Your monthly costs for this service shouldn’t exceed $100 per month.  Be sure to set aside up to $500 for your end-of-the-year tax and accounting services. Keep your company books up-to-date and easy to understand.  In bookkeeping there is an old saying, "Keeping it simple also keeps you safe - from the IRS."

Printing and Supplies:   You will need a computer equipped with word processing software, as well as bonded paper, pens and envelopes.  To enhance your professional image, create a logo for your business and put it on a letterhead for use on all correspondence.   If you’re using Olivia©, you can generate case correspondence directly from the program.   You may also want to produce a bordered newspaper or magazine ad in the form of a slick that can be used repeatedly.  You can also do this using Olivia©.   

Mail:  Your mailing costs will be directly related to the role mail plays in your marketing and operating strategies.  Most of your case-related correspondence must be written for documentation reasons.  Therefore, you can’t completely escape mailing costs.  Always send your correspondence first class – case documents are too important to take chances!

In our approach to Disability Advocacy, we request a development fee of around $100 from the client at the case outset to cover incidentals like phone calls and postage.  This cuts down your out-of pocket expenditures. 

Equipment and Furniture:  You will need a phone, a desk, a computer, a printer and fax capability.  Otherwise, equipment requirements are minimal.   It would be a good idea to have a secure filing cabinet for your paperwork and firewalls and other security protection on your computer.  Most office equipment, including furnishings purchased solely for business use, can be either deducted as an expense or depreciated on your business’s balance sheet.  Whether you expense or depreciate is an accounting question that you should take up with your tax advisor.

You can rent or lease equipment until you become confident in your service's ability to succeed.  You can write off the monthly payments as direct business expenses and return the equipment if for some reason you choose not to stay in business.    Of course, if you decide that this is going to be a long-term commitment, purchasing furniture and equipment is more cost-effective.

The telephone is, of course, critical.  If you don't already have one, you need a phone that is dedicated to your business.  It will need to be equipped with call-forwarding and phone conferencing capabilities.  Most Advocates begin their practice locally, so there aren’t too many long distant calls involved.   You will make some interstate calls, so get set up with the cheapest long distance plan you can find.   These days this is a very competitive business, so you should be able to find some great deals!  There are also many free or fee-based Internet phone services that reduce this cost even more.

You should also have an answering service or machine to take calls while you’re out with a client or at your day job.  This lets you keep tabs on your company and accept new clients without hanging around waiting for a customer to call.  

These days most Advocates use cell phones, as these systems provide all the features you need to operate your service efficiently.   Internet access from your cell phone allows you to hook into our Olivia Cloud© system.  This makes mobile commuting easier, as that you can practice and access client materials from any location.

Reference Materials:  Along with a business start-up guide, we recommend that you purchase the following reference materials that we have found to be helpful in our own practice.   This is, of course, strictly optional.

The Merck Manual:   As a Disability Advocate you’ll be dealing with numerous claimant diseases.  Unless you’re a medical professional you’ll need to educate yourself about these conditions and the Merck Manual is a good way to do so.  The manual costs around $45 at any college bookstore, or you can order it from your neighborhood bookstore.  You can also order this text online or directly from the Merck Pharmaceutical Company. 

Disability Associates provides the Diagnostic Restrictions Guide (DRG) and Social Security Disability Guide (SSDG) as part of your training package.  The SSDG contains useful medical reference materials that cover all fourteen of the medical categories of disease.  In this course, we use the SSDG in conjunction with our Systems Explorer©.

A Medical Dictionary:  You can look up medical definitions and terms in any medical dictionary.   We highly recommend that you have a one available when practicing Disability Advocacy.

Inventory:  The only inventory in Disability Advocacy is your supply of required SSA forms (not technically considered inventory in IRS terms).  You can go directly to the SSA website to get these on an as-needed basis.  Also, SSA now has an online application option in which the claimant fills out a virtual application and then receives the printed forms by mail to sign. 

Note:  You must use an original SSA form when applying for disability benefits.   However, as part of the government’s paperwork reduction drive, the SSA now allows you to get forms instantly by visiting www.SSA.gov online.  You can also visit your nearest DO to get paper forms. 

If you request forms by phone or at the DO, always ask for them by functional name rather than by number.  Don't be surprised if the SSA employee has no idea what form number you need.  Describe the function of the form.  Form numbers change occasionally, so don't panic if the employee doesn’t know what you’re talking about at first.  Remember, you’re dealing with the government!

The Disability Associates website contains a direct link to several of the most common SSA forms.  You can access them via the Program Syllabus. 

In some situations, writing a letter can substitute for a particular form if you spell out the purpose of the correspondence exactly.  For example, you can present your client's past work history on the SSA Form 3369 Vocational Report or you can present the information in a narrative letter. Both are valid.

Marketing Plan:  Promotion is critical to any business.  This doesn’t mean you have to destroy your personal budget in order to find customers.  There are many marketing methods that are effective, legitimate, and low-cost.

To maximize your exposure we suggest focusing on your own community to define who might need your service.  Disability Associates refers to this philosophy as our “Community-Based Marketing Approach”.  We will talk about this concept in detail below , and you can also refer to the Marketing Manual© and Executive Website© for community based-marketing techniques.

As in any business, success in Disability Advocacy is determined almost as much by marketing strategy as it is by perseverance.  Don’t do anything until you make a plan!  Instead of purchasing advertising right away, we suggest that you use public relations methods, agency referrals and Internet marketing in your early business stages.  You can expand your marketing techniques as you gain understanding of your clientele. 

Disability Associates provides a mini-course in public relations advertising in our Executive Website©.  The Marketing Manual© contains our complete basic marketing course.  Whatever marketing approach you choose, test it first before committing to it for more than ninety days.  Before purchasing advertising, make the advertising source prove that their medium is worth your investment.  When it comes to spending advertising dollars, “Buyer Beware” is our best advice.

Defining Your Territory

Most Disability Advocates practice locally - that is, they only accept cases within their general geographic area.  This is a smart move for the beginning Advocate.  Develop professional maturity in the field by working with SSA officials whom you can easily visit face-to-face if necessary.  This eliminates long distance travel when you are new to the field and perhaps don’t have the cash flow. Starting locally allows you to begin by:

1.      Learning how your state DO and DDS office work

2.      Forming friendly relationships within your local Social Security offices

3.      Having the option of easily visiting your clients face-to-face

4.      Avoiding getting caught up in any of the regulatory complexities of out-of-state cases

5.      Cutting down on the financial drain of travel

6.      Cutting down on necessary marketing and advertising costs

7.      Having a more clearly defined demographic area to target

8.      Emphasizing your community-based marketing plan

9.      Avoiding the need for costly mass marketing

10. More easily taking advantage of effective word-of-mouth advertising

Of course, you can market your service in any way that you choose.  However, we suggest that you concentrate on your own community first.  As you succeed, you can expand your expertise and territory together!

When you decide to expand your service to another state, use a partner located in that state.  This gains you all the advantages of a local practice without the interstate headaches.  For example, if you’re representing a case in another state and an ALJ requests a hearing, you must attend the hearing.  SSA won’t usually reimburse you for an out-of-state hearing, which means that you must foot the bill.  If your partner handles the hearing, SSA will reimburse him/her.  
 

Attracting Potential Clients – Public Exposure

If you launch your business locally as we recommend, your initial challenge will be to become known in your community.  Before spending a dime, explore every possible free approach to gaining this exposure.  You’d be surprised at the number of no-cost opportunities out there!

As your service matures, you’ll get most of your clients through community referrals and word of mouth.  However, media advertising can provide valuable public exposure in the start-up stage.  The more a customer hears about your service, the more likely he/she is to trust and use it.

When we first began as Disability Advocates twenty-five years ago, marketing was the main challenge because at the time our service was unique.   With less than $1000 for startup, our question was:  “How much money can we put into a marketing campaign?”   Since the answer was, “Not much!” it was clear that we had to get creative.  We had to start at the beginning to establish credibility for a service that most people thought had to be done by an attorney.  We were marketing neophytes who had never heard of public relations.

So how did we get noticed on a $1000 budget?  Well, no matter what area of the country you live in, there’s a nearby Social Security District Office, which is the main place where applicants go to apply for disability benefits.  

We found out quickly that SSA wasn’t going to allow us to approach potential customers in their office!   But, outside the office was open territory.  We took an aggressive multi-level approach to marketing that proved extremely successful.  First, we designed a brochure/business card with a simple message on the back that introduced the company, service and concept. It said:

Second we created an ad that we still use to this day (obviously, the website has been added more recently):

After hanging out outside DOs for a few days, an SSA official began telling us that we couldn’t be there.  So, we crossed the streets!   After a while, the SSA came across the streets to ask us to leave, so we did - after having successfully distributed our information to over 500 people.  We were only out of pocket for the design and printing cost of the brochure and business card and had reached over 500 people within our specific target market – people applying for Social Security benefits. 

We then hired a pleasant-looking young woman to start the handout process all over again.  We instructed her to dress conservatively and note people exiting the DOs headed for the parking lot.  She was to POLITELY offer the brochure to anyone leaving who wasn’t wearing a suit – especially if he/she appeared unhappy.  The cost of this approach was low and it worked!  In less than twenty hours she generated over 100 leads.   By the time the SSA asked her to leave we had accomplished our goal.

This basic approach put our fledgling company on the map overnight and the phone has never stopped ringing since!   But we didn't stop there!  Our next step was to send out a four-page direct mail piece that introduced the service to the local community.   We used zip codes to focus on our target market:  working middle class people.  We also sent letters to organizations like the United Way and to as many medical- related organizations as we could find.   From this, we were able to set up meetings and presentations about Disability Advocacy.  This helped us get the word out and develop credibility, which in turn got us referrals.

What Did We Learn?

The most important lesson of those early years was that we couldn't afford to just assume that people understand the value of this unique service.  To be successful, we had to educate the public about the benefits of using a non-attorney representative.

Who is Your Target Market?

Before we did anything, we developed a marketing plan.  Then we followed that plan, with the positive results described above.  YOUR successful marketing campaign must also begin with a plan.   And like ours, that plan must be based on one question:  “Who are you trying to reach?”

To help you answer this question, Disability Associates added a unique marketing tool to the new Olivia© software.  It is designed to assist you in quickly researching your community to identify your local target market.  The typical Social Security applicant:

·        Has a twelfth grade education

·        May be either a white or blue collar worker

·        May come from a wide range of skilled to unskilled work backgrounds

·        Is equally likely to be either male or female

·        Is 20% to 30% likely to be a member of a minority

·        Is a proud, hard-working, anti-welfare individual who is concerned about his/her financial future

·        Has physical impairments in 75% of cases, strictly mental impairments in 30% of cases, and a mix of both physical and mental impairments in 45% of cases

·        Has an average family income of $30,000-$60,000 per year

·        May live in any setting from a large city to a small rural community

An ability to speak Spanish is a plus, as the growing Hispanic population is a major new market for this industry.  It is always a good idea to keep your finger on the pulse of demographic changes so that you can adapt to a changing clientele.  For information about using demographic information in niche marketing, go to our online e-Commerce Marketing Program.
 

Marketing versus Advertising

Marketing is the overall approach to attracting customers to your business.  It includes developing your company image, determining your target market (your desired customer), and designing a plan and budget for reaching potential customers, as well as a creating a customer service strategy that ensures their satisfaction.  Advertising is the part of marketing in which you pay to get the word out.

Your marketing plan should involve:

1. Determining your target market, and the characteristics of your desired customer
2. Developing the materials you will use to communicate your message to them.  This includes a logo, short “tag line” that summarizes your company in a simple phrase, and a consistent appearance that you will use for all business cards, brochures, web pages, etc.  The colors you choose for your logo and business material design are very important psychologically for your customers.
3. Deciding the most effective ways to approach your desired customer and how much the approach will cost (your marketing plan and budget).  This is where your Advertising Budget comes in, along with the public relations and other non-money strategies you will use to get exposure.  One of the most important of these expenses will be your website.

Your advertising should begin with local sources such as newspapers, city magazines, thrift papers, flyers, cab signs, bus benches and, of course, a well-designed website. 

 Advertisements should be tastefully designed and eye-catching with a brief, impactful message.  However, we don’t believe that ads are your best first step.  Here are some important marketing avenues that we recommend as your starting point:

Internet Marketing:  You must have a website to be successful in today's market.  Use your website to provide free information to potential clients:

·        Company contact information

·        An explanation of your service

·        The benefits of using your service

·        General information about the Social Security disability process

Providing information about your service with instructions on how to use it is absolutely critical to your success.  An effective website multiplies your ability to get the message out.  Potential customers should be able to learn from your website exactly what to do to take advantage of your service – and why! 

Create a method to collect your website visitors’ contact information.  One of the most common ways to do this is by requiring e-mail addresses in order to access your free information about the disability process.  You can also create an online form so that the interested visitor can provide you with details about his/her impairment.  These are non-threatening ways of getting potential customers to interact with your service.  Make sure you understand Internet security and can protect the visitor’s personal data.  On the website, assure the visitor that any information he/she provides is confidential and protected.

Disability Associates offers a basic course in Internet Marketing called the E-commerce Training Program©.  You might want to check it out before setting up your website.
 

Open Source Marketing:  We have found that you can effectively reach your target market through what we call “open sources” - any service that works with people with disabilities and/or other medical issues.   And if you approach these open sources correctly, you won’t have to pay them a dime. 

The first rule of marketing is “WIIFM” (What’s In It For Me).  Accordingly, the secret to getting open sources to cooperate with you is mutual benefit.  So when approaching any open source, ask yourself what THEY need from you.  For example, you can establish them as part of your network - you direct customers in their direction, which motivates them to direct potential clients to you. 

Agency Marketing:  This involves networking with local government agencies that work with people who may need your service.  In order to make Agency Marketing work, you must develop an inside contact.  Just befriending an agency employee probably won’t be effective, as this employee may be prevented from directly referring potential clients to you by agency rules. 

However, some agencies that work with the disabled are wide open for exploitation.  State vocational offices, for example, work directly with SSA to help people return to the work force.  They deal with many people with serious impairments who haven’t yet met the SSA standard for total disability.   Although these folks don’t meet the criteria for disability now, most of them will within months because they suffer from progressive diseases. 

Developing a personal acquaintanceship with state rehabilitation offices has the potential to open a free referral system.  Why? 

Remember the WIIFM!  What do they need?  They need to move cases!  The ideal way to move a case is to find the person a job.  But in this economic environment even the able-bodied have a hard time finding employment.  So you help move the agency’s caseload in the next best way - you offer to review clients for their potential to receive benefits.  If a case looks viable, you can take it over and the rehab counselor can remove it from his/her caseload and call it a success story!
 

Experiment – Use Your Own Creativity and Imagination!

Experiment with as many down-to-earth ways of becoming known in your community as possible, even if you do plan to invest in print or media advertising.  Think community!  Spread the word about your service via your friends, church, club memberships, family doctors, etc.  It's amazing how quickly a service can grow by word-of-mouth alone if you put in the effort.  This network marketing approach is highly effective in small and/or closely-knit communities, but works in any setting.

Leave your business cards at your local welfare or public assistance offices, state vocational rehabilitation offices and businesses that deal with the handicapped, such as thrift stores and other nonprofits that employ the handicapped.   There are many organizations in any community that work with people with medical issues.  Make a list of the ones near you and approach them to explain your service.  Offer free case reviews to their clientele.   

Some of our students have reported good results with brochure display stands.  They develop relationships with local pharmacists who allow them to place a brochure display at the pharmacy point of sale.  In exchange, the Advocates put ads on their websites for inexpensive high-quality medications at those pharmacies.   You can find the details of this marketing strategy in our E-commerce Training Program©. 

Paid Advertising:  Investigate Before You Invest

There are no guarantees in paid advertising.   Take the time to investigate any paid advertising method before you invest. 

We recommend radio advertising.   A small local radio campaign can be fantastic for start-up Advocate services - even though you’re competing with national firms like Binder & Binder.   People seem to trust more in local firms, and trust is one of your most important business assets.

While radio is a quick and easy way to get your name ringing in the ears of potential customers, it can be costly.  Look for ways to mitigate the cost and still enjoy good advertising results. 

We have found bordered ads in the local newspaper classified sections to be one of the least effective methods of finding new customers.  It can have some effect in small communities, but start with the Sunday and Wednesday editions only and chart your results.  

 It takes a certain amount of repetition before any advertising avenue begins to show results, but if you haven’t seen a response in a few months, it’s probably time to quit.

Be aggressive, but don't be foolish!  Unless you have the cash available, hold off on expensive media buys. Try getting some free exposure by letting your local news channels know about your service.  Disability Advocacy is such a unique public service that you’ll be amazed at its newsworthiness.

Try requesting free airtime on your local public access channel to explain the concept of non-attorney disability representation. You’d be surprised how many people watch these channels for community information.

 A well-designed business card and/or brochure quickly introduces your service to anyone you give it to.  As demonstrated in our first approach to business, these marketing materials may be all you need to get launched!   Make sure these tools tell at first glance:

·        What you do

·        Why to use you instead of someone else (Remember:  WIIFM!)

Always use your company logo and “tag line” on any marketing materials or paid advertisements that you produce.  Many paid advertisers will offer to create your ad for you.  DON’T DO IT!  Their artists are producing copy for anyone that they sell advertising to, so the ads tend to look the same.  You want to stand out!  The best way to create ads is to use a graphic artist.  If you choose to develop your own ad, don’t use clip art – people recognize it so it gives an unprofessional impression.  And remember:  FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING!

Speaking of marketing messages, we provide a useful product for presenting your service to the public.  It's called the Customer Presentation Tapes (CPT).  We provide you with a link to the CPT resource at no additional charge.  We also offer a dissected version of the CPT that allows you to use pre-recorded segments of this ad in many different ways.
 

Some Less Common but Effective Paid Advertising Techniques

We have found that billboard ads can gain public awareness for your service.  Place them within two blocks of DO entrances.  This maximizes the number of people who see your ad after leaving the SSA office – the time when they’re going to be most interested!

Small poster signs can also be effective, but don’t put them on Federal property without permission!   Litter laws also become a problem with small signs.   Use only a few strategically placed signs and they may last a while before being removed.  Nice-looking signs tend to last longer for some reason, maybe because they don’t seem as obtrusive.

Once your business begins to generate cash flow, you can afford more expensive options.  We have used movie theater ads (the ones that run before the movie starts) and they really produced results.  At the time they were fairly new and untested, so pretty affordable.  Today, you need big bucks to add this approach to your advertising arsenal.   

Before deciding to use any marketing approach, please review the Marketing Manual© portion of the Student Website. 

Intangibles

Some aspects of marketing are subtle but critical.  Professionalism and the personal touch are important to any service-based business.

Professionalism:  Disability Associates’ business philosophy is:  Do as little work as possible to achieve the best possible result!  This philosophy has driven our company for more than twenty-five successful years.  It has motivated us to create custom software and operational techniques that save an enormous amount of time and effort.  While we can’t control the amount of time the SSA takes to reach a decision, we can minimize the time you have to spend on a case over its life.  Reducing this time element increases overall profitability, since the less time needed to win a case, the more cases you can represent, and so the more money you make!  In this training program, we pass all our time-saving secrets and methods on to you.

Practice professionalism from Day One.   Always return phone calls and respond graciously to questions.  Project knowledge about the subject and concern about claimant, even when you suspect that his/her case is not viable.  Always willingly provide information to those who are not currently your clients.  Be helpful and friendly at all times and never abuse your clients.  Be generous with them and share your growing knowledge openly.  These small but important actions will attract people to your service like bees to nectar.|
 

The Personal Touch:  Claimants are dealing with a big bureaucracy when they approach the SSA.  No doubt, in trying to get treatment for suffering, they have also come up against an impersonal medical system.  Just treating them like human beings can bring you a long way.  Little things like hand- addressed envelopes with colorful stamps, thank-you notes and phone calls returned in a timely fashion and a friendly tone of voice can go a long way to establishing rapport between you and a potential client.

No matter which avenues of exposure you choose, you may not always gain a client when you first meet.  Many people believe that they can do it themselves, a belief that SSA encourages.  But when someone gets his/her first denial notice, he/she will find your card and contact you for services as fast as he/she can – especially if he/she found you memorable upon first contact! 
 

Summary

This lesson was a primer on business start-up considerations, such as business structure and the initial requirements and investments of an Advocacy service.  We also introduced you to the concept of the marketing plan and some ways to successfully gain exposure for your new business.

 Lesson Three Preview

In Lesson Three, we’ll discuss your interactions with your clients, from initial screening to accepting the case.  Then we cover the steps you’ll take to win!

Preview of Lesson three:

In lesson three, we’ll discuss that all important first interaction between a disability advocate and a potential client.  The approaches discussed in the next lesson assume that you are using our support software.