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So far my professional legal career has been a mix of low and non-paying side jobs. I've been doing quite a bit of estate planning free of charge to get experience, but I'm finally at the stage where I'm ready to go public so I've been thinking about how to get the word out. My thoughts have centered around the following:

• Website. Definitely going to do this, just a matter of how to go about it. I've done my own web design before, but it takes a lot of time and I'm still never satisfied with the result. Since people hire lawyers based on an impression of professionalism/competence, I want the site to look good, so I'll probably hire out the design, which can run anywhere from expensive to second-mortgage territory, however some more affordable sites sell pre-built templates for budget prices. Most of the design/hosting sites are pushing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which helps put your page at the top of search results.
  
• Business cards. Someone's home office blog suggested spending money on printed materials like business cards and letterhead was a waste, but I can't tell you how many times in my short legal career I've been asked for my card. I'm currently using some inkjet-printed cards I made myself, but I'd like to get some nice looking cards done. People seem to expect this, and I'd rather spend the money than miss an opportunity to put my contact info in a customer's hands. Even if there's a 90% chance the card ends up in the garbage, that means a 10% chance it gets used again. One paying client will more than cover the cost of 500 professionally designed/printed cards anyway.
  
• Brochure/flyer. A few weeks ago at a kid's birthday party someone asked me if I had a brochure, and it dawned on me this might be a good idea. If I can summarize some info about my practice, the brochure could be a good idea. This one might wait a bit down the road, since printing costs for this type of media are a bit higher than I can afford right now.
  
• Joining the local Chamber of Commerce. I've heard from others this is a good way to network with other business owners and get your name out in the community. Costs about $250/year in my neck of the woods. Still kicking this one around, but it could happen.

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Also...I was planning to review some practice management software, but dropped it when I found out it wasn't required by my insurance carrier. Right now my client list is small so I keep it in an Excel spreadsheet. When I outgrow that - hopefully very soon - I'll pop the $250 for a professional solution.

I'm buying some more lawyer toys, including a portable USB scanner to take on appointments with me. I typically ask clients to bring copies of their deed and property tax statement to our first meeting, but sometimes they forget. This toy will connect right up to my laptop and let me scan in copies of everything I need. Also queued up for purchase is a fire-rated safe with a rack for hanging files to keep my client documents safe and secure.

And to help pay for all these toys, I just opened a business checking account to hold all the money that should start pouring in any day now.