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Disability Advocate Course Introduction

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Congratulations on an outstanding purchase and welcome to our new consolidated Disability Advocate Business and Training program. By purchasing this program, you've gained access to the most comprehensive Disability Advocate training program available. This new Consolidated version of our training program is designed around our new cloud operating system called Olivia 2.0. The new Olivia system is designed to address a number of common problems that reduce the efficiency of case processing and hinder the growth of an advocacy service. In this training version, we'll occasionally refer to the Olivia software when describing an operational procedure.

Note: If you have already submitted your end of lesson quizzes from the previous version of this training, you need not submit them again.

Authorized user: Under our licensing agreement an authorized user of our training and support products is the purchaser of the materials unless otherwise designated at the time of purchase. The authorized user agrees to use said products as recommended. Disability Associates is not responsible for the misinterpretation or misuse of these materials by any individual or business entity. Warning: Do not share access to this website. Unauthorized access to this web site is considered a breech of contract and will result in the immediate termination of membership. Purchaser agrees not to share access to support or training software with anyone not specifically licensed (authorized) to use said materials by the Disability Associates Corporation. The sharing or misuse of any copy protected materials sold by Disability Associates will result in the immediate termination of all licensing rights without consideration of refund. Said action may also result in legal action against the offending purchaser. All software usage and online access are closely monitored.

Notice to all students! Take advantage of your Student discount and order your Olivia subscription now. We'll also temporarily waive our $150 set-up fee with your subscription. To learn more about our new Olivia software, click on the Olivia sign above. To order your Olivia package with the Student Discount, click here.

Specifically for Social Security

The information provided within this program is specific to the Social Security disability program and should not be used with other disability systems such as Workmen's Compensation or Veteran Disability Services. We provide a unique approach to representation, conceived, developed and proven by Disability Associates over the past twenty-five years. Our approach to this service has four major objects. These objectives are to teach you to Win Social Security Disability cases in the most efficient way possible without breaching a single SSA regulation. Our teaching methods are somewhat unusual but extremely effective at conveying this complex service in the shortest period of time. When you finish this course, you’ll have what it takes to enter and succeed in this field.

Suggestions for New Students

Disability Advocacy is different from most other services. How you practice is not completely under your control. Social Security created this opportunity and they make the rules. Follow their rules and you'll do fine. Purposefully break Social Security regulation and you'll find yourself barred from further participation in the program.

It's important that you relax during your advocacy training and allow the course to walk you comfortably through the process. Don’t try to memorize. Learn the process first and the details will come much easier. Even if you're an experienced advocate who’s just curious about how we succeed, it's still a good idea to follow the cause schedule. Who knows, you just might discover operational procedures that can improve an existing advocacy service.

As you begin structuring your service, it's important to keep in mind that a business is like a newborn child. Like a newborn, a company is most vulnerable at birth and must be carefully nurtured in order to assure its survival. In order to experience growth, you must supply the company with proper intellectual and financial nutrition. This cannot be achieved by simply taking a single training course. You must also learn and use good business practices and make decisive decision. If you're serious about business ownership the actions you take should be driven by contemplation, imagination and research. Don't try to buy your way to business success. Simply throwing money at a business concept will never determine its final level of success.

Personalize Your Service

No two businesses are alike even if they offer the exact same products and services. I suggest that you learn best practices as described in our course. Having mastered best practices, you no longer need to copy anyone else. Once you understand the fundamentals of this business you're free to reinvent it in your own image. You can personalize a company by allowing it to reflect your goals, values and personality.

Mistakes Will Happen!

In today’s economy, Murphy’s Law becomes an even greater threat to the success of a new company. In this environment, inevitable mistakes can be more painful and more difficult to recover from. While you must learn to forgive yourself for mistakes, there’s also a way to make mistakes work for you.

Mistakes in business and can act as your best source of operational feedback. The most valuable feedback will almost always come from your primary customers who are the people you represent. Pay close attention to all mistakes associated with the needs and wishes of your clients. If you listen to your client's and heed their good advice, you'll have no problem succeeding as a disability advocate despite your inevitable errors.

Olivia Will Help!

Many of the functional elements in the new Olivia software were designed with the input of our loyal clients. For instance, our clients wanted an easier, faster and more secure method of communicating with us during a case. We responded by creating a secure assignable online Customer Control Panel for each client we represent. No other advocate software in the nation can offer their customers this level of personal convenience and reassurance. The client can also use his control panel to track the progress of his case, providing an additional layer of confidence. Those of you who choose our new Olivia Prime software will be able to offer these same powerful capability for your clients.

Student Update eNewsletter

Using the box below, please sign-up for our Social Security Student Update e-Newsletter. This Newsletter will enable us to contact you when there are significant changes in the Social Security process or updates to our training materials.

Student Newsletter Sign-up Here

Purchase a Generic Business Text

General information about starting a business is only briefly covered within our program. If you do not have previous business experience, we suggest that you invest in a generic business start-up text. There're many of these Start-up text available. We suggest "The Small Business Start-up Kit" published by Nolo at www.nolo.com or the "Business Start-up for Dummies or Idiots" series. Learning basic business principles can help you to avoid many common pitfalls during the development phase of your new company.

Follow the Course Schedule

Most of our Most students want to learn this process as quickly as possible so that they can begin accepting cases. There's a temptation for some students to ignore our instructions and jump ahead within the course. For best result, stay on schedule and follow all instructions to the letter. This program is very comprehensive and it's easy to become lost or confused. You can avoid confusion and get the most out of this course by simply following the course schedule provided. Please also see the Mentor Debriefing Schedule. To access the course schedule click the link above.

The Social Security Guide

The Social Security Guide is an important part of our training program. The SSDG will provide you with an enormous amount of valuable information about the disability program. However, this text cannot teach you how to properly represent a disability claim. The SSDG will can provide you with public domain Social Security data that will be useful in day-to-day practice. Blending the valuable information within this text with your advocate specific training will make you a better and more knowledgeable representative. You should download this text to your computer by click on the link at the top of this page.

The Syllabus

The program Syllabus is where we store resources used in the course. You'll find things like sample letters, forms and other reference material. You may also notice a white resource button at the top of this page. This resource is used in the development and operation of an advocacy service. You'll access these more advanced materials as you begin to structure your business.

The Study Guide

The Study Guide text is the first main text within your advocate training program. The Study Guide contains eight lessons with quizzes. Each lesson revisits aspects of a previous lesson so that you're made to understand and absorb the disability process. Our common sense approach to teaching this complex service solves the biggest hurdle to success in this field. Operational Knowledge! Operational knowledge is literally the steps in executing a process.

To operate an SSA Advocacy service successfully, you must have a certain level of operational knowledge. This knowledge enables you to execute the basic steps required to interface and interact with Social Security. Other disability advocate trainers teach you how to represent a case. This is not enough to help you become a successful advocate! What about the business aspects of this service? You can know everything about representing a case and still fail if you don't understand the business. Our training will provide you with real operational knowledge that will enable you to actually practice as a disability advocate.

The Business Guide

The Business Guide text is the second training text used within your advocate training program. This text will take you through the case process from an operational perspective. Several of its eight lessons will be dedicated to various procedures like billing, case development, hearings and appeals. Many of the operational procedures within our Business Guide have been incorporated into our Olivia software making them almost intuitive to implement.

The DRG Manual

The Diagnostic Restrictions Guide is a text used to reference physical limitations for common disorders seen by advocates. It’s a useful way of getting FYI about how a particular impairment limits a person’s ability to perform work. The DRG also focuses on how SSA perceives these limitations, giving you a unique insight into the way SSA views certain impairments.

The Marketing Manual

The Marketing Manual provides general information about marketing an advocacy service. From this general information, you and your Mentor will be able to formulate a baseline advertising campaign for just about any budget. Inside of the Olivia system, we provide a detailed presentation about the 4 most important advertising techniques used in this service. If you’re not using these techniques, you’re probably not reaching your full marketing potential.

The MemoWrite

MemoWrite is a training course that teaches you our popular argument technique. This course will teach you how to structure an argument in such a manner that it has a greater chance of being accepted by Social Security. If your argument is accepted by SSA, you and your client will win the case! In Olivia, we’ve taken the MemoWrite Composer. This tool will enable you to write better arguments with less effort. To access the MemoWrite training area, click on the button at the top of this page.

The eCommerce Course

A basic understanding of ecommerce and how it can be used in an advocacy service is imperative to your success as an advocate. Don't try to start your service without the basic tools of today's business. These now familiar technology tools are a company’s website, email, Blog and dedicated phone. These technologies all work together to drive customers to your service. To access the eCommerce training area, click on the button at the top of this page.

Executive Web Resources

The Executive website contains a host of reference materials associated with an advocacy service. These advanced articles cover everything from unique marketing techniques to protecting your fees. It also contains our business Q&A Resource Center. Access these materials after you've completed the course and have received your Certificate of Completion.

Sign-up for Olivia 2.0

Once you've completed your course, you're ready to begin operations. To operate, you need a powerful collection of office tools. I'm not talking about a physical office. I'm talking about a secure office in the clouds. To open your new Cloud Office, sign-up for an Olivia 2.0 account. Olivia will quickly become your most important office with a rental fee starting as low as $79.00 a month - Furnished!

Student Support

Although this course is structured as a self-paced, self-motivated program, you will occasionally need help. We want to make the support process as easy and personal as the problem requires. Disability Associates provides multiple layers of support to all students on all training levels. If you're a purchaser of our course, you can acquire answers to your questions using the student e-mail support address at stussa@daincpm.net.

If you're an Executive with Mentorship student, you can call us directly to speak to your mentor at 303-766-1111 or use the student support email. Our offices are open Monday - Friday from 9: AM to 5:30 PM Mountain Time.

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