Why it’s easier to get content from lawyers for blogs than newsletters

A legal marketing professional recently commented on a law marketing listserv that law firms may want to stay away from blogs if the firm has had trouble getting content from lawyers for a newsletter. ‘It is highly unlikely that you will have enough content to make any type of blog successful.’

I explained that may not be the case. No one should presume that getting content for a blog is difficult. LexBlog has over 800 lawyer clients authoring blogs. On the vast, vast majority of the blogs content has not been an issue – at all.

Rich De Luca, Business Development Director at 100 plus lawyer, Stark and Stark, said that getting content from lawyers for articles and newsletters was like pulling teeth. After he started blogs, lawyers lined up to have their content published. K & L Gates said their lawyers were having fun blogging.

Why not a content problem with blogs?

• Most of the lawyers we work with, from solos to largest firms in country, call blogging fun.
• A good blog post may take as little as 15 to 30 minutes. Articles and newsletter content take much more time.
• Blog posts often reference content you’ve read (best when picked up on RSS feeds from relevant blogs & keyword searches at Google Blog Search and Google News). Taking a block quote and adding your insight and commentary in a blog post so as to enter into a ‘conversation’ with thought leaders is easy and enjoyable. Brings exposure to blog and positive feedback from leaders in a lawyer’s area of practice and industry they represent.
• Lawyers like the immediacy of seeing content on net. They see something they want to share with clients, prospective clients, bloggers, and reporters and it’s up in a day – or even immediately.
• Positive feedback on blog posts from clients as well as people they have not met, who they would never have reached with newsletters.
• Informal aspect of blogs – closer to email than an article. Professional, yes. But not something that is reviewed and edited again and again.
• Viral marketing bounce of blogs motivates lawyers. Content found on Google. Calls from reporters. Requests to speak at conferences. Content automatically syndicated to third party publications, ie NY Times, Forbes, Bloomberg. These positives lawyers do not see in email newsletters get lawyers fired up to publish blogs.

Newsletters have a role. But there are reasons the number of large law firms publishing blogs has grown almost 40% in the last 6 months with now over 25% of large law firms publishing blogs.