June 2011

What makes YOU different from the thousands of lawyers that DO what you do?

As I discussed earlier this week… knowing what business you are REALLY in is the place to start. After you have done that ask yourself these questions…

  1. What am I REALLY good at?
  2. What do clients comment on most often?
  3. Can

Let’s look around…  What business are these companies in?

Revlon… Cosmetics?

Nike… Shoes and sports apparel?

Apple… Computers and accessories?

Sure those are their deliverables… but that is not the business they are in!

Revlon is in the "make me feel beautiful" business!

Nike is in the "I can win" business!

Apple is in the

Make sure to do more than expected for your clients (and referral sources). But, really make sure to never do less than they expect.

While traveling to Buffalo on business, I rode in from the airport with a cab driver who asked when I would be flying out, and offered to pick me up at

The Internet..There are positives and negatives. There are do’s and don’t. One thing for sure is EVERYTHING you put on the Internet is public and will be there FOREVER.

What should govern our decisions? It’s simple… common sense and the principles our mothers taught us… 

  • Never put in writing what you wouldn’t want

The idea behind business development is finding a way to standing out from the rest. Today with the Internet there are many ways to do that. But just as the Internet has become the most powerful tool of this century… email has become an avalanche that we need to deal with on a daily basis.

With cloud computing being all the rage, be very cautious about thinking that you can undertake your business development activities from behind your desk utilizing only your computer. It is true that the “clouds” may actually increase efficiency in handling and collaborating with your client on a case or transaction. The danger arises when it

When we look at our marketing and business development activities, we look at what we did and the results. But, we seldom look at what we were NOT able to do because we were doing that activity. That my friend is an opportunity cost. Let me explain…

  • I have a client that has been involved

When it comes to business development what comes first credibility or visibility?  It’s a bit like…what comes first… the chicken or the egg

I was coaching a client who has been consistent with her blogging and has been seeing potential clients for consultations. In the past six weeks she’s seen six prospects that can be