How To Use Guides And Linkedin For Business Development

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers How to Use Guides and LinkedIn for Business Development Josh Horn is a Fox  Rothschild partner  I coached a few years ago. Josh defends brokers-dealers on claims by their clients and helps them with regulatory matters. Josh and Ernie Badway write the blog: Securities Compliance Sentinel. Josh is active on LinkedIn  and Twitter. Josh recently posted:  The Independent Contractor Business Model; How Do You Protect Yourself Against A Thief. That post generated requests to speak and do workshops on that subject. When we worked together, Josh created guides for his clients and used LinkedIn to make more clients and potential clients aware of them. I asked Josh to share his approach with you. My practice focuses on representing broker-dealers in the defense of claims brought by customers, as well as regulatory matters. Cordell suggested that I prepare guidebooks that cover my practice, and then link them to my LinkedIn page in an effort to build some traction. Heeding that guidance, I prepared two guidebooks, the first on Risk Avoidance Techniques for financial advisors and the second on the Know Your Customer analysis; the law requires a financial advisor to know their customers in order to provide proper investing advice. I have posted each guidebook on my LinkedIn home page, as well as on each of my group pages. Shortly after I posted my risk avoidance guidebook, I received a call from one of my partners in another office. A former colleague of his is the general counsel at a registered investment advisor in New York City, just the type of company that falls within my target market. The general counsel conveyed that one of his compliance officers found the guidebook on LinkedIn and brought it to his attention. He asked to have lunch to meet me and discuss my guidebook as he found it a very useful tool. We had that lunch; after which, I was asked to give the firm a seminar on risk avoidance techniques covered by the guidebook. The firm has since hired my firm as one of their outside counsel and we have handled a couple of matters for them, to date. The guidebooks were a perfect example of identifying a problem, creating a solution clients will value and giving it away. Josh has done a great job identify subjects his potential clients want to know about. He starts by thinking about the billable work he is doing for existing clients. He then blogs about them, creates guides and training programs and uses both LinkedIn and Twitter to let his potential clients know about them. You can do the same.     I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.