Building an effective structured settlement practice

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements I give a brief over view of my tutorial on Sowing and Reaping, how to plant good seeds and build a strong, sustainable structured settlement or legal practice.

This principal is obviously borrowed from the old Biblical parable of the sower who casts his seed in hope of finding a crop and the illustration of what happens to seed that falls on rocky or weed choked ground. It also drives home the importance of knowing what kind of crop you want to harvest and the importance of investing your time and energy into productive soil if you hope to have a good crop.

Far too many lawyers, settlement experts and other financial professionals have fallen victim to continuing to use the tools and techniques of 5, 10 or 20 years ago in hopes to engage the audience and prospects of today, most of whom go to the internet and use search engines or directories to find their professional or legal experts.

Mark Wahlstrom, President of Wahlstrom & Associates

The world has changed and so has human behavior as to how people determine who to use and trust for their professional services. If you are not prominent, but more importantly, relevant, in search results and the content you provide, the more progressive professionals are going to be running past you.

This month long series, which given my propensity for expanding a topic may actually run through the end of the year, will be all about determining your vision for your professional practice, designing a low cost, but powerful strategy to implement that vision and out lining the tools necessary to measure the results of your plan.

( Mark Wahlstrom is the President of Wahlstrom & Associates which is located in Scottsdale, AZ, and is generally considered the nations leading expert on structured settlements, settlement planning and structured legal fees. His commentary can be read each week at The Settlement Channel or viewed on Speaking of Settlements.)



What to do if your are offered a structured settlement to resolve your injury claim

In the second of our on going series on the basics of structured settlements, today I look at the question of what to do if you are offered a structured settlement as a means of settling your personal injury case or claim.

The video outlines the key topics, but Mark Wahlstrom goes over the essential basics:

1. If you are approached by a casualty or insurance company to settle your claim and you don't yet have a lawyer, GET A LAWYER first! You absolutely do not want to settle a case or claim with out the assistance of a qualified trial lawyer, but you would be shocked at the number of people in small to moderate claims that give it a try. Dont' do it, find a lawyer and if you don't know one contact us and we will help you locate one in your area.

2. Get a structured settlement expert to assist you in designing, pricing and planning your settlement and do NOT work with a broker for the insurance company. This does not mean that a defense broker is bad or incompetent, it just means that it is almost always in your best interest to have your own professional settlement expert working with you.

3. Take your time and consider the offer carefully and do not be rushed. Yes interest rates move and change, but that is no reason to make a hasty or incomplete decision on your settlement just because someone says interest rates might change. There is no need to rush and do not enter into any agreement in haste or under pressure.

4. Ask questions and make sure the plan fits for you. The first offer or design of a plan you see is just that, the first design. One of the great benefits of structured settlements is they offer almost limitless design and pricing options and you need to look carefully to make sure what is offered to you makes sense for you or your family.

Watch our tutorial on " What to do if you are offered a structured settlement to settle your claim" and if you need assistance on your case, contact Mark or Evan Wahlstrom at Wahlstrom & Associates, in Scottsdale AZ to help you.



Arizona structured settlement expert Mark Wahlstrom to present at NSSTA regional

Arizona based structured settlement expert, Mark Wahlstrom, will be speaking to the National Structured Settlement Trade Association on November 12th, from 11:15 am to noon, at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, NV on the topic of "Emarketing.

The objective of the 45 minute presentation by Mark Wahlstrom and Peter Arnold, will be to give settlement, financial and legal professionals a glimpse at the stunning changes that are occurring on the internet and how social media tools are eclipsing the marketing plans and objectives of settlement professionals nationwide.

In the words of Mark Wahlstrom, "Quite simply, if you don't develop a strategic plan and budget to get involved in Emarketing using the exploding universe of social media enabled platforms, you either are looking to retire in the next 24 months or you just have given up the business."

There have recently been stacks of articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal outlining how the shift toward adoption of social networks such as Facebook have accelerated to such a point that over 500 million users now consider Facebook their primary social networking platform. Why this matters is that unlike in prior years where paid search on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing were crucial for advertisers, now a person's social profile and ranking is going to be calculated by Bing and Google to drop them into search results on search questions as to what professional someone should use. Tools such as The Structured Settlement Expert Directory are going to allow settlement professionals and experts to tie in their social, email and traditional marketing into one powerful location to generate leads and publicity.

In short, your social graph and profile is very quickly going to be as indispensable to you as a fax machine once was, as important as a web site and as vital as an email address. Those who fail to make this next step will be destined for a not slow death of the leads and referrals that are the life blood of any professional practice.

What Mark Wahlstrom will be sharing should be of utmost interest to anyone who:

• Needs to brand them selves on the internet and define their professional practice.
• Has failed to date to develop a social/professional profile.
• Has failed to integrate their current web site, blogs, podcasts and email platform into a coherent social marketing platform.
• Those who realize that 85% of all new business comes from our existing leads and clients and that failure to position yourself as "the expert" in your professional and social media circles means that others will be stealing away your clients with out you even knowing it.

In short, this quick primer is an opportunity for any structured settlement professional to look at what is coming, what they can to do prepare but more importantly how they can develop their own brand and dramatically expand the referred leads to your practice.

Any structured settlement expert or professional who is looking to attend simply needs to go to the NSSTA web site by clicking here. Register now by going to the NSSTA web site here.

To learn more about Mark Wahlstrom, the Arizona based structured settlement expert, you can visit his web site at Wahlstrom and Associates.



Arizona Structured Settlement Expert on "What is a structured settlement"

One of the essential questions that is asked by most personal injury victims and some trial lawyers is what is a structured settlement. In this short video, Mark Wahlstrom, President of Wahlstrom and Associates and the leading structured settlement expert in Arizona, outlines what a structured settlement is, using non-technical language and explanations that are easily understood and shared with clients. Structured Settlement Expert, Mark Wahlstrom

If you are being offered a structured settlement as part of your court or legal settlement, and you are located in Phoenix or Arizona, Mark Wahlstrom is the structured settlement expert you might want to contact. His over 30 years experience working exclusively with personal injury victims and trial lawyers in the design, placement and funding of structured settlements makes him one of the leading experts nationally, as well as in Arizona, if you are looking for a structured settlement expert or agent.

You can contact Mark Wahlstrom at his Scottsdale, AZ office by clicking here to his web site, or you can view his other content on either The Settlement Channel, or by viewing his weekly show, Speaking of Settlements, a featured broadcast on The Legal Broadcast Network.