By: Margaret Grisdela, President of
Expert Law Marketing and
Legal Expert Connections. The firm specializes in business
development in the legal market and serves attorneys, law firms, expert witnesses and other
legal service providers. You can reach her at
mg@legalexpertconnections.com.
Chances are you could be missing important business
opportunities if your email inbox utilizes a spam filter.
Take a few minutes now to investigate your email screening
procedures for messages received from unknown senders. You
might even discover a new client hiding among the spam!
As an active expert witness, you rely on your website as
well as
HG Experts and other online sources to generate incoming
leads from new prospects on a daily or weekly basis. Email
inquiries from new business prospects, which by definition
are unknown and unexpected when they arrive in your inbox,
can take a detour to your spam box without your knowledge.
When was the last time you did not receive an email sent
by a client or friend? Failed email delivery can be quite
common. Usually the sender just emails you again until you
receive the message.
Now imagine a situation where somebody (like a
prospective legal client) sends you an email that you don’t
receive, but they don’t tell you about it. Attorneys or
paralegals frequently contact a number of experts via email
and engage the most qualified candidate who responds first.
You miss out on a potential engagement if the email inquiry
does not show up in your inbox.
Here are five easy steps to protect your email, receive
incoming leads and avoid technical nightmares:
- Check your spam box often if you use automated email
filtering. Microsoft Outlook 2003 and AOL give you the
ability to control the settings and security levels for
your incoming email. More information is available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/junkmail.mspx#EIC
or www.aol.com.
- Add a response form to your Website. Your Webmaster
can set this up so that you are automatically alerted with
an email recognized by your server.
- Update your “safe” and “blocked” sender lists often,
especially if delivery is controlled at the ISP level.
Add a law firm’s email domain to your approved email list
when you get a new client from the firm.
- Separate business from personal correspondence by
using two different email accounts.
- Avoid downloading free software or clicking on
unsolicited ads. If you do, you may find yourself subject
to a virus or malicious Adware attack (see below).
Beware of Adware
Most spam is simply annoying. Adware refers to software
you inadvertently download with other software or by even
clicking on a less than reputable webpage. You know you’re
a victim when you find yourself bombarded with a series of
pop-up or pop-under ads that dramatically interfere with
your PC’s performance.
Adware is not a virus, so don’t be lulled into a false
sense of security if you have virus protection. Investigate
options available from Norton, McAfee, Lavasoft, STOPzilla,
Spybot Search & Destroy or SpywareBlaster. These are not
product endorsements, and you need to determine which
approach is best for you. Most packages are in the $20-$30
range, and some are even free.
The time to protect your PC from Adware is BEFORE you
become infected. I suffered an Adware attack once, and my
computer was never the same. It’s much better to be
spending precious billable hours on client work instead of
computer recovery.
IN SUMMARY
The Internet is an excellent way to generate business.
Keep these simple rules in mind and you will maximize new
business leads.
READER FEEDBACK ENCOURAGED
Do you have questions about promoting your expert witness
or law practice over the Internet? Drop us a line and let
us know what’s on your mind. We’ll answer each question
individually and post common questions with answers online
at www.hgexperts.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Margaret Grisdela is President
of
Expert Law Marketing and
Legal Expert Connections, specializing in business
development in the legal market and expert witness
recruitment. She served as the 2005 President of the
Florida
Direct Marketing Association. You can reach her at
mg@legalexpertconnections.com.
More Information about the author at
Legal Expert Connections, Inc.
Copyright - (c) Legal Expert Connections, Inc.
