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Developing a Positive Attitude about Business Development

As a busy lawyer, it’s easy to get caught up in your day-to-day office routine and consequently put attention to business development on the back burner. While this might be something to shrug off as no big deal, for many attorneys, this can lead to big issues down the road when looking to make partner or work with your own clients. In order get yourself in a better position for long-term success, it’s critical to start improving your biz dev behaviors.

There are three internal motivators that drive people to improve their existing situation; behavior, attitude and belief. While all of these are important to accomplish a goal or succeed in an endeavor, the most important for business development is always behaviors. Without executing positive behaviors it’s nearly impossible to accomplish anything, let alone something as challenging as developing new business.

It might seem rudimentary to talk about having good behaviors, as you’re not a child being scolded by your parents. After all, you wouldn’t be a licensed attorney if you weren’t able to implement good behaviors to study in law school and pass the bar exam. However, in my experience many attorneys overlook the importance of forming good behaviors when it comes to business development. I accept as the standard definition of behavior “a manner of acting or controlling oneself.” Your behavior directly affects everything that happens in your life, including your income, your relationships, and your ultimate destiny. As you know, your actions have the ability to set you on positive paths while negative ones can cause you to veer off course.

A profound consequence of having negative behaviors and habits takes place subconsciously. Broken self-promises pile up and directly affect your general attitude and belief in yourself. Consider the behavior of putting off attending networking events using the “I’m too busy” excuse. Despite the best intentions, this behavior can all too easily continue indefinitely. The lack of follow-through can have a dramatic impact on your outlook toward business development. On the other hand, exhibiting positive behaviors creates good feelings and opportunities.

However, researching an upcoming event, registering for the event, and logging it on your calendar are all positive behaviors that will propel you forward to accomplishing your goal. Every time you commit to taking action and then actually follow through on that commitment, you’re positively reinforcing winning behaviors. The positive experience creates momentum to continue these behaviors in the future.

To assist you in forming good biz dev behaviors, here are five things you can do to get on the right path:

#1. Start putting business development at the top of your “to-do” list. Mostly it falls to the bottom. To grow a book of business, move all biz dev activities to the top of your weekly “to-do” list.

#2. Create a positive habit of doing one biz dev activity a day. This could be an email to a client or researching a networking event. If you do one thing a day, these will add up to big numbers for you at the end of the year.

#3. Get prepared to go to battle on your biz dev work. One of the main reasons lawyers put off biz dev calls is due to lack of preparation. Build a list of clients, friends and strategic partners that you can call on for meetings. This will help get you in the right frame of mind to actually make the calls.

#4. Schedule 30 minutes a week of uninterrupted biz dev time. Do not pick up the phone and do not respond to emails. Just get a list of solid contacts in front of you and make your calls. This routine should be scheduled early in the day to ensure you’re not interrupted and that the day doesn’t get away from you.

#5. Find a “work-out buddy” for your biz dev activities. This could be your co-worker who is also challenged to focus on biz dev activities or your marketing person at the office. Accountability is key to holding firm on the commitments you make to yourself.

Following good behaviors is the number one reason why some lawyers are more successful in accomplishing their goals than others. Don’t be afraid to start small and build up from there. The small victories add up over time and reinforce the drive to continue good behaviors.

ARTICLE BY Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.

Retaining Millennials at Law Firms Requires Change

Managing attorney departures at a law firm can be a daunting task, especially if a departing attorney has a book of business and takes clients along when leaving the firm. Although it can be difficult for the firm, a practice area and, often, the attorneys who remain, it has been a fairly rare occurrence in the past, particularly for equity partners.

That rarity is changing at an increasing rate as baby boomers have phased out of the workforce, leaving millennials to become the largest percentage of the U.S. employee pool. In fact, millenials are expected to make up 75 percent of our nation’s workers by 2030. They bring a different attitude regarding their careers and longevity with a particular company than we have become accustomed to, especially in a law firm culture.

As most business professionals are aware, it takes much more money to hire and train a new employee than to simply retain astute professionals. And, with millennials’ perceptions of how office life should be, law firms will need to pay much more attention to those ideals in order to keep excellent talent, which is imperative for a successful firm.

Millennial Expectations

So, what do millennials expect in the way of work life? This is a frequently discussed topic in the media, at companies and within law firms throughout the world. I’ve read several good articles on the subject lately and will share from one in particular written by Jeff Fromm for Forbes magazine.

Fromm, who consults on the “Millennial Generation” or “Gen Y,” often speaks about the attributes these employees want from their companies, and it’s not all about salary and benefits.

Although there is no precisely defined birth date range for this segment of the population, it is often described as people reaching young adulthood around the year 2000. These individuals were raised with technology and gadgets at a time when developing a child’s self esteem and individuality was a predominant theme in educational and behavioral methodologies.

Other attributes discussed include:

Millenials want to be a part of “the process.” They have strong entrepreneurial tendencies and desire growth. If they do not feel they are growing at a company or firm, they are much more likely to move to another than their older peers.
Millenials prefer to be coached and mentored instead of “bossed” or just told what to do. Interestingly, this does not mean that they want to work independently with little supervision; it’s quite the opposite. They actually prefer more interaction and feedback than the typical baby boomer.

Conforming to the Millennial Way of Life

So, what does this mean for law firms and particularly law firm management, practice area leaders and the like? It means an almost 180-degree change in the way associates have been managed in the past.

Millennial attorneys will want to be part of the process from the beginning. They are not content to receive a directive such as, “Research a particular point of law and prepare an annotated brief on the subject.” Instead, they want to know about the case, why the research is important for the case and how it will be used to benefit the case.

Likewise, instead of just receiving a red-lined document back with few instructions regarding how to improve the work, millennials will prefer to discuss how the work product was perceived, why changes were made and how the changes make the information better in relation to the case. They want to learn and grow from the process; i.e., from performing their work.

These types of processes will, indeed, make for a better learning experience for associates, enhance their skills and grow more capable team members. However, this approach will also take more time and patience on the leader’s behalf. Just a “do as I say” directive, without an explanation of why to do it, doesn’t sit well with a millennial. Over time, such treatment will erode the associate’s desire to stay at the firm.

Millennial Mentoring

Remember, these younger attorneys need to feel included and that they are growing and making a difference to be motivated and engaged. Just receiving a good paycheck and the chance at equity ownership isn’t a long-term motivator for them. That really is a cultural change in how many, if not most, young associates used to be trained to be the future leaders of a law firm.

Also, consider that dramatic change in a firm’s processes can’t happen all at once, or else the culture will implode. Instead of instituting entirely new training and evaluation programs, try adding in or updating your firm’s processes. As a start, adding a strong associate mentoring program with real checks and balances will go a long way toward including associates in the process. And know that opening up the lines of communications top-down and bottom-up at any organization also will result in better operations and more-satisfied employees. If good communication isn’t standard at your firm, offer training across the board.

The impact the changing workforce has had on law firms isn’t just beginning … it is happening and must be addressed now to avoid major business operational issues for law firms. Take note of this growing trend and make the necessary changes to ensure your firm has the best talent today and in the future.

ARTICLE BY Sue Remley of Jaffe

Rainmaker 101: 3 Tips from a Top Producer at a Law Firm [VIDEO]

One of the most interesting elements of my job as a business development coach for attorneys is interviewing top rainmakers to better understand “How they did it.” While every attorney knows a rainmaker or high-level business developer, you might never get the chance to hear how they actually accomplished their goals, what it really took to do so and how to avoid the pitfalls they’ve encountered. One of my first interviews occurred with the Managing Partner and co-founder of Stahl Cowen, Jeff Stahl. He put everything on the line when he went out on his own. As he stated in our interview, it was “a combination of need and fear,” to begin developing his book of business. Here are Jeff’s top three tips for success in building his legal practice, followed by some of my own thoughts on the subject. Jump to the end for the full interview. Enjoy!

Jeff’s Tip #1: Helping versus Selling

Jeff’s first and most important revelation as a business developer was to really want to help people, not to sell them legal services. He says quite empathetically that it’s imperative to, “Recognize when someone is in need of service and then be there, and be creative to help them. Then it isn’t perceived as a sale, but as assistance that usually has greater receptivity than somebody who is hard selling.”

From my point of view, he is touching on one of the critical turning points for attorneys as it relates to sales and being viewed as a “salesman.” I don’t know too many lawyers who like or want to be seen as a salesman. What Jeff explains so clearly in his interview is that you need to switch off that mindset and turn on the idea that you are in the unique position to help people with real problems. The key here is to try not pitching and selling, but rather try asking and listening.

One of my favorite mantras is, “Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice.” Think about that. If you walked into a doctor’s office with a migraine and he suggested amputating your head, I’m sure you’d move pretty quickly to the nearest exit. The same rule should apply to prescribing legal services in the form of a pitch meeting. Just don’t do it! At least not until you’ve fully diagnosed the issues, needs and pains the prospective client is dealing with.

Jeff’s Tip #2: Market Yourself When You’re Busiest

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it 1000 times, “I’m too busy to market myself.” One of the best take-aways from Jeff’s interview was his statement, “Too many people go out and market when they’re slow. You need to market when you are busy, because when you market when you’re slow, you often appear desperate. That comes across and people realize that.” Even when you’re working 60 hours a week, it’s imperative to find ways to market. If nothing comes in right away from the effort, at least you’re building your pipeline which will pay off when things do slow down.

In my experience, the key to success here is to find the time to market by getting organized with your day and opening up gaps of time for business development. A few suggestions I typically offer include:

Time blocking- Get into the office at 6:30 am once a week and spend an uninterrupted hour emailing clients, strategic partners and new people you’ve met to schedule a coffee or lunch sometime in the next few weeks. This one hour block of time each week will help ensure that you get meetings set every week without fail.
Delegating more- Do everything in your power to delegate administrative tasks to others at a lower billable rate. If you are billing $300-600 an hour, why are you making copies or doing filing? Try making a list of every administrative task that you do and add up the hours in a week. You might be shocked at how much time you’re wasting on activities that can be done for under $50 an hour by someone else. This “found time” can be better used for business development activities or even going home for supper with your family once in a while.
Never eat lunch alone- It’s the title of a great networking book for a reason. Schedule lunch at your office and invite someone to join you. Utilize a conference room so that it’s quiet and you can focus the conversation on your guest. If you did this with two of your existing clients or strategic partners every week, you will be delighted to the results you might see. Working during lunch might be helpful to get things done, however it doesn’t have to be your routine every day.

Jeff’s Tip #3: Be Impressive!

“When a client tells you what their issue is, it isn’t always their issue. Through effective listening you may recognize things that they may not even realize themselves.” Effective questioning and listening is not only important as a way to best service the client, but also as a way of differentiating yourself from other attorneys who aren’t focused on the clients story, needs and issues. From Jeff’s perspective it’s more important to be perceived as impressive and knowledgeable, than to beat your chest regarding your prowess as a successful attorney.

Jeff’s hit on something really critical here. Perception is reality and belief stronger than fact. The concept is simple if you think about it. By asking relevant, probing and open ended questions, the prospective client will perceive that you are an expert based on the way you are managing the conversation and your bedside manner. A great example here would be observing two psychologists. The first spouts off about why she is so good at what she does and her advanced degrees. The other, warmly welcomes her patient onto the couch and begins building rapport. Then the second psychologist begins asking questions about the patients reason for being here today. The patient’s response is followed up with additional questions which open up the dialogue to reveal the actual issues being faced.

If you are working diligently to find new business opportunities, and a prospective client finally agrees to meet with you, try to act like the second therapist by asking questions and being an expert listener. You will not only build greater credibility as a lawyer, but also uncover issues that your new client didn’t even know he had. A win-win outcome is inevitable.

I’d like to thank Jeff Stahl for his rainmaking insights. The reality is that there is always a way to find balance in work and in life. For many of you, it’s a matter of having the proper mindset. For others it’s obtaining new strategies and tactics to accomplish the goals you’ve set. Check in monthly for a new installment of Rainmaker 101 for more tips from the business development superstars I’ve interviewed.

Article By Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.
Copyright @ 2015 Sales Results, Inc.

To Specialize or Not to Specialize, That is the Question for Attorneys

As the number of attorneys in the marketplace continues to grow, it is becoming more important to differentiate yourself. One of the best ways to do this is through specialization. Becoming a “specialist” can be a scary proposition as your messaging and marketing efforts change to accommodate this new direction. The obvious fear is giving up some potential business by speaking and marketing openly about your new focus. While most of these fears are not grounded in reality, most generalists are worried about the possible loss that may occur when making the transition. In working with hundreds of attorneys, we regularly discuss the ups and downs to becoming a specialist. If the timing is right and you are well prepared, it might be the best way for you to stay relevant, while also growing your practice and obtaining additional financial security. That being said, it’s one thing to be “known” as a specialist versus “identifying oneself” as a specialist. It’s always better to be considered an industry specialist and leader rather than having to advertise that information. In some states, calling yourself a “specialist” is not allowed. Be sure to stay in compliance within your states’ guidelines.

Take a moment and think about two of the most successful attorneys you know. Really, close your eyes for five seconds and get their names in your head. I would bet dollars to donuts that at least one of the names you thought of was someone who is a specialist. It should come as no surprise that an attorney who builds a reputation around being great at one thing is memorable to you. The reality is that when you build a reputation in one industry, market or vertical, your practice can grow more quickly than you ever thought possible. Of course, a number of elements need to be in place before taking this leap. Here are a few things to think about before making the switch to becoming a specialist:

#1. You need to be the best at what you do.

Whether you are a litigator or an estate-planning attorney, nothing is more important than being skilled at your craft. When thinking about specializing, be sure you have the baseline skills and experience to succeed in one particular area of the law. It might make sense to get at least 2-3 clients under your belt in a particular area to test it out and see if specializing in one area makes sense for you. Achieving notoriety as a specialist may take months or many years to achieve. The important thing is that you eat, sleep and breathe within the space that you’ve chosen.

A good example of this occurred when I was badly injured in a plane crash back in 1996. That’s right, I survived a plane crash. During my recovery from looking like a human pretzel, my father, a now retired attorney, put me on the phone with Bob Clifford of Clifford Law Offices. He chose Bob Clifford because he is well branded as the leader in aviation and personal injury litigation. We didn’t speak to any other law firms because who could possibly be better?

Being the best at what you do and building a strong reputation around that specialty can make obtaining new clients very easy. However, as you probably know, it takes real effort and conviction to build a specialized practice.

#2. Choose the right industry or vertical that’s a fit for you.

The easiest and most time effective way to develop a niche’ is to leverage the work you’ve already done in one particular area. It may make sense to target specific people, companies or issues that will allow you to draw out more work. For example, if you’ve worked with textile manufacturers and enjoy the work, be sure to target other textile companies in your area. You can do a search on google or LinkedIn to identify the people and companies to call on. Try to leverage your existing clients and strategic relationships to obtain introductions to these business owners if possible.

As an example, you could call up your client in the industry and say, “I know you’ve been happy with the work I’ve done for you over the past few years. I am looking to help others in the same area. Who are you friendly with in the textile industry that I should be speaking with as well?” The key here is to develop a great relationship with your client to ensure that he/she is open to making these types of strategic introductions. Think about it this way. If you had the best dermatologist and someone had a nasty rash, wouldn’t you feel great making the introduction?

Another easy way to find the right specialty for you is by asking yourself, “What am I truly passionate about?” If you care about something, it drives you to become more involved. For example, one of my clients is very passionate about animals and is now focusing on working with dog shelters and veterinarians. She joined the shelter’s board and is routinely interacting with prospective clients for her practice. She is wowing them with her ability to solve problems and is routinely asked legal questions from the board members. These inquiries turn into business meetings and eventually new business. She’s doing all of this without working harder than before as the new originations roll in. Finding a niche’ that you are passionate about can make your legal career much more meaningful and enjoyable. You will also have a greater chance of meeting prospective clients, as you will be interacting with them on a more regular basis.

#3. Find a space, where there is space.

Be aware of your market and niche’ and who else may already be there before committing to a specific specialty. While you may have vast experience in commercial real estate for example, there may already be too many lawyers in that area to easily separate yourself from the pack. Do your research and try to find a segment of real estate that isn’t as fully saturated. It might also make sense to branch off into other areas of law to ensure you have your eggs in a few different baskets.

When the recession hit in 2008, many real estate lawyers were hit pretty hard. One of my clients saw this as an opportunity to study estate planning as a backup plan to real estate law. This ended up being a great fit as he was able to leverage his real estate clients and personal contacts to help set up estate plans for everyone he could. Now that real estate is back, he has doubled his book by focusing on both specialties.

By studying the competition, understanding the marketplace and the amount of business generated in a particular area or niche’, you can better hedge your bets when selecting a specialty.

#4. Look to the future.

Earlier this year, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Jerry Maatman of Seyfarth Shaw to learn a little more about his successful practice. One of the key elements to his amazing achievements as an attorney came from his thirst for knowledge within his area of Labor and Employment. He voraciously read everything he could to better understand what was coming down the pipe to see how he could leverage it to build his practice. He describes in his interview, the 1992 legislation for the Americans with Disabilities Act and how he got ahead of the law to be seen as the premier expert on the subject. He effectively packaged a “Survival Guide” for companies to better deal with the changing laws and regularly spoke on the subject before anyone else. By being a forward thinker, he locked-in his success and was repeatedly hired as the expert on ADA law by some of the largest companies in America.

Developing a niche’ can be a game changer for you as a practicing attorney. For those who are worried about missing other business opportunities because of specializing, who’s to say you can’t take on new business in other areas? However, by focusing your outbound marketing on one thing, you’ll have the opportunity to build your brand name much more quickly than staying a generalist. You need to have the experience, the passion, the space or the forward thinking that will allow you to become successful in specializing.

Article By Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.

Ex Parte Communications between Treating Physician and Attorneys in Tennessee

Under HIPAA, physicians are permitted to disclose “protected health information” to their attorneys for purposes of their own healthcare operations. This allows physicians sued by patients for malpractice to provide their attorneys with the information needed to prepare and present a defense. Ordinarily, subpoenas or orders are a part of a court ordered deposition or trial at which the patients or their attorneys are present, so the need to protect health information is lessened.

HIPAA does not allow treating physicians in one practice to disclose “protected health information” to attorneys for a treating physician in another practice unless a subpoena or an order of a court permits that disclosure. Instead, HIPAA allows members of a group practice to transmit protected health information concerning a patient to business associates of that practice. This means that attorneys representing the other physicians in the group practice can receive information related to the practice’s healthcare operations, including information relating to representing the practice in malpractice lawsuits. A subpoena or court order is not required for this disclosure. Thus, when a physician is being sued for malpractice, HIPAA permits the practice’s attorney to meet with other physicians in that same practice and obtain protected health information related to the plaintiff.

While HIPAA may permit the disclosure of protected health information in this circumstance, state law is another matter altogether. For example, the Tennessee Supreme Court found that an implied covenant of confidentiality exists between the treating physician and his or her patient. Like HIPAA, this implied covenant of confidentiality absolutely prohibits an attorney for a treating physician from meeting with another treating physician unless the patient or the patient’s attorney is present. Like HIPAA, the court assumes that the patient’s interests are protected when the patient is present.

This in turn begs the question – does the implied covenant of confidentiality prohibit a physician employed in a group practice from meeting with the attorneys representing another employee of the practice who has been sued for malpractice without the patient being present? In Tennessee, this issue was recently addressed in Hall v. Crenshaw, W2013-00662-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 18, 2014). The court of appeals in Hall held that the implied covenant of confidentiality does not prohibit a physician in a group practice from meeting with attorneys representing another employee physician of the practice. The court of appeals reasoned that a corporation can only function through its agents and employees. Under state law, all knowledge of the corporation’s employees is imputed to the corporation. As a result, the court held that the corporation already possessed this information, meaning the corporation, through its employees, is able to discuss a patient’s medical record and history with the attorneys representing the corporation and its employees.

ARTICLE BY

Keith C. Dennen

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Tips for Growing Your Fan Base on Facebook

One of the biggest challenges for anyone seeking to have a large social media following is growing your audience to a healthy level. Sometimes it almost feels like we’re back in grade school, looking for other kids to like us!

Inbound marketing firm Hubspot has a number of informative presentations on Facebook marketing, but this quick slide guide with five tips on how to grow your audience is particularly useful since it visually walks you through the steps you need to take on your Facebook page to reap the rewards from each tip:

Inbound marketing firm Hubspot has a number of informative presentations on Facebook marketing, but this quick slide guide with five tips on how to grow your audience is particularly useful since it visually walks you through the steps you need to take on your Facebook page to reap the rewards from each tip:

5 Quick Tips For Growing Your Facebook Audience from HubSpot

Article By:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

5 Things to Tell Prospects That Will Turn Them Into Clients

Have you been looking for the “magic words” to tell prospects that will turn them into clients? My experience in teaching lead conversion techniques to thousands of attorneys over the last decade shows that you need to focus your messaging to prospects on these five areas:

1. Tell them what you can do for them. At the end of the day, clients are only interested in what you can do for them. Your job is to tell them what your service can do for them personally and remember- they do not want to spend time looking for the answer. The answer to this question must be one of the first things your clients see on your website and in your firm-wide communications. If your clients are going to remember you, you must first answer the question “What’s in it for them?”

2. Tell them what makes you different. For every service you provide there are many other attorneys who can provide the same services. So what can a client get from you that they cannot get from anyone else? Perhaps it is your credibility or the creative way you bring solutions to your clients. You must determine what differentiates your firm from anyone else and market that point.

3. Tell them you understand their pain. The most effective way to ensure a lasting impact on your clients is to communicate with them on an emotional level. You must find their “pain.” What is it about their business, life, family, time, or environment that is causing pain? Are they not working or working too much? Is their business growing too fast or too slow? Is their family falling apart? Do they have a hard time tracking their employees? Find their pain and communicate with them on an emotional level about how you can help heal their pain and make their business, life, family, time or environment pleasurable.

4. Tell them the benefits of working with you.  Features are what your service does. Benefits are why your client needs your service. For every feature you have, you must tell your client what the benefit is. Is your firm better, faster, guaranteed or more personal? Will your service create more clients, decrease turnover, or increase profit margins? These are all great features, but you must tell your clients how this benefits them specifically.

5. Tell them why it’s safe to hire you.  Many of our clients work at small law firms that have services similar to those at larger, more established firms. Why should your potential client buy your service over the big firm’s service? While no one can predict the future of your firm, the savvy small firm recognizes the need to develop creative ways to reduce the risk of their clients in working with them. How could you lower the risk of your clients if they are concerned about working with a solo practitioner or a small law firm?

Article By:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

New ALM Report Says Small Firms Investing in Big Marketing

A new report from ALM Legal Intelligence entitled, Small Firms, Big Marketing reveals that small and mid-sized law firms (40-200 attorneys) have upped their investments in marketing because of a belief that effective marketing is mandatory for a firm to succeed.

ALM Legal Marketing

The survey was commissioned by J. Johnson Executive Search, Inc., and relies on data collected from 90 small and midsized firms in the U.S – 42% of responses were from firms with 40-75 attorneys and 58% were from firms of more than 76 attorneys.

Some key findings from the survey:

90% of responding firms said they had a dedicated marketing team in place
75% said marketing was critical to winning new business
54% use marketing for research and client feedback
Marketing is key not only for obtaining new clients but also for retaining existing clients
75% of firm management says marketing is a critical piece in winning new business
Spending on outsourced marketing functions increased 44% in 2013 and is expected to rise in 2014

Firms justify their investment in marketing in the following ways:

ALM Reporting Marketing

The firms surveyed found these 10 marketing tactics to be the most effective for their firms:

marketing

The full report is available free for download here.

Article By:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

Six Critical Pillars for Associates to Rock Their Practices

No doubt, ambitious and motivated associates have read plenty about what they “should do” as they begin their legal practice to be successful. I’ve listed below the six ‘must do’ pillars for associates to be successful, early and often.

Develop Productive Habits from Day One. As you no doubt are learning, developing the discipline of effectively managing your time, harnessing the power of active listening, and maximizing non-billable time will serve you well throughout your entire career. These habits will manifest into your activities which, in turn, will determine your level of success.

Create a Marketing/Business Plan, Today. Though a number of my younger lawyer clients think their primary focus should be to learn their craft, setting written goals by way of a marketing plan will serve as the blueprint of your development as a lawyer and business generator. Having a written plan will provide for outlining actionable items and give you more control over your career. Today is not soon enough.

Proactively Build Your Network – Often, our newer lawyer clients tell us that they “don’t really know anyone” to which I respond “rubbish”. Think broadly. Enter into a contact list (Outlook or Gmail contact list will work just fine) names of your law school classmates, bar association colleagues, gym buddies, friends you run with, who live in your building, etc. Everyone you know could potentially be a referral source. Do not overlook the obvious, then get and stay connected with them via some communications means (social media update, e-blasts, etc.). This will serve you very well as you grow your network.

Double Check Your Professional Image and Etiquette. You are not in Kansas anymore, ya’ll, and how you present yourself professionally inside the workplace as well as in professional settings sets a tone. Be sure you are making the “right” first impression. Aside from professional guidance, there is a fantastic new book (“The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat and Tweet Your Way to Success”) which can be a perfect primer in this area.

Develop a Marketing Mindset. Tweaking your bio and social media profile (with a professional headshot), refining your elevator pitch, and deciding upon your “targeted networking” venues are all part of developing a marketing mindset. As a private practice attorney, you must always have your radar “on” to recognize opportunities to present yourself as a “go-to” resource, to thoughtfully build your network, and leverage new business engagements.

Be Mindful of Your Clients. As a new attorney, you have many clients – – namely, your supervising partner, potentially all partners in your firm as well as any prospective new clients you may cultivate. Understanding clearly how to meet their expectations (and beyond), how to deliver extraordinary service and all that it entails in addition to producing an excellent work product will help distinguish you from your peers.

While there are space limitations to providing in-depth insights to all of the six pillars above, I will break each of them down in more detail in subsequent marketing posts. The implementation of these pillars is crucial to getting and staying on the top of the uber competitive legal services environment that we are in.

Article By:

Kimberly Alford Rice

Of:

KLA Marketing Associates

New Social Network for Attorneys Now Online

A new social network for attorneys – Foxwordy – has now launched and is offering any lawyer who is “an innovator and influencer in the legal industry” a free three-month membership to what its founder is calling an “invitation-only private social-networking platform brings together relevant top-tier legal colleagues to efficiently collaborate in real-time.”

It appears that this new site is aimed at creating a new attorney-to-attorney referral platform. Foxwordy founder Monica Zent said that the site provides a way for attorneys to gain a peer validated reputation and encourages collaborations that would normally happen via the phone, in person or by email.

Some of the site’s features include:

Real-time collaboration with other lawyers working on common issues

Ability for attorneys to share best practices and language for legal documents

Listing of job opportunities similar to LinkedIn

Zent says there are currently 1,000 members on the website that is now out of beta. The network will not be available to the public; it is designed solely as a website for attorneys to share information and collaborate, and membership is by invitation only. You provide your name and email address on the home page to request an invitation.

It was unclear on the site how you are vetted for membership; since the site’s revenue model is based on subscriptions alone ($10 per month), I was guessing that the bar isn’t set too high. And I was proven right after I had one of my non-attorney staff members enter her name and Gmail address, and she received a congratulatory email minutes later on her acceptance.

I’d be interested to hear from attorneys who sign up and participate on this new social network for lawyers – what are you finding of most value for your practice from this new social media tool?

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

Tag: attorney

Developing a Positive Attitude about Business Development

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