đź‘‹ Good afternoon. Chris Dreyer here. How do you go up against the big firms in your market? Josh Hodges goes an inch wide and a mile deep. In other words, he stays local, and he builds relationships.
I’ve written about this idea before: Win five square miles before you try to win a state. Here’s how Josh does it.
Josh is out in his community every day. He visits local businesses and nonprofits, meets the owners, and speaks to students.
As co-founder of Kruger & Hodges in Hamilton, Ohio, where he’s known as The Hometown Lawyer, he shows what you can build when you commit to one market and do the belly-to-belly networking other firms skip.
We talked about how he makes his videos, whether social media ads bring in cases, and how being known around town has helped him find people to work at his firm.
 All the big guys have so much more money. I just wanted to be more local than them.
Kruger & Hodges |
Here's our full conversation
In this episode
 | 🎥 How to build relationships with people in your community. Josh visits businesses and nonprofits for his Around Town video series. He films 10 or 15 in a day and shares a new spotlight every day. |
 | đź“Ť Why local viewers can be more valuable than viral views. Josh would rather reach 500 people who care about his community than a million people scattered around the world. A video about a Hamilton bakery may not travel far, but it reaches the people who know the owner. |
 | 🧲 How getting known around town can help you recruit. One receptionist opening drew three applicants; a later opening drew about 75 in its first 24 hours. Josh credits his social media presence for the change. |
 | ⚖️ Why Josh keeps a criminal defense attorney at his PI firm. Past clients still call when they need help. Keeping that service lets his firm continue to represent them and puts its lawyers in front of local judges. |
 | 🤝 Why Josh puts relationships ahead of chasing leads. Early ads and paid lead sources brought him a high volume of poor prospects. Now he uses social media to introduce people around town and help them get to know him. |
To take those relationships deeper, he gives billboard space to local nonprofits, then uses social media to tell more people about them.
Meet Josh Hodges
Josh co-founded Kruger & Hodges Hometown Injury Lawyers in Hamilton, Ohio, in 2018. The firm has offices across southwest and central Ohio. Online, he’s known as The Hometown Lawyer, sharing stories about local businesses and nonprofits.
Connect with Josh on LinkedIn or at thehometownlawyers.com.
If you want more people in your community to know your firm, Josh has ideas you can put to work.
Chris Dreyer
Host, PIM Podcast
P.S. What does your firm do to build relationships in your community? Hit reply and tell me. |