Just getting it in under the wire – I wanted to take the opportunity to mark the occasion of Zen & the Art of Legal Networking’s 11th Anniversary. Eleven is a lot of years to be writing – I started this blog when I was only four years into my career with the ILN, when I was still finding my way in the legal industry, and it helped me to gain confidence, meet talented, smart people, and engage in thoughtful conversations around interesting topics that were and continue to shape our field. In that time, I’ve published 1,265 posts, a number of them guest posts from amazing contributors. We’ve looked at topics ranging from leadership, the future of the legal, networking, business development, relationship development and more to content marketing, social media (from its first baby steps to where it is now), and legal marketing. I look forward to seeing what the future brings, and hope to continue to bring you interesting content and topics for many years to come!
Over the years, on our anniversary, I’ve shared lessons I’ve learned, tips for blogging or networking, my favorite posts from the past, or the past year. An eleventh anniversary gift is typically supposed to be steel, which represents strength – it’s a good characteristic to have for this year, the year in which I take on the role of Executive Director of my network, navigate new waters, while continuing to stretch and grow, face the coronavirus while making global travel plans and hosting events, embracing new challenges and opportunities. Strength isn’t only internal though – it’s also about the network of support that you have around you, who act as a sounding board, build you up, pick you up, dust you off and throw you back out there when you need it the most. I’m very fortunate to have built one of the strongest support networks I know. Continue Reading Happy 11th Blogiversary to Zen & the Art of Legal Networking!
We may have had a mild winter (most of us) so far, but let’s be honest, 2020 has been a bit of a slog so far, am I right?
The ILN is proud to announce our latest firm of the month, 
None of us are perfect networkers/relationship builders.
It’s February 4th, and that means it’s International Networking Week (I know you all had it on your calendars already!)
Now that it’s 2020, I think (read: I hope) that we’ve all come to the conclusion that it’s important to develop a strong plan that identifies the goals that we have for business development, and the tactics and strategies that we’ll use to develop those goals, right? I have a sneaking suspicion that there are still a few people out there who are throwing various ideas up at the wall with the hope that some of them stick, and this is the year to stop doing that. Really, I mean it.
For better or worse, we’re all uber-connected these days, between our desktops and our smart phones and our tablets. While many of us can and do (and probably should) take technological time outs for holidays and weekends and evenings, responsiveness is a key factor in keeping clients, potential clients, and yes, even referral sources happy when reaching out about business. And yet, it is STILL one of the most overlooked (and easiest to fix) complaints that I hear about relationship building.
Among my most popular posts last year were those dedicated to talking about LinkedIn, which tells me that it continues to be the tool that resonates most in the legal industry. I know that it’s in part because it’s become such a robust and useful platform, but I also suspect that it’s in part because some of us are still hoping that there’s a silver bullet out there when it comes to networking and relationship building. I hate to tell you – there isn’t. Even when you’re using social media, which can supersize your efforts, you still need to have goals, develop a plan, and invest time and effort in order for it to pay off for you.