I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but now that I have, I might as well bring it up. Last night I got an email from a guy in Chicago that had recently started a law firm. He'd been reading this blog and wrote me to let me know he thought the information was good. Then he did something I've been waiting for people to do for a long time - he asked me if I'd be willing to do a link exchange with him. He admitted that his site was new and not very strong, but offered nonetheless.
This is exactly the type of go get em attitude you need to be successful in today's competitive legal market place. In fact, I do the same thing all the time (my goal is to ask for three a day, but I rarely meet that goal). The reason is simple - it's cheap, it's easy, and it is just about the most effective means law firm internet marketing there is.
I wrote him back immediately and told him I'd love to do a link exchange with him. I told him the keywords I'd like to have (Seattle DUI attorney) and told him where to point the link and then asked him where I should point his. He put my link up quickly and then got back to me. This is where he made a minor mistake that I wanted to point out to everyone.
When he gave me his link it was something like "Chicago lawyers." Although this isn't a terrible link to have to your site if you can get it, when you are dictating the keywords you need to be much more specific about what you want. For example, if he were a divorce lawyer, he should ask for Chicago divorce lawyer. If he were a criminal attorney, he should ask for Chicago criminal attorney. Think about what your potential clients will by typing in to search for you and that is what you want your keywords to be. Most people search specifically.
To conclude, if anyone else is interested in exchanging links, let me know. I have several blogs that I can put your information on and will gladly do so in exchange for a link from you. We can all help each other out and you can start exponentially increasing your exposure to potential clients.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Starting a Law Firm | Yodle Update
I haven't written about Yodle and starting a law firm in a while so I thought I'd give you an update on the progress it's been getting me. If you don't remember, I hired Yodle to do an adwords campaign for me. Adwords, generally, is the process of getting ads up in the search engines for your services. When search something in Google, they are the ads that appear at the very top and down the right hand side of the page.
If you remember, my campaign was geared toward Seattle DUI attorney and related keywords. And it wasn't working out so well. It seemed like people were seeing the pages, they just weren't clicking on the ads. Because there weren't that many clicks, I really wasn't spending that much money (I don't think I spent my entire monthly budget of $1,000 once) so it wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't producing.
One thing I learned about Yodle through this process was their dedication to customer service. I had numerous meetings with several people and we addressed such things as the text of the ad, the call to action on my website, and the ability to have someone answering the phone at all times (so no calls were missed). Despite our best efforts, there really wasn't much progress.
So, here's my two cents on adwords. Like I suspected, they aren't that effective, standing alone. They should be used as a secondary marketing mechanism to get more eyeballs to see your firm information. What I mean is, it's important to utilize these ads almost like a billboard or a sign on a truck. You don't necessarily need to have people calling the number directly because of that ad, but you want to create some top of mind awareness for your firm.
Because of this, I've decided to reign in my law firm adwords campaign for a couple of months while I focus on getting my name up top on the search engine rankings and the local rankings. Once this happens (which should be soon), then I can begin another adwords campaign for my Seattle DUI practice. This will, at times, give me three positions on the first page of Google. People subconsciously start to associate that with trust, and more people start calling.
It's important to always be thinking about how to get new clients into your office and tinker with what you have to make it better. There is always someone out there trying to get your prospective client, so you can't just rest on your laurels.
If you remember, my campaign was geared toward Seattle DUI attorney and related keywords. And it wasn't working out so well. It seemed like people were seeing the pages, they just weren't clicking on the ads. Because there weren't that many clicks, I really wasn't spending that much money (I don't think I spent my entire monthly budget of $1,000 once) so it wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't producing.
One thing I learned about Yodle through this process was their dedication to customer service. I had numerous meetings with several people and we addressed such things as the text of the ad, the call to action on my website, and the ability to have someone answering the phone at all times (so no calls were missed). Despite our best efforts, there really wasn't much progress.
So, here's my two cents on adwords. Like I suspected, they aren't that effective, standing alone. They should be used as a secondary marketing mechanism to get more eyeballs to see your firm information. What I mean is, it's important to utilize these ads almost like a billboard or a sign on a truck. You don't necessarily need to have people calling the number directly because of that ad, but you want to create some top of mind awareness for your firm.
Because of this, I've decided to reign in my law firm adwords campaign for a couple of months while I focus on getting my name up top on the search engine rankings and the local rankings. Once this happens (which should be soon), then I can begin another adwords campaign for my Seattle DUI practice. This will, at times, give me three positions on the first page of Google. People subconsciously start to associate that with trust, and more people start calling.
It's important to always be thinking about how to get new clients into your office and tinker with what you have to make it better. There is always someone out there trying to get your prospective client, so you can't just rest on your laurels.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Starting a Law Firm | Staying Motivated
I'm still really knew at my life as the owner of a DUI defense law firm. In fact, I'm still in my first year. The reality is, though, that starting a law firm, as fun as it is over the long run, is from day to day a pretty big grinder. Sure, I get to cash the checks, I get to make the important business decisions, and I get to take on as clients the people I want, but it is still possible to get bogged down in the day to day monotony of work.
And being a Seattle DUI attorney and owning a law firm provide a lot of work to get monotonous. So, how do I get through the monotony? How do I continue pushing forward and making things work? There are a couple of ways.
First, and I think this applies to any business owner, there is always the fear in the back of your mind that business is going to some day dry up and disappear forever. This fear, while stressful at times, is an important motivator in the grand scheme of things. For example, it's got me writing this post at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday (as much as I love helping you all out, this helps me too).
Second, a lot of responsibility comes with being a Seattle DUI lawyer. People are relying on me to help them out of sticky situations. And I don't want to let them down. They push me to continue looking through the breath test databases for errors, to continue sifting through their police reports with a fine toothed comb, and to continue to negotiate with the vigor that gets results.
Third, and finally, I stay motivated by recognizing that I've got a lot of goals. I've got short term goals, which I try to meet every day. I've medium term goals, which I try to meet every month. And I've got long term goals, which stretch to the end of this year and beyond. The only way to reach any of these goals is to get started today pursuing them. Sometimes that means doing boring stuff. But it makes it so much easier when you are reaching and exceeding those goals you've laid out for yourself.
If you are starting a law firm and aren't sure if you have what it takes, don't think about all the things that can go wrong. Think about whether or not you have the guts and the drive to make things turn out right for you. It's no secret that you get out of life what you make of it. And there is opportunity out there to be grasped. All you have to do is jump out there and grab it.
And being a Seattle DUI attorney and owning a law firm provide a lot of work to get monotonous. So, how do I get through the monotony? How do I continue pushing forward and making things work? There are a couple of ways.
First, and I think this applies to any business owner, there is always the fear in the back of your mind that business is going to some day dry up and disappear forever. This fear, while stressful at times, is an important motivator in the grand scheme of things. For example, it's got me writing this post at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday (as much as I love helping you all out, this helps me too).
Second, a lot of responsibility comes with being a Seattle DUI lawyer. People are relying on me to help them out of sticky situations. And I don't want to let them down. They push me to continue looking through the breath test databases for errors, to continue sifting through their police reports with a fine toothed comb, and to continue to negotiate with the vigor that gets results.
Third, and finally, I stay motivated by recognizing that I've got a lot of goals. I've got short term goals, which I try to meet every day. I've medium term goals, which I try to meet every month. And I've got long term goals, which stretch to the end of this year and beyond. The only way to reach any of these goals is to get started today pursuing them. Sometimes that means doing boring stuff. But it makes it so much easier when you are reaching and exceeding those goals you've laid out for yourself.
If you are starting a law firm and aren't sure if you have what it takes, don't think about all the things that can go wrong. Think about whether or not you have the guts and the drive to make things turn out right for you. It's no secret that you get out of life what you make of it. And there is opportunity out there to be grasped. All you have to do is jump out there and grab it.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Starting a Law Firm | Hiring Staff
Right now I'm about 8 months into starting a law firm. It's been a great experience. I'm making a little money (let me stress a little), I'm helping people stay out of trouble (that's what Seattle DUI lawyers do, after all), and I'm having a great time of it. But I can sense myself getting busier and busier and I'm having a hard time determining when I will be busy enough to need someone to help.
There are a couple of things holding me back. First, I don't want to hire someone to help me out until I definitely need someone to help. I'd hate to bring someone on and then have to pay them while they sit around and twiddle their thumbs waiting for me to give them something to do. I have a feeling, though, that once I had someone come on and became comfortable delegating tasks it would free up a lot of time to do the lawyering I need to do.
And second, there is always that fear out there that business will dry up completely, I'll have all of these obligations to my new staff member, and I won't be able to meet them. Though I am doing well month to month, I don't yet have the feeling that a continuous cycle of work has been started that won't ever end. The idea of having a slow month or two still lingers in the back of my mind.
For me, though, there are some alternatives to hiring a full time staff member that I plan on exploring. First, there are first and second year law school students around that work for cheap (and are even subsidized by the school) to come and do exactly the things I need done. Second, there are third year law students that can get a temporary license to practice law and make routine court appearances for me if necessary. And last, but not least, there are an abundance of college students around that can in if necessary.
The downside to these options is the lack of stability over time. I want to give people the same experience every time they call us or work with us. To do that takes some training of staff. Every time someone leaves that means I have to train a new person. I just need to weight that against the benefit of less overhead.
I guess this is just another one of the steps that goes into starting a law firm. I probably won't be making a decision on this for a couple of months, but when I do, I'll be sure to let you know.
There are a couple of things holding me back. First, I don't want to hire someone to help me out until I definitely need someone to help. I'd hate to bring someone on and then have to pay them while they sit around and twiddle their thumbs waiting for me to give them something to do. I have a feeling, though, that once I had someone come on and became comfortable delegating tasks it would free up a lot of time to do the lawyering I need to do.
And second, there is always that fear out there that business will dry up completely, I'll have all of these obligations to my new staff member, and I won't be able to meet them. Though I am doing well month to month, I don't yet have the feeling that a continuous cycle of work has been started that won't ever end. The idea of having a slow month or two still lingers in the back of my mind.
For me, though, there are some alternatives to hiring a full time staff member that I plan on exploring. First, there are first and second year law school students around that work for cheap (and are even subsidized by the school) to come and do exactly the things I need done. Second, there are third year law students that can get a temporary license to practice law and make routine court appearances for me if necessary. And last, but not least, there are an abundance of college students around that can in if necessary.
The downside to these options is the lack of stability over time. I want to give people the same experience every time they call us or work with us. To do that takes some training of staff. Every time someone leaves that means I have to train a new person. I just need to weight that against the benefit of less overhead.
I guess this is just another one of the steps that goes into starting a law firm. I probably won't be making a decision on this for a couple of months, but when I do, I'll be sure to let you know.
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