by Lawrence M. Kohn

Last week, we discussed reaching out to people you already know as a way to drum up business during tough economic times. It's also important to reach out to people you may have fallen out of touch with.

Many of our clients are finding success in this area with social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo. By logging in and seeing whom you already know, these sites identify the people whom they know that you also might know but have forgotten about. For example, you might have gone to law school with someone whom you had a good relationship with but have allowed to slip through the cracks. You might be able to reconnect with him or her on a social networking site or by going through the roster of your alumni association.

Start really looking at these names, one name at a time, and asking yourself, "Is there a marketing opportunity here? Is there a way for me to reach out that I feel comfortable with?" In some cases you won't. It'll be too distant. But in other cases, you'll say, "Well, I'd love to talk to him or her!" Pick up the phone right then and there.

So many times, our clients have picked up the phone and called somebody they hadn't talked to for years who said, "I can't believe that you're calling me right now. I have a need for a lawyer in your state. Here's a problem I've got." Of course, we can't promise that that's going to happen, but it's happened so many times with clients of ours in the past that we feel comfortable in saying that the odds are good that you could pick up the phone and somebody might even need you right now.

For more tips, check out our ABA Publishing Presents podcast "Business Development in Tough Economic Times."

Labels: marketing, rainmaking