![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/RamosFrank_Web.png?resize=880%2C587&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Frank Ramos is a partner at Goldberg Segalla in Miami, where he practices commercial litigation, products, and catastrophic personal injury.\u00a0You can follow him on LinkedIn<\/a>, where he has about 80,000 followers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Let\u2019s Grab Coffee: How Investing $1,000 A Year In Yourself Will Supercharge Your Career<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Your career is yours. It\u2019s not your firm\u2019s. It\u2019s not your boss\u2019s. It\u2019s yours. And because it\u2019s yours, it\u2019s your responsibility to invest in it. Some of you are fortunate to have firms that will cover the costs of your marketing efforts. Some may provide you with a marketing budget. Many don\u2019t. And with all your expenses, including student loans, it\u2019s hard to imagine reaching into your pocket to pay for marketing efforts you believe your firm should. And yes, if your firm doesn\u2019t pay for your marketing efforts, it\u2019s unfortunate, but it doesn\u2019t excuse you from paying for it yourself.\u00a0 And what I suggest is setting aside $1,000 a year for coffee. You heard me right.\u00a0 Coffee.<\/p>\n One of the most inexpensive in-person business development activities you can do is meet someone for coffee at your local coffee shop. It\u2019s also the least disruptive to your schedule and others. This is what I recommend when I speak to lawyers about business development:<\/p>\n Twice a week, 50 weeks of the year, meet someone for coffee near your offices.\u00a0 That\u2019s a hundred coffee meetings a year. Order a small black coffee or tea and offer to pay for the other person\u2019s coffee. Sometimes they\u2019ll pay for their coffee.\u00a0 Sometimes they\u2019ll insist on paying for yours, too.\u00a0 With the tip, you\u2019ll average about $10 per coffee meet for two cups of coffee.\u00a0 For 100 coffee meetings, that\u2019s about $1,000 a year. Meeting for coffee twice weekly over a year results in more one-on-one sessions than most lawyers have annually.<\/p>\n A common retort to my proposal is, \u201cI don\u2019t know 100 people to have coffee with in my area.\u201d My response is that you would be surprised. Think about law school classmates. Lawyers from the bar associations to which you belong.\u00a0 Co-counsel.\u00a0 Opposing counsel. Folks you\u2019ve met on LinkedIn or Facebook. \u00a0You will easily have enough coffee partners to meet throughout the year.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll continue to know enough people to keep doing this exercise year after year (and, yes, from time to time, you\u2019ll meet the same person more than once to maintain that relationship).<\/p>\n In 10 years, that is a thousand coffee meetings. A thousand times you shared with others what your firm does.\u00a0 A thousand times to get to know someone so they see you as someone they know, like, and trust.\u00a0 A thousand times to develop your interpersonal skills \u2014 speaking with others, listening, maintaining eye contact, and making a connection.\u00a0 This will lead to dividends.\u00a0 How can it not?<\/p>\n The rainmakers, those at firms who bring in the most business, take the time to meet with others, get to know them, listen to them, and develop bonds with them. That will never happen simply by sitting at your desk working on your matters. Online contacts and relationships are fine, but take the time to meet others in person for coffee and build your network, which will lead to valuable referrals.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/coffee-1869820_1920-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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