Have you read these?

A smattering of interesting and important posts from the blawgosphere and beyond. Read 'em today!

• “8 Small Steps To Improve Client Relationships” from davefleet.com. It isn’t rocket surgery. Good client relationships come from respecting your client and treating them as you’d want to be treated. Your answers to these questions might help explain why your clients treat you the way they do.
  
  
• “The corporate client disconnect” from Law21.ca. Every day global Fortune 100 corporations use their size and strength to drive down costs across virtually every type of product and service they purchase. So why aren’t they doing that with legal costs? This fine post from Jordan Furlong looks at some potential explanations.
  
  
• “The Value of Closing Your Mouth and Opening Your Ears” from Pivotal Branding. Good advice in any situation. This post is actually about using social media to learn how you are perceived by your clients and peers. Hint: “listening is one of the best ways to improve your brand.” Pretty good advice for lawyers, isn’t it?
  
  
• “8 Tips for Building Community on Your Blog” from ProBlogger. Building a community really means engaging the people who read your blog to join the conversation, doesn’t it? This post gives you some great advice on how to do that. Even if all of the tips won’t work for your blog, you’ll pick up good ideas on making your blog more reader-centric.
  
  
• “Five Networking Tips For Everyone In The Current Economy” from Some Assembly Required. Networking matters. That’s the message driving this post, which gives neatly sums up the challenges facing novice networks (with two bonus tips for job seekers). Lawyers, pay close attention: networking like this is how rainmakers make rain.