Literally, ALL your other marketing efforts will underperform or fail (and you’ll waste a lot of money) if you don’t have a website optimized to convert attention (visitors) into action (calls to your office or online inquiries, and/or people providing you with their contact info).
1. Deliver more useful information than your competitors do on a search engine optimized website (SEO). Create a page for each question your prospects and legal clients ask, and provide a meaningful answer. This will attract a lot more people to your site.
Google itself is a directory of local listings, but it’s one of a hundred. In addition to curating your Google review ratings and keeping your profile up-to-date, there are other directories you should be on, too.
There are many strategies that solo attorneys can use generate new clients, below we’ll cover some of the most effective, including: 1 Leveraging Social Media 2 Business Development and Networking 3 Building up Your Online Reputation and Reviews 4 Own Your Traffic with a Website 5 PPC ads 6 Search Engine Optimization 7 Blogging and Content Marketing
As you start to generate clients as a solo attorney, you’ll want to own your marketing assets. There are several elements that make for a good website: 1 It’s trackable, meaning you can see where people are finding you from, what marketing and advertising campaigns are working and be able to track which campaigns produce the strongest ROIs 2 It receives sufficient exposure from online organic sources, such as search engines like Google and Bing and social media websites 3 It’s professional. Make sure it’s well designed, not too simple but not too complicated, shows a professional, high-quality photo of you (the lawyer visitors are considering to hire) 4 It’s very user friendly 5 Shows your expertise while in many places, attorneys can claim to be experts or specialized in an area of law, many places also do not. Regardless, many attorneys still choose the types of cases they do and don’t work on. While you may have to watch the language you use on your website, you should use your site to position yourself as an attorney that handles cases you want to take on. 6 It’s valuable to you and prospective clients. It should have lots of useful content and information that describes what areas of law you practice, the types of situations that clients may be facing that you’re able to help with. This will help you attract more of the rightrights types of clients and also allow potential clients to qualify themselves while browsing your site’s content.
Networking is one of the most powerful, organic methods for attracting new clients for your law firm. As a solo attorney, whether you’ve just hung up your own shingle or are seasoned but are looking for more cases, networking could be your answer. Here’s are some things you can consider participating in right away: 1 Register and spend time at local business networking events 2 Join local business groups and chamber of commerce 3 Seek out local referral partners 4 Search for local events on Facebook and websites like EventBrite
Shows your expertise while in many places, attorneys can claim to be experts or specialized in an area of law, many places also do not. Regardless, many attorneys still choose the types of cases they do and don’t work on.
A great way to promote yourself on social media is through sharing your expertise and skill as a lawyer. Blogging and content marketing can be a great staple to add into your social content publishing calendar and share with your audiences.
The importance of networking in attracting clients to your law firm cannot be underestimated . Networking is the process of building and nurturing mutually valuable relationships with other people. There are several ways to network. So decide on the best one for you and make yourself visible and available.
The seeming reluctance of lawyers to have an online presence has a lot to do with the old legal practice of not advertising. But there are great ways to use the internet without running afoul of the restrictions on an advertisement. One of the advantages of the internet is that it is a good place to get clients as a new lawyer.
But there are great ways to use the internet without running afoul of the restrictions on an advertisement. One of the advantages of the internet is that it is a good place to get clients as a new lawyer. There are professional platforms where people meet to exchange ideas, goods, and services.
One of the advantages of the internet is that it is a good place to get clients as a new lawyer. There are professional platforms where people meet to exchange ideas, goods, and services. Some of these professional platforms include: Linkedin. Facebook.
Online marketing isn’t just an if-you-build-it-they-will-come scenario. Marketing through a great website and strong content is a winning marketing strategy, but it’s also a long game. Being patient, consistent, and having realistic expectations will help inform your plan.
Target market is a marketing-specific term that refers to the type of clients you want to attract. If you find that specific types of clients and matters are high-effort, low-reward then you might want to steer clear of promoting your services to that audience.
A good rule of thumb is to set aside 10 percent of your revenue goal for marketing and try to find room in your overall business budget. This 10 percent should include costs for your website, any hiring you plan on doing, advertising costs, and so on.
Final thoughts. Every lawyer starting their own law firm needs to have a marketing plan —it’s a non-negotiable task that is essential to attracting clients. Keep an eye on how much business you’re generating from your marketing spend, and in which areas of your practice.
When people are in law school and even during their first few years out of law school, they tend to believe that the most important components of a successful law firm career involve (1) billing a lot of hours (meaning working hard) and (2) doing quality work. Very rapidly, however, young lawyers come to understand that just as important as doing ...
One of the biggest mistakes attorneys (and even law students!) make, proving they do not know how to get new clients for a law firm, is ignoring that every single person they ever meet is someone who could be a client or will someday be in a position to be their client. Many attorneys believe that they are often being “smart” sizing up people they meet and trying to assess whether they could potentially be their clients. They may assume, for example, that the janitor in their building could never be their client. They may assume that the person who sells them auto insurance could never be their client. They may assume that someone who was once their biggest enemy could never be their client.
Your dry cleaner, the person who mows your lawn, the mechanic who fixes your car —whomever you can imagine is a potential source of business for you. Stay in touch with them and remember to always be nice.
Your former employers (and all of the people within them) could possibly move to other employers and potentially be in a position to give you business. Your former employers may also have cases and other work they do not want to do but that you can do. Whatever the case, you need to realize that your former employers are people who are in a position to give you a great deal of work. DO NOT burn bridges wherever you go and make sure your former employers are always your advocates. Your former employers will be in a position to give you work and talk about you to others who can also give you work.
Clients want attorneys who are likely to do the best work possible and make clear decisions. When you examine most organizations that are very successful and have been around for a long time, it is easy to see that they tend to look for “steady” people who are not particularly mercurial and seem quite competent.
Harrison is the founder of BCG Attorney Search and several companies in the legal employment space that collectively gets thousands of attorneys jobs each year. Harrison is widely considered the most successful recruiter in the United States and personally places multiple attorneys most weeks. His articles on legal search and placement are read by attorneys, law students and others millions of times per year.