The Lighter Side of Networking: I Stay Top of Mind Because of My Socks

• Publication year: 2020
• Author: By Joshua Bonnici

The Lighter Side of Networking: I Stay Top of Mind Because of My Socks

By Joshua Bonnici

Joshua Bonnici is the managing attorney for Bonnici Law Group, APC, located in downtown San Diego, where he focuses primarily on personal injury cases and appealing state and federal disability denials. His accomplishments include winning SD Metro's "40 Under 40" award, San Diego's Best Litigation Firm by the San Diego UT, and was recently selected as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers. You can learn more about Josh and his practice at www. bonnicilawgroup.com.

Yes. You read that correctly. I have and continue to receive case referrals (for cases I have retained, worked, and resolved) because of my socks. Am I a fashion lawyer? Agent for a famous shoe manufacture ? Nope. I run the day-to-day activities for Bonnici Law Group, APC, an injury and disability firm in San Diego. Just one of the hundreds of injury attorneys in a large, metropolitan city.

When I started my firm in 2012, I had no money for traditional legal advertising. Pay-per-click ads were over $100.00 per click and SEO charges seemed in another universe. So, I put my feet to the pavement and met with anyone who would listen to me. While I had my pitch down pat, I realized that the hardest part was having my coffee date remember who I was and what I did a few days after our coffee meeting. In a city flooded with young, hungry, and talented lawyers, I needed to figure out how to stay top-of-mind with all the contacts I met.

In a practice like personal injury, referral sources need to constantly remember who I am in order to send me a potential client when the need for my services occurs. My networking coffee date may not be in the position to refer me someone until weeks or months after our meeting. Ideally, I'm able to stay in contact with good referral sources and a regular basis, but work and life get in the way. I wanted to come up with a way to not only be the attorney that people remembered, but also be approachable and easy to connect with.

That's where my socks came into play.

My current sock collection (yes, my wife calls it a collection) consists of purple socks covered in tacos, yellow socks with bright red Siracha bottles on them, socks with sharks biting surfers, socks with bicycles (as an avid cyclist I have many variations of these), sail boats, and one of my favorite pairs, teal socks with birds and flowers that read "pimpin' ain't easy." They may sound juvenile and silly, but people love them. And I...