Starting a Law Firm | Working for Friends and Family

A funny thing happens to all attorneys once they actually become attorneys, whether they choose to start a law firm or not - friends and family begin to ask you all sorts of legal questions from all sorts of different areas of law. You've got your buddy that got a traffic ticket, you've got a cousin that needs you to look at her lease. The list goes on and on - and I'm not saying this is bad by the way, just a fact - remember, I have family too :).

The question of the day is, what do you do with these questions?

I received a comment on this blog today from someone that wants to start a law firm. She had several concerns, which many people typically have, and then she left this at the end:

4. I do alot of legal work for my family and friends right now because I am out of work. I don't get paid because I don't feel comfortable charging people I know when I am unemployed and don't have a practice. Please give me some suggestions on how I should market and gain clients?

It was something I just couldn't pass up talking about.

I guess the easiest way to do this is to answer the question, and then explain why. Here you go -

the only free work I do for anyone is family. And even then, I strongly consider charging for it. And I don't typically give discounts to friends.

I know, I know, I'm cold hearted, I hate my friends, and I'm just trying to make some money off my friends. In fact, the opposite is true, and here's why.

1. Free work has little perceived value.

I get the idea of wanting something to do and jumping on the legal issues your friends and family members have. And I'm okay with that. It makes you feel like a lawyer, like you are doing something good, and it helps out a close friend or family member.

But here's the problem, when you do work for free, it's impossible for your friends and family to understand the level of value you are providing them. When you charge, they get it. And most importantly, they get it enough that when their friends have problems, they will remember that you are a lawyer (and that you do great work but you aren't cheap). You might not believe this is true, but trust me, it is.

2. Free work doesn't count as work when you are starting a law firm.

If you want to be busy, go down to the courthouse, tell people you'll work for free, and start signing people up. But if you want to make some money while helping people (which is sort of the point of starting a business), you've got to be making money for the work that you do. If you aren't, then you're doing yourself a disservice because you're working for well under your value and you are taking yourself away from other things that you should be doing (i.e. marketing to get paying clients).

I see this all the time in criminal defense. People are running around working their butts off for people that are probably never going to pay them. Until they look at their bank balances they feel like their business is really taking off. Bottom line, if you aren't getting paid, you don't have a successful law firm.

3. Family and friends can be a crutch that can hurt you in the long run.

This blends points one and two together, in a way. What I mean is, if your friends and family keep bringing you work and you keep doing it, for little or no pay, then not only does it make it hard to market to outside sources, it gives you a reason not to step out there and take some marketing chances. And you can't fail if you don't try, right? So you'll just keep languishing, wondering when business is going to pick up, when in fact you are doing it to yourself by leaning on your friends and family to make you feel like you're busy.

I know, I know, it's uncomfortable asking for money from friends and family for work that requires your expertise, knowledge, and will provide them with tremendous value. But if they aren't happy to pay after you've talked to them about what you can do for them, it's your fault not theirs. You haven't done a good enough job of letting them know why they should be more than happy to pay you for the work you are about to do for them. Here are a couple of starters.

First, they are going to get a level of service they won't find anywhere else. For example, you have a dentist? Ever try to get a hold of the dentist personally? Not easy to do. For your friends and family, they have your cell phone number at the ready. They have a level of access to their attorney, someone that is going to be helping them with a problem, that they wouldn't otherwise have.

Second, they have a level of trust with you that they won't have with any other attorney. Ask people what the number one concern is with hiring an attorney and it's whether or not the attorney is going to perform as advertised. With you, they know what they are getting, and as long as you don't make outrageous promises, they are going to rest easy knowing you are giving it everything you have.

Third, and finally, they are showing their support for you by investing their money in your services. What better sign of "this attorney is good and can be trusted" than when family and friends are paying you to help them?

Now, to back track just a bit. Here's the part where I say you don't have to charge everyone full price all the time. That just doesn't make any sense. But, if you're going to give a discount (you should only do something for free as a last resort - do it for free and if anything goes wrong your client is going to think you weren't giving your full effort because you weren't getting paid), make sure you spell out to the client what you would normally charge (printing it on the bill is a good way to do that). That way they will know what your services are worth.

In the end, starting a law firm is as much about running a business as it is being a lawyer. So you've got to start thinking about your law firm as a business, as something that helps you accomplish the goals you have in life. Bottom line, if your business isn't making money, it's not working for you the way it should be.

Starting a Law Firm | The Most Important Lesson

Today I had lunch with a guy who was thinking about starting a law firm. He hadn't even started law school yet, but he was sure that he wanted to do his own thing when he got done. So I sat down with him over lunch and we talked about what it takes to start a successful law firm. And it was interesting where the discussion went, leading me to a bit of a light bulb moment that made me run to the computer and start writing this post. Are you ready?

To have a successful law firm you must have a keen business mentality.

By the way, I didn't intentionally write that huge revelation to be so murky and hard to understand, it just came out that way. And I'm too lazy to change it. So I'll just explain what I mean.

When I began talking about this guy one of the first questions he asked me was "what is the most important thing to know when starting a law firm?" I immediately told him to always remember that getting clients is the ultimate goal (now before you get to snarky let me explain). That if you are the best attorney in the world but have no clients you'll be a failure.

He said "okay" and then we started talking about what kind of firm he wanted to open. And in that instant I knew he hadn't really understood what I was saying. We talked it out and I think he got it, but the bottom line is this - a law firm is a business. If you aren't thinking like a businessman at all times when making decisions you are going to at best tread water and at worst lose ground to your competition.

And here's where most people mess up when they are starting a law firm. They fantasize about what it's going to be like to be a big time lawyer making a bunch of money doing the work that they love, like it's going to be all roses and stuff like that. Here's the truth of the matter - you've got to hustle your ass off to have a successful law firm. You've got to spend a large amount of every waking day doing things to make your business better.

I was driving in the car from court today and I was thinking about the lunch I had and I was trying to figure out how to say this in a way that everyone can understand. And this is the best that I could come up with: don't create your law firm because you want to practice law, create your law firm because you want to have a successful business. If I want to be just a great lawyer I can go do that anywhere. I opened my law firm because I want to do two things - I want to create a business in the mold I envision, and I want to make a boat load of money. Practicing law and the firm, while a part of each other, are not the same thing.

And don't take that to mean I don't treat my clients well. It's actually the opposite. I provide the best service in the state in all likelihood. I answer my own phones, I attend all my court hearings, and I have systems in place to make sure my clients and my former clients know how much I appreciate them. But in the end it's all part of a larger plan to create a successful business. Let me put it to you this way, you think Nordstroms takes back anything as a return because they like you? It's great for you, but it's also great for them.

Now, back to the talk. After a little while I learned this guy had already owned and operated a successful business in the past, and that he was trying to find something to do in his industry that he could start a business in. The reason he chose law was because he thought (as we all do before we become lawyers) that once you get that license people just line up to give you money. He liked what he did at his last job but the funding fell through and he was let go (it was a government position). And here's what thinking like a business person gets you.

I asked him what I thought was the best next question - "they still need that work right? Do they farm it out to private contractors?" He said the work still needed to be done, and that the few people they still had on staff could not keep up with the work. So, (and I know you all already know what the next question is) I asked him the next obvious question - "why aren't you that guy they are contracting with?" He couldn't answer that question, but I hope he explores that idea.

Here's the god's honest truth for all of you. I love being a lawyer. I love getting up in court and arguing. But I like business better. A lot better. And just like I told my new friend, I'm going to tell you. My plan's not to just start this firm, be successful, and rest on my laurels. In a couple of years my law firm will run like a well oiled machine. And then I'll start another business, build it up, and then start another. I don't know about you, but my goal isn't to work 10 hours a day for the rest of my life, it's to golf every day and spend the rest of my time managing my businesses.

I've got a couple of other things I'd like to talk about, but I think we're going to explore some of this a little bit more in upcoming posts. You can't just start a law firm and expect people to show up. It just doesn't work like that. So I'm going to pose a couple of questions to you and let you start to mull them over. Once you answer them, assuming you still want to start a law firm, you'll have a thousand times higher chance of success.

See you soon.

Starting a Law Firm | Strap in For the Roller Coaster Ride

I didn't realize it when I first started, but starting a law firm is a lot like riding a roller coaster. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs, when you think you've reached the height of success, you can easily begin on a downward fall. And the whole thing is both wonderfully exciting and wonderfully scary all at the same time.

The only difference is, and it's an important difference, is that you get to control how big the peaks and valleys are. And if you aren't sure which way you should be leaning, the smoother the ride (the more level), the better.

This lesson really hit home for me in the last couple of months. Over the first year of starting my law firm, my income numbers were fairly steady. There would be a bit of a down time here, then I'd have a decent month there. And then May came, and it was significantly higher than any of my other months. I was pumped.

And my first thought was immediately that I'd made it over the hump, that I was on my way to greatness. And then June came. June was not a great month.

June was not a great month for several reasons, but I think the main reason was that I got complacent with a lot of the things that helped me have a good May, and good months before that. I was quick to respond to potential clients, I kept my nose to the grindstone, and I continued working toward the ultimate goal - sustainable success for this new law firm.

And it wasn't like I just took June off. I was still working, and still working hard. But I just wasn't working the same way that I had been. And it showed in my income results.

So, the lesson for this week is to keep at it. Sustainable success probably won't be there for years. Until your phone is ringing constantly, and over half of those calls are referrals, I wouldn't consider you're business to be over the hump. Until that time, keep your nose to the grindstone. Keep hustling for those clients, and always, always give your clients what you promise.

Roller coasters can be fun. But they can also be scary. Here's to hoping yours is as flat as a pancake.

Starting a Law Firm | One Year Anniversary

If you look in the archives, you will quickly see that this isn't the one year anniversary of this blog. It's actually the one year anniversary of me starting a law firm. On June 1 last year my doors officially opened for business. And I must say, it's been a wild ride, both legally and from a business standpoint.

I meant to write this post on the first of June, but was sidetracked by some work. Another important date is right around June 1 for me, my birthday. And this one just happened to be my 30th, so it was extra special. After partying all weekend with my wife and parents, I had some catching up to do. So, sorry (to me when I look back on this and this post isn't on the first), but I know you'll forgive me.

Because this is such a special post, I thought I'd give you two great pieces of information if you are thinking of starting a law firm. First, I'm going to give you ten things I wish I'd known before starting my law firm. Second, and this might be the most helpful information I've ever provided here, I'm going to give you a month by month breakdown of what I earned.

These are only going to be gross numbers because it would take me too long to figure my expenses month by month, but I will tell you at least half of every month, no matter how much I made, went toward expenses of some sort. I think it's extremely important to put as much money back into your business as you take out, particularly in the beginning. So that's what I did.

Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before Starting a Law Firm

1. You Must Have a Plan To Get Clients

I've said this before, but if you don't have clients, you don't eat. All of your plans to get clients might not work, but if you expect the phone to start magically ringing you are going to be sorely disappointed.

2. Your Marketing Plan Shouldn't Include "Networking" Events

This might only apply to me, because I can see how some networking events could be beneficial to other practice areas, but what I usually see at networking events is a bunch of people that don't have any work or clients looking for work and clients.

Don't get me wrong, I still go to these things, but when I do it I try to meet people that I can send work too. That is how referral relationships are formed. You have to give before you get. And if someone gives to you, no matter what it is, find a way to give back. Just trust me on this one.

3. Don't Let Your Perceived Weaknesses Manifest Themselves

I need to explain this one. Ever hear of a self-fulfilling prophesy? It's like when you think something (usually bad) is going to happen and then magically it does. And psychologists have found that in some subconscious way people tend to make these things happen by seeing only the things that promote that final outcome.

For example, I have a young face. When I first started meeting clients and seeing people, I was always worried they wouldn't want to hire me because I looked young. And guess what? People didn't hire me, and a lot of the times it was because of a perceived inexperience. But, in the end, it wasn't really about my looks at all. My worries about it manifested themselves in my giving the sense to people that I wasn't comfortable with what I was saying. Don't do that.

4. When You Get Scared, Work Harder

I'm not going to lie, every once in a while a little doubt creeps in my mind. What if no one calls? What if I can't pay my rent? What if I lose a motion?

Some people, when this happens, let the anxiety paralyze them. The successful people in life use this as a motivation to work that much harder to make those feelings go away. Don't let that fear of failure own you. 99% of your fears are in your mind.

5. But Don't Bury Your Head in the Sand

Some ideas you have, particularly for marketing, just aren't going to work. Think adsense for lawyers and really most paid online advertising for attorneys. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't try these for yourself. On the contrary, I think you owe it to yourself to try them - what if they work?

With that being said, though, after about 3 months or so you are going to know if you are getting your money's worth (and this doesn't mean making you rich, it means at least paying for the service and getting to put something in your pocket). If it doesn't, get out and try something else.

6. If You Want to Be Successful, You Are Going to Be Uncomfortable

Almost all of the things you do during the first year of owning your law firm you will be doing for the first time. It's going to feel strange, and not good strange. But you have to press on and do it. Here's a short list of some of the things I did:

Opened a stand in a farmer's market offering free legal advice;

Gave presentations to fraternities on how to survive a police encounter;

Went to several attorney events not knowing a single person in the room;

Gave a presentation on blogging as a form of marketing; and

Just generally threw myself out there at every opportunity.

7. You Can Be Fancy When You're Rich

Where a lot of people get in trouble out of the gates is spending too much money on things they don't really need. When you start your law firm think lean and mean. After a year I still don't have any administrative help. It sucks sometimes, but it saves me a lot of money.

While you've got a lot of extra time, spend it. When you've got a lot of extra money, spend it.

8. Keep Control of Your Calendar

I'll be honest with you. This year, on two occasions, I missed court dates. They just didn't get calendered. Thankfully nothing bad happened because of that. I was able to show up late and take care of what I needed to take care of, but it's not a good feeling. Put in place a system so that you can rest easy at night knowing you know everything you need to do for at least the next two weeks.

9. Read Less, Do More

I don't know about you, but I love the idea of being a business owner. That means I love thinking about ways to improve and grow my business, and I love hearing from other people what it takes to have a successful business. But at some point you have to stop reading the blogs and books (except for this one!) and put foot to pavement, as they say.

It's so easy today, with the internet and all the other stuff going on, to get sidetracked. It's okay every once in a while. Do it every day and you're going to be broke.

10. This Isn't For Everyone

I think it's just my mindset, but starting this law firm hasn't been hard for me. Sure, the work has been hard. The commitment has been hard. And the tight money has been hard. But I haven't for once thought I should have done something else or I made the wrong decision. I never thought that anyone couldn't do this.

But not everyone can do this. Some people just don't like the risk. And that's okay. But, if you are thinking about starting your own law firm just because you can't find a job and you think that's the only thing left, make sure you aren't just wasting your own time. It's not hard to start a successful law firm, but it's not easy either. You have to want it.

Let me put it to you this way. You ever meet a professional athlete? I'm sure you've seen one on television. When they are playing their sport they look amazing. They do things you could never dream of doing. And the reason they are as good as they are is because they have worked as hard as they can at that for their entire lives. They've sacrificed time away from doing fun things to go to that tournament, missed prom, and put in countless hours of time perfecting their craft. This firm is your craft. If you want it to be good you've got to put in the work. You've got to be passionate about it.

Okay, done with the top ten, now what you've all probably been waiting for (and why most of you probably just scrolled to the bottom of the page), my first year law firm gross revenues:

June, 2009: $0.00

July, 2009: $200.00

August, 2009: $2,661.67

September, 2009: $4,032.21

October, 2009: $4,321.47

November, 2009: $6,013.20

December, 2009: $4,914.29

January, 2010: $6,810.00

February, 2010: $6,479.39

March, 2010: $8,015.79

April, 2010: $5,560.20

May, 2010: $9.148.79

I think these numbers provide a telling story. First, have a little bit in the tank when you first start out, because it's probably going to be slow. Second, you can start making at least some money fairly quickly. Third, your income is probably going to fluctuate pretty wildly for a pretty long time (this is why you keep expenses low). And fourth, it is possible to do this.

So, here's to a great first year. See you next week.

Starting a Law Firm | Timeline for Success

A funny thing happened to me yesterday that is a perfect starting a law firm post. I was sitting in my office, working away as usual, when the owner of the space I lease from (who is also a DUI attorney in the area, by the way) poked his head in to ask if we could have a chat. This guys okay as a person, but I've quickly learned he's not talking to me or anyone else unless he wants something or unless he's got something to tell me. He didn't want anything.

He just hired a new attorney, and while that was great for him, he'd overextended himself on space. What I mean is, he rented out all of his open offices to people. The other people are probate attorneys, employment attorneys, and non-attorneys. I was the only person in the suite that was a fellow criminal defense attorney. I knew where this was going.

My lease is up at the end of May. And he's not renewing. No hard feelings (and none felt), but he needs the space. "No worries" I told him. "I'll start looking for a new law firm office space immediately."

The lesson there is that business is business, and you can't take it personally. I knew he didn't want me there. Quite honestly, his employees like me better than him, and he knows that if I asked they'd all come and work for me. It's a way for him to kill two birds with one stone. So I move on.

But, while I had him in my office, I wasn't going to let him escape just like that. I knew he was feeling a little guilty about kicking me out, so I peppered him with a few business questions. If this guy is nothing, he is successful, and I wanted to get some of that information from him.

It started out with one simple question - how long did it take before you felt like your firm was really successful, until you were meeting your expectations? He didn't even wait until I was finished with the question before he said - "5 years." "And," he said, "that timeline applies with almost all new businesses."

He went on to tell me that in his first years he'd met most of his goals, though just barely. Then, in year three he started to do pretty well. Then in year four, he was really starting to kick ass. And then he looked back at the end of year five and found that he was exceeding his goals.

Another thing he said, and something that I think is important for all of you out there thinking about starting a law firm, is that you have to stick with it. It isn't nearly as easy as I make it sound here. It takes a lot of hard work. You are going to be out of your comfort zone almost every day (especially if you are doing things right), and there are going to be days where you wonder if you are moving in the right direction.

But the key is to keep progressing, keep working on the plan and keep pushing forward. Service based businesses aren't built over night. And if you quit before you even get started, you have no chance.

Heading into this weekend, don't think about how you are going to start your firm. Think about where you want to be in year one. Think about where you want to be in year two. And think about what you are going to do to get there. And then get going.

Starting a Law Firm | Remember Why You Do It

When you start a business, whether a law firm, a restaurant, or anything else, it's easy to let it engulf your entire life. What ends up happening (or at least what's happened to me) is that your business is always in the back of your mind, no matter what you are doing, and you are constantly thinking of new things you can do to help make your business better. In the end this is great for your new law firm, but it can be bad for you personally.

In honor of spring finally sprouting out here in my neck of the woods, I'm going to talk about what my ultimate goals are for the firm, from a business perspective. We all know that we want to help people and blah blah blah. And, honestly, some more than others. I love the battle that goes on with each case, and, like I tell my clients, I don't really care if they are innocent or guilty, the way I see it my job is to do everything I can for them to make their lives better.

And, I guess what this post is really about is not the long term goals, but the short term goals (and benefits) of starting a law firm. What I mean is, I have a goal for this year, and this summer in particular, that I want to get out and play golf one a week. But, I'm not necessarily talking about during the weekend. I'm talking about during the week.

"Oh my god" I'm sure some of you are saying. "How can you take off half a day and still have a successful practice?" You know how? Pretty easily. First, half a day isn't going to destroy anyone's business. And, honestly, what it makes me do is focus on what I have to do during the rest of the week. That means all that facebook and internet browsing time you have that turns your 5 hour work day into a 10 hour work day I just don't have.

I'm sure you didn't start your law firm to work all the time. I'm sure you started it to take care of yourself, take care of your family, and enjoy life. Why not start doing that now? I bet if you ask the boss he (or she) will tell it's just fine if you take a half day off every once in a while.

I Finally Reached Number One on Google. What Does it Mean?

It's Masters Sunday, and I really don't have a lot of concentration going on today. Not only do I have a fantasy golf game going on that I'm interested, I have the added distraction of a Masters Pool (currently in second and need a little help to win) and the Masters itself - not sure if you were aware but there's a guy named Tiger Woods who decided to play this week. I'm rooting for him. Everyone makes mistakes.

Now back to helping you start your law firm. If you read the title of this post you might expect that I already have someone ghost writing this for me while I sit in my house counting my money. This week I reached the number one spot for my desired keyword - Seattle DUI attorney. It gets about 3,600 searches a month according to the google adwords keyword tool (which is a great resource for figuring out what your targeted keywords should be). I was pumped. I was ready to start crushing the Seattle DUI attorney market.

Guess what happened? Nothing. Nothing at all. No increase in phone calls. Not a single thing.

So, what does it all mean? Does it mean my thoughts regarding internet marketing were wrong? Does it mean I've been doing all of this work in vain? Of course not. It means one thing - now that I'm there I need to figure out how to take advantage of that position. It means something is off, I need to find out what that is, and fix it.

Until recently I hadn't even looked at my website. When I made modifications several months ago I looked at purely from an SEO standpoint - will Google like this? Now, I realize the error of my ways. I need to answer two questions at all times with my online marketing efforts (and if you are starting a law firm you should do the same). Will Google like this? And, will this compel people to call and come see me? I don't think I was doing a great job answering this second question affirmatively.

Remember, folks, starting a law firm is a marathon, not a sprint. If you get great results at the beginning and don't continue to work on getting better, people are going to pass you by (trust me, I'm passing people right now that have been resting on their laurels). And, on the other side, if you don't experience great success right away, you need to channel the nervous feelings that you are having into working on your business. If something isn't working, don't just give up on it. Recognize it's not working, but take a look at why it's not working and tweak it to make it work.

Have a great week. I think next week, in honor of spring being upon us, I'll talk about my goal to play golf once a week (during the week) and why you should take time to get out of the office.

Starting a Law Firm | Staying Motivated

I'm still really knew at my life as the owner of a DUI defense law firm. In fact, I'm still in my first year. The reality is, though, that starting a law firm, as fun as it is over the long run, is from day to day a pretty big grinder. Sure, I get to cash the checks, I get to make the important business decisions, and I get to take on as clients the people I want, but it is still possible to get bogged down in the day to day monotony of work.

And being a Seattle DUI attorney and owning a law firm provide a lot of work to get monotonous. So, how do I get through the monotony? How do I continue pushing forward and making things work? There are a couple of ways.

First, and I think this applies to any business owner, there is always the fear in the back of your mind that business is going to some day dry up and disappear forever. This fear, while stressful at times, is an important motivator in the grand scheme of things. For example, it's got me writing this post at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday (as much as I love helping you all out, this helps me too).

Second, a lot of responsibility comes with being a Seattle DUI lawyer. People are relying on me to help them out of sticky situations. And I don't want to let them down. They push me to continue looking through the breath test databases for errors, to continue sifting through their police reports with a fine toothed comb, and to continue to negotiate with the vigor that gets results.

Third, and finally, I stay motivated by recognizing that I've got a lot of goals. I've got short term goals, which I try to meet every day. I've medium term goals, which I try to meet every month. And I've got long term goals, which stretch to the end of this year and beyond. The only way to reach any of these goals is to get started today pursuing them. Sometimes that means doing boring stuff. But it makes it so much easier when you are reaching and exceeding those goals you've laid out for yourself.

If you are starting a law firm and aren't sure if you have what it takes, don't think about all the things that can go wrong. Think about whether or not you have the guts and the drive to make things turn out right for you. It's no secret that you get out of life what you make of it. And there is opportunity out there to be grasped. All you have to do is jump out there and grab it.

How to Start a Law Firm | Getting Clients to Your Website

Up to this point you should have a law firm website or legal blog started, you should have a couple of posts on there (probably no less than five), and they should be relevant to your legal area of practice, with links in them to both your main site and your other posts (by creating post pages in blogger, each post becomes its own separate "website").

For example, if you put your mouse over the links above you can see that they all go to this website, but to a specific post. This interlinking only helps you build up for Google juice and get your site more recognized. Also, you should always link back to your main page. This assures that as you get links to your specific pages, they will then link back to your main page.

Okay, enough of that tangent. Now back to starting a law firm and marketing that law firm so you can get clients. And there is no easier way to do it than on the web. My last post talked about backlinks - those links that come from out there on the web to your site, which Google sees as evidence that you know what you are talking about and other people think you know what you are talking about.

But how do you get these backlinks? The answer is not simple, and there are both easy and hard ways, each of which should probably be used. I'll start with the hard ways (the ways that require more work).

Hard ways to get links to your legal blog or website

"Hard" here is a relative term. Creating backlinks is actually easy in almost every avenue. But these links are going to require a little more elbow grease than some other methods might because you are actually going to be creating your own backlinks. But nobody said opening a successful law firm was easy.

Every time you write a post, you have created some content for the web. One of the easiest ways to get links is to rearrange that content and go write an article out on the web pointing back to your site. There are a lot of good sites out there, but the ones I have primarily used are ezine articles, goarticles, hubpages, and squidoo. Each of these sites allows you to create articles, lists, and other things, and build links in them to wherever you want.

These are hard because they can take a little time to put together. When you write the article, it doesn't necessarily have to make perfect sense, but you want to make it different enough that Google doesn't recognize it as being the same post that is on your blog (Google, as would be expected, doesn't give you any credit for a link like that). Once you get a couple of links coming in, Google will index your site, and the world will be able to find you (and hire you).

Another important point. When you create links to your site, DO NOT MAKE IT THE NAME OF YOUR LAW FIRM! If you do that, you will quickly rank number one in Google, and everyone will be able to find you, if they search for the name of your firm. Instead, make the keywords relevant to your practice area.

For example, if you are a Seattle DUI attorney, make sure you have DUI, DUI lawyer, DUI attorney and words like that both in your posts and in your links. I am a criminal defense attorney, so I make sure my links have criminal law terms like DUI, theft, malicious mischief, possession of marijuan, possession of cocaine, how to beat a DUI, and other relevant terms. That way Google will see that your site is about that and push you up in the Google ranks. And, one more thing, vary your keywords. If you have a very specific word you want to rank well for, and all of your links are that word, Google is going to get suspicious. So mix it up every once in a while.

Easy ways to get Backlinks to Your Legal Website or Blog

The thing about the easy ways is that some are a little bit "gray hat." What I mean by that is they are toeing the line as far as what Google thinks people should be doing. But, as attorneys, don't we kind of try to push the boundaries from time to time? In any event, these won't get you thrown in jail or anything like that. Google will just take some Google love away from you.

The first easy way to get links is to go leave comments on do-follow blogs. Most blogs, this one included, allow comments. I love hearing how everyone is doing trying to start their own law firms. Business plans, law firm marketing, legal malpractice insurance, and all the other fun things that go with starting a business. But I don't give link love that easily, so when you leave a comment, Google doesn't count the link to your site as a good link. If you click on it you will go there, but Google doesn't see that link as this site giving you credibility. Well, some sites allow do-follow links. Just go to them and post some comments with some links - they don't get a lot of weight, but every link helps.

The second easy way to get links to your law firm website is to ask for them. There are all kinds of blogs out there that would love to give you a link. It helps if you are interested in what they are saying and leave nice comments, but people will give you links if you ask.

The third easy way to get links to your law firm blog is through shared link exchanges. For example, there is a link exchange I know of called ConnectContent. You will notice there is a button off to the side to go to that site. If you sign up (it's only $12/month - chump change for getting a ton of great links) you get access to a lot of people that are looking to get links, and are willing to give some out in exchange. All you have to do is link to other people's sites and they will link to yours (not necessarily the same people - dual links aren't the greatest). And, you get to list your preferred keywords, ensuring you get great link love from Google! I use this site, and it is really great. There are safeguards in place that force you to link as much as you get links, so you actually get great links. Check it out and give it a shot if you are interested. It will help you get to the top of Google very quickly.

The final easy way to get links is a bit of a spin off the third. There are programs out there that you can buy that will create a bunch of articles for you, submit them to article sites, and theoretically get a bunch of links. The problem is, most of the time the articles are illegible and Google sees this and doesn't give much credit for them. I'd stick with the other methods if I were you, but wanted to let you know this option was out there in case you were interested.

In the end, getting clients to your law firm website is not going to be too difficult. All it takes is keyword rich backlinks (and probably not that many - you'd be surprised how few attorneys know this information and take the time to use it) and you will have heavy traffic to your website in no time. Give it a shot. This is just another one of the exciting aspects of starting your own law firm (and it is really exciting to see your site jump up in Google!).

Got ideas or suggestions? Please comment. It might even actually turn into a discussion!

Starting a Law Firm | Networking to Get Clients

If there is one constant in any law firm, whether just starting out or established for decades, it is the need for new business. In almost any circumstance, current clients, although possibly returning for services at a later date, will only need your services for a short amount of time (or for a limited need). Once a project or conflict is resolved, then the client moves on and you are left needing a new client.

Getting clients to your new law firm in most cases is not that hard. There is, however, a right way and a wrong way to do (or at least a way that is much more efficient and successful than many others). In almost all cases it involves that ambiguous term called "networking." I say ambiguous because there are many different philosophies related to networking.

Because I want my law firm to be successful, and I want my clients to be representative of me, I have been trying to learn all I can about how to find and then sign up the perfect clients for my new law firm. One of my resources is a book by Stephanie Palmer called "Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself (and Your Ideas) and Win Over any Audience."

Good in a Room takes a novel approach to networking, based on the author's experiences in the film industry listening to movie screenplay pitches. By hearing over 3,000 pitches, Palmer began to notice some things that worked and did not work, and then took those insights and created this book about networking in general. Although there are chapters on running the perfect meeting (where you are pitching your services) there are also chapters on things like good places to network (not a chamber of commerce meeting), good places and the correct way to pitch your services to someone (not an elevator) and much much more.

A lot of what Palmer has to say translates to starting a law firm and I plan to integrate most of her practices and suggestions.

I'd highly recommend this book to all attorneys responsible for bringing in business, whether well established or just starting out. Building true relationships is the key, not handing out as many business cards as you can. Take a look at this book if you are starting a small law firm. It will not disappoint.

Related Posts:

Starting a Law Firm | Getting Clients

Starting a Law Firm | Challenges of Signing up Clients

Starting a Law Firm | Marketing in a New Way

Starting a Law Firm | Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

In a previous post I laid out my starting a law firm to do list, including 13 or so items I needed to get done so my firm can hit the ground running when the doors open. So far I haven't gotten any of the things done, though I have started at least 3 of the to do list items. As I look back through the list again I can see I have set myself up for failure for two reasons - so I need to modify the to do list and modify my philosophy for completing the to do list.

First and foremost, my law firm to do list is not specific enough, and it is causing me to not get anything done because I'm trying to figure out what I need to do first. I'm sure this happens to you, probably when you are trying to write a complicated brief or structure a complicated argument. You know what you want the result to be, but getting there requires several pieces to be completed first.

For example, item number one is putting together my law firm website. I have several things I need to get done, but I haven't sequenced them and broken them down into their parts so I have a distinct plan to follow and so I can get some sense of accomplishment from crossing things off my to do list. Preliminarily setting up the site so it has content is probably made up of more than one step. So step one should really be figuring out what I have to do to get my site up and running and then do those things.

So, number one on my how to start a law firm to-do list is to refine my to do list into manageable, reachable action items. Once that happens then I can actually focus on getting tasks done, as opposed to thinking about what needs to get done to get tasks done (if you aren't confused by that last sentence, good for you!).

The second thing going on with starting a law firm is I am getting really bogged down in the details, wanting everything to be perfect. For example, I spent a couple of hours on the internet last night trying to price a laptop for my practice. In reality, I don't need some state of the art computer to be successful. I need something that has enough memory to hold a lot of pictures and pdf files, and I need microsoft word and power point. That is really about it. So, when looking for a computer, how hard can that be?

I'm falling victim to law firm paralysis by analysis, a common problem among entrepreneurs, I think. I need to remember that one of the great things about opening a law firm is that you have the flexibility and the authority to change things whenever you feel like they need to be changed. That will not mean that my decisions, particularly when significant money or time allocations are involved, will be made willy nilly, but there comes a time when you just have to pull the trigger and move on to something else.

Starting a law firm really has been and I think will continue to be a very humbling and rewarding experience. And moving forward I have to goals: (1) better define what needs to be done and break those things down into smaller pieces; and (2) make concise, quick decisions and move on to the next item.

Hopefully in meeting these new goals I'll be able to knock out several items on my to do list and get this law firm up and running!

Related Posts:

Starting a Law Firm | Too Many Law Students?

Starting a Law Firm | Getting Paid