The Internet has radically changed the way we do business – and the changes have only just begun. It’s essential for a law firm to have an on-line presence, but many attorneys still wonder what to do and how to do it…
Probably the greatest benefit of having a presence on the Internet is that information about your firm is available to prospects and clients whenever they want it. If they need an attorney, they don’t have to wait to call during business hours, wait on hold, leave a message, then wait some more for a busy attorney to call them back. All the information they need to make a decision – and hopefully choose your firm – is right at their fingertips whenever they need it.
It’s also very easy and inexpensive to keep your website current. You may spend thousands of dollars creating a beautiful capabilities brochure only to find it’s inaccurate a month later because two of your partners left to join another firm. A disaster if you’ve just had the brochures delivered, but no problem at all if all you have to do is update the website.
The Internet is evolving and new opportunities constantly become available for advertising and promotion. Social networking is one of the more recent trends that’s becoming a viable commercial channel for many industries, although perhaps not attorneys – yet.
Keeping abreast of what’s going on is almost a full time job in itself. But, since law firms are generally not known for being on the bleeding edge of technology, you can keep your firm current by monitoring the technology section of your local paper or Bar publications. By the time tech trends are being covered by those publications, they’re probably in wide enough use for you to consider adding them to your Internet marketing.
