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Law firm podcasts require RSS feed

A law firm’s launching a podcast is still new enough to garner news coverage in major newspapers.

The Minneapolis firm of Leonard Street and Deinard had the good fortune of having their first podcast on the federal rules of ediscovery get picked up by this morning’s Star Tribune.

When asked, I’m advising law firms to do podcasts so long as they’re done properly – with good intro’s, high quality sound, and with a focus on brevity.

Key to any good podcast is an RSS feed and to have that feed picked up by Apple’s iTunes podcast directory. Something Leonard and Street does not appear to have done.

Users expect to subscribe to a podcast via RSS so they automatically receive each new podcast directly on their mp3/iTune’s player on their computer without having to go back to the podcast producer’s site.

Apple’s music store hosts thousands of business podcasts. It’s as good a directory of business podcasts as there is. And it’s free.

Law firms thinking their business clients don’t know all this are misguided. Business people are sophisticated Internet users with more than 21% of senior exec’s reading at least one business blog a week.

Law firms thinking getting people to their websites is a win, as in requiring listening to a podcast at their website because there’s no RSS feed, are misguided. Makes as much sense as telling clients and prospective clients that you’ll be doing a radio broadcast with listeners required to come to the law firm’s conference room to listen on the law firm’s radios.

Omissions, such as not having an RSS feed on your podcast, are embarrassing to your law firm, whether you know it or not. You’re trying to impress prospective clients, many of whom may be more innovative than your law firm.

If you’re displaying a lack of innovation through your marketing, your apt to lose those folks. Not many businesses are looking for lack of innovation in their law firm. ;)

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