legal sanity

Lots of people theorize about a philosopher’s stone for converting loose connections into a golden resource network of referral sources, prospects and clients.

I don’t believe that there’s one sure way for lawyers to build an effective network. Like any relationship-building endeavor, however, networking requires an element of mutuality - a healthy combination of giving and receiving that’s organic and not contrived.

Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch offers his take on organic networking in a post that asks: Are There Holes In Your Network? Jantsch notes that our clients often come to rely on us for more than the scope of [our] products or services.” They trust us to point them to other reliable resources – plumbers, educators, realtors and the like. So, it’s well worth our time to “build up a network of superstars all for the benefit or [our] customers.” There’s mutual benefit to gain here. As Jantsch points out, “a funny thing will happen on the way to building your network - you will begin to receive referrals from your new partners.”

Judging from the new content initiatives at his blog, Kevin O’Keefe understands this organic aspect of network development. Kevin’s company, LexBlog, builds blogs for lawyers (I was one of LexBlog’s first clients and my blog production partner, Lori Herz, is about to launch her own business site on a LexBlog platform). Kevin’s blog now features highlights from client blogs as well as client interviews, including this one conducted with Lori and me.

Of course, you could claim that this is all just clever marketing. It is. But, it also creates and fortifies a natural web of connections linking LexBlog and its:

• Blog audience

• Current clients

• Prospects

• Referral sources