I’ve been noticing a lot lately that attorneys are announcing the opening of their law practice on online public relations web sites. It appears that the purpose of the public relations web sites is to distribute it to other online sources and feeds. The idea is very similar to the Associated Press (AP) news releases.
For instance, I subscribe to a Google newsfeed on starting a law firm. I get updates daily on what is going on around the web related to opening a law practice. Most of the articles are boilerplate, but I occasionally get something pretty useful.
When I get something useful, I try to share it with my blog readers. Today there was a announcement by 28-year-old, Carl A. Taylor, III, that he was leaving his law firm job to start a law firm. I was impressed for several reasons: (1) he is young (28), like me (31), and (2) that he had his own press release. I want a press release. Not only that, but the article is well-written. It is very much akin to an AP news release.
However, digging a little deeper, I noticed that the press release was distributed by PR Web – an online public relations and news release service. PR Web is set up solely for the distribution of organic press releases. It appears that you can write and distribute your own articles. Pretty useful, I should think.
Maybe I am just behind the times, but I hadn’t thought of this yet. Most law firm start-up advice sources recommend making some kind of a press release, but I wasn’t sure how. When practicing law in Indiana, I received several such annoucements from local attorneys who had just started their own firms. However, those announcements were on letterhead and were sent to me in the mail. The online press releases are different – they reach a much larger audience.
From my review of the PR Web website, it looks legitimate and well done. There is a catch, it costs money. There appear to be four different plans to choose from: Basic, Standard, Advanced, and Premium. Th Basic being one, simple press release. It costs $80.00. Is it worth it? I don’t know, I haven’t done it. I will say, however, that Carl Taylor III’s press release got to me. Did I mention that he is in New Jersey and I am in Minnesota? Seems to be pretty good distribution to me.
A more pertinent question may be: is it necessary to issue a press release when you start a law firm? It seems a little over-zealous to me. But, my general opinion is that all news is good news. In other words, it can’t hurt to get your name out there as much as possible. Getting your name from New Jersey to Minnesota for $80.00 seems like a good deal to me.
What I am wondering now is how many press release websites are out there and what is the general pricing? Are there any free sites? Are there different options? These are all question I don’t have answers to, but it appears clear that public relations and news releases on the web are an avenue I need to explore.