptions: It isn’t fun, and there is a real fear that something may very well go horribly wrong. It’s more like living “Halloween” the movie than going out for a Halloween night with the family. After they make a decision, they may worry, with thoughts like “What did I do?” They worry about their future, their family’s future, their life savings, and so on. Being an entrepreneur means dealing with stressor after stressor, and it can feel a bit like jumping out of a plane with the hope of finding a parachute on the way down.
Successful entrepreneurs control their fears.
2. Remember that it’s just business. There is more to life than just your work, though it may often seem like it’s all the same. I’m a huge proponent of loving and living your job, but you do have to draw a line. My law firm means a lot to me, but the thing that truly defines who I am is my family. I know that should everything go south, I have people who love me and will stand by me, no matter what. 3. The more you know, the better you are. Successful people study other successful people. It’s not just about learning about their mistakes, but looking at other successful people as a whole. Look at how they think about problems
When you’re backed into a corner — when you’re afraid — you are more likely to make bad decisions.
You may decide to lower your price to beat out a competitor, but as you know, a race to the bottom has no winners. Being the cheapest option doesn’t matter because someone will always be able to undercut you. I have also counseled people who decided to bring in business partners in the hopes of utilizing a new partner’s resources or business acumen. When it’s used as a desperate measure, it often leads to disaster. I’m brought in after the fact —
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Meet Diana Larkin, Senior Paralegal
It’s been a long time coming! I am delighted to announce that Diane Larkin has joined Love Law Firm as a senior paralegal. I had the good fortune (and smarts) to hire Diane at a previous position and have been quietly whispering to her for three years that I wanted her to work with us here at the firm. Diane brings over two decades of corporate paralegal experience to the firm. She has worked with a privately held asset management firm, two Manhattan white-shoe law firms, a large retail investment bank, and a well-known publishing house. Diane understands corporate life at all levels, from working with a board of directors to dealing with administrative matters. She is also familiar with all aspects of business and legal operations, corporate secretarial matters, commercial agreements and transactions, and more. A proud New Jersey native, Diana resides in Union City, NJ. An active member of her community, she works closely with Union City government in developing and revitalizing her neighborhood. She is an avid horseback rider in her spare time. And I’ve never met a bigger Bruce Springsteen fan than her (well, maybe Marci Goldfarb, but I’ll let them battle it out). “I am thrilled to be joining Love Law Firm as their senior paralegal,” says Diane. “Francine and I worked together for many years in corporate life, and I couldn’t be happier to be working together again. I look forward to helping her grow Love Law Firm into the powerhouse I know it is destined to be.” Having Diane join us will make our firm better, stronger, and smarter. She is a resource who can bring her vast experience to your business. This is part of our “Build. Not Billed.” strategy. Please join me in welcoming Diane to the firm!
Photo Credit: Marie Papp
2. If forced to choose one, would it be shark diving, bungee jumping, or skydiving?
None of the above! But one of my sisters is a divemaster who has lived all over the world teaching scuba (particularly in Micronesia), and I am the only person in my family she hasn’t certified. So, shark diving it is.
3. Is there a documentary or book that really changed how you view a subject?
Without a doubt, “Johnny Got His Gun.” It is far from a happy book, but it really changed my whole thought process. It made me the pacifist I am today.
4. What piece of advice do you give others but find hard to follow yourself?
Wait to hear both sides of a story; there is always another version of the facts. This is particularly difficult when one side of the story is mine!
5. What is your favorite memory from high school? In school, it would probably be my junior prom — young, in love, and just a magical time. Out of school, it would be my first Bruce Springsteen concert — the first of over 40 since!
Diane can be reached at 516-697-4828 or diane@lovelawfirmpllc.com.
Q&A With Diane
1. What’s the most random thing you’ve ever watched all the way through on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hulu?
6. What are you passionate about? And why?
I love just about everything to do with horses. I used to ride competitively, and while I will still ride when I can, it is not nearly as much as I would like. It’s my dream to one day own a small equine rescue farm, saving the claimers from the local race tracks.
I don’t know how random this is, but I was recently laid up at home for a couple of weeks, and the only thing that kept me occupied was binge- watching “The Handmaid’s Tale.” I can’t wait for the next season!
HAVE A LAUGH!
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MARKETING HORROR STORIES
Every marketing professional wants their campaign to be memorable. They want consumers to take notice — or take the bait — and make their company a big profit. But sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned. The campaigns below certainly won the attention of consumers, but in each case, what started out as a marketing dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Fiat’s Direct Mail Disaster In 1992, women across Spain received anonymous letters inviting them to go on a “little adventure.” The letters stated, “We met again on the street yesterday, and I noticed how you glanced interestedly in my direction.” Fearing a stalker, many women locked themselves in their homes. A few days later, another letter arrived, revealing the identity of the “secret admirer” as the new Fiat Cinquecento. Yes, the creepy letters were part of a marketing campaign by the Italian car company. Fiat apologized and ended the campaign after criticism from consumer protection groups, Social Minister Cristina Alberdi, and the 50,000 women who received the letters. KFC and Hoover Can’t Do Math A shocking number of companies hold giveaway promotions without calculating exactly how much they will cost. Here are a few examples.
• Back when “Oprah” was the biggest show on television, KFC ran an ad offering a free two-piece chicken meal with two sides and a biscuit for anyone who went to their website and downloaded a coupon. Over 10.5 million coupons were downloaded, and KFC had to give away $42 million in free food. • In the 1990s, Hoover Company in the United Kingdom offered two round- trip plane tickets with the purchase of a vacuum. Unfortunately, even in the ‘90s, most vacuums were still cheaper than plane tickets, and Hoover lost 50 million pounds in what remains the biggest promotional disaster ever. Cartoon Network Causes a Bomb Scare Guerrilla marketing can create valuable word of mouth — think about the success of the movie “It” last year. The marketing for the film included simple red balloons tied to storm drains. But Cartoon Network didn’t have quite the same luck in 2007 when they tried to promote their show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” When the network put electronic devices featuring a character from the show all over Boston, city residents thought the strange contraptions looked like bombs and called the police. This triggered a terrorist scare that ultimately cost the general manager of Cartoon Network his job. AVOID NIGHTMARE TRIPS For someone who is mobility-challenged, a simple outing to a museum, park, theater, restaurant, or playground can be challenging. Fortunately, Destination: Accessible exists to help! Destination: Accessible (DestinationAccessible.com) is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides information about the accessibility of various leisure locations for people with mobility challenges (e.g., wheelchairs, walkers, canes, slow walkers, etc.) based on personal visits to the sites. It allows people to “know before you go” to make the best decisions for the best experience possible. The organization makes personal visits to each site and provides detailed descriptions of parking, entrances/exits, bathrooms, navigation, and more.
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or handle tough situations. Is it possible for you to capture the spark that made their business succeed and emulate it in your own business? When you get down to it, nothing predicts success like success. For myself, I attribute a lot of my law firm’s success to Ben Glass, a fellow attorney with a thriving practice in Virginia. I looked at how he runs his practice and how he has made it different. In studying Ben Glass and others, I have found inspiration. I’ve been able to learn to control my own fear, and to focus on building the best legal practice I know how. And because of that, I can get back to celebrating
Destination: Accessible has good coverage of Long Island locations as well as entries for NYC and popular tourist destinations around the country. This is a great
Halloween, go out trick-or-treating with my kids, and wake up on November 1, knowing that everything is going to be just fine. While my family is going as a herd of dinosaurs this year, I am not worried about my business’s extinction.
reference tool for anyone who loves someone who might need special consideration. Roberta Rosenberg started the service when she experienced her own temporary mobility issues and discovered a lack of resources. Since then, the site has grown to become a terrific aid to so many who need it.
To learn more, visit DestinationAccessible.com . You can search places already visited, and you can suggest places for review as well.
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Isn’t it time you learned to love your lawyer?
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
626 RXR Plaza, Suite 624 Uniondale, NY 11556
516-697-4828 | www.lovelawfirmpllc.com
Is Your Business a Fright Fest? INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 2 Meet the Newest Member of the Love Law Team!
Have a Laugh!
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Would You Survive These Marketing Nightmares?
Avoid Nightmare Trips
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Discover ‘The Art of Learning’
‘THE ART OF LEARNING’ A CHILD PRODIGY RETHINKS SUCCESS
This is a book about a journey. It chronicles a life of international chess tournaments, high-stakes martial arts competitions, a boy who found too much success, and the man who had to relearn everything because of it. Yes, “The Art of Learning” reads like a gripping, emotional memoir, but make no mistake — Josh Waitzkin’s work doubles as an effective guide for business owners striving to attain perfection in their fields. Josh Waitzkin’s name will be familiar to longtime chess fans and movie buffs alike. As a child prodigy, Waitzkin won his first national chess
Now, one does not normally think of child prodigies as being great sources of insight into finding success. By definition, prodigies are exceptional — exceptions who operate on a different playing field than most. But Waitzkin firmly positions his journey through the chess world as the antithesis of what he calls “the art of learning.” As the author states, “The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.” Waitzkin was very gifted at chess, and he didn’t have to push himself early on, but by the time he did find challenging opponents, he found loss and adaptation impossible to handle. It wasn’t until he stepped out of the rigid grids of chess and into the flowing movements of tai chi that Waitzkin was able to formulate a guide to success. Appropriately subtitled “An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance,” Waitzkin’s story of grappling with childhood stardom and climbing the brackets of the tai chi chuan circuit is full of wisdom applicable to anyone looking to achieve mastery in their field. With compelling personal anecdotes and a unique perspective on what success really looks like, “The Art of Learning” is a fresh, vibrant addition to the personal development genre.
title at age 9, which quickly made him an international sensation. His father, Fred Waitzkin, wrote the renowned book “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” chronicling his young son’s journey into the world of chess. This then inspired the movie of the same name.
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