The last two weeks of August are painful for a legal marketer. Either the attorneys in the firm are on vacation, or the clients are on vacation. Either way, no one seems to have marketing or business development on their minds. During those dog-days, I usually clean out my office and my e-mail, and go on vacation (Orlando this year. Harry Potter World was much enjoyed by all). I constantly have to remind myself during these warm days that come the fall, I’ll get crazy busy again as the mad-dash for year-end comes into focus. For me, it literally began at 7:30 a.m. this morning with an e-mail from a partner about an RFI; a potential new matter we can hopefully go after; two upcoming conferences; get that new blog ready for launch; an update to a piece of legislation that we need to blog about; a brochure to finish; and I just got asked to speak for a local bar association’s monthly program. Phew. Good thing I brought my lunch with me. Let’s face it. Summer’s over people. It’s time to get back to work. Pull out a legal pad and start making those lists.
- What did you say you were going to do in January that you haven’t done yet?
- What projects did you start, get side-tracked, and now need to get back on-line?
- What clients have you not spoken to in the past few months?
- How can you maximize upcoming travel between now and year-end to meet your clients?
- What industry conferences are coming up that you haven’t registered to attend?
- What conference did you attend this year that has the potential to expand your network? Get more involved. Sign up to be a sponsor for 2012.
Most importantly, ask yourself this question:
If I keep doing what I’ve been doing, am I going to be satisfied with the resultst?
I think most of us (yup, me too) will answer no. Now is the time to change course, adjust those sails, and any other metaphor I can throw in to mix it up. Just mix it up. And with that, it’s time to get back to work.