Great post by Nancy Myrland on the "s" word.  Nancy writes:

I’ve been working in legal, professional services and other service-based marketing for a long time.

Nowhere is there a stigma against the term “selling” as strong as there is in legal and professional services.  It somehow feels dirty, slimy, something others do, but not me.

Are there ways to "sell" that are dirty and slimy?  Of course.  However, dismissing the entire concept of selling your law firm is a huge mistake.  The issue is how can you sell your services in a dignified way that builds value into your professional brand?

Call it what you will, but in today's competitive legal services lanscape, business development should be near the top of your priority list.  In fact, it should be second only to serving your clients.