Effective

9 Effective Ways to Promote Your Law Firm Online and Get More Clients

According to the American Bar Association, there’s a total of 1,352,027 active attorneys in the U.S. This increase is making it more and more difficult for law firms to stand out from the crowd.

Difficult, but certainly not impossible.

Here are nine effective ways you can promote your law firm online. With these tactics, you can boost your online reach, attract new clients, and build your firm despite the rise in competition.

1. Get a Mobile-Friendly Website

When potential clients are searching for law firms online, their first interaction with your company is your website.

Make sure your site is optimized for mobile as well as desktop visitors. A mobile-friendly website allows you to attract potential clients regardless of where they are. If it’s an emergency and the client checks you out from your phone, your website needs to work on their smaller screens.

Your website also ties into your other digital campaigns. If you’re trying to attract clients to your website, it needs to communicate who you are and what you do.

To promote your law firm online, make sure your website appears legit and professional.

Websites that are optimized for user experience make your information easy to find.

Remember, your website can make a strong first impression. Make sure it communicates your firm as a professional, reliable resource. This will help you stand out from all the rest.

2. Reveal Your Value

It’s not enough to just have an online presence. Many law firm websites are too vague, making it difficult for you to stand out from all the rest.

Put your firm’s value at the forefront of your marketing materials. As you work to promote your law firm online, focus on clarifying the benefits of your services.

How are you better than your competitors?

How do you help your clients and make their lives easier?

When communicating your value, get specific. Highlight your specific areas of expertise. If someone has a specific issue, they’ll want a lawyer who can help with that specific issue.

This is a good time to check out the competition. What value do they offer?

Many law firms choose generalizations such as “we care” or “we’re here to help.” 

Remember, vague values won’t help you stand out. Instead, make a specific statement about your specialty. Show clients how you can solve their legal problems to distinguish yourself from all the rest.

3. Step Up Your SEO

How are clients going to find your website if you’re one of a million firms online?

You can boost your website by using search engine optimization (SEO). A high website ranking will ensure you appear at the top of a Google search for lawyers in your area.

A higher ranking will also tell clients you’re a leader in your local industry. That increased credibility will help you stand out from the competition. The higher the ranking, the more likely you can increase website traffic, too. 

There are multiple ways you can increase your SEO website ranking.

For starters, optimize your existing content. Use keyword research to determine what people search for when they look for a local law firm. Then, use those keywords in your website content.

SEO relies on unique, regularly updated content. Try posting to your website’s blog on a regular schedule. Show clients you know what you’re talking about.

This can also improve your online credibility.

You also need external links from other credible websites to improve your ranking.

In addition to link building, you can also create custom landing pages to improve your SEO. These pages focus on a specific keyword while helping people recognize your firm’s value.

4. Push Higher with PPC 

You can also improve your online ranking by using pay-per-click ads.

In 2018, more than half of online traffic came from mobile devices. PPC ads can help you reach new clients when they’re searching for a law firm. That’s when they’re at home and on their phones, too.

These ads are exactly as they sound; you only pay when someone clicks on the ad. Like SEO, this strategy relies on keywords. However, PPC ads often display above the top SEO website results.

5. Raving Online Reputation

With online reviews, you can show interested clients your previous clients had a happy experience.

People check on online reviews before they decide to trust a company.

Ask your clients to post their reviews on your Google My Business listing. This will improve your online reputation and help you attract new customers.

6. Get Real with Videos

A landing page with a video can increase conversions by more than 80 percent.

People skim through blocks of text. Videos, on the other hand, encourage visitors to stop and watch. Use videos to convey your value and give your firm a personable, online presence. 

7. Share Insight & Experience

As you promote your law firm online, make sure you’re conveying your expertise. After all, people want to hire a lawyer who can help offer smart solutions. 

Share your insight and show clients you’re experienced. To do this, use your blog, social media posts, and other online platforms. As clients research law firms, this content will show visitors you know your stuff.

8. Stay Social

Social media gives you an opportunity to interact with potential clients.

Create a Facebook business page, Instagram account, and LinkedIn page. Having these accounts will increase your online presence. It also gives you an opportunity to show followers your insight and expertise. 

9. Improve Intake

Attracting people to your website is just the first step. Once there, you need an easy intake process to turn those visitors into leads.

Make it easy for clients to contact you. Prioritizing their user experience and convenience will encourage them to trust and work with you online.

You can also add:

• Legal document generators
• E-signature options for legal documents
• Online payments
• Online forms

These add-ons will make the process easier for you and your clients.

Promote Your Law Firm Online

With these nine methods, you can promote your law firm online and attract new clients.

Click over to our most recent posts for more effective tips and tricks.

5 Effective Tips to Help You Overcome Fear on a Motorcycle

Fear seems like a useless emotion that keeps us from achieving our dreams. In reality, fear is critical to survival.

Without fear, we would be walking into a serial killers house unarmed. We would be playing with bear cubs out in the woods.

Both activities should elicit some fear.

When it comes to riding a motorcycle, dealing with fear is essential. Too much or too little could be fatal.

Were you recently in an accident or just getting started?

For whatever reason, you have a fear of getting back on your bike. Check out these tips for overcoming fear when driving a motorcycle.

1. Proper Riding Technique

If you have proper training and practice, you will be able to fall back on your muscle memory when fear kicks in.

If you find yourself in a stressful situation, your body will quickly act to protect itself.

Take the time to take a class. Identify any areas you could use improvement, and work on them.

You will be a better rider if you practice, and you will stay safer.

Start out small. Practice several times a week for 5-10 minutes at a time. Don’t push yourself because you feel like you need to.

2. Identify the Source of the Fear

All fears stem from somewhere. They can be either rational or irrational.

Riding a motorcycle will come with its share of risks. It is normal to have some fear when you ride a motorcycle. If you didn’t you might act too confidently and ride recklessly.

Rational fears will lead you to take necessary precautions, such as wearing a helmet.

You may need to see a licensed professional to help identify an irrational fear. It could be as simple as a distant memory in which you couldn’t start a motorcycle as a kid. Maybe you saw a motorcycle accident on the news.

Some fears may require professional attention. This could be if you have PTSD from a past accident.

3. Balance Fear and Confidence

Fear is essential. Without it, you would quickly walk into the grave.

However, you cannot let fear rule your life. You would never be able to get anything done.

It is important to be able to strike a balance between fear and confidence. Remember that you will always have room to learn more.

Be suspicious when things start to go too perfectly. Everybody is prone to mistakes every once in a while.

Driving a Motorcycle: Get Back in the Saddle

Driving a motorcycle can be a freeing and exciting experience. If you find yourself fearing the ride, you may need to overcome some fears.

These fears can be either rational or irrational. In either case, you will have to put in some work to get over those fears.

With time, you will figure out how to overcome your fears. Start slow and work your way back up to those long and exciting rides.

If you wish to find out more about anything, our blog covers everything from marketing to religion and back.

5 Super Effective Tips to Stay Organized as a Freelancer

From the outside looking in, living the freelance life might look like a dream.

There is no one to tell you when to start working in the morning, no one to tell you that you need to work late, and no one bossing you around throughout the course of the day.

But in reality, freelancers often face a long list of challenges that can frustrate them if they’re not careful. One of the biggest challenges is trying to stay organized while still remaining productive.

Here are 5 tips that will help you stay more organized if you live life as a freelancer.

1. Set Up a Schedule at the Start of Every Day

As a freelancer, you don’t have to stick to a rigorous schedule like you would have to if you were working at a 9-5. You have the ability to be a little more flexible when it comes to scheduling.

But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to set up a schedule at all. If you want to stay organized, get into the habit of creating goals for yourself at the beginning of every day and set up a schedule to achieve them.

You’ll feel better at the end of the day when you know that you accomplished something.

2. Create Time Limits for the Tasks You Need to Complete

When you’re freelancing, you usually won’t have someone breathing down your neck asking you when you’re going to be finished with a task. You can work at your own pace and take breaks when you want to.

But try to come up with a realistic time limit for each task that you do. It’ll prevent you from dragging your feet and falling behind with your work.

3. Come Up With a Filing System for Your Important Documents

You’ll have a lot of important documents on your hands when you’re freelancing. For example, many of your clients will probably ask you to sign contracts before giving you assignments.

Purchase a filing cabinet and keep copies of important paperwork organized in it. This includes contracts, payment agreements, pay stubs, and anything else you might need to refer back to later.

4. Put Aside a Percentage of Any Money You Make Freelancing for Tax Purposes

When tax time rolls around, freelancers are responsible for getting their taxes squared away on their own.

Don’t wait until April 15 to figure out how you’re going to pay taxes on the freelance money you’ve earned. Put aside somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of your earnings, depending on your personal situation, for taxes.

A freelance management platform can help you keep tabs on things like your freelance income.

5. Find a Way to Work Personal Time Into Your Life

Staying organized as a freelancer is essential. But don’t allow it to run your life!

You’ll think more clearly and be better organized when you have a good work/life balance. Make time for yourself as often as you can and socialize with others, too.

Stay Organized to Increase Your Chances of Being a Successful Freelancer

Being a freelancer isn’t as easy as it looks. Not everyone has the discipline it takes to succeed.

If you want to ensure you have long-term success as a freelancer, stay organized by following the tips listed here. You’ll keep your head on straight and be able to deal with whatever freelance life throws your way.

Check out our blog for more tips on staying organized as a freelancer.

5 Unusual and Effective Holistic Therapies

Let’s be honest: healthcare in the US is expensive. Sometimes prohibitively so.

This is why more and more Americans are turning to holistic therapies outside of (or complementary to) Western medicine.

But it’s not just herbs and crystals–there are a variety of such therapies out there. You’ve even heard of some of them in the mainstream.

Here are five of our favorites.

1. Cupping

If you watched Michael Phelps and his odd circular bruises winning gold medals in the Rio Olympics, then you’re familiar with cupping.

It’s basically what the name implies–there are cups involved. They can be bamboo, glass, earthenware, or silicone, but they’re cups.

In a cupping session, a therapist will take special cups and place them on your skin for a few minutes in order to create suction. This will, among other things, create those odd circular bruises.

The basic idea is that this process will help stimulate blood flow to the applied regions, as well as relieving pain and inflammation. It can also be a type of deep-tissue massage.

While cupping is one of those trendy holistic therapies, it’s not new–it dates back to ancient Egypt. In fact, one of the oldest medical textbooks in the world, the Ebers Papyrus, describes ancient Egyptian cupping therapies of 1550 BC.

2. Reflexology

It’s one of the less out-there holistic therapies, in that reflexology is a lot like massage therapy. Except it focuses solely on the hands, feet, and ears.

Alright, hands and feet are fairly expected, they get a lot of work, but why ears?

Reflexology believes that these areas correspond to various organs and systems throughout the body, and applying pressure to certain areas on the hands, feet, and ears will affect the organs to the benefit of your health.

Many practitioners use their hands in the same way a massage therapist would, but some use various items like rubber balls and sticks of wood as aids.

Think of it this way–cats and dogs love ear rubs for a reason. If all else fails, you get a delightful hand, foot, and ear massage.

3. Probiotics

As holistic therapies go, probiotics are probably the most mainstream of the therapies listed here.You’ve probably heard of them (and that you should be taking them). They’re in the family of things like hormone therapies you think you should maybe learn more about.

But what are probiotics?

Basically? Live bacteria. Also, live yeast (aka fungi), and this is kind of gross when you think about it too long.

The basic premise is that your body is full of bacteria (not the germy kind–you need a lot of that bacteria to do things for you). Probiotics are so-called “good” bacteria because they help promote gut health.

Why would you want to introduce new bacteria into your system if you already have the good bacteria in your body? Well, under certain circumstances (like a round of antibiotics) you can use probiotics to help replace them.

In fact, you may already be eating probiotics without realizing it–probiotics are in various foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, miso soup, and kimchi.

4. Reiki

Call the energy doctor! Well, the Reiki healer, anyway.

Reiki is a form of Japanese healing based on the idea of a life force energy that flows through all of us. When that energy is high, our lives are in balance and happy, but when it runs low, we’re more likely to feel sick or get stress.

This life force is responsive to thoughts and feelings, the way people are (since it is, after all, a part of you). This is where Reiki healers come in–they’re trained to influence that energy and bring it back into balance.

Basically, when you’re feeling stressed or out of balance, you go to a Reiki healer, who will help restore positive energy to break down the negative energy buildup. In standard healing, you’ll lay down on a massage table, and energy flows from the practitioner’s hands to the client from a series of hand movements.

Is it weird? Sure. Do some people swear by it? Absolutely.

5. Ayurvedic Medicine

Ayurvedic medicine isn’t actually a single holistic therapy, but rather a family of holistic therapies. In fact, it’s one of the world’s oldest systems of medicine, originating in India around 3,000 years ago, and many of its practices predate written records.

The word Ayurveda combines the Sanskrit words Ayur (life) and Veda (science), so Ayurveda quite literally means life science.

Similarly to the humor of the ancient Greek system, key concepts in Ayurveda include prakriti (the body’s constitution), dosha (life forces) and universal interconnectedness.

There are three doshas which represent unique mind-body types:

1. Vata
2. Pitta
3. Kapha

Everyone has a specific dominant dosha which determines how they should approach their health.

Vata is made up of air elements, and common characteristics include a love of excitement and new experiences, quick to anger and quick to forgive, dry skin, cold hands and feet, and sensitive digestion. When unbalanced, Vatas may experience hypertension, insomnia, restlessness, and digestive issues.

Pitta is made of fire and water, and pitta is said to govern all bodily functions related to digestion and energy production.

As such, pittas are said to have excellent digestion, superb concentration, a warm body temperature, a quick-witted intellect, and abundant energy. When unbalanced, pittas can be short-tempered and experience stomach ulcers.

Kapha is derived from water and earth elements and is integral to the structure of everything down to a cellular level. Because of this, Kaphas are said to be naturally calm, thoughtful and loving, with an inherent ability to enjoy life and find comfort in routines.

When unbalanced, Kaphas hold onto things–whether it’s objects, relationships, or jobs–long after they have stopped being nourishing.

Weird Health Beyond Holistic Therapies

Our weird health resources don’t end with holistic therapies, and we know your curiosity for off-the-wall cures doesn’t end with Vatas and live bacteria either.

Take a look at our blog for other posts on weird health news and trends, including these five weird facts about cannabis or weird ways to work your glutes. If you have any thoughts, be sure to leave them in the comment section.