(BELOW, Katherine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster in The Rainmaker.  Dated and melodramatic.  But because this scene was my dramatic interpretation selection for high school speech tournaments in 1969, I can't think of rainmaking without recalling this scene)

Pull out that divining rod and begin prospecting for rainwater in your own backyard with marketing guru Sara Holtz's Women Rainmakers Blog.

Start with Your Mother Was Right Part II to get an idea of the ample marketing resources you already possess.  Resources that you need only begin to use.  It's EASY, say I, who developed not a LICK of business in 25 years of practice and am now a business development queen (since I only eat what I can kill). 

But it's not desperation that made me realize I had what it took to develop business.  It was simple necessity.  Everything else followed, without having to change my personality or do or say stuff that wasn't "me."  I'm not golfing or talking about the Final Four or pushing myself on the attorneys who have become my market.  But, this isn't about me.  This is about you.  Here's Sara Holtz's advice on that subject from "Your Mother was Right."  

Your mother told you that when others inquired about you, it was polite to reciprocate and ask about them. What she didn't tell you is it is also good for business development.

I was reminded of this during two recent conversations.

I was speaking with a (male) client. He is a funny, personable sort. In the course of our conversation, I asked him a number of questions - What was new with him? What were his plans for the holidays? What were his kids up to?

He didn't ask me a single question in return.

Least you think this is a "guy thing", I had a similar experience when having dinner with a (female) classmate from Law School. We had an entire dinner in which she failed to ask me a single question about myself or my family, even though that had been the focus of our conversation about her.

I was a bit puzzled in both situations. What do I make of this?  

That it was a missed opportunity to enhance their relationships with me. Carried over to the business development context, don't make the same mistake. Make a point to ask appropriate questions, learn about the other person, let them know that you are interested in them. It will strengthen your relationships. And strong relationships are good for business.

I'll add to this that both lawyers and neutrals are problem solvers.  You don't need to know what complicated antitrust problem your dinner companion is wrestling with (unless she's dying to talk about it).  Casual conversation over a relaxing meal will inevitably reveal some challenge your dinner companion is facing.

Be a problem solver.  I can now do this in minutes, holding a glass of soda water at any bar function anywhere anytime.  I do not tell people I am a mediator.  It tends to make them start looking over my shoulder for someone else to talk to.  They're afraid I'm going to try to sell them my services.  I simply ask lots and lots and lots of questions about them.  How's your practice?  Are you progressing as you want to?  How's the firm doing?  Are your associates getting the training they need, etc., etc.  At some point, I begin helping my new bar association friend with one or more of these challenges.  

Eventually they look at me with real interest and say "what is it that you do anyway?"  That's when I tell them, "I'm a professional problem-solver -- a mediator."  We exchange cards.  The business does not come directly and sometimes not at all.  But at the next bar association function, I often see my new old friend, ask how he's rising to the challenge we discussed when last we met.  He introduces me to someone else with kind words about how I helped him with, say, the paper clip supply in the mailroom.  Really, any  problem solving whatsoever will do.

This is how you build a network, a reputation and a business. If I'd known it was this easy, I'd have had a book of business before I was made (a non-equity) partner.  You can build yours too.  Starting now.