This is crazy, but for some odd reason lots of lawyers still don’t blog as part of their legal marketing efforts. In fact, I’ve done a ton of searching (on Google, Technorati and a bunch of other places) and found that the field for legal blogging is pretty much wide open.
In fact, if you do a search on Google for “bankruptcy blog,” you’ll find that there’s not a heck of a lot there.
For those of you who have not yet been dragged into the universe as it currently exists (which apparently is a lot of you), I wanted to take a moment to prevail on you to understand WHY blogging is an awesome legal marketing tool.
When you’re blogging for your legal practice you are really doing nothing more than giving out information in a way that speaks to your potential clients. You’re breaking down the lawyer/client barrier in a way that fosters honest and open communication, unfiltered by the stuffiness of a formal consultation.
When done right, this lets you show your prospective client a little bit of your personality, a good deal of what you know, and how well you can explain it to non-lawyers who need your help.
You get to change the conversation from a monologue about how terrific you are to a conversation about issues that affect your clients – and how they can fix those problems.
It’s terrific if you’re AV rated by some outmoded publication or that you’ve filed a bazillion Chapter 7 cases over the past 20 years. Goody for you, we’re sure you’re very proud and have the shiny plaques on the wall to show for it.
But the people who need your help care only marginally (if at all) about that pomp and circumstance. They want to know if they’re going to lose their car and have to take the bus to work. They want to know if they’re going to get fired from their job with the TSA because of their bill problems.
That’s the sort of thing that keeps them up at night. And by blogging honestly and in a “no legal mumbo-jumbo” way, you get the chance to explain the answers. Clients like that.
When you’re blogging you also get to show your “softer” side. One of my legal blogging buddies routinely puts YouTube videos of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra singing standards and joking around. Why? Because it shows his clients that he’s just like them, and it gives them a window into his personality.
You may think that sounds like a colossal waste of time because none of your clients wants to see YouTube videos on a legal blog. But take a step back and think about this for a minute.
Your clients and prospective clients want to hire someone they trust.
People trust those with whom they have an affinity, a shared interest. People they know pretty well – their best friend, their co-worker who’s been on the job with them for the past decade, their spouse, their buddies in the neighborhood.
And how do your clients get to know you? By seeing who you are after you strip away the legalese. By looking at the pictures on your desk, by listening to the music you pipe through the reception area … and by watching your personality emerge on your legal blog.
Maybe a YouTube videos doesn’t clear things up about legal problems, but they do a fine job of showing your true colors and providing a basis for establishing common ground.
These things are part of what comprise effective legal marketing. Showing your knowledge and willingness to help, doing so in a way that is unfiltered and relaxed, and providing a way for prospective clients to get to know you.
And when done right, it’s all wrapped up in a neat little package called a blog.
Pretty cool, huh?
