Re: Yellow Page Advertising

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Dear Ben,

Yellow Page advertising must be worth the money, or the
same lawyers would not keep running it year after year.
Frankly, I never felt I could afford it as a sole
practitioner. My phone bill was always high enough without
tha extra burden. I have learned that classified
advertising, although not in vogue, is the best-kept trade
secret in the legal profession, especially if the message is
that you will work with the clients on the fee. I have had
great years and bad years in the legal proffession, and
recently when my business fell off and my phone stopped
ringing, I ran this ad in the very front of the classifieds,
under Public Announcements:

DON'T GET a court-appointed lawyer! You can afford me. Call
me; let's talk! Hardy Parkerson, Attorney at Law, 3309
Common Street; 478-6126.

My phone began to ring off the wall. And it was not for
criminal matters, but for other types of matter legal
matters. Now I spend my whole day just interviewing new
clients and opening new files. I have realized that the
message is that I will work with the clients. There are
thousands of potential clients out there who just do not
have the money that most lawyers demand up front. We have
always been told to get your money up front. Great if you
can do it; but I found that I was always quoting reasonable
fees that people either could not pay or would not pay. So I
learned to just ask them what they were able to pay and
willing to pay, what they felt good about parting with, and
that I would take that as a "retainer fee" and work against
that. I tell them I will take that and write a receipt for
it and they will not owe me any more until I sit down with
them, tell them what I have done to earn their money, where
we have been, where we are, where we need to go, and then
they can decide if they are willing to invest any moe money
in their own case. I tell them that sometimes I can
complete the matter for the initial retainer fee. Of
course, I do my accident cases on a one-third contingent
fee, and that is where my real money is made. The other is
lagniappe, cash flow, money in the pocket and to operate
off of, to invest into my accident cases until I can get
them settled or tried. There is more to it all than this,
but this is something to think about. It has worked for
me. Don't tell these other turkeys here in Lake Charles
what I have discovered. I am sure they think, "Poor old
Hardy, having to advertise in the classifieds!" What they
don't know won't hurt them. Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Hardy Parkerson, Atty.
Lake Charles, LA

On 11/16/03, Ben Glass wrote:
> Lots and lots of lawyers use Yellow Page (and its
> competitors) advertising... yet most ads look exactly the
> same.. this type of advertising can be very expensive.. I
> wonder how many of you find your YP advertising to be of
> value.. do you track (carefully) responses? If you feel
> that your YP advertising is of value, what is it about
your
> ad that you think makes it worthwhile...
>

Re: Yellow Page Advertising, 4/09/05, by Anthony Castelli attorney.

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