Will you clients and contacts think of you first when they need help?
Jon, a midcareer lawyer working in a boutique law firm, handles white-collar criminal defense matters. Most of his clients come through referrals from other lawyers. Far too often, those lawyers fail to appreciate that they need someone who practices in the area every day. Instead, they try to handle a matter themselves. After doing the […]
The Disciplined Mind… with Safeguards
Before I left for vacation, I’d settled into a nice routine with my workouts. Up at 5, at the gym around 5:30, and done around 6:30. It wasn’t easy (especially since I’m not at all a morning person) but it had become habit and I’d maintained the effort for months. One of the first things […]
Consistency
I often enjoy the EarlyToRise.com newsletter, which recently included an excerpt from Sharon LaBelle’s book The Art of Living, which distilled Epictetus’s The Virtuous Are Consistent as follows: “To live a life of virtue, you have to become consistent, even when it isn’t convenient, comfortable, or easy. It is incumbent that your thoughts, words, and […]
Catching attention, building connections
I recently spent nearly two hours sitting at an airport gate, sitting about 5 feet behind a stand with Delta American Express card representatives. You’ve probably seen these stands: a table to the side of a concourse, with various promotional freebies, application forms neatly stacked, and one or two hawkers, trying desperately to get people to […]
Ya Gotta Say NO to Grow!
When you think about business development, do you think more of “yes” or “no”? Most people seem to think “yes.” YES, I’ll attend that networking meeting YES, I’ll write that article or blog post or newsletter YES, I’ll meet with that potential referral source YES, I’ll get another certification or specialists’ certificate YES, I’ll speak […]
What do you say when you ask for business?
A client recently confided that he had never actually asked for business from a potential client. Surprised (since I knew that his $275,000 book of business hadn’t just happened), I asked what he meant, and he responded that asking for the business means saying something like, “I’d like to handle that for you.” A flat, […]
July Reading
Let’s close July with some articles and posts you should not miss. Every lawyer knows something about the pressures that surround the practice of law. And because business development is meaningless unless it moves you closer to a future you actually want to live, here are two articles and posts you should not miss about […]