The Second Part of Advertising Legal Firms Through Attorney-Client Matching Businesses

 The Second Part of Advertising Legal Firms Through Attorney-Client Matching Businesses

These new services that match attorneys with clients—what are they? So, who's in this? What is the price? How much danger am I in for? How can I get my money back? What all the fuss is about? As legal firm advertisements, are they ethical? Am I going to save money with them? Can they bring in customers I wouldn't have gotten any other way? Part 1, which covered the details of this marketing vehicle for law firms, started answering these questions. To paraphrase Paul Harvey, "the rest of the story" is presented in this article's Part II.

Findings and Suggestions Regarding Expert-Client Pairing

Before you make a decision, I will lay out my present thinking and conclusions about this area of marketing for law firms: attorney-client matching services.

Clearly, there is some merit to this marketing vehicle for law firms. Using this method, you can quickly and easily attract clients that you would not have otherwise. If you know what you're doing when it comes to online attorney marketing, you can succeed—and maybe even save money—on your own. Nonetheless, attorney-client matching can take place tomorrow; it will not occur tomorrow. You can use these systems as a foundation for your own systems, and then you can choose whether or not to keep using them. Even if you had your own online systems, they will likely still get some business that you would not have gotten otherwise.

Secondly, you don't really "own" the business methods used to get the business sent to you; you're just "renting" them. Internet marketing for law firms is better than this option in the long run for most attorneys. If you had a good system in place, you would have a valuable asset and traffic would be coming exclusively to you. The general rule is that you shouldn't rely on just one referral source, which you are probably already aware of. The use of attorney-client matching services remains, in my opinion, a viable alternative to establishing in-house Internet and other forms of marketing systems. Even after your own systems are up and running, you might find these services useful. When you set up your own systems, you're better protected, and you can decide for yourself whether to continue using the service or not.

Question 3: Who exactly is this advertising vehicle for legal firms targeting?
a.An individual in immediate need of additional business. You can immediately start receiving business from these systems because they are currently experiencing a flood of new customers. Other methods of advertising legal services will take more time to implement and start producing results.
b. A person who makes it crystal clear that they do not want to be involved in marketing but is prepared to pay more to have someone else handle it on their behalf (i.e., "rent"). If that describes you, then I think this is the right choice. You will still be involved in marketing at that level, but with less marketing, as you will still need to "close" clients that they send you via email or phone. Without being an associate who performs purely technical work for another practice, you will never be able to escape that aspect (not that there is anything wrong with that).
c.An attorney whose current marketing strategy is either not making enough money or isn't producing the desired results; by shifting their focus to this strategy, they may be able to cut costs without sacrificing effectiveness.
d. Lastly, a partner-level attorney with a senior associate with strong people skills could operate this marketing vehicle for the law firm and close the referred clients.

For whom is this kind of legal advertising inappropriate?
a.An employee who disregards many, if not all, of the matching service's recommendations throughout the workday.
b) A person with average to poor "bedside manner" or "closing skills" (Note: if you feel you need some help with this, you can get coaching from these companies; for more information on this, check out my website). You must "shine" sufficiently to secure the employment since the match firm is referring you to other attorneys as well. Even though there may be three or five other lawyers who received the same referral, there is still some degree of competition.
c.A stranger from a region that isn't known for sending many referrals to your practice. Such as a low-income neighborhood, a rural area, or a small town where an estate planner may be employed. You can see that this vehicle for advertising law firms isn't for everyone.

Even though most of the bad stuff on LegalMatch and CasePost is old and has been fixed, it still makes me nervous. It would appear that the Utah Bar, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have been unconcerned by the previous unflattering content on LegalMatch. I find this comforting.

Using LegalMatch would be my first choice if you were fairly certain that this vehicle type was right for you. Assuming you have average "closing" skills and are prepared to put in the time and effort to improve them, they will help you increase your closing ratio. Ask yourself, "Why LegalMatch?" In addition to being in business longer, they have more than 90 employees and over 1500 members, which is encouraging. In my opinion, that gives them a leg up when it comes to expertise, output, and longevity in the market. Because they have more resources to attract customers to their site, their "footprint" of bringing business to their members is likely larger as well. I would recommend LegalFish as a starting point if you are still unsure about this kind of marketing for legal firms. So, why should you choose LegalFish? Instead of spending a fortune or taking a chance on LegalMatch or CasePost, you can enter the marketing arena for law firms with the help of LegalFish. Keep in mind that the attorney marketing "footprint" of LegalFish will be significantly smaller compared to the other two services, meaning they will most likely not send you as much business. Make sure that LegalFish waives their fees for months when they do not bring in any business in your agreement. After you've had success with the LegalFish referrals, put in the time to use the system nearly every day, made a decent profit, and are ready to take your business to the next level, you should investigate LegalMatch. Joining two or even three services is perfectly acceptable if you discover that you really like this method of advertising law firms, whether you started with LegalMatch or LegalFish.

Keep in mind that the terms of your membership and the amount you pay are highly negotiable if you choose to join LegalMatch, Case Post, or LegalFish. Find a way to negotiate an agreement where both parties benefit. Before you sign an agreement, it's always a good idea to get references from current members in your practice area and a similar type market.

Presently, I am not sure that Lawyers.com is the way to go. Why? Let me start by saying that there is no guarantee. In my opinion, Next Lawyers dot com isn't doing nearly enough to promote that section of their site. The annual fee and bio will total at least $2,400, and I'm still not convinced it's worth it. I have the impression that one of the "big three" would be a better fit for this funding. Finally, I'm worried that you'll be overwhelmed by the number of attorneys available to the consumer, especially considering the size of the list (you can check this by entering your zip code and practice areas on the site). So, it appears like there isn't much business and there's no way to influence customers' minds when they're choosing who to contact. With that said, if you currently have a bio listing with them—and it is generating business for you—then this add-on service could be a smart marketing move for your law firm, considering you're only paying $495 more per year. To that end, be careful with your documentation and see if any revenue comes from it. Without it, you would undoubtedly terminate the service.

As for LegalConnection.com, I am not sure I would use them right now. Why? Without assurance. Being separate from the FindLaw site is actually an advantage, in my opinion. Just because of that, I'd choose it over Lawyers.com. However, right now, I don't think LegalConnection or Lawyers.com can be considered one of the "big three" in the industry.

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