Congratulations and Next Steps

Congratulations!

Congratulations! You have completed the course, “DRM Business Development Basics”. I hope you found the content thought provoking and helpful. If you haven’t finished your personal business plan yet, I encourage you to set aside some time this week to work out a draft, and continually update it as you make progress on your goals.

Some closing tips:

• Schedule time every week to review your pipeline spreadsheet and set up meetings with business contacts, potential clients, referral sources, connectors and friends. This “contact work” is where you will identify opportunities to help others and open doors to new connections.
• Set objective goals and keep track of your progress. Remember the “rule of one” meeting per week as a benchmark.
• Focus on building a strategic network, both inside your organization and outside. Having a strong, reciprocal, active network will benefit you throughout your career.
• Be prepared to pivot your career direction, if needed. This current pandemic crisis and resultant recession has caused many partners and associates to pivot to a different legal area or industry segment in order to meet client needs and remain productive. Learn how to do this now, as you will need to pivot one or more times in your career.

Before you go, I would like to ask you to fill out a brief survey about this course. Please give us your feedback so that we can improve it for the next participant. You can access the survey here:

Resources

Hopefully I’ve left you wanting a little bit more information and resources on marketing and business development. I’ve curated a list of books that might be helpful:

Getting Clients:  For Lawyers Starting Out or Starting Over, Merrilyn Tarlton
This a short and very helpful manual on marketing and business development for lawyers. Reflects and expands on many of the topics covered in this course. Highly recommended.

The Ultimate Law Firm Associate’s Marketing Checklist, Ross Fishman
Great (and many) ideas for associates to build a network and a book of business. Very helpful resource.

Build Your Dream Network, J. Kelly Hoey
Written by a former legal marketing professional who leveraged her network for entrepreneurial success. Very practical advice on building a strategic network.