Starting a Law Firm | Nolo.com and Yodle Follow Up

If you haven't started your law firm yet, one thing you can be sure of the minute you put your website up is that you will start getting marketing calls. People will be calling you and promising you things like "I can get you on the first page of Google," and "we have x number of leads come here each day that we want to send to you." It's going to sound really great, and most of it is going to be crap.

You ever hear of the saying if it sounds too good to be true it probably is? It's not a saying, it's a fact.

With that being said, however, if you are starting a law firm you are going to have to find a way to get clients. Most of the really good ways you do yourself. But there are some supplemental means of marketing your law firm, and two that I tried were Yodle, which specializes in Google adwords ads (the ads you see at the top and right hand side of your web browser when you search for things) and Nolo.com, a legal website (you can visit their site and see exactly what it is). I've posted Yodle reviews before (you can find Yodle review 1, Yodle review 2, Yodle review 3, and Yodle review 4 by clicking on the links) and a nolo.com review before, but I wanted to update them to reflect my recent experience. Here we go.

Nolo.com Review Update

One of the cool things about this blog is that when I write something about a company, particularly one that cares about it's image, I almost always get a follow up call from someone at the company. If it's a good post, I get a thank you call. If it's a bad post (or less than flattering) I get a call to discuss. My last review of nolo.com as it relates to starting a law firm wasn't great but wasn't terrible. The gist of it was that I don't think any of those sites send me good, qualified leads. Period.

I went on to point out that I bought the nolo.com subscription because of the links they could give me, but that I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the traffic they were sending.

And then, right on cue, I got the call.

And I must apologize, because the nolo.com rep that called was very nice and I promised to write about our conversation on here at least 3 weeks ago. And I'm finally doing it.

What she told me was what I expected to hear. They get x number of people to their site a month from Washington searching "x" keywords, x number of people went to your site and stayed around for a bit. In the end, I think 32 people found me from that site in about 9 weeks, or about 4 a week. That's not bad.

But here's the thing I'm curious about. How many of them were shopping for an attorney in Seattle and how many were just out looking around for information? The reason why I think it was the latter is this - here are the keywords used to get to my information:

Dealing with a DUI

What to do if you are pulled over

Revoked drivers license

Search and seizure

Getting out of jail

I know from experience that people are calling me when they search for a few specific keywords - namely Seattle DUI attorney and all of its variations (Seattle DUI lawyer, etc.), and Seattle criminal attorney and all of its variations. But people aren't calling me when they search for "search and seizure." They're either curious or bored or trying to solve their boyfriend or girlfriend's case on their own.

I think the bottom line is this: I was happy they called. I was happy they stand by their product. And I don't mind their product (I think I pay $167 a month). I just don't think it's as effective as what they claim. Will I keep it? I probably will. But if I were just starting a law firm would I buy this service and then just wait for the phone to start ringing? No.

Yodle Review Update

I've written about Yodle on here a bunch of times. And I'm now fairly convinced that as each day passes the ads placed all over the place are becoming less and less relevant. Think about it this way, when you search, do you ever click on those ads? I don't. In fact, I don't even see them. I automatically go to the search results. I think every day more and more people are getting that way, particularly with the advent of the Google places placement at the top of the results.

So, as of this month, I'm no longer using Yodle. I was putting about $1,000 a month toward it, and I figured I could better use it in other places (like marketing to referral sources, which are a huge boon to business). So, you can thank me later, but this will be my last post about Yodle.

General Update

Since this post isn't long enough already (insert sarcasm here), I'll give you a little bit of an update about where my practice is at. This money has by far been the best month for the firm. I pulled in somewhere between 13 and 14K, which is awesome. And there isn't much sign of is slowing down.

I think I'm going to give it another month or two, and if business stays steady, I'm going to hire on some help. I've been looking at getting a law clerk, but at this time of year, pickings are slim. And I need someone that's available to answer the phones and do administrative stuff so I can spend more time doing this and working on my cases. I'll keep you updated on how that process goes.

As always, if you want any specific information, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to address it.

How to Start a Law Firm | Trust Account Management

If you've been reading any of my posts you'll quickly see there is a lot of information on here about starting a law firm. That makes sense, because that's what this blog is about. But, if you dig a little bit deeper, you might notice that there is some critical information missing. I talk a lot about the business of a law firm and the things you should do to get started. I talk a lot about marketing and putting yourself out there. But I've really failed to talk a lot about one thing - what to do with your money when you sign someone up, particularly in civil cases.

And there's a reason I haven't talked about trust account management for your law firm - I don't know much about it.

Well, today is your lucky day, because a friend of mine has just created a video series dedicated to trust account management. His name is Rjon Robins. I would refer to him as a starting a law firm guru. He worked for the Florida bar association law office management program for several years and has taken his knowledge international. When I first started my law firm I purchased a program of his on doubling your revenue, and I was blown away with all of the content. Click here to see my Rjon Robins review.

Before I get too far, though, I do want to make one piece of information known - Rjon asked me to write about his new program on my site. The links you click will let him know that you came from my site. The reason for this is simple. Rjon wants to know where you've come from and how you got there. And we have set up an agreement for Rjon to thank me if you ever decide to take advantage of some of the paid programs he has to offer.

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I don't normally put affiliate type of information up here. In fact, I never have. But I wanted to this time for two reasons. First, I don't know about IOLTA account management. Second, I know Rjon knows what he's talking about and I trust that you will learn as much if not more from him than you do from me. The goal of this site is not to make money, but to chronicle my experiences and help those that want to start their own journey. I wouldn't put this information on here if I didn't know it was going to help you when you start really planning how to start your law firm.

If you go back to my original review of his revenue doubler system, you'll see I participated in that about a year ago. In that time I've sent him countless emails asking him questions. He has helped me with issues like out of the box law firm marketing, law firm website design, and phone systems, among other things.

The great thing about Rjon is that he always gives you a bunch of information for free. Great information. And I've actually looked at this video just to make sure it keeps up with all of the other free information of his that I've viewed (it does). So go check out this video on law firm trust accounts, learn about some of the pitfalls of not managing it correctly, and thank me when everything I promised you here is true!

Starting a Law Firm | Strap in For the Roller Coaster Ride

I didn't realize it when I first started, but starting a law firm is a lot like riding a roller coaster. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs, when you think you've reached the height of success, you can easily begin on a downward fall. And the whole thing is both wonderfully exciting and wonderfully scary all at the same time.

The only difference is, and it's an important difference, is that you get to control how big the peaks and valleys are. And if you aren't sure which way you should be leaning, the smoother the ride (the more level), the better.

This lesson really hit home for me in the last couple of months. Over the first year of starting my law firm, my income numbers were fairly steady. There would be a bit of a down time here, then I'd have a decent month there. And then May came, and it was significantly higher than any of my other months. I was pumped.

And my first thought was immediately that I'd made it over the hump, that I was on my way to greatness. And then June came. June was not a great month.

June was not a great month for several reasons, but I think the main reason was that I got complacent with a lot of the things that helped me have a good May, and good months before that. I was quick to respond to potential clients, I kept my nose to the grindstone, and I continued working toward the ultimate goal - sustainable success for this new law firm.

And it wasn't like I just took June off. I was still working, and still working hard. But I just wasn't working the same way that I had been. And it showed in my income results.

So, the lesson for this week is to keep at it. Sustainable success probably won't be there for years. Until your phone is ringing constantly, and over half of those calls are referrals, I wouldn't consider you're business to be over the hump. Until that time, keep your nose to the grindstone. Keep hustling for those clients, and always, always give your clients what you promise.

Roller coasters can be fun. But they can also be scary. Here's to hoping yours is as flat as a pancake.