If you market to a particular group of people, it helps to walk in their shoes.Daniel Buttafuoco does just that.The 48-year-old Woodbury-based personal injury attorney markets specifically to Christians. He is known as the Christian lawyer. Spend five minutes in his practice's reception area, and it's easy to see why.
Mounted on the wall is this passage from Psalms 1:1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.Faith has played an important part of my life, says Buttafuoco, the host of Christian Legal Concepts, a Friday night radio show on WMCA 570 AM.It not only seems to guide Buttafuoco, who's currently pursuing a master's degree in theology at the Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, N.Y., but it has also brought him business since he began advertising on Christian radio in the early 1980s. Entrepreneurs like Buttafuoco who market to Christians will find a sizeable audience. And though their message needn't be Christian in order to build a following, integrity ought to be evident, the experts say.There are about 2 million evangelical Christians in the metropolitan area, and 90 million nationwide, figures Sam Mikhail, a senior marketing consultant with WMCA, a New York station with offices in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. Christians are yearning to do business with people they can trust, says Mikhail, who has collaborated with Buttafuoco for the past 10 years. This market is going to lean toward doing business with Christians because you answer to the same person I do.Radio, television and Internet marketing aren't the only forums. For instance, The Shepherd's Guide, a 120-page Christian business directory, includes Christian plumbers and restaurateurs - even disk jockeys. The Shepherd's Guide says it distributes 55,000 copies in the metropolitan area annually. Not every advertiser is Christian. Take WTHE, a Mineola-based Christian radio station that since 1969 has been owned by Sam Warshaw, who is Jewish. His station features gospel music and talk shows that are produced and paid for by ministers and business owners. But Warshaw won't run any ads that promote alcohol, X-rated or worse movies, Howard Stern and things that obviously go against a religious theme. Some programming is definitely Christian-oriented. A mortgage broker, for instance, speaks about being a good steward if you're religious and not wasting money by refinancing and paying off debt, says Warshaw. Others just talk business.Aside from radio, Buttafuoco, who is of no relation to the Joey of Long Island Lolita fame, also speaks before churches and Christian groups, preaching theological sermons, and bringing along his rare bible collection. Since he began advertising on radio, he has insisted on targeting his audience. In his ads, his message is clear: I understand your world view. I will minister to your legal needs through the trials and tribulations of life.He struck a chord. Of course not everyone sees things the same way. Reading the New Testament, some Christians interpreted Paul to believe lawsuits were immoral or sinful, Buttafuoco said. But they've got it wrong, he claims. What Paul was really advocating, Buttafuoco says, was that in the event of a dispute, take it to the church, not the Roman authorities. The Roman prisons were not a nice place.Still some Christians today believe lawsuits are evil, concedes Buttafuoco: They can be if it's for the wrong motives. But read Exodus 21:22 and you'll see it permits ethical and honest lawsuits and doesn't prohibit them.Lawsuits are a civilized method of dispute, he adds. It's not the person getting sued. It's the insurance companies. They were formed for that purpose. On the other side, you would never trade places with someone who got a million-dollar settlement.His message appeals to pastors who steer him business. To the Christian lawyer:It's a high- level, word-of-mouth.
If you market to a particular group of people, it helps to walk in their shoes.Daniel Buttafuoco does just that.The 48-year-old Woodbury-based personal injury attorney markets specifically to Christians. He is known as the Christian lawyer. Spend five minutes in his practice's reception area, and it's easy to see why.
Mounted on the wall is this passage from Psalms 1:1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.Faith has played an important part of my life, says Buttafuoco, the host of Christian Legal Concepts, a Friday night radio show on WMCA 570 AM.It not only seems to guide Buttafuoco, who's currently pursuing a master's degree in theology at the Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, N.Y., but it has also brought him business since he began advertising on Christian radio in the early 1980s. Entrepreneurs like Buttafuoco who market to Christians will find a sizeable audience. And though their message needn't be Christian in order to build a following, integrity ought to be evident, the experts say.There are about 2 million evangelical Christians in the metropolitan area, and 90 million nationwide, figures Sam Mikhail, a senior marketing consultant with WMCA, a New York station with offices in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. Christians are yearning to do business with people they can trust, says Mikhail, who has collaborated with Buttafuoco for the past 10 years. This market is going to lean toward doing business with Christians because you answer to the same person I do.Radio, television and Internet marketing aren't the only forums. For instance, The Shepherd's Guide, a 120-page Christian business directory, includes Christian plumbers and restaurateurs - even disk jockeys. The Shepherd's Guide says it distributes 55,000 copies in the metropolitan area annually. Not every advertiser is Christian. Take WTHE, a Mineola-based Christian radio station that since 1969 has been owned by Sam Warshaw, who is Jewish. His station features gospel music and talk shows that are produced and paid for by ministers and business owners. But Warshaw won't run any ads that promote alcohol, X-rated or worse movies, Howard Stern and things that obviously go against a religious theme. Some programming is definitely Christian-oriented. A mortgage broker, for instance, speaks about being a good steward if you're religious and not wasting money by refinancing and paying off debt, says Warshaw. Others just talk business.Aside from radio, Buttafuoco, who is of no relation to the Joey of Long Island Lolita fame, also speaks before churches and Christian groups, preaching theological sermons, and bringing along his rare bible collection. Since he began advertising on radio, he has insisted on targeting his audience. In his ads, his message is clear: I understand your world view. I will minister to your legal needs through the trials and tribulations of life.He struck a chord. Of course not everyone sees things the same way. Reading the New Testament, some Christians interpreted Paul to believe lawsuits were immoral or sinful, Buttafuoco said. But they've got it wrong, he claims. What Paul was really advocating, Buttafuoco says, was that in the event of a dispute, take it to the church, not the Roman authorities. The Roman prisons were not a nice place.Still some Christians today believe lawsuits are evil, concedes Buttafuoco: They can be if it's for the wrong motives. But read Exodus 21:22 and you'll see it permits ethical and honest lawsuits and doesn't prohibit them.Lawsuits are a civilized method of dispute, he adds. It's not the person getting sued. It's the insurance companies. They were formed for that purpose. On the other side, you would never trade places with someone who got a million-dollar settlement.His message appeals to pastors who steer him business. To the Christian lawyer:It's a high- level, word-of-mouth.
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