The Importance of Your Name

We work with a lot of lawyers that are looking to promote their practices on the web. When talking with a new client their first request is "I need a website," the second is "I need to get on Google." When they say "I need to get on Google" they're often convinced that they want to be number one when someone searches for "Lawyer in Tennessee" or something extremely broad like that.  What is largely overlooked is the importance of their own name and the fact that they're probably already on Google in some fashion, they just didn't know it.

In law, as with other professions and situations, success if often defined by who you know and time after time it seems that the best cases, clients, job opportunities or whatever come from that personal connection. Advertising and traditional marketing has it's place but before you start down the path of banners, search engine marketing, directory placement, referral services and anything else a salesperson has told you is the next great wave in web 2.0, ultra-portal, awesomeness Google yourself and make sure that the people who already know you can find you. Then, start reading some of the posts here that will show you how freely available resources like LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace can help you master your name.