Lawyers and blogs : You can lead ’em to water but…

I enjoy the heck out of teaching good lawyers and legal marketing professionals about the marketing potential of blogs. Whether it’s a speaking engagement across the country or via a free webinar from the comforts of my office on Bainbridge Island, it’s a learning experience for both sides. One thing I have learned about lawyers is that you can lead them to water but you can’t make ’em drink.

Routinely I hear back from marketing staff that they see huge potential in blogs. But they say it’s entirely another thing to find a willing body to publish a blog. My response?

It’s not a ‘willing bodies’ type of thing. It’s a ‘blog champion’ kind of thing where a lawyer or two in a niche practice area see the value of spending less time on marketing and receiving greater returns. Seems like a no-brainer but most lawyers can not see or understand the potential or appreciate how little time it takes.

That’s okay, these lawyers will follow other lawyers who begin publishing blogs today. Lawyers down the hall from those blog champions will come knocking on the champion’s door when the blog champion is featured in an article, asked to present at a major seminar and pick up a client or two. Today’s contrarians will be tomorrow’s champions.

Same thing happend with law firms and websites in the mid to late ’90’s. Most firms saw no reason to have a website. By 2000, they all had firm websites. With blogs, it will not be all lawyers, but by 2010 the majority of lawyers will be publishing blogs. Those who begin now will be way ahead of the game in enhancing their reputation and growing their practice.

But as the saying goes, ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make ’em drink.’ ;)