The Million-Dollar Question: Finding Your Clients Online

I am looking to start a solo law practice either here or in Pennsylvania. If there's one thing I understand about business (because the practice of law is frankly less interesting to most folks), it's that marketing yourself is the only way to make a living for yourself. I don't care if you're a lawyer, an architect, or a day-laborer, if people don't know you're trying to make a living for yourself, they're not going to be able to bring business your way. And that means you're not getting paid.

Some people don't feel like it's worth it for them to commit to social networking (THE marketing expert Seth Godin, for example). Things like Facebook and Twitter aren't their bag for now. Maybe they're right. But other things might be worth it for them. For example, Seth's got a terrific blog, and it's really a daily must-read. If you can make a resource that's that valuable to your target audience, and you can do it on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, or wherever, you've got to do it.

I am far, far from figuring out what's good for my target audience. I suspect that down the line, those social networking sites will become a place where people go to find all kinds of professionals and services that nowadays they might Google for, or they might use the Yellow Pages for. I have no idea what's going to work, so I've got a little of everything going. Here's my Twitter site. You can find me under my name (Carl Archer) on Facebook. There's this blog.

If I ever tell you I have it figured out, I'm probably lying. But if I get any insight at all, I'll be certain to post it here.

"I hope you never need me," but I hope you disagree.

As a lawyer, I hope that my friends and my family never need me. Most of the time, people who need a lawyer are people who have problems. In a general sense, anybody who's in the customer service industry could benefit from a little of the same attitude. But just don't let it go too far: "I hope I never see you again" can be either a great sentiment or a really nasty one.

At the same time, though, you almost want your good clients to disagree with you when you say that. As much as you mean them well, if you do a great job serving your clients and exceeding their expectations, the prospect of needing to solve a problem won't be such a hurdle anymore, because they'll have you to help them through it. These are the clients that are great referral sources and the reason why a lot of small business owners really love their jobs.

But how do you as a service provider go from having "just some client" who needs you to having a client who is happy to need you? I'm not entirely sure. But I'm learning. And what I find, or what I think of, I'm going to post here and see if someone else can benefit from it, or show me the error of my ways.

I'm also going to put some information on here related to topics in New Jersey law that might be of use to non-lawyers who can't afford a lawyer or want to go it alone (brave souls, they). What I post isn't legal advice, and it doesn't make me your lawyer, but then again maybe you won't need me if you start with what I post and continue to do your research. Or, maybe you will. In that case, leave your email address in the comments, or text Archer to 50500 to get my contact information.