Today’s Rainmaking Recommendation from rainmaking trainer and coach, Jaimie Field, may be one of my all time favorites, since it addresses many of the complaints I hear time and time again about networking. If you think networking isn’t working for you, and these first few sentences sound familiar, read on!

***

“I go to networking events all of the time and I have never gotten a client from it.”

“I gave them my business card and they never called.”

“I don’t have time to network.”

“I hate going to networking events because I don’t like crowds.”

“Networking is a waste of time.”

If you have said any one of these phrases or heard yourself give an excuse similar to the ones above,
then your networking is not working.

Rainmaking is about creating relationships. Relationships with people who can become referral sources,
prospects or clients, and networking is one of the best ways to create relationship – whether it is online or off.

However, if you are going to be passive about your networking – just attending events, giving them a business card,
creating a Facebook page or LinkedIn profile and never being proactive about any of these, then your networking will
never work.

It’s about you taking action to create the relationship. You have to be the one in control. So get their card and call them.
Connect with them on social networking sites and ask questions.

As for time, it can take less than 15 minutes a day to connect on a social media site and discover what the other person needs.
Then try to find a way to help them. Nothing creates a relationship faster than giving something to someone without any
expectation of return.

As for the excuse that you don’t like crowds, networking is truly done one on one. So instead of going to events where there
are so many people that you are intimidated, go to smaller group events; find the networking meetings in which people in your
niche hang out and you will have something in common with them.

As I wrote in Rainmaking Recommendation #58, just collecting business cards and letting them sit on the corner of your desk,
or in the drawer is useless. “You may as well wallpaper a closet with them.”

Take action to create that relationship – then your not-working networking will begin to work.

Tags: Business Development, Jaimie Field, Networking, rainmaking recommendations, The-Rain-Maker
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Photo of Lindsay Griffiths Lindsay Griffiths

Lindsay Griffiths is the International Lawyers Network’s Executive Director. She is a dynamic, influential international executive and marketing thought leader with a passion for relationship development and authoring impactful content. Griffiths is a driven, strategic leader who implements creative initiatives to achieve the…

Lindsay Griffiths is the International Lawyers Network’s Executive Director. She is a dynamic, influential international executive and marketing thought leader with a passion for relationship development and authoring impactful content. Griffiths is a driven, strategic leader who implements creative initiatives to achieve the goals of a global professional services network. She manages all major aspects of the Network, including recruitment, member retention, and providing exceptional client service to an international membership base.

In her role as Executive Director, Griffiths manages a mix of international programs, engages a diverse global community, and develops an international membership base. She leads the development and successful implementation of major organizational initiatives, manages interpersonal relationships, and possesses executive presence with audiences of internal and external stakeholders. Griffiths excels at project management, organization, and planning, writes and speaks with influence and authority, and works independently while demonstrating flexibility in thinking, especially in challenging situations. She also adapts to diverse and dynamic environments with constant assessment and recalibration.

JD Supra Readers Choice Top Author 2019

In 2021, the ILN was honored as Global Law Firm Network of the Year by The Lawyer European Awards, and in 2016 and 2017, they were shortlisted as Global Law Firm Network of the Year. Since 2011, the Network has been listed as a Chambers & Partners Leading Law Firm Network, recently increasing this ranking to be included in the top two percent of law firm networks globally, as well as adding two regional rankings. She was awarded “Thought Leader of the Year” by the Legal Marketing Association’s New York chapter in 2014 for her substantive contributions to the industry and was included in Clio’s list of “34 People in Legal You Should Follow on Twitter.” She was also chosen for the American Bar Association Journal’s inaugural Web 100‘s Best Law Blogs, where judge Ivy Grey said “This blog is outstanding, thoughtful, and useful.” Ms. Griffiths was recently chosen as a Top Author by JD Supra in their 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards, for the level of engagement and visibility she attained with readers on the topic of marketing & business development. She has been the author of Zen & the Art of Legal Networking since February of 2009.

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