Essential Strategies for Staying Relevant and Growing Your Profile as a Professional
As a legal professional, staying top-of-mind in your respective industry is essential for long-term success. Building an impressive profile can have a significant impact on the growth and trajectory of your career. For many legal professionals, the challenge lies in finding ways to stay relevant, build their profile, and remain competitive in a crowded marketplace. Fortunately, with modern technology and the right strategies, it is possible to build an impressive online presence that will help you stay ahead of the competition.
Heather Barnhouse, a partner at Dentons Canada LLP, was kind enough to join us on our podcast to talk about her background and some of the ways she has built and kept a successful law practice. Furthermore, she shares with us how she leverages podcasting as her go-to digital content medium to uncover new opportunities and establish new client relationships.
Some key takeaways from Heather’s advice
Focus
The success of any legal practice hinges on the ability to hone in on a specific focus area. Establishing yourself as an expert in a subject matter can help you build a successful law practice, or even expand your existing one. Focusing your energies on one particular field of law and gaining expertise can open new doors for a legal practice – and bring more clients through them.
Understanding your client’s business and industry
Understanding clients and the environments in which they operate is crucial for the success of any legal practice. To achieve this, it is important to be fully immersed in the ecosystem that your clients are in. This means familiarizing yourself with the business norms and expectations of clients as well as gaining an understanding of their main challenges and goals. You should also be aware of economic conditions, which may affect their day-to-day operations. Knowing these things will help you advise your client more skillfully and develop a solid rapport based on mutual respect and trust. A thorough understanding of your client's industry will also enable you to foresee potential problems before they arise and give you the means to shield them from any risks that may be brought on by those problems.
Communicating your value proposition
It takes both technical and interpersonal skills to succeed in the demanding and challenging field of law. Knowing the law is not enough to build a successful law practice; lawyers also need to be able to articulate their value proposition to clients. This requires knowing not only the services you provide but also the advantages they have for potential clients. Once you have identified the benefits and advantages, you need to develop your marketing material to convey the benefits to your clients rather than focusing too much on your firm and your services.
Business development
Building a successful legal practice requires more than just having legal skills. It also involves having the right mindset and implementing new business development strategies to stay ahead of the competition. No longer are the days of just shaking hands, taking pictures and kissing babies (AKA: networking), enough for professionals to rely on as their business development strategy. With so many tools and technology advancements, professionals need to leverage them to think outside the box when it comes to building their practice.
Podcasting is one such strategy that can help lawyers create an online presence, engage with their target audience, and expand their network. For example, creating a podcast about interesting cases you’ve handled or giving advice on common legal issues can help potential clients learn more about your knowledge and expertise in the field of law. Additionally, by networking with other professionals in your industry, you can gain referrals while also gaining valuable insight into what other successful lawyers are doing to build their practices.
By embracing new strategies such as creating a podcast for your law practice, you’ll be able to take advantage of the latest trends in business development and increase your chances of success.
