Archives for 2013

Rainmaking Recommendation # 86: Pick A Niche to Scratch Their (Legal) Itch (Part 1)

You cannot be all things to all people. I’m sure you have heard the phrase:  “Jack of all trades, master of none.” This applies to the legal industry as well.  The day of the general practitioner is dead.  The law has become much too complicated to try to keep up with all of the changes […]

Rainmaking Recommendation #85: Stop Networking with People You Know at the Networking Event

It’s Networking Season again. Did you ever notice how many invites for various networking events you receive for September and October?  People are ramping up for business after a taking the summer off. When you enter a networking event, what’s the first thing you do?  If you are like most people, you go directly to […]

Rainmaking Recommendation # 84: Why You?

You may have heard of something called a USP.  This is the “Unique Selling Proposition” and in marketing this means the reasons presented by someone as to why their product or service is different or better than another.   It answers the question:  Why you? You are an attorney.  Sorry to say, you are also one […]

Rainmaking Recommendation # 83: Halfway There or Halfway Over?

We’ve reached the halfway point of the year.  If you are like most, you have probably had plans and goals that you wanted to achieve this year.  Maybe you even called them New Year’s Resolutions. So, have you achieved those goals? Did you abandon your plans for achievement a few days into the year or […]

Rainmaking Recommendation #82: Building Visibility v. Building Relationships

  I had an interesting conversation with an attorney who doesn’t believe that blogs, answering legal questions online ala AVVO, websites, social media or online marketing at all brings clients to the door.  Instead, he believes in networking:  meeting people everywhere and telling them what he does for a living and creating real life relationships […]

Rainmaking Recommendation #81: Random Acts of Golf

Let me start by saying, I am not a golfer.  I don’t particularly have the patience for the short game, but I do like going to a driving range and beating the _____ (fill in the blank) out of a ball.   However, on a daily basis I get invited to play golf for outings, fundraisers […]

Rainmaking Recommendation # 80: They Think I’m a Pest

The part of Rainmaking that I try to pound into my client’s heads is “follow up, follow up, follow up”. But how many times should you try to get in touch with someone before you become a pest? There is no magic number.  While some may say 3 times, others say 6 times and some […]

Rainmaking Recommendation #79: Manners Matter

Lately, I have noticed a horrific lack of manners (even more so than usual): Not saying “excuse me” when you have to interrupt someone; Not saying:  “thank you” for being helped; Not apologizing for making a mistake or offending someone inadvertently; Looking at your smart phone at inappropriate times (like when you have a client […]

Rainmaking Recommendation #78: One Small Step

In order to get into the habit of Rainmaking on a regular basis, I have been asking my clients to send me an email at the end of each week to let me know what Rainmaking activities they have performed during the week.  They are to write down, each day, the step they have taken […]

Rainmaking Recommendation # 77: Spring Renewal

One-quarter of this year is already gone. For most of us in the world, spring is on its way (although on the East Coast of the United States, it seems like this won’t happen).   What usually happens in spring?  The flowers begin to bloom, the trees get their leaves back, and the world seems to […]