As an attorney striking out on your own you have probably wondered whether you should focus on one, several, or many practice areas. Some people go into law school knowing exactly what they want to do.  Others have no idea even after they have graduated.

The truth is, knowing what practice areas to focus on is not the first thing you need.  The first step is to consider what your goals are and what you want to achieve.  Your goal may be to practice law from the time of passing the bar until the day you die.  Your goal may be to use the practice of law as a means to achieving other ends.  You could focus on saving the world or making money.  Everyone is different and that is why you need to decide what your goals are.  Once you know your goals it will be easier for you to decide how to run your practice.

Reality v. Desire

In deciding what practice areas to focus on in your practice you will have to focus on the reality of your situation as well.  If you have no connections and little capital chances are you will want to take whatever business you can get be it bankruptcy, criminal, business, family law, etc.  Others may have significant capital and heavy connections that will allow them to focus only on that which they truly want to do.

Do What You Love

Ultimately you want will want to base your practice around doing what you love.  You may love defending criminal defendants’ rights.  You may love helping businesses grow and succeed.  You may hate the practice of law and just want to run a practice until something more appealing comes along.  Whatever is it you love you should aim to do it.

JD Optimize is the attorney advertising company that will help you do what you love and help you succeed at it.  Contact us to find out how we can help your practice thrive.

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Utilizing Google Maps

A lot of business don’t bother with google maps because they have their address on their webpage and they think that’s enough. The problem with that thinking is that google maps is not just for getting directions. In fact, it is problem best used as a tool that directs people to your website. For example, if you’ve ever done a google search you have most likely seen the top listings being from google maps. Also with the amount of searching that is done on mobile phones these days a lot of people find stuff only if it is on google maps because that’s what they have on their phone.

JD Optimize Will Put You on the Map

At JD Optimize we make sure and handle all of your online marketing needs. We don’t simply build you a website and send you on your way, but we give you the tools you need to bring clients to your site and into your business. Whether you are just starting your firm or if you’ve been in business for years good online marketing can improve your business. We will help you get your business on google maps so people can find you when they are on the go and are searching on their phones. Also with google maps your website will show up in the google maps section of google searches when they are searching for a specific area. Call or email us today to see how we can help you.

One of the most effective methods for getting clients on the web can be blogging. Blogging is a great way to get out specific advertising messages, educate the public, and tout your credentials as an expert in certain fields. Blogging is also advantageous because you don’t have to spend a lot of money or time to do it right. However, to really sell and reach potential clients, lawyers should be aware of a few guidelines when it comes to writing blogs and online articles. This particular articles discusses a few of the most important things to remember when blogging to advertise online. If you follow the following simple suggestions, we believe you will reach more clients and retain more of those clients, thereby building your practice all while spending few if any dollars in the process.

Highly Searched Topics

The most important thing to remember, when blogging as a means of online advertising, is to be sure to write on those topics that are highly searched in your practice area. You need to be aware of which search terms and subjects are most searched by the type of clients you are trying to retain. To learn which key words you should be focused on, you can use Google’s key word search tool available here. For instance, if you are a family law
attorney in Los Angeles, you should know that search terms like “LA divorce lawyer,” and “Los Angeles family law attorney,” are far more highly searched terms than let’s say a term like, “Los Angeles emergency injunctive relief.” Avoid writing on subjects that may be of interest to you as a lawyer, but in all likelihood will almost never be typed into a Google search by a potential client. While you and the legal industry may care about the latest case defining when a lawyer may bring a rule 11 motion for sanctions in a domestic matter, we can assure you the majority of your clients don’t. Stick to the topics your clients care about and search for online.

The exception to this rule is if you are blogging as means of setting yourself apart as an expert within the legal community. We typically do not recommend blogging for other lawyers as a means of getting more clients. There are other reasons to blog to the legal community but it is simply no the most effective means of getting more clients from your blogs.

SEO Your Blogs

Did you know that each blog you publish online is viewed by Google as its own independent site for purposes of how your blog page appears in Google’s algorithm? This means you need to optimize your blogs to give them the best chance of showing up on searches. This is often overlooked by attorneys, they write a great blog but then don’t give it the programming and search engine optimization touches to give it any chance of ever showing up anywhere online. If you use a blog tool such as WordPress, it is relatively easy to SEO your blogs each time you write them. WordPress has several SEO plugins available which can make your blogs Google friendly. The most effective way to get your blog read is to contract the SEO out to a company with the tools necessary to ensure your blogs show up online for your most important key word searches. JD Optimize provides these SEO services.

Third Party Blogs

To be effective, blogging does not have to occur solely on your personal website or on your law firm’s blog site. Writing articles on third party websites for lawyers can be very effective. Branch out and write blogs on major law related sites like Avv.com and you could see increased traffic and other benefits to your own site. In most cases, when you blog on another site you can back link to your own which brings more traffic to your site and gives
you a greater presence online.

Video Blogs

Yes, video blogs work. If your law firm still does not have a YouTube account you are missing out on a whole new field of clients. Video blogs are a good way to mix it up from the regular written articles. Video blogs can be published on multiple sites and often take far less to time to create because you can simply get in front of the web cam and speak directly to the client. One of the things to remember is that a video blog should not be lengthy. Internet users lack patience so keep your video blogs short and sweet. No single clip should last any longer than maybe 3 minutes at the most.

JD Optimize – Lawyer Bloggers

Many lawyers choose JD Optimize to handle their online blogging needs. At JD Optimize, we employ educated bloggers including lawyer bloggers to manage, write, and edit your blog. We save you the time and headache associated with effective blogging online. All of the websites we create for law firms include a free blogging utility so you can blog yourself. However, for a very small additional charge, we will write regular blogs on your behalf that are SEOed and designed to get the clients you want. Call us today to learn more.

In the past social networks were only considered to be a place for seedy characters, and teenagers. It was definitely not considered a place for a reputably business, or really, for any business at all. However, as most things with technology, times have changed and our perception of social networks have rapidly evolved. Not only do reputably businesses now occupy a good portion of the social network space, they also run large advertising campaigns targeting such platforms. A lot of attorneys still view social networks as a space that is not proper for a professional in the legal field. This is a matter of personal preference and it is fine if you don’t want to get involved with the social network movement, but just remember that the same was thought about the internet at its inception.

Being Ahead of the Curve

Most internet movements may start small and seem unprofessional but the passage of time has shown us that as consumers change, businesses need to follow. As always in business understanding the consumer is key, and if you can reach the consumer in the way they want they are more likely to come to listen. As younger consumers who are very attached to social networks grow up and become your average consumer social networking will be key for businesses.

Call JD Optimize for Help

Whether you are certain you want to join the social network movement or are more skeptical give JD Optimize a call. We can help you understand the costs and benefits of social networking and what it could mean for you specifically. Our experts can help you set up your business with all the relevant social networking connections and help you stay current as well. As competition becomes more and more fierce and as the economy remains stagnant it is important to get ever client available and with social networking you can do just that.

The legal industry has changed dramatically since the advent of the internet. Whereas you could not practice law unless you had a physical office, often times with mahogany walls and a library, today a lawyer can run his entire office virtually.

There are purely virtual offices and semi virtual offices.  The purely virtual office is when an attorney has an online presence only.  Such an attorney may meet with his clients via Skype or over instant messenger or the phone.  He may choose to meet with his clients only at court.  The purely virtual office is the exception, not the rule.

The more common type of virtual office is the semi virtual office.  This arrangement gives an attorney access to a physical office as needed.  He usually will pay for office use on an hourly basis.  For attorneys who travel from court to court everyday or who primarily work out of their home, this arrangement may be the most effective.  It also creates an appearance of an established presence when an attorney has a physical location to meet his clients.  At the same time, if you are an attorney who does not have a lot of capital to start a firm this option can keep your overhead relatively low until you need to expand.

For A Physical Office Think “Location, Location, Location”

If you are an attorney who has a little capital to spend on a physical office there are several factors which you should consider.  Probably the number one factor you should consider is your network.  If most of your network is located in one city or county as opposed to another you should make that your office location.  When going solo you will rely heavily on referrals.  Place your office in a location where your family and friends can find you and can send people to you.

Another factor you should consider is your marketing goals.  For example, if you will be running a law practice that relies heavily on marketing and advertising you should consider placing your office in a location that gets a lot of traffic – the side of a major freeway, on a highly traveled intersection, near a courthouse, near a jail, etc.

You should also consider what message you want to send with your office location.  If you want to cater to profitable companies and wealth individuals, for example, you may consider a downtown location in upper-end real estate.  If you want to market to Average Joes for family law, small business, criminal matters, and other services which individuals need you may not need a high price location.

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When most people start a business the first thing they think of is the logo. Attorneys on the other hand for whatever reason, do not think of a logo first and when they do think of a logo it is usually less than memorable. Although lawyer branding should be professional that doesn’t necessarily translate into boring, and definitely doesn’t mean homemade. Unfortunately, a lot of small law firms seem to interpret professionalism in exactly this way. A clean, crisp, and eye-catching logo is essential for any business, including law firms, because it helps the client remember you, and what you stand for. In a world full of competing voices your business needs to be able to catch the attention of potential clients and that is precisely what a well-designed logo can and should be doing for your firm.

Overall Branding

To really make your firm look legitimate and give it strength in the market, a logo should be accompanied by an overall branding strategy. Thousands of professional advitisers, professors, and students alike have conducted studies, lost sleep at night, and composed lengthy papers on advertising and branding strategies that are essential to businesses in our current economic climate. The importance of this is that you should let the experts do what the experts do. You suggest to your clients that they should take the counsel of a qualified professional and you should take the same counsel yourself when it comes to marketing.

Marketing with JD Optimize

At JD Optimize we are not only about creating websites for our clients but instead we focus on helping our clients succeed. This involves, logo design, branding strategies, and much much more. By working with JD Optimize you can be sure that your marketing is up to date and effective. Check out our pricing and marketing services for more information.

If you’ve been on the web recently you’ve probably noticed that a lot of service providers offer a “chat with a customer service representative” option on their sites. Whether for good or bad the people are not as interested in talking with other people as they used to be. With text messages, facebook, twitter, and blogs people are much more likely to write something to someone (even close relatives or friends) than call or talk to them. Especially in the realm of asking questions and getting help, a lot of people are much more comfortable dealing with another human through a keyboard.

Connecting Any Way You Can

As people move away from verbal interaction they will also move away from people that absolutely require verbal interaction. A client that would rather email or text will go find the attorney that allows them to do that. With a live chat set up on your website you will be offering every route possible to your services. Although some people will still want to call you on the phone, you can be sure that you aren’t losing clients if you are giving them all the possible options.

JD Optimize Can Set You Up With Live Chat

At JD Optimize we offer you the opportunity to stay relevant in the current climate and we help you adapt to the ever changing consumers. Whether it bet through video, text, chat, or multimedia we help you connect with your clients in whichever way they want. In today’s ultra-competitive legal market and with the wealth of knowledge consumers have it can often be very small things that separates you from your competitor enough to win you the client. Check out our marketing services and pricing options for more details; or us our live chat feature.

When you think of law firm names you may think of white shoe firms using the names of their founders.  You may think of professionalism and respectability or you may think of stuffiness.  Traditionally law firms will take the names of their partners.  That is to be expected and depending on how you wish to market your firm will determine whether that is a good idea for your specific situation.

There is an air of respectability that comes with a law firm and many attorneys believe that the only way to maintain that respectability is through use of a traditional name, but the legal industry has transformed over the years and there are many different ways you can name your firm.

Believe it or not a name is an integral part of your soon-to-be marketing campaign.  The name of your firm by itself gives off a very distinct message.  It lets your audience know who are you are. Your firm’s name can also drive your marketing campaign depending on your business goals.

Determine Your Name from Your Business Goals

Before picking a name, decide what type of a firm you would like to have.  Perhaps you want a to establish a traditional law firm and market in a traditional fashion, that is via referrals only.  Perhaps you want to establish a firm that conducts heavy law firm internet marketing.

How you wish to market should determine your name.  Traditional law firms that work via referrals only bode well with the traditional naming after their partners.  For firms that want to take a more aggressive marketing approach they need not rely on the traditional method of naming their firm, although they can still take such an approach.  Such firms have more options.  They can base their name off of their area of practice.  They can also base their name off of their geographic location.  However you name your firm JD Optimize is your best choice for marketing a law firm.

Your Name and Online Marketing

After you have chosen your name let JD Optimize do what it does best – market your law firm online.  We will evaluate your firm’s name and determine how best to market that name over the internet.  Believe it or not there is a science to using your firm’s name for purposes of online marketing and we are the experts at it.

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Deciding to start your own law firm is a big decision and you need to make sure you do everything you can to build your business even before you take the plunge and start practicing on your own.

Begin building your business the moment you make the decision to start your firm.  One way to do this is to use the resources you have at your disposal to announce your plans to your network.  Making a post on Facebook and Twitter will let everyone in your network know that you will soon be your own boss.  You can also send an email to everyone on your list. These simple means of communication act as a commercial for your business.

Announcing your plans is important because your network will immediately think about you when they and their friends are in need of legal counsel.

Repeated Announcements Stick in the Memory

Everyone in advertising knows that the more a person hears a message the more likely he is to respond to what that message is conveying.  The same is true for announcing your plans to start your own law firm.  There is a subtle art to communicating your plans to start your own practice multiple times.  Your first communication should be something very nonchalant through your social media accounts such as Facebook .  Your second communication can be something more direct such as an email to your closest friends and family.  Your third communication can be a general announcement through email to everyone you know.  Finally, when you actually strike out on your own you may consider mailing out a written announcement inviting individuals to an open house or offering something free to everyone.

There are of course a variety of ways you can announce your plans to your network and you will probably come up with original and creative ways to do so.  Through repeated communications your message will become embedded in the minds of your friends, family, and acquaintances, which will lead to referrals and a base of clients to help you get your firm off the ground.

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If you are a law student or a practicing attorney who is thinking about starting his own firm, there is a lot that goes into starting a firm…even before you actually jump ship and start the firm.  One of the first things you should think about before starting your firm is your own personal finances.

If you are a law student, chances are you are living off of debt.  If you are a practicing attorney you may have more disposable income than a law student but you are probably paying off school debt and a mortgage.

Nonetheless, in starting your own law firm you are becoming an entrepreneur.  A law firm is a business and while many attorneys do not look at themselves as businessmen you have to start approaching things a little differently, that is, as a business man would.

As with any business should anticipate some build up time before you turn a profit.  The length of time will differ on a case by case basis, but rest assured, you will have at least a few weeks of money going out at a rate higher than it is coming in.

The Six Month Safety Net

We recommend that you have six months worth of living expenses in the bank before you strike out on your own.  Thus, if you are a law student, set aside some of your money during the last year of school so that you can survive without bringing any money home for six months.  Likewise, if you are a practicing attorney you will want to start saving your money so that you can provide for your personal needs for six months.

Creating the six month safety net will provide a lot of advantages.  You will be able to focus on your new firm without the added hassle of wondering if you can pay rent that month.  You will need every minute to focus on building your new company so that at the end of the six months you will have an income that is sufficient to provide for your needs.

[Post 2 of Starting A Law Firm]