so i was washing the dishes and had an idea. i wanted to see what you guys thought. so, i started my own very very small paralegal business when i left work 5 mos. ago now. I have only been taking work from one attorney that I had gotten from placing an ad. With summer and everything else going on with difficult child it was difficult to try to figure out how to market myself and how to get more attorneys' on board in order to increase my size. i've been making literally pocket change with this one attorney. i have two cases left that i'm in the process of finalizing now.
so here's my thought. i thought of it in terms of getting attorneys as clients, and having them outsource to me. i charged way way too low, live and learn sort of thing. it's gotten to the point where the money i make puts gas in the truck and pays a portion of my very huge cell phone bill that went over the plan minutes due to constant client phone calls.
initially i began this thinking i'd be drafting petitions, documents, filing doctor's in court, etc. yet it's turned more into me doing all the work meeting with the clients (his clients), taking their calls at all hours, sitting and listening to their concerns, etc. it's been alot of work for minimal money yet i have learned alot the past 6 mos more than i knew when i first started.
so my thought was this, instead of marketing myself to the attorneys, i do it direct to the people. The reason i do this work is because i like to help people. i was able to do that alot where i worked for the city, made great money doing it yet as you all know difficult child's issues became too much for me to be so very far away from her everyday and for all those long hours. so i have to watch myself legally i have to make sure i do not give legal advice yet i give "procedural" advice. Yet here's the thing it would earn me a whole lot more money. ie...attorney billed client $1,800 for the work i had done. I made a fraction of that $ 400 approx. over the course of 5 mos.!! Also I would save the people money by allowing them to legally represent themselves with my help of guiding them through the process, my contacts ive made out here now in this court to facilitate things, and also filling out the forms, etc.
so, what do all of you think? now i only know estate administration law and guardianship law so far. So i could assist parents in being appointed guardian of their children with either special needs, or other reasons. just as an example. problem for me is i'm not good at marketing.
why would a lay person want to hire me as opposed to an attorney? Other than the solid background i have in the office i worked in that is well known? That's what i'm trying to figure out if i decide to move in this direction or just drop it after the two cases are finalized. I guess i could place ad stating why spend xxx amt of dollars on costly attorneys when you could represent yourself with my help and expertise of the surrogate's court adn it's procedures and laws?? also this is a time where many do not have money to spend and are watching what they spend and these attorneys beat people over the head.
so maybe i would charge 900 for what an attorney would charge 1,800 for. i had to think though how would i even go about marketing myself, what areas or where would i go and advertise?? especially for those types of law.
so here's my thought. i thought of it in terms of getting attorneys as clients, and having them outsource to me. i charged way way too low, live and learn sort of thing. it's gotten to the point where the money i make puts gas in the truck and pays a portion of my very huge cell phone bill that went over the plan minutes due to constant client phone calls.
initially i began this thinking i'd be drafting petitions, documents, filing doctor's in court, etc. yet it's turned more into me doing all the work meeting with the clients (his clients), taking their calls at all hours, sitting and listening to their concerns, etc. it's been alot of work for minimal money yet i have learned alot the past 6 mos more than i knew when i first started.
so my thought was this, instead of marketing myself to the attorneys, i do it direct to the people. The reason i do this work is because i like to help people. i was able to do that alot where i worked for the city, made great money doing it yet as you all know difficult child's issues became too much for me to be so very far away from her everyday and for all those long hours. so i have to watch myself legally i have to make sure i do not give legal advice yet i give "procedural" advice. Yet here's the thing it would earn me a whole lot more money. ie...attorney billed client $1,800 for the work i had done. I made a fraction of that $ 400 approx. over the course of 5 mos.!! Also I would save the people money by allowing them to legally represent themselves with my help of guiding them through the process, my contacts ive made out here now in this court to facilitate things, and also filling out the forms, etc.
so, what do all of you think? now i only know estate administration law and guardianship law so far. So i could assist parents in being appointed guardian of their children with either special needs, or other reasons. just as an example. problem for me is i'm not good at marketing.
why would a lay person want to hire me as opposed to an attorney? Other than the solid background i have in the office i worked in that is well known? That's what i'm trying to figure out if i decide to move in this direction or just drop it after the two cases are finalized. I guess i could place ad stating why spend xxx amt of dollars on costly attorneys when you could represent yourself with my help and expertise of the surrogate's court adn it's procedures and laws?? also this is a time where many do not have money to spend and are watching what they spend and these attorneys beat people over the head.
so maybe i would charge 900 for what an attorney would charge 1,800 for. i had to think though how would i even go about marketing myself, what areas or where would i go and advertise?? especially for those types of law.
