Starting a Law Firm Mailbag

I know this isn't the usual Wednesday/Friday installment your used to, but I got a little behind. To make it up to you, this is going to be a super post - I don't know how many words it's going to end up being, but it's going to be big. Hope you're ready for it.

The theme of this post is a mailbag. Don't know if any of you are into sports, but if you are, then I'd hope you'd know about Bill Simmons. He's one of the best sports columnists I've ever read. He incorporates politics, pop culture, and even his own family when he writes. I'm not nearly as talented so I probably won't do any of that, but I will treat this post as a mailbag of sorts - reader questions and comments. So, here we go.

How to Start a Law Firm in a Different City

Ah, a question true to my own heart. This is what I did. Moved about 1,800 miles or so to open my own firm. And though I knew a couple people (literally) I didn't have any ties to the city through school or youth or anything. I was starting with a clean slate.

Here's what I did. First, I decided what I wanted to do - settled on eminent domain and criminal defense. Second, I thought about how I'd get clients in those two practice areas (turns out eminent domain is something you can get a lot of referrals to - not many people do it; and criminal defense is consumer driven). Third, I started putting together my systems for getting clients according to how I'd determined to get clients (eminent domain - meet attorneys in the biz and let them know I was around; criminal defense - internet marketing).

That's what you should do. It's just that easy!

Update on the Book

I've people ask me about this, so I'll just tell you. Yes, I'm going to write it. Yes, it's going to be good. But to be good takes a little bit of planning. If you want to tell me what you'd like to see in the book let me know.

What I'm thinking about right now is a starting a law firm with a slant for the twenty-first century. I've got Foonberg's book, How to Start and Grow a Law Practice (or something like that) and no offense to Foonberg, but three-quarters of it is crap. Not crap like bad writing crap - it's just outdated. And who publishes a book anymore anyway? This is going to be an ebook. From the top of my head, this is what it would look like:

1. Should I Start a Law Firm? Common Hurdles.

2. The Business Plan - Essentials to Starting Off on the Right Foot.

3. The Groundwork - Your Marketing Plan.

4. The Foundation - Executing Your Marketing Plan (or SEO 101).

5. The Nuts and Bolts - Phones, Office, Paperless.

6. Opening Day - 5 Things You Must Have.

7. Oh My God the Phone is Ringing, What do I do?

8. First Year Expectations.

9. Second Year Goal Setting.

10. Hiring Employees - When's the Right Time?

And then a couple of bonus chapters.

11. So You Want to Play Golf Every Day? Making Your Law Firm Work for You.

12. 10 Things You can do to Make Your Law Firm Attractive to a Buyer.

I literally just made those up, so don't ask me any questions about what's going to be in them - I don't yet. Except that I'd imagine it will be a lot of the information that's already here. Stay tuned. I plan on getting to work on this in the next couple of weeks (so maybe a summer release?).

Adsense and Me

When I noticed that people were actually reading this, the internet marketer in me couldn't resist, and I put some adsense ads up here. Every time I actually look at the site the ads I see are pretty ridiculous. I can only imagine what you see. Law firms with bad marketing companies, random stuff, and occasionally a product about starting a law firm.

I've finally come to realize you are much more important than that. I don't really know many of you, but I know where you are and I hope you join me in the future. Because of that, I'm only going to put products up here that I'd actually recommend you use (and that will be happening shortly, because I've got some stuff I recommend.

Now, some of the stuff I'll get paid for if you buy it. That's just the way the world works. But I promise I'll always let you know if there's an agreement with me and the person on the other end of the link. And I'll let you know exactly why I endorse the product and whether or not I've actually used it. If you want to know more about something just comment - I'll respond and that way everyone can know exactly what's going on. Fair?

Update on My Plan for Multiple Sites

I got an email (or a comment, I can't remember) about the status of my plan to roll out websites for all of the cities surrounding my major metropolitan area. So, here's the update.

I should have done this sooner since I made a radical change here. I actually scrapped that plan. It was going to be way too much work for way too little a return. And, I was overlooking a major asset that I'd created that could do the work of all of those little sites by itself - my DUI website.

I don't know if I've told any of you this, but my website ranks nationally for DUI searches. Yep, if you are in Boston right now, or Minnesota, or Iowa, and you search DUI attorney, there's a pretty good chance my site's going to pop up on the first page (and I'll guarantee you it's on the first two pages). Yep, I know, you can find out who I am if you want (I guess the like button on the sidebar isn't enough - I'm an idiot!!). I'll give you a hint. Mine is the only site that isn't anywhere near any of those locations.

Because this site is so strong, all I have to do is have the other cities listed on the site, throw some links to my site with those keywords, and I'll immediately start getting picked up in those cities. Pretty crazy, right? So that's the new plan. I'm tackling one city at a time (the links will continue to grow and gain more power over time, so when I get to spot one for a city it should stick for a while).

I just realized it's probably important to update stuff from time to time. Why don't we do a quarterly review of my goals and where I'm at? Book it.

The Job Market and New Attorneys

This is a bit of a sticky situation. I don't really want to tell you what I think about this because anything I say will be completely anecdotal and based on what I think the future of law practice is. But I think it goes without saying the market is tight (and that might be the understatement of the night).

There are really two things I guess I want to say to new attorneys out there that are thinking about opening a law firm right out of law school (three - the third being it can be done and you can be extremely successful). But they each deserve their own paragraph.

First, if you're going to do it you've got to commit. What I mean by that is I know there are people out there that don't really want to do this. They can't find a job, they are freaking out, bills are piling up, and opening a law firm starts to look like a pretty good option. And maybe it is a good option for you. But you decide you are going to open your own shop you've got to commit to yourself that you are going to whatever it takes to be successful.

Thing is, I know that some of you don't have it in you. Yeah, I know, that hurts. But it's true. We weren't all born to be bosses, to be self-starters. Some of us enjoy the security that comes with working for someone else. If you're that someone, just keep looking for a job. You'll find something (the first one is always the hardest to get). Just hide the desperation when you interview - they can smell it (that's a joke, sort of, they know you're all desperate!).

Second, now that you've committed you've got to come to grips with something - you are going to be freaked out for at least a couple of years. You are going to be afraid of several things. First, you're going to be afraid that you are going to mess someone's case up beyond all recognition and you're going to go down in flames. And, I don't mean to make you more afraid, but that's a legitimate fear.

You're also going to be afraid that you are going to go broke, fail as an attorney and a business attorney, and wind up flipping burgers at McDonald's (and there's nothing wrong with this, it's just going to feel like a step down). And again, that's a legitimate fear. I can promise you there are a lot of attorneys out there that opened their own shop years ago and they are just getting by. And that could be you.

Fired up yet to hang your own shingle?! :)

But here's the great thing about fear. Channeled the right way, it can pay huge dividends. Let's take the fear of messing up someone's case. The easiest way to mess up is to try to do something you don't know how to do. So, let that fear push you into learning the areas you want to practice in (that's also why it's important to pick one or two and go with them). Since the day I've opened I've done two kinds of cases - criminal and eminent domain. If anyone ever calls me about something else, I send them to someone that knows that area of law.

To learn the ropes, there are several things you can do. First, if you are still in law school, go volunteer at someone's firm. Yep, I said volunteer. It's got to be volunteer work for one specific reason - you are there less to do work and more to learn. While you will be doing the legal research and stuff that's required, you'll also negotiate an hour a week to just talk about the practice - learn the ins and outs that aren't in the statutes and cases. And, whenever there's something going on (client meeting, strategy session, court) you get to be there. You don't get to talk, but you get to be there.

And, I think it goes without saying, pick up all the practice guides you can get.

Second, and finally on this topic, the fear of the business failing. First, you're going to be less afraid of this (at least at times) because you are going to have a plan and you are going to execute it. You are going to acknowledge early that free work is not the kind of work you want to do and instead of caving to that person that "can't afford" your fee, you are going to market the shit out of your practice. You are going to do things you think might work but are cheap and get your name out there (see my old posts about the flea market and fraternity presentations). Bottom line, you're going to hustle and get some work.

When you start to think about the money you are going to make in the first six months, just automatically cut it in half. It's going to be slow at the beginning. Accept that. Don't let that fear make you act irrationally. Allow it to push you to work harder.

Okay, the Last Thing for All New Graduates Out There

Law school is good for a couple of things. It's great for keeping old law professors feeling great about themselves, and it's great for creating some of the most pessimistic people out there. From day one we are taught to do pretty much one thing - fix problems or foresee potential problems. Over three years of law school you see a lot of big problems and diagnose a lot of potential problems.

That's what lawyers do, so it's an important part of your education. But it's not always great for the business side of owning a law firm.

By the way, here comes the motivational portion of this post, so prepare yourself for it.

If you want to be successful at this, you're going to have to stop worst case scenarioing everything. Yes, I said scenarioing - it's a word I just made up. Do you know what I mean by that?

For example, it's easy to think about the phone not ringing, you going bankrupt, and living in a van down by the river for the rest of your life. That certainly wouldn't be a fun experience. It's easy to think about messing up someone's case. It's easy to think about all of the reasons your marketing plan won't work. It's easy to think about all of the ways that this thing could fail. But at some point you're going to have to take the leap and dive in head first.

This can be done. It isn't easy. There are a million reasons and ways you could fail. But if you're successful you'll likely have made the best decision of your life. And if it doesn't work out, you'll be a better person and a better lawyer for it.

You can control your own future. You can practice the kind of law that you want to practice. You can practice law the way you want to. And, at the end of the day you get to put all the money you make from your hard work in your pocket.

If you've made it here, congratulations. Let me know what you think about what I've said. Comments are always welcome.

Marketing a Law Firm | I Need Your Help Now

The day has finally arrived. I am requesting all of the readers' help on something I'm actually already in the process of doing, but would love to have some feedback on. I want you to be completely honest, and try to put your business/potential client hat on for this one. I don't really care what other attorneys in the area will think, and I'm certain they will think it's borderline tacky. Here we go.

As I think you all know, I'm a DUI lawyer. That poses some specific disadvantages when it comes to marketing my law firm. One disadvantage is that every person out there that can afford my services is a potential client, yet they are not a potential client until they actually need my services. Another disadvantage is the market is flooded with people calling themselves DUI attorneys. For the layperson it is often difficult to decide who to pick to represent them.

So, I've decided to differentiate myself from the pack by forming an identity for both myself and my firm. I do, however, want to give credit where credit is due, so I want to thank this Tulsa estate planning lawyer for contacting me with some suggestions for my own practice and this Tulsa DUI lawyer for providing me with the idea (which I borrowed from him - he doesn't need it where I am anyway). The links I've just provided are extremely valuable, so I hope they like them!

The Tulsa DUI lawyer I'm referring to markets himself as "The Tulsa DUI Guy." Now, I know what you're thinking, a little cheesy, right? But it is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for for my practice and the precise thing you should be looking for for yours. And here's why.

First, it is easy to remember. It rhymes for goodness sake. That means when people see or hear of it it will stick in the brains and they can recall it if they ever need a DUI lawyer. Also, when someone asks for a reference, yours is readily available ("call the Tulsa DUI guy, I've heard he's really good).

Second, it separates you from everyone else. In today's day and age, everyone has the ability to market and brand themselves in any way they want - that's the magic of the internet. But with this people will instantly know who you are and what you do, and done the right way it can put you out in front of people's minds without them even realizing it.

Third, and finally, it allows you to build a cohesive brand across all avenues of advertising. When you have advertising materials, a catch phrase like this eliminates the need for explanation. People immediately know who you are and what you do. And whether they see it on the internet or a billboard, the dots can immediately be connected.

So I've decided to call myself The (my location) DUI Guy. I think it will do a great job of accomplishing the three things I just discussed. What do you think?

And, by the way, if you want to comment that you already know where I am and who I am so I should just spit it out, I'm not worried about you finding out who I am. I want this blog to continue to be an avenue for attorneys to talk about the business side of law without having to worry about what other people are thinking (i.e. potential clients). It's kind of like for me, I know when people are selling to me, but the process is a lot more enjoyable if they don't walk me through their rationale for everything they do. If we all need one thing in our practice, it's a better understanding of how to create and run a successful business.

So, please comment and let me know what you think. And, like I told my wife - who isn't completely sold on the idea yet :) - I'm always open to suggestions.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Starting a Law Firm | Hourly Billing or Flat Fees?

I'm happy to say that I have something to read about because of reader comments! Thanks and keep them coming.

Today's discussion is about billing. Hourly versus flat. I don't know if I've talked about it specifically here before, but I feel like I've mentioned it in a post before. Doing a post only about billing though should make it easier to find in the future.

Here was the reader's comment:

I think that one solution, or at least partial solution, to the "unable to pay" client question is charging flat fees rather than hourly rates. I'm not sure if you've posted a topic on the subject in here yet (I'm reading through everything for the 2nd time now), but it's something I'd like to see a discussion about.

I'm looking at doing immigration law when I open up my own firm, and the first comment I invariably get from people is "Oh, so you're not planning on getting paid?" Well, I am planning on getting paid, but it's going to be a reasonable flat fee for my services rather than a huge retainer or hourly billing.

Before I even get started though, let me tell all of you out there that are thinking about starting a law firm something - there are a lot of people out there that can come up with a lot of possibilities for why you might not be successful at this. And everyone is going to tell you what they've come up with.

When this happens you have two options, believe them, listen to them, and worry about it until you make it happen (the self-fulfilling prophesy) or nod your head and remember all of the planning you've done to prevent the things they talk about.

"What if no one hires you?"

"Oh, so you're not planning on getting paid?"

My response, and pardon my french, is "what the fuck do you know about starting or running a successful business? Oh nothing? Thanks for the encouragement." (That's not literally my response but might be what I'm thinking)

If people have legitimate concerns, things that sound like questions you should answer (and quite honestly, things that we talk about here), then listen. But when people start talking about "what ifs" it's time to tune them out.

When people tell me they are starting a law firm I always ask them a few questions to see how serious they are about it? Have you thought about what your practice areas is going to be? Have you thought of a marketing plan? Have you thought about what you are going to do when someone wants to hire you (the process of it)? If you can answer those questions, and they make sense, then I'm all for it.

Okay, back to the topic, hourly fees versus flat fees.

In my mind this is a no brainer no matter what field you are in. Flat fees win every time. They win for you and for the client. And I'll tell you why.

Before we get too far, let's clarify what each is. An hourly fee is a fee that is charged per your hour of work. The more hours you work, the more you get paid. The flat fee is earned upon receipt. They pay you and it goes right into your bank account. That fee is typically the only fee earned for representing someone in that matter.

Here's why I like flat fees versus hourly fees.

Your Time is More Valuable than That

I enjoy working, believe it or not. But I also enjoy playing golf. I also enjoy sports, a lot. And from time to time I like to have a beer, sometimes even in the middle of the day.

But I can't enjoy my round of golf or my beer in the middle of a Wednesday if all I'm thinking about is how this is directly cutting into my bottom line. An hour lost under an hourly billing concept is literally money out of your pocket.

My time is extremely valuable to me. And I don't ever want to be a slave to the clock. I've billed by the hour before and it isn't fun tracking your life in six minute increments.

Your Job is to Solve Problems, Not Create Them

I don't care what anyone says, when you work under an hourly billing method, the temptation to create problems or make mountains out of molehills is always lurking. And the reason is obvious. How about an example.

Let's say a guy comes into your office and says "I've got a problem that could potentially cost me $100,000. I'm being sued right now. Can you help me?" You sign him up and start looking at the case and immediately recognize a solution that could save him the whole amount. All it takes is a one page letter.

If you are billing hourly do you write the letter and charge him $100 bucks? "Of course you do!" everyone is saying right now. But, if you're billing hourly do you investigate every other avenue to make sure you aren't missing any other defenses just in case the other side balks at what you have to say?

If you are billing at a flat fee rate you write the letter, collect your $5000 (the amount you charge for pre-filing work) and move on to the next matter.

You may think this is impossible, but when you start thinking about the value that you can provide not on an hourly basis but on a project basis, you'll be surprised at how much more money you can make. And your clients will be happier because you're both on the same page. Which brings me to point number 3:

Your Clients Will Trust You More and Value Your Service More

You ever take your car to the mechanic? What happens when you get that bill and it shows how long it took to do the job? When that happens to me I am automatically skeptical. It's human nature to be that way because you have to put your complete trust in the person that they were honest with you about their time.

Same goes with your clients. And, it's say to say, but people are generally skeptical of attorneys - they are groomed to be that way.

But, if you charge a flat fee, they know what they are paying for. They understand the value they are getting and they are comforted to know there aren't any surprises. And you can tell them what you've done without having to justify the time it took to do it.

You Can Apply Flat Fees to Any Area of the Law

Flat fees aren't just for immigration law or criminal defense. You can use them in any area of practice. The key is to make sure you define the scope of work, define client expectations, and remember what it is you are there to do.

Let's take our example from above. In that case your flat fee agreement might be something like $5000 for any pre-litigation work (responding to the demand letter, trying to resole the case, etc.); $10,000 for any everything through written discovery (answering complaint and interrogatories, requests for production); $10,000 for depositions; and $5,000 for a summary judgment motion; and $10,000 for trial. And, and here's the kicker so long as it's not family law or criminal defense, you can negotiate a bonus based on the amount of money you save him, say, 10% or something of the amount saved.

In our example, your letter that makes the matter go away gets you $15,000. $5000 for the pre-litigation work and $10,000 for saving him from paying $100,000 in the suit.

It Works

I don't know what it is with attorneys, but we always like to just shoot down ideas for no particular reason. I'm picturing a lot of you out there right now shaking your head saying "this will never work with my clients because...." Just do me one favor - TRY IT.

If you try and they balk, fine. But then try it with the next guy. And don't do it half-assed. Show them why it's better for them. Let them know the advantages. Work it into your initial client meeting sales pitch (and if you don't have one of these, make one). You'll not only start making more money but you'll be able to spend your time solving your clients problems, and, when you want, spending your time doing what you want.

Specific Help for the Commenter

You ask a question, you get personal help. That's just how this thing works. Here it is.

For immigration attorneys I think flat fees are a no brainer. And they must be up front flat fees - no payment plans. And here's why.

First, if you lose, your client is likely leaving the country. Not only will you not be able to get any money from them but you might not even be able to find them again.

Second, your clients are already pre-conditioned to paying up front. They expect it and are willing to do it, if you don't let them talk you out of it. It doesn't take much to point out to them why you charge a flat fee - and the value proposition makes sense to them (they don't pay for time, they pay for results).

And finally, they typically have some money laying around or have the means to pool it quickly. Facts are facts. Illegal immigrants are liquid. They typically don't have bank accounts, don't live fancy lives, and don't own expensive stuff. They save their money to send back home or for a rainy day. You are the umbrella they buy when it rains.

If you do good work as an immigration attorney you can make a ton of money. People talk, and giving good service to one person typically results in two or three more calling for help. Just remember to get paid up front.

One Final Story About Value

I know I've told this little story somewhere before, but it usually does a good job of getting the message across to clients who are worried about paying you a big fee, you fixing their case fast, and they are left feeling like they got cheated. I'm sure I'm going to butcher it, but you'll get the point (actually after writing this I went out and found it, so this is it exactly.

Pablo Picasso was sketching in a park one day when a woman strolling past recognized him: "You're Pablo Picasso aren't you?" she asked. He replied that he was. "You're my favorite artist!" she exclaimed. "Would you please sketch my portrait?"

After studying her for a minute, he closed his eyes and thought for a second, opened them and drew three lines on the paper.

He passed the paper to the woman who looked at it for a moment, and she gushed "It's perfect! You've captured exactly who I am! I must buy the sketch Mr. Picasso. What do I owe you for it?"

"Five thousand pounds."

"What!?" she blurted. "How could you ask for so much. It only took you a few seconds."

"No madame," Picasso calmly replied, "it took me my entire life."

Not only is this a final story about value, it's also the final reason you should use flat fee billing. Clients aren't paying you to reinvent the wheel. They are paying you to solve a problem. As an hourly biller, wouldn't you feel like shit if someone came in with a problem that was very similar to one you just fixed, and though the problem is huge for the client you could only bill them a fraction of the value provided because it only took you a fraction of the time to solve (because all of the paperwork and research was already done).

How great would it feel to tell the person, "I've handled cases like this before and can do it for X dollars." When they hire you you can actually use the work done in the past to benefit both the client (resolving their case) and you (streamlining your work).

Marketing a Law Firm | Reader Questions

I love getting comments from you all. It helps me help you with thing I might not think about. I got a great comment/question this week from "New York Lawyer" and I promised to respond to it in the this post (it was a detailed question). So, here we go!

The gist of the post is that this guy (I'm just using "guy" - if you all are sensitive about this issue get over it) is a New York lawyer who just started a law firm. He's in a home office but has visions of a separate office as business picks up. He expressed these "problems" and wanted my thoughts on them:

1. He didn't want to go solo with no experience but has been forced to because of the low salaries offered by employers. How do you market yourself without the experience?

2. What do you do when people can't afford you?

3. How do you market to a low income population?

I know I've touched on some of these issues before, but maybe not as specifically as requested in these comments. To put the questions in context I'll post the relevant portion of the comment before answering.

How do You Market Yourself Without Experience?

#1 - One of the first points of understanding that you expressed in this segment of your blog is the fact that the economy has left many of us lawyers with no choice but to go out on our own. For me, I never wanted to go solo before obtaining at least three to four years of experience. One problem is that there are not many employers willing to pay lawyers enough to live. No, I did not expect to receive offers of $160,000/year straight out of law school. I did, however, expect to receive at least $60,000/year versus offers of $43,000 - 45,000/year and lower. Yes, I said "lower."

In New York City, you cannot live on low salaries unless you are already financially situated or living with friends or relatives who can support you a bit until you get on your feet. Many of us do not have those luxuries.

The second problem is that some firms just are not hiring as many lawyers as they did before. Competition is stiff. Thousands of newly minted attorneys are joining the ranks each year. They need jobs as well. We're all in this together.

Therefore, because we have to live and make extremely high student loan payments, many of us have had to select a different route, including going solo or even taking temporary assignments.

I said all of that to say that when you don't have a lot of experience, sometimes, there's a hesitation about marketing yourself a lot. Clients want to know that when they knock on your door, you can handle the matter they present to you. Sure, you were trained to go and do the research for the matter. You can also talk to experienced lawyers and obtain advice about your case. But something inside of you initially wants to hold back when you consider the fact that the clients are real people with real situations that they're leaving in your hands. What are your thoughts on this?

I understand what it feels like to be out there trying to sign people up, wanting to help them out, but being hesitant because you don't know all the answers and don't feel 100% comfortable handling their case. When I first started out I was in the same boat (though I had some people to rely on). At my first job I was in an "eat what you kill arrangement." I received a very small base salary and then got paid based on what I brought in.

Here's what I would suggest - get out there and learn what you're doing so you're comfortable helping people. I don't have any idea what kind of law you want to practice, but I can guarantee you this, there are a ton of resources out there to help you. Use them. And then go watch other people put them into practice, and put them into practice yourself.

For example, when I started my firm it was in a new state where I'd never practiced. I had a basic understanding of how everything worked but wasn't familiar with the nuances. I did two things the first week I moved to my new place - I went out and got all the practice advisories and materials in my practice area that I could get my hands on, and I started going to court and just watching what was going on.

No one likes to say this, but lawyering, for the most part, isn't rocket science. It's putting in the work to understand your client's facts and how they apply to the law. If you are committed to doing that with each of your clients, you can be confident that you can represent them. If they ask about your experience be honest, and don't forget to tell them what you've been doing to make up for that lack of experience.

The bottom line is that not everyone can afford my services (or I haven't convinced them of the value of my services). And, while it makes me feel special to be busy and working, I'd rather put my free time into marketing my practice than working.

The hardest thing to come to grips with when you are new to starting a law firm is the true value of your services. You've got a knowledge base that not many others have, and when you apply that base with your effort for each client, that equates to a lot of value. Remember that when people try to talk you off of your fee.

And one last thing on people that can't afford you. Part of your sales pitch should be informing them of ways they can pay you. Do they have credit cards? Do they have friends and/or relatives they could borrow from? Do they have a piece of property they'd like to put up as collateral? The thing I always point out is if they want to hire you, if they are interested in what you have to offer, then there's always a way to find the money. Probably sounds a little cold-hearted but it's true.

What do You do When People Can't Afford You?

#2 - The second problem that I've run into is the fact that there are lots of clients out there that need help; however, they cannot afford to pay me or anyone else for that matter. So far, I've assisted one client for free in their criminal appeal. It was a long process, but it provided great experience for me. I also assisted another client who paid me to represent them at an arraignment hearing. I've been involved with the city's volunteer attorney program, which assists clients in various civil matters. The volunteer attorneys typically volunteer their services for the day.

All of these opportunities have provided tremendous experience for me. But I still have to live. My firm will not survive on pro bono work.

I realize that sharing my contact information with the clients can be a means of marketing myself, because they can in turn recommend me to other people who may be in need and can actually pay.

I wish them luck and send them on their way or to an attorney that I think they can afford.

"What is Your Advice Regarding law Firm Marketing to a Low Income Population?"

I don't.

If you live in New York where it's so expensive and you have to make a lot of money to live and all that stuff, then there should be a lot of people out there that can afford your services. Market to them.

I market my services to people that can pay for me. And you should too.

If, however you are hell bent on helping the underprivileged, then here's what I would do (and God bless you for wanting to do that). First, your firm needs to run like a well oiled machine. Whatever you are doing, there needs to be a specific process that happens for each case, every time. And the reason for this is you are going to have to be a volume firm - more case equals more money. To give people the value you are going to promise, you need to have the operation streamlined.

Second, you need to specifically spell out (and then stick to) the scope of work you will be doing. If it is a litigation matter and they want you to write a letter, charge a fee for that. If they want you to negotiate up to the time of filing, charge a fee for that. You get what I'm saying. If you don't do this then you'll start to get some scope creep and find yourself very busy and very poor.

Third, and finally, you're going to have to have the balls to stick to what you say. You aren't going to be able to help everyone. Some people might just not have any money. Unless you know going into a case you're doing it for free, don't expect to get paid later. It's just going to leave you pissed off and resentful.

Anyone have any thoughts about these questions? Any experiences? Let's hear them!

Starting a Law Firm | Productivity

I have a bit of a problem. I love to read. I read a lot of books every year, averaging probably about one every two weeks (that may not be a lot to some, but it is to me). The problem, though, is that I don't just read one book for two weeks. I read three or four at a time, hopping back and forth until they are finally finished.

That might sound like a pretty amazing feat, essentially keeping the plots and ideas of all four books in my head at one time, but in reality I'm actually cheating myself out of getting the most of each of those books. And the same thing happens to all of us when starting a law firm, so I thought I'd write about that today.

Multi-tasking is a Myth

I hate multi-tasking, but I feel like I do it all the time. I've got a laundry list of things to do every day, and while I'm knocking them out I'm constantly checking my email, taking phone calls, checking Facebook, checking Twitter, taking a quick peek at espn.com, and a myriad of other things. It's both a time and an energy suck on my day.

And it's also a hard habit to break.

For example, right now as I'm writing this, I've got the incredible urge to check my email. I'm sure it comes over you all as well. I just checked it 15 minutes ago. On a Friday night at 6:00 there is no way that anything interesting has come in. But I just can't help but want to look. Fight that urge.

Multi-tasking is essentially what I'm doing with the books I read. And the end result with my work is that it takes me longer to complete and it's not as high a quality as it might be if I just sat down and devoted all of my attention to it for a specific period of time.

Research shows the most things you can do at one time is two. And the second thing accounts for the downtime you have with the first thing. Think about baking a cake. It's got to bake in the oven right? You aren't expected to sit there and watch it bake. Go do something else! But if your attention needs to be devoted to a task, it should be wholly devoted to it.

That's why starting today I'm going to block out my calendar into time increments. I'm going to give myself a solid two hours to devote to writing that motion (as opposed to a bunch of 30 minute increments), I'm going to block out an hour to think and strategically plan for marketing instead of trying to fit it in the cracks of time that I have. And I think my productivity is going to skyrocket because of it.

You should do the same.

One-Pointed Attention

If you are saying to yourself "there is no way he is going to be able to resist the urge to look at email for an entire hour" you are probably right. But by implementing one-pointed attention I'm going to be able to eventually.

One-pointed attention, from what I understand, is based on some principles of meditation. There basically three rules:

1. Unscatter

2. Turn em all off

3. How long can you hold it?

That's it. Pretty easy, right? Let's talk about each one.

Unscatter is exactly what it sounds like. Take 30 seconds and just let your mind focus in on something, preferably the task at hand. Or, in the alternative, let if focus on nothing. Stop thinking about the next thing to do or the project that might be coming up or the party you really don't want to go to. Just let your mind relax a little.

Second, turn em all off. I think we know what this means. I've slowly started doing this, and it has profound effects. For example, you know why I haven't checked my email while writing this post? Because it's not up. This window that I'm writing in is the only thing turned on with my computer right now. It's sort of like out of sight out of mind, but it takes a little bit more self-control.

Third, and finally, how long can you hold it? Here's the thing, we all like to feel like we're important. We all like to feel like without us people would be losing their minds. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret - they don't. If you don't look at your email for an hour or two (or four, if you get really good) the world is not going to stop. Deals are not going to be lost. Armageddon will not ensue.

But to get to that point you've got to go through steps one and two and then see how long you can take it. And when you try it I think you'll be surprised just how hard it really is. We have been so conditioned to constantly accept stimuli that even a brief break can feel very uncomfortable. Try it to see what I mean.

Systems is the Name of the Game

I know I've talked about this before, but I wanted to mention it again. If you feel like your firm is out of control or that you don't have time to focus because you are so busy doing a million little things, take a second, step back, and look at the big picture. Write down some of the things that you are doing over and over again and think of some way to automate it.

Here's an example from me. My office is filled with checklists. There is a checklist for answering the phone (what to say, then the next step, then the next), there is a spreadsheet to account for all incoming new clients so I can see at the drop of a hat what is coming in. When we sign up a new client there is a checklist for what to do. When a case is resolved there is a checklist for what to do. When a current client calls there is a checklist for how to handle it - and let me tell you the checklist does not tell the assistant to give me all calls, it tells her to schedule a time for me to call them back (unless it's an emergency). That alone will save you an hour a day.

Doing this will make you exponentially more productive and clients will love you even more than they do now. Know why? Because you're consistent. When they call they know exactly what is going to happen. When you file something in their case, they know they are going to get a copy of it. They know after the first two weeks that every week they are going to get a synopsis of what's been done in their case and where it is headed. And happy clients make for referrals - lots of referrals.

So, this weekend, take a couple of hours to unwind and think about the things you find yourself doing over and over again. Is there any way to make that process smoother and faster?

Meeting with the Banker

I had a meeting with the Bank today. It went pretty well. I didn't set up the meeting, they did. Seems they are trying to get to know their business clients a little bit better (I know they want to find ways to sell me more services, but I'm okay with that).

It was a good chat. We talked a little business, they gave me some ideas they thought could help me out, and we agreed to continue the discussion.

One thing that surprised me, though, was their willingness to give me a line of credit. I think it has something to do with me coming up on two years in business (because they mentioned that a couple of times), but that surprised me. I thought it would be harder to get money than that.

I actually just read the paragraph above the last one and realized I'd provided far too little detail. I mean, that's what this blog is about, right? So, here's kind of how it went down. Me and two bank employees went into this conference room. It was completely relaxed (I think that's because I knew I wasn't asking for anything) and they were very nice people.

The discussion started with them peppering me with a lot of questions about the business. When did I start, how long have I been here, do I have any loans, bank account balances, do I bank anywhere else, blah blah blah. I answered their questions and they discussed some of the things they could offer, including a line of credit, payroll services, and things like that. Then we talked a little bit about personal finance, what my plans were for the future, and some things like that. Then they told me about some of the things they could offer for that.

Which, oddly enough, one of the things they mentioned they had was 100% financing on a home. Turns out they played it safe during the housing boom and can still offer stuff like that. I thought that was interesting for two reasons. First, they thought I'd be dumb enough to be intrigued by 100% financing. And second, they think it's a good idea, even with the housing prices where they are, to offer 100% financing. My guess is you'd have to have some pretty stellar credit to qualify. But that's neither here nor there.

That's all I have this week. As always, if you have questions, let me know. And take a minute to let your mind relax. If you need me, I'll be checking my email!

Law Firm Marketing | Blogging Basics Presentation

I was lucky enough to be asked to give a presentation today at my local bar associations solo/small firm section meeting. We meet once a month and talk about things associated with being in and running a small firm. The presentation, as the title of this blog indicates, was about the basics of blogging.

I thought it went really well, though I was struck by a couple of things. Here are a couple of my thoughts.

First, there are a lot of people that are going out on their own. I think in this meeting, of twenty or so people in attendance, at least three or four were planning on starting a law firm. I think a lot of this, obviously, is predicated on the economy. No one has any choice but to try to go out and make some money on their own.

Second, there is a lot of disorganization out there. And what I mean by that is simply there are a lot of people out there that don't have much of an idea of where they want to go or how they want to get there. I would wager that if I asked most of the people in there what they were doing today, this week, this month to promote their business and be a better law firm, they wouldn't be able to give me a straight answer.

Make no mistake here with what I'm saying. I'm not really meaning to talk trash on them or anything like that - I applaud their having the guts to go out on their own. But what strikes me as almost criminal is the true lack of foundation most attorneys have coming out of law school when it comes to actually starting a law firm and running it successfully. Many of these people, unless they take some time to learn how to be successful, are out in a row boat without an paddles, just hoping the current takes them to where they want to go.

Third, and finally, there is a lot of interest in learning about marketing and learning about creating a successful law firm (at least there was from this group). At least, there was in this type of circumstance (when the seminar was set up for them to come). I get the funny feeling that there is a lot of thinking and a lot of reading and a lot of attending seminars, but there isn't a lot of doing.

I wish them all the best, told them about this site, and hope they visit. I also told them to email me if they ever want to talk, and I meant it.

On the completely opposite end of the spectrum from my talk, and a great example of what we should all be doing, was a webinar put on by Ramit Sethi. The speaker was Noah Kagan, a guy who's been involved with facebook, mint.com, and many other ventures. The topic of discussion was "hustling." It wasn't hustling in the negative sense of the word - getting stuff from people by lying to them. It was a discussion on doing what needs to be done, and doing it today, to reach your goals.

For example, if you want to talk to someone, don't go to their website, click on the support page, and send an email. Either pick up the phone and keep talking until you get the person you are looking for or do some digging and try to come up with the actual email address of the person you want to talk to. Sure, it's way easier to send the email to support and wait and hope, but if you want results, you've got a much bigger chance if you track that person down.

Bottom line, don't take no for an answer, get your ass out there and pound the pavement, and do whatever it takes to be successful.

Good luck!

Starting a Law Firm | Time is of the Essence

I don't know if this is a common saying or not, but I find myself saying it a lot, "getting started is often the hardest thing to do." That statement resonates with me a lot because I repeat it to myself every day - right before I push off doing something I know I should do and I know will help my practice. So I wanted to talk a little bit about it today.

One of the fundamentals principles of starting a law firm is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of being specific, fear of being laughed at (particularly when you decide to pursue novel marketing ideas), and, often, the fear of being unsure that you can provide the service you are promising to people. Fear, at least for me, often results in procrastination.

"Let's just get started on that on Monday." "It can wait until later." Until it finally falls of the radar screen and never gets done.

My actions and this way of thinking came to the forefront of my mind this week as I was reading a book. It's a business book. It has nothing to do with the practice of law. The premise of the book is that the idea of making money slowly over time is outdated and ineffective for the most part. To attain true wealth one must build something that has either great scale (it can be sold to a lot of people) or great magnitude (it is expensive, so even though only a few want it great wealth can be obtained). Think "Angry Birds" on the iPhone (scale) and selling real estate in Malibu (magnitude) for examples.

I am hesitant to tell you the name of the book because it's extremely cheesy. If it weren't for a direct recommendation from someone I trust on such matters, I never would have picked it up. It's called "The Millionaire Fastlane | Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime." I know, cheesy. It's written by MJ DeMarco (and just so you know, I'm not getting any money from this book for talking about it - I just really like it).

But the content is great. You've already heard about the premise - it's the execution of that premise that brought to mind this idea that time is of the essence. The book points out time and time again that you get nothing for free. If you want to be successful, you have to work at it. In the beginning, that might mean turning off the television or staying in on a Saturday night. But the payoff is worth it.

Put into words, traditionally our goals are events, as opposed to processes. It is the failure to define and understand the process that gets people in trouble and prevents them from achieving success. I'll give you an example from the book and then I'll give you an example from my firm.

One example from the book was the guys own story. He designed an internet limo reservation service, much like the attorney services you now see. You type in where you are, where you want to go, if you have any special needs, and it sends the lead to a few limo companies that then get back to the client with their bids. When the bid is one, MJ got a cut of that. He eventually sold the company for a hundred million dollars or something like that. That is the event. People see the event and think "why don't I just do something like that." What they forgot to recognize was it took several years of hard work to realize the event. Most people won't or can't commit to that process.

My example is my search engine ranking. I'm young enough to know the Yellow Pages are dead. If you are relying on Yellow Pages to get clients, you better start looking elsewhere. I also knew the Internet is essentially the new Yellow Pages, but with a catch - you can have the prime listing (the number one position) for free! All it takes is a little elbow grease and time. It took me a year of about working on that goal 2 hours or so a day to make that happen. But it happened, and I'm benefiting greatly because of it. But when people talk to me they see the event (1st spot for my search terms) and not the process (busting my ass to make it happen).

That's why I'll typically tell anyone that asks how I got to where I did. I know there is little to no chance they will actually follow through (though if they did they'd reap the benefits).

If you're still reading, congratulations, because I've finally made it to the point of this post - COMMIT TO THE PROCESS. Understand you are going to have to bust your ass to be successful and get started doing it today. I can tell you from personal experience that the sooner you start and the more you do it the easier it gets. There are things you can be doing today to make your law firm successful - do them. Don't put off the process hoping the event will magically appear - it won't.

Reader Poll

Some of you will actually read this all the way down and some of you aren't afraid to ask questions, so I thought I'd take a reader poll to answer something I've been contemplating - writing a book about starting a law firm.

I love the idea of how to books. They can answer your questions, get you started down the right path, and more importantly, keep you from making stupid mistakes that are only the result of not having done it before. The book I just reviewed was a how to book - it doesn't tell you what kind of business to start but lays out very succinctly a method for making money quickly and then using that success to leverage success in the future.

I know there are already books out there about starting a law firm - namely "How to Start a Law Firm" by Jay Foonberg. I know this because I own the book. It's okay, but in my mind it's extremely outdated. Foonberg I'm sure is a great guy, but he simply doesn't have the familiarity with technology that most of us do - it's a generational thing.

My book would cover all of the subjects I talk about here on my blog and then some. But here's the key - it would be organized in a way that you could actually find and have specific questions answered. Where should you really start? That's in there, at the beginning. What factors should you think of when getting office space. In the office space section. When you should you expand? How should you go about creating a marketing plan? All in the book.

So, here's my reader poll. Would you be interested in that and do you think others would be? In my mind I'd create the book, slap it up here on my site and sell it for like 15 bucks or something. You pay for it and it's downloaded directly to your computer. No publication costs, no marketing costs. You find me, you can buy it.

What do you think? I'd really like your feedback. Answer by posting a comment.

Law Firm Marketing | Reader Questions

I love getting questions from readers for two reasons. First, it lets me know that people are actually reading this stuff. Second, it gives me a bunch of things to talk about. Last week, I had the pleasure of talking to Rod over email. He had some helpful information for me and asked a couple of questions about law firm marketing. I thought this would be a great place to answer them. So, here we go.

His questions were about search engine optimization, also known as SEO. They were:

1. How many calls a week do you get from search engines?

2. How many clients?

3. How long did it take you to rank high?

4. I have an attorney with 3000 backlinks to his page. I'm sure he used an SEO company from India, because most of the links are blog comments and are senseless. Is this something I can overcome on my own, or should I hire an SEO company to spam blogs?

All great questions. Here are the answers.

Calls Per Week From Search Engines

I have to admit I don't know the precise number of calls I get from the search engines. It is something I am just starting to keep track of (which is dumb - I should have been doing this a long time ago). And, before I get too far, I'll tell you a little bit about how my stuff is set up. First, I have my "law firm website." It is the name of my firm and has all of my email addresses and everything. I've also set it up to have the landing page for my criminal defense marketing efforts.

After that I have a website devoted specifically to traffic tickets and a website devoted specifically to DUI. I do this for a couple of reasons. First, the sites are tailored to what the clients are looking for, which will hopefully result in more qualified clients that reach each of the site. Second, it lets the search engines know specifically what my site is about. Don't know if it makes a big difference, but it can't hurt.

Although I don't know how many calls I get per week (I'll tell you my ballpark average here in a couple of minutes) I do know how many people are visiting the site. I've installed Google analytics on each of my sites (and you should too) and it gives me a bunch of handy information, including where the people went on the site, how long they were there, and what keywords they used to find me if they came from the search engines.

Last month the traffic site got 174 visits, 397 page views, 2.28 pages per visit, an average visitor time of 2 minutes on the site, 88% of the visits were new visits, and there was a 55% bounce rate (people left after looking at only the first page). If you just divide the visitors by 4, that means there are about 38 visitors per week (I used 88% of the number above because I check the site every once in a while and didn't want to count that). Of the 38 visitors I'll get about 5-10 calls per week. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

There are a couple of lessons to be learned in these numbers. First, the bounce rate, while high, isn't terrible when we are talking about traffic tickets. If people get to the first page and call me I'm okay with that. Second, even though I'm only getting about 33% of calls from people that visit my page (and the numbers are actually probably lower than that), I'm okay with that too. A lot of people searching out traffic tickets are looking for ways to do it themselves. I give them a lot of information on the site so if they are just looking for a do-it-yourself they won't call me and bother me with a lot of questions. It's pre-screening in a way.

Of those 5-10 calls, I probably sign up about 75% or so.

For the DUI site I had 246 visits, 774 page views, 3.15 pages per visit, average visitor time of 2:53, 75% of the visits were new visits, and there was a 49.59% bounce rate. Dividing by four, there are approximately 46 visits per week. Of those 46 visits, I probably only get 5 calls a week. Of those I'll typically sign up 50% (though as I write those numbers up I know they don't add up because I am not signing up 2 people a week).

The information here is actually more interesting than the traffic, and shows me exactly where my problems lie. Getting people to the site is fine. 46 visits per week is great. Where I am losing out big time is getting people to take the next step and pick up the phone. There are a lot of people just looking for information here too, but the majority of these people will end up with a lawyer. If I can figure out how to get them to take the next step my business will skyrocket.

Sadly, I don't have numbers for the criminal site. Something to put on the to-do list! I typically get one or two phone calls a week about non-DUI criminal matters (my marketing for this area though is not an emphasis).

Client Calls

I've pretty much already answered this. We're looking at maybe 10 calls a week or so, with fluctuations from week to week (I will literally have some weeks with 2 calls and some weeks with 20 calls). For me, this isn't an SEO or internet marketing issue, per se, it's a call to action problem. I need to figure out how to get people to go from the internet to my office better. It's definitely a goal of mine.

How Long Did it Take You To Rank High?

This is a loaded question. Timing depends on many factors. I would say the two key factors related to timing are the work you put in to help Google find you and the competitiveness of your keywords.

First, the work you put into it. The way that Google is set up, they want to have the searchers query answered in the first couple of search results. For example, if I search Google for "how to make 2 foot putts" (this is for my brother in law, not for me) Google wants to make sure your query is answered at the top.

There aren't enough people in the world to read and review every website AND rank them for specific searches, so Google has put together a computer program to do it. The basics of the program are this - Google looks at the content of the site and the links that go to and from the site to find out what the site is about, then Google looks at the links that are coming from your site to determine how much "authority" your site has. Authority, for purposes of this post, I would define as the likelihood that your site would answer a search query.

There are ways to help your site build authority with links, but it MUST BE DONE THE RIGHT WAY. I'll talk a lot more about this when I answer the last question, but to summarize, the best way to help Google understand how good your site is is to write articles related to your practice area and then link them back to your site. You can do this on your blog or on article submissions sites such as ezine articles, goarticles, squidoo, and hubpages. You cannot duplicate content. Google will know. You cannot steal content. Google will know. Article writing tells Google that you know what you are talking about and helps your site build authority.

Now, the second part, competitiveness. I'm pretty sure DUI attorney and it's related keywords are some of the most competitive in the legal world (bankruptcy and personal injury are probably up there too). That means you've got a lot of people trying to get into one or two spots. It took me about a year to get to number one for my local search terms (location plus your keyword - San Diego DUI attorney for example). Now that I'm number one though I expect to be there forever. I'm not number one yet for DUI attorney, but I'm getting close. In fact, if you Google DUI attorney anywhere in the world I should show up on the first page (that fact isn't that important, I just think it's kind of cool).

My traffic site took me about 4 weeks to get to number one. It's much less competitive. Plus I did a ton of work on them both, and still do (when you first start out you can either sit by the phone and make it ring or get out there and do something to make it ring).

Hiring SEO and Blog Comments

Here's the thing about hiring an SEO company - it just doesn't work that well. And the one's that do work well are going to be expensive. One important question to ask anyone that is trying to sell you on SEO is whether or not they are going to get you ranked in the organic results, the map results, or the ad results. If they say anything other than organic, in my opinion you are wasting your time.

And if they say organic, I'd ask for a detailed explanation of what they are going to do, and if they even utter the words "blog comments" I would hang up and start looking elsewhere.

Blog comments, and comments in general don't work for SEO purposes. If you want to get into an engaged discussion and let people know where it's coming from, do it. But don't leave a bunch of junk in someone's comment box with a link thinking Google didn't long ago find a way to completely eliminate that factor from its ranking algorithm. And, by the way, if any question about doing something ever includes the words "spam" the answer is no. Kind of like if the question involves the word "fraud." It's just not going to work out in the end.

And, there's another consequence to using these people - you don't get to control the message. And, while that might not seem like a big deal, it can have far reaching consequences (see here). I don't do it, but there are some people that expose comment spammers for what they are. And they don't just write a blog post, they've got some knowledge like I do. The effect of the exposure is the search results start showing some of these posts, making you look like a fool.

Slow and steady wins the race. To answer your question, this is something you can easily overcome.

Hope this helped everyone out. Have any questions or comments? Let me know. I'm always looking for something new to write about!