My wife and I hired a handyman yesterday. She found Dan on a review site for trades people. He had nearly 100 positive reviews, more than any other on the site.
Dan doesn’t have his own website. He probably thinks he doesn’t need one. He’s got all that business coming in from the review site and I’m sure he also gets lots of referrals.
But what if that review site shuts down? Yes it does happen. Sites that aren’t making money, sites that are mismanaged, sites that get sold to someone who has different ideas.
Just like that, Dan’s online presence would be gone. All the business from that site, gone.
Then what?
Okay, he would still get referrals. But when the people getting referred go online to “check him out” and find nothing, what do you think they will do? They’ll go find someone else, that’s what they’ll do.
Now then, how about you? What kind of online presence do you have? Do you have a website? If you don’t and someone goes online to “check you out,” what will they find? Bad stuff? No stuff? Don’t you want them to see some good stuff?
If you do have a website but it is hosted on a site that you don’t own, what will you do if that site goes away?
It won’t happen? That’s what everyone who had their sites at Posterous.com said, just before they shut down.
You need your own site. Hosted on your own account. www.yourname.com.
Directory listings and reviews on other sites are fine. Having a page on your firm’s site is fine. You still need your own site.
I get a lot of emails from attorneys who use the email account at their current employer’s law firm. joelaw@myemployerfirmname.com But what happens when they leave that firm? They lose that email address.
A year from now, if someone has a referral and wants to email them, they can’t. They don’t work here anymore. Do they track him down? Who knows.
So, if you’re not ready to create your own website, at least get you own domain name and your own email address that will never change. you@yourname.com
Here are some of the resources I use and recommend for domains and hosting.
And here is my course on Internet marketing for attorneys.
And, if you need a good handyman. . .
