Sailing into cyberspace; how to market your practice on the World Wide Web.

In the 1990s, lawyer marketing has taken a new direction--into cyberspace. The Internet and commercial online services are here to stay.

So far, lawyers' biggest use of the World Wide Web is publishing on home pages. The Web is the graphical and interactive section of the Internet. Anyone can construct a "Web site" to distribute information. (More later on how to do this.) A Web site is a collection of hypertext documents on the Web that carries and distributes multimedia information.

Web sites can be viewed by anyone with an Internet connection and a Web site browser, such as Netscape's Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Some "online networks," such as Compuserve and America Online--private fee-based computer communications systems--include Internet access and Web browsers with their services.

The online world--which includes both the Internet and online networks--provides the opportunity to use electronic mail, discussion groups, public and private online seminars, electronic research, end Web sites (or home pages) to communicate with clients, prospective clients, experts, and other attorneys.

We would not argue that online is better than--or even as good as--face-to-face interactions. However, the Internet and online networks provide the opportunity to "meet" with and easily stay in touch with people, both within and beyond your local area, whom you would not be able to see very often, if at all. They are also an efficient way to get work done jointly.

For Example, online networks provide the means to develop new and ongoing business relationships by

* sending frequent e-mail notes to clients and prospects;

* participating in online seminars;

* posting comments, questions, and responses in substantive or general interest forums;

* moderating discussion groups;

* responding to law firm or public inquiries; and

* answering inquiries of clients, prospects, or colleagues in a private area.

The more you interact with others online, the more likely you are to build fruitful relationships. However, this is clearly a long-temm strategy. You'll need patience and persistence. But as more current and prospective clients come online, your dedicated efforts will be rewarded. This is particularly true for local and regional firms that will find few of their local competitors online now.

Easy links

Lawyers are currently using cyberspace techniques that successfully enhance their client relationships and help them to better serve and impress new prospects. This kind of interaction will grow through the end of the decade and change the feel and the format of marketing.

Once a firm is connected to the online world, the link's value can be maximized by using it regularly for

* sending current items of interest to clients;

* setting up a firm "help desk" for use by clients;

* sending clients documents and "staying in touch" notes; and

* asking clients periodically, "How am I doing?"

Keeping up a steady stream of communication with clients is effective marketing. True, much of this type of communicating can be done by mail or fax, but it is much faster and easier, and usually cheaper, to do this by e-mail. In order to quickly respond to e-mail messages from clients wanting updates on their cases, an attorney could have a prototype reply form on the computer that can be filled out and pasted into an e-mail message. For an even quicker reply, client information can be kept in a database that is inserted automatically in the appropriate places on the reply form.

Moving one step further, online networks also provide a private area for online meetings between you and your clients and other people you invite to join you. These meetings should be made accessible only with an approved password.

You can also experiment with private areas for seminars; discussions; and a library containing bulletins, articles, resumes, and newsletters that can be downloaded. You can use these areas to enhance your relationships with clients from the start of a case through to its completion.

Online seminars in private areas are convenient for all attendees. Many firms still hold seminars on either the clients' or the firm's premises. Online seminars can serve as an alternative or as a follow-up to these sessions. Transcripts, outlines, and supporting documents from each seminar can be made available in a virtual library for access at any time while saving the cost of printing and distributing.

To build your reputation among a large audience, you can use the public online discussion groups on CompuServe, America Online, or other similar services. You can participate as a moderator, panelist, or contributor.

One attorney from a large firm who serves as a forum moderator and has obtained clients from his online activities says his marketing efforts have become thoroughly integrated. Not only has he gotten direct referrals and leads online, but he has also been asked to write articles and speak at conferences about online marketing and about substantive information he has provided in online conversations.

Several of his firm's clients appreciate his command of online systems and rely on him to assist in their cases through those resources. He and his firm are convinced that his online activities have attracted new clients and generated additional business from existing clients.

Similar success stories come from lawyers in small firms or sole practices. In fact, small firms and sole practitioners have an advantage since in the rapidly changing online world, the small firm's ability to make quick decisions gives it an advantage over large bureaucratic firms. Online marketing success takes initiative, not largefirm fire power.

Building relationships takes frequent online contact or postings; patience; and prompt responses to inquiries, online requests for proposals, and discussion items. The expected online response time is shorter than that of other media, and your clients' expectations must be met to maintain good relationships. In general, both partieshave to be online. However, there are services that will convert e-mail messages to faxes. These services can be very useful when only a few mailing list members are not online.

Developing a Web site

Most of the initiatives discussed here also apply to developing and maintaining an Internet site on the World Wide Web. An interactive, substantive, and frequently updated site will be of value to visitors and will help build fruitful relationships. If a Web site is done well, it will be a worthwhile investment of your time and energy. But too many undistinguished legal home pages are lost in the clutter of thousands of other Web sites.

The basics of Web site creation are not hard to ream. Many attorneys have created effective sites. If you want to create your own, you will need to learn what HTML (hypertext markup language) is, how to manipulate graphics, and how to use Internet software to transfer files.

All but the largest firms will also need a Web site hosting service to connect their site to the Intemet. Firms creating a site should request a domain name of the type: www.fimmname.com. First-year costs for do-it-yourself Web sites are roughly $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the cost of the Web site service and whether you buy or simply download the free software that is available on the Net.

By far, the largest cost for the do-it-yourselfer is the attorney's own nonbillable time. For this reason, and because most attorneys don't have enough experience to know what good layout and appropriate graphics are, most attorneys should use professional designers. All design firms are new simply because the Web is new, but experience still counts. Look at design firms' work for law firms.

Talk to firms about how they plan to market your site. A good design firm should showcase your strengths and integrate the Web site into your present and future marketing plans. The cost for a brochure-type Web site can be as low as $1,000 but generally is around $2,000 to $5,000. A customized Web site with a marketing plan is in the $5,000 to $30,000 range, depending on the size and complexity of the site and quality of the graphics.

Promoting a Web site

If a Web site reads like a brochure, why would anyone look at it more than once? If the site has only Martindale-Hubbell-type information, why would someone want to see this message twice?

A helpful exercise in designing a Web site is to first draft a press release to be issued when your site is complete. You will answer two questions with this exercise: Who is the audience? Why is your site or firm compelling?

Many firms put their newsletters on their site, hoping clients will appreciate the convenience of having this ready reference. Maybe one of the articles will remind a client with a similar problem to ask the firm for help. But this approach misses the power of a Web site, because, unlike a newsletter, a Web site should be interactive.

A site can take readers to sources anywhere in the world via hypertext links. All law firm sites should have a set of links to address the clients' information needs. An extensive set of links in a specific area is known as a jumpsite. It organizes the information of interest and gives the client a reason to revisit the site. Pictures can be added to a Web site and, unlike the print medium, these can be linked to other Web sites.

Another audience that a Web site should attract is prospective clients. Topics that are important to clients, such as dealing with child custody problems, losing a job, starting a new business, and buying a house, become dry when reduced to abstract legal principles. To create a good Web site, a firm needs to address these emotional issues in human terms. The more human the presentation, the more interesting the site will be to those who visit it.

In addition, a site can provide a variety of other services such as these:

* You are handling a controversial case and the newspapers are not covering your side because the other side is using professional public relations consultants. Put your version on your Web site (after checking your local ethics rules). The opposition may become more amenable to settlement when it no longer controls what the public reads.

* You and some of your clients often travel. Set up interactive calendars on your site to allow you to schedule meetings from your laptop.

* You handle divorce cases. Create a frequently asked questions page on divorce procedures with hypertext links to appropriate statutes.

When you create something that didn't exist before, you have a story to tell. Adding the capability for interaction always creates interest. A quiz, a survey, an interactive slide show are all more compelling than just dry noninteractive text. Once you have a compelling Web site, you have a lever to generate publicity about the firm and to prospect for new clients.

It is vital to get the attention of visitors to your site immediately. A Web site is no place for the subtle building of an argument, and if you don't get a viewer's attention immediately, you are likely to lose that person. Tell the viewer what the firm is about. Be direct.

There is no better way to get someone's attention than with a good graphic image. But remember that graphics frequently take awhile to download, so use them strategically and sparingly. The look and feel of the site should complement the firm's brochure and other promotional material about the firm.

Simplicity and directness apply to your site's layout as well. It is important to make navigating the site as easy as possible. The home page should present information about what is on the site. Each link off the home page should have a summary for that section. The bottom of each page should have a navigation bar that links to each major part of the site. As the site grows and becomes more complicated, maps of the site and eventually search engines can be used as additional navigational tools.

Market the site everywhere

The ways to market your site are limited only by your imagination.

First, you should add your Universal Resource Locator (URL), the Web site's address, to your letterhead, business card, and firm brochure.

A client mailing is an important method of Web site marketing. Send literature or floppy disks instructing your clients how to go online. Create a jumpsite and write a newsletter about it. Archive with links to author biographies, jumpsites, government resources, and so on. Each item, whether it appeared first in print or on the Web, should have a counterpart in the other medium.

Use a news release or an article to target trade journals and association newsletters that clients read. Reporters are some of the most "wired" people. They are interested in new information sources and stories. Reporters can also recognize another "metoo" site, so contact them only with something newsworthy.

An excellent way for a larger law firm to debut a complicated site is to present it at an introductory seminar. For a large site, there is nothing like a tour to let clients and prospective clients see and appreciate the site's potential.

Online marketing needs to go beyond search engines, which are of limited assistance. Like other forms of advertising, links on popular search engines such as Yahoo! can be bought. However, a free exchange of links to and from sites related to your practice is more common. Many people will want links to your site, even without your granting a link back, if you provide good information.

As with any effort to develop your firm, you should carefully plan online relationship building and marketing, judiciously allocating time and resources.

Forecast

How big will the impact of technology and the Inter net be on marketing? Technology and the online world are changing so rapidly that no one can predict the future of legal marketing.

A reasonable forecast envisions an almost universal use of e-mail, teleconferencing sessions through computers, substitution of print newsletters with online versions, and more interactive use of home pages as gateways to intranets, internal Internet-like systems. While Internet lawyer directories will let clients screen potential counsel and lawyers' Web sites will provide information in depth, the selection of counsel will still be a personal decision. Ultimately, the Internet will prove to be more useful to lawyers for legal services delivery (for example, research, joint work with clients and other lawyers, and the distribution of documents and education) than for actual business development.

Face-to-face communication will still be important for business development. However, lawyers will become more proficient and comfortable with displaying their personalities and developing and maintaining client relationships online to supplement and complement these in-person activities. Attorneys will need to accept that marketing online is a long-term investment, requiring quick responses, substantive information, creativity and initiative, and a willingness to provide information.

In many ways, cyberspace opens up creative possibilities and helps to level the playing field for individual lawyers and firms of all sizes.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot is the president of Practice Development Counsel, New York-based consultants in business development and service quality for law firms. She can be reached at [e-mail]. Mark Pruner is an attorney and president of Web Counsel, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based company that designs and advises on Internet Web pages for lawyers. His Web site is at www.webcounselcom. This article contains excerpts from articles by the authors in The New York State Bar Journal and The Rainmaker's Review.