So...advertising. I don't know if this is relevant to anyone else, but I'd love thoughts.

My business (immigration law) is very targeted to the local Spanish speaking community. I'd be open to changing that, but I suspect that maybe as much as 95% of the local non-US citizen public is Spanish speaking.

One of the unique things about this business is that if X is happy with our service, chances are, he personally knows many other people who could use us. Immigration is a family issue and immigrants tend to be friends with other immigrants.

I advertise in a local, free, Spanish language magazine. I have a quarter page ad and I write a monthly column about immigration-related issues. The ad is $175 a month and has been a hugely successful investment. Maybe as much as 50% of the business comes from that ad.

I recently (August) started advertising on the local Spanish speaking new station. That is just under 10x cost of the print ad. We may have gotten 10x the calls and initial appointments, but I have noticed that the people who come in, after having seen us on TV, tend to have problems I can't fix so I don't end up taking their case. But the advertising has resulted in sort of raising awareness of us in the community. But I'm not really sure how that pays off, exactly.

My inclination is to stop the TV advertising. I just don't see the benefit translating into more clients. But am I missing something wrt the whole community awareness thing?

Stephanie, I get the cash flow frustration.

Could you maybe restructure it so that you only took on a certain amount of the detention cases -- 5 active at a time? -- so that you could still work with the? (I don't know what the workload would be with five; I pulled that number out of my not-a-lawyer butt.)

That way, you could set up an partial fee up-front with sliding payment plans on a monthly basis, still get referrals, but be able to say honestly "I'm overloaded with cases right now, but here's the number of someone I know. Please keep letting me know, as my load may lighten in a few months" or some such.

Just saw 2nd post. Honestly, if the TV ads are breaking into your marketing budget too much, try vids on your website. I'm going to be working on this. Here's a webinar recording I watched last week that was VERY helpful: [link]

Also, are you biz cards printed up with English on one side, Spanish on the other? I would suggest following the local Spanish paper, if your city has one, and if you get any invites to quinces, weddings, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce events, go. Socialize. Do F2F networking.

If there is a Spanish paper in your city, or a Hispanic community center, tell them about your services and see if they'd like to profile you. Go to local Catholic churches or businesses (bodegas, carnicerias, panederias, quince dress shops) and see if they have a community board.

I am NOT an expert on Hispanic life, obvs, but this is what I gleaned from three years as a Hispanic HS with a 75% pop of illegal students and/or parents of students.

Unless the cost of the advertising is seriously prohibitive, I would continue with it. Since August is a very short time in terms of raising awareness. We do a convention every year that is basically the extent of our "new faces" advertising. It is typically ten months to two years after that when we start seeing dollars roll in related to the event.

Do you do solicited email marketing? I don't know if it's appropriate for your target market, but that's been one of our key methodologies for turning casual observers into customers.

I would do an update myself, but I need to get my ass off the internet and finish up my annual report. Maybe next week.

I actually took out a very low interest line of credit with the bank, but using it sort of feels like failure, so I hate using it.

Don't be. This is one of the main reasons that banks exist. If you're only borrowing against money you're sure you'll be receiving, and not digging yourself into a hole, then there's nothing wrong with this.

Thanks, Tom. The line of credit is actually secured by cash that I have in the bank, but it works out better this was for accounting. So yeah, I shouldn't feel bad using it - it's my money already earned. The brain is a crazy, frustrating place.

The brain is a crazy, frustrating place.

Yep, THIS.

I don't know what legal precautions you guys take, but I was just reading an article on dealing with deadbeats that owe you money, and one of the commenters (uncoincidentally, I'm sure, a lawyer) said:

Also, if your business budget doesn't include something for legal costs, you're not really running a business; you're making some money on your hobby.

Which I think does have a point.

Glad to hear I only have a hobby.

That's not totally fair, I will pay for advice when I need it, but it's not like it's a line item in my budget.

Advice when needed, sure. A solid contract, business entities, etc., yep. Paying a retainer just so some douchebag on the internet will stop being mean and calling it a hobby? Nah...