Marketing Your Game Plan
Strategies for
freelance paralegals.
By Rachel Ng
March/April 2005 Issue
The fancy mahogany desk is assembled,
the state-of-the-art computer is set up and the phone is installed —
your new home office is set up perfectly. Now what? More and more
paralegals are making the decision to branch out on their own to start a
freelance paralegal business. Although experience and expertise will go
a long way, for a business to succeed, it’s pertinent to first create a
well-thought-out marketing plan.
“A [business] strategy begins by listing
your goals and targets — where do you want to get work and for how many
hours,” said Larry Bodine, a Web and marketing consultant with 13 years
of experience in legal marketing. For eight years, Bodine served as the
marketing director for Sidley & Austin (now Sidley, Austin, Brown &
Wood), a large, Chicago-based law firm. While there, he supervised
everything from public relations, print collateral, advertising,
seminars, direct mail and the Web site to marketing training, the
internal newsletter and new business proposals. In 2000, he formed an
independent marketing consultancy, Larry Bodine Marketing (www.larrybodine.com).
He also operates the Law Marketing Portal (www.lawmarketing.com).
“Along with your goals and targets, list
the strengths you can build on, weaknesses you can improve on,
opportunities you can pursue and competitors you need to be aware of,”
Bodine said. Next, you need to explore the different options available
for marketing your freelance paralegal services, and decide the best way
to use each option to your advantage.
Web site
In the past decade, Web sites have become essential,
cost-effective marketing tools for many businesses, including those in
the legal field. “Web sites are a superb marketing tool, which is why I
operate several of them,” Bodine said. “I estimate I get 75 percent of
my new business from people who call me and say, ‘I heard about you
online.’”
Kristy Sinsara, a paralegal for 12
years, specializing in bankruptcy and divorce, started her freelance
business, Oklahoma Paralegals, in September 2004. She said she didn’t
realize the importance of Web sites at the time. She created a basic Web
site for clients to get in touch with her. “I just threw together a very
simple Web site because I thought it was going to be something people
would possibly refer to if they needed to,” she said. “It ended up
bigger than I thought it would be. People used it a lot more than I
realized they would. It ended up being my biggest marketing tool.”
Now, Sinsara said she plans to redesign
her Web site to include more functions and information.
Dorothy Secol, CLA, was an in-house
paralegal for 24 years before deciding to become a freelance paralegal
in 1981. She is the co-owner of Paralegal Services based in Allenhurst,
N.J. The company provides services in all areas of the law including
Secol’s specialties, residential and commercial real estate, probate,
estate administration, personal injury, research and writing and
corporate law. Secol’s partners Peggy E. Stalford and Susan A. Niemiec
handle bankruptcy, personal injury, banking law and commercial
transactions.
Secol also is the author of “Starting
and Managing Your Own Business: A freelancing guide for paralegals,”
published by Aspen Publishers. She said her Web site,
www.paralegalserv.com, is one of her company’s greatest marketing
tools. “Since posting the Web site, we no longer print up brochures,”
she said. “Everything about us is set forth on the Web site, and we can
change the information at will. When a brochure is printed and you have
a change, you have to throw out the brochures and order new ones. We
direct proposed clients to our Web site, and then answer any questions
they might have.”
L. Jane Bourgoin is a freelance
paralegal with 30 years of experience, specializing in complex
commercial litigation, with an emphasis on professional malpractice and
construction law. She started freelancing in 1993 after the construction
company she worked for went out of business. Bourgoin mainly provides
services to attorneys and corporate legal departments on a contract
basis. She said her Web page on the Colorado Freelance Paralegal Network
Web site (www.paralegalsfreelance.com),
which the company has had running since the late 1990s, has been
directly responsible for at least one contract. “I think Web sites are
an excellent marketing tool, especially for groups, since all joint
advertising and marketing (e.g., in legal publications,
directories, etc.) can be directed to the Web site. Even though I know
of only one direct ‘hit’ from my Web page that resulted in a contract, I
am aware of a lot of activity on the site that might have indirectly
resulted in others. Eventually, I might create my own Web site. If I do,
I definitely will link it to my page on the CFPN site.”
According to Bodine, a good Web site
should be a reference source on your work. “Be sure to list
representative clients (with permission), testimonials, references and
examples of successful projects you have taken on,” he said. In
addition, every single Web page should list your phone number, mailing
address and e-mail. “Finally, spend the money to get a professional
photo taken and put that online too,” Bodine said.
Advertising
In the first two months after Sinsara opened her business,
she started advertising in The Oklahoma Gazette aggressively. She
was unable to afford the more expensive, larger publications such as
The Daily Oklahoman, but found a cheaper alternative in the local
paper, The Gazette. For about $300 for a full-page ad, the
freelance paralegal specializing in probate, divorce and bankruptcy
managed to reach her target audience.
“I placed a couple of ads in the paper
and in no time, it took off,” she said. “It was absolutely worth the
cost of it. I just put a half page ad out, it was a very simple little
ad, and from there I probably got 40 clients in my first month.” Sinsara
said 90 percent of the clients were derived from ads she placed in
The Oklahoma Gazette.
“There is a lawyer I didn’t even know
about, I never even heard of before, but apparently he has seen my ad in
The Gazette and he refers all kinds of clients to me,” she said.
“I spend a lot of money advertising, but I get my advertising money back
tenfold.”
In addition to national and local
papers, you also should consider advertising in paralegal association or
bar newsletters, trade journals, directories, professional Web sites and
other community publications. Secol said her company has received calls
from ads placed in the Monmouth Memoranda, a local bar newsletter
located in Monmouth County.
Pamela Packard is a freelance paralegal
specializing in construction and employment law litigation in Idaho. She
has more than 30 years of paralegal experience and has been a freelance
paralegal for more than two years. Her many clients include the Idaho
Department of Agriculture, J.R. Simplot Company (a large potato and
agriculture company and the supplier of McDonald’s french fries) and
Meuleman & Miller. She said she also has placed business card-sized ads
in materials promoting various Lions Club activities.
Bodine cautioned that advertising is
good only if it produces results. “You must run five to 10 ads before
you are going to see any results,” he said. “If your ad does not make
the phone ring, then you have chosen the wrong publication or your
customers don’t look for freelance paralegals in ads.”
Print
Collateral
Printing fliers and brochures is a relatively easy process
with the prevalence of inexpensive graphic design software, including
QuarkXpress, Adobe Photoshop and a FedEx Kinko’s on every other street
corner.
Collateral material can be as simple as
a postcard including a list of your services, your credentials and your
contact information. You can leave these postcards in attorney drop
boxes at the courthouse, post them on law school bulletin boards, pass
them out during your local paralegal association meetings or even leave
a stack at restaurants and cafés near large law firms.
“Think about the area you are targeting
and specifically the people you are targeting, then make fliers or send
out mailers like a postcard,” Sinsara said.
Since Sinsara’s clients are mostly women
going through a divorce, she decided to target a women’s-only gym in her
area. She created a large, full-size poster for her business and
displayed it in the gym. “I was targeting women — single women or women
going through divorces. Women talk, women have friends and women get
divorces. I have gotten quite a bit of business from that,” she said.
Bodine stressed that fliers and other
print collateral are great to have, should anyone request them, but they
will not bring new business in alone. “They are only good as a
‘leave-behind item’ after you have visited with a client or prospect,”
he said.
Association
Involvement and Networking
Bodine strongly encourages freelance paralegals to attend bar
and trade association meetings where there are plenty of opportunities
to meet potential clients. “‘Go fishing where the fish are,’ is the old
saying,” he said. “If you are a frequent face at events, it’s easier to
get to know the potential customers there.”
Bourgoin agreed. “In the almost 12 years
I have been freelancing, I find the most useful marketing tool is
networking, and consequently word-of-mouth referrals,” she said. “Most
of the marketing I do is passive. I have never done a mass mailing and
have never done cold calls.”
She said most of her networking comes
from her involvement with various paralegal and attorney associations.
Bourgoin is a member of the Rocky Mountain Paralegal Association and
actively involved in its freelance section; a member of the Colorado
Freelance Paralegal Network; a member of the National Federation of
Paralegal Associations; and an associate member of both the Denver and
Colorado Bar Associations.
Attempting to get her name out to the
public, Packard joined the Boise Chamber of Commerce and attends Chamber
functions. “I have applied to be a member of the Boise City Ethics
Commission, and I will be working with a state senator on a voluntary
basis to assist in drafting legislation this next legislative session,”
she said.
In addition, Packard also participates
in pro bono activities for the Idaho Association of Paralegals
and Idaho’s National Association of Legal Professionals. Packard said
most of her new business comes from word of mouth. “Having been an
officer in the local paralegal association, I let other members know I
am available for work,” she said. “I also have identified other
freelance paralegals and send my overflow work to them.”
Elizabeth H. Nellis, CLA, has been a
freelance paralegal for nearly 20 years in Tulsa, Okla., specializing in
civil litigation. Nellis was the co-founder and past president of the
Tulsa Association of Legal Assistants and is a member of NALA. “Without
my involvement with TALA and NALA Tulsa, I don’t believe my practice
would have been as successful as it has been,” Nellis said. “Almost
without exception, the word-of-mouth referrals and networking through
both associations have provided me with exceptional opportunities
professionally and privately. My very best employment positions and
dearest friendships have all originated through contacts made at
organizational meetings and events.”
Bodine added that while the best
marketing is in-person networking, make sure you are meeting with
potential customers, not just other paralegals. “Freelance paralegals
should telephone prospective clients and ask to meet them at their
offices. If possible, take the prospect out to lunch or dinner,” he
said. “The point of the exercise is to start building a relationship;
people hire paralegals they like and know. The better the client knows
you, the more likely they are to hire you.”
Also, it’s important to maintain a good
relationship with current clients and former employers. “Your best
referral sources will be your current clients,” Bodine said. “You must
ask your clients to refer you, be clear about what kind of work you are
looking for, and remember to send them a handwritten card or nice gift
when they do refer you business.”
Sinsara was working for Lanpkins &
Associates for six years prior to branching out on her own as a
freelance paralegal and now the firm is one of her clients. “I still
have cases with them and I still work on those cases,” she said.
Increase
Visibility: Writing and Public Speaking
Writing articles for your local bar and paralegal
associations and legal journals also can be an effective way to reach
potential clients. Examples of articles can include issues such as
paralegal utilization, discovery, technology and document management.
“[Writing] articles for newsletters,
journals and publications is a good way to raise a person’s visibility,”
Bodine said. “The important step is to make copies of the article and
send them to customers and prospects with a nice cover letter, advising
them you are available to work for them.”
Secol said she and her partners have written articles for legal
periodicals, newspapers and other publications. Secol credits the
company’s monthly newsletter as one of its best marketing tools. “We
write a newsletter once a month on an area of substantive law, or on law
office management or on an aspect of technology, such as e-mail
discovery, software and so forth,” she said.
The newsletter is then faxed to about
1,000 attorneys and title companies, and it’s also available on their
Web site. “We feel when the attorneys see the newsletter, it keeps us in
their minds and thoughts for future reference,” she said. “We also have
had many calls from attorneys for further information on articles we
have written.”
Bodine added that freelance paralegals
also should “actively write for other Web sites read by customers, and
freely grant permission to allow them to be reprinted.”
“Another effective way to get your name
out there is to do public speaking. Giving a good public presentation is
the most effective way to establish your credibility,” Bodine said.
“People naturally think a good speaker also is good at what they
practice. I have had people come up to me after a speech and retain me
on the spot. If you give speeches, it’s important to give a lot of them,
so you become good at public speaking, and give the same speech over and
over so you can perfect it.” Both Secol and Packard speak at paralegal
seminars for their associations and other law firms.
Nellis started making speeches and
presentations during her first term as president of TALA. She has been a
co-presenter at TALA seminars and has spoken at the annual meetings of
the Oklahoma Paralegal Association.
This July, Nellis is scheduled to be a
co-presenter at NALA’s 30th Annual Convention during the Membership
Exchange portion. “Public exposure has proven to be a real asset to me,
affirmed my creditability and enhanced my reputation and business,” she
said. “I have always encouraged other legal assistants to pursue
[speaking] opportunities whenever they have been offered to them because
the experience will challenge them, aid in their growth and positively
reward them in ways they might not even realize at the time.”
Work Within
Your Budget
Bodine said professional firms typically spend 2 percent of
their gross revenue on marketing. However, he said that the percentage
might be too small for a solo business owner.
“Set aside $2,000 for a good Web site
you can update yourself. Set aside enough money to take a client or
prospective client out to lunch once each week,” he said. “[And] set
aside enough to do four direct mailings to prospects per year.”
In reality, many freelance paralegals
are one-person operations, and have to work on a shoestring budget.
However, marketing doesn’t have to be an expensive or time-consuming
endeavor. Many veteran freelance paralegals have successfully marketed
their businesses with a little creativity and determination.
Looking for a Fresh
Start
Here are some resources to help you
market your freelance business:
-
The U.S. Small Business Administration
Web site (www.sba.gov)
features tips on the basics of marketing, how to create a marketing
plan and even free online marketing courses.
-
Entrepreneur.com is an established
online community where business owners can access marketing
information, expert answers and comprehensive services to solve their
business challenges.
-
Inc.com’s Marketing Resource Center (www.inc.com/resources/marketing)
is chock full of expert advice and hundreds of different marketing
tips, from Internet marketing to direct mailings.
-
As a member of the National Federation
of Paralegal Associations (www.paralegals.org),
you have access to the NFPA Freelance Chat and the Freelance Listserv,
where members can discuss issues related to freelance paralegal work.
-
The Colorado Freelance Paralegal Network
Web site (www.paralegalsfreelance.com)
features a directory of freelance paralegals with a variety of
experience and specialties.
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