Business Development

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One of the things I’m always thinking about is how to network better or differently. A lot of the articles I read offer the same tips, spun in a different way – and that’s important, because I can always get something out of implementing the tried and true.  But when I find something unique, I’m definitely excited to share it!

Last night, I came across this piece from Branding Magazine, with "5 Tips to Network Like the Pros." My last couple of posts have introduced the idea that big data is going to become more and more important for clients choosing lawyers, but that doesn’t mean the impact of relationships goes away. 

Bearing that in mind, let’s make 2015 the year that we supercharge our networking. Branding Magazine offers 5 tips, but for this Two for Tuesdays, let’s take a look at two of them, and how they relate to the legal industry.

Before we start, let’s first consider a couple of important points that the article makes about why networking is so essential – beyond just for building client relationships. In case you’ve ever thought that networking was a waste of time…Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Pro-Networking in 2015

Everyone and their brother will be writing posts this week about making plans and resolutions for 2015. Since I’m focused on finalizing my own marketing plan and jumping into the new year, it’s on my mind too, so I’m adding to the chatter. 

But I’m giving some thought to what I can add to the conversation that’s different to what you might be hearing elsewhere, and I’ve come up with the following two tips for you. 

Tip One: Throw Everything Out

It can be awfully tempting when you begin your planning to start with what you had the previous year. And while it’s absolutely important and valuable to build on the previous year’s success and progress, it can be just as useful to start with a clean slate. 

Heather Morse talks about how she starts her planning by cleaning off her white board.  And that’s what I’m encouraging you to do – wipe off your white board, start with a blank sheet of paper, mentally wipe your brain clean and start fresh.Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Planning for 2015

You may recall that at the beginning of 2014, I put together five posts on my wishes for you for the coming year: 

More than wishes, these posts were full of challenges to you on how to make 2014 a better year professionally. So how did you do? Let’s see if I took my own advice in 2014…

Plan & Be Open

I am, by nature, a huge planner. I LOVE lists and keep them everywhere, and I enjoy the challenge of putting together a marketing and business development plan for the coming year. So this was a no brainer for me. 

Continue Reading 10 Wishes for 2014 – How did we do?

Somehow, it’s already December. 

I know, I can’t believe it either. But it’s true. And you know what that means – it’s time to review 2014 and prepare for 2015. A lot of people have already started this process, but I like to leave it until after our last conference of the year, so that I can incorporate as much feedback from my clients as possible. 

For me, December is a time of reflection. I take out my marketing/business development plan (which I have been reviewing throughout the year, not just this month) and take a good look at it. So in the shuffle to get through all of our year-end activities, try these two tips to have an even more productive 2015. 

Tip One: Review

While each new calendar year is a fresh start, there’s no better way to begin your planning than by taking some time to look back first. Hopefully, you’ve been regularly reviewing your marketing/business development plans, so you have an idea of where you stand in terms of accomplishments. Continue Reading Two for Tuesday: Review & Prepare

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of welcoming David Ackert of The Ackert Advisory for a special webinar presentation on Development Strategies for Associates. 

David began by sharing the agenda for the session, which included looking at: 

  • Getting a head start: why business development at the associate level is so critical
  • Leverage points: playing to your strengths
  • Networking strategies
  • Mentorship
  • Establishing credibility in your niche: this is a key way associates can start to differentiate themselves as they’re going about business development

Getting a Head Start

Business development for associates is all about getting a head start. David mentioned that the techniques that he’d address are designed to be as efficient as possible, because lawyers don’t have a lot of time at any level to do the kind of business development exploration that they might have in a more idea setting. They have to get there quickly. Continue Reading Development Strategies for Associates – A Webinar Recap

If you’re a regular reader of Zen, you’ll know that I love to look outside of the legal industry to find ideas for how we can market and develop business differently. With that in mind, I’d like to share a story with you – bear with me, and I’ll explain the legal connection.

If you read my Twitter profile, you’ll see that one of the ways I describe myself is as "crazy about my bassets." I have two basset hounds (Barney and Oliver), and like any good pet parent, I love to take photos of them. I share a lot of these shots on social media, and have been tagging them with various hashtags (such as #bassetboys, #bassets, #bassethounds, and #dogsofinstagram). 

I don’t have children yet, so I dress my dogs up for Halloween – basset hounds are very particular looking dogs, and seeing their faces when they have on hats, sweaters, costumes, etc. always gives me a good laugh. 

So on Friday, I shared a couple of photos of my dogs, in their costumes (including the one above), which led to a conversation with Purina. It played out as follows: 

Continue Reading Lawyers: Reach Out and Touch Someone

Despite a lingering migraine this afternoon, I am bringing you a Two for Tuesdays post! Last night, I got thinking about some of the negatives that I’ve heard from my lawyers about networking, and how to combat those. Today, I’m bringing you two of the top complaints I’ve heard and some suggestions for solving them.

Networking Negative One: Awkward Silences

There are some people who can talk with anyone – my brother-in-law is like that. Put him in a room with a bunch of people he doesn’t know, and he excels at connecting with them without awkward silences.

But for many of us, that is unfortunately not one of our strengths. I’m a prime example of that. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been speaking with someone, only to have the conversation taper off and leave you standing there wracking your brain to come up with something to say? 

*Hand raised*Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Networking Negatives

The more I see of Taylor Swift, the more of a marketing genius I realize she is. And not just because I can’t get "Shake it Off" out of my head this week. There are a few things that Taylor does that create rabid loyalty among her fans – and I mean rabid. 

Before you start asking what Tay-tay and her music have to do with the law, first, ask yourself what it would feel like to have your clients feel the same way about you as Taylor’s fans feel about her? What if your clients trusted you so implicitly that they never took their business to anyone else? What if they called you first before making a business decision, because you’re their trusted adviser? What if your clients lined up every time you wrote or spoke, because they knew what you had to say was that valuable? 

While I don’t picture your clients lining the streets of your offices and swooning at the mere sight of you anytime soon (though the image of that does bring a smile to my face), there are a few things that Taylor does REALLY well that you can adapt to your own business to help drive client loyalty. Let’s look at two of those tips today. Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Tips from Taylor Swift

The truth is, I’m a BIG fan of Starbucks, so I’m predisposed to love this commercial.  But I think there’s a very important message that we at law firms can learn from this ad, and communicate through our own marketing (without even needing a commercial of our own). 

Watch the spot, and see if you can guess what I mean: 

//www.youtube.com/embed/LZVCLVGymmo?list=UUj4nCgtjKJppK_IZeY8TUJgContinue Reading “Meet Me at Starbucks” – What We Can Learn

It’s September, so you know what that means…it’s prime time to re-ignite your networking efforts! For many ILN members, they’ll have the chance to do that this week, as our European Regional Meeting kicks off in Oslo on Thursday. 

While we’ve covered a lot of networking tips in the past, I’m always on the hunt for new ideas and advice to switch things up.  I recently came across this post that offers seven tips for networking success, Let’s look at a few of them, and how they apply to lawyers and law firms. 

There’s More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say, and there’s more than one place to do your networking.  As the post suggests: 

Attend events at professional organizations that relate to your expertise or industry, but don’t be content with that."

Continue Reading Let’s Get Networking!