I’m open for business and have a few clients. But a few clients isn’t enough. And I feel like word of mouth isn’t going to be enough. So, to boost my business and start getting customers in the door, I’ve been brainstorming ideas to try to get my name out. I’ve already implemented some of these things, and some I am planning on trying in the next couple of weeks, and some I’m just kicking around.
Today’s post is going to be about things I am already doing. I’ll post in the next few days about things I am planning to do and ideas that I am kicking around that may or may not come to fruition.
What I have already done to market my business
Website(s)
I’ve already got two websites up and have been updating occasionally. I should be doing more posting to those sites, but the problem I have with them is that writing blog posts that are actual legal articles take a lot more time than just writing about starting my new practice. I need to start setting aside time each week to write a post for each of my law firm sites. I say sites because I did one page in English and the other in Spanish. I thought about just having the Spanish page be a translation of the English page, but then decided that I wanted to have different content for different languages (and targeted clients).
The English language site is at freimuthpc.com and I plan on using it to talk mostly about small business, wills and trusts, and real estate law. I’ll put some immigration law articles on there, but I am not focusing the immigration law pages on my English speaking readers.
The Spanish Language site is at Setxlaw.com and I plan to use it to cover topics that I feel are most useful to my Spanish speaking customers. Mostly immigration, but some small business and real estate law as well. I really think that the business/real estate law section for the Spanish speaking clients will be successful because it is a neglected market, and I know of quite a few Spanish speakers that came to this country with nothing and have put together significant assets with hard work and frugal spending. Nobody seems to be targeting these clients and I think I’d do well to try that group.
These pages are truly categorized as Lawyer Advertising, so as part of setting them up I’ve had to submit them to the State Bar of Texas’s advertising review department. The State Bar wants to make sure that all lawyer advertising is not deceptive and follows all the ethics guidelines. This is somewhat of a hassle, but I don’t want to get disciplined for advertising so I’ve done it.
Eventually, I’ll get these websites professionally designed, but for now I am just using a WordPress blog site with a nice simple theme. Compared to a lot of sites on the web, mine are not amazing, but they are simple and get the job done for now.
Logo
I got on Fiverr.com and had a logo designed. This wasn’t too expensive and I really like the way the logo turned out. I got a couple of different versions of it made and I am happy with it.
Business Cards
I got some engraved business cards printed up by Hoban. They are very nice, but a little costly. They had a 2-week lead time from design to ship, so while I was waiting for those cards, I went to a cheaper printing site and got some standard cards printed up. The difference in the quality is noticeable, but I am not unhappy with the cheaper cards. I think both will have their place, because I have a lot more of the cheap cards so when I run out of the good stuff I will have some on hand to give out. I really am embarrassed to be caught without business cards.
Church Bulletin
Every week at mass for the last 3 months I’ve noticed an empty space at the top-center of the advertising page in the church bulletin. I’ve thought for a while that the space would be great for lawyer advertising, and when I knew for sure I was going to be going solo I reached out to the company that prints the bulletins to see about getting the space. It was available for a decent price, so I bought it. They came up with an ad that I am really happy with. I advertised small business, wills & trusts, and immigration law. I’ll have to wait and see if anything comes from this, but I don’t mind buying advertising in this format. There is only one other lawyer advertising in the bulletin and my ad is a lot nicer than his (because I have a nice logo). I’ve talked to some other lawyers and none have ever tried this method of advertising, but I’m hopeful that I’ll get some business this way.
Talking About It
I’m not a great networker. I am somewhat quiet and shy and don’t do well when I go to big networking events. That said, I try to talk to people I do business with, especially those who seem to be doing a good job at what they are doing. Being friendly and interested in other people’s businesses over the past few years has given me the opportunity to talk to them about what I am doing now. When I was leaving my previous job and going around wrapping up my dealings in that capacity I talked to people about where I was going from here. I’ve gotten a few clients already from just telling people that I am opening my practice, and referrals from people I’ve told as well. I think being passionate about my new venture and willing to talk to people I already know about it has really helped.
Legal Insurance Service
I signed up with a legal insurance provider, TexasLegal. I haven’t gotten any calls from leads from them yet, but its only been a week, so I am patient. They offer lower fees than what I would like to be charging, but they do the hard part of getting the client in the door so I can accept that. The other nice thing about using a service like this is that I bill the service, not the client, so I don’t have to worry about the client not paying me. I’ll probably write a post entirely about the Legal Insurance Service when I start getting clients from it and have some experience with how it really works. It sounds like a good idea.
Marketing will be a work in progress
When I find that things I am doing are working, I’ll keep doing them. The things that I don’t think are bringing me business, I’ll probably stop doing. This is a work in progress and I hope to keep going.