Many lawyers are seeking the "magic bullet" that will make their marketing successful. Unfortunately, there's no such thing. The fact is that what works for one lawyer will not work for everyone, and marketing styles that work for other lawyers may not work for you.

Fortunately, this isn't necessarily bad news. It means you can develop business in a way that is both effective and comfortable for you. The challenge, of course, is discovering your personal "right way" to market.

Here's how I recommend you approach this:

1. Consider who actually hires you.

Whom do you need to convince? Some practices can be marketed to the person who makes the hiring decision, whether that's the assistant general counsel for litigation or the CEO. Other practices rely on marketing to referral sources, such as other lawyers or accountants. You need to focus your marketing efforts on those people who are central to the company's hiring procedure.

2. Recognize the stage you're at.

Building and nurturing relationships (with clients, prospects and referral sources) are always the most important part of marketing. However, if you're just getting started, you probably need to focus some of your marketing efforts on building your reputation. Writing, speaking and developing a niche practice are the kinds of activities that build credibility.

On the other hand, if you are a seasoned lawyer, you may be able to forgo most credibility-building activities and build your practice by leveraging your established relationships. One-to-one marketing and asking for referrals are probably your most direct routes to getting hired.

3. Focus on your strengths.

What personal strengths can you leverage in your marketing? Some people are great writers. Others are naturally curious and easily find ways to connect with prospective clients. The reverse is equally true, of course: Some lawyers would rather have a root canal than attend a networking event.

To discover your business development strengths, ask yourself these two questions:

* What business-development activities do I enjoy doing? (Come on, there have to be some!)

* What business-development activities come easily to me?

Your answers probably indicate your business-development strengths. Remember, just because they come easily to you doesn't mean they are ineffective.

For example, suppose your strength is developing strong relationships with your clients. You can leverage that strength into an effective approach to business development by:

* Asking your clients for referrals.

* Staying in touch by e-mailing items of personal or professional interest.

Or perhaps you're an excellent public speaker. You can use that talent to increase business by:

* Offering to speak about cross-selling at another practice group's brown-bag lunch.

* Setting up an in-house seminar on recent legal developments for your largest client.

Suppose you love meeting new people and genuinely enjoy attending networking events. (Yes, there are people who actually do!) Consider taking the following actions:

* Ask members of your network to introduce you to others you are targeting as potential clients.

* Organize get-togethers, and ask people you know to bring along people they think you should meet.

4. Assess what works for you.

Just because a marketing activity works for Jane doesn't mean it's going to work for you. The only way to figure out what's right for you is to systematically and routinely review the marketing activities you have been involved in to see which produce results and which don't.

By doing this, some of my clients have come to realize their biggest marketing successes come from staying in touch with past clients. Others have discovered that asking for referrals produces a steady stream of new business. Still others have found that sending out a monthly newsletter gets the phone to ring.

Take an honest look at the results your efforts are producing. Repeat those activities that are paying off, and get rid of those that are not.

By following these four steps, you'll pinpoint your personal "right way" to market. Not only will this make marketing easier, but it will also make it more effective. Remember, there's no *one* right way to market, but there is *your* right way to market!