You need to make yourself indispensable at your job.

In case you hadn’t heard, the legal job market’s still hurting. Barely half of all 2012 grads have long-term, full-time legal jobs. Yikes. You mean you didn’t go to law school so you could ask someone if they wanted whipped cream on that Frappuccino?

But no matter the cause to the glut of legal grads these days (which has been the subject of many other articles), if you’re already out there with a JD Sheepskin and one of the coveted law jobs, you’re probably past the point of caring why it’s happening. Instead, you’re probably wanting to make sure you keep that job — or if you’re a solo make sure you keep the lights on.

In order to keep your job, you need to make sure your firm has clients. Take an active role and start building your own book of business. I want to share some things that have worked for my neighborhood practice.

And I promise at the end, I’ll tell you what the picture at the top of this post is about.

Say “Hello” to Everyone

Think about how many people you walk by on any given day without even looking up from your smartphone because you’re updating your Facebook status. Every one of those people is a potential future client, and you’re busy with cat pictures.

The handsome young couple down the corner, One-Eyed-Nick, Crazy Cat Lady, or even just your Friendly Neighborhood Postman — just say “Hello!” You’ll catch people off guard. You might even strike up a brief conversation. But more than that, these folks will begin to recognize you. While you might start off as “that weird guy who says ‘Hi’” every day”, over time you become “that criminal defense lawyer whose office is around the corner.” Which brings me to my next point.

Carry Business Cards Everywhere and Pass Them Out to Everyone

I have been to several lawyer networking events recently, and I have been flabbergasted when I ask another lawyer for his card, and they don’t have any. Naturally, I immediately forget who these lawyers are.

Your wallet or purse should always have at least 5-10 business cards in it at any given time. Any time you meet someone new, you should be sure to 1) let them know what you are a lawyer; and 2) give them your card.

Of couse, there’s a certain amount of social grace and tact required when doing this (e.g., don’t shout “I’M A LAWYER!” and throw a handful of cards into a crowded room). But if you do it right, each person you strike up a conversation with leaves with three things: 1) a good impression of you; 2) knowing that you’re a lawyer; and 3) your card with your contact information.

And don’t cheap out on business cards, either. A cheap business card is like a limp handshake. Use high quality stock, and find a designer instead of using the generic instantly-recognizable templates available on so many cheap-as-free business card websites which-shall-not-be-named-but-I-am-pretty-sure-you-know-what-I-am-talking-about.

Wear a Suit Everyday

You’re a professional. Dress like one. I’ve found that just by walking around my neighborhood in a suit, I’ve had people approach me and ask if I was a lawyer. (I’ve also had people call me Peter Parker and Clark Kent. Heck, I’ll take it.) I understand that maybe a full business getup isn’t always the favorite attire of folks these days, but as I see it, by dressing like professional, you’re communicating success. And what client wouldn’t want to go to a successful lawyer?

With this tip, I have anecdote, told to me by one of the most successful trial lawyers in Pennsylvania. This particular lawyer has floor seats for our local basketball team, and wears a suit to every. single. game. While enjoying the game one night, this lawyer was approached by another person at the game, who said: “you look like a lawyer. Are you a lawyer?” Naturally, the lawyer answered “Yes”, and struck up a conversation. The result of this conversation was a new client with an excellent case for that lawyer. All because he wore a suit to a basketball game.

And this works. While I’m not a sports fan, I do wear a suit to the local watering holes when I play bar trivia. Often, I’m the only guy there in a suit. And I’ve had that same conversation. And I’ve gotten clients. All because I looked like a lawyer.

Oh, don’t forget to keep your pockets stocked with business cards.

Join a Non-Profit Board or Local Civic Association

Forget BNI or other sorts of formal networking events. You want to meet people and build your client base? Do it organically  by getting your face out there through work with local organizations.

Find a local non-profit who does work that interests you and reach out to them about joining their board of directors. You live in an area with a civic or neighborhood association? Join it, and get involved in leadership. Why? First, it’s good work that needs to be done. Second, you’ll be joining the ranks of civc-minded successful folks. It’s helpful to know successful people.

Don’t expect direct business from other board members immediately — it won’t happen. But over time, you’ll get to know these folks better and better, and then you’ll get to know other folks in their social circles, and maybe someday one of them will need a lawyer. Get it?

By joining these organizations, you’ll also get to know some of the most-respected and well-connected people in your community. These are good people to know, as they’re prime referral sources.

In my first year of practice, I joined the board of directors of a local theater, was elected Chair of the Zoning Committee of my local civic association, joined the neighborhood business association, served as a class representative to my school’s alumni network, and helped form a neighborhood crime watch. I have spent hundreds of unpaid hours building relationships with the folks in these organizations. But you know what? The connections I’ve made are priceless, and will pay off for years to come. Also, as a result of my work with non-profits, I got to be on The People’s Court. Which is a good story to tell over lunch. Speaking of which…

Don’t Eat Lunch at Your Desk Every Day

As the inimitable Brian Tannebaum says:

Eating tuna sandwiches at your desk is a quick road to nothing. Lawyers who pride themselves in “never” going out to lunch are the same insufferable bastards that “never” go on vacation, but need to. … Go out to lunch. Meet someone. Develop a relationship outside your online world. There’s no one to impress in the office.

You know what’s in your office? Four walls, a desk, a computer, a window (if you’re lucky), and you with your tuna breath. Blecch.

You know what isn’t there? Potential clients.

Budget money to go out to lunch a few times a month — even if it’s only to the burger shack on the corner. Introduce yourself to the owner of the joint. Wear a suit. Pass out cards. And guess what? You’ll get calls.

Join Lawyer Associations

Meeting other lawyer means 1) you get to be known in the legal community; 2) you find potential referral sources; 3) you find lawyers to whom you feel comfortable referring cases you don’t handle.

Have an interest in Maritime Law? Join your local bar association’s Maritime committee. Meet other lawyers of the sea. Find criminal defense particularly fascinating? Join NaCDL or your state’s equivalent.

Bonus: as you meet attorneys with more knowledge and practical experience than you, and you keep seeing them around, you build relationships with them and can end up with mentors. Through my attorney associations, I’ve now gained several mentors whom I can call when I have procedural question, need a sample motion, or simply want to know a bit about the judge I’m in front of next week.

Do Good Work, Well

Sure, this has been discussed plenty before, but it’s always worth mentioning. All of the above advice is useless unless you’re someone other people can trust to handle their matters or referrals.

But Do Fun Stuff Too

At the beginning of this piece, I promised I’d tell you what the picture at the top of this piece was all about

Well, that’s me and Jordan at our neighborhood association’s chili cook off last year. We’ve done it two years in a row, now. Yes, I’m wearing a Screw Ewe tie. Yes, Jordan’s wearing a cheesesteak hat.

This year, we suited up and handed out our “Occupy Chili” to hundreds of hungry neighbors, reporters, and local celebrities. We stocked our table not only with delicious chili, but promotional materials and business cards. Did we get any direct clients out of it? Not yet. But I gave out a box of business cards, met scores of people, and had a great time while doing it.

Now get out of your office and start building your book of business. Or go hang out on JD Underground or a scamblog. Whichever you think will get you more clients.

Building your Book of Business – Not Just for Partners is a post from Lawyerist.com

A: A central point of contention between people who think online marketing (read: social media) is worthwhile for lawyers who want to get clients and those who think it is a waste of time is this question: Is there a critical mass of good-quality clients online, and are they ready and willing to hire you if you market yourself online?

In other words, if you go all-in with online marketing, could you get the kind of business you hope for in your wildest dreams?

Let me just start this out by saying I don’t know. I don’t know because I am not a marketing expert (or ninja, whatever). I think I know a few things about what can work for marketing a law practice, online and offline, but I don’t know whether they will work for your practice. Marketing is never a cookie-cutter exercise, and nobody has a one-size-fits-all Answer to the problem of marketing your law firm successfully. If they say they do, do not give them your money.

So, with that disclaimer in mind,

Are there good clients online?

Of course there are good clients online. There are good clients everywhere. You can get good clients by sending out Monday-morning letters to everyone who wound up in jail over the weekend (and you can even target the crimes you prefer to handle). You can get good clients by pinning your business card to the coffee shop bulletin board.

That’s not really the question, though. If you post your business card in coffee shops, you are likely to get dozens of manila folders full of crazy for every actual potential client you talk to. If you sent out Monday-morning letters, you will waste a lot of time licking stamps (or hiring someone to do it for you) for every potential client contact.

Online marketing often results in the same thing. In general, you have to talk to a lot of tire-kickers, free-advice seekers, and crazy people for every legitimate client. I think that’s because many lawyers approach marketing strategy from the wrong end. The important question is where you will find high concentrations of people who resemble your ideal client, or who are likely to be able to refer people to you who resemble your ideal client.

But many lawyers just want to know whether they should be doing online marketing, as if that were a separate thing from plain old marketing. There is no such thing as online marketing; there is just marketing, and there are a lot of ways to do it. You don’t need to be doing it in any particular way, just in the ways that work best for you and your practice.

Think of the last social media seminar you sat through. Did the presenter start by talking about how Facebook is the second-biggest country in the world or how many tweets there are every day? How many of those Facebookers or tweeters are likely to be potential clients for your practice? How many of those people are interested in engaging with a lawyer (in “lawyer mode”) online, and likely to hire that lawyer as a result of that engagement? How many of those will make decent clients? I don’t know, but I bet we’ve turned that third-largest country in the world into a suburban cul-de-sac.

That’s why the question is not whether it makes sense to market your practice online or use social media. The question is what form of marketing will be most effective for your firm.

Effectively marketing your firm

In other words, where are you better off spending your time if want to make money?

One of the most-glaring problems with the way lawyers (and lots of other people) think of online marketing is confusing results with other, buzzword-y metrics. For example, none of the following are meaningfully related to your firm getting more clients:

• likes
• followers
• connections
• engagement
• pageviews
• unique visitors
• ranking well in Google (as a generic statement, anyway)

Those terms are tangentially-related to your firm getting more clients, at best. In order to make those terms meaningful, you need a lot more information. Who is liking or following you and your firm on Twitter and Facebook, or finding your website in search results? How many of them follow up by contacting you? How many of those turn into clients? Do those who become clients pay their bills? In other words, how profitable, overall, are the clients you acquire from each source, whether it is Twitter or traditional networking?

Those are the same kinds of questions you need to know about offline referrals in order to know what marketing activity will be most effective.

So, experiment!

There is only one way to find out what kinds of marketing will be the most effective for you: experiment, track the results, compare them to your other experiments, and experiment again. That is the only way to find out what works for your practice.

What experiments should you try? No matter what, start by building a strong network, adding online networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to keep tabs on people if you want to. Then, branch out and try other things.

The best way to figure out what sorts of things to try is to talk to your current and former clients. Ask them how they learned they needed a lawyer and what they did to find one before they found you. Ask them what sorts of things they found when they did those things. You should start to get some ideas of ways to intercept clients earlier in their search for a lawyer.

Your best clients are also probably your best source of marketing ideas. And if they are happy clients, they will be happy to help. Try out your ideas on them. Would they be likely to look for a lawyer on Facebook? How would they go about it? Did they try a self-help book or are they members of a group for which you could teach seminars? Keep your mind open and leverage the collective wisdom of your clients.

You can also get ideas from other lawyers with similar practices, although you should always ask those lawyers how they know what works. Few lawyers take the time to track their results. If they do, give their recommendations greater weight.

For everything you try, take the time to learn to do it right. Google AdWords can be cheap and highly effective, or it can be a huge waste of money. It all depends on how you use it (and whether it makes sense for your practice, of course). The same goes for every other kind of marketing. The guy who shows up to Networking events with a stack of business cards will get nothing out of it. Don’t be that guy. If you’re going to try using Facebook to get clients (which you should probably wait to try until you’ve already got a healthy book of business from other sources), take the time to learn what’s supposed to work.

Then, go ahead and experiment, track your results, assess your results, and experiment again.

Q: Are There Good Clients Online? is a post from Lawyerist.com

At PandoDaily, B.J. Mendelson (author of Social Media is Bullshit, natch) pokes holes in the myth of social media ROI (that’s “return on investment” if you don’t speak marketing-ese). It’s not that social media ROI doesn’t exist; it’s just not what you think. When social media does pay off, it’s usually not the result of hitting the organic social media viral jackpot. It’s usually the result of hard work and lots of money, just like regular marketing.

But what about those famous social media success stories — the from-out-of-nowhere viral blockbusters? Mendelson breaks a couple down. Let’s take PSY.

If you’re like me, PSY’s “Gangnam Style” video seemed truly viral, a sensation that came from nowhere to take the Internet by storm. The truth, according to Mendelson, is that the success of “Gangnam Style” was deliberately engineered at great cost. PSY was promoted (through non-social-media ads) at Dodger Stadium a month before the song came out. He — or rather his big label’s marketing team — bought pageviews and comments to trick YouTube’s algorithm. He manipulated the system to buy his own virality, which only kicked in once big websites picked it up to bring the pageviews. Here’s Mendelson:

Stuff doesn’t “go viral” because people are sharing it, stuff often “goes viral” because of companies like College Humor, Buzzfeed, Uproxx, AOL, and others that latch onto videos and content they think will bring them page views; then they all post about it so as not to lose out on potential page views.

The point, according to Mendelson, is that social media is just marketing. It takes time, money, and strategy. There are few organic viral successes.

Social media gurus, ninjas, rock stars, and Jedi are selling a myth: that by paying them a little (or a lot of) money and crossing your fingers, you can be the next Old Spice guy or PSY. It’s just not true. Or, at least, it’s extremely unlikely. Most social media hits happen because expensive (often, talented) teams of marketing professionals make them happen. 99% of the social media “rock stars” marketing themselves to lawyers are just washed-up lawyers or mommy/daddy bloggers looking to pull in some extra cash from a pool of Luddite suckers.

(There’s nothing wrong with being a washed-up lawyer, by the way. There is something wrong with trumpeting your law degree as if it somehow validates your new career as a social media marketing ninja.)

What’s more, as a lawyer, I don’t think PSY or Old Spice are a valid model for success. You aren’t selling K-pop or men’s deodorant, after all. Law firms seeing any kind of ROI from social media are seeing it because they are willing to invest a significant amount of time and effort.

If you want to use social media, do. It’s great fun, and occasionally quite satisfying. It can even be a valid way to market legal services. Just don’t expect miracles if you aren’t willing to pay for them.

Update: Here’s a video of Mendelson on a panel debating the bullshittiness of social media with a couple of social media marketers:

(image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewm/3016076295/)

Debunking Some of the Social Media BS [UPDATED] is a post from Lawyerist.com

Did you catch this one? As reported by Central Florida News 13:

You’ve seen him on commercials saying he’s “For the People.” Now, Orlando attorney John Morgan is “For Tim Tebow.”

Morgan’s law firm Morgan and Morgan released an ad on the firm’s official YouTube account. In it, Morgan makes a case for the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign the former Denver Broncos and New York Jets quarterback.

The ad will reportedly play on TV and radio in the Jacksonville area.

So, why is Morgan doing all of this?

John Morgan’s son says they’re not just big fans, they love the guy.

Here’s the actual ad:

Morgan has also offered to:

I will pay $25/seat & take down the tarp so all kids who can’t afford it see an @nfl game. #Jaguars #Tebow

— John Morgan (@JohnMorganESQ) May 10, 2013

To be clear, I don’t know anyone at Morgan & Morgan. And I have no reason to doubt that they’re in love with Tim Tebow. But if you believe that their “For Tim Tebow” campaign was done solely out of love, then I suggest that you’re naive.

I’m not posting this to persuade you to dump millions into television advertising. Instead, I’m curious what Lawyerist readers think about advertising like this.

In terms of solely generating publicity, there’s little question that this campaign was brilliant. From a quick Google search, you can see that the story was picked up by a variety of local news stations, SB Nation, DeadSpin and even ESPN. In fact, I found out about this from ESPN’s First Take.

So, in terms of generating publicity, Morgan has people across the country talking about him and his firm both online and offline.

But does this “buzz” have value? And if it does, does the value outweigh the costs and risks?

Doesn’t it sort of feel like:

“I don’t care what they say about me as long as they spell my name right.” (P.T. Barnum) And, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is NOT being talked about.” (Oscar Wilde) And finally, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.” (Brendan Behan)

Attention for attention’s sake?

And speaking about online, it went viral. Plus, if you’re into the “SEO thing,” they’re sending a lot of “popularity signals” to search engines including links, mentions, social shares, etc, from a variety of authoritative sources. Which are helping to propel him to the top of a variety of search results for both branded and unbranded search queries.

Perhaps you find stunts like this tacky. Maybe even offensive. If so, I’d like to hear why. After all, I think we can agree that there are far-more tacky, tasteless and offensive attorney advertising campaigns. But there doesn’t seem to be anything to suggest that this violates attorney advertising regulation. From what I can tell, the only “communications about a lawyer’s services” that are contained in the ad are the firm’s name, slogan, website and phone number. Seems to pass muster even under Florida’s restrictive attorney advertising rules.

But do you think it contributes to the race to the bottom?

Of course, there are a variety of potential risks in publicly endorsing anyone, especially someone like Tim Tebow, who some might associate with a particular set of religious values, political views, etc. And then there’s the risk of disenfranchising potential clients that simply think Tebow would be bad for the Jaguars.

My guess is that most of you will think that generating this kind of publicity is largely a waste of time and money. After all, your clients don’t find you like this. But for the plaintiffs attorneys and high-volume practice folks, what do you think? Have you ever tried generating publicity like this? Did it “work?”

Tim Tebowing for Clients Publicity is a post from Lawyerist.com

Recently, I was talking to a lawyer about the ideal mix of business with pleasure, in the context of successful business development. This attorney observed that a lawyer in his firm with lots of clients seemed to devote most of his life to his practice. All of this successful lawyer’s social and community activities revolved around clients or potential clients. His personal life was hardly separate from his work life.

This lawyer I was speaking with wondered if he should take the same approach. Should he be marketing 24/7? I hate to sound like a lawyer, but the answer is both yes and no. First, I’ll provide the “yes” answer. Then, I’ll provide the “no” answer.

Mixing business with pleasure is necessary

Think of the most successful lawyers you know at your law firm, or in your practice area or community. The most successful lawyers tend to live and breathe work. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are workaholics: some are and some aren’t. What they all share in common is that all of their outside activities seem to be work-related, even though the primary purpose of the activity may not be. They regularly mix business with pleasure.

One of the more familiar examples of mixing business with pleasure is to purposefully take a vacation with the spouse and kids to a location where a client lives. Some take it a bit further. The spouse plans where to go, but the lawyer is able to find someone at this location with whom to schedule at least one breakfast or lunch with a work-related purpose. This is a win/win. Good for business development, as well as a possible tax deduction for your vacation.

A less-familiar example of mixing business with pleasure is the lawyer who attends the wedding of a relative and makes one or two contacts at the reception that could prove to be beneficial months or years down the road. Mind you, these lawyers don’t attend the wedding thinking, “I’m taking a dozen business cards tonight and will work the room until they are gone.” Rather, they routinely introduce themselves to strangers and show genuine interest in the people they meet. Inevitably, some of the conversations become work-related and, well, you know the rest.

Mixing business with pleasure is not necessary

Whenever I share the above examples of mixing business with pleasure with other attorneys, the usual reaction is, “Huh? You mean I can’t turn it off on vacations?” or “Give me a break. Are you saying I should be marketing at weddings and bar mitzvahs?” I usually respond that I don’t think you need to market 24/7 in order to be successful. It’s okay to have some boundaries as long as you devote a reasonable amount of time overall to business development activities.

But then I ask, “How successful do you want to be?” If you have the type of personality that doesn’t mind mixing pleasure with business (and a family that can tolerate this tendency), why not? Many of these efforts are long shots. But, if you play enough races, long shots do come in. Meeting people at a specific wedding will rarely lead to business, but a pattern of meeting people at all of the events you attend will eventually pay off.

Mixing business with pleasure: Do what you want

If you develop a personal marketing plan and execute it well, you’ll do fine at business development. Go ahead and turn off your marketing personality whenever you want. Mixing business with pleasure is not required. But it can work. Consistently mixing business with pleasure can lead to great results. In either case, you’ll still be a success.

(image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/galateadia/5417293555/)

The Perfect Marketing Mix: Business and Pleasure is a post from Lawyerist.com