The Place to Network: How to Get Started

Editor's Note: We welcome Timothy B. Corcoran as our new regular columnist for The Place to Network. As a Senior Consultant to Altman Weil, Inc., Tim comes to us with a long history in marketing. He has served in many capacities within LMA and is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and an Associate Member of the ABA Law Practice Management. It's a real pleasure to have Tim on board. ' Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi

I'm pleased to join the Marketing the Law Firm team. My consulting practice is in large part focused on helping lawyers improve their business development expertise, and making time to be visible in the marketplace is an important component of business development. Also, sustaining a consulting practice requires quite a bit of networking itself so I will draw on my first-hand experiences, discussing what has worked for me and what hasn't. This column will continue to examine specific networking opportunities so readers can make informed decisions for how to spend their time.

The Fundamentals

One of the most common questions my clients ask me is how to get started, how to select the right networking venues, where to divide their time. Quite often they are already engaged in a mixed bag of activities, spending a lot of time but realizing little return. So first, let's take stock of why investing so much time and energy in the marketplace is a worthy pursuit.

The fundamentals of networking have not really changed, even though the opportunities available to us have undergone significant transformation in recent years. In years past, networking meant attending conferences and receptions, joining boards, giving talks and writing articles for business and legal journals. Today, there's a cacophony of social networks for business and pleasure, Twitter, blogging, where the lines are blurred and seemingly anyone can make a name for himself, or at least gain some notoriety. But notoriety by itself is hardly a suitable objective.

Networking is and always has been about achieving two primary goals: increasing visibility and demonstrating credibility. It's that simple. If our networking pursuits aren't accomplishing both of these objectives, then we're wasting valuable time and energy. So how do we measure success?

Visibility

Visibility is valuable currency in a world where personal referrals dominate all other methods of business generation. There are countless studies on the effectiveness of various lawyer business development activities, and all proceed from a common starting point: Personal referrals are the single greatest method for reaching new target clients, and all other tactics are an order of magnitude less effective. Achieving top of mind status is as important to a corporate lawyer hoping to meet the chief legal officer of a multinational corporation as it is to a real estate lawyer hoping to meet every mortgage broker in town. But the objective is clear: When these potential sources of new business seek a lawyer with your expertise, you want them to think of you, and you want those they consult to think of you.

Like advertising, frequency matters. The more often your name is heard by potential clients and referral sources, the more likely you'll be remembered at the opportune moment. And just like advertising, one doesn't need to bombard the audience with examples of your brilliance. Sometimes, simply hearing or seeing your name again and again can be helpful in establishing your credentials.

Of course, it matters quite a bit where you choose to invest time in building name recognition. Visibility has little impact in the wrong audience. This is why I counsel my clients to categorize their networking activities by potential audience. Lawyers have an obligation to learn new skills and to stay abreast of new developments in the law, and therefore attending bar events and continuing legal education seminars are necessary. But unless your target market is referrals from other lawyers who do substantially what you do, it's important to maintain a realistic expectation of the effectiveness of such pursuits to generate new business. Similarly, lawyers have an obligation to the community
and while many charitable and community organizations provide networking opportunities, the audience may not represent the lawyer's target client base. This doesn't mean we should avoid charitable or community endeavors, just that we should have realistic expectations for generating new business.

Finding the Ideal Client

Who are the ideal clients? What events do they attend? Where can they be found? These opportunities should be the primary focus when generating visibility is the objective. Many lawyers express frustration that they don't know how their clients spend their time. What this usually means is that we don't ask. In fact, clients generally appreciate when their advisers take an interest in their industry and as a result, clients are generally quite forthcoming in discussing the conferences they attend and why. At the very least, study your competitors' Web site events page where upcoming speeches are often listed. Wherever the clients are, that's where you need to be to increase your visibility. One tax lawyer I know joined an accountants' bowling league so he could interact with referral sources every week. Who knew such a league existed? He didn't, until he asked!

Be There!

Of course, attending isn't enough ' but it's a start. Every lawyer I've advised has been able to list several organizations to which he or she belongs but has been too busy to attend in recent months, or even years. At the very least, if you choose to belong, and if you're investing your firm's or your own money to participate, then calendar the most impactful events and make the time to attend. Relationships are personal, so delegating attendance to an associate or a colleague, or worse, failing to attend altogether ' and leaving your name tag in prominent isolation at the welcome table ' is an advertisement in how much (or how little!) you value these relationships.

Let's assume you've selected a handful of client industry conferences to attend in the coming year. Each represents an industry you know well, and decision-makers or decision-influencers for the work you do are in abundance. Increasing visibility means attending the educational sessions, the receptions, walking the exhibit hall and suppressing the urge to check voice mail and e-mail, constantly seeking an urgent reason to escape. As much networking happens in the unofficial gatherings at the bar or during small talk between educational sessions as at any of the formal networking receptions. For those active on Twitter, impromptu “tweet ups” are informal gatherings of like-minded individuals attending a conference, most of whom haven't previously met. I advise my clients to draw up a list of people they'd like to meet, and not to rest until they've met those people, even briefly, and shared business cards. We all work better with targets, and in this way we know when we've accomplished what we've set out to do.

Credibility

Good networkers, however, eventually exhaust the thrill of the chase and seek something more than visibility. This is where the second tenet of networking comes into play. Visibility should lead to opportunities to demonstrate expertise, to establish credibility. On the hierarchy of successes, joining a client association's board ranks near the top in terms of visibility and credibility. Paying dues but failing to attend is, as you might imagine, a low-ranking endeavor. And in between, lawyers are working their way up the food chain, turning visibility into opportunity. A starting point is to seek out the client association's education committee members to offer your services. While many will feign indifference, the fact is most organizations struggle to find fresh, relevant, and value-added content. When the national committee turns you down, approach the regional committees. Visible lawyers are often invited to speak at subsequent events, or to author a column in the association newsletter or to post an article on the association Web site. Each of these efforts is a step toward establishing credibility ' and not as a good lawyer, but as a good lawyer who understands the client's business.

I help my lawyer clients conduct a simple audit of their networking opportunities. We rank current and potential events, associations, memberships, boards and other opportunities starting with how well each opportunity reflects the desirable target audience. Then we rank the potential to increase visibility and engage in credibility-building activities. We quickly learn that not all opportunities are equal. Some associations will accept dues but will not allow outsiders to speak at their conferences. Others present tremendous opportunities but a competitor appears to have an inside track. When we identify a reasonable confluence of target clients, opportunities to be visible and opportunities to become involved, we focus on these. Balancing the community, charitable, educational and business development opportunities is a lot easier when we can differentiate between them.

Conclusion

In future columns we'll offer more specifics for how one turns visibility into credibility, and in particular how one does so using social media tools that allow even the most introverted among us to become master networkers! But we won't deviate from the underlying theme: Networking is about visibility and credibility.

Timothy B. Corcoran is a senior consultant with Altman Weil, Inc., consultants to the legal profession. Tim authors the Corcoran's Law Biz Blog and is a regular speaker and writer on business development and business management issues for
law firms. He previously led business development efforts for a global law firm, and has been a senior executive and CEO of two technology businesses serving the legal profession.

Editor's Note: We welcome Timothy B. Corcoran as our new regular columnist for The Place to Network. As a Senior Consultant to Altman Weil, Inc., Tim comes to us with a long history in marketing. He has served in many capacities within LMA and is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and an Associate Member of the ABA Law Practice Management. It's a real pleasure to have Tim on board. ' Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi

I'm pleased to join the Marketing the Law Firm team. My consulting practice is in large part focused on helping lawyers improve their business development expertise, and making time to be visible in the marketplace is an important component of business development. Also, sustaining a consulting practice requires quite a bit of networking itself so I will draw on my first-hand experiences, discussing what has worked for me and what hasn't. This column will continue to examine specific networking opportunities so readers can make informed decisions for how to spend their time.

The Fundamentals

One of the most common questions my clients ask me is how to get started, how to select the right networking venues, where to divide their time. Quite often they are already engaged in a mixed bag of activities, spending a lot of time but realizing little return. So first, let's take stock of why investing so much time and energy in the marketplace is a worthy pursuit.

The fundamentals of networking have not really changed, even though the opportunities available to us have undergone significant transformation in recent years. In years past, networking meant attending conferences and receptions, joining boards, giving talks and writing articles for business and legal journals. Today, there's a cacophony of social networks for business and pleasure, Twitter, blogging, where the lines are blurred and seemingly anyone can make a name for himself, or at least gain some notoriety. But notoriety by itself is hardly a suitable objective.

Networking is and always has been about achieving two primary goals: increasing visibility and demonstrating credibility. It's that simple. If our networking pursuits aren't accomplishing both of these objectives, then we're wasting valuable time and energy. So how do we measure success?

Visibility

Visibility is valuable currency in a world where personal referrals dominate all other methods of business generation. There are countless studies on the effectiveness of various lawyer business development activities, and all proceed from a common starting point: Personal referrals are the single greatest method for reaching new target clients, and all other tactics are an order of magnitude less effective. Achieving top of mind status is as important to a corporate lawyer hoping to meet the chief legal officer of a multinational corporation as it is to a real estate lawyer hoping to meet every mortgage broker in town. But the objective is clear: When these potential sources of new business seek a lawyer with your expertise, you want them to think of you, and you want those they consult to think of you.

Like advertising, frequency matters. The more often your name is heard by potential clients and referral sources, the more likely you'll be remembered at the opportune moment. And just like advertising, one doesn't need to bombard the audience with examples of your brilliance. Sometimes, simply hearing or seeing your name again and again can be helpful in establishing your credentials.

Of course, it matters quite a bit where you choose to invest time in building name recognition. Visibility has little impact in the wrong audience. This is why I counsel my clients to categorize their networking activities by potential audience. Lawyers have an obligation to learn new skills and to stay abreast of new developments in the law, and therefore attending bar events and continuing legal education seminars are necessary. But unless your target market is referrals from other lawyers who do substantially what you do, it's important to maintain a realistic expectation of the effectiveness of such pursuits to generate new business. Similarly, lawyers have an obligation to the community
and while many charitable and community organizations provide networking opportunities, the audience may not represent the lawyer's target client base. This doesn't mean we should avoid charitable or community endeavors, just that we should have realistic expectations for generating new business.

Finding the Ideal Client

Who are the ideal clients? What events do they attend? Where can they be found? These opportunities should be the primary focus when generating visibility is the objective. Many lawyers express frustration that they don't know how their clients spend their time. What this usually means is that we don't ask. In fact, clients generally appreciate when their advisers take an interest in their industry and as a result, clients are generally quite forthcoming in discussing the conferences they attend and why. At the very least, study your competitors' Web site events page where upcoming speeches are often listed. Wherever the clients are, that's where you need to be to increase your visibility. One tax lawyer I know joined an accountants' bowling league so he could interact with referral sources every week. Who knew such a league existed? He didn't, until he asked!

Be There!

Of course, attending isn't enough ' but it's a start. Every lawyer I've advised has been able to list several organizations to which he or she belongs but has been too busy to attend in recent months, or even years. At the very least, if you choose to belong, and if you're investing your firm's or your own money to participate, then calendar the most impactful events and make the time to attend. Relationships are personal, so delegating attendance to an associate or a colleague, or worse, failing to attend altogether ' and leaving your name tag in prominent isolation at the welcome table ' is an advertisement in how much (or how little!) you value these relationships.

Let's assume you've selected a handful of client industry conferences to attend in the coming year. Each represents an industry you know well, and decision-makers or decision-influencers for the work you do are in abundance. Increasing visibility means attending the educational sessions, the receptions, walking the exhibit hall and suppressing the urge to check voice mail and e-mail, constantly seeking an urgent reason to escape. As much networking happens in the unofficial gatherings at the bar or during small talk between educational sessions as at any of the formal networking receptions. For those active on Twitter, impromptu “tweet ups” are informal gatherings of like-minded individuals attending a conference, most of whom haven't previously met. I advise my clients to draw up a list of people they'd like to meet, and not to rest until they've met those people, even briefly, and shared business cards. We all work better with targets, and in this way we know when we've accomplished what we've set out to do.

Credibility

Good networkers, however, eventually exhaust the thrill of the chase and seek something more than visibility. This is where the second tenet of networking comes into play. Visibility should lead to opportunities to demonstrate expertise, to establish credibility. On the hierarchy of successes, joining a client association's board ranks near the top in terms of visibility and credibility. Paying dues but failing to attend is, as you might imagine, a low-ranking endeavor. And in between, lawyers are working their way up the food chain, turning visibility into opportunity. A starting point is to seek out the client association's education committee members to offer your services. While many will feign indifference, the fact is most organizations struggle to find fresh, relevant, and value-added content. When the national committee turns you down, approach the regional committees. Visible lawyers are often invited to speak at subsequent events, or to author a column in the association newsletter or to post an article on the association Web site. Each of these efforts is a step toward establishing credibility ' and not as a good lawyer, but as a good lawyer who understands the client's business.

I help my lawyer clients conduct a simple audit of their networking opportunities. We rank current and potential events, associations, memberships, boards and other opportunities starting with how well each opportunity reflects the desirable target audience. Then we rank the potential to increase visibility and engage in credibility-building activities. We quickly learn that not all opportunities are equal. Some associations will accept dues but will not allow outsiders to speak at their conferences. Others present tremendous opportunities but a competitor appears to have an inside track. When we identify a reasonable confluence of target clients, opportunities to be visible and opportunities to become involved, we focus on these. Balancing the community, charitable, educational and business development opportunities is a lot easier when we can differentiate between them.

Conclusion

In future columns we'll offer more specifics for how one turns visibility into credibility, and in particular how one does so using social media tools that allow even the most introverted among us to become master networkers! But we won't deviate from the underlying theme: Networking is about visibility and credibility.

Timothy B. Corcoran is a senior consultant with Altman Weil, Inc., consultants to the legal profession. Tim authors the Corcoran's Law Biz Blog and is a regular speaker and writer on business development and business management issues for
law firms. He previously led business development efforts for a global law firm, and has been a senior executive and CEO of two technology businesses serving the legal profession.