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Some are free to sign up for a listing, and have “premium” memberships for prominent placement. And the big names in the legal business can charge you hundreds or thousands of dollars a month just to be listed.

But no one ever tells you what these listings will specifically do for your law firm. How many referrals or contacts would you estimate I might get from your site per month/year?

Silence.

Or maybe, the answer is “well, all you need to do is get one client from our site, and it more than pays for your listing!” Ok, sure, how likely is that?

Or maybe the answer is “we are expanding rapidly, so we can’t give you an estimate, but we expect to be a dominant force in the search engine rankings.” Well, get back to me when you are actually generating measurable value for my membership.

Frankly, the whole business is disappointing. I want one of these offers to give a real and measurable benefit. It doesn’t seem like it should be so difficult. I would sign up clients in a heartbeat if they could answer these questions, and demonstrate some value.

I really want them to succeed. Sometimes, I even consider taking a flyer on a $195/year listing at some legal directory that at least superficially appears to not be terrible. But there are just too many of them, and it is both highly speculative, and a hassle to sort out if it was actually worth it.

The Direct Leads Alternative

That’s what I love about the direct leads business. It’s simple and easy to measure. You either get leads, or you don’t. The leads either convert to clients, or they don’t. You either make a profit on the leads you paid for, or (wait for it…) you don’t.

You never have to guess what is going on, and whether you are getting anything for your money. It’s perfectly obvious very quickly.

It works for attorneys, and it works for me. And I don’t have to hustle and scam people on speculative offers and promises. I just have to do a good job generating the leads, and the rest works itself out.

The most important metric for any advertising, is whether you are making a decent ROI & profit on your spending from each advertising source. Assuming you have the capacity to handle the business and there isn’t a opportunity cost limitation, why wouldn’t you continue to invest in something that is making you money?

As is smartly pointed out over at the Keyword Advisors Home Improvement Leads blog, it makes sense to own as much of the search results real estate as you can, for brand name searches as well as other keyword searches. Just a few of the benefits of your site appearing on both the organic and paid search parts of the screen are are:

• Make your site seem like the inevitable & best choice. If someone sees your site or product in multiple places on the screen, it can have a “These must be the best guys” effect on the person searching, and can help you pre-sell and convert.
• Block out competitors. If you don’t have an ad there, someone else will. Why cede the click if you don’t have to? (especially a profitable one!)
• Better control over your sales pitch. With organic search engine results, it can be tough to tailor you message exactly how you want. The search engines ultimately decide what text to display in most cases. With an ad, you can precisely test and customize your message based on those specific keywords. Having both an “objective” search result listing as well as a targeted ad on the same page can be a powerful combination.

As with any online marketing or lead generation strategy, the proof is in the numbers. Test and measure whatever you can. There are countless online marketing companies that want to take your money with no real assurance that it is going to bring you business. But if you can advertise or list your law firm anywhere that brings you clients at a positive and measurable net profit, then it’s an easy decision to make.

Clients seeking criminal defense representation often don’t do a lot of comparison shopping for lawyers. They may call a few different defense attorneys, but generally the person who they hire is the attorney they directly speak with first, and who provides them with the answers and help that they need.

For that reason, the value of a criminal defense lead or potential client contact is largely based on it’s timeliness. Certainly, as an attorney you have to give the person the right answers, and provide them with the comfort and confidence that you are the right person to help them through a difficult matter. But if you don’t speak with them quickly, you will never get that chance.

How do I make sure I get client sales calls quickly?

1. Make sure leads go through as few filters as possible. If you are buying leads, they need to get into your hands, or those of the person who does your client intakes as quickly as possible. For this reason, the value of criminal lawyer leads that are resold multiple times can be significantly diminished.
2. Take action to close at every step of the sales process. Have your assistant or the person who answers your phone take steps to pre-sell and pre-qualify leads (see below). It is usually easy to tell the people who are most likely to hire you. And obviously, the quicker you can talk to and sign a client up, the better.

What are Some Helpful Pre-Sales Techniques to Streamline and Accelerate the Process?

Generally, non-lawyers can give factual answers to questions that aren’t considered legal advice These answers can be very helpful and build trust with a client. Some examples of information a non-lawyer can typically provide are:

1. Common and most likely outcomes for certain charges
2. What benefits a lawyer provides in court
3. Advice on non-legal driver’s license & DMV issues

Your assistant can also provide  a “3rd party endorsement” which adds value to the sales process. Simply saying “We help people in situations like yours all the time” and “Attorney X really knows the law and has a strong record of successful outcomes in cases just like yours” can really make a difference.

How We Help You Get and Close Leads

1. Leads go directly to your office. Our site leads go direct from the person to you. A person who calls our web site gets instantly forwarded to your office. Email leads go directly from the site to your mailbox. We get the information to you instantly. The rest is up to you.
2. Our site is the first step in the “Pre-sell”. We strive to provide helpful information to those looking for criminal defense representation. Our site provides information about the criminal court process, likely outcomes, possible defenses, and more. And we put your name, photo, and bio information right on the site, so you get the credit and goodwill. We make every effort to create a positive impression of you before the person even contacts you.

If your law firm would benefit from more inquiries from people looking to hire criminal defense attorneys in your state, please contact us for more information on how you can buy qualified criminal defense leads directly from us.