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Save Money on Postage

The current economic crisis is forcing many businesses to look for ways to cut costs.  One area where law firms tend to overspend is postage.  Here are some quick tips that may help your firm save time and money.

• Get a scale

Make sure you are not overpaying for postage.  Even if your amount of outgoing mail does not require the use of a postage machine you should still have a small postage scale.  Postage scales can be purchased from most office supply stores for as little as $20.00.   

• Know the Rules

Keep your support staff up-to-date on the current postage rates and rules.  You can calculate postage rates for the US Postal Service here.

• Overnight

Next day shipping with companies like UPS and FedEx can be extremely expensive, but you can save money if you pay attention to the time of delivery.

For example, a small next day package shipped via FedEx First Overnight costs $68.17.  The same package shipped Standard Overnight costs $30.78 and only $18.25 if sent via 2nd day service.  If you let your support staff and attorneys know about these price differences they will make better decisions about what really needs to be sent next day and what can wait for second day.

• Email

Why mail a package of photocopied documents when you can scan the documents and email them as a PDF?  One high-speed scanner can save your firm a great deal of money on both postage and storage.   

You can also use email to remind clients about upcoming court dates or to set up office appointments. 

Be sure to check with your state bar association about rules regarding email communication and security.

 

Web Marketing: What’s on your home page?

The first exposure many clients and potential clients will have to your firm is on your website’s home page.  It is extremely important to make a good first impression.  Here are some tips that will help you make the most of your home page. 

• Keep it Current:  The Internet is constantly changing and if your website isn’t evolving it will fail.  Make sure the design of your website is both clean and current.
• Contact Info:  Make sure your firm contact information is clearly visible on your site’s homepage.  Having a separate contact page is important, but some potential clients just want a number to call and if they can’t find it on the homepage they might disappear before digging any deeper.   
• Make it Personal: If a potential client feels a personal connection to you, the likelihood that they will contact you increases significantly.  Include a photo of your firm’s attorneys on the first page.  Also, create a brief personal message about your firm.  This message should get across, in a simple straightforward way, what you practice and why the client should hire you to help them.
• Video: A brief video is a great way to present you or your firm to potential clients.  Don’t make the video too long or too large on the page.   Also, make sure the video does not play automatically when someone enters your site.  This may cause visitors with slower connections to leave your site.
• Flash: Do not use flash video or graphics on your home page.  Most visitors make up their mind about whether they will call you in under 10 seconds.  Don’t tie up that valuable time with graphics.
• Menu Options: Make sure the links to the rest of your site are clear and easy to find.  If you can get visitors to click on another page of your site you have a great chance of getting them to make contact.

For more information about web design and online marketing contact PrimeLegal LC today.

From the PrimeLegal Blawg:  Law Firm Marketing in a Recession

First published in 1985, Ogilvy on Advertising, by David Ogilvy is a handbook for understanding the cornerstones of advertising.  Even though Ogilvy predated the dawn of online advertising his wisdom is timeless. 

Here is Ogilvy’s passage on marketing in a recession:

"What should you do in times of recession, when you need every penny to sustain your earning? Stop advertising?

If you stop advertising a brand which is still in its introductory phase, you will probably kill it – for ever. Studies of the last six recessions have demonstrated that companies which do not cut back their advertising budgets achieve greater increases in profit than companies which do cut back.

In a Morril survey of 40,000 men and women involved in the purchase of 23 industrial products over five years, it was found that share-of-market went up in bad times-when advertising was continued.

I have come to regard advertising as part of the product, to be treated as a production cost, not a selling cost. It follows that is should not be cut back when times are hard, any more than you would stint any other essential ingredient you product.

During World War II, the British Government prohibited the marketing of margarine under brand names, but Unilever continued to advertise one of their brands during all the years it was not on the retailers’ shelves. When the war ended the brands returned, the Unilever brand emerged at the top of the heap.

Keynes might have advised manufacturers not to advertise during boom times, but instead set aside the money in a reserve for advertising during recessions."

The most important aspect of Ogilvy’s insight is that it reflects the idea that marketing is part of the production cost.  This is a lesson law firms need to understand now more than ever. With corporations turning more frequently to in-house counsel and firms of all sizes dissolving, now is not the time to cut advertising, instead it is the ideal time to make sure your marketing plan is strong and focused.

Contact PrimeLegal LC today for a free consultation.