Have you read these?

A smattering of interesting and insightful posts from the blawgosphere and beyond

• “The Great Newspaper Meltdown, and What It Means For Our Pricing” from Adam Smith, Esq. The dying newspaper industry provides the perfect backdrop for another thoughtful post from Bruce MacEwen on law firm economics and pricing in the face of increasing debate – from all sides – on how lawyers should bill for their work. Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of MacEwen’s work. This post will make you one, too.
  
  
• “Great conversations build great relationships” from Building Enduring Client Relationships. You already know this, don’t you? So did the guy in this story. And yet he still couldn’t figure it out on his own. Conversations lead to relationships which, in the professional services business, lead to work. That’s one of the exciting things about social networking: it makes starting the conversations – traditionally the hardest part – simple and easy. But that doesn’t mean the hard part goes away…. 
  
  
• “First Signs of a New Equilibrium in Entry-Level Salaries” from Empirical Legal Studies. Unless you live on Mars, or are on vacation, you probably have already heard about Drinker Biddle’s one-year associate training program. Why should you read this post? Because Bill Henderson is one of the leading thinkers in the empirical analysis of the legal profession space (he co-organized the recent FutureFirm competition), spends his time studying how law firms are structured and managed, and knows this stuff better than most. Need another reason? The future is now, and Drinker Biddle is writing it. Shouldn’t you be doing the same?
  
  
• “Buying Lessons from a Master Salesman” from Trust Matters. Another post that tells a story about selling (and buying) to give valuable insight on the buying process. It works. Lawyers, read this post every time you’re pitching work. The people across the table already know you’re an expert. You don’t need to convince them of that. You need to show them that they can trust you.
  
  
• “Bear Experiences vs. Bare Products” from Working Knowledge. This post is about innovation. And teddy bears. Intrigued? Read it, and you’ll see why it is summarized as “innovate the experience, not just the product.” When you’re done, think about the ways you might be able to innovate the experience for your clients. Your competition is, and some of them are even doing it. Don’t let yourself be left behind.