I've been using the phrase "less is more" a lot lately.

I recently moved from a suburban 4,500-square-foot house on an acre of land to an 1,100–square-foot apartment with a killer view in San Francisco. As you might imagine, I had to get rid of a lot of stuff! After I eliminated more than I kept, I realized how much lighter and more focused I felt.

Instead of finding myself in the midst of a lot of "stuff," I am now surrounded by things I find useful and love.

At about the same time, my oldest son was traveling through Europe. He encountered many challenges along the way, including canceled flights due to the Icelandic volcano and missed flights due to oversleeping. When I received panicked calls for advice along the way, I suggested a less ambitious travel schedule with longer stays in fewer places might make the experience more positive. Once he took my advice, he found he enjoyed his travels much more (and still managed to see 22 cities in 10 countries!).

Why am I sharing these two vignettes? Because I think there are "less is more" lessons that apply to your business development efforts as well.

1. Less can be more when it comes to the number of people you are focusing your marketing on.

Too often, lawyers think that they can get better marketing results by reaching out to more people. But usually, the opposite is true.

Successful business development comes from developing deep and strong relationships with clients, referral sources and prospective clients, not by multiplying the names in your Rolodex (to use an archaic phrase!). After all, before they are likely to hire you, people need to know you, what you do and how well you do it.

You just can't develop these necessary connections at a mass networking event or through an electronic holiday card. There's nothing wrong with those techniques, but they should be a small part of your marketing approach, not the primary thrust. They may be helpful to keep you on someone's radar screen, but they are obviously not a way to build a trusting relationship.

It is far more effective and efficient to focus on developing strong relationships with a few good prospects rather than try to develop relationships with hundreds of people.

 2. Less can be more when it comes to describing the scope of services you offer.

Lawyers often believe that by describing their services as broadly as possible, they will capture more prospective clients. But again, the opposite is usually true.

It's really hard to compete in the marketplace if you describe yourself as a general commercial litigator. There are just too many of them, and it is difficult to differentiate yourself from others providing similar services.

Contrast that with how much easier it is to differentiate yourself if you narrow the way you describe your practice. For example, specialties among my clients include "construction defect litigator," "office leasing specialist," and "IP counseling and litigation for the toy industry."

3. Less can be more when it comes to the types of marketing activities that you engage in.

Some lawyers feel that if they engage in a potpourri of activities -- speaking, networking, blogging, golfing and sponsoring events -- one of the approaches is sure to work. But in fact, selecting activities based on what few activities actually produce results for you is a better strategy.

Typically, I counsel clients to select just three activities they are comfortable engaging in and that seem to work for them and then do those activities consistently. Examples include systematically asking current clients for introductions to a specific person you'd like to meet (and following up, of course!), having lunch once a week with a client or prospect, making a point of visiting with a prospect every time you travel away from your home base, or attending a monthly industry association meeting and following up with one person you meet there. Choosing just three activities that you're good at and that have been fruitful in the past can help you build your practice in an efficient manner.

By focusing your business development efforts -- whom you market to, what you market and how you market, you, too, may discover that less is more!