Social media marketing

Networking for lawyers who hate networking

August 6, 2026 by David M. Ward

I’m not a networker. Not naturally, anyway. And yet my practice and businesses grew significantly as a result of meeting new people.

Traditionally, networking meant going to meetings, shaking a lot of hands, making small talk and getting to know a lot of people, hoping someone might be interested in what you do.

It’s all about building a bigger list of contacts. And hoping you get lucky.

The good news is there is another option. You don’t need to go to a lot of meetings and shake a lot of hands. You don’t need a big network to be successful. You only need to connect with a few people.

If they’re the right people.

Call it Networking 2.0. Or, networking for people who hate networking.

What do I mean by “the right people”? I mean people who are influential in your niche or target market. They know a lot of people who might need your services, or can refer them.

The know a lot of the people you want to know and those people trust them.

Even one or two of the right people could help your practice blow up.

Okay, what do you do?

The first step is to identify them by “category”.

Ask yourself, “What kinds of people are already trusted by a large number of my ideal clients or prospects?”

You’ll probably come up with a list of professionals and business owners or executives, financial advisors, consultants, and others who regularly work with, advise, or sell to the people in your target market.

You might go through your client list and ask yourself who provided you with your last three referrals or introductions. What is their background, specialty, niche, or area of expertise?

Don’t limit yourself to professionals and business people, however. Some of your “regular” clients or contacts might be influential in your target market.

After you’ve identified some categories, the next step is to identify some “candidates”.

The first way to do that is to talk to your existing contacts and find out who they know. people who know you and your work. Tell them you want to expand your network and ask who they know who might be a good contact for you.

And then, ask if they will introduce you.

Yes, it can be that simple.

If they aren’t comfortable introducing you, or you’re not comfortable asking them to do it, tell them you’ll look up their contact info and ask if it’s okay for you to mention that you have a mutual connection.

How could they say no?

You can also find candidates yourself. Probably on social media. Yes, that’s harder to do because the “right people” don’t know you and are undoubtedly approached by an endless number of people who want to get to know them (and gain access to their network), so they’re skeptical and unlikely to help you anytime soon.

It will take some time and effort on your part. Even if you are introduced to them.

Okay, after you’ve identified some candidates, follow them, learn more about what they do and what they want, and when the time is right (don’t rush it), approach them.

Comment on one of their posts or on someone else’s post they replied to, mentioned, or shared.

Get on their radar and then provide value.

Value means helping them with ideas, information, introductions, endorsements, referrals, ratings and reviews, and your opinion on things that appear to be important to them.

Value means promoting their event, sharing their content, telling them about resources you’ve discovered that could benefit them or their clients, and possibly offering assistance with something they might need or want.

Again, don’t rush. Don’t do it immediately after you follow them. First, show them you appreciate what they do, and that you are a serious professional worth knowing.

And give it time.

Don’t expect overnight success. Even if someone they know and trust introduces or recommends you, or you’re able to help them with something important.

it’s going to take time for them to trust you enough to help you.

It will be worth it. Remember, you chose them because they’re one of the right people (for you). And remember, you don’t have to go to endless meetings.

Get my best marketing tips and ideas in my free newsletter

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Networking, Social media marketing

You don’t need a big network

January 20, 2026 by David M. Ward

You don’t have a lot of business contacts? Social media isn’t your thing? You don’t do a lot of networking or socializing?

Me neither.

Contrary to popular business sentiment, success doesn’t depend on having an extensive network. I don’t have one. Never did. And yet I built a successful law practice and several businesses, including—are you ready—a successful network marketing business.

Networking is a great way to build a business or professional practice, but it’s not the only way.

If that sounds like good news to you, welcome to the club.

More good news? If you want to incorporate networking into your practice-building array, you can do that without putting in a lot of time or effort.

Because you you don’t need a big network. You need an influential network.

A few people who are well-known and well-respected in your niche or market, and who feel the same way about you.

A few influential contacts are all you need because they will lead you to a few more.

They know other influential people in your market, professionals, business owners, consultants, people in media, people who write or speak or who are simply good at their job and know other people they can refer.

And you need only a few.

It’s about the depth of your relationships, not the breadth.

Build strong relationships with a few influential people who are a good fit for you and the markets you target, or want to, and you’re good.

Quality over quality.

This year, set a goal to develop one new “good” contact. That sounds doable, doesn’t it? Even for those of us who don’t like networking or aren’t good at it.

One is a great number.

And guess what? You might not even have to find someone new. You might simply get closer to someone you already know.

Call them. Buy them a coffee. Talk to them about what they’re doing and what they’d like to do this year.

You never know, they might be “the one” or lead you “the one” and, wonder of wonders, they’ve been in your phone book all this time, waiting for you to call.

Subscribe to the Attorney Marketing Letter. It’s free

Filed Under: Networking, Relationship marketing, Social media marketing

Social sharing to build your practice

July 29, 2024 by David M. Ward

We are told that posting on social media can bring us traffic and leads, build our email list, get more butts in seats at our events, and get our name in front of more people in our target market.

But what if your followers don’t need your services at the moment, have already been to your event, read your article, or are already on your email list?

That’s fine. Because it’s not just who you know, it’s about who they know and are willing to “introduce” to you via your content and ideas.

And they’ll do that if you give them something worth sharing.

Something that makes them look intelligent, successful, well-liked or well-connected.

It could be something as simple as a quote from a famous person, advice from an expert, or a relevant success story.

Humor works. So do thoughtful, interesting, or amazing facts or ideas.

You might share something innovative, hot-off-the-press news, predictions, a wish list, links to resources they can use in their work, or help them organize their world or plan for their future.

Politics? I wouldn’t. But if you insist, you should either “all in” and willing to lose business connections and/or friends, or you’re “out” and don’t mention it at all.

Some guidelines:

What you share doesn’t have to be created by you. You can be social and build your practice pointing at what others say or do. With or without your opinion.
For business, make what you share relevant to your follower’s industry, business, or market, or more importantly, to their followers industry, business, or market. For consumers, share content or ideas that are universally relatable but also aligned with your markets’ level of experience and sophistication.
Share doesn’t mean “sell” (affiliate links, pitches) but that can be acceptable if you don’t overdo it.
If you’re not particularly “social,” it doesn’t mean you can’t use social media platforms to your advantage. Share when you have something worth sharing and leave it be when you don’t. If you find something you like, something that made you smile, or something you thought might be helpful for people you know, go ahead and share it. No agenda. Just helping people you know so they can help people they know.

Finally, if none of this works for you and you otherwise have “marketing” covered, either task someone in your office to handle your social marketing (or outsource it), and go settle some cases.

Filed Under: Social media marketing

Sorry, I don’t want to smack that bell

February 28, 2024 by David M. Ward

Everywhere we turn, somebody is telling us to do something. Fill out a form, download a pdf, watch a video, like, comment, share, subscribe.

It’s annoying, but it works. We’re more likely to click something when we’re asked to do it.

Which is why everyone asks. And why you should too.

If you want more subscribers, ask (tell) people to subscribe. You’ll get more subscribers. If you want more clients, tell people to call for an appointment. You’ll get more calls. And clients.

You’re reminding them to do something that’s good for them. The more you ask or remind them, the better off they’ll be. So don’t feel guilty about asking. They’ll thank you later, after you’ve helped them solve their problem.

Ultimately, people do what they want to do. I do that; you do that. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell you to do something or buy something, you won’t do it—unless you want to. I can’t make you do it, just as you can’t make a prospective client write you a big check.

But while we can’t compel people to do things, we can make it more likely that they will.

The simplest way to do that is to tell them why. Give them one or more reasons or benefits for doing what you ask. Tell them what’s in it for them. Because they might not know. They might not remember. They might not have wanted or needed those benefits before, but now they do.

This doesn’t mean you have to pile on the benefits. You don’t have to smother them with extras and bonuses, or go to great lengths to persuade them to do what you ask. People like helping you. They like telling others about you and what you offer. It makes them feel good about themself to do that.

Which is why many people will do what you ask simply because you ask.

But more will do it if you tell them why.

The Attorney Marketing Formula

Filed Under: Content creation, List building, Online Marketing, Social media marketing

Marketing without social media

July 26, 2022 by David M. Ward

Let’s say you’re like me and you don’t like social media, or you don’t like it enough to make it a mainstay of your marketing.

If you do like it, or don’t want to ignore it completely, there are a lot of benefits, but it’s not the only game in town.

You can get traffic to your website or blog without selling your soul to the master of the universe, through:

(1) Search.

People looking for information (about legal issues and/or lawyers who can help them) will find your content if the search engines deem it worthy of the same. So, make it worthy.

No clickbait. Good information. Published more often than “once in a while.”

(2) Sharing.

If your content is good, visitors to your blog or website will share it. Make it easy for them to do that by providing share buttons that allow them to link to or post your content on their social media platforms.

(3) Posting.

Sign up for accounts on the major social media platforms and, when you write new content, post a link to it on those platforms. You can also post in groups that cater to your niche market, besides posting in your timeline.

(4) Advertising.

You can do pay-per-click advertising, ironically through social media companies, or display advertising, or even offline advertising. Advertise your content, your services, or both.

(5) Everything else.

When you speak or write articles or give interviews, promote your blog or other content properties. When you meet people, via networking, or socially, and you think they might benefit from your recent article or video, tell them about it.

And don’t forget to share your content via your newsletter and invite (ask) your readers to share it.

Tell folks what they’ll find and how to get there, and they will come.

Social media is free marketing, but it can take up a lot of time. Optimizing posts for SEO, guest blogging, commenting, and especially, consuming other people’s and content and engaging with them. You could easily spend an hour or more per day.

For some, that is time well spent. For others, like me and perhaps you, the time factor is a big reason for not making social media a big part of your marketing.

If you want to do something, choose one social media platform used by the people in your target market, and spend your time there instead of everywhere. And limit yourself to ten minutes a day.

But you don’t have to do that, either.

If social media just isn’t your thing, you can still benefit from its power and reach without a formal social media marketing plan or hiring people to run it for you.

Make it “something else” you do, in support of your primary marketing activities, and spend your time on those.

My primary marketing activity is email

Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Social media, Social media marketing

More ways to get traffic to your blog

May 12, 2022 by David M. Ward

Yesterday, I said there are other ways to get traffic to your blog besides search. Paid advertising should be considered, but there are others that are free (other than the time it takes to use them, but you can have an assistant do most of this for you) and, arguably, better.

For starters, you should routinely ask your clients, professional contacts, and newsletter subscribers to share your content with their friends, clients, customers, and others who might need help or be interested in your (great) content.

Your blog should also prominently display share icons so visitors can easily share your content on social.

Simple. And smart. When someone who knows you or follows you shares your content, they are referring people to your digital door and implying that you’re good at what you do.

That’s a referral, isn’t it?

What else. . .

Mention your blog and link to it everywhere:

In your email “signature” and the signature at the bottom of articles you publish elsewhere
In your bio, when you are introduced at a speaking event
In interviews, when the host asks you how people can learn more about you
Print copies of some of your content for the table in your waiting room and the table at the back of the room at speaking events
Put print and/or digital copies in your “new client welcome kit” to share with friends and family

You have access to an army of people who know, like, and trust you. Use them.

What about the rest of the universe?

Social media (if that’s your thing) can be a good source of traffic. Flakebook, Quora, Reddit, Linkedin, and many others have groups you can join or discussions about subjects within your area of expertise you can take part in.

Answer questions or comment on the answers provided by others, and link to your blog.

You can do the same thing in consumer or business forums.

You can share your content on sites like Medium and direct readers to your blog for more of your wisdom about the subject.

You can find small blogs in your niche, even those written by other attorneys (or perhaps especially those), and comment on their posts, with a link to your blog. You can also offer to write guest posts for those blogs.

And, when you have enough content, you can gather up your posts and create an ebook, which you can sell on Amazon, and/or offer to visitors to your site, as an incentive to sign up for your newsletter.

There, that should keep you busy for a while. Busy with new clients, that is.

Email (and blog) marketing for attorneys

Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Social media marketing, Web traffic

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Recent Posts