Header graphic for print
Real Lawyers Have Blogs On the topic of the law, firm marketing, social media, & baseball

Advertising does not belong on lawyer blogs

Glad to have another lawyer on board against placing ads on lawyer blogs. Jonathan Stein makes clear what ought to be common sense, ads on lawyer blogs are not acceptable.

Why? Good question. A blog is an extension of your firm. Think of it like your website. Would you put an ad on your website? Of course not. No one would do that. So, why would you put an ad on your blog?

Ads are acceptable in all kinds of places. You can put an ad on a car (yes, I have seen lawyers advertise on cars), or an ad on a bus, or an ad on television. Heck, in Europe, soccer, er, football teams have ads on their jerseys. As a matter of fact, I know someone who can recognize the team by the ad!

But, the first type of ads are advertising your service. Isn't that the point of a blog anyway? If you have a practice area blog, aren't you advertising your service? Why would you want to advertise another service on your blog as well? The second type of ads are fine – ON SOCCER JERSEYS. It is a revenue source for the club. But some things, like the Yankee pinstripes or the Cowboys star, should not be tarnished with ads. Just like your blog should not be tarnished with ads.

Too bad lawyers aren't known for their common sense Jonathan.

  • http://www.strategichrlawyer.com Diane Pfadenhauer

    I agree Kevin. I am solicited all the time by vendors wanting me to place ads on my blog. To me, it would be like putting an ad on my marketing brochure! Tacky, indeed.

  • http://techlawadvisor.com Kevin

    What about the ads for LexBlog at the bottom of the lexblog blawgs? Or is that in some way different — maybe you should distinguish it.

  • http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq david giacalone

    The kind of lawyer who needs this kind of advice is not the sort I would want as my counselor, advisor, devil's advocate, etc. Maybe we should stop making these points (it's been two years now) so that potential clients or referring lawyers can see just how little sense (or how much greed) a weblogging lawyer really has.