What are your thoughts on holiday cards? In my old firm we used to begrudgingly send them out every year. I am reconsidering sending out holiday cards this year and maybe do something else instead. Like donating the money I would have spent on holiday cards to my favorite charity and maybe sending out e-cards instead. Any thoughts?

“Branding” is creating name recognition through a carefully crafted plan of integrated marketing. That’s quite a mouthful. But what does it really mean?

It’s not unlike the brand on the behind of a cow. A fellow rancher or townsperson sees the “OK” on the backside of the cow and knows it belongs to the “OK Corral.” But more importantly, when they see the “OK” brand, are they making the association that the cow represents quality beef or mad cow disease? In a nutshell, that is the importance of branding.

This may seem old news to some. But it remains a decidedly untapped vehicle for lawyers. And now we are hearing from the most respected Google analyst, Eric Schmidt, discussing the future of the net and this includes YouTube:

“We’re starting to make significant money off of Youtube”, content will move towards more video.

Getting your ideas across is key to successful marketing, marketing which can include speaking at seminars, keynote addresses, introduction of other guest speakers, self-publishing, being interviewed by reporters, blogging, commenting on blogs, Tweeting, and more.

So, knowing most of us would like to improve upon our communication skills with out clients and colleagues, here are a few thoughts on the subject.

Identifying who your ideal client is, well, just the beginning. You need to learn how to attract your ideal client so they will actually contact you to determine if they need your services and if you are ‘ideal’ to deliver those services to them. How do you do that?

I chose this title specifically because it is particularly important for the new solo. Life is about perspective and it is important you understand as a new solo you do bring gifts to the profession.