Manny Ibay:
Not everybody wants to be out on a billboard and on Sunset Boulevard, but that's something I always wanted to do.
Chris Dreyer:
After 28 years in a successful practice, Manny Ibay could have kept coasting. Comfortable in Beverly Hills, steady caseload, no pressure.
Manny Ibay:
I didn't think that personal injury lawyers could be stars.
Chris Dreyer:
Then everything changed.
Manny Ibay:
But then after seeing Mike Morris and Amanda Demanda, I'm going, "Hey, I could do that."
Chris Dreyer:
In just one year, he's rolled out the Superhero Lawyer brand. He's on billboards, bus wraps. He's writing books and launching a podcast. Showing up on social, and making friends with the same lawyers he once thought as the untouchable stars.
This is Personal Injury Mastermind. I'm Chris Dreyer. Today's episode is proof that sometimes all you need is the right spark. Manny found his and it reignited his whole career. This is a candid conversation about how to fall back in love with your practice and execute on a bigger vision than yourself. Let's go.
Man, you've had a big year. Bus wraps, billboards, the brand rollout. Let's start out with the wins. What's lighting you up right now?
Manny Ibay:
Well, I mean, I'm very excited about the Superhero Lawyer brand. It's just the beginning. They've only been up for six months. I mean, the conference we went to was September, right?
Chris Dreyer:
Mm-hmm.
Manny Ibay:
And that's where the whole thing, the genesis of it all. I mean, I went to that conference kind of because I've been a lawyer for 28 years and I'm doing okay. I'm doing fine. I could have just stayed in my Beverly Hills bubble and taken it easy instead of go in and maybe listen to SEOs and sitting in a hotel lobby. But then somebody said, "Hey, you know what? You probably need to do this. You need to do more stuff relating to the law because just kind of coasting."
So I went to your seminar and it was nothing what I expected. I thought, I'll get a few hacks and maybe a few tricks of what I can do to my website or something like that. But really what I felt from your conference was the excitement and the star power.
I mean, I didn't think that personal injury lawyers could be stars, but then after seeing Mike Morris and Amanda Demanda, that's really the highlight for me because I'm going, "Hey, I could do that.""I think I'm a little cuter than Mike Morris. I think I can be up there and my personality is just as good. And Amanda's great." So I thought, okay, I got to start thinking along those lines.
And I went through the conference. On the plane ride back on the way, probably somewhere over Arizona, I thought, okay, I got to at least start with a billboard. So I'm thinking about the billboard lawyers in LA and the two that stand out, of course, Call Jacob and Sweet James. So I thought, maybe I can kind of ride on how popular they are and create a billboard that is funny and kind of pokes fun at them.
So I created this billboard called, "Call Manny Instead. He's sweeter." And I had it all designed. It was all laid out. I had a really good-looking picture of me up there and I already had the billboard company, the perfect spot.I submitted it, paid the money.
Two days before it was supposed to go up, they said, "Hey, you know what? You got to take that line out about "He's Sweeter" because he's like our biggest client. We don't want to take a chance." So of course I'm very discouraged because I said, "There's no way I can do that billboard without that." That's the kicker, right?
So I just kind of went back and was sitting around for a couple days and I was kind of depressed because I'm like, "I don't know what I'm going to do now." I thought that was it. And I just started thinking and I got this review. I saw a review just randomly on Google and it was one of my clients. I mean, obviously she wanted to say something nice. So she said, "Manny got me a great settlement. He's my Superhero Lawyer." And I thought, hmm, that sounds interesting.
I don't think anybody else is using that term. So I looked it up, I checked superherolawyer.com. I didn't see anything, so I reserved that domain. And then Halloween, I went out as my costume, kind of dressed up in a black suit and tie and a cape, a Superman cape. And it's like people are like, "Hey, that's cool."
So then I started playing with AI. And I think it's funny, I started on it the day after the election because I was kind of like, "I'm not watching the news. So I'm just going to focus on this." I spent the entire day learning how to do AI, then creating some kind of rough draft for what you see behind, and laid it out and came up with what I came up with. And boom, I got a guy who really put the finishing touches on it.
And I can honestly say that I probably have the most entertainingly memorable billboard in America, for lawyers, that is. And thanks. That's your turn, by the way, that I'm copying. It's from your personal injury book.
Chris Dreyer:
Thank you.
Manny Ibay:
So I just thought I'd plug that in there because I see you and I actually read your book.
Chris Dreyer:
Yeah, good, I like it, I'll take it.
Manny Ibay:
I read your book.
Chris Dreyer:
I'll take it. I'll take it.
Manny Ibay:
So it started like that.
Chris Dreyer:
That's incredible. First, I got to applaud you. A lot of people go to conferences and they don't execute, right? They have these ideas and I think ideas are a dime a dozen. You probably had a friend that said, "Hey, they had the Facebook idea or whatever, but it's the people that execute."
So I'm seeing the superhero brand behind you. I've seen it on social media and so you went and executed. Let me ask you back to the billboard stuff because some people don't want to share these. And if you're open to it, I'll let you punt the question. We can even edit this out.
It's like you're talking about like, "Hey, it may not get the investment back in the first year." What are we talking for per billboard? What is an investment cost for billboards? Yeah.
Manny Ibay:
Okay. Well, I mean, let's take the design cost and putting it together. That might just be like 2,000 to hire somebody if they're going to do it. But as far as the per month, I mean, there's two sizes that I'm using. There's the large size, the typical size, and then there's like a medium. The large one is 14 by 48. The one that I'm paying for on the 10 Freeway in Overland, that's 52.50 a month. And you usually have to sign up for 12 months.
And then there's another one that's above this place called The Vegan Joint, which is 12 by 24, and that one is 3,100 ish. And then the buses, which I think are actually the best deal for the bang for your buck from the coolness standpoint too, because you see them all over town. Those are only like $1,000 each per month.
So if I had to do more, I probably would do buses just for me. Literally the bus drives past my office and I can see it from the window, which is so funny.
Chris Dreyer:
I guess another question on the billboards is, you could have taken the remnant approach and probably went the cheaper route. They probably even painted the picture of the more impressions for the remnant.
What was your thought process going behind the selection of, "Hey, I want these static. I live here. I know this. I want these versus maybe the remnant for... " I'm putting air quotes around more impressions, but maybe less cost.
Manny Ibay:
Part of this whole billboard thing is it's fun to see that. It's kind of an ego thing. I mean, I've purposely made them right around my office and my house. So it's nice to hear your neighbors talk about it. It's nice to hear the guys at the gym. It's like, "Oh, there's the Superhero Lawyer."
I mean, I have a billboard on Sunset Boulevard, which is a good 15 minutes from my place and I'm sure it's great over there. But the fact that I don't see it every day or I don't feel the vibe from people, I mean, there's some value to that because there just is. I mean, you just have this different kind of energy when you're walking around and everybody has seen you. So I think that's part of it.
Chris Dreyer:
First of all, I appreciate the candor and the transparency. I don't think many people would say that, but there's something to it. And look, me being vulnerable and transparent, part of the reason why I opened a legal marketing company was because I wanted to tell my friends and family that I was helping attorneys grow their practice and not just any business. So I was the same way. I think if people are being honest, there's the status and the ego and things that come of all that. I think that's okay.
The other thing I got to just ask, with the Superhero brand, I mean, it's probably natural for you to continue to lean into that. Have you thought about doing a comic book? Maybe you settle a case with a parent and then they have a child and then you're like, "Here's the comic book." Have you thought about maybe leaning more into the direction of the Superhero side?
Manny Ibay:
It's interesting because we were thinking about doing some kind of comic book style coffee table book just as a handout when people came in here. I mean, now the current book that I have, which you should be getting in the next few days, it has a picture of the billboard in the back of the book, so it's nice to hand out.
And yes, it isn't on the topic of anything legal, but people will be like, "Hey, my lawyer who just settled my case, he's also an author." Anything like that that adds to you and differentiates you from everybody else, that's a plus. I mean, also there's so much to talk about. We don't have to be talking about the legal stuff all the time.
Chris Dreyer:
Yeah. And I think also the legal a lot of times has this negative connotation. But on the flip side, you tell people you're an author. It's like, "Oh."
Manny Ibay:
Well, I mean, I got to tell you, being a lawyer, the Superhero Lawyer on billboards and then having three books out, I got so much to talk about sitting at the bar and I'm just like the most attractive person there. I mean, that's the way it's just what I've been working toward. So I feel good that I finally got to put it out there and express it such that I have a lot to say about everything and it's interesting to people.
Chris Dreyer:
It is interesting because it's so different. And by the nature of being different, you automatically stand out, right?
Manny Ibay:
Right.
Chris Dreyer:
It's like everybody else is doing this. It's a two or one lawyer on the billboard. Most of the time it's blue because the PI, that's the color in the space. And then it's like most of them just say injury question mark or accident attorneys. And it's like, "Oh, wait." It kind of catches your eye. And even the kids, even in the car may say, "Hey, look at this," and bring the attention to the driver too.
Manny Ibay:
But I would say if I had to think of one thing that I got from your seminar, which you really can't put in terms of dollars, and it's not that I came up with the brand or the books, the feeling that I have now as far as how I feel about work, I'm very excited about it.
I could never say before your seminar that, "Hey, I mean, I just love this whole being a lawyer thing." Yes, I have an easy setup. I have my own office. I like the people that are working here. Everything's great, but I never had that kind of Steve Jobs freakishly interested in every detail of the product or creating it, but I have that now.
I mean, it's funny because there's this picture. One of my favorite pictures is of Steve Jobs holding his Macintosh, and they've got a really nice one at the Hotel Bel Air Bar. And as soon as I got my billboard up, I framed it and I was sitting in a similar position with the frame thing on my lap thinking, "Hey, I created this. I know it's nothing. It's not like the Macintosh," but I felt that creation and now of course with the book. So it's that excitement about what you're doing, which was missing from my life.
I mean, one of my friends who's a DJ, I always thought, wow, that person is so excited all the time about one, working, talking about it. So I thought, you know what? I'm missing that, but hey, I'm a lawyer, so maybe I'm never going to have that. But it turned out I just needed that spark.
And then now I'm super excited about it. I mean, you don't want to sit next to me at a bar and have to listen to me talk about all this stuff. It gets a little out of hand, especially with three gin martinis.
Chris Dreyer:
One final question for our audience that is listening, that has more questions related to what we talked about or wants to be the next Superhero Atlanta, how can they get in touch with you?
Manny Ibay:
Well, they can call me directly on my cell phone at 310-903-0077. And I give that out because Mike Alder, he's super busy and famous, but he lets people text him and it's been a great contact. So I think that anybody wants to text me with any kind of questions, they can do that as well.
Chris Dreyer:
Amazing. Manny, thanks for coming on the show.
Manny Ibay:
Well, thank you. It's been great. I'm going to see you in Arizona.
Chris Dreyer:
Let's do it. Manny's story shows what can happen when you stop coasting and go all in. After nearly three decades of practice, one spark at PIMCon set him off, and now he's on billboards, writing books, and building a brand that stands out in LA's most competitive market.
Catch me, Chris Dreyer in Arizona, along with some of the best in the industry. Get your ticket today at pimcon.org. That's P-I-M-C-O-N.org. I'm Chris Dreyer, thanks for listening to Personal Injury Mastermind. We'll catch you next time.
