TRP 336: Your Online Bio with Scott Love

[00:00:10] You are listening to The Rainmaking Podcast, hosted by legal dealmaker, author, and professional speaker, Scott Love. Scott Love with The Rainmaking Podcast. Thanks for joining me on the show today. Today's topic is your online bio, and our special guest is me. It's a solo cast. I do these from time to time. When I have ideas I think will help people, and I wanted to share something with you today

[00:00:40] about your online bio that I think will help you. Before I get into that, let me tell you about our sponsors. Our podcast is sponsored, as always, by SharePoint Legal Insights, formerly known as Leopard Solutions, where they turn legal intelligence into opportunity, and also by The Rainmaking Magazine. Now it's entirely complimentary. No subscription required. This is for the intellectually driven and results-focused professional who wants to be the number one professional services provider in your niche. Start your free subscription today.

[00:01:10] Go to therainmakingmagazine.com to set up your free access and chart your course for greater rainmaking success. We have now over 40 authors and contributors. All of them have been on the show before. So if there's somebody that you've heard before, chances are they've written on the magazine. Check it out. It's a digital magazine that I'm really proud of that we've published since October of 2025. Now let me get into the topic for today, and I'll give you some background.

[00:01:38] As a legal recruiter, I'm niched. I do my outbound recruiting in corporate and finance and sometimes real estate. And for some other clients, we might go outside of that. We have a lot of inbound referrals from people and pretty much all practices from all the strategic alliance partners and referral partners that I have. And so I've read thousands of law firm partner bios, and most of them are bad. Most of them don't really show the potential of someone if a prospective client is reading it.

[00:02:07] So I have some ideas, what I call the five pillars of attributes of every law firm bio. And it's not just a law firm partner bio. If you're a professional services provider, what needs to be on your bio that you can have a client prospect read it and say, that's the person I want to talk to. Get me that person. I want to have that person solve my problem. So let me share some of these with you. The first is key differentiators. How are you different from your competitors?

[00:02:36] I've seen many bios are almost word for word copies, and they don't compel people to take action. Your bio is more than just a billboard. It should answer the question that a prospective client might have, such as, why should I give this person my work? Marketing always begins with differentiation. And if you think of the difference between marketing and business development, marketing is the sign. It's the sign outside the door that gets people to walk through.

[00:03:04] Business development is the conversation that happens at the jewelry counter. You and the other person having a conversation about buying that watch or whatever it is. So think of it like that. Marketing is what's different about you. What's going to get people to walk through the door? And when you're having that conversation, that's business development. Today, we're talking about marketing. What is on your law firm or your online bio that's going to compel people to take action? So it starts with differentiation. Think of how you're different.

[00:03:32] Have you had career experiences prior to what you're doing currently that are different from all of your competitors? If so, mention that. Did you work as in-house counsel? Mention that. Were you a professional athlete? Mention that. Were you on active duty? Mention that. Show that you did things that are different from other people and then tie together the through line of what helped you be successful then, how are you successful now? And more importantly, how can you serve your clients?

[00:03:59] How does that past experience help you serve your clients and help you seem different? I always compare a partner's LinkedIn bio with their firm bio. And I see many people that did work in-house that don't state this on their law firm bio link. They should really do that. Maybe they worked in accounting prior to getting a law degree. Things like that. Those are things that you need to think through and find out what is different about you and mention that in your bio.

[00:04:24] Number two, the distinction point beyond what's different about you compared to your competitors. What can you say about yourself that nobody else can say about themselves? Are you the only one in the world who achieves something or has a niched super subspecialty that nobody else can claim? This goes beyond just your bio that's on your website or LinkedIn.

[00:04:49] This is the beginning of narrative and crafting a certain type of narrative itself can give you a competitive advantage. Learning how to tell your story compared to how others tell their stories sometimes is all it takes to win business from larger, faster, and more nimble competitors. Point number three, value proposition. This goes beyond just the work that you do for your clients. To dig deeper here, it really is an existential question.

[00:05:17] Every professional service provider, every business owner, they must answer these two questions. Number one, what business am I in? And number two, what problems do I solve for my clients? Once you dig deeper into this, you will discover your value proposition. It's beyond just doing the work for a client. What does this work help your client to achieve? What problems are avoided? What solutions are found?

[00:05:46] How much do they save? How does that mitigate their risk? What did they get a return on? So here's an exercise to help you understand this a little bit more deeply and how it impacts you personally. Go through your online bio and read it. Each time you read something that is posted on your site, claiming a certain skill or work that you offer, ask yourself this question. So what? Here's an example. Your bio might read something like this.

[00:06:13] John Smith serves as a collaborative strategic partner to his clients and often acts as outside general counsel. Once you read that, ask yourself this question. So what? Why is that important? Why is that significant? And then after you do that, ask this question. So that dot dot dot. So the first one is so what? So that. So that. These are the things that your client achieves. What problems are you solving by doing this?

[00:06:42] What value are you adding? Here's a quick suggestion to the example I gave. John Smith serves as a collaborative strategic partner to his clients and often acts as outside general counsel. Having previously served as in-house counsel on a global private equity portfolio company, he anticipates potential transactional risks and manages deal flow with sound advice that maximizes exit potential. You see the difference?

[00:07:09] This is a much more compelling narrative that is authentic. It's congruent and it tells a better story of not just who you are and what you do, but of your value proposition. Point number four, track record and proof points. List the transactions that you've been on if you're a transactional partner or if you're a litigator, the cases that you've tried, assuming you can mention those, or if you're another professional services provider.

[00:07:35] What information can you share where you're authorized to share it that shows that you've done what you say you can do? Even without naming clients, indicate which matters on which you've worked shows that you have the right experience. That's what they're looking for. And then finally, number five, thought leadership. This is the most impactful pillar that can also be the easiest to fix, but it takes time.

[00:08:01] So when you're quoted in media, indicate it on your bio with a reference link if possible. When you sit on a panel at a conference, list the name and the association or group it was for along with the year in which you presented. So it shows over time you are continuously being asked to showcase your expertise in front of prospective clients. If you presented a whole session by yourself and not just a panel, that shows even greater potential. So highlight that one especially.

[00:08:29] And when you're writing white papers, when you're getting published, even when you're performing webinars for vendors and your niche is a solid path to getting visibility, make sure you mention those on your bio. For more ideas, I co-authored a book with Henry DeVries and Mark LeBlanc called Rainmaker Confidential. You can learn more about that. Go to the link, rainmakerconfidential.com and order your copy. And we pretty much give you an entire playbook, especially in the area of thought leadership. Here's one special final bonus tip for you.

[00:08:59] Spend 15 minutes a day on your own business development. Even if you work in a large firm with a thousand professionals and 50 people on your firm's marketing team, you yourself are responsible for your success. Get help from your internal team. Seek out an external coach, somebody that has experience with other people like you that can give you some industry perspective. At a bare minimum, budget out a 15-minute appointment with yourself every day to work on your goals for client growth.

[00:09:29] In fact, I recommend getting the Time Timer app on your phone or get a physical one. I have both. And download that tool and use it to keep you on track. If you follow this advice, you'll have a bio that is attractive and compelling to prospective clients. And you will stand out above your competitors and attract opportunities. I hope you get some great ideas from this. Make sure you connect with me directly if you're in the legal world. And if you're a law firm founder looking to sell or merge or a partner, if you want to

[00:09:57] get some free career advice, reach out to me. I'll tell you about opportunities that are there. And as always, stay connected with us on the show and definitely visit The Rainmaking Magazine. Thanks for your time and thanks for listening today. Thank you for listening to The Rainmaking Podcast. For more information about our recruiting services for international law firms, visit our website at attorneysearchgroup.com. To inquire about having Scott speak at your next convention, conference, sales meeting

[00:10:26] or executive retreat, visit therainmakingpodcast.com.