Why aren’t you getting referrals on a regular basis?

It’s probably because you don’t have a system for getting referrals in place.

One of the definitions of the word “System” is “an organized and coordinated method; a procedure.”[i] This is what you need to put in place in order to get referrals on a regular basis.

Most of the time we just hope people will refer business to us – it becomes sheer luck as to whether we get referrals.  However, if you put a system in place where you are connecting with your sources on a regular basis, giving referrals to others on a regular basis and asking them to help you by giving you referrals on a regular basis, you will avoid the “dumb luck” method of getting referrals.

If you don’t develop a method for consistently and constantly getting referrals then you will be doing it ad-hoc.

Develop a method that works best for you.  (If you have a “system” in mind and would like to run it by Jaimie B. Field, Esq. to see if it will work feel free to email her.)   The key is constancy and consistency.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

5 minutes here, 10 minutes there.

No matter what the event or appointment, they are always late.

However, being late is never acceptable.

When you are late, you are saying to other people that your time is more important than theirs.   This is not a favorable impression to make on anyone.

Being late also creates the impression that you cannot handle your schedule.

If you are too busy to make it to a meeting, a lunch appointment or a call on time, the person on the waiting end is going to be hesitant about trusting you with a legal matter that has time constrictions.   If it is a referral source, they may decide you cannot be trusted to treat the person they are referring to you with the respect they deserve.  You could potentially lose business because of your lack of ability to stick to your schedule.

Think about that last appointment you made with your doctor or hairdresser who kept you in the waiting room for more than 15 minutes over your scheduled appointment time.  You didn’t like that, did you?  Or what about the time you went to meet with someone new, a prospective client or referral source perhaps, who kept you waiting. What kind of impression did that make on you?

Your schedule is just as important as theirs, right?  How do you think they feel when you are late?

You have to find a way to stop this.  Whether it is the old trick of turning the clocks forward so that you are on time, or finding a way to stop doing what you are doing early enough to be on time.

If you do find that you are running late, or have gotten stuck in traffic, then please take the time to contact the appointment you have and let them know in advance.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

It’s been 26 days since I last posted to this blog and while I can provide all of the excuses – I’ve

• Been sick (unfortunately, this is true and I have been fighting something for a month or so),
• Been busy trying to get other things done in my personal life,
• Been using other rainmaking activities to obtain new clients,
• Been doing a lot of webcasts, podcasts and live seminars,
• Been working with my new clients (yes, new clients do take up a tremendous amount of time to be able to get them up to speed, however this is an excuse I don’t let my clients use so I am willing to have my feet held to the fire on this one),
• Been burned out and needed a break (only partially true because as any entrepreneur will tell you that owning your own business is a full time investment),
• Not had anything to say (which if you knew me personally, you would know that I am not at a loss for words ever),

the truth is this:  the biggest sin that a blogger can commit is not posting on a regular basis – particularly if you would like to use it as a method to grow your book of business.

The second truth is that there is no excuse not to post on a regular basis.

Some of the people who are reading this will think that I haven’t been gone all that long or uncommunicative.  This is true to those who are members of the Rainmaking Recommendation email list.  They have been continued to receive their legal marketing ideas on a regular basis*.

The reason that Rainmaking Recommendations are always sent is that I have made sure that there is an appointment on my calendar for each of these emails.   Even if I do not get to it until the last minute, I know that I have made a promise to the members of this email list that they will receive them on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  It is these attorneys to whom I promised Rainmaking and Legal Marketing ideas who keep me accountable.

Part of the problem with blogging is that there is really no accountability.  Or is there?

The reasons why blogs die or become places for occasional posts is that we don’t get to hear from our readers all that often.  Commenting directly on blog posts has gone down since you have other locations in which you post your comments and thoughts – LinkedIn, FaceBook, Google+ and Twitter.

We can have the tendency to think that no one is reading so why bother writing at all.  However if you start looking at the analytics of your blog you will find out something wonderful:  someone is reading.   Sometimes it is many people.

These are the people to whom you should hold yourself accountable – the readers of your blog.  Whether it is one person or one million people, if you have decided to blog,  it is like making a promise to that person who has taken the time to open up your blog page – you must do so on a regular basis.  Your readers have come to expect new information from you.

Additionally, new Information, could lead to new clients.   88 billion searches are performed monthly on Google.  This does include searches on facebook, twitter, or any other search engine (Yahoo! Bing).  Every time you add content to your blog which is optimized for the key words your client is seeking, you have the opportunity to show up in these searches.

Mea Culpa:

To the readers of this blog in the past, I am sorry for not posting new information on a more regular basis.  I am holding myself accountable to you to get you the best Rainmaking and Legal Marketing information into your hands so that you can grow your books of business.

To those new readers who have just stumbled on this blog, I promise to blog on a more consistent and constant basis.

You can hold me to this if you wish here, on FaceBook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn or Google+ or even if you wish to send me an email.

*a backlog of Rainmaking Recommendations which, as of yet, have not been posted will be going up on the site shortly.

Like many people, attorneys begin the year with the amazing intentions of achieving lofty rainmaking goals. The question is: have you achieved these goals or like most New Years’ Resolutions have you let it fall by the wayside?

Don’t beat yourself up if your goals haven’t been achieved (or even started). Just start more intelligently again – NOW.

Write your goals down. For goals to be effective, use the oft cited S.M.A.R.T. system

S – make sure the goal is Specific

M – Make sure the goal is Measurable.

A – Make sure that there are Action steps that you can take every day.

R – Make sure the goal is Realistic

T – Make sure that there is a Time-Frame (or deadline) to it.

Now add one more part:

Y – Make sure the goal is Yours

These are SMARTY goals!

If you have achieved or are starting to achieve the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year – pat yourself on the back! However, now is not the time to “rest on your laurels”. You have momentum on your side. Make new, more exciting, goals and go after them!

Recently, a couple of my clients have been giving me excuse after excuse after excuse (and that’s all they are – excuses) as to why they have not been doing the tasks they need to do to become the Rainmakers THEY have said they want to be.

Becoming a Rainmaker, bringing in new business or client matters is truly a commitment.

It takes work.  In fact, Rainmaking is very simple  . . . but it is not easy.  More importantly, it takes time and this becomes frustrating to many attorneys when they are not seeing results on an immediate basis.

Like any goal you set, you have to commit to its achievement, regardless of how long it takes.   It is like losing weight and getting into shape.  Just saying that you want to lose weight isn’t going to make it happen.  You need to start eating healthy and begin working out.   It is truly that simple but it is work.  If you are starting out looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy™, you are not going to turn into bodybuilder overnight.

If you don’t know how to be a Rainmaker, find the tools and teachers who can help you.

You can become a Rainmaker – you just need make a commitment to yourself and your career that you are going to do the things necessary to become a rainmaker and then keep doing the work.

(Starting April 2011, the attorneys who signed up to receive the Rainmaking Recommendation in their email have been receiving the current tip two weeks earlier than it is posted on this blog.  This is my way of thanking them for being a part of the group.  If you would like to see the current Rainmaking Recommendation before anyone else, please sign up to be a part of the list.)

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month via email to a list of amazing  attorneys who have signed up to receive them.    They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain.  Previously the subscribers of the tips and the readers of this blog got the information simultaneously. They are not longer being  posted immediately to this blog.  As stated above, those who are subscribed will have the Rainmaking Recommendation two weeks earlier than those who read this blog.  To get these tips sent to your email before the rest of the world reads them, please follow the instructions for subscribing.

To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

There are two types of people in this world.

• Those who get it done, and
• Those who make excuses.

Which are you?

Are you making excuses for the reasons why you haven’t been able to bring new clients or matters into your practice?

Do these sound familiar?

• I’ve been too busy to follow up,
• I haven’t had the time (to go to the networking event, or write that blog post, or be involved with Social Media,  etc)
• I don’t know how (to write a Rainmaking Plan, set goals, organize my office or time more effectively),
• They don’t call me back,
• They may say “no”,
• The weather has been awful so I haven’t been able to leave my office.

Are these and anyone of a plethora of excuses the reasons that you haven’t gotten it done?

If you have a multitude of “reasons” for why are you are not doing the activities which will bring you in new clients, you will never bring in new business.   Stop making excuses find the mentors or teachers who can help you and start making plans to be a Rainmaker.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month and then posted immediately to this blog .  They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain.  Previously the subscribers of the tips and the readers of this blog got the information simultaneously.  However, beginning in April 2011, those who are subscribed will have the Rainmaking Recommendation a week earlier than those who read this blog.  To get these tips sent to your email before the rest of the world reads them, please follow the instructions for subscribing.

To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

While you want to do the Rainmaking activities necessary to obtain new clients, do you find that by the end of the day you haven’t gotten to that particular task?

Put it on your calendar.

Schedule your Rainmaking Activities like they were an appointment.    Whether it is writing a blog post, calling a referral source, contacting an old client, following up with someone you met at a networking event, treat it like an appointment with the best client you have – you!

The “appointment” doesn’t have to be a lengthy period.  In fact, by just scheduling 30 minutes a day to perform one small rainmaking activity will amass you 2.5 hours per week that you have spent on rainmaking.   These little times add up.

If you can spend more time, great!  However, you should make a point to have 30 minutes per day, every day of the business week, devoted to making rain for your practice.

The amount of time you spend will be returned to you and then some!

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq. If you would like to have these tips sent directly to your in box, please sign up here.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

There is nothing wrong with trying a new technique, for example using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogging, newsletters, etc. to try to reach out to new clients.  However, if you are constantly wandering from one Rainmaking method to another and then to another, you never have the opportunity to fully explore what that particular approach can bring.

Rainmaking requires patience.

It’s about creating relationships, whether online or in real life.  If you keep jumping from “bright shiny object” to “bright shiny object” you will never know which one is really going to work.  Pick a tactic or two and then make a promise to stick with it for at least a quarter of a year.  Make sure you learn all that you need to know about how to use this tactic for marketing and rainmaking purposes, and then execute on these tactics on a consistent and constant basis.

The bright shiny object you are currently using just may be worth millions.

So, is there a “bright shiny object” your itching to try?  Leave your comment below and let others know what it is.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq. If you would like to have these tips sent directly to your in box, please sign up here.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

Yes, this Rainmaking Recommendation is a week late (usually they are sent on the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday of the month) but I didn’t want 3 weeks to pass without being able to wish you all the happiest holidays and an extremely prosperous new year and to provide an important Rainmaking Tip for you to ponder.

If you do what you have always done, what are you going to get?  The same thing you have always gotten.

What are you going to do differently in 2011?  Start by writing a great Rainmaking Plan.

A great Rainmaking Plan consists of only three things:

• Specific goals you want to achieve
• The methods you are going to use to achieve them.
• Commitment to yourself (and if necessary someone else) that you will reach your target.

What are your goals for 2011?  Write them down.   Studies show that when you write down your goals you are more likely to realize them.   This is because:

• An unwritten goal is really only a dream and as soon as something else comes into your head (like the brief you have to write) you will lose focus on what you are seeking to attain;
• It forces you to clearly define your goals; and
• It enables you to begin clearly thinking about the actions you need to take to achieve these goals

As the year comes to an end, take some time to write down the things you want to learn, have and earn in the New Year.

Happy Holidays to all.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq. If you would like to have these tips sent directly to your in box, please sign up here.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

Right about now, many attorneys are thinking about their Rainmaking Planning for next year.  They are going to the internet, sitting down with their marketing departments, or hiring consultants to help them develop the magic bullet of plans which will cause clients to come flooding in the door.

However, instead of planning at this moment, how about reviewing?

Take some time in the next week or so to review your clients, business development and client service for the past year.

• How did your clients come to hire you?  In order to replicate this, you need to know exactly how a client came to you or your firm.  if you don’t already have one, develop a client intake form/sheet which allows you to track this.

• What business development activities did you do this past year?  Which ones worked and which ones didn’t?  Now is the time to weed out the activities such as random acts of lunch, networking with the wrong groups, and others which are not yielding the type of client development results you are seeking.

• How well did you service your clients?  Be honest here!  Did you respond in a timely manner?  Did you explain to your clients what was happening with their legal issues in a way they would understand?  How could you make this better?

These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself before planning for next year.

An honest review of the business development and rainmaking tactics you have done will allow you to plan more effectively for the coming year.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.