If there’s one industry that it’s incredibly difficult to find clients in, then it’s the legal industry. The reason that it’s very difficult for new lawyers to find clients and start their own firms is that the industry’s dominated by Fortune 500 and long-established firms. The oversaturation of existing law firms makes it a real challenge to real clients. However, just because it’s challenging, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.
Finding new clients and starting your own firm won’t be easy, but with this post’s guidance and a little hard work, it is possible.
PPC Services
PPC (Pay-per-click) advertising is an extremely effective method of lead generation, especially for law firms. There are dedicated and specialized PPC services for lawyers operating online, that you can use to generate more leads for your firm. It involves buying visits to your site. You pay every time a web user clicks on one of your advertisements. While web visitors acquired through PPC aren’t organic, they are 50% more likely to make a purchase. This means that PPC is one of the internet’s most effective marketing solutions, especially when it is used in conjunction with SEO (search engine optimization).
Radio Scanners
If you are a lawyer that specializes in criminal work, then you should consider purchasing a police radio scanner. You can listen to radio scanners and learn about crimes that are ongoing. Many lawyers do this, to great effect. If an arrest is being near to you, then you can race over there and hand your card to the person that’s being arrested. This is actually prohibited in many countries and states, so before you do this make sure that you conduct a little online research. You yourself could end up being arrested if you do this in a place where it’s illegal. If it isn’t illegal where you live, however, then it’s an extremely effective way of generating clients. As soon as the criminal is taken into custody, the first person that they will think to ask for is you.
Court Houses
Many people turn up to court without a lawyer already arranged. This is typically a habit of repeat offenders that don’t have the money to pay for legal services. What they may not be aware of, however, is that they can access legal aid for free, by filling out a very brief form. You could consider going to courthouses and hanging around, looking for people that don’t have legal representation. You can then approach them, offer them your services, and if they agree, take them into a side-room where you can fill out their financial aid form, and then represent them.
Police Stations
If you know police officers in your area, then you could ask them to give you a call whenever a criminal comes in without pre-arranged legal representation. Criminals that don’t already have a lawyer’s name in mind (or pre-arranged representation), have to rely on the police to forward their information to an attorney. This can be a very effective way of gaining new clients. More often than not, once a criminal has used you (and provided that you have worked diligently on their case and delivered an outcome that’s desirable for them), then they will ask for you again and again.
Social Media
A social media presence is essential if you want to gain clients in today’s digital age. Even criminals use social media to learn about lawyers. Some tech-savvy lawyers have actually created brands for themselves, using social media. You can do this too. All you have to do is to create a page that advertises you as an expert lawyer, and then post information about cases that you have won. You do need to make sure that you do not disclose client information when doing this, however. You can hire a social media manager to manage your account page if you don’t have the time to do it yourself.
Digital Presence
One last thing to consider is your digital presence. You need a presence outside of social media, too. If you don’t have a strong web presence then you won’t be able to generate customers through conventional online searches. Make sure that your website’s SEO is up to scratch. If you don’t have any idea what SEO is, then you can hire an SEO manager to run your website on your behalf. By doing this, you will save yourself a lot of time and money.
Running a law firm isn’t easy. You won’t be able to call yourself a law firm until you are generating clients. This post’s guidance will help you to get those clients. Make sure to complete and redo each step accordingly, so that you are constantly generating leads.