Your personal injury law firm has just set goals for developing new business in 2009 and now is the time to evaluate the array of marketing tools you have to choose from. The big debate when it comes to web marketing and inclusion of all the new social media that are part of Web 2.0 essentially boils down to whether or not your firm is willing to take any risk to generate the new business you need. Nearly every big idea that has come to fruition has involved some risk by those who have decided to be the leader and not wait until everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon to test the waters.
Success in the marketing world is quite often linked to being the first out of the gate. Of course, a certain level of risk is inherent in contingent fee personal injury law, so it is a paradox that personal injury attorneys who take large risks just being in business are reticent to take risks with their marketing efforts. It is a paradox because with out taking any risks in their advertising, a law firm actually may mitigate their ability to take risks in their practice by limiting their new business intakes. Building a personal injury practice is ultimately about building relationships- with experts, with referring attorneys, and more importantly than all else, with clients. That is also what Web 2.0 and all of the social media sites are about. Planting the seeds for relationships by utilizing these free and valuable sites is networking for the future. Engaging web travelers with fresh blog content, updates about your law firm and breaking news in the field of personal injury law also assist in creating online relationships. The web experience is not just about the ease of functionality of your website or creating an online brochure. As more and more consumers become involved with social media the web will become more of a journey and your blogs and site become destinations. By taking the risk, and finding an SEO/web marketing professional to guide you through the maze of what is possible, you can make your site more personal, create a brand that is about the emotional and functional benefits offered by your law firm and move prospects to take the step to contact you. Personal injury attorneys, much like the rest of the world, rely on their experience to guide them. To take a leadership role and get a jump on the competition will require taking some risk. After all, experience only tells us about what has already occurred not what the future will bring.
