We Need to Talk About Your Weekly Newsletter. It's a Game Changer

It was a Wednesday afternoon two weeks before Thanksgiving when the email hit my inbox.? It was a reply to my weekly email to my database.??

Talitha Wegner, nicknamed “Tally” an attorney from Los Angeles, had been on my "follow-up" list and reading my emails for a couple of years and this was the first time she reached out to me.? In the message she told me she and her husband Bill were members of a group and they were looking for a speaker for a meeting in February.? She asked if I was interested.

A few moments later, I was on the telephone with William “Bill” Wegner, one of the premier litigators in the United States.? Bill was running a meeting of a group called the Complex Commercial Litigation Institute and they were looking for someone to do a class on relationship-based client attraction (lawyers hate the word sales and they never use it).??

I jumped at the opportunity.

The meeting was in February, in Las Vegas and there were senior executives from 23 law firms in attendance.? My role was to provide two educational presentations and hold informal mentor sessions with the attendees, one-on-one, during the course of the three-day meeting.??

Since the meeting was by invitation only, I was able to connect with most of the attendees in advance. I sent a physical letter and copies of a couple of my books,?as a way to introduce myself.?I followed this letter with an email survey asking some discovery questions about the individual attendees as well as the challenges facing their firm.

When I arrived in Las Vegas I was invited to the welcome reception and the dinner where I was seated next to Bill and Tally.? It wasn’t until that moment, it struck me the risk they were taking.?They had bet their reputation on someone they had never met.?Bill had presented me to this group of polished, successful litigators as an expert on business relationships, without ever having met me in person and after only having a couple of telephone conversations with me. Upon meeting the Wegners, I thanked them for their trust.

That weekend remains one of the most memorable business experiences of my career. I mentored and learned from some of the sharpest minds in the legal profession. They viewed me as a peer in every way, except in business strategy and client attraction, in that aspect they viewed me as an expert.

Success is measured in many ways. That weekend was a huge success because of the door it opened to that organization. It was a success because of the value I provided.? It was a success because of the lifetime financial value I continue to realize as a result of that speaking engagement. But most importantly of all, that weekend was a success because of the relationships I developed.??

As I was saying “goodbye” to the Wegners at the end of that weekend, Bill thanked me for making him look good.? He said I was everything he and Tally had come to know from reading my emails the past couple of years.?

I email everyone I've met once each week. I write this newsletter, each week, which is unique content and exclusive to LinkedIn. When I see something interesting on LinkedIn I don't just pass it along. I write a post and link to the content.

People will forget you if you don't find a way to continuously add value to their lives. Writing is a vehicle for doing that. I often hear:

"Dave, I don't read those emails. Nobody does...But I read yours."

If you write interesting content in an entertaining way, people will read it.

Here is the formula I teach my clients:

• Identify your ideal client and/or ideal referral source
• Meet with that person (in person if possible)
• Send referral or make valuable introduction
• Add the person to your weekly newsletter (email, LinkedIn or both)

It's not that difficult. If you do it for six months, you'll be a believer because it works.

(Note: You have to write interesting and entertaining content. If your content sucks this strategy won't work. I also teach my clients how to do this.)

The written word is the foundation of all my business development activities. Your weekly newsletter is the best tool available for follow-up. If you like new relationships, you must add this media to your business development tool kit.

Have a great week!

Dave Lorenzo

The Godfather of Growth

Dave Lorenzo earned the nickname?The Godfather of Growth?because he helps people make offers their clients can't refuse. Also, he does favors. Most of the time, those favors result in more money in your pocket. Call now: (786) 436-1986