Why do I spend so much time and effort on my law firm's web
site?
This is a question that I am
asked quite often. A potential client explained it better
that I ever could. Here are his comments:
I'm on the verge of filing for
bankruptcy. However, I'm one of those who has been reluctant to
do so. I first spoke with an attorney almost a year ago. I
thought I could hold on and negotiate my debts even after
dropping from nearly 60k a year to about 25k a year. I've put
my family, wife and three boys, through way too much. A recent
judgment is what forced me to decide to go through with the
bankruptcy.
So, here I was this morning,
still searching for some emotional relief from the overwhelming
depression and guilt feelings. I went to google.com and
starting searching on Arizona bankruptcy. Too much legal
stuff. Thinking I could find positive comments from others in
my situation I searched for Arizona bankruptcy discussion. On
page two of the search results I found a link to your site.
What a wonderful site you have!
Full of the technical information that I need, but written in a
'readable' manner, and organized very well! I've spent the past
hour and a half or so reading just about everything on your
site. If it's you that decided on your site style and
layout...congrats!! If it was done by a web designer...be sure
and thank them!
Your "Life tips and humor" page was
a wonderful way to wrap up my morning. Some touching tidbits to
remind me of the 'important' things in life. The young boy
buying the ice-cream brought an old song to mind..."Roses for
momma". The boy giving blood for his sister helped me realize
how simple and fragile my own children are, they deserve better
than what I've been able to provide trying to pay what I can't
afford. The breakfast at McDonalds...well, when I was better
off financially I would often do little things to help out
homeless people I'd cross paths with. Maybe I'll be in a spot
to do that again soon! And it is by the grace of God that I was
given that desire and ability.
Most memorable and reassuring
item on your site was on the bottom of your tips page. The "A
Holiday thought for each of you". In it's last paragraph it
summed up what I was looking for all morning:
"The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be
going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you
place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts."
You just never know when or how
you'll have an impact on someone's life. You've done that
today.
10 Ways to Market
Yourself On-Line
The Do's and
Don'ts of Lawyer Advertising (4/21/04) on-line CLE program of the
State Bar of Arizona
How Your Firm Can Benefit From CRM
Companies use customer relationship management (CRM) to build
customer loyalty, by bringing together information from all data
sources within an organization to give one, complete view of each
customer in real time. So what does this have to do with your law
firm? The real benefit of CRM is that it can provide a new,
holistic way of looking at client relationships.
Ethics, Electronic Information and
Marketing:
The lawyers had been eager recipients of a
jailhouse e-mail list supplied daily by the county sheriff. And
the situation is not at all unusual in America's digital
information feast. North Carolina's 1999 decision to
electronically centralize 100 counties' court records every day
was a boon for SpeedingTicket.net, an information service that
previously had to send people to courthouses to dig for files, a
costly and time-consuming process.
SpeedingTicket.net pays the state 10 to 30 cents
for each record that it downloads (the state collects about $1.7
million annually this way), then charges lawyers 50 cents to over
$1 to relay the data or perform value-added services, such as
printing and mailing letters to prospective clients. "All the
attorney has to do is take the calls," said company founder John
White. SpeedingTicket.net has expanded its quick record-searching
service to Florida, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, South
Carolina, Georgia, Michigan and Oklahoma.
CourtClerk.net also just launched a Web program
that lets a defendant visiting a lawyer's Web site ask to be
contacted. CourtClerk.net will immediately dial the attorney's
contact numbers and automatically call the prospective client to
connect the two sides.
