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Once a year I get an automated email from linkedin indicating that some of my contacts have changed jobs and to click here blah blah blah... I probably deleted more linkedin emails than from any other source. Then last year, I clicked through and found a nifty resource, Year in Review. Of course, LinkedIn keeps track of every change to a person's profile and broadcasts it through email, status updates and the like. Year in Review (YIR) culls through all of the changes and reports on everyone of your contacts who has changed jobs over the past year, in chronological order. Click on the link, sign in and you will see the faces of everyone who changed jobs last year (and prior years).
Business development nexis? Right click on a face and open it up in another browser tab. Do that for the whole row. Click through your tabs and ask yourself if that person is a potential client, referral source or valued friend. If so, spend some time reconnecting by email or phone. Congratulate them on the new gig. Ask them how it is going? Learn about their new firm or company. Look for opportunities to help them or expand their network. Set up a lunch date. Don't pitch, just show interest and offer your help and network.
Done with that row? Go to the next. At some point (maybe 6 or 12 months or more) their job is no longer "new" and you might want to change your message.
Keeping in contact with your network is important. Use linkedin to identify a reason to email or call and do it.
Kevin O'Keefe has a great post on how CEOs are increasingly using social media to communicate with their clients, investors, media and other audiences. Worth a read if you are interested in how social media is chaning how companies (and firms) relate to their external audiences. What do you think? Will your managing partner use social media for branding and client communications?
My bet, the more forward looking firms will increasingly use blogs, twitter, linkedin and other social media tools to connect with clients and potential clients.
Summer is almost here and it is time to think about a summer reading list. I recently finished teaching a couple of courses on marketing and business development at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Here are a few of the books I used as resources for the classes:
"Solo by Choice: How to Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be"
Carolyn Elefant (Decision Books)
Carolyn Elefant shares a great deal of practical insight and experience in how to build a solo practice, from markting to how to find work quickly. You can also read her posts at www.myshingle.com
"Rainmaking Made Simple"
Mark Maraia
Mark is a long time BD coach who has put his ideas and weekly email suggestings into this book. Very practical, Mark helps the reader develop business development into a sustainable habit.
"The Lawyers Field Guide to Effective Business Development"
William J. Flannery
Small book packed with practical tips on consultative selling from Bill's famous seminars.
"Business Development for Lawyers: Strategies for Getting and Keeping Clients"
Sally Schmidt
I used Sally's book as my main text for both business development classes. Great examples, forms and insights.
Strategy Books
"Strategy and the Fat Smoker"
David Maister
I used both this book and some great videos on Maister's site in my Master's class. Both are honest and insightful resources on what it takes to drive change in law firms.
"The Successful Lawyer: Powerful Strategies for Transforming Your Practice"
Gerald Riskin
Gerry Riskin's work is a handbook for survival and for growing a legal practice. I used both the book and the extensive articles found on their website, www.edge.ai.
Social Media
"Social.Lawyers: Transforming Business Development"
Jayne Navarre
Jayne gets social media for lawyers, and writes about it frequently at www.virtualmarketingofficer.com.
"Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier"
Carolyn Elefant and Nicole Black
Another very practical resource for lawyers who want to learn all about social media before they start 'a twittering.
And don't forget to subscribe to attorneyatwork.com for great marketing and practice management tips. They also offer several online books of tips that I've found very helpful. Happy reading!
It is graduation time. The season would not be complete with posts and re-posts of words of wisdom found in commencement addresses. By now, everyone on the planet has watched the Steve Job's speech, so I will omit it. Here are a few of my favorites:
Brad Feld (www.feld.com), an entrepreneur and venture capitalist here in Boulder CO recently addressed a group of graduating MBAs. Here is his advice:
"Imagine that you are 45 and are looking back on your last 15-20 years. Is your work, and life, full of meaning?
Don’t worry about money right now. You can always get a job that pays you plenty of money. Don’t worry about your resume. Don’t worry about “am I positioning myself the right way for something five years from now.” I know way too many 45 year olds who have plenty of money, have done all the right career things, yet are unhappy with where they are in life, where they live, and what they do. Don’t be that guy or gal.
Start by choosing the place you want to make a life. If it’s Boulder, figure out how to stay here. If it’s New York, there’s an easy United flight that gets you there in under four hours – take it the day after you graduate. San Francisco? That flight is only two hours long. Just go and figure it out when you get there. Don’t talk about “I’m going to live there some day” – go get in the middle of wherever it is that you want to build a life. Oh, and Boise is a pretty cool place, as is Austin, Seattle, Miami, DC, and at least 95 other cities in the United States.
Next, choose a domain that you want to dedicate your life to. If you’ve dreamed of being an investment banker or consultant to Fortune 1000 companies since you were 10, then Goldman Sachs or McKinsey is looking for you. If you want to be an entrepreneur, working at an investment bank or consulting firm for a while is pointless. Be an entrepreneur starting now. Pick that domain that turns you on the most – start at a high level (e.g. software, Internet, clean tech) but then pick a thing that you really care about and a set of problems you want to solve. If you aren’t technical, go find a technical co-founder right now – there are hundreds of them on this campus. Get your ass out of your chair and just get started.
Finally, make sure you are living your life. You are young and hopefully have plenty of time on this planet. But don’t wait because you never know when the lights are going to go out.
Ok – that’s more cogent than what I probably said in real time, but it’s what I meant. And I think it applies to anyone about to graduate with an MBA. When I graduated from MIT Sloan with an SM (they didn’t have MBA’s back in 1988) I was already following three of these – I hadn’t focused on where I wanted to live until 1995 when Amy and I moved to Boulder. But when I look back, I didn’t care about money (and subsequently made plenty of it), I focused all of my energy on building a software company (which evolved into helping create software / Internet companies), and I lived my life every single moment – the ups, the downs, the dark depressed days, and the euphoric moments.
Go do something important right now, whatever that is for you. The world needs it and your chances of living a meaningful, happy, and fulfilling life will increase dramatically."
Neil Gaiman gave a commencement speech last week at the Philadelphia’s the University of the Arts. The fiction author famous for "The Sandman" and "Coraline" was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts at the ceremony. Whatever your work, make good art:
The founder of Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell, penned a letter years before his death in the 1940's. Here are his final words to the Scouts of the world, which now number in the millions:
Dear Scouts,
If you have ever seen the play Peter Pan you will remember how the pirate chief was always making his dying speech because he was afraid that possibly when the time came for him to die he might not have time to get it off his chest. It is much the same with me, and so, although I am not at this moment dying, I shall be doing so one of these days and I want to send you a parting word of good-bye.
Remember, it is the last you will ever hear from me, so think it over.
I have had a most happy life and I want each one of you to have as happy a life too.
I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life. Happiness doesn't come from being rich, nor merely from being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be useful and so can enjoy life when you are a man.
Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one.
But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. "Be Prepared" in this way, to live happy and to die happy-- stick to your Scout promise always-- even after you have ceased to be a boy-- and God help you to do it.
Your Friend,
Baden-Powell
The College of Law Practice Management is now accepting entries for its annual InnovAction Awards for innovation and excellence in the legalosphere. Each year the COLPM reviews many programs against a rigorous set of selection criteria, looking for true, cutting-edge innovation in the practice of law. Past winners have been law firms, law schools, service providers and non-profit organizations. All of the winners and some of the finalists are featured on their blog and receive international attention. Winners will present their projects at the COLPM Futures Conference later in the year. More information can be found at collegeoflpm.org/innovaction-awards.
