The Red Velvet Lawyer

Identifying and Successfully Communicating with Your ideal Client A lot of ink has been used to print books helping business owners identify, communicate with, and successfully serve their ideal clients.   In a post some time ago, I discussed the “long tail” even entrepreneurs can identify and serve.   The U.S. is no longer one big market.  It’s a multitude of micro-markets finding support, service, and products through the web. If you deeply understand the micro-market you want to serve, you can then have a conversation with those ideal clients in a way that attracts them to your services and products.  Christine Kane , my business coach, suggests our ideal clients are looking to resolve or avoid these frequent sources of pain: Lack of harmony. Stress on relationships. Damaged relationships. Stressed communities. As a conflict resolution professional, I find this list compelling.  As human beings we yearn for connection, peace of mind, and healt

Holding the  Promise for my Students During one part of the three day UpLevel Your Business conference presentation in Atlanta, one of Christine Kane’s statements really struck a chord with me.  She said: “You must see your students as more successful than they can see themselves.  You can see where they are meant to go.” As I mentioned in an earlier post , I launched my new business – Mediation with Heart: Web-Based Training for Change Agents the same week as the conference in Atlanta.  It offers the first web-based training for mediators in the U.S. and perhaps in the world.  With respect to all my students, I know where they will be at the end of the 40-hours of training.  They will be empowered, reflective, highly-motivated, and anxious to begin using the skills they have learned to change the world.  Two of the students are Presbyterian ministers who plan to use the skills to intervene in intra-congregational conflict -- primarily in disputes inv

Shifts  that Create Space  for Growth This week, I've been describing the conference I attended the first week of June as a member of Christine Kane's Gold Mastermind program.  The three-day conference offered about 300 heart-centered entrepreneurs  many ways to think about the businesses  were creating.    On the first morning, Christine, our coach, suggested a shift in mindset.   As part of the shift in mindset, Christine encourages her clients/students to abandon limiting beliefs, actions based in fear, inertia, or waiting to act when  . . . .    Instead, she encourages her clients to substitute a belief system that encourages growth and business development.   The core truths she advocates are: I have unlimited income in my business. I am at CAUSE in my business. My challenges contain the raw material for my highest-level solutions. Marketing creates value and energy.  Marketing is the only way to spread my message and grow my business. It i

More About "I'M IN" So yesterday, I began describing the specific programming for the 3-day conference of UpLevel Your Business 2014.  Christine Kane has developed this group coaching program that has helped so many people, especially entrepreneurial women who own heart-centered businesses.  I described the components of the incantation: "I'M IN." It contains several components: I'm fully engaged. I'm here. I'm willing to exit my comfort zone. I take imperfect action. I'm worth investing in! This is monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, minute-ly work.   I talked yesterday about the first three components and, today, I'll talk about the remaining ones.  I take imperfect action!     I loved this part of the declaration.  First, I teach the enneagram, and I suspected that many "Ones" in the conference room are paralyzed by doing anything imperfectly. This declaration gave them permission to launch

I'M IN  As I mentioned in earlier blogs this month, I attended -- for the second time -- the UpLevel Your Business (ULYB) Live 2014 conference in Atlanta. Approximately 300 other women and men joined me for this training in mindset and strategy for entrepreneurs in heart-centered businesses. #UYB2014 The First Session of Day 1 The conference opened with what I would call buy-in and some basic mindset training.  Last year, as we walked into the conference, we all got large buttons reading: "I'M IN!"  I still have mine from a year ago.  Over the next three days, we would say "I'M IN" in unison when  Christine Kane invited us to make the declaration, almost (as she reminded us) as an incantation.  This incantation or mantra started the buy-in.  It contains several components: I'm fully engaged. I'm here. I'm willing to exit my comfort zone. I take imperfect action. I'm worth investing in! This is monthly, weekly, da

Clarity, Wealth, and Community:  #UYB2014 In my last post , I described my experience as a student of Christine Kane's coaching programs .  Since that post, I joined her affiliate program, and I will earn a referral fee for anyone signing up for her programs who mentions me as a reference.  I am making that clear, just so you know that I have some mixed motives at this point for creating these particular posts. At the same time, I have not joined any other affiliate program, and I wouldn't become an affiliate unless I thought I was promoting a high-quality program. Ok, so where did I leave off?  I was telling you how I knew I had had some very big changes since the June 2013 Uplevel conference in Atlanta.  Here are some of the signs. Launch In December 2013, I picked three words to remind me of my goals for 2014. One was "launch."  On Monday, before I left for Atlanta, I launched my own online teaching program --  Mediation with Heart: Web-Based Traini

Inspired Coaching for Heart-Centered Business Owners Go, #UYB2014. I just got back from nearly a week in Atlanta, basking in the energy of Christine Kane, her coaching team, and of the truly fabulous women who are using her as a business coach.   Three summers ago, I started in her web-based personal coaching program -- UpLevel You .  On a daily basis, by email and a link to a podcast, I got my lesson and a downloadable pdf worksheet, inventory, or assessment.  This program offered self-directed learning and assessment at its affordable best. Using a Coach Every Decade or So I chose the program because it was time for some personal coaching, and I am too far from any in-person coaching opportunities.  I like to work with a personal coach about every ten years.  I highly recommend the process, and if you are interested in Christine's program, here is a link to the opt in page for more information. UpLevel Your Business Last spring, I started her on-line pro

2013 Canadian Bird Mortality Study In 2013, J. Ryan Zimmerling, Andrea C. Pomeroy, Marc V. d'Entremont, and Charles M. Francis published their study : Canadian Estimate of Bird Mortality Due to Collisions and Direct Habitat Loss Associated with Wind Turbine Developments.   The abstract of the study states:  We estimated impacts on birds from the development and operation of wind turbines in Canada considering both mortality due to collisions and loss of nesting habitat. We estimated collision mortality using data from carcass searches for 43 wind farms, incorporating correction factors for scavenger removal, searcher efficiency, and carcasses that fell beyond the area searched.   On average, 8.2 ± 1.4 birds (95% C.I.) were killed per turbine per year at these sites, although the numbers at individual wind farms varied from 0 - 26.9 birds per turbine per year. Based on 2955 installed turbines (the number installed in Canada by December 2011), an estimated 23,300

Smithsonian-Sponsored Study of Bird Deaths at Monopole Wind Farms  In a study published in December 2013, three scientists have attempted to estimate the number of bird deaths associated with tower design and height. See Scott R. Loss, Tom Will, Peter P. Marra, Estimates Of Bird Collision Mortality At Wind Facilities In The Contiguous United States.  The sponsors of the study included the Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Birds, Midwest Regional Office; and the Oklahoma State University The study suggests that the trend toward taller towers could be leading to more deaths. On the other hand, the new research also reveals that siting fewer new turbines in California and more in the Great Plains – where the wind resource is rich and increasingly being exploited – could decrease the risk to birds. This study did not focus at the species level, but instead an

ASL Not the only Law School Adjusting to the New Normal  This month, LSAC reports : “As of 5/09/14, there are 337,978 Fall 2014 applications submitted by 49,907 applicants. Applicants are down 8.3% and applications are down 8.9% from 2013.”  One blogger charted , in late 2013, the national downturn in applicants based on LSAC data: It is a very powerful illustration of the change in the number over the last several years. The National Jurist explained in a Dec. 2013 article about the drop of enrolled students: According to figures released by the American Bar Association, law schools enrolled 39,675 new students this fall—an 11 percent decrease from the 44,481 students who enrolled last fall. The last time law schools saw such low 1L enrollment was 1975, when there were 163 ABA-accredited law schools. There are 202 such schools today . . . . University of St. Thomas School of law professor Jerome Organ in June wrote a blog post predicting 38,300 to 39,900 ma

Focus on our 2014 Grads! Once again, thanks to the generosity of ASL Trustee Joe Wolfe, ASL is on the airwaves via our NBC and FOX television stations. This time, the star of the show is the entire Class of 2014.  Please share the link as widely as you can.  Graduates:  your mom wants to watch it. P.S.  Yes.  I know.  Photo features some grads from an earlier class. 

The Smallwood Study Presents Highest Estimate of Bird Deaths to Date The Research In an earlier post , I mentioned the current research on bird deaths at wind farms. Scientists/industry have conducted five major studies to date: 2013 Smallwood Study: 573,000 bird deaths per year. 2013 Canadian Bird Mortality Study: 233,000 bird deaths per year, and habitat displacement of 57,000 breeding pairs. 2009 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Study: 440,000 per year. 2013 Smithsonian- sponsored  Study: 140,000 to 328,000 per year (limited to monopole turbines). Wind Industry Estimate: 58,000 per year. Over the next several days, I'll discuss each study.   The Smallwood Study: In March 2013, biologist K. Shawn Smallwood published his study in the March 2013 issue of the  Wildlife Society Bulletin . His estimate of bird fatalities at wind farms is the highest to date. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.260/abstract   He estimates that, in 2

Finding Dead Birds at the Base of Wind Turbines: The Protocol In my last post , I listed the studies estimating bird deaths at wind farms. I plan to discuss each of them over the next week.  Research Protocol: But first, I want to describe the methodology for most of these studies. You can see these procedures in action in the video about bird deaths at the Altamont Pass wind farm here.  The discussion runs from 9:56 to 11:00 minutes into the clip.  The developer/operator should place wildlife biologists into the wind farm on a regular basis to do a carcass count. Ideally, assuming the developer devotes the needed resources, the biologist should conduct the fatality searches within a radius of 50 meters of the turbine base. The searcher should mark out 100 meter square plots to record carcass findings for study longitudinally.  Scientists studying bird fatalities recommend the use of a search protocol involving 120 meter long transects spaced at 20 meter in

Growth of Farms Puts More Birds At Risk Introduction A 2008 Department of Energy report calls for the U.S. to generate 20% of its electricity from wind by 2030. By then, experts expect wind turbines to kill at least one million birds each year, and probably significantly more, depending on how many turbines developers build over that time. Wind farms are also expected to impact almost 20,000 square miles of terrestrial habitat, and over 4,000 square miles of marine habitat by 2030, some critical to threatened species. Deaths will come to birds who hold our identity and imagination, like Bald Eagles and other raptors. Turbines also kill birds listed as threatened or endangered unless developers carefully plan and implement wind farms. Onshore, these species include Golden Eagles, Whooping Cranes, sage-grouse, prairie-chickens, and many migratory songbirds. Offshore, species at risk include Brown Pelicans, Northern Gannets, sea ducks, loons, and terns, among other bird

Significant Losses  at Power Plants  and  Transmission Lines Bird Populations Slumping: Since the release of bird status reports at the Asilomar Conference, bird populations have continued to slump, and the list of North American birds with declining populations or otherwise at risk at the regional and continental levels has increased since 2002 where 131 species were then designated (USFWS 2002).  Today, these include 147 species on the 2008 Birds of Conservation Concern list (USFWS 2008), 92 birds federally listed as Threatened or Endangered on the Endangered Species Act (ESA), State-listed species, and species listed as high priorities on the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan, among others.  The growing documented and suspected impacts of structures on birds—from direct collision mortality, barotrauma, electrocutions, cumulative effects, and from habitat fragmentation, disturbance and site avoidance—bode poorly for our b