Prospecting is a necessary action item to grow and sustain one's business. For law firms, the traditional methods to do so usually require serious proactivity to hook in the client: scout them out at many a networking event, treat them to a fancy "power lunch," create succinct and powerful proposals to win them over with your hours of research, and derive thoughtful conclusions as to why you are the best person for the job. All of this, of course, happens way before the first paycheck.

These methods, while effective, require a considerable amount of time and energy; and moreover, that require you to step out of your office and into the world to find and secure the prospect.

I'd like to offer a new perspective on prospecting that truly meets potential clients where they are. Where, you may ask? On the internet.

Digital prospecting is the way of the future.

Through digital prospecting, you can answer the same questions, e.g., Who is your ideal client Where do they go? What do they value? How can you help them? What circles do they reside in? and answer them well, online.

In today's digital age, through a few simple tools and tricks, you have the power to bring prospects to you and to truly meet them where they are.

Be the Right Answer

Optimizing your own website is a great place to begin.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a great way to help direct prospects to your firm's page. Without getting too technical, the way it works is that essentially, when someone takes to a search engine looking for something, you want to increase the likelihood that your website show up as the "right answer" to their query. Make sure the copy on your firm's website is written with search engine optimization in mind, and prioritized, so that your future clients will have a higher likelihood of clicking on your website instead of that of a rival firm's. This can be handled by an IT specialist or a public relations agency.

With blogging, you can increase your perceived relevancy to the potential client you are trying to reach. For example, if you are hoping to take on more cases with regard to medical malpractice, you can create blog posts directed to patients, doctors, hospitals, etc. These blog posts should live directly on your firm's website in order to direct traffic back to this central landing page.

Now that you've got the prospect to your website, how do you ensure that they stay and find what they're looking for?

Enter: The Chat Bot

The chat bot is the most efficient, effective way to ensure that whoever has arrived at your website gets all of the information that they need. When employed, it will pop up in the bottom right corner of your website automatically and will ask questions that you can customize in advance. From there, the bot will begin a direct conversation with the prospect. There are many options as to whom can be operating the chat bot—for instance, it can be synced to an internal team member at your firm in the marketing department or to an external agency.

In our fast-paced world, creating a live guide to help visitors get exactly what they need is an incredible way to break the noise and to ultimately seal the deal.

Perhaps most importantly, it is imperative that your website also looks good! Your online presence should emit feelings of legitimacy and trust in your potential, current and future clients. Make sure the design is sleek and on brand for your firm, continue to update it with new attorney profiles and awards you may have won recently. It should be easy and intuitive to navigate, visually pleasing to look at, and full of useful information and ways a prospect can best get in touch with an appropriate point of contact.

With these tools and tricks up your sleeve, prospecting will never feel arduous again!

Julie Talenfeld is the president of BoardroomPR, one of Florida's largest integrated marketing agencies. She can be reached at [email protected].