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Survey respondents were asked: “If you needed a lawyer for a personal legal matter, what would be the primary way you would find one?"

• 80 percent of the respondents said they would turn to some trusted source.
• Nearly half of the respondents (46 percent) said they would ask a friend, family member or colleague.
• 34 percent said they would contact a lawyer they knew or had used before.
• Eight percent said they would turn to the Yellow Pages or some other form of printed directory.

This is according to a recent survey (PDF) conducted for the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. The survey was conducted in September by Harris Interactive, which contacted 1,004 adults 18 or older via landline telephone calls.

A separate question asked respondents how likely they would be to consult various types of online resources to find a lawyer. Fewer than 20% of the respondents said they were very likely or somewhat likely to consult Facebook, while 15% said they would look at blogs, and 9 percent said they would use Twitter.  Frankly, don't believe this finding. There is just too much evidence to the contrary. The ABA must have surveyed people who use quill pens and buggy whips.

Other online tools were much more popular among survey respondents. Nearly half (49 percent) were likely to consult websites where consumers can post legal questions for lawyers to answer. Forty-seven percent said they were likely to look at lawyer rating websites, and 44 percent said they would check a lawyer’s own website.

Legal Marketing Lessons

In-person, face-to-face marketing is the most effective way to generate new business. Smart lawyers always tell their friends, neighbors and countrymen what they do for a living, in case the person or one of their friends ever needs a lawyer.  Rainmakers always ask clients for references, recommendations and introductions.

The yellow pages are dead. Cancel your yellow page listing now. According to Simba Information's latest report, spending on local yellow pages advertising declined 11.1% in 2010 and is projected to decline again in 2011. Get out now and put the savings into your budget to take clients out to lunch.

And meanwhile, beef up your website, change it frequently, keep writing blog post, update your LinkedIn and Facebook status alerts, upload your documents to Avvo and JDSupra, and tweet the headlines.

A survey by Greenfield/Belser and The Brand Research Company, spotlights that executive-level buyers are online, in droves and that search engines are a key tool for learning about professionals.    85% of executives consider professional service firm websites important sources of information in their search for professionals.

• Three in four say the quality of a firm’s site influences whether they put a firm on their short list.
• 53% have put a firm on a short list based on the information found on the firm’s site.
• Specific-industry experience tops the list of things executives find important on sites, with 78% saying it is must-have information.