Jaimie Field – Enlightened Rainmaking

  In Rainmaking Recommendation #67 – Conduct your own Attorney Review you were asked to look back at where you have been.

In Rainmaking Recommendation #69 – Dream Big you were asked to determine where you want to go.

Rainmaking Recommendation #70 is about how to get there – And this means creating your Rainmaking Plans.

A good rainmaking plan takes into account the where you were, the where you want to go and puts it together with the steps you need to get there.

Many, many, many articles and blog posts have been written about how to set goals.  The acronym S.M.A.R.T. is frequently used to explain how to do this.

(A quick review of this acronym):

S – Specific – do you have a specific goal?

M – measurable – can you measure your progress?

A – Actionable – can you take action on this goal

R- Realistic – Is it a Realistic Goal?

T – is it Time-bound – does it have a deadline?

And of course, if you have read other blogs on www.jaimiefield.com you will know that I talk about SMART-Y goals with a Y – which stands for “You”; is it your goal?

One of the most important parts of this acronym to focus on is the “A” or the action steps you are going to take to reach these goals.   What specific actions are you going to take to make your Rainmaking dreams reality?  What rainmaking tasks will help you achieve your goals?

You would never try to drive somewhere you’ve never been without directions (including a GPS).  Give your Rainmaking Plan a chance to succeed by taking the time to list all of the actions you want to take this year which will help move you toward your goals.  Each step you take towards an objective, the closer you will get to achieve your goals.

Oh, and if you are lost – ask for directions (please feel free to email any questions at all).

Last night was the 2^nd Presidential Debate. Did you watch?

Were you struck with the same question I was during the entire event?

“How?”

Each of the candidates outlined their goals for the country but neither one explained how they were going to do it.

What does this have to do with Rainmaking?  We all have the goal of getting new clients and more client matters from the clients we already have.  The question is how are you going to get there.

Now more than ever, it is important for you to begin planning those “how’s”.    We are in the last quarter of the year.  Now is the time to think about the past year and begin thinking about next.  Did you achieve the goals you wanted to this year?

More importantly, did you have a plan to achieve those goals?

Now is the time to write down your goals for next year and then determine what networking, marketing, social media and other Rainmaking tasks you are going to do to get the goals accomplished.  There are so manysources you can use to get ideas on techniques and tasks that will help you achieve them.

Goals are great. But if you do not have the plan to achieve them they are really only wishes.

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.

Just meeting one new person can have the potential for creating the type of legal practice you have always wanted.

Why?  Because that one person can introduce you to hundreds of other people who may need your services.

Yes, you can meet that person online on a social networking site (think Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter).  You can meet that person at the gym or while you are out shopping.  You can meet that one person at a networking event.  You could even meet that person in the court house.  

The point is that for every person you meet, that person is connected to more people that you do not know who could become potential clients.

Make it a goal to meet at least one new person a week and create a relationship with them.  This will allow you to ask your new contact to introduce you to other people you don’t know.

Q:  Why do you have to go to bed at night? 

A:  Because the bed won’t come to you!

Okay, I know it’s a really bad kindergarten joke (I hope you are smiling), but the point is that clients won’t always just come to you.  You have to “go” to them.

Where do you find clients?  Are you meeting enough people both on-line and in person?

On-line:

What social networks are you using?  Do your ideal clients use that social network or are you just wasting time posting there?   Many attorneys I know do not know how to use social media for business development and are just posting glorified advertisements about themselves on-line.  Social Media is about being “social”.  Start a conversation, ask a question and answer a question, comment on what other people post.  Start “listening” to what your ideal clients have to say.  You may just find that you have the right answer.

In Person:

Are you wasting time going to networking events that just don’t have the people you want to work with attending them?  Stop going to those events and find one where your ideal clients congregate.

Worse than that – are you not even attending events where you can meet potential clients?

Start “going” where your clients are – like the bed – it’s not going to come to you

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.

Look on the corner of your desk or open that top drawer – is there a stack of business cards you’ve collected during networking events?

Pull the cards out and start going through them.  Do you remember who any of these people are?

First, cull through the list of cards and throw out any card of any individual you truly cannot remember.

Then start contacting those who you do remember – send an email, make a coffee date, call to catch up.  Start creating the relationships which will lead to new business.

And make a promise to yourself.  That you are no longer collecting cards just to have a stack of cards sitting on your desk (in your drawer).   When you go to a networking event, bring a pen and just jot down a few things on the back of the card to help you remember your conversation. Put the date and the event and you will never forget about that person again.

But most importantly, do not just stick that card in a drawer on in a pile wrapped with a rubber band on the back corner of your desk.  Find a way to organize them that makes sense to you.  Use 3-ring binders with 8×11” card holders, do it electronically, but make sure that it is a system you are going to use.

Finally, contact the person you met –  ask if you can put that person on your newsletter list, send a referral, invite them to learn more about your practice, find out what they do.

It isn’t a contest to see who collects the most cards – you might as well just wallpaper a closet with them if that‘s the case.

It’s about creating relationships which lead to new business for you both.

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 want them sent directly to your email box, follow these directions.

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.

What type of law do you practice?  What industry do you target?  

In each area of practice there is a list of people who work in the same in industry who do not practice law.  People like accountants, psychologists/therapists, and other vendors who concentrate on the same group of people/businesses you are trying to reach who will not step on your legal toes.

Create your own ad-hoc networking group.  Gather these people together to meet at least once a month, whether in person, via Skype or conference call, and create relationships with them.  Make sure that each person’s business compliments but does not compete with the other.  Each of these people and businesses has the ability to refer more business to you without feeling like they are competing with others who do the same thing that they do for a living.

In addition to referrals, this group can also provide competitive intelligence about the industry you wish to target.

Where do you find this group with which to network?

Search the industry with which you want to work.   Find the publications, magazines, websites that people read to keep up with the industry and see who is writing the articles and advertising in these publications.  Contact them and ask if they would like to be a part of this group to help grow all of your respective businesses.

What’s the worst thing that can happen?  They say “no?”  If this happens, there is more than one person who can take their place.

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.

After an extremely long day with clients, I stopped by my local book store – it’s one of the ways I like to relax.   Yes, while I have ebook readers, and the ability to download books onto every device in the world, I am a bit old fashioned.  I love the feel of books, of turning pages, the actual smell.  I even have a public library card that I still use.

After perusing the store, I found what I was looking for and walked up to the counter to pay. There was a line – albeit a short line.  While waiting for my turn to pay, the entire day just seemed to overtake me and I just felt how tired I was; so I expelled a huge, involuntary, exhausted sigh.

The woman in front of me paying and the cashier both looked at me a bit crossly – I realized that that particular sigh may have come across not as an exhausted sound, but an impatient one.  When I walked up to the cashier I apologized and explained that it wasn’t about impatience but how tired I was.

The cashier was appreciative of my apology and totally understood.

The point of this is that what you don’t say can speak just as loud as what you do when people look through the lenses of their own experiences.  This cashier was used to people being impatient; particularly when there was a line of people waiting.

What are you saying to a client when you answer the phone with a curt or impatient attitude? Put yourself in their shoes.  While you may have just had a bad conversation with another client, the current client you are speaking with may think you are angry or annoyed with them.   Rolling your eyes, sighs, snorts, all of this can be as misconstrued as actual language.

Non-verbal communication can scream just as loud as a voice – and even more so when the interpretation is supplied by the person in front of you.

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.

All great Rainmakers know the following:  You have to love what you do and who your clients are because:

• When you are in a practice area that you love practicing law does not feel like work;
• When you love working with your clients they will love working with you.  You will actually return calls, and communicate more.  This translates to happy clients which equals more referrals;
• When you are in a practice area or niche in which you are interested, you will learn everything you can about it making you a subject matter expert. Potential clients want to work with attorneys who they know can help them with their legal matter in an intelligent, efficient, cost effective manner;
• When you love your clients you find ways to network with other people who are just like them.  This could be demographically the same or from the same niche industry.  The more networking you do within these groups, whether it is on line or in person, the more likely you are to turn these people into clients.

While these are only four reasons why you should determine who your ideal clients are and what practice area you love, there are many more.

Most importantly, when you have clients with whom you love working and in a practice area which is of interest, you enjoy your life.

So make 2012 the year that you start working only in the practice areas and with the type of clients you love.   Replace your old clients with whom the matter is completed with new clients who love what you do for them.   Your business will grow exponentially.

Twas 10 days before New Years and all through the firm,

Attorney reviews were making them squirm,

“Did I create enough business, bill enough hours?”

Thanks to Rainmaking Recommendations they had the power

To take control of their careers and rest of their life

Breathing a sigh of relief, it will all be all right…..

Okay, I am not going to do a full treatment on the holiday classic (because it is so overdone at this time of year).  However,  since this is the last Rainmaking Recommendation before 2012, I did want to say thank you to all.

The one thing that I try to impart in these bite size tips is that Rainmaking is simple – but it’s not easy.

You have to make the commitment of time and effort and learn the skills necessary to accomplish your goals, but since you have been through some of the most difficult training grounds in the world – law school and/or working in the legal field – you all have the ability to become the Rainmakers you would like to be.

So, take the next 10 days to write down your goals for 2012 and the steps you will need to take to achieve them.  Then commit to yourself that you are going to do whatever it takes to reach your goals.

Happy Holidays to all, and to all a Good Life

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.

Around this time of year, every person who works in the personal development business, law firm marketing and rainmaking training is writing posts on how to set goals for your next year.  In fact, if you Google “Goal Setting” and just set the search parameters for this month, you will see 213,000,000 hits.

This rainmaking recommendation is not about how to set goals.  My blog is filled with how (as is any of the sites on the web when you Google the term) using the SMARTY technique.

This is about the why to set goals.

Here are my top three reasons:

1. Provide you with direction: Think of your life like a GPS.  When you use your GPS to get directions to where you want to go, you have to input your destination.   Goals are like this.  They provide you with an idea of where you want to go in your career.  When you set goals, particularly in writing, it also allows you to “recalculate” when you run into obstacles or detours to get to the end point.   (Thank you to Karen Jacobson, “The GPS Girl” for this analogy).

1. Provides you with Motivation: When you write down the goals you really want to achieve and break them into the small steps to get to the end, every stage you accomplish gives you that extra push to get to the end.  There is nothing more satisfying than literally crossing off a task on your list that will help you reach your goal.

1. Increase Productivity: When you know what want to accomplish – your goals – and have the steps to get there in writing – your tasks – you can increase your productivity.  For the most part, when people walk into their offices, they allow the day to dictate what they do.  You have the ability to increase your productivity when you know exactly what to do and when to do it.

When you can understand the “Why” to set goals, the “How” becomes easy.