Consultwebs buying sponsored links to promote article critical of blogs?
Anyone else think it strange that Consultwebs.com is now running Google AdWords (search lawyer blogs) to promote its misguided ‘whitepaper’ – www.consultwebs.com/articlesdt/law_firm_blogs.htm – saying blogs are a waste of time for many law firms?
For me, any doubt I may have had about ConsultWebs lack of knowledge on how blogs work for lawyer marketing and how a lawyer enhances their reputation through viral marketing on the blogosphere has been eliminated.
If ConsultWebs had any sort of Internet presence, other than a Web site which requires people to look for them and their opinions, they sure as heck would not need to buy ads to get people to listen to them say something. If they had a blog, were monitoring the discussion via aggregators and were participating in Internet discussion via the blogosphere they would put their opinions out and they would be spread virally across the Internet.
But ConsultWebs does not have an effective Internet presence. They do not publish a blog, other than what appears to be a blog of theirs last published in February, 2003. Other blog publishers do not discuss their opinions. Consultwebs does not comment on blogs around the net from what I can tell. So they have to pay to get their voice heard.
And lawyers are to consider Consultwebs.com critique of blogs as a serious examination on the value of blogs for legal marketing? I think not. Consultwebs may have a good reputation in the Web development arena but when it comes to the knowledge of blogs and their value in lawyer marketing they’ve shown by their own conduct that they are not up to speed as to use of blogs for marketing lawyers and law firms.
Note: LexBlog does run ads for lawyer blogs at Google AdWords for the LexBlog Web site. However, I hope it never gets to the point where I have to pay to get people to read what I say on this blog. I was brought up to believe free speech was free – meaning you did not need to pay for it.