Blogs, done well, attract people in trouble – your clients

How do you let people in trouble know about your legal services? Whether some one is on the verge of a messy divorce, determining how to pay as little taxes as possible on a $75 million estate, or getting a land deal through environmental regulations, all of them are looking for legal information and ultimately are going to turn to you guys as lawyers. As Seth Godin blogs today, blogs are the answer – assuming you do it right.

Blogs, of course, ought to be the perfect place to find people in trouble. The challenge is in getting past the ‘I won’t click on an ad’ mindset that 80% of those online carry around. Guerrilla marketing works best when it takes the form of a sponsorship or other unexpected combination of advertiser and content. Blogs let you go farther than that, though.

The most effective marketing use of blogs seems to be when the advertiser/marketer uses the blog as an opportunity not to sell a product, but to attract people who are in the right mindset. Joel Spolsky rarely writes about his product, but that’s fine. The people who read his writing are the very same people who need his product, and his proximity to the valuable ideas (and his reputation) makes it not such a leap to go ahead and buy what he has to sell. My clients and I never blog about our service or product. We blog about things that attract people looking for our services. In the case of folks looking for legal services, whether a consumer, corporate executive, or in-house counsel, that’s legal information, insight, commentary, and solutions relating to their problems. Blog about those things and you will not be able to keep prospective clients away from your blog with a stick.