Do you think your clients and prospects and professional contacts see you as friendly, open, and easy to talk to, or relatively impersonal or distant?
It makes a difference.
You don’t have to be everyone’s best friend, but the more likable and approachable you appear, the more likely it is that you will be approached.
You’ll get more prospects inquiring about your services, asking questions, making an appointment, and hiring you. You’ll get more people signing up for your newsletter, following you on social, and telling others about you.
When people meet you, read your newsletter or articles or your posts on social (by you or by others about you), when they read the “About” page on your website or your clients’ reviews, what do they think about you?
When you’re not in the room, how do you suppose they describe you?
Image is fundamental to the success of a professional because, to a great extent, it determines how comfortable people are about approaching and hiring you.
So, how do you appear to be approachable, especially if this doesn’t come naturally to you?
The simplest way to do it is to use a conversational tone in your writing, presentations, and conversations.
Don’t write in the third person or formally. Loosen up. Write (and speak) simply and plainly, as though you were speaking to a friend.
Well, almost. There is such a thing as being too informal, sharing too much personal information, and appearing less than professional.
Be professional, but friendly.
Get readers involved in the conversation. Ask what they think, what they have done, or what they want to know.
And don’t make everything about you. Tell stories about people you’ve helped, not just the outcomes but some of the process, so readers can see what it would be like working with you.
And smile. In your photos and in person.
Show the world you are approachable by showing them you are a real person, a nice one at that. The kind of person they would like to know even if they weren’t looking for an attorney.
