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Tips For Young Lawyers

3 Ways to Use the Internet to Grow your Law Practice
By:  Sonia M. Gallagher, Esq.

We go to law school, take the bar exam, start working, and many of us decide to go out on our own. How do we get clients though? When do we learn where to find attorney marketing tools and how to use them? You’ve got to know the answers to these questions in order to make your law firm thrive in this economy.

Right now, the internet is the most effective of all attorney marketing tools available. It has a minimal cost, can be accessed at any time, and reaches people around the globe. Whether you are a solo, small law firm owner, or a partner at a large law firm, leveraging the internet is the best way to expand your pool of potential clients.

You can use the internet to position yourself as an expert in your legal field, differentiate your law firm, create referral relationships, and find out what your potential clients need. Here are three specific ways you can begin to use the internet to attract more clients.

1. Connect with your potential clients. You can find prospective clients through online forums. You can read blogs and blog comments to find out what they are talking and asking about, join them in the groups where they spend time online, and much more.
2. Connect without advertising. We all know how expensive it can be to advertise our law firms. A few hundred dollars for the actual ad, a mandatory contract lasting several months, and payment to our State bar to review the advertisement. We can avoid all of these expenses and actually connect with our clientele much more effectively using the internet. Using the internet is completely different to advertising. Depending on your State bar, you may be limited in terms of what you are able to include on your website. Nonetheless, you can use the internet to create a professional presence for your law firm and develop strategic alliances. Your website is the very first thing that your potential clients see. It is a reflection of your services and your personality. Make sure it reflects the message you would like to relay to your potential client.
3. Create Strategic alliances. Networking takes time. However, you can start networking from the comfort of your own office. You can begin to create relationships with gatekeepers and influencers of your target demographic through the use of professional social networks online. One of the most effective venues to do this is through www.linkedin.com. Once you create an interesting and descriptive biography, get involved. Make sure to join groups that consist of members who provide services to your target demographic, contribute useful material to the conversation, and reach out to members on an individual basis. A phone meeting can result in thousands of dollars in referrals.

The internet is the one marketing tool that is available to every single law firm regardless of size. Learning how to leverage the internet to attract more clients and referrals sets you apart from your competition and provides you with more free time. You can do each of the three activities above without stepping foot out of your office. Remember, clients hire professionals they know, like, and trust. Think outside the box and leverage the internet as the powerful business development tool that it is.

Sonia Gallagher, Esq. is an attorney and business development consultant. Her mission is to help lawyers leverage the internet and their local network to get more clients, more profits, and more free time. Find out how you can start connecting with the right clients today. Schedule a complimentary 1-hour consultation at www.TimeForLifeNow.com.