There is a trade-off for opting to build your own law firm as a solo attorney. For one, you can build your law practice from the ground up. On the flip side, you have to work harder, since you are working on your own. You need to hustle harder so you can get more clients, and along the way, you might even have to wear different hats. It can be easily overwhelming, but probably not as challenging as the biggest hurdle as a solo attorney: getting clients.
The Struggles of a Solo Attorney
Running a law firm as a solo attorney is extremely challenging. The benefits of being a solo practitioner may outweigh the difficulties and challenges that you’d have to face with partners.
One of the major hurdles that you will be facing as a solo attorney is how to get clients. Marketing a firm without several other attorneys can be difficult. You are responsible for developing your own marketing strategy; unlike bigger firms, you don’t have an in-house marketing team to attract clients.
How do you do it when you’re the only attorney in your firm? Fortunately, there are many tactics that you can employ in order to attract more clients to your firm.
Solo Attorney: How to Get Clients in 5 Ways
These are some of the best marketing strategies that you have to employ if you want to fast-track your way to getting more clients as a solo attorney. These strategies are applicable for solo attorneys, no matter what your budget and the amount of energy you choose to invest into your marketing strategy.
1. Networking
Networking is a proven and reliable technique for attracting clients for any industry, not just for legal firms. As a solo attorney, you need it even more because it helps you reach out to prospective clients.
You can look for local business networking events and get registered for them. You can also check the local chamber of commerce for any groups that you can be a part of. Meanwhile, solo attorneys can seek out local referral partners. Even local attorney groups on Facebook can be helpful.
This method of marketing your solo law firm won’t get you clients overnight – it’s important to set the facts straight. The goal is to build and maintain long-term relationships with other legal practitioners (preferably in a different niche) and potential clients (individuals or businesses). If you’ve laid the groundwork for your law firm, it will soon become recognized within your community and you can be referred by fellow attorneys.
When marketing your services in any of these groups, it is important to observe the rules and ethics of that group or organization.
2. Referrals
Just like networking, referrals are also a proven way for attorneys to get new clients. The goal is to cultivate relationships with fellow attorneys and prospective clients. This will give you assurance that your fellow attorneys will refer any client looking for your specific type of service towards your practice.
In this situation, there is no such thing as a free lunch. This method of getting new clients will only work if you give what you get. You should not only be getting referrals from your fellow attorneys, you need to refer clients to others every chance you get. This will help to fortify your relationship with other firms and attorneys.
The best way to attract clients to your practice is to focus on a specific niche. That way, you can be known as a specialist in that field, and it will be easier for other attorneys to refer clients to your practice since you distinguish your practice from others.
3. Get More Reviews
A lot of people search the internet when looking for professional services, such as an attorney. As a solo attorney, you can leverage this in order to get clients for your firm.
Online reviews about your firm have transformed from ‘nice to have’ into an absolute necessary tool to boost your reputation online. And when it comes to finding lawyers, reputation is one of the things that clients look into first.
If you have worked with clients, focus on not just being an attorney to them, but also a friend and confidant. Strive to create a positive experience for them so that they are compelled to write a review for your law firm if they are satisfied with the service. You can also try soliciting reviews from clients, but make sure to take this approach only when you’ve established a solid relationship with them. Don’t ever try to do this on your first point of contact.
4. Public Appearances
Attorneys need to brand themselves as experts and an authority in their field, particularly in their niche of legal practice. One of the best ways to showcase your expertise is to make public appearances.
Try to solicit as many public appearances as you can get. This will help bring more exposure to your law firm, especially if you name your practice after you – a solo attorney. These public appearances can be within your local community, on a legal networking event, etc. Any speaking engagement can be used to your advantage to position yourself as an expert in your niche.
The more exposure you can get for your name, the easier it is for prospective clients to recognize your name when in need of your legal service. Making public appearances is one of the most under-utilized strategies for getting clients, especially in this era of digital marketing.
5. Online Marketing
Online marketing is another great way for solo attorneys to get more clients, if you know how to do it right. Online marketing is an umbrella term for a variety of strategies you can employ.
Social media marketing is one of the best ways to reach your intended audience. You can position yourself as a legal expert through your social media and your followers can turn to you for legal advice in your field.
Another way you can establish your expertise online is through content marketing. You can set up a blog on your website and update it regularly. The goal is to provide useful information for your audience that will give more credibility to your law practice.
You can also employ other online marketing strategies to attract clients to your solo law firm, such as email marketing, PPC advertising, and SEO.
