Tips for new criminal defense attorneys looking for clients

Many criminal defense attorneys begin their careers as state prosecutors or public defenders. They eventually opened their own private practice after a brief career working for the government. However, there is one major problem they run into when they open their private practice: they no longer receive a steady paycheck.

Of course, new defense attorneys understand that they are taking a risk by “going it alone.” Unfortunately, many of these new attorneys don’t fully understand how to start building their own clientele. Any successful private law practice understands that to keep your practice afloat you must generate your own clients.

The question on every new private criminal attorney’s head is “how do I start a new practice and win new clients to stay alive?” The answer is not simple, but the solution is.

Advertising is the key for any new business to grow and be successful. If you’re new to any market or industry, chances are consumers in this industry don’t know who you are. If you are new to criminal defense, the chances are very slim that recently arrested people will know who you are. The solution is to quickly let them know who you are by introducing yourself through effective advertising.

There are many forms of advertising for criminal defense attorneys: television ads, billboard ads, radio ads, yellow page listings, search engine optimization, search engine advertising, and direct mail advertising. New criminal defense attorneys do not have a large budget, therefore television, radio, and billboard advertising may not be an option. A yellow page listing is necessary, but it’s not as effective as it might have been 20 years ago.

Search engine optimization, optimizing your business website so that it ranks high in search results, is slowly becoming a cluttered and ineffective advertising tool. As more lawyers have their website “optimized”, the less likely it is that your website will rank high in search results. Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, so your website may be “optimized” for today, but may need maintenance in the future.

Search engine advertising allows you to appear at the top of search results. This can be extremely expensive for any attorney. For criminal defense attorneys, the cost per click of search engine advertising can be as high as $20. This means that every time someone clicks on your ad online, it will cost you $20. This can be very expensive and if your ads are not set up correctly it can be very ineffective.

This leaves lawyers with one more option: direct mail advertising to recently arrested people. Don’t underestimate the power of direct mail advertising. Direct mail advertising for criminal defense attorneys can provide the highest return on investment compared to any other method of advertising. With direct mail advertising, specifically mailing to recently arrested people, you have a great source of potential customers and can target people who need immediate legal help. Direct mail advertising can become the main source of clients for any criminal defense attorney.

Contacting those who were recently arrested directly not only gives you the opportunity to introduce yourself to numerous people at the same time, but also introduces yourself to clients at a time when they most need an attorney. Direct mail advertising for criminal defense attorneys is also one of the few methods where you can be proactive in reaching a potential client. Instead of waiting for them to find you alone, find them and let them know who you are.

I suggest you read more about direct mail advertising at http://www.legalgrab.com and also check out my other articles listed here, both of which go into even more detail.