When did you last order a box of 500 business cards?
Exactly.
Here in the mid-2020s, we have entered the Age of the Vanishing Rainmaker, thanks to the digital fast-forward that our world experienced in 2020 that forever changed business development for lawyers.
Pre-Google, i.e., pre-Y2K, rainmaker attorneys exceled with business development by relying upon word-of-mouth referrals generated from four reputation-building channels. These included in-person networking, such as professional events, charitable functions, social gatherings, trade shows, etc.; non-digital thought leadership, such as firm newsletters, newspaper/magazine articles, CLEs, etc.; event sponsorships, including trade show booths, ads in event journals and charity event sponsorships; and pre-Y2K advertising found in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV.
Well-respected and well-liked rainmaker attorneys garnered the attention of would-be clients via those referral channels, which then fostered the growth of their books of business throughout law firms nationwide.
According to Semrush, “Google accounts for 91.54% of the global search engine market.”
As no surprise, today’s would-be clients simply continue bypassing yesteryear’s word-of-mouth approach to searching for lawyers by asking friends, relatives, coworkers or professional advisors, and instead, ask Google for assistance and recommendations, similar to how we search for almost any other service provider.
Why?
Yes, you guessed it, convenience.
Like consumers who, during the past decade, more conveniently chose Uber over taxicabs, Netflix over Blockbuster and Amazon over, well, almost everything, would-be clients today choose Google when searching for lawyers and law firms to retain because of the convenience (and speed) of doing so via our smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.
Unlike how digital disruption has resulted in such yesteryear icons as Sears, Blockbuster, the Yellow Pages and your morning newspaper becoming relics of the pre-digital era, vanishing rainmaker attorneys have a limited opportunity in the mid-2020s to digitally adjust their approach to business development.
Here’s how:
Rainmaker attorneys share the following three treasure chests of untapped digital value that present them with opportunities to maintain their current clients, attract new clients and make their law firms attractive to future successors:
The books of business that rainmaker attorneys worked so arduously to develop over the course of their careers now offer a “treasure chest” of hundreds, and even thousands, of Google Reviews.
As Chris Dreyer, CEO of Rankings.io observes, Google Reviews provide the following three sources of value to today’s law firms: (1) they give your law firm credibility; (2) they help new clients decide if they want to work with you; and (3) they help people find your firm online.
Also, as Legal Brand Marketing points out, “A five-star review is a digital seal of approval. Positive reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Avvo can significantly boost a law firm’s credibility and attract new clients. These high ratings often serve as the first impression for potential clients, offering a glimpse into the quality of service and client satisfaction.”
As rainmaker attorneys digitally adjust their business development efforts to the reality of generating fewer word-of-mouth referrals, their hard-earned books of business present access to valuable five-Star Google reviews from their satisfied clients, which can then serve as digital seals of approval for future clients to review online, analogous to yesteryear’s word-of-mouth type referrals.
Today’s rainmaker attorneys have typically developed subject matter knowledge in several practice areas.
Pre-2020 and pre-Google, rainmaker attorneys would typically share that subject matter knowledge for business development purpose in a variety of ways: at in-person events such as bar association events, CLEs and community events; through in-print thought leadership in newspaper and journal articles; and by investing in mass market advertising, including firm newsletters, Yellow Pages ads, radio and TV.
During today’s post-2020 digital era, that same subject matter knowledge presents a treasure chest of digital value in the form of digital content, publishable via multiple digital channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Threads, Instagram, TikTok and more, as well as in variations of text, audio and video to attract the attention of new clients who continue researching lawyers and law firms online in advance of retaining counsel.
As Stephanie M. Marrone explains in her National Law Review article, “By repurposing content creatively, you can ensure that your message reaches a wider audience and remains impactful across various platforms. This approach not only maximizes the value of your original content but also keeps your social media channels active and engaging.”
As rainmaker attorneys digitally adjust their business development efforts, the subject matter knowledge that they have amassed in multiple practice areas presents a treasure chest of digital content to “tap into” for the purpose of garnering the digital attention of today’s (and tomorrow’s) would-be clients.
Many of today’s vanishing rainmakers developed their law practices pre-Google and have begun considering succession planning for their law firms. As those rainmaker attorneys consider succession planning options, their third treasure chest of digital value relates to the goodwill that their law firm websites present to a successor law firm.
Examples of goodwill value that the law firm websites of rainmaker attorneys present to a successor law firm’s website include: (1) Lawyer bios, which often feature accomplishments, years of experience, examples of community involvement, links to publications and more––all of which increase the all-important “know, like and trust” factors that would-be clients want to gain (and even feel) when researching lawyers and law firms online; and (2) Valuable backlinks, 301 redirects and Google Analytics about keywords, phrases and website pages from a rainmaker attorney’s website, which taken together, increase the likelihood of would-be clients finding a successor law firm’s website.
Of course, the digital value available in treasure chests #1 and #2 also presents tremendous digital content opportunities to the successor law firms of rainmaker attorneys.
Here in the mid-2020s, the writing is on the wall: The Age of the Vanishing Rainmaker has arrived because today's clients search for their lawyers online.
Rather than endure the digital disruption consequences that the likes of Blockbuster, Sears and taxicab medallion owners experienced when their customers chose convenience over allegiance, today’s vanishing rainmakers have the option to leverage their three treasure chests of digital value from which their clients, future clients and successor law firms can greatly benefit for years to come.
