Debbie Ausburn of Youth Services Litigation Blog: LexBlog Q & A

Having a narrow, niche focus for your blog can make it easier to establish yourself as an authority on a subject. But it also means that it can be hard to "enter the conversation," if that conversation is made up of only a few voices.

Georgia Attorney Debbie Ausburn, who has worked with youth-serving organizations for almost 30 years, has been working to find that balance since the launch of her Youth Services Litigation Blog. While youth services litigation is a broad topic, which gives Debbie plenty of inspiration for blog posts, there aren’t many blogs on similar topics out there.

The upside is, Debbie is emerging as one of the leading voices in the youth services litigation blogosphere.

"Blogging also has given me a way to establish my expertise," she says. "My clients often mention seeing something on my blog that was relevant to their work. It is gratifying to know that people in the field find my blog to be a useful resource.

"When I mention a new study or news item to clients or attorney friends, I often hear, ‘Oh yes, I saw that on your blog a few days ago’," she adds. "That has been a very gratifying part of blogging."

We caught up with Debbie via email for this LexBlog Q&A to discuss why she started blogging and what advice she would give to new bloggers, and more.

See our e-mail exchange with Debbie (after the jump).

Lisa Kennelly: Why did you decide to start a blog?

Debbie Ausburn: I first thought about it several years ago, but only in the vague way that all lawyers think that they, too, could write a mystery novel. I followed various legal blogs, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2008 that I came back to the idea of starting my own blog. I realized that over the years I have developed a unique expertise, and blogging is the perfect outlet for that type of practice. It took me a while to decide that (a) I had something interesting to say, and (b) I could find the time to maintain a good blog.

Lisa Kennelly: What has been most rewarding about blogging?

Debbie Ausburn: I have had to get outside my usual track and learn more about issues that affect youth camps, day care centers, etc. Learning from experts in the field has always been one of the things I have enjoyed most about being a litigator; becoming a blogger has simply expanded that experience.

Blogging also has given me a way to establish my expertise. My clients often mention seeing something on my blog that was relevant to their work. It is gratifying to know that people in the field find my blog to be a useful resource. It also is nice, when talking to prospective clients, to be able to refer them to my blog. They can get a much better sense from my blog of whether I know what I’m talking about than they can from a dry resume or glowing marketing materials.

Lisa Kennelly: Youth services litigation, your blog’s subject, has a niche focus without a lot of similar blogs in the blogosphere. Does this make it easier or tougher to find topics to blog about?

Debbie Ausburn: Both. There is no end of news articles about children who have been injured in a camp, school or day care. Between my news reader and plaintiffs’ attorney blogs, I am inundated with depressing incidents. It has been surprisingly difficult, however, to find stories that I can use as illustrations for how to avoid problems. Saying more than "another child has been injured or molested" has required more time and research than I had anticipated.

On the other hand, the topic is broad, in that youth-serving organizations have to deal with a wide variety of things, from staff recruitment to curriculum to parent complaints. I have been able to draw on sources from many other disciplines, such as mental health research, to find relevant topics.

The thing that has been most difficult is following Kevin O’Keefe’s advice to "enter the conversation." Because there are so few blogs dealing with similar topics, I rarely find occasion to leave comments. I draw most of my material from news articles or mental health journals, which don’t have a comment space, and don’t draw a lot of traffic from my target audience anyway. I talk frequently to a lot of experts, but few of them are connected with blogs or social media. So, there are not many conversations for me to enter.

Lisa Kennelly: What kinds of feedback have your received from your blog, and from whom?

Debbie Ausburn: Most of my feedback has come from clients and colleagues. The blog is too new and too specialized to be getting much traffic yet, and I see very few comments on the blog itself. But when I mention a new study or news item to clients or attorney friends, I often hear, "Oh yes, I saw that on your blog a few days ago." That has been a very gratifying part of blogging.

Lisa Kennelly: What advice would you give to a lawyer just starting out with blogging?

Debbie Ausburn: It’s like learning to swim – you just have to jump in and do it. It will take more time than you expect, and will have more benefits than you expect. Develop a backlog of blog posts for the dry times when you are short on time, and build a network of knowledgeable people to send you topics and news items.