Page 63 - 2019 - Leaders in Legal Business (n)
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If you are not going to engage in other ways, answer questions from clients and prospective
clients. For every person with that question, there are hundreds of people asking the same question.
It’s essential to respect attorney-client privilege, but answering questions shows that you’re
listening and that you care. You will build trust, and people asking these questions on search will
discover you on Google.
4.) Think About Your Audience
Effective posts are written with an audience in mind, even an audience of one. Make up
that one person in your mind when you start to blog. Talk with them as a late-night talk radio host
might, or as you might describe a newsworthy item to your neighbor.
Who do you want to know you exist? With whom do you want to build a relationship?
What groups or industries do you want an in with? Talk with them. Blogs are a great excuse to
make an introduction — sometimes even with something as deliberate as an email interview.
If you reach one person and they share your insight with their peers, you’ve reached a
highly targeted, and potentially influential, audience.
When citing a blogger, reporter, or industry leader, follow up with a soft touch. “As a
courtesy to you, I wanted you to know I referenced your post/story in a piece I shared with the
readers of my blog (sharing a link to your post). Keep up the great work.”
You’ll get a “thank you.” You’ll get an opportunity to connect on LinkedIn. You’ll get an
opportunity to meet. How many of your competitors are meeting reporters of the local business
journal or an executive or general counsel with a prospective client corporation for lunch as a result
of something they wrote?
5.) Get the Right Setup
Some lawyers like to tinker, others do not. If you are not the tinkering type, get a
professional’s help and ongoing coaching and support. Though WordPress is theoretically free, so
is rewiring your house.
A key point that lawyers sometimes avoid: A blog belongs on a site independent of your
website. Blogs complement a law firm website.
You don’t want to put a blog inside a website, but there are ways to make them complement
each other: similar colors, a blog title, firm branding in the design of the blog being “published by
the law firm,” and strategic linking back to the law firm website and lawyer bios.
A blog on your website will be viewed as a marketing and advertising effort, no matter
what you say or do. You will forfeit the mantle of expertise that an independent publication
provides you. You will be limited in how you can use your blog for strategic engagement. In-house
counsel do not publish guest posts on a website, yet they do them on an independent blog.
Blog posts on an independent site from your website on an independent domain get cited
by reporters and other bloggers, shared on social media, and are viewed as more credible than
posts on a website. You’ll still get the attention and traffic you may be looking for.
Many solo lawyers and small firm lawyers with focused practices use a blog exclusively
and forgo a website altogether. Who they are, what they do, and how to contact them are all set
out on separate pages on the blog, just like on a website.
Design and develop for mobile first, desktop second. A mobile-optimized blog, preferably
with a responsive design, is critical today. People, especially influencers, are consuming and
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clients. For every person with that question, there are hundreds of people asking the same question.
It’s essential to respect attorney-client privilege, but answering questions shows that you’re
listening and that you care. You will build trust, and people asking these questions on search will
discover you on Google.
4.) Think About Your Audience
Effective posts are written with an audience in mind, even an audience of one. Make up
that one person in your mind when you start to blog. Talk with them as a late-night talk radio host
might, or as you might describe a newsworthy item to your neighbor.
Who do you want to know you exist? With whom do you want to build a relationship?
What groups or industries do you want an in with? Talk with them. Blogs are a great excuse to
make an introduction — sometimes even with something as deliberate as an email interview.
If you reach one person and they share your insight with their peers, you’ve reached a
highly targeted, and potentially influential, audience.
When citing a blogger, reporter, or industry leader, follow up with a soft touch. “As a
courtesy to you, I wanted you to know I referenced your post/story in a piece I shared with the
readers of my blog (sharing a link to your post). Keep up the great work.”
You’ll get a “thank you.” You’ll get an opportunity to connect on LinkedIn. You’ll get an
opportunity to meet. How many of your competitors are meeting reporters of the local business
journal or an executive or general counsel with a prospective client corporation for lunch as a result
of something they wrote?
5.) Get the Right Setup
Some lawyers like to tinker, others do not. If you are not the tinkering type, get a
professional’s help and ongoing coaching and support. Though WordPress is theoretically free, so
is rewiring your house.
A key point that lawyers sometimes avoid: A blog belongs on a site independent of your
website. Blogs complement a law firm website.
You don’t want to put a blog inside a website, but there are ways to make them complement
each other: similar colors, a blog title, firm branding in the design of the blog being “published by
the law firm,” and strategic linking back to the law firm website and lawyer bios.
A blog on your website will be viewed as a marketing and advertising effort, no matter
what you say or do. You will forfeit the mantle of expertise that an independent publication
provides you. You will be limited in how you can use your blog for strategic engagement. In-house
counsel do not publish guest posts on a website, yet they do them on an independent blog.
Blog posts on an independent site from your website on an independent domain get cited
by reporters and other bloggers, shared on social media, and are viewed as more credible than
posts on a website. You’ll still get the attention and traffic you may be looking for.
Many solo lawyers and small firm lawyers with focused practices use a blog exclusively
and forgo a website altogether. Who they are, what they do, and how to contact them are all set
out on separate pages on the blog, just like on a website.
Design and develop for mobile first, desktop second. A mobile-optimized blog, preferably
with a responsive design, is critical today. People, especially influencers, are consuming and
48
