If you work at a firm, your salary, autonomy, and title are tied to your ability to bring in clients and work. The popular phrase finders, minders, and grinders holds a lot of truth, and the finders — the rainmakers, business developers, entrepreneurs — are on top of the food chain, with the most significant salaries, benefits, and flexibility. But how does one create an income stream? You need a personal business development plan.
The following is what I use and do to develop business. Developing the plan itself takes an hour or two. Executing the plan requires daily work, hustle, and discipline. The big ideas are easy. The plan is easy. The action steps for the plan — that’s the hard part. That’s hard work. That’s the daily grind. That’s where you separate yourself from the pack and become a rainmaker.
So here is the plan.
Personal Strategic Business Development Plan
- What Are Your Main Areas of Practice?
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- Which Individuals Can Refer You to Work in these Areas?
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- Who Are Your Clients?
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- Who are Your Potential Clients?
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- Who Are Your Referral Sources?
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- Who Are Your Potential Referral Sources?
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- Who Are Other Lawyers You Know Who Potentially Can Send You Work?
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- Which Other Attorneys Do You Know Well?
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- Create a List of All These Contacts and Arrange Them According to the Probability and Likelihood of Them Sending You Work:
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- Create a Chart of all These Contacts, with their Contact Information, in the Order of Likely Referrals from Them (Word Chart, Excel Spreadsheet, Other)
- Develop a Plan to Reach out to Everyone on Your List. Options include: (1) Coffee; (2) meals; (3) at your offices or theirs; (4) at a conference; (5) online, or (6) other.
- Schedule meetings with everyone on your list, starting with those at the top of your list. Schedule two meetings a week.
- Which organizations are you involved in?
- How Do These Organizations Assist with Business Development?
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- How Can You Leverage These Organizations to Develop Business?
- Do You Want to Present this Year? If so, on what, where, when, and to whom?
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- Do You Want to Write this Year? If so, on what, for which publication, and what audience?
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- Do You Want to Earn a Credential, Recognition, or Award? If so, which ones?
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- Do You Want to Secure a Leadership Role at Your Firm or Organization? If so, what?
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- How Much Money Do You Want to Generate This Year?
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- How Do You Plan on Achieving This?
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- Do You Plan on Being Quoted in a Publication This Year? If so, which reporters or contacts do you know or can you get to know?
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- Based On All Your Answers, create a list of tasks to perform.
- Based on your tasks, create a schedule each week to perform some of these tasks.
- Choose an accountability partner who will challenge you to stick to your plan and perform your tasks.
- Write everything down that you do.
This is a personal marketing plan. You can complete it in the morning or in the afternoon. The work, though, must be done regularly. We must pay the rent every day — best of luck.
Frank Ramos is a partner at Goldberg Segalla in Miami, where he practices commercial litigation, products, and catastrophic personal injury. You can follow him on LinkedIn, where he has about 80,000 followers.
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