My Shingle

Networking

The Underground Solo Railroad

October 9, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Remember the Underground Railroad, the hidden network of safe houses and secret routes created by abolitionist sympathetizers to help slaves escape to freedom during he pre-Civil War era?  After spending time in the company of my fellow solos at the National Solo and Small Firm Conference this past week, I realized that another type of [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 0 comments

Building a $2 Million Practice From Scratch

September 29, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Are you building your law practice from scratch?  If so, you might want to follow some of the lessons that Wilton McDonald, winner of one of  Originate magazine’s Rainmaker awards shares  here. McDonald isn’t a true solo – he was hired by a small firm in Grand Cayman as senior associate for an eat-what-you kill [...]

Read more Growing Your Practice 0 comments

Making Opportunities for Your Practice: An Interview With Ari Kaplan

September 9, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

A few months back, I had the opportunity to interview Ari Kaplan, author of a terrific new book, The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career  Through Creative  Networking nd Business Development.   Though the book is relatively short, it’s incredibly dense – reading it literally made my head spin, because there are dozens of [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 2 comments

Taking Online Networking Off the Grid

February 7, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Like most of my solo and small firm colleagues,  I’m a fan of online networking, i.e., building meaningful and trusted relationships through listserves, Linkedin.com and Facebook.com and blogs.  Not only do these online tools help us find clients or share our knowlege and expertise with others and improve the quality of the profession at large, [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 0 comments

A Global Law Firm of Solos

February 1, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Who says a solo has to work alone?  Over 3000 solos, myself included, are part of a global virtual law firm, Solosez.net.  If you’re interested in learning more about the history of Solosez and what makes it such a special place, check out this article from law.com.  By the way, I’m quoted in the article [...]

Read more Networking 0 comments

Make a positive contact, write away!

June 19, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

Perhaps you’ve just started your firm, and you’re already tiring of those “informational” interviews and “getting to know you lunches” with more experienced attorneys. Of course, you’ve met some jerks, but on the whole, they’re all nice enough, incredibly supportive and genuinely interested in helping you out with advice and war stories. But at the [...]

Read more Marketing Lessons 1 comment

Cold Calling Works

March 18, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

I’ve always been a fan of the cold call ever since I started my practice back in 1993. Not a fan of making the calls, because I’m not fond of doing it, but rather, a fan of the returns that cold calls can bring. Of course, like many of the techniques I write about here, [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 3 comments

Solos Team Up

September 26, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

With so many large firms moving towards a “one stop shopping model,” what can a small firm r solo with a more specialized focus do to compete?  You could try to become a jack of all trades, but in expanding your capabilities, you may compromise quality.  Or, you could take the approach of the Birmingham, [...]

Read more Business Models 3 comments

Finding Networking Possibilities in Everything You Do

May 21, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

Great story in this Amy Joyce column from today’s Washington Post, entitled Job Connections Start as Social Connections.  Joyce describes how a blind date spawned by match.com went awry romantically, but worked out professionally for the guy when his date helped him to score a job at her company.  The lesson – you never know [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 0 comments

Good and BAD Tips on Making Speaking Opportunities Effective

January 25, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

This article, Speaking Opportunities Need to Be BAD to Be Effective, Julie Meyer (Legal Intelligencer, 1/19/06) starts out promisingly enough, with BAD tips (Before, During and After) on making the most of speaking opportunities.  Among other tips, Mayer recommends sending out an invitation or announcement before making your speech and obtaining the list of conference [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 6 comments

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →