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Question

I'm building a legal marketplace (info, lawyer directory, free Q & A) which is essentially a lead gen site for lawyers with a freemium model.

On the demand/client side there is low scope for virality due to the often private nature of legal questions asked plus an unwillingness to bore social media connections; and
On supply side there's a disincentive to refer colleagues outside their own law firm as increases competition on the platform.

What are some imaginative ways to encourage referrals on either side? One thought I had for the lawyer side is create scarcity by limiting the platform to a certain number of lawyers per geo area but this doesn't really fit with a freemium model.

Online Marketplace

Business Model Development

Answer

John Ramey answered

Look to history - there are lots of legal services that have tried this and failed. What did they do or not do?

Unfortunately, you can't always turn something into a viral marketplace. IMHO there are too many built-in disincentives in the legal world to create the kind of viral loops you're looking for.