{"id":473,"date":"2018-01-25T07:07:56","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T23:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trainingpips.com\/?page_id=473"},"modified":"2018-12-20T11:21:43","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T19:21:43","slug":"ps-101-chapter-4-article-4-advertising","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/ps-101-a-course-outline\/ps-101-chapter-4-chapter-outline-business-operations\/ps-101-chapter-4-article-4-advertising\/","title":{"rendered":"PS 101 &#8211; Chapter 4 &#8211; Article 4 &#8211; Advertising"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Advertising your services as a professional process server is similar to advertising most other service-oriented businesses. There are multiple methods available and, depending on your market area, some will be better than others. But, <span id=\"_spanQT2621332112\">no matter where you are or what market you are in, the bottom line is reputation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><strong><u>Word of Mouth<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Word of mouth is unquestionably the best and most effective advertising method. Keep in mind that it is earned and not bought. No amount of money can buy the favorable words a satisfied client will express to other potential clients. On the other hand, no amount of money can repair the damage done by poor service and poor client care. <span id=\"_spanQT1800091554\">Consistently favorable word of mouth advertising is earned in one or more of the following ways:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Good service.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Fair pricing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Frequent reporting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Truth telling.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Regular client contacts.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><u><strong>Pro Bono Services<\/strong><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span id=\"_spanQT2422476539\">This is another instance in which you earn the advertising instead of buying it. Providing pro bono services bolsters word of mouth advertising because it makes you a visible contributor in your local legal community. Clients, and potential clients, notice these things.<\/span> A word of caution, however: keep in mind you are in business to make a profit so it is wise to limit your exposure in the pro bono market. Most of your assignments must make money, otherwise, in the not-too-distant future you will no longer be in business or be able to provide any services, pro bono or otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Finding and volunteering for a recognized local provider of free or low-cost legal services is an excellent way to contribute and build reputation. Most county bar associations have a pro bono section. Making contact with those listed and volunteering your time and skills is beneficial in at least two ways. First, you are able to manage the number of assignments you take on in any given month. Second, the word of mouth advertising you receive will be far superior to other advertising methods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><u><strong>Print Advertising<\/strong><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Although low-tech, print advertising has its place. Here are a few sources you might consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Newsletters<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Local bar association<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Paralegals<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Legal secretaries<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Landlords<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Collection agencies<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Yellow pages<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This last, the Yellow pages, still has its uses even in this age of the Internet. A telephone book sits on the desk of nearly every attorney and legal support person in the country. It is generally unwise to buy much more than a bold listing. However, look at what the competition is doing in the same market and attempt to bring your self in line with the average. Also, most Yellow page listings will also result in a listing on that book&#8217;s website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"_spanQT6889723048\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Advertising in newspapers, either dailies or weeklies, is generally ineffective and expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Other types of print advertising are discussed below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><strong><u>Memberships<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span id=\"_spanQT3455207140\">Done correctly, becoming a member of local or statewide organizations can be highly effective.<\/span> These include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Legal secretaries<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Paralegals<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Landlords<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Collection agencies<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Process servers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Private investigators<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What does &#8220;done correctly&#8221; mean? What it does NOT mean is joining for the sole purpose of talking about yourself and your business; rather, it implies joining with the intent to learn what the group is about and to become an active, contributing member. This is similar to the rationale for providing pro bono services: by working to advance the goals of the group or organization you will build a favorable reputation and, in the process, advance your own goal of improving business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is vital for any professional process server to belong to state and national process server organizations. These include the Washington State Process Server Association and the National Association of Professional Process Servers. Joining other state associations, usually as an associate member, lets people in those states know about you. Many companies have a policy of giving preferential treatment to other members of their state association.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><strong><u>Internet<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Advertising on the Internet changes quickly. Even so, it can be highly effective. There are a large number of lists especially for process servers. You can also gain a great deal of exposure by purchasing advertising on the search engines. The AdWords program by Google is an excellent example of a cost-effective means of increasing your presence on the Internet. Indeed, &#8220;presence&#8221; is what Internet advertising is all about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So how do you increase your presence on the Internet without overreaching your advertising budget? Here are a few suggestions:<\/span><\/p>\n<table width=\"600\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\" border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" valign=\"top\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(1)<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Join process server professional organizations (see above). Nearly all of them will include a listing on their website.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" valign=\"top\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(2)<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\"><span id=\"_spanQT2251224536\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Create an attractive and &#8211; even better &#8211; useful website.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" valign=\"top\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(3)<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Purchase as many &#8220;listings&#8221; as possible on process server web-based lists. At the time of this writing the price for a year&#8217;s listing ranged from less than $100 to over $1,000. However, the average appeared to be about $150. Having multiple listings increases your chance of being found when, for instance, a legal secretary types &#8220;process server Yakima&#8221; into her search engine.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" valign=\"top\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(4)<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Buy into a program such as AdWords. They tend to be highly flexible in terms of your monetary exposure and allow you to limit your monthly costs with great precision.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" valign=\"top\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(5)<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Exchange links with professional friends and associates.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><u><strong>Mass Mailing<\/strong><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span id=\"_spanQT7880842297\">Included under this heading are both &#8220;snail mail&#8221; and spam. Avoid them both.<\/span> Most mass mailings, whether to attorneys, collection agencies, or other process servers, end up in the trash (whether it be real or virtual trash) within seconds of their arrival. Not only is it a waste of money, but some professionals are put off by the use of these advertising methods and will blacklist anyone using them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><u><strong>Brochures, Calendars, and Other Miscellaneous Handouts<\/strong><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Promotional and informational materials are needed in most markets. There are an incredible number of &#8220;things&#8221; on which you can have your name, or your company name, imprinted. These are give aways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A well done trifold brochure is fairly easy to create using a computer, printer, and inexpensive graphics software. There are numerous preprinted, prefolded papers available which will help you create a common theme to your brochure, stationary, and business cards. Most office supply stores carry a variety of such paper products, as will paper specialty stores. The important phrase here is &#8220;well done.&#8221; If you have an eye for layout and design then doing these sorts of materials on your own will save considerable expense. However, if you don&#8217;t have the needed skills it is wise to contract with a graphic artist to create the materials you need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There are numerous novelties available which can be purchased preprinted. These include pens, pencils, letter openers, calendars, chewing gum, band aids, etc. An incredible amount of money can be invested in such things where only the salesman ends up making any profit. You must choose carefully with a keen eye towards the cost to benefit ratio of any particular item. For instance, having your company logo printed on chewing gum wrappers, though catchy, may not be a good use of scarce advertising dollars since once the gum is gone the wrapper, along with your logo, is thrown in the trash. On the other hand, a calendar with your logo printed on it will usually stay in view for at least a year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff4500;\"><u><strong>A Final Word<\/strong><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">With all the advertising possibilities available the most important thing to keep in mind is taste. Not your taste but that possessed by your current and potential clients. Use modes of advertising which are likely to be seen by your market. As mentioned above, newspaper advertising, though widely used by many retailers is not effective when used by process servers. The same can be said for radio and television advertising. Instead <span id=\"_spanQT1527214465\">watch for niche advertising <span style=\"color: #000000;\">opportunities<\/span> which are aimed directly at the clients you are wanting to attract.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>[glossary_exclude][qsm quiz=26][\/glossary_exclude]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advertising your services as a professional process server is similar to advertising most other service-oriented businesses. There are multiple methods [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":55,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-473","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/473\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}