Practice Management

The term "fakebook", as I understand it, is the adding of people to your Facebook who you do not particularly like, socialize with or care to really befriend.

I am here to tell you that outside of the Facebook genre a similar phenomena happens every day in lawyer marketing and rainmaking.  You visit, you solicit, you market to people you know you do not like and with which you know you do not care to work.

So, why do it?

The answer is probably two fold.  First, you are just going through the motions.  Sure you want your network marketing and relationship building to become systematic in the sense you deal with it and contend with it on a regular basis least you find yourself without work.  But, what I mean is that you have let it become automatic, predictive, bureaucratic and you are not considering your own wellbeing.

Second is probably money.  Hungry is good.  But, you do not want to be gluttonous.  It is important to know that it is too easy to eliminate people and groups for a variety of reasons, but if you want to succeed, and make a living, you need to build prospects.  That is, in general, good.  I do not disagree.

Life, however, is too short going through it feeling homely, tired and ugly.  Life is too short to put up with someone with whom you do not like, cannot work, and have a personality conflict.

It took me a long time to learn in my career that you make money on the cases you do not take sometimes.  That said, if you do not want those cases, then quit adding people to your marketing lists with whom you must deal and do not want to do so.  Quit fakebooking.  Take these people off your spreadsheet, off your email broadcast list, off your fax list, off your mailing list, and just leave well enough alone.

This said, you should try to get along with everyone.  If you are of the personality that you cannot get alone with anyone, then you might need help or you are a little too discerning.  But, to suck up to people you loath is not good, it is not healthy, and it could lead to business relationships that could cost you dearly.  You know, there are people out there that hire lawyers even though they do not like them.  I have had outrageously bad relationships with clients and referral sources in the past that did not end well only to have them come back or refer someone to me on a new matter.  Money or no money, those are the cases you do not want.

And, of course, this does not mean that you should not bite your tongue.  You should.  There is no reason to go out of your way to make your disgust or displeasure known.  You simply need to remove the source from your marketing efforts and let bygones be bygones.