Bill Gates shakes blogosphere and sends lawyers a message
As reported by Investor’s Business Daily
Bill Gates told Warren Buffett about blogging last Thursday. That was when Gates addressed the CEO’s attending his summit and described blogs and RSS feeds as tools that “make it very easy to communicate” with customers, suppliers and employees.
The result, according to New York public-relations executive Steve Rubel, is likely to be a number of meetings of executives and their PR people and IT managers to explore this “blogging thing Bill Gates talked about.” Rubel, of Cooper Katz & Co., also wrote Friday morning, “The blogosphere changed. It feels very much like 1995 all over again.”
In 1995 Lawyers knew little of the Internet and if told that they would have had something called a Web site to connect with current and prospective clients, lawyers would have said you’re nuts. We’re at the same crossroads with lawyer blogs.
We’ve progressed to the point where society is accustomed to receiving information in digital form. Web sites and emails are used by people every day to communicate and obtain the information they need to solve problems and make decisions. People flocked to these mediums because of ease of use and the ability to find out more than they ever dreamed possible. But emails are obtrusive – people are sick of all the email they receive. And Web sites require people to return to see if there is updated information. Blogs with their news feeds via RSS (real simple syndication), according to Bill Gates, are the answer.
Lawyers have two choices. One, bury their heads in the sand like many did for so long with Web sites. Such lawyers will say they are not tech savvy and don’t need blogs and something called RSS. Or they can start using blog technology and feed their clients and prospective clients the information they want when they want it. These lawyers will complement their Web sites and email newsletters with blogs focused on a niche topic.
The best way to predict the future is to study history. Recent history tells us lawyer marketing in the digital age can change dramatically in a year or two. Blogs, little understood by the vast majority of lawyers today will be routinely used in lawyer marketing within a year. You dont have to listen to me, listen to Bill Gates.