June 25, 2008 by Kevin O'Keefe

We're too scared to let our lawyers blog

I hear that routinely from law firms, from the largest in the world to 3 and 4 person law firms.

But as Liz Strauss, an expert in corporate online communications and communities, asks 'is the blog the problem?' A blog, though a relative unknown, is just a tool. Look at the real issue that's scaring you.

Look to the people. Isn’t the issue one of trust and control? The employer is concerned about what employees might write on the blog.

We let employees talk to customers daily — answering email, answering phone call, answering questions at exhibits, and answering letters at the office. We trust what they write on behalf of our company. We once worried in the same way about the telephone and email. Still today any of those customer conversations could be shared internationally or in a court of law.

It comes down to hiring and training employees who make good decisions.

If we trust our ability to choose the right employees and to let them know the values that we hold for our company and our customers, the question of whether we should let them blog falls away as an issue.

A blog is a powerful, customer-facing tool. Like a computer, it’s as strong as the people we choose to use it.

Liz' post is part of a series of blog posts she's doing on the 'The ROI of Trust.' Trust is what it's all about. Does your law firm trust your lawyers to talk about what it is the lawyer likes to do?

I was told recently of one senior lawyer who was told by the firm that they would not be permitted to blog. 'The firm does not allow its lawyers to blog.' The lawyer responded with a question. 'Why am I working at a place that does not trust me to talk about what I do - about a niche in the law I am passionate about?'

Law firms allow its lawyers, even new associates, to use the phone, write letters, go to court, speak with clients, write articles for industry publications, speak at conferences, and to network with existing and potential clients. Why? Because the law firm believes it hired talented lawyers and trained them appropriately as to firm protocols.

Why should blogs be any different?

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June 7, 2008 by Kevin O'Keefe

Reaching non-blogging and offline clients with your blog

'My law firm's prospective clients don't blog. I'm not sure they even read blogs. Many are not even regular Internet users. How do I reach these prospective clients by blogging?' All legitimate concerns I hear from law firms on a regular basis.

Liz Strauss, a blogger with 20 years experience in print, software, and online publishing business, offers some excellence advice for how to connect your blogging business with customers in the offline world.

  • Contact local organizations in your niche. Ask local groups and organizations associated with your niche for a blurb in their online or hard copy newsletter. Offer to be a guest speaker for one of their meetings. You'll find such organizations by seeing their scheduled meetings in the newspaper, looking at national websites for such organizations, talking to your local librarians, and calling local buildings and facilities that host such meetings.
  • Look to the customers standing right beside you. Family, friends, bowling buddies, classmates, colleagues at work, and members of organizations you belong to, including your local church, could be a rich source of customers or people who can network you to customers. You can be be an ambassador for the blogging world and how it's a value for business people in general.
  • Find non-blogging experts to interview. Write or email top non-blogging experts (authors, professors, business leaders) in your niche area and politely ask to interview them. They will tell everyone where to find the interview. They may be able to steer other interviews your way. We regularly do 4 and 5 question email interviews with experts for this blog.
  • Utilize press coverage. Write a press release to get coverage in your local paper. Focus your press release on either your blog or blogging. If you write about blogging in general, just make sure to use your site as a highly profiled example. Liz says to tell the paper that blogging is a lifestyle to perk their ears. For a lawyer, tell them how blogging is a win/win for businesses and the public. People get access to legal information and good lawyers further enhance their reputations.
  • Create an Internet presence off your blog. Find online Web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion groups, bulletin board, etc., in your niche subject outside the blog world and jump in. Be nice, be real, and give as much as you can when promoting yourself. You can find forums often attached to magazines, to newspapers, to activities, to organizations, and to web sites of companies that complement your niche and product.
  • Become a YouTuber. Make a YouTube video about yourself, your blog, or your product. Just one video that ‘goes viral’ can rocket anyone into stardom for a day or month. Be ready to utilize any generated traffic in ways that maintain these new readers to your blog.
  • Team up with complementary non-blogging businesses. Let’s say your blog is about environmental law. Environmental engineers, local schools, smart growth, and environmental groups may find environmental law and your take on local issues of interest. As Liz advises, until you ask, you'll never know.

When you blog on a niche subject, you're publishing the local or, in the case of certain niches, national law magazine on the subject. Being recognized as such a publisher and the expert status that comes with it opens a heck of a lot of doors in the offline world.

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