An article I read a few years ago in Forbes magazine has stuck with me. It discusses lawyers’ duty to society in upholding the rule of law, specifically in the context of the 2017 executive order on immigration, and the degree to which lawyers’ roles may decrease thanks to technology. While that order and following […]
Studies show that a prospective client must be exposed to you 7-9 times before they’re ready to hire you. (Those statistics are not specific to law, granted, but I have no reason to believe they’re off the mark for lawyers.) The reasons are simple: most potential clients don’t have a current legal need, are already […]
Business development can sound so easy: make a plan, execute the plan, land the business, rinse and repeat. And sometimes it might even work that way, or you discover that plans need to be tweaked to account for unanticipated opportunities. That’s what a dear friend calls a nice problem to have. Other times, though, it […]
So you want to grow your practice… What’s your focus? You could answer that question with many different right answers—as long as your answer is derived from and driven by your written business development strategy. (If you don’t have that, any action you take might work well or it might not.) No matter what focus you selected, […]
I strongly believe that some of the best ideas for business and marketing come from outside the legal profession. If you aren’t making time to read more general business books, you’re missing a terrific opportunity. While not everything you read will be directly applicable to the law, you’ll find that smart ideas that aren’t directly […]
“Me too” marketing refers to virtually indistinguishable marketing messages and offers for products or services from multiple providers. Unless you see a name or logo associated with the marketing, you’d have a tough time knowing which provider issued “ me too” marketing because it all sounds alike. Attorneys often fall into “me too” marketing for […]
How do you ask for business? We all know intuitively (or through training) that those who don’t ask typically don’t get business. However, many lawyers are leery to come out and ask for business explicitly, and rightly so. Asking can disrupt a relationship if the answer is “no,” and, under some circumstances, asking can even […]
We all face challenges in the business of a law practice. We were taught in law school that we have to ask the right questions in practice to get the necessary answers for our clients. (Litigators, you especially know what I mean!) But somehow, we forget what that means for our own practices. I recently […]
One of the best things about business development is also one of the worst: you have multiple strategies and tactics at your disposal to grow your practice. Sure, you can boil down all business development to just a few actions: get known for work in your area of practice, meet people who need your help […]
Nobody wants to hear “no” in response to a request for business. Of course, you won’t get every piece of business you seek, and knowing that negative feedback is part of the process may help you to prepare. However, you may find that rather than being told directly that you’re not getting the business, you’ll […]