Staying connected on summer vacation

By Dianne Bluestein Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--Seller's Market offers practitioners information about marketing their skills and services as attorneys. We all remember that English teacher who asked us to write an essay on how we spent our summer vacation. Every year we were asked the same question, but each summer there were different experiences and adventures that created special memories that we would share with the class. With summer in full swing, we're busy with baseball games, barbecues, vacations and family get-togethers, along with the ever-present stress of our daily jobs. This poses the question: How can we fit in time for business development? In this economy, many of us cannot afford to be out of the office for an extended amount of time, but you can stay connected without giving up too much fun in the sun. Social media-- Maintain your Twitter, LinkedIn and other such accounts for potential business contacts. You can easily check the sites daily for approximately 10 minutes. Make sure to utilize the easy-to-use iPhone applications for either of the programs or whatever mobile device you use to stay connected. RSS feeds-- In addition to checking e-mail on your BlackBerry, take five minutes each day to reach out to one client or prospect. To make the process easy, keep your Google RSS feeds up to date by subscribing to lots of interesting blogs and websites that focus on your clients and core practices. Then e-mail them an interesting article that they'd find valuable. It will help you to stay top of mind to them. Google alerts-- Make sure to set up Google Alerts on your most important clients and/or prospects to receive their latest breaking news. Remember to update your search results so the client/prospect knows you are making an effort to stay abreast of their needs. Networking-- If you're on vacation, check out the area's chamber of commerce for social networking events, breakfast meetings or a fun activity in your area. It's a great way to mix business with pleasure, even for just an hour. Sixty minutes could lead to a potential new prospect or client. Articles/blogs-- Prepare an article or a few blog pieces before you go on vacation. Your marketing team can e-mail them to your clients while you are away, or you can schedule them to be automatically sent out through Outlook or your e-mail provider. This will limit the impact of time not spent at the office. Also, be sure to take a few minutes and tweet a link to your blog or article as another resource to display your expertise on your particular subject matter. There's no need to worry about this summer's essay. You can remain connected to your career while at your son's baseball game, daughter's dance recital or that family vacation with Aunt Sally. Taking some of these suggestions will help you to stay ahead of the game to reach your business development goals. They might seem simple, but just like that paper you read every year in class, they are worth reviewing again. Dianne Bluestein is the financial officer for the Legal Marketing Association's New England chapter. She is also the business development specialist for McCarter & English in Boston. Entire contents copyrighted © 2010 by Dolan Media Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is expressly forbidden. Published: Mon, Aug 2, 2010

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