Solo success means getting comfortable with technology

GOING SOLO

Sustaining a solo practice means avoiding costly mistakes and bad investments. This is especially true in the first year of practice. Solo attorneys may end up spending a lot more than they need to get their operations started, and feel as though they need to make certain purchases to officially kick off their practice. One of the easiest places to overspend is in the area of technology and marketing. Attorneys who are not tech savvy can easily spend thousands of dollars on an outside consultant to develop a website, coordinate their web presence, and develop leads. Throwing money at a problem you don’t necessarily understand or have experience with is not a good investment, in the short or long term.

Having a website is central to any solo practice, but that doesn’t mean you should break the bank or write a blank check for outside help. The fact of the matter is starting a solo practice also gives you the time to develop an understanding of what you are spending your money on and what you are actually getting. Be wary of third parties who charge outrageous fees to take on simple tasks. Building your own website can be done in as little as $200, and that includes hosting fees and buying a custom made theme. Spending time to understand how this process works can not only provide you with the long term knowledge, but can save you thousands of dollars.

Understanding how to build and update your own website also means that you aren’t relying on third parties to make simple changes updates or fixes to your website. This will save you money in the long term, and can also give you something to work on in your first year of practice.

During my first two years as a solo I designated a particular day of the week to review, update and assess my website. I would track my hits, where they were coming from, and what previous posts and pages were doing well. I would also post weekly blogs focusing on consultations that I had recently completed. This not only allowed me to blog about common questions, but gave me time and space to reflect and write about the things I had learned. Those posts not only helped those who read them, but also attracted potential clients as well.

A process which goes hand in hand with owning a website is understanding search engine optimization. In layman’s terms, this the process through which online search engines like Google index and rank websites. Many third parties will attempt to sell you their services and promise that they can get your website on the front page of Google. Yet things are a bit more complicated than that, as Google’s algorithm is not only constantly changing, but also can show different results in different locations. Understanding the basics of this process can help you in designing your own website or at least understanding what others are actually selling you.

I am not advising solo attorneys to suddenly develop a sophisticated understanding of technical issues, but I am acknowledging the reality that small business owners must make informed decisions about the tools at their disposal and should be wary of making bad investments. As the internet and technology become more and more entrenched in how we do business and how we interact with each other, attorneys must also develop a sophisticated understanding of how to use these tools. Taking time in your first year to develop an understanding of how you can make these tools work for you will save you money in the short term and give you powerful tools for your own success in the long term.