Networking & Business Development

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Apple-Emoji-KeyboardI’m (hopefully) rounding up a rather intense fall full of travel, with a trip to Boston for the Legal Marketing Association’s Northeast Conference, where I’m speaking on Content Marketing (my favorite subject!). We had two guest posts last week, and you’re lucky to be getting a republished post this week. This article originally appeared on Sprout Social‘s blog.  They are talking about something that’s a little out of our comfort zone here in legal – emoji marketing. Molly Porter of Seyfarth Shaw spoke about this at the LMA Technology Conference recently, so it’s not altogether foreign in legal, and worth paying attention to.  See how Sprout Social talks about other companies using emoji marketing as well!

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Continue Reading Emoji Marketing: Are We Speaking the Same Language?

iStock_000024718576SmallToday, I’m bringing you another post from Group Dewey Consulting while I’m traveling for our Regional Meeting of the Americas. This post looks at why the idea of connecting is better than that of networking:

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I’m not a big fan of ‘networking’ -that rite of passage for every professional with aspirations of career changes, promotions or new clients. It has its place, of course. But it’s not the business development panacea many would make it out to be. In fact, I think networking can do more harm than good in some ways. To make my point, here are 7 ways ‘connecting’ is better than ‘networking’.

Networking is about finding ways to know more people.

Connecting is about finding ways to know people more.

My linkedIn profile says that I am connected to 1,560 people. That’s not right. I am ‘networked’ with 1,560 people. But I am not ‘connected’ to them. I can’t be. How could I really ‘know’ that many people? Studies, history, and common sense indicate that the human mind is capable of knowing well only about 150 people. Playing the volume game may serve your ego but it will do little for your happiness, let alone your success. I am ‘connected’ to about 50 to 75 people who I know really well and through whom almost all of my referrals come. Deep connections build communities of people. ‘Communities’ are powerful things. They are made up of groups of people who care about each others’ success, who trust and respect one another and who exchange favors and assistance. Connecting is about finding the people most qualified for you to help and for them to help you, and building connections with those people. It is about building a self supporting ecosystem in which all boats rise together.
Continue Reading 7 REASONS NETWORKING IS DEAD – OR SHOULD BE

GravitationalPullAren’t you a lucky group this week, dear readers? I am bringing you TWO guests posts from Eric Dewey of Group Dewey Consulting while I am off for our Regional Meeting of the Americas!

First up, a post about how the very best rainmakers attract clients.

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Top rainmakers seem to attract clients as if they have an irresistible gravitational pull. They don’t ‘sell’. Instead, clients seek them out. While others are prospecting and selling their hearts out, great rainmakers have more work than they can handle, feed lots of other attorneys and often turn down work that they don’t want to do.

How do they do it?

Research shows that the very best rainmakers share six powerful non-selling disciplines that, when used in combination and on a regular basis, creates gravitational pull.

Continue Reading Creating Gravitational Pull: How the Very Best Rainmakers Attract Clients

photo-1444703686981-a3abbc4d4fe3Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Legal Marketing Association’s Leadership Conference, as part of my role as Technology Committee Co-Chair for 2016. In preparation for the conference, we were tasked with reading John P. Kotter’s Leading Change. I’ll admit, I was not a huge fan of the book, though it did offer some good advice – I felt that Kotter could have said more with less, and that his Harvard degree gave him too much license for arrogance.

What WAS helpful were the chapter book reports that were presented by members of the LMA’s International Board for 2015/2016, which took us through the salient points of the book. I’ll share my notes with you here and invite you to read the book for further examples and depth. 
Continue Reading Leading Change – An LMA Book Report

iStock_000007887592XSmallMany of us in legal marketing wait with bated breath for the results of the Greentarget “State of Digital and Content Marketing Survey” every year.

Building on Greentarget’s inaugural study in 2010, [it gives us] the latest insights on how corporate general counsel – your clients – are engaging in social media and law firm-generated content.”

We also learn how our “legal marketing peers are evolving their own content and digital strategies to build relationships and fuel business development.”

During LMA’s Technology Conference this year, we were treated to a preview of the survey, which is officially released on November 18th, with Greentarget’s own John Corey. You’ll want to check back on their website on the 18th for the full report (and you can register now to make sure you get a copy on the day it’s released), but we learned some interesting things.
Continue Reading Preview: 2015 State of Digital and Content Marketing Survey

12080125_10153722408697792_7221889797601040086_oLast week, I had the great pleasure of presenting with Laura Toledo of Nilan Johnson Lewis and Adrian Lurssen of JD Supra during the Legal Marketing Association’s Technology Conference. Our panel focused on “Crafting your online story: Demystifying the process behind content marketing.”

It was a great interactive session, with questions from the audience and a back and forth dialogue with my two smart co-panelists. Although we covered a LOT of ground in the session, there was one piece of our presentation that we dropped out for time constraints – it’s still an important one, so I’d like to address it here.

The answer to the question “Who are your best sources?” may seem like an obvious one, but some of the ways in which you’ll go about finding the answers, while simple, are not always so black and white. Your best sources of content are going to be your clients, your readers, and the media. Let’s break these down. 
Continue Reading Who Are Your Best Sources of Content?

A fisheye image of a confused geeky-looking woman.

A few weeks ago, I read an interesting piece over on the Content Marketing Institute by Carla Johnson, and I’ve been mulling it over in my mind ever since. Johnson asks whether we’re missing the most important audience for our content marketing – and with a hook like that for the title, you can bet I was going to click to read more.

I’m sure you’re wracking your brains as I was to identify who it is you’re missing – clients, potential clients, referral sources, journalists, conference organizers, influencers, amplifiers…the list goes on. But there is one important group you may be overlooking.

The internal audience at your firm.

The point being that everyone at your firm is a brand ambassador for the firm and its members – everyone, from the receptionist who greets people as they walk in the door and is the first to answer the phone right up to the managing partner of the firm who makes key decisions about strategy and direction, as well as his or her own practice. Every one of those people is telling the story of the firm every time they interact with someone else, whether it’s on purpose or not – that’s just how marketing works. 
Continue Reading Content Marketing – Are You Forgetting Someone?

Ahhhhhhh!!My mom hates the word “sucks,” but I’m using it in my title for effect – “what, Lindsay thinks networking sucks?”

Sure, sometimes. And I’m sure everyone else does too. Who doesn’t get fed up with all of the things we’re “supposed” to be doing every once in a while?

We go to events, and we’re supposed to be flashing a bright smile, asking about other people, handing out business cards, never missing a meeting or a meal – it’s exhausting. And you can get burned out.

Fast Company had a post on this by Lisa Evans last January, prime time for networking burnout, she says.

But I’d argue that the fall is just as easy to see burnout as any other time of the year. Everyone is back from their holidays, school is ramping up for the kids, work has gotten busy again for the rest of us with new projects, clients back in the office, and more demands on our time. Yes, we may start out the month of September feeling fresh and with the best intentions to network our hearts out, but who really wants to fit that into their busy schedule as well? 
Continue Reading Networking SUCKS. Now what?

iStock_000019798838XSmall“Content marketing” is a huge and meaty topic, and it’s one that there are many, many facets to. We could talk about it for years (and I’ve already spent lots of Two for Tuesdays’ posts dissecting various aspects of it).

Today, I’d like to get a little bit back to basics, and look at three questions you probably have about content marketing, based on things I’ve wondered myself, things I’ve been asked, and conversations I’ve had with other legal marketers. Definitely add to the conversation on this one with additional questions you may have in the comments!

What IS content marketing?

We hear this term bandied about a LOT. It sounds fancy and it sounds very marketer-y, so I’m sure lawyers think “Yep, not for me!” and marketers think “Oh please, not something else I’m responsible for!” But the good news for law firms is that they’ve LONG been producers of content, and now we just need to refine the strategy and process a little bit to make it even more effective. Whew! 
Continue Reading 3 Questions You Probably Have About Content Marketing

111HWe’ve talked a lot about networking here at Zen, and covered a lot of the traditional ideas:

  • Use social media to prime your contacts before an event.
  • Don’t skip anything.
  • Don’t hang around with only the people you know.
  • Use the event organizers to help introduce you to people.

And more.

But these are fairly straightforward, right?

What if we turned networking on its head and gave you a few totally unconventional ways to network? These aren’t things you’d necessarily have  to advertise to anyone that you were doing, but they would challenge you out of a networking rut if you’re used to attending a certain organization’s events and talking to the same people, or networking in the same way. 
Continue Reading The Unconventional Guide to Networking