No Excuses

Despite the fact that the temperatures and wind chills were lower in greater New York area this weekend than either Fargo, North Dakota, or Minneapolis, I recited a brief prayer and turned the ignition key hoping my car would start.

Then, I drove over snow and ice encrusted roads (not to mention potholes large and deep enough to hide a small footlocker) and made a much needed trip to a strip mall for the week’s necessities.

I also noticed something I have not seen in a number of years – a free-standing phone booth. My daughters think I’m kidding when I tell them that it was my mobile phone growing up. Yes, I actually had to stand inside and deposit money before making a call.

I thought about that relic of communications past whilst I was speaking to a New York City practitioner who, in this day and age, did not have a website. I didn’t think anybody under the age of 80 would eschew the benefits of an online presence to promote their practice, but as I found out, this was by design.

Let me repeat that, he purposely did not have a website. I honestly did not know where to begin asking him about this mind-boggling strategy, but instead let it go in lieu of beginning a United Nations-length debate.

Now I’m not within three area codes of being proficient in IT matters but I can tell you that as a former journalist and someone who knows something about communications, there’s no excuse in 2018 not to have an online presence. And it doesn’t have to be expensive or showcase a lot of bells and whistles, but in truth provide the following:

1. Contain the basics about your firm – services, contact information, specialty credentials and even client testimonials.

2. A brief history of the practice, when it began and its growth through the years.

3. An easy channel to communicate – in addition to the obvious, phone number, email, also LinkedIn and even Facebook.

4. A library of resources – this could include aggregated content from other areas and news such as the new tax law changes or articles your or other members of your firm have written for professional journals.

There.

And the good news is that there are a number of low-cost providers who can construct a basic framework for you.

Someone once told me that those who don’t embrace technology will be like the racehorse that can see the entire field because he’s behind. And in 2018, that’s surely a sucker’s bet.