networking & business development

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As the legal landscape evolves, mastering soft skills alongside legal expertise is crucial for success. While the industry continues to change, certain foundational skills remain essential for lawyers at every career stage.

As I mentioned last week, I planned to update some of my older posts to ensure that they’re still relevant for a modern audience (I **wanted** to write a post to celebrate fifteen years of blogging this week, but the time slipped away from me, so stay tuned for that – better late than never, right?). Continue Reading Essential Soft Skills for Modern Lawyers: Navigating the Legal Landscape

Ever feel overwhelmed by marketing jargon? You’re not alone. Let’s demystify some buzzwords and explore how you’re likely already engaging in effective relationship-building through your content. This all might sound a little bit scary, but I promise, once we get rid of the jargon, you’re going to realize how accessible to you it all is! Continue Reading Turning Content into Connections: The Power of Relationship Marketing

In a digital age teeming with advice on LinkedIn utilization, it’s crucial to cut through the noise and focus on strategies that resonate with the demands of today’s professional landscape. Let’s rewind a bit and revisit the early days of LinkedIn, about 15 years ago. Back then, the platform was a fledgling concept, and its potential was not universally recognized, especially among legal circles. Fast forward to the present, and LinkedIn has evolved into one of the most esteemed social media platforms, not just for networking, but also for strategic business development.Continue Reading Mastering Modern LinkedIn: Strategies for Professional Success

I know, it’s summer and we’re trying to relax.

But just in case you find yourself at a networking event in the next few weeks (or plan to be at one this fall), there are a few key ways you can add value to your attendance in addition to your presence at the event. Of course, when you choose the right one, the networking alone provides a return on your investment.

But we’re often so eager for our actual attendance to equal business that we forget that as with any business development opportunity, it’s not one-and-done. In the dating game, while it might be possible for you to meet someone and marry them the same night, and find lasting happiness, it’s much more likely that you spend time getting to know each other before making a commitment. Your business relationships are much the same.
Continue Reading 3 Tips to Translate Networking into Business Opportunities

Summer is often a time that we naturally slow down – the weather is warmer, we feel lazier, more people are out on vacation and we may be out ourselves.

You may be expecting me to suggest a litany of ways you can supercharge the time you have in the office or on your vacation to make the most of it, but I’m not going to do either of those things. First, I’m going to tell you – if you’re taking time away from the office this summer, take it. Delegate your workload as best as you can except for TRUE EMERGENCIES (and be honest with yourself about what those are) and don’t check your emails. Try turning your work email off your phone for the period that you’ll be out of the office. It sounds anxiety-producing, but I promise you that once you do it, it’s really quite freeing. If it feels like you’re neglecting your work, the truth is that we’re all better humans AND better at our jobs when we take a genuine break from our work and come back to it refreshed. Your clients want that for you too.
Continue Reading Five Tips to Turn Hot Summer Days into Hot Fall Ideas

Also known as “How to Translate Content Marketing into Relationship Marketing” without using the big scary words that will make you run away from this post before you read it.

Remember the good old days when we just did a bunch of things and didn’t have specialized terms for them? Yep, these aren’t them.

There are a lot of things that you do or may have done for a while, that now have terms associated with them. You may hear those terms bandied about and get turned off by them, but my belief is that if you knew what they were really talking about, you’d realize that they refer to things you’re already doing and feel a lot more comfortable a) using them and b) maybe even exploring some of the other areas that they refer to more.
Continue Reading Turning “What You Say About What You Do” Into Connections

It’s the middle of February. In many places, it’s cold and dreary and it’s a wee bit hard to feel motivated. You may recall that a couple of weeks ago, we talked about resolving to throw out your business development plan so that you could start fresh and see what is truly working and what isn’t – now it’s time for phase two.

Resolve to try something new. 

Another area where it’s easy to get stuck when planning is the temptation to just alter or continue what you’ve been doing all along.
Continue Reading Resolve to Try Something New

Bad news everyone.

There’s no magic bullet when it comes to LinkedIn. Or, for that matter, any business development or marketing tool.

There’s only strategy and hard work.

Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

Are there instances where you’ll connect with someone and they’ll immediately buy your services or you’ll write a post and it will go viral? Absolutely! That’s down to luck (and sometimes, strategy and hard work behind the scenes). But it’s not because there’s some trick to it all. You’re not going to suddenly “figure it all out” and have one tool be doing all the work for you and bringing you lots and lots of clients. It doesn’t work like that.
Continue Reading LinkedIn for Lawyers: There’s no Magic Bullet

Just kidding – we’re not post-pandemic.

But in all seriousness, the last two years have dramatically changed the way in which we connect. But while some things may be different, other things will always remain the same.

One of my most popular posts this year was 5 Essential Networking Tips for Lawyers, so I thought I would update it for you to discuss what has changed and what has stayed the same, particularly as we head into the holiday season formerly filled with networking parties and now filled with additional lockdowns and questions about the future.
Continue Reading Five Essential Post-Pandemic Networking Tips for Lawyers

There is a lot of advice out there on how to use LinkedIn and why you should use LinkedIn and what’s useful about LinkedIn – have I used “LinkedIn” enough in this sentence yet?

I’ll begin at the beginning with a little story and without naming any names. About 15 years ago, when I was a wee baby and before LinkedIn was at all popular with lawyers, I gave a presentation to about 200 of my clients, extolling the benefits of the platform and why it was going to be the “next big thing.” At that time, it was nowhere near as useful as it is today because it lacked engagement, but I could really see the benefits. One of our very senior attorneys tapped me on the shoulder in the middle of my speech and in a stage whisper, told me that no one cared about what I was saying, and I needed to cut the rest of the LinkedIn stuff out because I was running too long. It was by far one of the most mortifying moments of my career.
Continue Reading LinkedIn: Three Actually Helpful Tips