Congratulations on working through the first two weeks! You’ll be signing your first client in no time. Just keep your eyes on the prize and keep networking. Remember that this entire process is aimed at making sure you start generating revenue for the firm. Once you establish yourself as a “rain maker,” you’ll be a highly-valued attorney who will be considered a crucial member of the team.
This week will delve a little bit deeper into some of your business relationships. As is true every week, you want to make sure that you’re keeping up with people who respond to you. If you’ve sent emails/made phone calls/left messages on Facebook or LinkedIn and folks have returned the favor, make sure that you contact them immediately. No matter what type of law you practice, time is always of the essence. If someone needs an attorney today and you don’t call them back, another attorney will!
Monday: Ask your marketing coordinator or HR team to allow you to update your bio on the firm’s website. Make sure to include any articles you’ve written or cases you’ve published. More importantly, though, include some legal experience you have that may resonate with the average client. If you are a tax attorney, you may want to focus on some real life tax experience that shows you’re an expert. (Before graduating from law school, I spent 5 years as a CPA at one of the largest accounting firms in Los Angeles.) People enjoy real-world experience, and they’ll be much more likely to call someone they feel they know and trust. To that end, make sure that you also include a picture with your biography.
Tuesday: Hopefully you attended the party or other social function that you RSVP’d to in the first week. If not, make sure you’ve booked something for this week. Do not feel overwhelmed by this event. Be prepared to use your elevator pitch and hand out business cards left and right. Talk to anyone and everyone at the event. You have no idea what legal needs people may have, or who they may know. Be polite and friendly and start making some connections. Get as many business cards as you give away. Be sure to follow up with all of your new connections within 24 hours of the event and add all of the information to your online address book. Continue to book more events. You should try to go to some breakfast or happy hour or seminar at least twice per month.
Wednesday: Write a blog post. I know what you’re thinking – I have no idea what I’m doing and I don’t have a blog. Don’t worry about those details right now. Just sit down at your computer and start writing about what you know. Look back at some of those legal blogs that you’ve been reading the last two weeks to figure out the format and length and get to work. Write about what you know best – your area of practice. Maybe there is new legislation pending, maybe there was a ground-breaking case recently decided, maybe you’d like to answer (once and for all) a series of questions that you’re asked all the time. The topic doesn’t matter, as long as it shows off your knowledge. Once you’re done with the blog post, have someone else (someone not in your area of practice) read and critique it.
Thursday: Get back on your Linked In account and join at least one professional group. After you’ve joined, start a discussion on that group or respond to a discussion initiated by someone else. By beginning and participating in discussions, your peers will begin to recognize you as an expert in the field. Take the rest of this hour to look at the blogs you started to read and make at least one comment on one of the blog posts. Make sure that your name and a link to your website is visible on the post.
Friday: Start shopping your blog post. Start looking at blogs where this content may be useful to readers. Contact the blog managers and ask them if you can submit an article to be posted. Many times, bloggers are thrilled to get some free content. If your post is accepted, make sure to get credit (name and email address) and make sure that the article links to your firm’s website. You should reach out to at least two different bloggers. Realize, however, that you should only publish on one blog. The blogger who contacts you first gets to publish the article! This is the beginning of your work as a published legal author!
Another week of work behind you. You should really feel good about everything you’ve accomplished. Although it’s tough work, networking and building your reputation in the legal and non-legal community is worth every minute you can spare. If you need assistance in this process, please contact us. We’re happy to help!