Marketing For Young Professionals

KEDC establishes new charitable foundation - Latest news | Bakersfield.com - Kern County news, events, shopping & search

2009-01-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

KEDC establishes new charitable foundation - Latest news Bakersfield.com - Kern County news, events, shopping & search

Getting quoted in the newspaper is a great way to promote your practice. Its starts with always being available when the media calls you. The reporter of this article called me about something entirely different. I had nothing to offer him for the article he was writing. Yet, I wanted to give him something newsworthy. What I thought was an inconsequential factoid, turned into a top story in the Local section (not the business section) of The Bakersfield Californian.

When you don't want to be Facebook friends - Digital Life- msnbc.com

2008-11-19T16:33:00.000-08:00

When you don't want to be Facebook friends - Digital Life- msnbc.com

The theme of this article applies to LinkedIn. You have the choice whether to accept a LinkedIn invitation. I do not accept invites from people you don't know nor do I invite people to join my network I don't know. If I don't know them, and I want to connect with them, I make it a point to meet them in person first.

Grow Up!

2008-10-20T08:02:00.001-07:00

I am back. After a month long plus sabbatical from blogging, my batteries have recharged. What did it? Did I discover world peace and harmony during my leave? Was I the benefactor of a large gift left by an unknown rich uncle and can now work less? Or more realistically, did my law firm chuck the billable hour's requirement? None of the above. Instead, in living normal life, I would see examples of mistakes young professionals make in promoting themselves or their professional practices. If I didn't see them, I would hear about them. I then asked myself whether I was to blame for these poor examples of professionalism. Were young professionals going amuck because "Marketing for Young Professionals" was in hiatus? Something had to be done. I needed to blog again.

Now that I am back, I want to get straight to the point and address a phenomenon that I noticed during my sabbatical. You need to grow up if you have not already. If you have accepted employment as a lawyer, physician, dentist, civil engineer, architect, etc, your days as the life of the party animal are over. You must now act and dress the part of a professional that clients trust for their personal and business affairs. My clients do not want to read about me in the newspaper for getting arrested. My clients also do not want to hear of my antics at the latest political fundraiser or social event. My clients do not want to see video clips of me in compromising positions on YouTube.

Part of growing up is giving up the MySpace page. I have a few young professional colleagues who will not "lose" their MySpace page and get a LinkedIn or Facebook account. The time is now. Move on! Even if you decide to transition from MySpace to Facebook, you must still avoid posting photos or videos that will embarrass you now or in the future. A college aged male relative recently posted a video of himself on Facebook doing a song and dance routine while in a drunken state. Even though my wife posted a message on his wall suggesting that "videos such as these could keep you from getting that dream job," the video has remained on his Facebook site. Apparently, this male relative does not regard my wife's advice or seeks the approval of his college aged friends more than his aunt. As I have explained to more than one colleague, even if my relative removes the video, Google has surely cached the video for prosperity.

Technology has made it easier to stay in contact with old friends or find lost friends. However, technology has also made it easier for the mistakes or indiscretions of our youth to follow us into middle age.

Blowing Out the Cobwebs

2008-08-24T21:46:00.001-07:00

Last week I played organized basketball for the first time since the summer of 1993 when I was a pre-husband\father and generally in fine physical condition. Even though I played high school basketball for two years, what would explain me getting on the hard court after all of these years at 48 years of age? Basically, I was challenged from a colleague who is ten years younger than me and in much better physical shape. After being called out for months by this colleague ("come on Abril, I need a pick man,"), I foolishly agreed to join a fall men's basketball league with him.

I started my conditioning program earlier this month, including Tuesday morning spinning (indoor cycling) classes. Yet, no machine can replace the physical grind of playing full court basketball. Even though my time on the court was for only 5 minutes because we were just scrimmaging for the coaches to evaluate each player's abilities, I was exhausted after running up and down the court twice. I was ready for the horn to blow after two minutes. Five minutes never took so long.

After the horn sounded, and I told my colleague good night (he stayed behind and played for two hours after the scrimmage ended—show off), I stumbled off to my car. In the process, I began coughing my lungs off. I was certainly winded from playing full court basketball, but coughing my lungs off was a new phenomenon for me. After I got home, I checked internet sites, including WebMD, to figure out whether coughing my lungs off was a precursor to a seizure or something worse. I was relieved to confirm my body was simply expelling mucus that had been stored in air sacs in my lungs that had not been used since 1993. After the grossness factor wore off, I thought to myself that what my body had done made perfect sense. As I was now going to be using my entire lungs for the first time since 1993, it made sense to prepare these long dormant areas of my lungs for more grueling activity when the regular season begins in two weeks.

I titled today's post "Blowing Out the Cobwebs" because I thought that a cobweb metaphor was more visually appealing than mucus. Yet, the point I want to make is that as you progress in your career, you may allow study habits or patterns that helped you to get where you are today go by the wayside. Instead of devoting time to learning new things by taking a course on Saturday mornings, you find yourself sleeping in every Saturday. Rather than scheduling dinners with prospective clients, you find yourself simply going home each day. Finally, you may have become benign to junior colleagues advancing much faster than you. The fire that raged within you as a first year professional is now nothing more than a dimmer.

In my case, marriage, fatherhood and procrastination have allowed me to avoid the hard physical conditioning that full court basketball provided. I thought I could get back into shape through my regular cardio routine, but I was wrong. Similarly, if are struggling to regain that fire you had in the past, do something dramatic to blow out the cobwebs. Sign up for a weekend course; schedule no less than four client dinners and lunches this week; or go to a partner and ask for a challenging new assignment.

The Start of a New School Year

2008-08-18T06:42:00.001-07:00

My older children begin a new school year today. More than that, they are starting a new school. They will meet new friends; begin new routines; and hopefully, learn new things. I enjoyed the start of a new school year when I was my children's ages. I especially enjoyed back to school shopping. In my case, and unlike my children, I only received new clothes once a year. Back to school shopping also including purchasing new school supplies. Yet, I have to admit that what I liked best about the beginning of a new school year was seeing my old friends and the possibility of meeting new friends, especially new female friends. I will never forget the beginning of my sixth grade year when "Cindy S." was the new hottie at my elementary school. Fortunately for me, Cindy S. was both attractive and smart. She later became my reading partner for the first half of my sixth grade year. I was the envy of the entire class.

We don't celebrate the beginning of a new year as a professional. In fact, the years start to pile on top of each other. I would never have realized I was in my 22nd year of legal practice if not for somebody in my firm reminding me of the same. The problem with not having celebrations for racking up another year of being a professional is the tendency to neglect to look back and evaluate the prior year or to set goals for the upcoming year. As I have talked about evaluating prior performance and setting goals in prior posts, I will not repeat myself. Yet, I wish to make the argument that we should celebrate each anniversary as a professional because each anniversary should be a celebration. Remember the euphoric feelings you experienced when you passed your bar examination or your medical boards? Remember thinking to yourself at that time that your life was set and your life had nowhere to go but up. Unfortunately for some of us, those feelings of euphoria have long left us. Other emotions, such as depression, anxiety, and helplessness have taken over.

If you find yourself with these negative emotions filling your personal space, you need to reinvigorate your life. Do something dramatically different. Run a marathon. Climb a tall mountain. Jump out of an airplane. The bottom line is you must do something that will take you out of your funk and recapture the joy that led you to become a professional in the first place. If you are having difficulty drawing inspiration, turn on the television and watch the 2008 Summer Olympics. Follow the amazing story lines that have given me a boost of inspiration, such as Michael Phelps' amazing eight gold medals or the battle between Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson for the Women's Individual All Around gold medal. Finally, if you're an old timer like me, you certainly can draw inspiration from 41 year old and new mother Dara Torres' quest to become the oldest swimming gold medalist. While she ended up winning three silver medals instead, she just missed a gold medal in the 50 free by 1/100 of a second.

Too Bad Your Marketing Pants Don’t Get Too Tight

2008-08-11T08:50:00.001-07:00

I have been working out regularly for over two weeks (each week day with rest over the weekend). Part of the motivation for working out is to get in shape for a men's basketball league I joined at a buddy's urging that starts in September. I neither want to embarrass myself nor collapse. The other motivation is I am tired of clothes not fitting well or not at all. In fact, after finally getting to the point of having a two week rotation of business suits, I am down to a six day rotation as four of my suits no longer fit. The third motivation is my thirty year high school reunion is in October. I did not like the picture I took during my twenty year reunion and my thirty year reunion picture does not promise to look much better unless I do something quickly to get in shape.

How does a highly motivated and normally disciplined person such as me get out of shape? Short answer: neglect. It is easy to neglect fitness because absent the urgings of my personal physician to exercise more to better my cholesterol levels, there is nobody in my life who tells me I need to get in shape because while I am at least twenty pounds overweight, I am not yet clinically obese. Furthermore, compared to many people in my life, I am in excellent shape. Nevertheless, the pants do not lie. There is no way with my height that I should have a waist larger than 34 inches, yet I do. I have not measured my waist lately, but I would not be surprised to see the tape measure approach 37 inches.

I should be encouraged by the fact wearing clothes that do not fit is a daily reminder that I need to do something to get back into shape. Unfortunately for young professionals, there is often no regular reminder that one is getting lax in marketing. For many young professionals, the boss is only concerned about billings. As long as you bill, you are left alone, However, if you neglect marketing when you are young, you will experience a career shock (similar to the shock I experience when I weight myself in the morning) upon realizing you are being passed over from becoming a co-owner in your firm because your bosses only view you as a worker bee.

You need to constantly work on your marketing fitness in the same way as you work on your physical fitness, such as setting weekly goals and evaluating your marketing results against your marketing objectives. If you are having difficulty in fulfilling your objectives, hire a marketing coach to help you in the same manner as you would hire a fitness trainer to guide your workouts. If you lack the resources to hire a marketing coach, latch onto to a mentor in the same way as I seek advice from friends who are trained in various fitness regimens. Set your marketing goals high and you'll find that your marketing pants always feel good around your waist.

Why Manny Being Manny Doesn’t Work for Young Professionals

2008-08-03T19:57:00.001-07:00

For those of you who do not know who Manny Ramirez is, let me introduce him. Manny is a 36 year old professional baseball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers having joined that team in a three team trade on July 31, 2008. Prior to the trade, Manny had been the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox since the 2001 season after signing an 8 year/$160 million contract to entice him to leave the Cleveland Indians, with whom he had spent eight seasons. Manny and designated hitter David Ortiz had been the most feared 3-4 hitters in major league baseball since 2003, and through their performance, the Boston Red Sox won two World Series titles in four years (2004, 2007). Manny Ramirez is undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer. He is one of twenty-four people to have hit over 500 career home runs (he hit number 512 today against the Arizona Diamondbacks). He has the most career grand slams of any active player - and the second most of any player. For the past eleven years, Manny has been a fixture in the All-Star Game and is a twelve-time All Star.

Unfortunately, Manny had has had several negative episodes in his 7 ½ years with the Boston Red Sox. When Manny did not feel like playing, he didn't. When Manny wanted to take extensive leave from baseball, he made up injuries. On the field, Manny has become a defensive liability. In the end, however, the Boston Red Sox were willing to tolerate Manny's antics because when he was on his game, he normally performed far better than anyone else on the field (or in major league baseball for that matter). When Manny wanted to goof off, teammates, coaches, executives, and Sox fans were known to refer to the situation as Manny Being Manny.

If Manny were such a great baseball player, why would the Boston Red Sox trade him to the Los Angeles Dodgers? They had no choice. Even though Manny's 8 year/$160 million dollar contract was set to expire at the end of the 2008 season, the team held two one-year options at $20 million dollars per year. Even though it was very unlikely the Boston Red Sox were going to exercise either of the two options, the team had informed Manny they would not make that decision until the end of the 2008 season. This upset Manny. Manny wanted the team to either exercise the options or decline them so other teams would know he was available as a free agent at the end of the season so he could get his agent Scott Boras to negotiate Manny's last contact, which Manny expected to be in the four year/$100 million dollar range. The Red Sox refused to play that card. Upset, Manny demanded a trade. Knowing the team could not receive a comparable player or players in return, the team refused to trade Manny. In response, Manny went into "shut down" mode, culminating in running a ground out during Angel pitcher John Lackey's near no-hit performance last week in a glacier like 5.7 seconds. Manny forced the Red Sox's hand. Two days later, Manny was traded. The Manny era end in Boston on July 31, 2008.

If Manny were a lawyer, CPA, or physician, he would be considered an "It professional," if not something more. Like "It professionals," Manny got his run of the joint. Manny was allowed to do things other players would never think about doing because he performed at such a high level. Similarly, many "It professionals" are allowed to do things other professionals are not allowed to do because they not only perform at such a high level, but they are normally responsible for generating the revenues that help pay the high salaries of the non "It professionals." There are limits to "Manny being Manny" or any other superstar baseball player thinking he is bigger than the team because baseball is a team sport. You cannot go off on your own and play baseball by yourself. Ultimately, the Boston Red Sox got their fill of Manny and shipped him off-even agreeing to pay the remainder of Manny's 2008 salary. The Red Sox may get pay back next year because while Manny will certainly be signed by a team in search of power, it is very unlikely Manny will get anything close to the 4 year/$100 million contract he wants.

However, the ace card most "It professionals" hold over their firms is their ability to leave and start their own law firm, accounting firm, or medical practice. Accordingly, many professional firms are much more reluctant to show an "It professional" the door. This is unfortunate because by tolerating boorish behavior, the lesson taught young professionals is you are allowed to be demanding, self-centered, and disrespecting of others if you make it rain. While I have encouraged young professionals to take charge of their careers, and to even strive to become an "It professional," the "It professional" who displays Manny being Manny behavior should never be your role model.

Drawing Inspiration (and Motivation) from the HOF Induction Ceremony

2008-07-28T08:04:00.001-07:00

The 2008 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction ceremony was held yesterday in Cooperstown, New York. Relief Pitcher Goose Gossage and manager Dick Williams were the 2008 inductees. I did not watch the ceremony. I did, however, watch a few clips of Goose's induction speech. I never thought a guy that could bring on 100 mph heat could be so emotional. I also noticed that Goose took the time to thank those who helped him along the way, which was a classy gesture.

I can safely say I will never qualify for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. A basic requirement is you have to have played, coached, or managed major league baseball, written about major league baseball, or served as an executive of a major league baseball team. There are several former players, however, who do qualify. Some have had wonderful careers in the big leagues. They made a lot of money and\or developed contacts that have helped them in their post-baseball careers. Unfortunately, there are countless others who toiled in the minor leagues and failed to fulfill the promise of their youth. The only time they felt major league grass was as a fan.

As a professional, many of us will never make (or even be considered) for a professional hall of fame. Yet, we can have a very successful and rewarding career if we are able to combine high level skill sets and marketing savvy. Nevertheless, many professionals toil in the minor leagues of their professions and never make the show. In my nearly 23 year legal career, I have seen many highly touted legal prospects who are promoted as the next Hall of Fame lawyer. Sadly, the careers of many of these prospects have fizzled for a number of reasons, including substance abuse, financial distress, poor health, and divorce. In other words, just as the career of a promising five tool outfielder can be cut short by a blown ACL, a professional's career can be derailed by unexpected circumstances. Therefore, we should all draw motivation from those professionals who have achieved long term success in their profession, even if they were never inducted into their professional hall of fame.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Give Up (or Give In)

2008-07-21T07:24:00.001-07:00

I had one of those weeks last week when I wanted to throw in the towel. No, I didn't want to leave my wife; change political parties; or start eating coleslaw because my in-laws swear its nature's salad. No, I wanted to stop marketing. Yes, marketing. My feelings last week had nothing to do with my frustration with potential clients who refused to retain me after hours of effort. In fact, I am actually on a streak signing up an average of at least one new client since returning from vacation in early June. No, the source of my frustration was internal-the people I work with.

For many young professionals, the seeds of doubt and despair will not come from the outside, but the inside. You will be on a roll making contacts left and right. Then, like a right hook to the jaw, your boss or some senior partner will notice your hours being lower than other associates. Comparisons will be made between your hours and Sally or Joe's hours—two people who do absolutely no marketing. After awhile, you think you no longer have the strength to fight and you choose to give up by giving in. Wrong move! In the end, your career will go flat. Later in your career, the boss or senior partner is no longer in your life and you're kicking yourself for letting others derail your career.

My struggles last week had nothing to do with bosses or senior partners fretting about hours. No, as you get to higher levels of seniority in your firm, the battles change somewhat from comparisons between your hours to other associates to the types of clients you're bringing in or the nature of the work you are doing for a new client. In some instances, you may be criticized from bringing in a particular client because that client is a competitor of a prospective client of somebody in your firm. Yes, you're supposed to give up the sure thing for the mere possibility.

After a week of letting my anger fester, I took it on the road. No, I did not leave my firm. I mean I travelled down to Anaheim to watch my beloved Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play their nemesis, the Boston Red Sox (yes, we won the game and swept the series). During my drive to and from Anaheim, I used the time to re-listen to Stephen R. Covey's best selling classic "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." I was particularly drawn to Covey's explanation of "principles" as being similar to the laws of gravity—you may not like gravity or rebel against it but the laws of gravity will win every time. In the same manner, you must regard the marketing principles emphasized in this website, which includes the principle that you cannot allow external forces to discourage you from taking charge of your career. You and your alone are responsible for the success or failure of your professional practice.

I urge young professionals to have a library of inspirational books or audiotapes handy for both regular reading\listening and to bail you out when you are reading to jump ship. Thank you Stephen R. Covey when I ready to throw in the towel.

Beware of social networking overload - Careers- msnbc.com

2008-07-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

Beware of social networking overload - Careers- msnbc.com
This article warns readers to avoid the urge to become overconnected in this era of job insecurity. Unfortunately, many young professionals have not enrolled in even one business or socil networking site. Nevertheless, the author of ths article expresses some pointers that are good to heed.

Ten Things I Want a Marketing Consultant to Do for Me

2008-07-14T07:57:00.001-07:00

My law firm recently hired an outside consultant to assist the firm in its marketing efforts. The first manifestation of the consultant's presence occurred last week when a senior partner alerted all attorneys that a marketing survey would arrive in our email inbox and that completing the survey was mandatory. The survey arrived as promised, but not before some attorneys deleted the email because the email did not come from "Acme Legal Marketing Consultants" or some other company name that would suggest the sender was our marketing consultant. Instead, the email came from "Zoomerang"—clearly spam right? I could spend this entire post criticizing my firm's choice in marketing consultant's but I like my job. Instead, let me present to you in reverse order ten things I would like a marketing consultant (or perhaps, a marketing intern) to do for me (and my firm).

10—Compiles a list of marketing activity ideas

9—Assists in the implementation of marketing activities

8—Researches potential client prospects in identified markets

7—Attends local dinners and event

6—Summarizes the marketing activities of the competition

5—Organizes and updates the firm's newsletter address lists

4—Organizes and updates the firm's attorney biographies, including website bios.

3—Works with the firm's webmaster to make certain the firm website is contemporary and relevant.

2—Assists in maintaining attorney marketing and aspiration contacts.

1—Cheerleads

Some may wonder what I mean by "cheerlead". Quite simply, marketing can be compared to hitting major league pitching. Even the best major league batters only get a hit three times out of every ten at bats while an average hitter only gets a hit every two and one half times out of every ten at bats. In marketing, you are going to strike out, foul out, ground out, or fly ball out more than you get a hit, let alone a home run. That means we could all use somebody to cheer us on. Similarly, many of us have the right idea on how to marketing our practice. Yet, one could always use the help of an intern to assure implementation. I currently get by without the assistance of a marketing consultant or even a marketing intern to help me implement my marketing plan. Therefore, the absence of a marketing consultant or intern should never be your excuse. Yet, just imagine how much more you could accomplish if you had a consultant or intern to help you. We can dream. Can't we?

Bakersfield man gored by bull in Spain - Latest news | Bakersfield.com - Kern County news, events, shopping & search

2008-07-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

Bakersfield man gored by bull in Spain - Latest news Bakersfield.com - Kern County news, events, shopping & search

I am always encouraging young professionals to find a way to make yourself interesting. This article demonstrates one way. This young man now has a story to tell others when he is working the room.

It Begins With Your Calendar

2008-07-07T07:02:00.001-07:00

In my family, I work primarily outside of the home in order to generate income for the family. My wife works primarily outside of the home to assure the proper raising of our three children and to maintain domestic bliss. I do help around the house, just as my wife has been integral in my marketing endeavors, including taking care of all of the arrangements for the dinner party I held earlier this year. This system has worked since my wife left the work world after our oldest was born in 1999. This is not to say the system works perfectly. There are times when I think my wife could be bringing in some additional income to the family through her Mary Kay business if she would just devote a few hours more each week to her business. Similarly, I am sure there have been times, especially after the birth of my youngest this past September, when my wife thought I could be doing more around the house.

Yesterday, as the family was returning from our after Church lunch in my wife's car, I suggested to my wife that she stop by the car wash because I noticed I could write my name on the passenger door. She agreed. As her car was making its way through the cleaning cycle, I commented that she should wash her car more often, especially since she drives by this particular car wash often.

Wrong move. My comment brought on a mild rage that had been building. Apparently, my wife is of the mindset that my work schedule is all nice and tidy (go to work; do work; come home; eat and sleep; repeat until weekend) while her life is subject to the competing and conflicting demands of our three children, PTA, Church, and her extended family. I agreed with my wife that my life has more order because few things in life are more disruptive than to be in sound sleep, only to have a 10 month old baby interrupt that sleep with a tummy ache that keeps both mom and baby up for the rest of the night. Yet, I used this opportunity to present to my wife the concept of scheduling activities. In short, while you can never anticipate a sick child or an upset baby at night, you can place projects on your calendar. In this manner, you give yourself set days when you work on the garage, take the car to the car wash, work out at the gym, or put pictures in the photo album. When people call you during those times, either do not pick up the phone (and explain why later), or pick up the phone with a promise to call back later.

In other words, a schedule not only helps you keep track of tasks, it helps you complete a task. Similarly, many young professionals do not engage in any marketing activities because they do not schedule marketing events. How many marketing events do you have scheduled for the month of July? Most of you will answer "none." If you do not schedule marketing events, the tyranny of the urgent will keep you away from marketing. If you do not have any marketing events scheduled in July, stop what you're doing (well go ahead and finish reading this post) and schedule no less than one marketing event each week in July such as taking a contact to lunch. Furthermore, jot down marketing activities you would like to do in future months, such as throwing a dinner party, so you can get the date on your calendar and plan accordingly. Remember, marketing begins with your calendar.

Secrets of the super-connected - Forbes.com- msnbc.com

2008-07-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Secrets of the super-connected - Forbes.com- msnbc.com
Helpful technology tips for super connectors or super connectors to be.

AT&T announces iPhone 3G pricing plans - Engadget

2008-07-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

AT&T announces iPhone 3G pricing plans - Engadget

In my June 20, 2008 post "Ten Technology Essentials for Young Professionals," Number 4 was a smart phone or PDA phone. When Apple\AT&T came out with the inaugural version of the iPhone last summer, I discouraged young professionals from purchasing it became that version did not have an enterprise solution (the ability to retrieve office email and to sync contacts). This version contains an enterprise solution. Based on my reading, only those professionals whose cellphones have to contain the highest security features should be worried about purchasing a 3G iPhone. The 3G iPhone will be available at 8am on July 11, 2008. If you wish to purchase one, don't take the day off to get one. Wait until Saturday morning. If the phones sell out, wait until they're available. Your practice is more important than a new cellphone. Yet, if you live in California, and you do not have a hands free device, pick up one while you're at the AT&T store.

The Fallacy of a Balanced Life

2008-06-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

The fourth and final topic from this month's poll that readers wanted me to address is "balancing work requirements and marketing." I chose to include this topic when I created this month's poll because I am one of those professionals who would be marketing the entire day if I didn't have work to do. In other words, nobody has to pay me to mix it up with potential clients, write articles, or present seminars. On the other extreme are people who blame work for getting in the way of marketing when they need to confess they do not enjoy marketing. In between, however, are the masses of professionals who truly wish to take charge of their careers and engage in marketing, yet work seems to get in the way. Stated more bluntly, it's difficult to get excited about marketing when your boss is yelling at you because you are either out of the office giving a seminar or your projects are not being turned in timely.

The answer to the work\marketing dilemma is similar to the answer to the work\life dilemma. Put another way, many of us seek to a balanced life. We want balance between our work life and our personal life. We want balance between our family time and me time. Now, we want balance between our work and our marketing. This desire for balance has led me and other writers to assert there is no such thing as a balanced life, especially if by balance you mean symmetry between two different facets of your life, such as devoting a set number of hours to your work and personal life. I agree with those writers and commentators that contend that instead of seeking a balanced life, you should seek a purpose driven life (Rick Warren's "A Purpose Driven Life") or a principal driven life (Stephen H. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People").

When you have a purpose driven or principled driven life, you are not bound by artificial time constraints, such as not working on weekends because that time is normally family time. Instead, you develop purposes or principles that you abide by for the remainder of your life. Accordingly, you may need to stop by the office after church even though you consider Sunday's your family day because you need to get a project done before Monday's rush. Similarly, there may be times when you may need to take a two hour lunch to stop by your children's school to watch a play.

There is not enough time to explain the steps I have taken to develop a purpose driven life. Instead, I will share a few elements. The most important element is my Christian faith. Accordingly, I am very devoted to my local church and church body. Similarly, my wife and I have sat down and have defined goals for both my legal practice and our family life. One end result of that discussion is I am the sole bread winner while my wife stays home with the children. Further, we have set some financial goals for our future. Accordingly, there are many times when I am unable to accompany my wife and children when they visit local museums or school events, and especially when my wife and children decide to head off to the central California coast for a few days of sun and play. Further, we had no trouble making the decision that we would not get our children involved in youth soccer unless one of our children expressed an interest in playing soccer because we did not want to have to devote entire Saturdays to youth soccer. In other words, we did not let our friends and neighbors decide what our family should do. Instead, we have acted proactively to define who we are as a family and what we should be doing in the community.

This purposefulness has always been exhibited by me in my relationship with my law firm employers. From day one, I have made it clear that if my law firm employers wanted a "grinder" only, I was not their man. I assured my employers I would grind when necessary, but that my skill sets should be directed differently. This approach was tested early by my current law firm who was not used to having attorneys chair state bar committees, sit on boards, and present seminars. Over the years, my partners and I have reached an accommodation because while my hours may not lead the pack, my receipts are always near the top of the pack. I still struggle with getting my hours just like you, but I do not struggle with concepts such as having a work\life balance because my life is purpose and principal driven.

When I started this blog just before New Year's Day 2008, I endeavored to blog at least each work day until I got to the point of critical mass. Well, today's blog post is my 137th blog post so I think I have reached critical mass. In the future, you can expect to see an original blog post each Monday. I also expect to supplement my original postings with articles I find on the web that will help readers take charge of their careers.

Getting Clients: Getting Started

2008-06-27T07:53:00.001-07:00

I have chosen to devote today's post to an important aspect of getting clients, which is getting started. The motivation for today's post came from a lunch I had recently with a young professional. During our time together, in which we discussed many philosophical aspects of marketing and becoming connected, an epiphany overcame me. I blurted, "Mark, what would do if I said 'sign me up.'" Mark paused for a minute before replying, "I don't know."

This blog focuses primarily on the "before" and "after." The before being how to position yourself to get clients and the after being how to take care of your clients, including cross selling. However, young professionals must recognize that a day will come when the fruits of one's labor will be realized in the form of a prospect willing to become a client. You must be prepared for that day. While every firm is different, and some professions do not require all of these steps, the following is a checklist for signing up new clients for most law firms:

Confirm who the client will be (for example, an individual or an entity).
Obtain client contact information.
Ascertain potential adverse parties.
Define the scope of work (what are you being asked to do).
Ascertain and quote the retainer for the type of work engaged (also confirm the circumstances when you are allowed to waive the retainer and the circumstances when the minimum retainer should be increased). In some instances, the parties will negotiate a flat fee or a contingency fee arrangement.
Ascertain and quote the hourly rates of the professionals, including you, that will work on the file.

After going through the checklist, you should convey to the prospect that you need to perform a final conflicts check, and assuming there are no conflicts, you will prepare and deliver an engagement letter to the prospect. The prospect should review the engagement letter for any discrepancies with the terms you negotiated with the prospect, and assuming there are no discrepancies, the prospect should sign and return the engagement letter with a check for retainer (unless the prospect left a retainer check with you during your initial meeting).

Many firms also have other internal procedures that must be followed. For example, my firm has a new matter information sheet that must be completed by me and approved by a supervising attorney before a client matter number is issued. The issuance of a client matter number is important because absent a client matter number, our time and billing system will not allow me to bill for my work.

Some young professionals out there may be saying to themselves, "man, there is a lot to do to set up a new file." I'd rather just do the work. If you start to feel that way, go back and read the tag line for this blog: "This is a website for young professionals who want to take charge of their careers." If you truly wish to take charge of your career, you must learn how to sign up a new client.

Why Your Firm May Not Get It and How You Can Help

2008-06-26T07:35:00.001-07:00

It is a weird day (and rare day) indeed when an individual's marketing plan clashes with his or her firm's marketing plan. These clashes are rare because seldom are firms and individual firm members equally proactive to both have a marketing plan that is actively executed, let alone have plans that conflict with each other. Moreover, while firm and individual marketing plans may conflict schedule wise, it is difficult to conceive how an individual's marketing plan can conflict philosophically with a firm's marketing plan. Yet, it has happened to me so I realize the problem exists.

Scheduling conflicts, though avoidable through proper planning, occur two ways. First, the individual may have scheduled a dinner party on the same day the firm is holding a reception for a very important client prospect. It helps to coordinate your marketing with the firm's marketing coordinator. Moreover, young professionals who are dedicated to marketing are typically the people in the firm that are "in the know" about these things. Further, you can help avoid direct scheduling conflicts by letting management know when you are engaged in a marketing event.

Second, scheduling conflicts can also occur indirectly. Basically, young professionals normally have minimum billing requirements. Let's say you have been involved in running an out of town retreat early in the month that limited your billable hours. Yet, you endeavored to catch up by the end of the month. It is almost axiomatic in those instances for firm management to announce a firm marketing event for the end of the month, and thus, you are asked not only to attend the event, but to help with planning because you are a "go getter." This has historically been my dilemma. In these situations, you need to go to management and explain that you can either get your hours up or participate in the firm event. Sometimes, however, management will tell you to do both (get your hours up and participate). In that scenario, you simply must "suck it up" and do your best.

Firm and individual marketing may also conflict philosophically. I have disagreed often with some of my firm's recent marketing initiatives. Quite frankly, these marketing initiatives were not well conceived. This year, however, my role in determining firm marketing initiatives has been significant. There still are areas of disagreement. Yet, these disagreements are fewer because my active and aggressive individual marketing has given me an increased role in determining firm marketing initiatives.

I had the opportunity yesterday to work with a young professional who is already a partner in his well known 100+ lawyer Century City based law firm. Although I did not ask, he would probably tell me there is no way his marketing would conflict with his firm's marketing because the two are so intimately tied together because the primary reason why a client would hire him is his membership in the law firm. I think it helps to think that way even if your firm is in a non metropolitan area or not well known. In other words, get your marketing efforts in sync with your firm's marketing efforts. In this manner, the firm's marketing success and your marketing success will be achieved together.

Building a Better Profile

2008-06-25T07:57:00.001-07:00

I posted a poll this month asking readers to identify the topic or topics they would like to see addressed in this blog. One of the responses, and the topic of today's blog post, is "Building a Better Profile." Many profiles, bios, or resumes can be improved upon through better effort. I normally see a complete lack of effort in website profiles, such as those found in LinkedIn, because the professional writing the profile decided to only provide enough information to "get started." Perhaps, the professional vowed to come back later and upgrade the profile. However, seldom does this happen. On the other hand, as one of the partners in my office who is actively involved in recruiting attorneys, seldom do I see a "really bad" resume. I assume the rationale is the person who provided the resume wants a job. You think? Therefore, a crucial first step is creating and later building your profile is to have the same motivation for writing a profile for marketing purposes that you would have in creating a resume when looking for a job. Incidentally, while I often use the terms "profile" or "bio" interchangeability as a professional's personal information used for marketing purposes (typically, a bio is a term used for hard copy while a profile is used on a website), I will reserve the term "resume" for personal information about yourself when looking for a job.

Aside for devoting sufficient effort, identify your profile philosophy. Basically, your profile philosophy is the extent to which you are willing to reveal information about yourself and your family for marketing purposes. You will easily conclude from reading my LinkedIn profile or my law firm bio that I am literally an open book and rely heavily on my family for marketing purposes. In other words, to know me is to know my family, which is a very important part of my life and who I am. In contrast, there are many successful professionals who either do not wish to reveal information about their family or their family, especially their spouse, has specifically asked to be excluded from the professional's marketing efforts. I respect that approach. Yet, identify your profile philosophy before creating your profile.

A basic profile should tell the 3Es—education, experience, and epistle or "your story". From there, you want to build your profile by including your body of work, which consists of practice areas, professional achievements, groups and associations, articles written, speaking engagements, and courses taught. Many young professionals will respond that they have no body of work. I understand. This is why you want to include the 3Es at a minimum and work to build your body of work. For example, if you look at my profile, you will notice that I have the above areas covered. Yet, I did not achieve that body of work during my first five years of professional practice. It took time. In many instances, I set out goals for profile building, such as joining a particular organization or writing an article or two as the goal for that year. Recently, I had come to the conclusion that my profile was light in terms of service on community boards. Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity to serve on the local museum of art board.

Similarly, I encourage young professionals to develop five year plans that change each year. These five year plans should include goals relating to practice developments (areas you want to focus on), continuing education, and marketing. You want to evaluate your five year plan every year so you can look back and evaluate whether you should continue a particular activity or move on. Take another look at my LinkedIn profile or law firm website bio. You will notice many organizations for which I was actively involved in the 1990s, but for one reason or the other, changed course and moved on.

You will not have a killer profile in the beginning. Yet, the foundation for a killer profile takes place in the beginning.

Relationships Matter

2008-06-24T07:38:00.001-07:00

I recall a telephone call I received from a client a few years ago. The client called to complain about the associate working on his file. The client's particular concern had little to do with the associate's performance. Instead, the client's frustration with the associate had more to do with fact the client felt the associate demonstrated little passion for his file. The client's closing argument was "I hired you, not X." Relying primarily on my long history with this client, I was eventually able to calm the client down; assured him the associate working on his file was more than up to the task; and convinced him to never confuse focus and dedication with a lack of passion or caring. My soothing words worked. All was forgotten and the case was closed without incident.

The client's closing argument, while made in anger, points out a few things. First, if you think your life is difficult now having to fix your own screw ups and misgivings, just wait until you're a partner or a manager so you can fix the screw ups or provide cover for underlings. Second, relationships matter. Although I have been told I have the gift of persuasion, a gift that is necessary for attorneys, I like to think it was the relationship I had built with this client that enabled me to convince the client to stay the course with how I had staffed his case.

Reputation and credentials are crucial in getting your foot in the door with a particular client. Yet, the way you relate to a client will earn you the client's trust in landing his or her work and convincing the client to use you in future engagements. Don't be mistaken by the curse of competency, which can mislead young professionals in believing that skills sets alone are the key to getting and retaining clients.

When Life Gets In the Way

2008-06-23T07:46:00.001-07:00

I have little sympathy for young professionals who claim they do not have time to market. You might as well tell me that you want your career controlled by others and that you're perfectly content drawing a paycheck for the rest of your life. In short, I hate excuses for not marketing, especially the excuses I make myself.

Yet, there are times when life gets in the way and there are very good reasons to postpone marketing so you can focus on work only. There are even occasions when work is too much and you must take leave from work to deal with life. These situations include the unexpected death of a spouse or child; a long term illness; or natural catastrophe, such as the recent flooding in the Midwest. You never know when life will throw you a wrinkle.

This is all the more reason why you must set goals and an accountability structure to meet those goals. Nobody can blame you for not marketing when calamity befalls you. Yet, you have nobody but yourself to blame when you don't market in normal times.

Ten Technology Essentials for the Young Professionals

2008-06-20T08:16:00.001-07:00

Below is my inaugural top ten technology essentials (gadgets, applications, and even skill sets) list for young professionals wishing to effectively use technology in their marketing (from essential to most essential):

10. Laptop Computer with Laptop Connect Card and Wi-Fi Capability: Even if your professional practice keeps you at the office most of the time, you can never be too far away from the online world.

9. Home Computer with Broadband Internet Access: I am always amazed at people, especially so-called marketing types, who rely solely on their office computer. A substantial portion of my marketing efforts, such as writing this blog, takes place at home.

8. Blog Reader: Information is the key in the informational age (go figure). It makes sense that you have access to all of the major blogs at one site to keep you updated on the daily zeitgeist.

7. Typing Skills: Yes, there are still people who "hunt and peck" at the keyboard, but those folks are normally the same folks that fought the use of office technology by professionals (e.g. Old School). If you cannot type well, go buy "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" and learn how to type.

6. Competency in One Word Processing Program (preferably Word): It would make your life much easier if knew how to use Word well enough to edit the articles you write.

5. Internet Search Skills (preferably using Google): I assume many of us know how to surf the internet, but do you understand how search engines work well enough to generate effective searches. Today, I rely on a well executed Google search for my basic legal research before I narrow down my search query using Westlaw or Lexis\Nexis.

4. Smart Phone or PDA Phone: Today's young professional cannot have any cell phone. Rather, they must have a smart phone or PDA that provides an enterprise solution (e.g. access to your office contacts, calendar, and email). This is why I discouraged many young professionals from getting an iPhone. Yet, the new 3G iPhone hitting AT&T and Apple Stores on July 11th are made with an enterprise solution. You may see me at my local AT&T store on July 11th upgrading my old "8125" to a 3G iPhone.

3. Email Program and Competency: Yes, many of us know how to use the most popular email client today (Microsoft Outlook), yet I am amazed that some of us continue to make stupid email mistakes like hitting "reply to all" when we intend to only reply to the sender, or worse yet, sending the email to the wrong recipient because "auto fill" inserted the wrong name. There was a brouhaha recently within my local legal community when a bar association staffer sent an email to the entire membership list without hiding the email addresses. A supporter of a judicial campaign was then able to use the "reply to all" button to send an email encouraging the association members to support his particular candidate. Suffice it to say, many bar association members were not pleased.

2. LinkedIn Account with Full Profile: Regular readers of this blog know that I have a "man crush" on LinkedIn. For the first time, however, I am advocating that young professionals lose their "My Space" account and only use Face Book for social networking, not professional or business networking.

1. Contact Management Program and Competency: While I assume many young professionals use Microsoft Outlook for email and to store addresses, they really do not use the contact management aspects of Outlook. For example, I have created and maintained several forms of contact lists. These lists include a holiday card list and an "aspirations list" (people I want to meet). I also use my Outlook contacts to maintain vital information about my contacts, including the names of spouses and children, undergraduate and graduate school affiliations, and recent news.

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I look forward to reading your responses to my inaugural top ten technology essentials for young professionals.

The Evolving Face of Technology in Marketing

2008-06-19T08:29:00.001-07:00

I have been an adopter of technology from the very beginning of my career, both as a result of my adoration for gadgets and my belief that technology is a force multiplier. In recent years, however, Old School has convinced me that the ways we have connected with clients and potential clients in the past, such as face to face meetings and phone calls, should not be overlooked.

What is the right mix of technology and old school methods? I cannot answer that question for you. Instead, through my posts of the past few days, I have attempted to identify the pros and cons of technology and how old school methods are much more effective in certain instances. You need to find the right mix for yourself.

Tomorrow's post will identify 10 technology tools that are absolutely necessary for every young professional marketer. I encourage you to read this post.

High hopes: VCs betting LinkedIn worth $1 billion

2008-06-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

Wired News - AP News

This article demonstrates that not only is LinkedIn getting the attention to business people who use and depend on LinkedIn, but Silicon Valley venture capitalists as well.

How New School Overuses Technology

2008-06-18T07:30:00.001-07:00

The technological landscape in professional firms is much different today than when I got started in 1986. For instance, my law firm provides new attorneys with a firm computer (which are now upgraded every three years rather than when the next Y2K threatens). We also train new attorney on unique firm programs, such as our time and billing program. Partners are given firm cell phones, and next week, I should receive my Bluetooth enabled earpiece as a result of a new California law that prohibits anyone over eighteen from using a cell phone while driving without the use of a hands free device. Our software training, however, is much more limited (from say 1999) because we assume the new attorney already knows how to use email and word processing programs. From time to time, a new attorney will help introduce new technology into our office, such as was the case with text messaging, although the use of text messaging is not officially sanctioned. However, it is not officially prohibited as is the case with a colleague of mine who works for a major financial services firm. As explained to me on Monday, his firm removed the text messaging function from his blackberry because his firm cannot monitor text messaging for compliance purposes.

Although generations X and Y ("New School") are often technology savvy and early adopters, New School can overuse technology at times: practically and philosophically. New School overuses technology practically every time two people in the same office engage in a real time email exchange exceeding more than a couple of posts. In those situations, walk down to your colleague's office and have a conversation (at least it is better than two Old School professionals screaming down the hall). Similarly, the image of a New School professional texting a colleague in another office does not sit well with me. Texting is great when one or both parties are not close to a phone or unable to make or take a phone call (e.g. in court). Yet, when both parties are sitting in their respective offices, pick up the phone and have a conversation.

Philosophically, New School often forgets the adage that just because you can engage a person asynchronously (not in real time) through email and texting, or synchronously (real time) through the phone, there are important conversations that should happen in person. This is my failing. I love my email. As a transactional attorney, I rely on email to get through the deals and transactions that stack up. Yet, a really Old School former boss demonstrated and convinced me through his effectiveness that if you really want to persuade the other side or a third party (e.g. a government official) to come around to your position, you need to have that conversation "eye ball to eye ball." It is much more difficult to say "no" to a person when they are looking at you or when they do not have a personal relationship with you. I know that first hand every time my daughter is able to get her way through her facial expressions.

I cannot sit here and write a perfect guide as to when you should meet an opponent or third party in person, over the phone, or through email. Yet, young professionals need to be cognizant of both the practical limitations of technology as well as its philosophical limitations.