Attract clients by revealing human side

New Orleans’ Attorney Ernie Svenson, commenting on Anicia Ogonosky marketing her bankruptcy practice on MySpace:

Who knew that you could market to potential clients by revealing your human side?’ I thought you had to buy ad time on daytime TV and blare your message like a carnival barker.  After blogging for over 4 years I’m starting to get the sense that people want to see more of the human side of lawyers. But not everyone likes this notion, which is why the NY Bar is trying to clamping down on this dangerous trend.  I love it when professional organizations try to restrict new, and supposedly harmful, activity before getting a sense of how the public feels about this new thing, or without doing empirical studies to see if there really is a potential harm.

I’ve talked with Ernie about his blog where he shares life experiences, observations, and over the last year, his takes on New Orleans’ recovery. I asked if a blog like his can generate work. The answer was yes. The reason being people got to know him as a person. People got to enjoy this blogging hobby of his. And even in the case of corporate clients, people employed by the corporation do the hiring of lawyers.

By the way, if Ernie or Alicia used a golf country club membership to market to potential clients by revealing their human side that’s fine. But do that via the Internet, no way per the New York Bar.