It can be tough feeling confident that you’re spending your money wisely when starting your own practice. Through a series of posts, we’ll share some of Smokeball’s tips and tricks to help you narrow down the best options for your small law firm.

Read on to learn of great operational support tools.

• Time and billing: Time59 ($99.95/year) tracks time, generates fixed-fee invoices, manages IOLTA or trust accounts and generates reports. Plus, this billing program runs on Macs, Windows PCs, and iPhones.
• Basic document storage: Box (free for basic, $5/month+ for premium) provides security, document versioning and 100 GB of storage or more for a bargain, and its tools are built with the needs of lawyers in mind.
• General marketing: Avvo (free) markets its website nationally for all areas of the law. Potential clients can browse profiles, read reviews, ask questions and select the attorney who’s right for them. Claiming your profile is the first step in garnering a good online reputation.
• Email marketing: Sites like Mailchimp (free, up to 2,500 contacts) and Constant Contact ($20/month) offer easy-to-use platforms to create newsletters, blogs or holiday greetings while organizing contacts and tracking their engagement with your firm’s messages.

Download the Smokeball white paper to learn more about these recommendations and access a list of hardware and software solutions for your new small law firm.

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Jane Oxley is President of Smokeball, a productivity and case management software provider that increases efficiency and profitability for solo attorneys and small law firms. Jane’s worked in the legal field for her entire career, spending over 20 years engaged with small law firms. She has a strong affinity with small law firms and the crucial role they play in the communities they serve and is passionate about helping them work towards more productive and less stressful practices.