The more you can tell people about what you do, show them your knowledge, gain their trust, the more clients you’ll eventually acquire. The advantage of posting your content to social media services is that you expand your reach exponentially each time you utilize a different service. Consider the math: If you have 5000 followers on Twitter, 3000 connections on LinkedIn and 1500 friends on Facebook, every time you post something on those channels, you have the potential to reach 9500 people. And then, if any of those people repost what you’ve posted, you have access to their networks, and from there the numbers expand exponentially. It used to be that lawyers would have to go through a long-term editing process and find a magazine to publish something. Now, you can publish anything you want, anytime you want, while simultaneously developing a larger reach than those old school publication methods offered.
And, setting up profiles on social media services is straightforward — far easier than creating a website, which itself is becoming easier than ever to do. Once you have a professional photo and a logo, just follow the prompts for any service to develop a page for your business — keeping in mind that some business pages are valuable (Facebook) while others are not (LinkedIn). Even if you plan on remaining solo, or using your personal social media accounts for exclusively professional purposes, just claim accounts for your business name, in case you need them at some point in the future.
When your accounts are established, develop a publication schedule for your social media posting, just as you would for posting to your blog. And, if you’re having trouble effectively managing many different platforms, use a social media management tool, like HootSuite or Buffer, to login and post to different services at the same time.
. . .
If you want to start your own law firm, join me for an exclusive workshop, coming up in Boston (August 24-26) and New York (September 7-9).
For more information, visit the official site: www.buildyourownlawfirm.com.
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]]>Ancillary costs related to the ownership of a website are not going to break the bank or your back, either. Domain names can be purchased for about $10/year, and can be scheduled for automatic renewal. Costs for website hosting (how your website gets published online) are around $10/month. And, that’s about all you need.
That all sounds simple, and it is; but, there are some other considerations related to website design, that may (and probably should) lead you down the path of having someone else design yours.
First, when you’re starting a practice, it makes sense to focus your time on converting your existing network to your new brand and performing the best possible work for your new clients. If you’re experienced in building a website, it’s gonna be a frustrating drag on your time. Assuming you finalize the content quickly enough — which is always the biggest issue for completing and publishing a law firm website — your new website will be published in short order, if you’re using a reputable vendor. Second, you’re not likely to have the up-to-date skill set to be able to optimize your website for SEO/SEM, and you may want a vendor to manage that for you, as well. Third, managing updates to themes and plug-ins can be a pain; and, contracting with a vendor will allow you to offload that responsibility. Fourth, if you’re using a specific theme to build your law firm website, there’s a bunch of other business who will be using the same theme, such that having a vendor code and build a website just for you will differentiate you from the crowd. If you do choose a vendor to work with, just make sure to buy and renew your own domain name, because unscrupulous vendors will attempt to buy it for you, and then to sell it back to you at an exorbitant rate before releasing you from a contract.
Your website should be the hub of all of your online activity, and to where you funnel all your clients. Make sure you take the time to do it right or hire right, to get the best online home you can.
. . .
If you want to start your own law firm, join me for an exclusive workshop, coming up in Boston (August 24-26) and New York (September 7-9).
For more information, visit the official site: www.buildyourownlawfirm.com.
Social media hashtag: #BYOLF.
Visit our Sponsors:
]]>Whenever you launch a new business, you’re building a new brand. No matter what you’re doing now, you did something else before. And, you’ll remain associated with that something else until you begin to inform, and then to remind, people of what you’re doing now. Even if you’re launching a law firm right out of law school, prior to doing that, maybe you were the hostess at Olive Garden. That’s still an association you have to break, to create your new brand.
As alluded to above, the first step is to inform, and the second step is to remind. And, the usual method lawyers use to inform old and new clients about new endeavors is the opening announcement. Traditionally, this was effectively an advertisement, appearing in a local newspaper and potentially a local trade publication. But, those broad announcements have diminished in effectiveness as the circulation of traditional newspapers have diminished. That’s not to say that you ignore or eschew that option; but, you should supplement it, by sending out an announcement to your own list.
Now, what your list is, is an open question. In the first instance, you’ll likely have an email contact list of friends, families, colleagues, past clients, existing clients, etc. If that list is not robust, or not well-manicured — then, build it up as much as you can before you send to it. If t makes sense to construct tailored messages for, say, colleagues versus past clients, then segregate those sublists and build the separate messages. When you’re ready to send something out, use an email marketing tool, like ConstantContact or MailChimp, to create a better template, allow your list to utilize unsubscribe options and access analytics. Remember, though, that your opening announcement via email should be just the start of your email marketing campaign. You should next develop a publication schedule for an enewsletter or regular client alerts. But, remember that your contact points no longer exist solely in email — so, whatever you post to your personal email network, create a version of that opening announcement that gets blasted to your social media profiles, as well.
Building a new brand is a long process, that takes years. But, it starts with a first step.
. . .
If you want to start your own law firm, join me for an exclusive workshop, coming up in Boston (August 24-26) and New York (September 7-9).
For more information, visit the official site: www.buildyourownlawfirm.com.
Social media hashtag: #BYOLF.
Visit our Sponsors:
That being said, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed when starting a law firm. One of the primary symptoms of that problem is the desire to do everything at once. It’s frustrating to know that you’re good at what you do, but that your business is taking time to take off. But, the key to building a new law firm, and what you should spend the vast majority of your initial time on, is letting everybody else know how good you are.
If you don’t have a book of business, you need to spend 90% of your time — and, that is not an exaggeration— building one. While you may not want to be overly aggressive in year one in constructing a revenue projection model, there is no way you can be too aggressive in creating a marketing plan. In fact, if you think your marketing plan is too aggressive, you should up the ante. The sooner you can get that marketing engine in place, the sooner you meet and exceed your financial projection, the more likely it is that your business will succeed. Of course, it doesn’t stop there; and, consistent business development is the watchword for every successful solo or small firm lawyer.
If you do have a book of business, and it’s not enough to cover your expenses and/or a salary for yourself, revert back to the last paragraph, and read it again. If you do have a book of business that is comfortable for you, even for an extended period of time, note well that revenue is always a moving target for law firms, and you must continue to discover new referral sources and client generation modules to guarantee your future success. You should also keep in mind that your new brand will not resonate overnight; that will take at least two years to develop. The fact that you have shifted from (insert seven names) Law to (insert your own name or brand name) Law means that it’s going to take time for people to associate you with your new business rather than your old business. And, frankly the more successful you were marketing yourself in your old job, the harder it will be to disassociate yourself from that brand, and to associate yourself with the new one.
Marketing is job one for every new law firm owner; and, the truth of the matter is that it will likely remain job one for the remainder of the life of your practice, whatever form it takes.
. . .
If you want to start your own law firm, join me for an exclusive workshop, coming up in Boston (August 24-26) and New York (September 7-9).
For more information, visit the official site: www.buildyourownlawfirm.com.
Social media hashtag: #BYOLF.
Visit our Sponsors:
]]>Since this can be a frustrating task, it’s tempting to just throw up your hands, and tell yourself that, truly, you’ll know what you’re going to make when you make it. The downside of that approach is that it’s difficult to make any plans that way, and to begin to define a strategy for business growth. Without revenue goals, there are no targets to hit. You won’t know whether to judge your year as a success or a setback. Establishing revenue markers is a method for implementing steady (not overwhelming) growth) — and, it doesn’t mean that the overarching goal is no longer to make as much money as you can. If you hit or exceed your goal, be more aggressive about establishing next year’s goal.
These are some basic tips for developing revenue projections for a new law firm:
Start with Your Overhead. At a very basic level, you need to meet your expenses to stay in business. So, start there. Figure out what you need to meet your personal and business expenses, and then build revenue goals on top of those.
Ask Around. Lawyers hate to share information about their rates. But, for almost every other category of law firm business management, you won’t be able to stop them talking. So, find a mentor in your practice area, and have her review your financial projections, to see whether what you’re thinking jibes with her experience.
Create Three Test Cases. If you’re having difficulty deciding on just one revenue model, try out different test cases. Create an aggressive financial model, a moderate one and a conservative one. See which one you nail, and then you’ll have a better idea about your growth pattern for year two.
Don’t Get Too Far Ahead of Yourself. It’s likely not valuable for you to project too far ahead, especially as a new business owner. While you might feel some comfort running out financial projections to year five (which will be far rosier than what you would have developed for year one), so much will change in your business by that time, that that projection is likely garbage as soon as you mark it down. Consider developing financial projections for the first year of operation a victory.
Simple is Best. You needn’t go crazy trying to find a financial projection model that suits you. Just create a spreadsheet. List your expenses, including line items. List your projected revenue, including total matters and hours. There is no prize for the prettiest financial modeling.
. . .
If you want to start your own law firm, join me for an exclusive workshop, coming up in Boston (August 24-26) and New York (September 7-9).
For more information, visit the official site: www.buildyourownlawfirm.com.
Social media hashtag: #BYOLF.
Visit our Sponsors:
]]>Traditional law firm leases involved hefty price tags and long-term commitments. Yet, many new law firm business owners felt compelled to access the option, in large part because of a long-standing stigma against non-traditional office spaces, but also because many state ethics codes were hostile to alternatives, due to the maintenance of so-called ‘bona ride office’ rules. But, in the last decade or so, many state ethics rules have been relaxed or reinterpreted, and both law firm clients and other lawyers have become more accepting of more modern office arrangements.
Even so, the tug of tradition is perhaps strongest in the law, of all professional ventures; and so, lawyers still evince hesitation over where they will work, and whether it will be formal enough. The truth of the matter is that this is a lawyer problem, more than it is a client problem. In the majority of cases, your clients won’t care where you work, or whether your dog (or your kids, for that matter) sit under your desk. Your clients may also actually prefer house calls, when you come to them, rather than forcing them to pay costly parking fees in large cities.
So, it’s kind of cool that, when you’re starting a law firm, where you work is up to. Whether you pick a home office, or a collaborative space, or an office share — all of those options are workable, when you use the right technology and stay mindful of client confidentiality.
. . .
If you want to start your own law firm, join me for an exclusive workshop, coming up in Boston (August 24-26) and New York (September 7-9).
For more information, visit the official site: www.buildyourownlawfirm.com.
Social media hashtag: #BYOLF.
Visit our Sponsors:
]]>But, even as the target client list of the A2J model has been expanded, what remains unclear is the effect that the expansion of A2J services will have on lawyers in an already hypercompetitive environment, especially in consideration of the continued advance of legal-facing technology. Machine learning, automation, improved intake protocols, the extension of internet access, the ubiquity of the smartphone and even the A2J movement itself have made possible a future in which lawyers are largely cut out of the A2J model. If the bulk of a client’s questions can be answered by plugging them into an app, where does the lawyer fit in? In theory, an attorney practicing at the top of his law license would delight in automation that removes the necessity of his presence for the answering of basic questions — that strips down the intake burden, and increases the value of the lawyer’s contribution — but in A2J, there is no pot of gold awaiting at the end of that rainbow, because the A2J client is not paying a premium cost for the creative services a smart and experienced lawyer can provide.
So, this begs the question(s): What is the end of A2J for lawyers? Is the object to replace the majority of a lawyer’s functions with technology? Does this eliminate legal jobs, or effectuate a paring down of the bar rolls — which is maybe not a bad thing? Does it fundamentally change the way lawyers practice, influencing a revision of the way lawyers work? Is that a good thing, if it means that lawyers end up performing higher level work more of the time? Or, is there a volume problem, in that there is not enough of that higher level work to go around? In the defining of new roles for lawyers and legal technology, is the goal of A2J to incorporate technology to feed clients to lawyers, at a point where they can pay for limited services that require human interaction?
The crux of the A2J question for the average solo and small firm lawyer (the vast majority of whom are not the actual decisionmakers in this realm) is just how much of the pie gets left behind for them. If technology can be used to source potential pro bono, fee shifting or low bono clients for lawyers, if it acts as a higher-level, better-leveraged lawyer referral service, then that’s probably a good thing; but, to the extent that that same technology ends up replacing lawyers’ work, it’s, um, not so good.
And, that’s as good a reason as any for solo and small firm lawyers to get involved in discussions surrounding access to justice.
. . .
Liner Notes
‘Caroline’ by Old Crow Medicine Show
Turns out, Caroline is good name to have if you want to get yourself into a country music song.
]]>What this means is that various industries value the multiple skillsets that lawyers employ. In an ironic twist, though — that’s not necessarily the case within the legal industry itself.
Law firms value substantive work and . . . Well, they value substantive work. Law firms haven’t yet found an effective way to integrate the broader attorney-business tool chest into what they do. The question then becomes: What does a lawyer do, outside of substantive legal work, that provides, real, actual value to a law firm? Rainmakers are valuable, of course; but, they’re the means to the end. They’re stepping on the other side of the teeter totter, the shaft to the crank that becomes the next wave of billable work. But, how about lawyers who are excellent business managers? What about lawyers who have a keen degree of emotional intelligence? That bears on marketing, yes; but, there are many other, as-yet-undiscovered applications.
What about attorneys who understand and effectively utilize technology? Especially with the recent spate of ethics rules changes, isn’t that a valuable skill for an attorney to utilize in a law firm context? Certainly. But, how does a lawyer who can develop workflows and manage processes and help to implement software and build an effective data protection plan for the law firm get valued? It’s difficult for law firm management to quantify and reward such behaviors; and, this is especially true in small law firms, which exist in the barren valley between DIY and outsourcing: These law firms don’t have the time to do it themselves; but, they don’t have the money to outsource. In that case, the obvious answer seems to be the fostering of internal solutions.
The good news is that small law firms are beginning to figure this out, mostly in the way that they utilize young lawyers. More and more often, I am being approached by young lawyers, who have been assigned technology-related projects by the law firms they work for. It used to be that these projects represented busy work: no one else at the firm wanted to deal with the issue, it was passed off to the noob, who would report back, and then nothing would get done. Lately, however, I‘m beginning to see these projects bear fruit. Law firm management is beginning to take technology more seriously — and, by extension, they’re taking those involved in managing those projects more seriously.
So, while it’s still ill-defined, there is a definitive shift to new lawyers in small firms having value attached to their preexisting or developed technology expertise. How that shakes out in terms of job structure and compensation is yet to be seen. But, it’s an awfully good place to start.
. . .
Liner Notes
‘Foreplay/Long Time’ by Boston
Everything in the legal field takes a long time to develop; and, the foreplay is far less exciting . . . than the guitar licks linked above.
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