Question: I am a criminal defense attorney but I think that’s too big of a niche for a Facebook group. Should I specialize and make the page only for DUI or drug defense?
Advocate for community crime watch
In most cases, the answer is yes. But, there are many different ways that you can interpret this. Breaking it down is the best way to help you reach the people you want to reach.
For example, I live in Lakeland, Florida. There is a Facebook group called “863 Crime Watch” and it is essentially a neighborhood watch group and whenever there’s any crime or any car accident or anything unusual happing in the neighborhood, Facebook is where they go. People go in there and post about it and keep the community actively communicating or “working.” If this group was started by a criminal defense attorney or a personal injury attorney, they would absolutely be crushing it right now because everything that happens goes in there and people are just having all kinds of conversations about it. So, it’s a perfect way for you to inject yourself into the conversation.
Addiction is a real thing
So many crimes are the result of addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. If I were a criminal defense attorney, this is where I would go. I would create a Facebook group that is targeting family members of people who have addictions and it’s going to be “family members of those with addiction” support group. The reason for the family target is because most people believe, and I agree, that drugs and alcohol are behind most of the crimes we see.
You can be on there as an advocate, You are saying, “This is a cycle that needs to be broken. They need rehab, not jail.” You are speaking to the family members and they are getting all this great information from you. Then, when their loved one gets arrested or gets a DUI or whatever it is, they are going to contact you. You are a lawyer who has been giving them all the information. They have a certain level of trust with you.
DUI Checkpoint group
Another thing you could do is a local DUI checkpoint group. Recently, Naples, Florida had DUI checkpoints. I do not drink and drive, I barely drink and my wife has never even had a sip of alcohol. So, I have no interest whatsoever in joining. DUI checkpoint group and figuring out where the local DUI checkpoints are because I just don’t care. It doesn’t affect me. But somebody that is interested in that is likely somebody that drinks and drives. So, it would be nice to have a group full of those people collected in one place that all look at you as the authority.
The 2nd Amendment
I have some clients on my coaching programs that are using Facebook groups to posts second amendment type posts that are getting good results. They are helping and posting about second amendment rights. Of course, I cannot get into detail because I do not want to break their trust.
Just think about some of the problems. Think of college students. Sometimes college students make stupid mistakes. Sometimes the average citizen in Tennessee or the average student at an affluent college just makes a mistake and gets arrested and they do not know where to turn. You can get a lot of mileage out of standing up for their second amendment rights.
Mom and dad are probably going to foot the bill to help their college student walk away from a careless mistake. There are probably 20 different ways to work this if a criminal defense lawyer puts his mind to it. So, yes. This is the way I would do this.