-MORE-
For More Information Contact:
Danielle Oser
314.983.1266 or 314.983.1200
doser@bswllc.com
Mindy Lally
314.983.1288 or 314.983.1200
mlally@bswllc.com
For Immediate Publication
E-Mail And Web Presence For Your Practice
By Steve Epner
E-mail is one of the first uses anyone finds for the Internet. It is easy to use. It works
well. It is quickly becoming an accepted form of business communication. Many law firms are
finding they cannot live without it. Forward-thinking legal firms are also establishing a
presence on the World Wide Web by securing a unique domain name with which to be
identified for e-mail and e-commerce. Let's take a look at the nuts and bolts of each.
E-mail is really just typewritten voice mail, a "store and forward" system. To send
someone a message, just type it into the system and the Internet will deliver it to a mailbox to
be held until the addressee calls up to retrieve his or her messages. A password or PIN
(personal identification number) is needed to be able retrieve messages. The technical term
for this process is "store and forward," the message is stored until requested and then
forwarded to the recipient.
The Internet requires that each email recipient have a unique address to be able to
deliver the mail to the right location. Address are of the form: name@domain.xxx
. The
information to the left of the "at" sign (@) is used only by the local post office and normally
resides at the internet service provider (ISP).
The domain references a physical location on the Internet used to direct the mail to the
correct ISP so it can be delivered to the proper postbox. The physical address is called the
I.P. address, a series of four numbers separated by periods. These are assigned to an ISP or
other organizations with connections into the Internet.
For those who do not understand how domains are assigned, here is a short
E-Mail And Web Presence For Your Practice
Page 2 of 4
explanation. A domain has two parts. The first segment is a name that the ISP (owner of the
domain) selected. The second part is an extension that tells something about the type of
domain. For example, ".com" is a commercial enterprise and ".mil" is for the military. Due to
increased Internet use, there is a shortage of names, and there is a move to increase the
number of extensions used on the net. Other existing or proposed extensions are:
忙 .org not-for-profit
忙 .firm business
忙 .store retail
忙 .info reference
忙 .rec recreation
忙 .nom individual
忙 .gov government
忙 .net network provider
Caveat : some firms that are just getting started with email use their ISP's name for
their domain. My address could be sepner@aol.com . What happens if there is a problem with
my ISP? They may go out of business or their service level may drop. If I have advertised my
address (like I should), then changing my ISP, and therefore my address, would leave me
missing in action to many people. Once I change the address, there is no forwarding address
unless I continue to pay the previous ISP and set up forwarding myself. If they are out of
business, then I am out of luck.
Solution: Purchase your own domain name. For a $70 fee anyone can register a
name for two years. Some relatively easy "paperless" work needs to be done on-line. Any
thirteen-year-old will do it for dinner and a seventeen-year-old will do it for the car keys. If you
do not have a teenager at home, your ISP or a friendly consultant will do it for fifty to one
hundred dollars.
With a domain, if something happens to your ISP, you can move to another ISP just by
changing your database entry. Now, anyone who knows your domain name can find you no
matter which ISP you may be using.
All names used to be registered with Internic (found at www.internic.net). This
organization was created as a cooperative activity of the National Science Foundation,
Network Solutions, Inc., and AT&T. Prior to 1996 it was free. Then they decided to start
charging a registration fee as the government reduced funding.
E-Mail And Web Presence For Your Practice
Page 3 of 4
Now, others are getting into the act. Think of the millions of names being registered at
seventy dollars each, and it looks like free money. All you need is a domain name server
(DNS), which provides the capability to look up the name and find the pointer to the physical
computer that is linked into the Internet. The DNS also sends copies of the registry to other
computers around the world to make the finding of an address easy and fast.
Twenty-eight companies have formed the Council of Registrars and once all of the
legal battles are settled, they will start registering names. By offering more extensions, it is
hoped that there will be more names available for business. But do not delay 00all of the
three and most of the four-letter acronyms were quickly taken under the .com extension. It
may happen the same way for the new extensions.
It may be beneficial to register your site with search engines such as Yahoo, Infoseek,
Lycos, AltaVista, Excite, Snap, etc. Some charge a fee, some don't. Get listed in a yellow
pages directory with Southwestern Bell Telephone. Visit the Martindale-Hubbel site
www.martindale.com and see how to list your firm. Do a "search" for attorneys and find
endless possibilities to list your practice. Creating "meta tags" (key words) in your web site
helps search engines find you. Again, your consultant can help you do this.
The down side of being on all of the search engines is that you may get lots of inquiries
that will never lead to work. They can waste a tremendous amount of time following up on
questions that turn out to be part of a senior project. Many firms limit the number of general
sites they are listed at to concentrate on ones that can send them business.
For example, if your practice involves merger and acquisitions, then get listed where
there is a great deal of M&A activity. If your specialty is estate planning, see if you can get a
"link" from banks that provide trust services. There are many ways someone can find you.
Use the methods that get you names that will lead to business.
Another reason to be connected to the Internet is to obtain instant on-line information.
Your ability to research, create briefs, share information, and check out your competition is
right at your fingertips.
Think of the possibilities to share work with others any time of the day or night
anywhere in the world. Online searches of databases are not even considered futuristic
anymore.
Now law firms that are willing to innovate on the Net may have an advantage over
everyone else. There is a whole new generation of potential clients that have been online
E-Mail And Web Presence For Your Practice
Page 4 of 4
from the time they were little. This is not about technology; it is a new dial tone.
Your future clients, staff and partners will all be looking for firms that are using the tools
they are already so good at. Ignore them and you will not survive. The Internet is like a large
train coming right at you. You only have two choices. You can get on the train, or you can
ignore it. You cannot stop it. It is up to you.
The opportunities are enormous. It is all waiting for you to decide to take advantage of
it. Keep on computing :).
Steve Epner has been directing traffic on the information super highway since 1966. A
highly regarded industry expert, Epner is widely published and has provided comment for
national business publications including the Wall Street Journal . His experience in business,
technology and strategic planning makes him a nationally renowned technical speaker. Epner
can be reached at sepner@bswllc.com .
St. Louis based Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, founded in 1976, is a leader
in the strategic use of technology to create competitive advantage. While other firms may
bring answers based on their experience, we use our experience to help our clients find the
unique answers to their unique situations.
Brown Smith Wallace, which has revenue of $13 million, is the second largest locally
owned independent full-service CPA and business consulting firm in Missouri. Brown Smith
Wallace, with offices in St. Louis, St. Charles and Chicago, makes a measurable difference in
clients' lives by making sure clients get more than just a good return on their investment,
finding hidden value, looking where others forget, bridging gaps to form long lasting
relationships, being accessible and by putting a guarantee in writing. For more information
visit www.bswllc.com or call 314.983.1200.
# # #
EDITORS NOTE: Permission to reprint is hereby given to all print, broadcast and electronic media. Permission is also granted for reasonable
editing, including article title change and customizing for your audience/industry. Please send a copy of the published information to:
Brown Smith Wallace, Mindy Lally, 1050 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63132
search
