Monday, August 10, 2009

Guest Blog: How to Gain Publicity When You’re an Attorney

Guest post by Kat Sanders

Any business needs its share of publicity if it is to thrive – you cannot expect to set up shop in a dark corner under the staircase and wait to be discovered. So when you run your own law firm, you need to ensure that you’re doing all you can to sell it to the people out there so that if they ever need the kind of services you’re offering, you’re the first person they call. If you’re looking for ways to gain publicity when you’re an attorney, here’s what you need to do:

· Establish your credibility: Not many people would speak the words attorney and credibility in the same breath, but the fact is that almost everyone needs their services at some time or the other. And the way they choose the person who will represent them when they need legal recourse depends on how credible they think you are. Attorneys and firms who follow transparent billing policies and practices, are upfront about fees and who have a general reputation of not taking their clients to the cleaners are always in demand, because their credibility is high.

· Treat your clients well: When you treat all clients equally and fairly, your reputation precedes you. The best form of publicity is word of mouth, not because of the target audience that it reaches, but because of the trust that automatically goes into the message that one client sends to a potential other when talking about you and the services you provide. No amount of money can buy trust, something a client must have in a lawyer. But one satisfied client can do wonders for your business by talking about you to others who need your services.

· Build your reputation: It’s important to build a good reputation because, as I said before, your reputation precedes you. And to do this, you need to achieve success in most of your cases. No one wants to go to a lawyer who is not skilled or who struggles to find clients. So you need to go all out to prove yourself and cement your place firmly in the niche law category that you’ve chosen to practice.

Some attorneys equate notoriety and fame and put them on the same pedestal – they think that any kind of publicity is free advertising. While this may be true for film stars and other kinds of celebrities who just need to keep their names in the media in order to stay alive in the minds of the people, it does not hold good for lawyers who depend on their acumen and legal skills to represent clients and see that their rights are protected. In fact, when you’re a lawyer, bad publicity could effectively kill your career in one stroke, so avoid it like the plague and focus on building your business with the various blocks of good publicity options.

This post is written by Kat Sanders, a guest blogger for The PR Lawyer. Kat regularly blogs on the topic of court reporter training at her blog, Court Reporter Schools. The postings by Kat Sanders on this site are her own and do not necessarily represent Furia Rubel Communication’s positions, strategies or opinions. Comments and questions regarding this post should be directed to katsanders25@gmail.com.

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