Posts Tagged ‘lawyer marketing’
Increasing Profits for Your Law Firm
— by Victoria Ring
Problem: An attorney graduates from law school with knowledge of the law and how to interpret it; but they never learn the day to day operations of the law firm or how to market their practice. That task used to be performed by law students, paralegals and legal secretaries. However, in the field of debtor bankruptcy, many attorneys are preparing their own petitions and marketing their own law firms. In doing so, attorneys eliminate 90% of their overhead expenses and dramatically increase their profits.
But where does an attorney go to learn how to properly prepare a bankruptcy petition? There are many CLE courses for bankruptcy but none of them specifically address the Chapter 7 or 13 petition. In the past, attorneys and paralegals had to learn either through trial and error (with the court) or by training through someone who had the experience. But this type of training is not only inconsistent but it does not guarantee professional quality. And without these two ingredients, the law firm for a bankruptcy attorney will lose profits and eventually collapse.
It is a known fact that if the bankruptcy petition is prepared correctly in the beginning, the entire case will process through the system with less complications. Additionally, potential problems can be addressed before filing; thus saving even more time and money.
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE
A law firm in Maryland was told by several of their attorney friends that preparing the bankruptcy petition paperwork was a piece of cake. So, when a client came into the office with $4,000 in their hand wanting to file a Chapter 13 because of a foreclosure sale in 2 weeks, they promptly filed an emergency petition to save the home.
Typical example right?
Yes, but this is normally a bad decision. It is a proven fact that if clients wait until the last minute to save their home, it is going to be extremely difficult and time-consuming to gather all the information needed to properly prepare the petition. And when an Emergency (or Skeleton) petition is filed, the attorney only has 15 days to get the remaining schedules and Chapter 13 Plan filed.
When they run out of time, many attorneys are then forced to file an extension, which automatically causes the attorney to appear disorganized and unreliable. These negative feelings (that the court may form from this behavior) can have an effect on future cases the attorney may file. Therefore, it is vitally important for the attorney to learn how to earn brownie-points with the court rather than create negativity from the beginning.
A SUGGESTED METHOD
When I set up new law firms and train new attorneys in paralegal-type operations, I always stress never to file an Emergency petition unless it is absolutely necessary and there are no other alternatives. Besides, when the debtor is aware they are on a deadline to save their home, they are more inclined to get the information the attorney needs to prepare the petition. However, when an Emergency petition is filed, the client thinks everything is covered and they are not motivated to get the information needed as quickly.
Secondly, new attorneys need to realize that properly preparing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 is VERY DETAILED and a great deal of information is required (much like IRS tax returns.) Without this information, the attorney will normally be filing several amendments to the schedules and a great deal of time will be lost; and time is money.
REFERENCES
If you would like to learn methods to save your bankruptcy law firm a great deal of time and money; and how to increase your profits, contact the author, Victoria Ring at:
http://www.victoria-ring.com Email: victoriaring1958@gmail.com Cell: 719-659-0743
Also, contact Karen Fairchild; a California bankruptcy who recently trained with Victoria. Her contact information is:
http://www.karenfairchild.com Email: karen@karenfairchild.com
Or, enroll in My Bankruptcy School; the first online school specifically designed to train attorneys and their staff in the Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Visit:
http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com We wish you the best of success.
New Bankruptcy Training Videos Developed
Marketing Your Bankruptcy Law Firm
I receive many phone calls and emails from attorneys who ask:
1. Who can I get to design my web site?
2. How can I market my website?
Most attorneys still believe they need to pay a web designer thousands of dollars to design their website or spend thousands of hours doing the job themselves. This scenario naturally would have any attorney afraid to believe they can actually design and control their own website; so they relinquish control to other companies who claim to do the job for them; often resulting in very poor responses from potential clients.
But there is a solution to this dilemma. Within the past year, WordPress (originally intended to be blogging software) has become a very popular software to build a web site. And building a website in blogging software also enhances and greatly improves your search engine traffic, resulting in more awareness from your clients than the national law firm directory websites can normally offer.
DO BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS NEED TO MARKET THEIR WEBSITE?
If your law firm serves primarily consumers seeking to file Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy, you may be wasting advertising dollars if you think you can find clients by solely marketing your website. Many attorneys have invested thousands of dollars into designing a website, hoping it will bring them a lot of business, only to be extremely disappointed.
Another disappointment is for attorneys who pay web designers to design overly corporate-looking websites with moving Flash elements, convinced by the web designer that this would be the best way to attract new clients. But unless the web designer has experience working in Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy law, they know nothing about who your client is and what attracts them. So, how can the web designer build you an effective website specifically for your audience? They cannot.
HOW CAN ATTORNEYS ATTRACT CLIENTS?
First of all, attorneys need to identify with a very important fact they already know: Attorneys do not need national advertising of their websites. Instead, a law firm serves the local residents of the state; therefore, your potential clients exist all around you. There are actually a billion ways for an attorney like you to attract clients in your state and local area; but this article will not focus on this broad issue. Right now we need to focus on developing a bankruptcy law firm website and marketing it.
Secondly, potential clients do not need to visit a website filled with a lot of bells and whistles and moving animations. All Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients need to know are:
1. Where your office is located. 2. Your contact information plus a photo to know who you are. 3. A list of the documents they need to bring with them to your office. 4. Some basic information about filing bankruptcy. 5. How much you charge for filing their bankruptcy petition.
This means that a bankruptcy attorney seeking to find clients in their state or immediate area, normally only needs a five page (or less) website. A five page website like the one detailed above should not take longer than three or four hours using WordPress. In fact, if designing websites is not your thing, your daughter, son or other relative may be thrilled to design one for you and save you the time.
Don’t believe you can have a professional website designed in a few hours by a non-professional? Watch this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8355qaOKXC8
But before you get started, below are a few bankruptcy attorney websites you may want to research for ideas:
Cox Law Group, Lynchburg VA http://www.coxlawgroup.com/tutorials/index.html This law firm shows how effective video marketing is. You can do the same; just sit in front of your computer with a web cam and start talking about your law firm. Even a two or three minute video is sufficient and it will add a nice personal touch for your clients. They will feel like they know you before they meet you. This is an example of excellent PR and you have not spent a penny.
Don’t have time to produce videos right now? No problem, the US Courts website has done the job for you. In fact, some attorneys copy these videos onto DVD and use them to educate their clients while they are completing the Client Intake Forms. Simply visit the link below and embed the video into your website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5UDYBAFSQ See a sample of how these videos are used on the front page of this bankruptcy attorneys website: http://www.lloydcohen.com/
Joseph C McDaniel, Phoenix AZ http://www.josephmcdaniel.com/ This bankruptcy attorney has a very nice website designed for consumers. The movement you see on the front page is the result of Flash programming, which can be expensive if you do not know how to do it for yourself.
Walter Metzen, Detroit MI http://www.detroitbankruptcylawyer.com/ This attorney has a simple looking website with only a few pages; however, if you scroll down to the bottom of the page there is a link for Law Info. If you click on this link you are taken to the website of Law Info. Search engines like this normally charge a very high price to design a website and host it for attorneys. Many of them claim that by hosting on their server the attorney will get more traffic. Again, an attorney only needs traffic from clients in the state they are licensed in, not the entire United States; which is what most internet marketers base their advertising on.
Carrie Sue Genisio, Kansas City KS http://www.lawinkc.com/serivcesBankruptcy.htm This is a very simple web page. Notice the link titled: Getting Ready for Your First Appointment. Unfortunately the link to: FORMS, does not work’ which is one reason it is important to always test your website so that you do not lose potential clients.
Marshall Cohen, Columbus OH http://www.columbusbankruptcylaw.com/ This is a website filled with content directed toward the client. Notice how the attorney never mentions fees on the internet. Instead, he asks clients to come in so that he can assess their situation. All attorneys need a low fee and a high fee, depending on the complexity of the bankruptcy case.
Find More Bankruptcy Related Websites: http://chapter7and13bankruptcyblog.com/business-directory Click on the DEBTOR BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY category
MORE TOOLS TO HELP YOU
New Video: A preview of How to Design Your Website with WordPress http://chapter7and13bankruptcyblog.com/archives/411 For only $35, you can watch this 1 hour and 16 minute training video online. Buy it for your spouse, son, daughter, relative for yourself to design you own web site quickly and easily at NO COST.
Free and Low Cost Marketing Links for Attorneys http://www.bankruptcylinks.info/about/marketing-links
Other Free Bankruptcy Training Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing