You have a list. Business contacts, subscribers, followers, and friends. People who read what you write and listen to you when you speak. People who know, like, and trust you, or are on their way to doing that.

Now what? How do you convert these folks into clients and income?

Sending them information is good. And easy. Write about their problems and the available solutions, about their market or industry, about your services, and about other topics that will be of interest or value to them.

Keep doing that but realize that they can get most of this information at the library, surfing the web, or following other lawyers.

To convert these folks into clients and referral sources, to people who send you traffic, to people who look forward to hearing from and make a point of sharing your information with others, you need more than just information.

You need connection.

You do this all the time offline. You can do it with your digital contacts.

There are two things you need to do.

First, you need to know the people on your list or in your market. Who are they, what they do, and what they want (and not just legally speaking).

What makes them tick?

Study your market. And talk to the people in it. What are they excited about? What keeps them up at night? What is it like to walk in their shoes?

Because understanding is the first step towards connecting.

The second thing you need to do? You need to allow them to get to know you.

That means opening up about your personal life. Not everything, but something. Your life outside of work, your family, what you do for fun.

Let down your guard a bit and show people your human side.

Flaws and mistakes and struggles included.

Because that’s what people relate to. That’s what people will like and come to trust.

You don’t have to be an open book. Confess all your sins. A few details go a long way.

Do you have any photos or memorabilia in your office? Things visitors notice and ask about? Do you ever brag about your child hitting a home run in the big game? Do you ever talk about a tough case and how you (eventually) won it? A mistake in judgement you once made and the lesson it taught you?

In your newsletter, talk about the kinds of things you talk about in person. Let people see you’re just like them and they’re just like you.

That’s how you connect. And convert contacts into clients.