Do Something! Network: You never know where it might lead

Last week I had the pleasure of re-connecting with someone I met almost three years ago. We met only once, at a seminar, and I don't believe there was any follow up at the time. But Dean Mercado was reviewing his LinkedIn contacts and saw me connected to one of his connections, Mark Bullock. Dean emailed me to ask if we'd met, and we had coffee last week.

Dean is a marketing coach and consultant, specializing in internet marketing. Not only do I think that Dean could be a great connection and strategic alliance for me, but talking with him last week about my business got me re-energized about what I'm doing and the services I want to provide for my clients.

The moral of this story? Network - you never know where it might lead. Sure, social media and internet marketing is great. Without LinkedIn, Dean and I might not have re-connected. But the reason he remembered me - and contacted me - was because he remembered meeting me in person at the seminar several years ago, before Legal Ease Consulting became a reality.

While working and serving your clients is important and the internet has made it easy to 'connect' with people while sitting behind your desk, business is all about relationships, and the best way to create those relationships is to get out and meet people.

So, what are  you waiting for? You don't have to go to a 'networking group' or 'networking event.' Meet someone for coffee. Check in with a client or former client and see what's new in their business. Get involved in your community. Attend a seminar or CLE presentation. Join a gym. Have dinner with an old friend.

For more ideas about strategically marketing your practice, go to my website, LawyerMeltdown.com.

Comments

[Mark Bullock]

Allison - This is such an interesting topic for me right now, and as you know I'm good friends with Dean Mercado as well. He and my partner Vik Rajan got me to actually start engaging with LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc. after years of avoiding these sites because I was so busy physically meeting people, I didn't feel I had the time or that it was a valuable networking venue for me.

Fast forward a few weeks after signing up & engaging with these sites, I've re-connected with about 2 dozen influential friends/associates, gotten 2 new clients directly from those connections, and will be meeting with like a dozen of my newly re-found friends over the next couple of weeks, including you. Look for my upcoming blog post on social networking sites for the secret I discovered in this process! Thanks Allison!

Mark Bullock
Partner / Practice Marketing Advisor
www.PracticeMarketingBLOG.com
www.MBullock.com