At some point during our lifetime the path to a successful career morphed into a maze of complex twists and turns and only those with GPS or a helium balloon on a long string had a fighting chance of succeeding or being rescued.

In our effort to keep up and use available technologies, position ourselves among many competitors for new work, stay abreast of changes in law, provide current clients with due care and advice we’re at risk of forgetting the very basics. Whether you’re an associate, partner, managing partner or you hold another leadership position within the firm, it’s good to review business essentials every now and then. Some of them you probably already know, and some you may be doing — but forgetting why.  

 What would you tell your younger self about practicing law, working with others and creating a successful practice?

 The first of a five-part series, the following 10 tips are the tenets of business that will consistently serve us well. They will help ground us, connect us with others and help to pull us around the corner to recovery from the global downturn.

 Here are your first 10 tips:

 1. You are running a business.

You are a service-provider and clients should always get great service from anyone who answers the phone, sends a package, e-mails an opinion, or duplicates documents. Every member of your firm should be trained to service the client and it’s imperative the firm’s leaders and partners embody this attitude as an example to all.

 2. Everyone’s a prospective client.

Treat everyone as if they are about to refer you new work. Anyone who is connected to the firm in any way will form an opinion of you that they will share when asked. This includes opposing counsel, the photocopy repair-person, the caterer, candidates interviewing for a position and anyone you hand a business card to.

 3. Empower your team.

Every member of your firm can make an important contribution to the firm and its clients. Ensure each person understands their role and give them the authority to fulfill their responsibility, plus a little bit more.

 4. Communicate with care.

Take time to understand how your messages are received, regardless of whether the recipient is a client, colleague or staff member. Consider your tone of voice, body language or choice of words and whether they will be received in the manner in which you intend.

 5. Always row together.

You’re all in this together, only to differing degrees. Some are partners, some are not, but you’re all working for the firm’s clients in one capacity or another. Coordinate your efforts so you’re headed in the same direction. For instance, if you’re a small firm providing personal legal services, train everyone to note and celebrate clients’ personal milestones – a graduation, a birth, a house move, etc.

 6. Get good people.

Elevate yourself with the company you keep. Hire the best and brightest you can and position them in the best spots in your firm. Tap into their strengths and let them shine. Provide for ongoing professional development, rewards and recognition.

7. Relationships matter – inside and out.

Build strong relationships with everyone inside and outside your firm.  Do this by returning e-mails, phone calls and other enquiries promptly. Ask your assistant to help you during your busiest times, but do acknowledge those who have taken their time to reach out to you. This demonstrates your respect of others and will reflect well on you and your firm.

 8. Be kind.

People might forget what you said or did, but they won’t forget how you made them feel. Listen carefully, be sensitive and understand what others might need from you.

 9. Never stand still.

Whether you’re in an internal meeting or speaking with a client or prospect, ask “Shall we go ahead, then?”, or “What’s our next step?”  Keep your practice and your firm moving forward by making advancements. Even a small step counts.

 10. Sneak up.

Keep your assistant on side and recognize loyalty and good work. Surprise your assistant with a weekly latte, the occasional gift ‘just because’ or a thank you card with a handwritten note of why you value their contribution. Extend this approach to anyone who helps your clients, makes you look good or makes your job easier. You will be rewarded many times over for these small gestures.

Consider your sources of work. Files can come from down the hall or from across the street (or some claim it can fall from the clear blue sky).  And because you’ll likely share an elevator each morning with a potential “client”, let’s consider your “internal” market first. 

1. If you’re an associate, most work will initially come from within the firm. Develop a reputation as a keener: someone who demonstrates reliability, initiative, resourcefulness and independence. Get on committees, attend firm functions, arrive at meetings punctually and prepared and always meet (or beat) deadlines. 

2. Get a mentor.  Attach yourself to a (willing) partner.  Choose someone who has plenty of work that’s of interest to you, is well-connected and respected throughout the firm.  Ask to be included on a non-billable basis in client meetings, lunches, signings, court appearances – as a keener you can add value. 

3. Get to know all the partners.  Lunch, meet, interview.  Ask questions and target each as a potential source of work.  Ask if they need help and only turn down work if you can’t possibly meet the deadline. 

4. Maintain regular contact with the leaders of your firm. Stay in regular touch with your managing partner, practice group leaders, and marketing partner. Do so with a healthy degree of respect for their time and you will advance your position among this influential group. 

5. The staff and administration can also propel you to success. The librarian, as one example, is often on the pulse of active files and is a great person to get on-side. 

Now that you’re en route to developing a positive reputation inside the firm, take your marketing to the street. 

6. Join an organization of interest; one that can lead to work. Read this twice: this is a long term endeavor. Good face to face rapport will ensure future mailings, e-mails, and phone calls will have more impact. 

7. Get curious about clients’ industries – skim just one or two of their publications, attend conferences, meetings and talk to the players (even if you have to unglue yourself from a wall to introduce yourself), and you will naturally fall into the fold. Soon you will be a contributor. 

8. Write a lot. Distill recent decisions, rework an opinion memorandum, co-author an article with a partner and get published on your firm’s website, in trade publications and online sources. 

9. Stash your business cards everywhere so you always have some on hand. Collect cards and value them. Create a database – even Outlook, Maximizer or Excel will do. Use the convenience of a database to keep in touch through events, newsletters, holiday cards, lunch, phone calls, etc.  

10. Develop five-star client service habits.  If you were a client, how would you want your lawyer to handle your matter? Engage your assistant’s help and together create an impressive client service experience model that is activated for every client. 

Before you know it, you’ll need to make note of the transactions, closings and decisions that you’ve worked on.  Your work history is akin to your inventory, so to speak – keep a running index so you can trot it out when a client asks if “you’ve worked on this sort of thing before.” 

Limit your trans fats, get plenty of sleep and you’re well on your way to a productive 2010.

 The sole purpose of a brand comes down to its power to influence purchasing behaviour of one product or service over another. It stimulates an emotional response.  A brand name on a website, product packaging or a document is different than a brand name in the mind. The space a brand occupies in the minds of its current or prospective buyers is where expensive battles are fought.

 A brand is a promise. Back when cowboys branded their cattle, it was their mark or “brand” that identified a promise of quality that buyers could depend on. It distinguished their cattle from all the others on the range. Branding has come a long way.

Today a successful brand captures the essence of a company (or person) and connects you in the hearts and minds of current and prospective customers and clients. It says, “You’ll feel this way when you consider us or use our products or services.” It tells us what to expect every time we encounter this brand.

Essential to the success of a brand is consistency. Right about here we’d see pictures of Tiger winning yet another tournament. Repetition of these experiences reinforces the brand and gives us comfort of predictability. Here we might see pictures of him with his wife and kids. Familiarity breeds comfort and that leads to sales, or billings.

Successful companies are the most concerned about their brand and the experiences of their customers and clients.  Starbucks insists we let them know if our coffee isn’t just right. They want the opportunity to correct the experience and align it tightly with the brand. 

Tiger Woods is a brand unto himself. Of course Tiger is a person, not a coffee or a product or service, and this is where the authenticity of a person’s character must be sustainable, otherwise the brand is merely fictional.  

He’s created – or projected – an image of wholesomeness and discipline, a family man who revered his father and is himself a devoted family man.  This is what we believed and what was reinforced time and again. The brand and what we’ve come to expect from all things Tiger Woods, no longer exists. It’s gone and, as it was projected, will never exist again. 

As a brand, Tiger Woods represents something completely different now. His name and brand conjures up a different impression – one that’s negative and not likely to propel sales. The larger-than-life Tiger Woods brand has disintegrated before our eyes and I wouldn’t want his likeness near my clients.

It left me wondering if the rate of participation is increasing faster than anticipated. Steve shared a fascinating stat that by 2013 — just 3 1/2 years from now — 93% of adults over 18 years old will be regular social network users (Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000566). Whereas right now, as Steve reported, the median age of a Twitter user is 31, a Facebook user is 26 and LinkedIn user is 40 (Source: http://www.facebook.com; linkedin.com; hubspot.com; pewinternet.org).

What we didn’t ask our audience is whether their use in social media is regular.  I suspect that many people are creating a vanity page (with Facebook or LinkedIn), ticking that box and going back to work. There may be limited active participation, but at least they’ve dipped their toe in and that’s a good start. But clearly, this playground isn’t just for kids anymore. We are a bit slower on the uptake, but we’re gaining ground… and quickly if our recent sample is any indication.

Clients of tomorrow are using social media today. The “wired” generation will not only look online for information about you and your services, they’ll also get to know you online and decide whether they want to engage you. Professionals who come out from behind their bio will do well if they follow my three golden rules: be relevant, be timely and be helpful.

Relevancy will keep your audience returning to read your content time and again, but keep on topic and the more defined a subject matter, the better. Niche is critical here.  A lawyer with a general practice is going to have a tough time keeping their audience from wandering.

In order to be relevant, we need to be timely. Back in the day faxing was the most effective way to disseminate news to clients and contacts. About 15 years ago, working at my first law firm, I would race other firms to be the first to get a bulletin out to clients on the latest hot topic or decision. I knew there was value in clients learning from us first. Now we see people twittering news in real time, so it’s nearly impossible to be first anymore, but we can still be timely. As publishers we want our readers to rely on us for relevant information at the right time – whether instantly through twitter, or within the week on a blog, proving more indepth discussion.

And in order to create meaningful, genuine connections with people, we ought to strive to be helpful.  By demonstrating an interest in your clients you will naturally create important relationships. Helpfulness comes in a variety of forms, but I’m referring to the non-billable type here. It could involve reviewing someone’s resume who is outbound from their company or connecting two people who could do business together or any number of other ways that will have a positive impact on your client.

We are beginning to understand that all things being equal, clients will often make decisions about where to send work based on their emotional connection to you. How you make someone feel will have a significant impact on the success of your practice. 

So, come out from behind your bio. You’ll be glad you did.

So, after much belly-aching, razing from my colleagues and some civilized discussion over the years about starting a blog, here we go. I’m sure to make a gazillion mistakes (by the way, why isn’t my spell checker working?), so I’ll ask for your forgiveness right up front. I’m also hopeful that my fellow bloggers and other esteemed colleagues will humour me as I head out full steam ahead with both hands on the steering wheel careening through some of my favourite topics.

And do post a comment. Otherwise, this is just a monologue.