Networking

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I’ve done a number of posts here recently on best practices for networking and relationship-building at conferences, and you may remember that I’ve said, more than once, how important it is to avoid your room at all costs. 

But there’s a counter-point to that which I’ve been thinking about a lot as we have our ILN Annual Meeting on the horizon, and that is – DON’T SKIP ANYTHING.

Sometimes, when attending a conference, it’s very tempting (and often reasonable) to combine other business with the business of the conference – you may have clients in the same city, or friends that you rarely get to see, or a spouse who is with you, but not joining in on the conference, and you feel that taking an afternoon (or two) or a meal (or two) away from the conference won’t be such a big deal. 

You may think that because a conference is only a few business sessions combined with some social activities (as our conferences are), that the social activities are just the way you’re rewarded for attending the conference. You may even think that because you’ve been to a city before, and done some of the same things, that you don’t need to go on those trips, because you won’t be missing anything. Continue Reading Best Practices in Effective Conference Networking: Don’t Skip Anything

"Authenticity" has become a dirty word in the last few years.

It’s right up there with some of the other most hated buzzwords and phrases – "at the end of the day," "thinking outside of the box," "synergy," "value add," "circle back," "bandwidth." 

Are you cringing yet? 

But even though the word "authenticity" might make your skin crawl, it’s actually a pretty important concept – it’s a buzzword for a reason. 

Today, I sat in on a webinar with Nancy Myrland (@nancymyrland) and Patrick Baynes (@patrickbaynes), on "How Law Firms Can Leverage Attorney Use of Twitter." As they were going through their tips, Patrick noted that the idea of being authentic is key to all networking, not just social media networking. And he’s absolutely right.Continue Reading “Authenticity” Might be a Dirty Word, but it’s Essential to Good Networking

Regular readers of my blog may be shocked when they read the title of this post – am I really suggesting that you should make relationship-building all about you? 

Yes and no. 

For the purposes of this post, let’s separate out the "you" and "them" of relationship-building. When you’re building relationships, the content has to be all about the other person: 

  • You let the other person do most of the talking, and you do most of the listening. 
  • You ask pointed questions about what is of interest to them. 
  • The content you share online and off is directed at what is most useful to your audience. 
  • You’re sharing some of your own content, but mostly others’, because that’s what’s most useful to those you want to connect with. 
  • You’re constantly revising your efforts to make sure they continue to be in line with what your audience/targets needs and wants. 

Continue Reading Relationship-Building: It’s All About You

In the legal industry, we’re in the business of relationships. It’s the nature of being service providers. So this week’s tips are brought to you in the spirit of encouraging additional connections and reaffirming the relationships that you have with those connections, whether they be clients or potential clients, referral sources, or other influencers and…

In our first "episode" of Wondering Wednesdays, we answer the question "How can you make the most of your memberships?" with three key points.  

//www.youtube.com/embed/Hp7pf2jER-4

To make the most of your membership in an organization, I have the following three suggestions: 

  • Attend events: in-person relationships are the most important part of making any membership

…

I’m back with another Two for Tuesday, and today’s post focuses on how you can use social media to make the most out of attending conferences and events. We all attend events throughout the year, whether it’s a networking cocktail party or a CLE seminar or a multi-day conference. And social media can actually help…

Let’s talk networking.

Merriam-Webster defines "networking" as: 

the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically : the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business"

My favorite part of this definition is "the cultivation of productive relationships." That’s exactly what I like to focus on, cultivating relationships. There are many, many ways to do this, but today, I’d like to talk about something we’ve adopted here at the ILN that might work for other organizations and firms. We call it "Speed ILNing"

Speed ILNing is a business iteration of speed dating – for those of you not familiar with what speed dating it, it’s a matchmaking system, whose purpose is to help you meet a large number of people in a  short time. A speed dating event normally consists of an inner and outer ring of seats, facing each other. At the start, individuals are paired up, given a few minutes to introduce themselves, and then when the time is up, a bell rings, signalling that one of the rings of people gets up and moves to the next person. 

Continue Reading Best Practices for Networking – Speed ILNing