"Autumn … the year's last, loveliest smile." -- William Cullen
Bryant
Early fall can be stressful at times. Between reestablishing
schedules and routines and feeling the end-of-the-year crunch
around the corner, marketing sometimes takes a back seat to making
sure all deadlines are met. However, fall can also be a great
opportunity to include marketing into those schedules and routines
if you're transitioning back out of summer-mode.
Here are a few things anyone can do -- whether you're a partner,
solo, a new associate or awaiting bar results:
- Schedule to meet for coffee/lunch with two to three contacts
each month
- Update your bio, or revamp your elevator speech
- Attend a bar event, CLE or luncheon -- in person
- Speak with non-attorneys about your practice -- cases you
accept, issues of interest
- Blog or write an article about the questions you answered most
frequently this year
- Update your social media, or think about establishing
accounts
When growing your business (or your book of business), sometimes
advice comes from all directions -- non-legal business owners,
colleagues, mentors, family members, clients and friends. While the
advice can differ in many aspects, the overwhelming common thread
is to keep active and make sure people know how they can help,
whether that means explaining the types of cases you accept to
potential referral sources and clients, staying in touch with
colleagues so that you're fresh in their minds when a client asks
for referrals or continuing to meet new contacts and grow your
networks.
Especially when you're juggling filing deadlines, research and
drafting assignments, court appearances, mediations, negotiations
and other work pressures on top of personal and family obligations,
marketing can sometimes very easily take a back seat. But this fall
-- invest your last, loveliest smile in spending some face-to-face
time with your contacts (attorney and non-attorney), identifying
and meeting with some new potential referral sources or clients and
attending bar events in person.
To help with this initiative, you can be on the lookout for a
few events the Law Practice Management Section Council will be
co-hosting this fall and throughout the year to try to help
facilitate meeting and networking between attorneys and other
professionals whose expertise dovetails with the law. I look
forward to meeting many of you at events this fall!
Danielle Spang is a consumer attorney, focusing her solo
practice on assisting people who have been harassed by debt
collectors or have errors on their credit reports.