Should Lawyers Have a Personal Brand?

Until I facilitated and spoke about branding at two different lawyer events last week, I wasn't convinced the word "brand" was a relevant concept for lawyers. I didn't even think it worked very well for law firms. While the word reputation seemed more accessible, brand seemed a very amorphous concept that marketing consultants push, with law firms re-branding by changing their logo, colors, tag line and web design. Working through preparation and discussions last week, however, persuaded me that the concept of a "brand" has relevance and value for lawyers.

Brand and branding have hundreds of different definitions. It's easiest for me to think of a brand as the essence or promise of what will be delivered or experienced.

Consistency

Lawyers shoud have a personal brand in the sense that you should figure out what the consistent experiences and expectations are that people have with you as a lawyer and what you want them to be. Ideally you want them aligned.

Lawyers don't need to have a personal brand in the sense of something you describe to someone else. You don't have to be able to tell a prospective client your "brand identity." It isn't a question people ask each other.

For example, Nike doesn't say action, athleticism, performance, excellence and success are its brand. But those are words that capture the essence of Nike athletic apparel and the image that Nike conveys in its marketing. By making sure that its products live up to this image, Nike maintains its brand and the consumer knows what he or she will receive every single time he or she purchases a Nike product.

Capture the Essence

Like Nike, Apple or McDonald's, consider what words capture the essence of you as a lawyer and the consistent experience you want people to have with you as their lawyer. Those words won't necessarily appear in your tag line, elevator speech, website bio, LinkedIn profile, introductions when you speak or author notes when you write an article. But self-reflection will better focus you on your strengths and core values as a lawyer, the services you offer, your reputation, image, style, real interests and fit with your best clients. You will have more clarity on who you are as a lawyer and the consistent experience you provide for your clients.

The Compelling You

With this clarity you can create a more compelling website or website bio instead of using the same buzz words as every other law firm. You can rework your self-introduction to sound more like you. You can write a better personal business plan for 2012 or speak more confidently and directly during your next evaluation.

The clarity and focus will help because you will realize what you do well, what is important to you, how you connect with your clients and colleagues and why they keep coming back to you.

After you identify your brand, you can build brand awareness by raising your visibility and name recognition. Become known by your target market and potential referral sources for the consistency of the services and experiences you provide.

Results

Getting focused and clear on your brand helps you attract more business, advance professionally and have more control over your day, practice and career. Regardless of whether you are in a law firm, corporation, government or elsewhere, a new lawyer or an experienced one, identifying your brand is time well spent.

If you are ready for coaching on branding, please contact me.

One Innovative Campaign to Get a Job....

Actions speak louder than words. This young woman put her social media skills into action in her bid to land a job as the University of Michigan's first Director of Social Media.

Dear Lisa Rudgers....

Public Speaking Tips From Recent Lawyer Meetings

Last week at state bar annual meeting events I observed lawyers as public speakers in various roles and thought about a few tips that go beyond being prepared, varying your pace, making eye contact, etc. It was a good wake up call for me as a frequent public speaker.

Regardless of whether you are introducing a speaker, running a meeting, giving a report, interjecting in a forum, presenting an award, receiving an award or giving the key note address, remember this bottom line:

Be respectful of your audience's time and interest. Know why they are there and what they want to hear. Know what is most valuable to them and present it. Don't overstay your welcome.

For example:

Have humility.

Don't fall in love with the microphone. Leave your audience wanting more.

Don't say I'll be brief. Just BE brief.

Bonus tip: if you are going to refer to someone previously at the podium, make a note of his or her name and use it. Project the image of a good listener.

If you would like coaching to help you improve as a public speaker, please contact me.

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College Football Blog: Imagine Bob Ufer calling the Michigan-Notre Dame g...: About the only thing that could have possibly made the Michigan-Notre Dame game last Saturday night any better would have been to hear legen...

Inside Look At One Prosecutor's Life

For those of you interested in becoming a prosecutor, here is an interesting profile of a very experienced female prosecutor in Washtenaw County, MI.

Dianna Collins, Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor

Written by Frank Weir of the Washtenaw County Legal News and published August 18, 2011.

For law students and new grads, remember you have to be ready to answer: Why did you decide to go to law school? Why do you want to be a [trial lawyer][prosecutor][employment lawyer]...?

Tips 2 & 3 on Doing Things Differently

2. Take responsibility for your practice and career.

Many lawyers in firms see themselves as “service partners” working on other partners’ clients without any control over or time for the development of their own practice. It is a self-perpetuating reality until they take big steps to change it.

One partner finally realized it was up to her to assert herself and act more like an owner than an associate. She knew if she wanted to take her practice in a particular direction, she had to put a plan together and get started. She did. Result: her senior partners noticed and initiated the discussion about supporting a workable plan.

A partner at another firm wanted to develop his own book of business but needed time for it. He set parameters for the scope of his involvement on other partners’ matters, managed his time better and let his partners know he was developing a niche. Result: he is steadily building a book of business through referrals and presentations and doing more of the sophisticated work he likes.

3. Timing is rarely right.

“The economy is bad right now." "My kids are little." "My parents need me." "Work is crazy lately." "Maybe when things slow down a bit." "We want to have another child.”

Face it, timing is rarely right. When was the last time you thought “this is a good time to ….?”

Stop waiting for the perfect time. Marketing/business development, time management and career management are never ending processes. Name your fear(s) and make a list of what you will give up if you don’t take action now. People have done it and you can too.

Please contact me if you are ready to start.

Doing Things Differently

Most lawyers are creatures of habit, especially when it comes to time management, business development and career planning. They repeatedly do and say the same old things while hoping for a different result.

“I wish I had time to do marketing." "I apply online for in house jobs but I never hear back." "I don’t like talking about myself." "I don’t have any control over my work day.”

Lawyers rarely look objectively at what they are doing, how they are doing it and what they can do differently to improve their results. When they do take a look and start doing things differently, results are often immediate and noticeable.

1. Be intentional. For a different result, stop doing the same old thing.

A lawyer heeded some advice. She responded to a LinkedIn invitation by sending back a message with a coffee invitation to get to know the other person’s practice better. She received a resounding yes and “you’re the first person to ever send back a note in response to a LinkedIn invitation.” Instead of mindlessly accepting the invitation to link in, the lawyer had acted intentionally. Result: within a week coffee was consumed and the door for mutual referrals was opened.

A lawyer wanting a better fit decided to stop hiding in the woodwork. In her firm she always shined the light on her colleagues. She shrank from talking about herself and minimized everything she did. Yet she realized hiding her interests and experience wouldn’t get her closer to her dream job.

So she changed her perspective on talking about herself. Now she shares more about herself with her close contacts and has found appropriate ways to ask for help. Result: after two months of this change, she received a call from a contact about a position that was being held for her. Her ideal contacts list is growing and a firm client requested she take over as its lead lawyer.

What can you be more intentional about?

Next Post: Tips 2 and 3.

If you are ready for coaching to make changes, please contact me.

Job Search Tip #4 for Lawyers: Develop a Web Presence

You are searching for your first or next job as a lawyer. Google your own name. What comes up? If little information comes up, at a minimum you should build a LinkedIn and Google profile. They are free and no spam is involved.

Build these profiles so that when people want to know something about you professionally, they can search online and find you. Even if you are looking for your first lawyer job, having a presence on the web gives you more credibility and visibility.

In addition, eventually when your profile is strong enough, people will find you when they search for someone with your qualifications, experience or other characteristics. Recruiters definitely use LinkedIn, even in the legal profession.

A LinkedIn profile is an easily updated online resume that allows you to share more information and recommendations. In your profile, you can easily ask for and display recommendations for any and all positions and activities. For that reason if for no other, build a profile and put a hot link to it on your resume. Potential employers will have immediate access to your recommendations.

LinkedIn helps you quickly expand your network of contacts during your job search without the common fear of being annoying or a “stalker”. It is perfectly acceptable to send someone a LinkedIn invitation with a few personal sentences a day after you meet them. After all, this is a professional online networking tool. Many people find sending a personalized LinkedIn invitation much easier and more natural than drafting a “nice to meet you, please keep me in mind….” email from scratch that they hope will lead to something further.

LinkedIn helps you stay visible to your contacts. By using the update/status bar you can stay on your contacts’ radar screens without anxiety about being intrusive or a bother.

Last but certainly not least, in addition to using LinkedIn to showcase yourself as part of your job search, you can also use LinkedIn in your job search to look for information on and contacts with firms, companies and people. Do not underestimate this resource.

Although there are more than 100 million people on LinkedIn, I am constantly surprised by the number of lawyers I know who are not on it or have only a bare bones profile.

Being on LinkedIn no longer means you must be looking for a job. In fact, I recently read that a BTI survey showed that 70% of corporate counsel use LinkedIn as a tool and that 50% of corporate counsel stop and think a minute before hiring a lawyer who lacks a credible online presence in addition to their official law firm bio.

Reality: You should develop an individual web presence regardless of whether you are looking for a job now or might be later, and regardless of whether you already have a website or are part of a law firm’s website.


Job Search Tips # 1-4 Bottom Line: distinguish yourself by working, selling and continuing to learn, and by showcasing yourself online.

If you are ready for coaching to improve your job search, please contact me.

Solo Lawyers: Build a Strategic Network

If your network consists mostly of lawyers who offer the same legal services you offer, your network may not work for you, at least not for getting new clients.

Look at the lawyers in your network and also where your work comes from. Are occasional referrals due to conflicts frequent enough to justify your time? Think about where you can get the greatest return on your time and provide the most value to others who might help you in return.

I know hundreds of solo lawyers who know and hang out with lots of other lawyers who do exactly what they do. ie. criminal defense, family law, consumer bankruptcy, estate planning, probate, personal injury, plaintiffs' employment and immigration. They get to know each other through state and local bar sections, continuing legal education classes, etc. These lawyers have similar interests and common challenges but they don't have many opportunities or reasons to refer much business to each other.

If the above sounds familiar and you would like more business from your network, here are three strategies for boosting your lawyer referrals:

1. Develop meaningful relationships with lawyers who practice in a different area of the law. Get to know these lawyers, help them and become the lawyer to whom they refer all inquiries they receive in your niche practice area. You can start by seeking out and meeting these lawyers at networking events instead of standing around talking to your friends/competitors.

2. Develop meaningful relationships with key lawyers and other people who frequently receive inquiries about lawyer referrals. How do you spot these people? They may be people seen as leaders in the local legal community or perceived as having a vast knowledge of it, and other people with extensive networks. They know lots of lawyers who practice in your niche. To receive their referrals you will have to stand out. You have to earn their trust and respect as a lawyer in your niche, and in general as a professional and personally. Knowing them is not enough.

3. Develop meaningful relationships with lawyers outside of your geographic region and become their contact person for any legal issue in your region. You can then make referrals for these lawyers and they will always think of you regardless of the legal practice area involved. Sooner or later you will get clients through them and from the lawyers to whom you refer the other legal work.

Networking is really relationship building and that takes time. Build your relationships more strategically and you will develop more business. The sooner you start, the sooner you will see results.

If you are ready for coaching on building a more strategic network, please contact me.

Social Media, Stereotyping Strengths and Horn Blowing

The ABA Journal published an article discussing whether Web 2.0 plays to women's "strengths" more than men's.

Based on my 22 years in the legal profession, I agree that generally women are less comfortable blowing their own horn than some men seem to be. I don't agree with a view that women are better at building and nurturing relationships and that they are better at using social media to do so.

In fact, I don't see a lot of lawyers using social media to build strong personal relationships. I see lawyers using it to raise their credibility and visibility which is wonderful, but this is not the same as actually establishing and maintaining personal relationships.

Social media is a doorway to relationships but many lawyers stand on the threshold without ever saying hello. For example, if you typically send a LinkedIn request without a personalized message, you are doing exactly what I'm talking about.

Using social media like LinkedIn, blogs and Twitter, plus websites, to provide value, stay in touch and demonstrate knowledge and expertise, increases your credibility and raises your visibility. Regardless of whether you are a female or male lawyer, using social media to do so is often a lower key, more comfortable way to stay visible and/or toot your own horn than sending personal success story emails or walking the halls pounding your own chest.

Why not give it a try?

If you are interested in coaching to enhance your credibility, raise your visibility, develop stronger relationships and bring in more business, please contact me.

Alternative Tracks in Law Firms - What Do You Think of Them?

This week's Crain's Detroit Business has an article on staff attorney positions and other non partner track positions in area firms.

What do you think about firms creating such positions?

What do you want in your career and what's holding you back from attaining it? If you are ready to go for it, please contact me.

Positioning For Your Future

Several of my lawyer clients want to work as in-house counsel some day. A few others would like to be a judge. Most of my clients want to stay where they are and continue expanding their practice. Regardless of their personal goals, all of these lawyers are thinking about how to best position themselves for the future.

No matter your end goal, here are a few basic keys to your future.

1. Start now. It is never too soon or too late to position yourself for a better future as a lawyer. If you don’t have many contacts in your desired field, figure out a way to make them and get started. If you notice that most corporate positions require experience you lack, find a way to fill that gap or demonstrate the same skills in a different setting. If you want to be a judge, start developing name recognition with either the people who could elect you or those who could appoint you.

2. Build on your strengths. Assess your professional and personal strengths and capitalize on them. Rather than spending most of your time trying to fix your weaknesses, spend more time developing your natural strengths. For more on this approach, check out various books on strengths identification and development by Marcus Buckingham, Donald Clifton and Tom Rath.

3. Be the lawyer you would want to hire. A potential interview question is: “How would your co-workers describe you?” Regardless of your future goals, make sure you really are living up to how you would want your clients or co-workers to describe you. Acknowledge this and start aligning your behaviors with your values. If you are behind on entering your time, you keep breaking promises to clients, or you have trouble staying focused on projects until completion, chances are you aren’t being the lawyer you would want to hire.

You can wait for your future to happen to you or you can control what you can and start positioning yourself. String together a series of small steps to make these changes and then keep going. It’s your future.

If you would like lawyer coaching to help position yourself for your future, please contact me.