Career Development

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Melanie Lippman is a New York-based image consultant and personal stylist. She works with attorneys to stop the stress and overwhelm of getting dressed that holds women back from achieving next-level visibility. She defines their personal brand style in a way that makes clients instantly recognizable, memorable and seen as a leader.⁣ Melanie feels that when you are confident about how you present yourself, you can show up and conquer anything the day brings.

I found Melanie on LinkedIn and thought her posts were terrific. I highly recommend that you connect with her there. Also check out her web site. Learn more about Melanie and her career path.

In this installment of Women Who Wow, learn more about Suzanne Koch, the Director of Engagement Solutions at Fulcrum GT. Suzanne is an experienced legal finance and financial systems technology strategist.

I met Suzanne at the LMA P3 Conference a few years ago when she came to a social media program that I gave. We then sat together at a group lunch, and we had such a lovely conversation.  We’ve kept in touch through LinkedIn – of course! Another testament to how social media can help you build relationships long after you meet someone in-person who is from another part of the country.

I hope you enjoy getting to know Suzanne.

2021

We almost made it through 2020. What a blur. I hope you’ve been marketing yourself and your firm as this is not the year to take a break from marketing, business development and social media.

Even under the best circumstances, it’s incredibly important to ensure your current clients are happy and that you are consistently generating new sources of leads and referrals, as well as visibility.

With the pandemic still looming over our heads and the second wave upon us, this is the time to focus on your ongoing business development and branding efforts.

Here are 25 ideas on how to do that, which involves shifting your strategy from in-person networking and client entertaining to demonstrating client-care and empathy in all you do and having a strong online presence and thought leadership platform.

Relationships

No matter how brilliant a lawyer is, he/she is unlikely to steadily bring in business throughout their career solely through providing high-quality legal services.

In any relationship-driven business, the vast majority of work goes to those who not only do great work but who understand their clients’ businesses inside and out, make their clients look good both internally and externally, and are the kind of people with whom clients genuinely like working.

That being said, building relationships takes patience, persistence and a personal touch, which are skills that all of us can refine and polish.

I’ve put together tips for lawyers at any level focusing on cultivating and strengthening relationships (although they can be adapted to anyone in pretty much any field). I hope they inspire you (and lead to new clients)!