Building Your
Professional
Image
By Art Italo
Image and reputation are important in attracting business to your law practice. When prospective clients and contacts have heard of you and associate your name with leadership, you will become a magnet for business. It is very difficult to be highly successful if you languish in obscurity.
There are three important vehicles you can use in creating a prominent image:
- Organizations
- Lectures
- Publications
All three of these require an investment of time and energy, but it is an investment that will deliver a good return if done correctly.
When I begin discussing this topic, many of my clients protest that they have tried joining organizations and giving some lectures and never got a single referral. Most lawyers go through a phase where they try these tactics to no avail. The reason is because they have no clear objective. They choose the wrong type of group and don't know how to work the room. They feel uncomfortable doing it in the first place and get no return, so they abandon the idea after a few tries. In this article I will tell you why and how to become effective at improving your reputation.
A prominent image is not a primary source of referrals. Instead, it supports your networking efforts. It is like artillery support for your ground troops. Your individual lunch meetings with networking contacts would be your ground troops. This is where referrals are won by creating good relationships with the right people. A prominent image makes your presentation more powerful, just like artillery makes ground forces more potent. You can't win a battle with artillery alone, and ground troops alone will sometimes get bogged down without support, but acting together they can win the day.
Organizations
Before joining an organization, it is vital that you consider which organizations will have the greatest impact on your practice. You should also allocate a certain amount of time each month for organizational activity. You want to use that time wisely. After all, you want to be a lawyer, not professional organization member.
I suggest you join one organization in your profession. Most state and local bar organizations have sections for specific practice areas. This is an important place to start for a number of reasons. It will be an easy organization to get to know people quickly and comfortably because you have a lot in common. You will be exposed to ideas that can help your practice from others who are on the same firing line as you.
Prominence in professional groups can help you when you are trying to close a deal on a client who is shopping a number of lawyers. Don't underestimate the power of leadership in impressing clients and contacts. Given a choice between giving business to a known leader and one of the masses, it is human nature to be more attracted to the leader.
Many lawyers feel there is no referral business to be gotten from professional organizations comprised of lawyers who practice in the same area. This is not true. These groups consist of lawyers at various levels of expertise, magnitude and complexity. Many lawyers in large firms routinely refer smaller matters to solo practitioners, to whom the matters are very desirable. Large firms also have frequent conflicts that cause them to have to refer matters out. Often a solo will refer a complex matter to a lawyer or a firm at a higher level of expertise, or associate the firm to work on a part of the matter. Frequently, a lawyer will not have the monetary resources to support a protracted litigation matter and will need to bring in someone to finance the case. The point is that there is plenty of business referred back and forth among attorneys of similar ilk.
You should also choose at least one organization outside the legal profession, targeted at exposing yourself to potential contacts and clients. If you are a corporate lawyer, the Chamber Of Commerce or local Kiwanis club might be a good bet. A criminal lawyer might join a group that works directly with disadvantaged teenagers. An employment or benefits lawyer might join a group of human resource professionals. An estate planner would meet the right type of people at a planned giving organization or a financial planners group.
A general rule for getting more referrals from an organization is to use the organization as a hunting ground for potential contacts and then extracting those contacts from the organization into your personal network. Simply find good potential contacts and ask them to lunch, one on one. This is seldom done by most lawyers and it is the chief reason they get very few referrals from their organizational contacts.
When you attend organizational meetings, make it a goal to meet one or two new people every meeting. If it is a lunch or dinner meeting, purposely sit at a table where you know no one. Don't use meetings to get better acquainted with people you already know. Invite those people out to lunch so you can get their undivided attention and begin developing a personal relationship.
I recommend you join no more than two to three organizations, but resolve to take a leadership role in all of them. Commit to go to every meeting you possibly can and ascend to leadership.
Organizations provide a wonderful forum for establishing yourself as a leader within a very focused group. The key is to establish yourself as a leader, not just a joiner. Becoming a leader in most organizations is very simple. You just need to become known as a worker.
Most professional organizations are comprised of busy people who want to affiliate with a group of people like themselves. They do this for a variety of reasons. Some join to exchange ideas with others with similar interests and concerns. Some do it to network for business. Some are trying to reassure themselves by seeing what others think about their business strategies and by picking up tips. One thing is universally true in these organizations, however; everyone finds value in showing up, but few people want to volunteer to do any work.
You can elevate yourself very quickly in most organizations, just by volunteering to work. The first thing you should do when you join an organization is introduce yourself to the officers and tell them how eager you are to make a contribution of time and effort to the organization. This will fall on gratified ears because you are talking to people who became leaders because of their industriousness. They will say, "GREAT, we have another worker!"
Ask about committees to join and talk to the committee chairs. These are generally officers in waiting. Join a committee and work hard and within a year or two, you will be chair of that committee. Chair two committees and you are a lock for an officer's nomination.
Have you ever noticed that the leaders in most organizations have a tendency to also be successful in other areas of their lives? This is because diligence in one area is usually indicative of diligence in other areas. People intuitively know this and tend to give greater respect to leaders of the organization. They also look to them for advice more frequently, which puts the leader in a better position to obtain business and send referrals.
It follows, therefore, that you should not only be working to ascend to leadership, but also be networking with leaders in the organization. Once you begin to impress them with your hard work in the organization, you will be accepted and respected by them. This will help you establish personal relationships that should ultimately extend beyond the organization. Once this type of relationship is established, you will find it likely that each contact will become an excellent referral source.
Lectures
One of the most powerful ways to build your professional image is to give lectures. Presenting lectures and seminars creates an immediate perception of you as an expert. The more lectures you give, the more you are likely to be asked to speak, and with each lecture your reputation will be further enhanced.
Contrary to most people's beliefs, it is fairly easy to get to be a lecturer. In fact, many lecture coordinators practically have to beg people to speak. Most lawyers seem to avoid public speaking like the plague. This is to your great advantage.
When a lecture coordinator gets a call from a credentialed individual like yourself, they are absolutely delighted. They are partly delighted because it means one less arm to twist, and partly because a lawyer is always a good expert to have on their speaking panel.
It is important to choose lecture opportunities carefully to maximize the effect. Consider your target audience. The first group you should consider is lawyers. Many lawyers feel there is little to gain by giving instructional lectures to lawyers at Continuing Legal Education events. There are two reasons you should rethink this.
First, consistently presenting lectures of this type will establish you as the expert who teaches the experts. This will have an impact on clients and contacts as well as lawyers. Everyone feels more confident referring to and using a renowned expert. Lecturing to your profession consistently will do more than almost anything else to create that perception.
The second reason you should lecture to the profession is that as your reputation improves, you will get extra business. Lawyers who need your expertise will be more likely to associate you on such matters. Firms with conflicts will also feel confident the clients will be well served by your obvious competence. It won't happen immediately, but over time, your reputation will make you a magnet for business.
Naturally, you should speak to targeted non-lawyers as well. Try to get speaking engagements with groups that contain a large number of your target clients. Also, look for opportunities to speak to potential contacts. For instance, if you are a business lawyer, speak to accountants. If you are an estate planner, lecture to insurance agents.
Before you attempt to secure a lecture, a little preparation is helpful. You should draft three outlines on topics that might be of interest to a lecture coordinator. These don't have to be that elaborate; just enough to show the gist of what you will be saying. It is always better to approach a lecture coordinator with a topic than just volunteering to speak.
Choose topics that are timely, and with which you have some familiarity. Legal trends and their effects on the audience are always well received. When you pitch your outlines, be sure to mention why you think your topics will be of interest and benefit to the audience.
When you give the lecture, be sure to bring business cards and interact with the crowd during the break. People will undoubtedly have questions. Take the time to talk with them. If they have matters, be sure to get business cards and suggest meeting for initial consultations. If you discover a good contact who can send you referrals, suggest a lunch. There are many potential opportunities in the audience. Stay a while and find them.
I recommend to all my clients that they speak at least once a year to lawyers and two to three times per year to targeted groups of non-lawyers. If you take this advice, you will establish yourself as a distinguished expert in your field within three years. When you experience the effect, you won't regret the effort.
Publication
Like lecturing, publishing is an excellent way to build your reputation as an expert in your practice area. Also like lecturing, you will be surprised at how easy it is to get your articles published in newsletters, industry magazines and even newspapers.
You don't have to write a law review article to get published. As a matter of fact, the most effective articles are usually what I call "help mc nuggets" articles. Articles like, "Ten Traps To Avoid In A Construction Contract", and "Protecting Your Assets From Confiscatory Estate Taxes" get snapped up all the time by small publications. These articles can be written from your personal knowledge base with little or no research . They usually take no more than a couple of hours to write and you can have them published over and over in various publications. An article I include at this web site entitled Creating A Strategic Marketing Plan has been published in four different publications since 1993.
To get published, begin by writing three outlines using the same procedure as for lectures above. Collect various publications and read them to get a flavor for their audiences and preferred topics. Try to target publications that would be read by prospective clients and contacts. Ask your clients what newsletters and industry publications they read frequently and ask them to send you back copies that they are getting ready to discard. If your clients are reading them, you can bet that others like them are reading the publications as well. Often an accounting firm you work with, or an industry organization to which you belong will have a newsletter to which you might submit.
Note the editor or publisher of the publication. This is usually found in the masthead of the publication. Call the editor or publisher directly. With smaller publications, it is usually pretty easy to get through to the person in charge directly. Tell the editor/publisher you have some ideas for an article that might be of interest to his/her readers.
Ask for their submission guidelines. These are often quite informal like, "I go to press next Friday. Can you send me a 1000 word article to look over by Tuesday?" Don't be surprised if you get spontaneous combustion with small publishers, especially newsletters. Often the article you send them will replace an article the editor/publisher was going to have to write.
With larger publications, they may have formal guidelines including length (number of words), formatting (double spaced, 12 point type), a professional biography, a resume of other publications, etc. The key is to get on the phone and talk to the editor/publisher in person. If you aren't dealing with a national magazine, you will probably be personally and enthusiastically received.
My recommendation for publication is to be published at least twice per year. Many times you can publish articles on the same topics as those on which you are giving lectures. You can then distribute a reprint of the article to the audience and make a double impression.
Part of the power of articles is your ability to send reprints to clients, contacts and friends. If you create a mailing list of important contacts and periodically send them articles you've published, you will impress them and keep your name in the forefront of their minds. This will increase their motivation to refer.
Organizations, lecturing and publishing will have a combined effect that can propel you to prominence in a very short time. In three to five years, any lawyer can compile an impressive resume of credentials that mark him/her as a bona fide expert in his/her field. You will benefit by a better flow of referrals, better clients, more interesting matters as well as being able to command a higher hourly rate. You will establish a prominent reputation and reap the rewards of veneration and prosperity. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it.
Select
this link to see Art Italo’s Practice Profile
Art Italo is a consultant working exclusively with attorneys in the areas
of business development and strategic planning. He speaks internationally on
legal marketing and strategic planning.
He has developed and refined the concept of Leveraged Networking after
over 15,000 hours of individual consultations with attorneys. He has personally consulted with over 250
attorneys in
For on-line help with your marketing questions, e-mail Art Italo at
italco@mindspring.com or contact Art
Italo at:
Italo Consulting®
P.O. Box 680474
Marietta, GA 30068
(770) 859-0600
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