Sales Speak: Five Ways to Start a Business Development Streak

I encourage you to view social media "likes" as an invitation to connect. If someone takes the time to encourage me, I try to send him or her a quick note to see how he is doing and to thank him. Since no one ever does this, it tends to be very effective and frequently fuels a dialogue. "It shows your connections that you are paying attention and gives you another opportunity to put yourself out there in front of others," says Scott Jaffee, the director of finance and administration at Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP in New York City.

Test it out by reviewing your recent social media content, which can be something you shared or created, and list the names of the individuals who 'liked' your work. All of those platforms are designed to foster engagement so look for organic opportunities to take advantage of that intent.

Conduct a Periodic Review

As you expand your efforts, consider reviewing all of your marketing and business development activities from January first through today to identify incomplete items, areas that require follow-up, and potential opportunities. "Periodic review of business development activities is essential as not all efforts work in all circumstances; cultural, environmental, and political circumstances may affect the success of any campaign so paying attention to what works can ensure your time and efforts are well spent," says Richard Williams, a partner with Deloitte China and the global leader of Deloitte Discovery in Hong Kong.

Highlight individuals with whom you worked and would like to work with again, media outlets with which you shared content and can pitch new ideas, whether written or audio, such as a webinar or podcast, and events you attended or at which you appeared. If they were valuable, reach out to your contacts and propose something new. As part of that process, highlight members of your network or individuals that you would like to add to your network for a potential collaboration. It is much easier to reach out to someone and ask if she would like to co-author an article, jointly participate in a webinar, or share the stage at a conference for a presentation you are proposing, than to simply invite her coffee.

In addition, if you found a particular publishing experience helpful or an event worthwhile, search for similar opportunities. Maybe the outlet that published your work has a sister magazine or a competitor that would similarly appreciate your perspective. For conferences, you can simply conduct a Google search for the subject, practice area, type of organization, and an array of other terms to find related events. You may even want to ask your peers what they prefer.

Pay Attention to Your Peers

In fact, remaining connected with your colleagues is critical. There is so much content to which we are exposed that it can be hard to hear the important messages through all of the noise. LinkedIn actually has a useful feature that allows you to search through the material that your connections have shared. For example, if you want to see a list of all of your contacts who are raising money for a cause of some type as a means of better understanding what is most meaningful to them, you can visit LinkedIn, click the search box, select content, and enter search terms, such as "raising money" or "donation." Then refine your search by first-tier connections to ensure that these are posts from people in your network.

Each of these ideas is meant to spark your imagination and empower a practical approach to raising your profile and building a network. Use one as a catalyst for starting a streak. For instance, if your content search yields five contacts who are raising money, you may want to make a donation each day for five consecutive days. If you identify ten contacts who 'liked' your content, you can follow-up with each one over a 10-day period. Given the value of consistency in business development, this process is likely to generate momentum, which leads to opportunity.

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Ari Kaplan, a member of Marketing the Law Firm's board of editors, is the author of various books about marketing and teaches programs at law firms nationwide on getting published, branding, networking, public speaking, and reinvention. He is also the creator of the Lawcountability business development software platform and iPhone app. Email him at [email protected] for a series of infographics on how to gain publishing, branding, and public speaking advantages.