Top of the morning to you!  It’s 6:00am and the weather forecast for today, dreary with a side of rain.  Days like this it’s difficult to even move from your position in bed to get your day started, but I digress.

Mission(s) for today, create another blog entry for my city, take some surveys down to a local business for some market research i’m conducting (Yes, I’m also an inventor), conduct a phone consultation with a potential client at 10:00am, have a face to face meeting with another potential client at 11:00am, contact one client concerning custody and visitation issues, and complete drafting a bankruptcy petition for a client that has already retained me.  Wow!  What a full 8 hour work day ahead!  Though some of you may look at me with envy (sarcasm), I will overcome this very soon.

Business is just starting to pick up.  There were days where I literally had no clients, no phone calls, nothing to check up on, and all I did all day was think and strategize as to how I would get my next client.

How did I get my first client you ask?  They fell out of the sky!  Just kidding, but it was something very close.  The client was referred to me by a friend from law school out of state.  My clients mother inquired to my friend about having attorney contacts in Maryland and my information was given.  Next thing you know, I had a client meeting, was retained, and off we go.  Never underestimate the connections you make during law school.  These connections can be the source of many of your client referrals.  They may also be able to help you in the future with some personal ventures.

At this point in my practice, much of my clientele comes from word of mouth referrals from individuals I know personally or have met and had brief interactions with.  Networking is always occurring, even when you’re not purposely doing so, so be sure to carry plenty of cards with you. I’ve also gained clients from a program called Judicare.  This program aims to give family law representation to lower income clients.  Recently, I’ve learned that my local bar association has a referral program.  I will be applying to that very soon.

Gaining PAYING clients is much more difficult than it seems.  I’ve done consultation after consultation, and most people are honestly looking for free legal advice (of which I give 20 minutes of).  However, some of those individuals are looking for legal counsel.  Other individuals may not understand that they will need legal counsel, and at some point in the future make this realization.  Who will they call first?  That’s right, me!   Some of those same people I gave free consultations to call me back and retain me later because they’ve developed a trust and comfortability with me through the consultation I gave. So, is the 20 minute chat worth it?  Definitely!  At some point my strategy will have to change, because time is money, so they say.  But  for right now, “If it aint broke, dont fix it.”

I’m taking my hard knocks just like the next solo.  I’m learning so much as I tread through this journey. It’s hard, yet, im not ready to throw in the towel.  Sometimes I wonder how I got here…want to find out?  Keep reading.  I’ll be posting on how I became a Solo, why I went Solo, the steps I took to set up my business structure, office space woes and more.   If there’s something specific you’d like to know, leave me a comment.

Baby Solo