I spoke with busy Philadelphia appeals attorney Todd Mosser, Esq. about how he attracts clients to his law firm. Mr. Mosser had a lot to say about what makes his 2-attorney firm successful and pointed out that these three techniques would apply to any service-based small business. Check out his personal perspective and advice to drive more clients to your small business!

1. Establish Your Specialty or Niche

Any service-based business must specialize. Why? To be a generalist as a small business spreads resources such as time, money, and talent too thin, and you won’t be effective for your clients or customers.

His niche practice is in Pennsylvania civil and criminal appeals – click here to see some of his recent cases. You might wonder how he keeps the doors open practicing only this specific, narrow area of law – in fact, it is because he specializes that his firm attracts a lot of work. Having a reputation for servicing a niche market drives business.

Create and Maintain a Good Reputation

How? By making sure your existing clients are satisfied with your service – and parlaying that satisfaction into good reviews and referrals.

Moser also tells his clients to let him know if they have legal needs other than appeals… that way he creates opportunities to network with other attorneys, refer work out to them and let them know about the work he does in case the opportunity to refer work to him arises.

He cares very much about his reputation among his peers.  In court, he strives always to be courteous and professional. It is this professionalism and predisposition towards effective. transactional networking that has made him successful.

Seek Out Training and Education to Establish Expertise

In order to serve clients well one absolutely must know one’s business.  Moser attends workshops, conferences, and continuing legal education courses regularly to keep apprised of current developments in his niche field and in the law in general – appeals arise from all sorts of civil and criminal matters and he must have a working knowledge of the underlying case in order to appeal successfully.

2. Networking is Essential

Most of Moser’s business comes from referrals from his colleagues. Why?  Because they know him, they know what he practices, and they don’t practice appellate law. So when they have a client who wants to appeal, they know they can turn to him.

He emphasized that belonging to professional organizations is a must. You might also consider joining local fraternal and community groups to expand your outreach beyond the legal community.

The bottom line is, if people don’t know who you are and what you do, they can’t hire you or refer business to you. His advice – put yourself out there.

3. You Must Have an Effective Website

You can have more referrals than you can handle but when those potential clients google you, and you know very well that they do, you need an effective website to seal the deal.

What is an “effective” site?  It is a site that is easily found when a potential client searches for services like yours, and that lets the viewer know who you are, what you do, establishes trust, and gives relevant information. It should also let the viewer know how to contact you, easily.

Site

Your website should be mobile-friendly and should clearly set forth who you are, what you do, and how to contact you. That’s it. No slow loading pages! If your site takes forever to load, the potential client will just move on.

Positive client reviews are a must. Every client should receive an email at the conclusion of their matter, polling them about their experience with you. Then, if (when!) the experience is reported as positive, that client should receive another email with a link to where they can leave a review. There is software available that automates this process, check it out.

Blog

Your site must have a blog. Blogging establishes your expertise and gives potential clients the information they are seeking, all at the same time. His commitment to blogging regularly helps him keep current on legal developments.

SEO

Blogging is part of SEO but there are so many parts, he has his SEO and website developer handle it. He wants potential clients to be able to find his practice easily when they search for an appeals lawyer in Pennsylvania. His SEO firm makes sure of that.  Google ranking matters so hire a reputable firm to help you.

About the Author

Veronica Baxter is a writer, blogger and legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area.