Directory post….warning….It’s been on my mind, and Heather’s twisted post on a Zagat Guide to Lawyers opened the door, at least enough for me to step in and post this lurking question. The door may knock me in the butt on my way out, but well, here goes… Another legal directory has launched – BuscAbogados.com. (Find Lawyers)
“It was developed to meet the necessity of more than 44M Spanish speaking individuals that live in the United States today, and more than 460M around the World.”
¿Hablas español? In the spirit of disclosure; I am living in Northern Latin America. My post may be irrelevant to many Coolerites, or maybe not. That is the question. Gringo law firms, are you paying attention to the growing Hispanic market in the U.S.? What say you?
Three Miami residents launched BuscAbogados.com, a directory aimed at helping Spanish speakers find lawyers in Florida. They have a strong business case and a plan to expand their presence to other U.S. regions. They charge $19.95 – $299 for expanded listings. There are already 7,000 complimentary basic listings for South Florida attorneys – about 5000 of them in Miami-Dade. Sounds like a revenue generator. Since someone has already vetted the idea, is, should or could Martindale or Best Lawyers find this market attractive? Findlaw? Are they going to chase down a copyright?
According to the HISPANIC Fact Pack, 2008 Edition, Annual Guide to Hispanic Marketing and Media, that I received today with my Advertising Age; Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are within 1 or 2 percentage points of one another in Spanish-language preferred Web properties. There must be a business case because they seem to be chasing one another in the data. Did you know that the business to business social networking site LinkedIn has a Spanish version?
1. Log into LinkedIn with your existing id.
2. Go here and switch the language field.
There’s always a lot of debate here in South Florida — is the official language Spangelish? The courts and government say not. But, in the business world of South Florida, Spangelish is the first language. The influx of Spanish speaking residents is not limited to South Florida.
What do you think? Is there a market for gringo law firms in the business law firm space?
In Miami we have Abogados on every corner – primarily consumer focused – immigration stuff. But most larger national and international firms in Miami have International practices that cater to the businesses of the “Gateway to Latin America.” As for the rest of the U.S., would you pay for a listing in buscabogados.com? Is anyone looking at the Hispanic market? Just curious. If so, how serious are you and do you see a revenue stream? In what areas of practice?
(Disclaimer: I am not fluent in Spanish. I do, however, own Rosetta Stone Spanish language CD’s. Unfortunately you have to actively use them, not just put them under your pillow and hope the language will seep into your brain over night:-).