Intuitively, we all know that when we’re off the radar, we’re not on our clients’ minds. At the same time, every attorney knows that referrals and returning clients are some of their strongest sources of business.

So, how do you stay connected?

How do you stay on someone’s radar throughout the year? There is a well-known marketing principle – the law of 7 touches – which says it takes an average of 7 to 10 meaningful touches every year to stay top of mind with people who know you and to build trust among people who don’t.

In today’s marketplace of over stimulation and thousands of advertisers trying to push their products and services, we have often found most attorneys need more than 7 touches. Look at Twitter – it is a constant stream of updating statuses. One tweet is irrelevant 10 minutes – or in some cases, one minute – later. The world and your prospect has moved on to the next latest blurb. In light of the current times, the marketing world has accepted that this number is somewhere north of 12 touches every year.

So what differentiates between a meaningful touch and a normal, entirely unremarkable touch?

Here are some easy and meaningful ways to reach out to your referral network:

• Host a seminar and invite contacts to attend.

• Call up your former clients and check in with them; see how they’re doing.

• Attend a local, non-legal networking event and make a point to meet potential referral sources.

• Attend a networking event in the industry you serve – ask attendees questions about their needs, their concerns, etc.

• Schedule lunch with an old referral contact to catch up.

• Use surveymonkey.com to conduct a brief survey on a topic of interest, use social media to invite people to answer it and then share the results with your network.

• Connect with them on LinkedIn. It’s the most widely used social media platform for attorneys, but most of them don’t use it effectively.

• If you see an interesting article in a blog, an industry magazine or the newspaper, forward it on to your clients or referral partners.

If you want to get 2015 off to a blockbuster start in terms of new business, you need to find a way to get and stay connected with the people that are your best sources of new business: current clients, past clients and others who have served as referral sources for you in the past.