Thanks to technology, lawyers can look fancy without spending a fortune
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New lawyers sometimes have few or no job offers following graduation, which leads to them starting their own practices. For that to be successful, they have to know how to market themselves, according to Jim Calloway, director of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Management Assistance Program.
“When we got out of law school, you could hang out a shingle, go to bar events, tell judges that you want to be appointed to cases. … Today, you need to have marketing,” said Calloway, who spoke Friday at an ABA Techshow 2019 event titled: “Marketing U: How to Integrate Marketing Into Law School Curriculum.”
Chelsey Lambert, founder and CEO of Lex Tech Review, was a co-presenter at the program, which took place at Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Much of the discussion focused on marketing and practice tools that cost less than $30 per month.
Lawyers with certain practice areas, such as criminal defense, traditionally wanted offices in locations with foot traffic, Lambert said.
“You would pay more to be in a location that’s advantageous for your business. Now, the same is true for the web. You are paying more for a website that has a better online presence. It’s like having a better storefront and a nicer sign,” Lambert said.
She also discussed sites such as Wix, Weebly and Squarespace, which all can help lawyers build a good website at little to no cost.
“If I’m going to ask somebody for $5,000, I need to have all my ducks in a row. That includes a polished, professional website, even if I’m working out of a Starbucks,” she said.
The panelists also discussed sponsored social media posts.
“It’s surprisingly cheap and surprising how much Facebook already knows about you,” said Calloway, who thinks that for estate planning lawyers, Facebook-sponsored posts probably would generate the most business. For business lawyers, he thinks LinkedIn might be a better choice.
Logos also are part of the marketing process and can be done for approximately $100 through online job bidding. Lambert mentioned the website 99Designs, which pairs consumers with freelance artists.
“You post what you want your logo to look like, and you can get up to 30 different designs to choose from based on what you want to pay,” she said.
Also discussed were client reviews and services such as BirdEye and Podium, which ask clients for reviews rather than the attorney doing it themselves.
“One you close an account, they gently solicit clients for reviews,” Lambert said.
And with reviews come concerns of negative reviews.
“Unless you can prove that [the reviewers] aren’t clients, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Calloway said. “The goal is to overwhelm the negative with positive.” As an example, he suggests responding to a negative review with something such as: “I am sorry you are disappointed; please contact me.”
Besides getting new business, good marketing includes looking successful to existing clients. Lambert mentioned the online offering x.ai, which uses artificial intelligence to make it appear as though someone has an assistant. When users email a client to set up an appointment, they copy a virtual assistant, “Andrew or Amy,” Lambert explained.
“Say something comes up; [the technology] can give new dates,” she added. “It also gives the perception that you’ve got your stuff together.”
Follow along with our full coverage of ABA Techshow 2019.
