General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division
Marketing Your Practice on the Internet and On-line
Networks:
What's It All About?
by Erika Penzer
A handful of forward-thinking attorneys have discovered a new medium that is incredibly effective for marketing legal services: the new world of on-line networks. Through e-mail, participation in electronic discussion groups and mailing lists, and the Internet's World Wide Web, lawyers can reach new markets and "meet" clients they might otherwise have never found--without leaving their desks and, in most cases, with a minimal investment.On-line participation is another way for you to tell people that you exist, describe what you do, offer enough information to get them interested (but not so much that they don't need to retain you).
You can market yourself on-line:
- By participating in Internet newsgroups, Lexis Counsel
Connect discussion groups, and legal-related interactive forums
on other on-line networks
- By monitoring attorney referral areas like Lexis Counsel
Connect's Corporate Counsel Inquiries and Law Firm Inquiries
forums and answering queries that match your
expertise
- By serving as a panelist for on-line seminars
- By listing yourself in electronic directories and referral
networks
- By sending monthly e-mail alerts to your clients, updating
them on important developments in your practice area
- By maintaining a homepage with monthly newsletters, client
updates, question-and-answer forums, and lawyer
profiles.
- By contributing your newsletters and client updates to existing on-line libraries.
Erika Penzer is executive editor of Lexis Counsel Connect, the largest on-line network for lawyers.
