Are you trying to decide whether or not internet marketing might be effective for your law firm? We get a lot of questions about how attorneys can ethically marketing themselves online. While it would be impossible for me to provide detailed answers in these few short slides, hopefully my answers will set you off in the right direction. Here are my 5 short answers to some common questions that we get about law firm internet marketing strategies.

1. 5 Law Firm Internet Marketing
Questions Answered
Gyi Tsakalakis
@gyitsakalakis
gt@AttorneySync.com
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878

2. #1 Internet Marketing for Lawyers, Really?
Question: Do people really use the internet to find lawyers?
Answer: Yes. That’s about as simple as I can put it. For better and worse, many people use the internet to look for
lawyers.
But that’s not really the right question to ask yourself when considering internet marketing for your law practice.
Instead, I suggest you think about all the ways people use the internet and how your law practice might fit in.
People spend a lot of time doing a lot of different things online. They perform research. They look for answers. They
consume information. They read news. They look for entertainment. They socialize.
And each for each of these uses, your law practice may fit in. Admittedly, some more so than others.
The real problem with the way that most lawyers view internet marketing is that they only think of the person who
uses the internet like a business directory. That’s a very small segment of internet users that might become your clients.
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878

3. #2 Is It Ethical?
Question: Is law firm internet marketing ethical?
Answer: Are television and radio advertising ethical? Is email
marketing ethical? The answer to this question depends on the
message, not the medium.
Just like lawyer advertising in other forms of media, lawyers
who market themselves on the internet are subject to certain
ethics rules. For example, lawyers may not make
communications about their services that are false or
misleading.
However, most lawyers that are even approaching the line
between ethical and unethical are really missing the most
effective ways to develop business online.
Effective law practice internet marketing isn’t about applying
traditional advertising strategies to the web. It’s about
understanding your audiences and delivering content that
supplies their demand for information. Much of what lawyers
should be doing online doesn’t really fall under the category of
attorney advertising.
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878

4. #3 Does It Work?
Question: Does law firm internet marketing actually work in terms of developing
new clients?
Answer: It often doesn’t, but it can.
It’s all about the execution. Are you using the internet as a billboard for your firm? If
so, it probably won’t.
Are you using it to engage your audience, answer questions, share your knowledge
and build new relationships? Then it probably will.
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878

5. #4 How Much Should It Cost?
Question: How much should law firm internet marketing cost?
Answer: How much ya got? The truth is that how much it costs
depends on a wide variety of factors. What are your goals? How much
time can you invest? How knowledgeable are you about web
technology? Are you a good writer?
Merely getting online can be almost free. There are many tools you
can use to connect to people professionally that don’t cost a dime. You
can launch a professional-looking website and blog for basically the
cost of hosting.
On the other hand, if you can’t commit the time, don’t really know
anything about web technology and have to hire people to do the
heavy-lifting for you, things can get expensive quite quickly.
If you’re just getting started, spend some time learning about what
works for law firms online first. That way you will be able to start to
form your web strategy. You will also be able to avoid a lot of the snake
oil that exists in the internet marketing industry. Learn a little bit about
web design, search engine optimization, paid search marketing and
social media.
Remember, the internet only provides the tools to develop new
clients. It won’t make it rain on its own.
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878

6. #5 What Should I Do?
Question: What law firm internet marketing strategies should I engage in?
Answer: Content.
Everything you do begins with your content. And content can take many forms. From blogging, to information videos, to
podcasting, to social networking, it will be the content of your online publishing and communications that will be the
primary determining factor of the effectiveness of your internet marketing initiatives.
Before you dive into any internet marketing, spend time learning, planning and listening. Look at how other lawyers are
effectively and ethically using these tools.
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878

7. Thanks!
It should be obvious that it’s next to impossible for me to provide detailed answers to these questions on a few
slides. Likewise, it should be obvious that you’re not going to completely understand my answers if you don’t
have experience with internet marketing.
Hopefully, you will takeaway something that you didn’t think about before.
If you’d like more detailed answers to any of these questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Gyi Tsakalakis
@gyitsakalakis
gt@AttorneySync.com
Gyi Tsakalakis – AttorneySync 2835 N Sheffield #216 Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 828-8878