Need advice FAST...please help...

kingoftheclose · 03-25-2009, 01:03 AM

Hi all,

I am brand spanking new on here & need urgent advice. I will be launching an attorney search platform within the next 6 - 8 weeks. Everything is going great. My site looks super, I have my team in place & in short, things are coming together. Here's the problem though; my site will be national, meaning, anyone seeking an attorney nationwide can go to our website and shop for one. How in the world do I go about having enough advertisers (attorneys) nationwide by the time I launch? For example; what if someone in Los Angeles goes to our site and searches for a lawyer & there is none available in that area? See my problem? It's a BIG one.

Here are the pluses: In terms of selling, that is no problem. I can close anyone. In terms of marketing, I am NOT doing any PPC or the like, so, my costs are not extremeley high. I do have an SEO firm in place to generate traffic, as well as a telemarketing campaign ready to go also. But again, how in the heck do I sign people up quickly, across the country, so my site has attorneys in key major cities in the begining stages? Any advice or feedback on how the other guys do it would be extrememly helpful. There has to be a way. Please help. Thanks a million in advance.

elliotiscool · 03-25-2009, 11:26 AM

Haste makes waste. If possible, I would try to have everything in a business prepared and ready before going public. If people go to the site and are not able to find an attorney in their area, it could make you lose potential clients, and possibly losing referrals from word of mouth.

Deadlines are deadlines though, and if you cannot do anything about that here is my take:
I do not know your business inside and out, so sorry if some of these simply won't fit for you.

Shortness of time means you want to maximize exposure in the amount of time you have.

1) Newspaper: Take all your blank areas in your database and find the newspaper that can get the most exposure for you. Consider the bigger more nationwide read newspapers (ie: LA Times) as those could give you more attorneys in areas all around the U.S. Now of course newspaper is expensive, but could be a decent method to getting a lot of exposure at one time.

2) PPC Advertising: The company I work for pays 40 cents per click, but these leads turn into $10,000 deals. Check out google and see if starting up advertising to get more attorneys would be a good fit for you. Of course the costs stack up pretty quick.

3) Post Online: Everyone's doing it! Posting online won't cost you any money, besides your time. Find some attorney forums, post in blogs, pop a couple ads on craigslist.com. There are plenty of ways out there to advertise.

GriZzly · 03-25-2009, 11:38 AM

When I'm stuck for time I pull out my ace in the hole -start a viral!

You would be surpised just how much exposure you can get by scaling a well known landmark and plastering your brand all over it. It worked for greenpeace and now lots of companies do it (Redbull for example).

Hows this, find an extremely busy place that attracts constant attention. Get your self a banner made up and have a punch line like "been charged with disturbing the peace? search yoursite.com for a local attourney" you will be all over the news before the day is out. Perhaps even take a hostage or killa prostitute?

And if that doesn't work out, at least you can say you went out with a bang.

Seriously though, I haven't eaten all day I'm feeling pretty dizzy.

elliotiscool · 03-25-2009, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GriZzly

When I'm stuck for time I pull out my ace in the hole -start a viral!

You would be surpised just how much exposure you can get by scaling a well known landmark and plastering your brand all over it. It worked for greenpeace and now lots of companies do it (Redbull for example).

Hows this, find an extremely busy place that attracts constant attention. Get your self a banner made up and have a punch line like "been charged with disturbing the peace? search yoursite.com for a local attourney" you will be all over the news before the day is out. Perhaps even take a hostage or killa prostitute?

And if that doesn't work out, at least you can say you went out with a bang.

Seriously though, I haven't eaten all day I'm feeling pretty dizzy.

I agree. Bands get a lot of exposure with street teams doing stuff like this. Give it a try.

Franakapan · 03-25-2009, 06:55 PM

Are there any legal profession newspapers/magazines/websites that you could advertise, or do some PR, through for signing up attorneys to your service?

Anthony.Salley · 03-25-2009, 09:30 PM

There will probably be an influx of people that want to sign on to your team once your website comes on. Probably before your customers start coming heavy.

franklyjeremy · 03-31-2009, 12:53 PM

Law Offices are always looking for a free way to market, if they can make one client off of a site then it's worth their while. You looking to move from free to charge or free altogether?

Gopal Dev · 04-01-2009, 12:29 AM

Hit as many Classified Ad sites as possible. Also search all the major newspapers in large cities you expect to have business in and post ads online on each of the newspapers' sites. The ''hard copy'' newspaper industry is in trouble so grab their incresing audience online.

Post in law/attorney related forums on Facebook and other Social Networks as well as on Business networking sites.

A little Pay Per Click using Google Adwords can only help. Start out small and carefully so that it doesn't break your bank, but paid advertising is incredibly powerful and worth it if done correctly.

Cheers!

Gopal (The Musical Mad Scientist and Entrepreneur)
The v-Fusion Group