Q asked me the other day to get the information for a lawyer specializing in intellectual property. To give you an insight into how a 22-year-old finds a business, I wrote down the steps I took to research and call my new business.

(Here’s a hint: I did everything online!)

1. I went to findlaw.com

They’re our biggest competition with lawyers, so I’ve heard their name a lot. They build websites exclusively for attorneys and then list them in a massive directory, organized by location, specialty, size, etc.

2. Searched “intellectual property”

I was leaning toward someone who specializes in IP, not necessarily a full-service firm with only an IP department.

3. Found a couple matches in Harrisburg

One practices IP law exclusively and is relatively small. The other is a huge, well-known firm based out of Philly with offices in Harrisburg.

4. Looked into each firm

I had to make sure the lesser-known company was reputable. Even though the specialized in IP, the brand recognition I had with the larger firm made it necessary to investigate the smaller guy a little more. Sure enough, the little guys have 40+ years of experience. With the large firm, their entire IP team is located in Philly.

5. And the winner is…

The specialists! The larger firm only had a satellite office in Harrisburg, which was a huge drawback. Talking on the phone isn’t the same thing as actually being able to go see your lawyer. Luckily for me their offices are (literally) around the corner, so I popped in and got their speil.

What this means for you:

1. The younger a customer is, the more inclined she is to look online to research a business.

At my age, no one would even dream of picking up the yellow pages to find a pizza place or plumber. We go to Google to find what we’re looking for, be it song lyrics, new business, or a job. One great way to get new internet customers to your business with Google is sign up for their local search (FREE for a limited time!). It’s a much better idea than spending a ton on a half-page yellow pages ad.

2. These young customers are growing up, and will be your core demographic one day.

The entire world is steadily moving online. This has many implications for the future, one of which is that if you have no web presence, you’ll lose a HUGE opportunity for new business. Online it’s really easy to get third-party reviews of a business, so instead of talking to friends, you can see what other people are saying about the company. One bad example is here.

3. The web is making businesses more transparent than ever.

Without the internet, I would have had no idea that the small IP firm even existed. I would have looked up “attorneys” in the yellow pages and called the one with the most engaging ad. But would I have gotten what I was looking for? Probably not. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to get noticed anymore.