I had a conversation this past week with a well-known consumer bankruptcy lawyer who had been one step away from going bust up until about a year ago. Business turned around just in time for this friend of mine, and he’s happy as a clam.
He had started a blog during the lean times, really hit the pavement to get business in the door. Now that he’s flush, his blogging has fallen by the side of the road. He stopped paying attention to his website optimization. He hasn’t
Email marketing? Not interested right now. Lead generation? Sorry. Do a little direct mail? Nope.
No time for marketing, says he.
Bankruptcy lawyers remember the date all too well – October 17, 2005. If you’re a bankruptcy lawyer I don’t need to tell you what that date means.
Simply put, it was the day the Earth stood still. Overnight our business dried up. Clients stopped calling, the phones stopped ringing. Most of us were still busy until January 2006 when the creditor meetings and confirmation hearings finally wrapped themselves up, but we were running on fumes.
For 2006 and a decent part of 2007, it sucked to be a bankruptcy lawyer. Most of the American public had been led to believe bankruptcy was no longer an options, and we had to combat that misinformation. In fact, it wasn’t until the recession hit in full force that business turned around.
As I write this, bankruptcy is a very good field of law to be in. Consumers are in financial trouble, and many bankruptcy lawyers are busier than they’ve been in years. Good thing, too – many in the industry are in debt up to their eyeballs from the last downturn.
We’ve got a short memory, though. We’ve forgotten something critical:
Every Expansion Has A Contraction, And It’s The Goal Of The Lawyer To Plan For The Bad Times While The Times Are Good
Why is my good friend short-sighted? Because every day there are more lawyers pouring into the field of consumer bankruptcy law. They are aggressively learning every aspect of the law, and fighting hard to bring in clients. Some of them are merely opening up an office and finding themselves getting 20 or more clients every month without much effort at all.
When the market contracts, these new lawyers will have the upper hand. They will have been aggressively building their marketing infrastructure this whole time as they build their bankruptcy practice. They are starting blogs, using video marketing, syndicating articles, and using lead generation in ways that are scaring the pants off the “old guard.”
The new lawyers are using Twitter to bring in clients and gain media exposure. They’re on Facebook, and for more than Mafia Wars.
These new bankruptcy lawyers are starting out as paperless offices. They’re scanning everything, organizing electronically, using cloud computing in their law firm and leveraging their strengths with virtual bankruptcy assistants and LPO (legal process outsourcing) firms.
Some of these new bankruptcy lawyers are working from home.
The smart bankruptcy lawyers are making the time to learn new and more profitable ways to market, manage and grow their bankruptcy practices.
They’re making inroads in your market.
And all the while, you’re doing the same old thing.
Don’t believe me when I say you need to keep moving forward in your marketing efforts, finding time to continue to build your bankruptcy practice?
Look at the docket sheets in your courthouse.
Recognize any new names?
See any unfamiliar faces?
How many cases do they have on the docket?
How much has your local court volume increased in the past 6 months? Has your case volume expanded by at least that amount?
Remember 2006. Remember 2007. Vow to get an insurance policy against a repeat of that time in your law practice.
This isn’t a New Year’s Resolution, it’s real life. And it’s passing you by.
You can catch up or stand aside. Which do you choose?
Photo courtesy by adamsofen.
This is a well-written article. Many of the lawyers new to the practice are bringing in more and more Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients through new marketing techniques. Online marketing has become more important than ever.
Victor Palmeiro
Maryland Bankruptcy Attorney
http://www.MarylandBankruptcyPros.com
This is a well-written article. Many of the lawyers new to the practice are bringing in more and more Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients through new marketing techniques. Online marketing has become more important than ever.
Victor Palmeiro
Maryland Bankruptcy Attorney
http://www.MarylandBankruptcyPros.com
All you have provided with your piece is true. Because Bankruptcy practice requires full coverage in terms of estate administration, liquidation, reorganization, jurisdiction and venue, debt payments, appeals, duties and benefits of debtors, creditors and claims for every Bankruptcy Lawyers.
Many of the lawyers new to the practice are bringing in more and more Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients through new marketing techniques. Online marketing has become more important than ever.
Bankruptcy attorneys are familiar with the bankruptcy law and offer legal services for commercial businesses or individual to wipe out their debt problems. They liquidate the assets and distribute them among the creditors. They also resolve the financial problem by developing a plan which involves repayment of creditors from time to time.