Build Your Legal Practice

What do you hope to achieve in 2021? Have you set in place goals to turn hope into a plan?

If you want to retire and sell your law firm one day, you'll need a succession plan.

A lot of lawyer posts on LinkedIn have the character of Advertising. How can you make your posts more powerful?

What should you bring with you to a big conference, to make the most of the networking opportunities that it presents?

Teleconferences present challenges that are not present in face-to-face communication. What can you do to make the teleconference a good experience for all participants?

Develop the skills to build your practice - before they become critical.

To build profile in your chosen field, you need to publish a flow of articles. Here are some ways to repurpose an article you've already written.

If you're doing something you enjoy, you'll work harder and longer and be more successful. Here are some ways to choose a goal to work towards.

What are your aspirations for your legal practice or your career? Start by admitting them to yourself, the decide to go for it.

How to keep on coming up with ideas for articles.

Is there a difference between coaching and mentoring?

When you are preparing to give a presentation, how will you know if it will meet the needs of your audience?

When you write an article or give a presentation, who are you doing it for?

You don't get competitive advantage simply from buying something that is also available to your competitors.

What's the secret to staying on track with your goals and accomplish those things you wanted to achieve?

There is massive opportunity for lawyers to differentiate, build profile and attract clients through thought leadership activities

How to achieve a differentiation that is not just marketing spin

If you don't feel sufficiently confident of your expertise to offer yourself as a presenter, work on becoming an expert in something.

How to help your clients to write better testimonials

If you arrive at a networking event and don't know anyone there, how do you handle the situation?

Force up your learning curve by recognizing when opportunities are being offered.

The International Bar Association will hold a conference with the theme Innovation in Legal Practice, in Adelaide, Australia, on 17-19 February 2016.

Meal-time business meetings present a very good opportunity for networking. Make the most of these, by creating a pleasant atmosphere at the table.

Use the ordinary days, when nothing very exciting is happening, to work towards your goals.

It's easy to put off things we don't like doing. But procrastination never leads to a good place.

When what you say is going to be translated into another language, it takes an extra effort to ensure that your message is conveyed in the way you intend it.

Social media provides a wonderful opportunity for potential clients to find out what you are like, giving them the confidence to approach you.

The first step in setting goals for your legal practice is to specify what you want to achieve. But this is not as easy as it sounds.

When you are presenting, consider if there is anything about you that will make the audience curious. Will it distract them from what you are saying?

Should you start your presentation with a joke?

How to turn networking into business

Word of mouth is the most powerful form of promotion. But relying on doing a good job and word spreading is a slow way to build your practice.

Supplement your own original content with other people's material, but respect their intellectual property rights.

How to stay in control and maintain the good impression you've created with your presentation.

Learning by osmosis is too slow for modern law firms.

Why you should not literally "speak to your paper".

Advertising is only one form of promotion. You need to use a variety of methods that all work together.

To find time for practice develop, you must make time.

For every skill there has to be a first time. Grab the chance to practise and learn.

Is social media a time waster or an important strategic activity?

Many lawyers don't like delegating, despite knowing the benefits. Ask yourself: why?

Most of us, in our working lives, want to see a general upward trend. Don't entrust your career to inertia.

Internet communication has the character of conversation and calls for different skills from letter-writing.

To achieve your practice development goals, break them into bite-sized bits

When you meet someone for the first time at a networking event, you are unlikely to make an immediate sale of your legal services. It's more realistic to initiate a relationship on which you can build.

What do you want your legal practice to become? What do you need to do to turn that vision into a reality?

To accomplish big goals, you need smaller ones.