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Spanish Coaching for Immigration Attorneys featuring Danny Kalman of LanguageBird (Ep 40)

June 16, 2015 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

In this episode we talk to Danny Kalman of LanguageBird about Spanish Coaching for Immigration Attorneys

Subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher to get the next episode when it is released

 


Danny KalmanDanny runs the company LanguageBird, which provides private Spanish language coaching to attorneys and other busy professionals. He has been a globetrotter and language learner for almost two decades. He has lived in 4 countries, traveled to over 18 and speaks English, Spanish, Hebrew and Japanese. He has also been through many language programs himself and even taught English in Tokyo before launching LanguageBird.

In this episode you will hear:

  •  Danny’s experience with language learning programs around the globe, finishing school during the 2008 financial meltdown, and teaching English in Tokyo until the Japanese tsunami of 2011,
  • About the birth of LanguageBird from Los Angeles, California as Danny began to deliver online Skype Spanish lessons with native Spanish-speaking instructors.
  • Danny busting the language learning myths that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and that children are language learning prodigies.
  • A fresh perspective on the abilities of anybody to learn
  • Danny challenging the notion that full immersion is always the best policy for language learning
  • The mandatory tactics for successful learning in group classes
  • The importance of bravery and risk taking when learning
  • The advantage that adults have of choosing the topics that are relevant to them
  • Danny’s top strategy for studying Spanish, or any language, mentally without adding any extra time to your day
  • The importance of a language journal
  • How LanguageBird serves attorneys and others with native Spanish-speaking, bilingual instructors, the role-play method, and personalization
  • The importance of accountability when learning
  • The importance of speaking as much as possible when learning
  • Mark’s experience studying Spanish with a LanguageBird instructor!

Danny’s parting thoughts:

Just go for it. People can be like rocket scientists in finding reasons to delay their education – don’t let that be you. Stop thinking about learning – start learning.

 

 

Filed Under: Leader, Podcast

Leveraging Your Voice (Bonus Ep 38)

May 26, 2015 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

Mark DealIn this special bonus episode, I describe how Immigration Leaders can leverage the power of their voice to build their community

Since relaunching the show last week, and launching an open call to action for Leaders within the Immigration community to come on this show and our upcoming video panels, I have received a lot of questions that boil down to two categories.

  1. Why would I want to do this?

  2. How do I go about doing this?

I actually covered both of these, a much more, in an article I wrote for the EB-5 Investors Magazine. So I re-purposed that article, threw in some updates and bring it to you here.


Listen to this show using the web player below or your podcasting app of choice.

 

 

Subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher to get the next episode when it is released.


Resources I talk about in this article and in this podcast:

  • Get a webcam like the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920, 1080p Widescreen Video Calling and Recording

  • Get a microphone like the Audio-Technica ATR2100 Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone

  • Get a great start and expand your influence by appearing on shows in  your industry, such as this one

  • Start your own show using the Legal Podcasting Resource by Entertainment Lawyer Gordon Firemark


I cover some ground on why you should consider using your voice and the Power of The Podcast. Below are the requirements and steps I outlined in the episode

Basic requirements

  1. Content.  Make sure you have something to say before you say it.
  2. A Platform for Voice & Video. I mention Skype, but Google Hangouts is also gaining in popularity.
  3. A good webcam and microphone.
    1. The Logitech Webcam C920 supports 1080p Widescreen Video Calling and Recording (The buiness calss c930 is a bit harder to use and doesn’t come with recording software)
    2. The Audio-Technica ATR2100 Microphone is a Dynamic microphone that can hookup via USB and XLR (for higher end audio equipment)
  4. Software

The next steps

  1. Start recording your thoughts. Use a program such as Evernote
  2. Offer one free consultation per week. I also describe what to do with this time and why I don’t believe in free consults all week
  3. Appear on other voice or video outlets. We have an open call for leaders on this show. Learn more here.
  4. Host your own show. Entertainment Lawyer Gordon Firemark just launched a great resource for launching your own Legal Podcast
  5. Build and cultivate your community. I have a lot to say about this. I will be sharing my thoughts and those of other experts. Please make sure you subscribe to our email list to get this insider information.

Content caveats

  1. Don’t start from the ‘Basics’
  2. Be mindful of the large information gap of clients to attorneys

The original article was original written by me and first appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of EB-5 Investors Magazine

Leverage the Power of Your Voice to Build Your EB-5 Community

Filed Under: EB-5, Leader, Podcast

Part 2: How to Build a Better Business Plan to Support an Immigration Visa (Ep. 31)

November 11, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

Mark Deal talks about the second part of crafting a business plan for immigration purposes.

 Listen to this show using the web player below or your podcasting app of choice.

 

 


Immigration Buiness PlansIn this episode you will hear:

  • Mark’s Three sided business plan to maximize impact and ease petition review.
    • Qualitative:  This is the writing of the plan and should back up the tables while supporting the petition
    • Quantitative: The hardcore numbers.  Every plan has to have realistic projections for all facets for the business
    • Graphical:  Tables and tables of numbers can be boring or worse, confusing.  Use tables to tie the quantitative and pictures to support the qualitative
  • What immigration adjudicators are looking for and common pitfalls of most plans.
  • Personnel Hiring Plan:  How to use it, and how not to rely on it too heavily (for E-2 and L-1 cases that don’t have a lot of direct reports)
  • Financial Plan covering Start-up Funding, Profit and Loss projections, Cash Flows, Balance Sheet with Net Worth and Break-even Analysis
    • What is a realistic expectation and how to document exceptions
    • How to prove a substantial investment in a business
    • How to tie start-up summaries to immigration petition forms
  • Tie everything together in a concise way for the Executive Summary
  • A quick wrap up of some of the items I didn’t cover for specific cases

Links to resources covered on this episode:

  • Form I-129: Petition for Nonimmigrant workers (i.e. E-2, L-1 and others)
  • Form I-526: Immigrant Petition for Alien Entrepreneur (i.e. EB-5)
  • 10 Payback Strategies For EB-5 Investors
  • E-2 Business Plan checklist
  • L-1A Executive Action checklist
  • EB-5 Matter of Ho checklist

Filed Under: E-2, EB-5, L-1, Leader, Podcast

Part 1: How to Build a Better Business Plan to Support an Immigration Visa (Ep. 30)

November 4, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

Mark Deal talks about the first part of crafting a business plan for immigration purposes such as the company summary, product/service descriptions, as well as marketing and sales strategies

 Listen to this show using the web player below or your podcasting app of choice.

 

 


Immigration Buiness PlansIn this episode you will hear:

  • A bit about my MBA background (and how MBAs are best suited to prepare business plans)
  • Why you should NOT HIRE ME
    • If you can only spend money on a business plan or an immigration attorney, use my free tools to write your own plan – invest in solid legal representation.
  • Don’t make declarations that you can’t back up with supporting documents (don’t ASK for the RFE).
  • How to use fluid strategy statements to support your case, but reduce your overall document requirements.
  • Although the Executive Summary usually appears first, work on it last (we will cover this next week)
  • Company Summary
    • Start-Up Summary and Funding Sources
    • Business Start-Up or Expansion Milestones
    • Operational overview (in comparison to an elevator pitch)
      • E-2 & EB-5 Bonus: Cover the background of the source and use of funds
      • L-1A Bonus: Offshore Business Description
      • L-1A Bonus: Executive Job Description(s) with offshore history
  • Products and Services
    • Products and Services Description
    • How many products or services should be presented
  • Marketing Analysis
    • Geographic Summary (i.e. local, Regional National, international)
    • Market Demographics vs Market Segmentation and how to use them both
    • Target Market Strategy
    • SWOT Analysis and how it relates to Competitor Analysis
      • EB-5 Bonus: Why a Competitor Analysis is expected as part of Matter of Ho precedence
  • Sales Strategy
    • Primary Marketing Campaign Strategy as it relates to your Sales Forecast
    • A 5-year sales forecast – your first business plan metric
  • Next week I’ll cover the second part of my general business plan strategies to support business immigration petitions

Dive deeper into topics discussed on this show

  • John Gezelius: Proving the Source of US Investment Funds for Foreign Entrepreneur and Investor Visas
  • Natasha Bell: Special Immigration Concerns for Private Placement Memorandums

Next Actions

  • Listen to the second part of this series 
  • Follow and interact with me on Twitter (or in the comments below)

Filed Under: Business, E-2, EB-5, L-1, Leader, Podcast

Jacob Sapochnick: Immigration Marketing through Social Media (Ep. 28)

October 21, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

In this episode we talk to immigration attorney Jacob Sapochnick about marketing an immigration law firm through social media and the impact of immigration on entrepreneurship

 Listen to this show using the web player below or your podcasting app of choice.

 

 



Jacob Sapochnick
Jacob Sapochnick is recognized as one of the most innovative, up and coming Immigration Lawyers in the nation.  He was featured in Retuters, ESPN, NBC, FOX and many other news outlets. His firm has one of the largest Facebook communities in the World for Lawyers. He is very much active in Social Media, he has a weekly podcast, and he maintains one of the longest running immigration blogs online.

In this episode you will hear:

  • Creating free content and making information available  for possible clients
  • Using social media to give out immigration information to everyone
  • Current trends of foreign nationals moving to the US
    • Influx of asylum cases
    • Finding solutions for people who didn’t get their working visa approved
  • Investors find it risky to invest if the participants’ visa status is questionable
  • Jason talks about his book – Entrepreneur’s Guide to Immigration

Jacob’s parting thoughts:

  1. The new way of marketing is by education and giving.
  2. Immigration attorneys should be ready by educating their staff and themselves on how to deal with immigrants.
  3. Startup immigration and asylum cases are on the rise.

Jacob specializes in:

  • Obtain work authorization for foreign nationals seeking employment in the US
  • Assist in permanent residence (green cards) application
  • Provide legal counsel and representation in family sponsored immigration matters

 Links to resources discussed on today’s show:

  • The Enchanting Lawyer Podcast
  • iOS App: Citizenship Pal 
  • iOS App: Marriage Based Green Card Guide
  • Link to Jacob’s law firm website 

Interact with us about this episode using the comments below!

Filed Under: E-2, EB-5, L-1, Leader, Podcast

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