The 28-day system outlined in this book for getting more clients may not be a realistic time frame for the complex marketing and sales process of a typical legal matter. However, Hayden's book offers an intelligent and strategic approach for getting on with the process of marketing.

David Maister has worked with major law, accounting, and consulting firms. A former Harvard Business School professor, he offers intelligent, clear, and practical advice. While the book focuses on law firm management issues, gems abound for the individual as well. Of particular interest are the chapters on "The Business Development Package,” “Marketing to Existing Clients,” and “The Under Delegation Problem.”

Klaus makes the case for overcoming your fear of self-promotion through a series of anecdotes. She encourages readers to talk about themselves and their accomplishments with “authenticity, pride and enthusiasm.” With “sample conversations,” self-evaluation surveys, advice on avoiding common bragging pitfalls, and other concrete tips, Klaus guides readers in the fine art of bragging. Chapter Two poses ten questions, the answers to which will help you develop your “bragologue.” Chapter Six, though titled “Performance Reviews,” can help you put your best self forward in your compensation process.

ClientFocus advocates that focus is a key ingredient in making your marketing effective and your practice successful. This book supports that point of view by making a strong argument that in order to stand for something in your clients' or prospects' minds, you must narrow the focus of your services and marketing. Without such focus, the book argues, you confuse your clients, squander marketing resources, and ultimately produce poorer results. Although the examples all come from the business world, the point is equally applicable to the legal market.

This book provides practical advice about the seven strategies that service professionals (yes--that includes lawyers) can use to grow their businesses. The strategies are networking, direct outreach, referrals, website presence, speaking, writing, and keeping in touch. Port advises selecting strategies that draw on your strengths and not overwhelming yourself by trying to use all the strategies at once. Sage advice! While the book may be a bit "new agey" for some, its central themes of identifying your ideal clients, discovering their needs and selling to those needs, are solid advice for even the most conservative lawyer. The exercises throughout the book will help you identify effective, comfortable ways to promote yourself.

Written specifically for lawyers, Schmidt's book addresses many ways to develop business, including writing, speaking, networking, involvement in professional organizations, responding to RFPs, seeking referrals, and cross-selling. The variety Schmidt offers in no way means the book is a generic compilation of marketing tactics; rather, it is appropriately discriminating about the relative efficacy of various tactics. And it is realistic: As any good marketing book should, it encourages "client focus" and emphasizes developing strong personal relationships. It highlights the importance of preparation and follow-up in all situations--from attendance at a conference to lunch with a client. Worth reading cover to cover (if you have the time and inclination) or having on your bookshelf as a reference tool to consult when you are engaged in a specific marketing activity.

Not for women lawyers only, this book is a good primer on how to sell legal services. The book emphasizes the importance of listening and discovering client needs, the need for following up and staying in touch, and building strong relationships with clients.

With great exercises to help develop a personal and professional vision, this book also guides the reader to identify and focus on the specific steps needed to achieve that vision. Specifically written for professional service providers, the language and examples will resonate with lawyers' experience.

Despite the title, readers who really hate setting goals may want to look elsewhere. However, readers who are interested in a book that walks them through the process of setting and achieving goals will find this book provides solid techniques and motivation.

Most books about networking are, as one of my clients said, "goofy," providing advice on such things as where to wear your nametag. This short book is an exception. Providing a systematic approach to networking that focuses on building long-term relationships, the author offers advice on follow-up and creating a system to keep track of contacts. The chapter on "Networking for Introverts" provides tactics for those who find networking events uncomfortable.

Evans' frankly feminist book argues women need to create and support women’s networks. Her premise is “any time any woman succeeds in business, your chances of succeeding in business increase and any time any woman fails in business, your chances of failing increase.” While readers may not agree with all her recommendations (“Always try to send business to a woman,” “Never speak ill of other women”), the book encourages creative thinking about how to build a business by building and using a women’s network. Each chapter ends with specific action steps that serve as good (albeit sometimes basic) reminders of how to make the most of a network.

This "little" book articulates clearly one of the central themes of ClientFocus' work - focus on your strengths and manage around your weaknesses. Rather than trying to "fix" your weaknesses, Clifton and Nelson argue that you should be focusing instead on utilizing your strengths more. The book suggests steps to help you identify your strengths and provides strategies for managing your weaknesses.

The premise of this book, which I wholly embrace, is that every person has a talent or talents that translate into activities they do exceptionally well - their Unique Ability - and that leveraging this Unique Ability is the surest route to a happy, meaningful, and successful life. The book contains a process that will help you articulate your Unique Ability. Once you are clear on what your Unique Ability is, you can focus your energies in those arenas to be more productive and successful.

If you find that the premise of Soar with Your Strengths resonates with you (that high achievement stems from exercising your strengths, not trying to improve your weaknesses), then you will be interested in reading this book, which is based on extensive research that provides a much more detailed examination of how to identify and build on your strengths. It includes an online assessment tool that will help you identify your top five strengths.

StrengthsFinder 2.0 contains an improved version of the online assessment tool contained in Now, Discover Your Strengths, but its purpose is the same: to help you uncover your talents, so that instead of spending time fixing your shortcomings, you can focus your energies on tapping into your natural talents.

Written by a former Executive Vice President from Schwab, this book is a great “how to” for leading a balanced life while having a demanding career. Sawi encourages readers to identify “Personal Priorities,” examine motivations for working so hard, and recognize “the relative value” of an extra hour of work vs. an hour devoted to other priorities. Practical approaches for a priority-based life--including managing technology, using your commute productively, strategies for especially busy times, and saying no--abound.

In this book, Deborah Henry thoroughly examines the changing legal landscape, including the demise of the billable hour, the rise of new models of legal practice, and the creation of  work/life/women-friendly workplaces. She provides concrete, actionable advice about what both individual lawyers and their legal employers can do to successfully navigate these changes.

Technology - e-mail, BlackBerry, voicemail - has made it possible to work seamlessly away from the office. This accessibility has blurred the lines between work and personal time. This book offers informative exercises to help readers gauge the impact that this accessibility is having on their lives and encourages readers to realize they have choices in deciding when to “shut the office door.” While the book focuses on the impact that “mobile technology” is having on blurring the lines between home and work life, many of its observations are equally applicable to creating boundaries between work and personal time in general.

This book outlines ten steps to enable readers to work less and make more money and more of their lives. “Do What You Do Best” and “The Power of Focus” are particularly relevant and important chapters.

Author Tal Ben-Shahar teaches one of the most popular courses at Harvard University ("Popular Psychology"). In his book, he shares the philosophy on which the course is based: happiness comes from a mixture of small pleasures and a larger sense of meaning in one's life.

Weiner wittily recounts a year spent traveling the globe, examining the happiest and least happy countries on earth. He reaches some interesting conclusions about what does (and does not) contribute to happiness. This fun read would also make a great holiday gift for any client who has the travel bug.

In this book, psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky identifies twelve strategies (among them are expressing gratitude, cultivating optimism, and nurturing social relationships) designed to increase short- and long-term happiness, all supported by extensive scientific research.

This book focuses on how lawyers can be happier. It examines the common causes of dissatisfaction among lawyers and leverages current "happiness research" to provide actionable steps lawyers can take to improve the quality of their professional and personal lives.

Gretchen Rubin, former Yale Law Journal member and Supreme Court clerk, chronicles her year-long experiment to increase her happiness. This is Rubin's personal journey, although she supports it with psychological research and philosophical teachings. Some of her undertakings may not be relevant to you, but there are plenty of gems in the book.