Hello, Law Firm? Oh, Plumbing? Yes, We Handle That Too!

Sometimes you gotta do what pays. Right now what's paying is a major plumbing issue at my aunt's house. Paul, of course, Renaissance Man Extraordinaire came to the rescue and we got a little money out of the deal.

Add the plumbing check to the $15 we won in Vegas, and we've got a serious contribution to Google Ad Words.

Not only is there no God, but try
finding a plumber on Sunday.

- Woody Allen

Rest In Peace Mr. Jackson

What a guy. Aside from all the molestation allegations and a strange lifestyle, I'll always remember Michael Jackson as an absolutely fabulous entertainer. In college Colleen, Cristina and I would rock out to Billy Jean on the record player (yes, my roommate had a record player in 2004). Love MJ.

Paul has been a victim to more than one of my crazy dancing sessions it the car when Rock with You (alllll nighhhttt!!!!), and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.

What's your favorite Michael Jackson song? I dare you to sing it without dancing!

I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.
~Friedrich Nietzche

What Happens in Vegas Goes into the Firm

That's right, we're hitting the road and visiting Las Vegas for two nights. We got married in August of 2008, and have not taken one measly vacation since our honeymoon. I am already clawing at the door to get out of LA and off to Sin City!

Of course, we'll post about our big winnings from the penny slots, and how we're transferring all of it into our Google Ad Words Account.

Las Vegas looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night.
~Chuck Palahniuk

Money In = Money Out

Things are going great. However, it seems the minute we get our hot little hands on some cold hard cash, it burns a hole through our pockets (see post below re: Google Adwords).

Take the fact that my laptop computer just up and died a few days ago. I've had it for four years, since right before law school, and it's served me well. So off we went to Fry's, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. We ended up purchasing a replacement at Costco.

It's gorgeous. A Hewlitt Packard G60-243CL.

What I really like about it is that it has a bigger keyboard. My old laptop was tiny. I wanted it that way because I had to haul it around campus most days. The new laptop won't need to be dragged from room to room, so I got a wider keyboard (and screen) and it has an additional number keypad to the right of the main keyboard. Sweet.

Speaking of the number keypad, it was easy to cook up a monthly budget for our law firm. We're slidding in at about $550/month in fixed expenses.

That amount covers:

• Rotary (two clubs, we each belong to a seperate Rotary. Our motto is divide and conquer. Rotary is, by far, the largest chunk of our monthly budget).
  
• Utilities
• University Club (our "office" for meeting prospective clients).
• Internet
• MyFax monthly fee
• Monthly website hosting fee

Adding a few extra fixed expenses such as health insurance and undergraduate loan payment (the mega law school loan is still on deferral) brings it to about $900/month. I did not include our ridiculous obsession with Google Adwords either. I'll have to gird up my loins for that one.

It's good to know the numbers up front and now they're on the office wall. It's certainly motivation to keep on truckin'.

A nickle ain't worth a dime anymore.
~Yogi Berra

Eight is Great

I was working on our database today, organizing our electronic files categories according to their legal need. We have eight beautiful little client files, all categorized to perfection. So pretty! I feel as though they are my children--I am so proud of them.

Anyone use Google Adwords? We started using it and it is addictive. It's incredible to see how many impressions you get, then how many people click through.

We pay per click, however, and the clicks can get pricey. For example, if you wanted to be at the top of the list when people search for "Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer" you'd have to pay about $15 per click. Fortunatley we're not in that area (haha..yet) but it can get crazy.

For example, our loan modification ad is hot. We get about 10 clicks per day, but they cost us approximately $5 per click. And we've only gotten about 7-8 inquires, with two people signing on for assistance. Every morning I check the balance and have to throw about $50 in the proverbial Adwords Fire. But, it is interesting to study the traffic to our site and see where people are coming from, as the analytics are very good.

Although I'm thrilled with of our eight files, everytime someone writes a check, it goes straight to advertising! It'll be a blog-worthy event when we get ahead of this prediciment. Will keep you posted. If anyone has tips on Google Adwords, please share!

For a business not to advertise is like winking at a girl in the dark.
You know what you are doing but no one else does.
~Stuart H. Britt

Two Pictures in ONE Day

Okay, so we didn't want to jinx ourselves, but we have good news.

Let's hear it for not one, but two new clients!

No estate plans here, we're doing what's hot in this region: loan modification and foreclosure avoidance. There are so many scams out there. We look forward to assisting these folks and providing advice and counsel.



In other good news, we got our first settlement check for our rent deposit return website.

Paul wrote a mind-blowing demand letter, and the check just came in the mail yesterday. The client is over the moon and so are we. This could be big. More on that in a few weeks, when it's bigger than one check. ;-)

I know the price of success: dedication,
hard work, and an unremitting devotion to
the things you want to see happen.
~Frank Lloyd Wright

Slow as Molasses

Hopefully by the end of next week Green Street Law will have more news. Until then, we can't risk jinxing anything. One can become very superstitious in this practice.


Feels like molasses.

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
~Buddhist Saying