Monday, June 11, 2007 10:09 AM
Have you seen the brilliant concept that Zillow.com has added to its real estate-oriented website, Make Me Move? Why wait for a homeowner to put their home up for sale? If someone offered you an enormous sum of money for your house, wouldn't you consider moving, whether you had planned to or not? Isn't Zillow proactively trying to create new business opportunities for itself, by creating and matching up buyers/sellers who may not otherwise even been buyers/sellers? Zillow is even seeking trademark protection for the phrase.
Here is the nutshell from Zillow itself:
What is Make Me Move?
Make Me Move is a free and easy way to tell others the price you'd be willing to sell your home for, without actually putting it on the market. It's that magical number you just can't refuse.
How Does It Work?
Once you set your Make Me Move price, potential buyers can contact you anonymously via e-mail. Then it's up to you whether or not to sell your home. Try it out! You can remove your Make Me Move price at any time.
Why don't attorney online profiles have the same feature? Not a salary target, of course, but more a feature that allow attorneys and other professionals to outline not only their skills and background, but the challenges and opportunities they seek?
Attorneys have long used biography/resume/profile sites like Martindale and many law firms spend a lot of time and effort creating their own attorney biographies pages. Now the space is heating up, with social networking sites like LinkedIn adding large numbers of attorney profiles (along with large numbers of profiles in general). Avvo has profiles, Blogger has profiles, Blawg has profiles, lots of sites have profiles. And each sites' profile feature seems to have a particular focus or unique feature.
But I have yet to see a Make Me Move type feature.
I realize that most attorneys and professionals working in the legal space view their online profile as a marketing tool to help them get new business. But, I also realize that legal is fast moving to a free agent marketplace where just about anyone will consider moving to a new job if the opportunity (and price) is right.
I have had any number of conversations with long-time lawyers who wistfully recall the days when a lawyer came out of law school, joined a firm, made partner and securely worked away until retirement. But that world is fast ending.
Indeed, in my own extended network, I have had friends work hard to make partner at some of the top firms in the country, only to subsequently quit when an exciting new challenge was offered them. I have seen partners with 20+ years at the same firm leave because they received "an offer they could not refuse." The largest law firms are showing an increased willingness to de-equitize long-term partners, suggesting there is no such thing as absolute job security, even if you are part-owner of the business. Some published reports suggest that up to 80% of new associates leave their first firm by their fourth year out of law school. Professional recruiters working in the legal space report that the lateral market continues to be robust. Indeed, start-ups like Lateral Link have been formed in response to the opportunities in the lateral marketplace.
All of this points to the lawyers as free agents, willing to consider (and move to) new opportunities at any time, no matter whether they are 2 years or 22 years out of law school.
Now, I don't expect law firms to include a Make Me Move-type feature on their own sponsored attorney biographies. But, their lawyers are already moving on their own to the web and sites like those mentioned above anyway, creating their own personal professional profiles. Many of these profiles include space for a professionals to list their strengths, goals and aspirations. They also include online networking tools and often search engine optimization bonuses they don't get elsewhere.
In the end, online professional profiles don't have to be a one way street. Yes, lawyers and other professionals can continue to use them to drum up new business and network, but they can also use them to let the world (and potential employers) know about their skill sets, experience, and the challenges and opportunities they seek. I think professional recruiters know that anyone will move from an existing job to something new; it is just a matter of getting that "offer that can't be refused."
Finally, I am not suggesting that an overt Zillow-like Make Me Move feature is the exact approach that should be taken. Indeed, that would be awkward; something more finessed would be better. But, the concept is the same: hire me as your lawyer or just hire me.
I'll leave this post with a final thought. In the era of globalization, increased competition (both on and offshore) and web-enabled technologies, is it more likely that the legal space and law firm business models and culture will return to days gone by, or move deeper into the free agency model?
Anyway, something to consider...