It’s difficult to know what advertising is bad vs. good. You need to use some instincts. black and white with no picture seems like a bad bet. People want to see who they’re calling. Color makes your ad stand out. Finally, take a chance– the right call can expand your business almost immediately.

Thanks for sharing your successes with advertising! Unlike you, I and other lawyers I know, did not have much luck with advertising. The money spent was not recouped.

Do you think it depends on the practice area? Is there a trial and error period involved? How can young lawyers differentiate between the good advertising opportunities from the bad ones? That would be very useful to know. For a new solo with a limited budget, its risky to spend money on ads that don’t provide a return. Although, there are a myriad of risks inherent in entrepreneurship and starting a law practice so its just one of many.

I personally preferred to use my own time and labor to market myself as opposed to ads because I wanted to keep my costs as low as possible. But of course, the amount of time and money you have available does shift over time.

I’d love to learn more about how you made ads work for you.

Congrats on taking the leap (again) and for securing your handful of clients! That’s all it takes, isn’t it? I appreciate your kind words and will continue to share everything I know as long as its helping others.

Wishing you much success throughout the rest of your first year!

You are absolutely right! Thank you for correcting me. Its true that I use marketing and advertising interchangeably sometimes. Oops!

What I meant was don’t spend money placing ads, because I have found that to be ineffective, in general, among the solos I know.

Thank you, again!