Answering lawyer’s ‘no time’ objection to blogging

PR expert, Shel Holtz, has good post today on answering the time objection to blogging.

Shel was addressing the time objection to executives blogging. I thought his explanation applied well to lawyers as well.

Blogs don’t replace phone calls, road shows, speeches, letters, email and the rest of the tools in the communications toolbox. When making the choice of tools to use, though, blogging should be assessed based on its strengths. Identifying the return on time invested an executive would accrue, that time commitment could seem like a far less daunting obstacle. Blogging, in fact, could ultimately take less time than using all the other channels that are less effective in some circumstances.

Finally, a lot of the worry about the time involved comes from a misconception: Blog posts from executives, many company leaders assume, need to be lengthy, carefully crafted essays, not unlike a shareholder’s letter or one of those ‘From the CEO’ columns that used to appear on the inside front cover of so many magazines. Truthfully, most readers of blogs aren’t interested in 2,000-word columns. A one- or two-paragraph observation, question, or commentary would be far more effective. ‘A radio report I heard in the car on the way to the office this morning got me thinking…’ is a fine introduction, and ‘I’d like to know what you think’ is a great conclusion to a brief, pithy post.

Rather than accept the ‘no time’ argument, let’s help our executives understand the value of blogging, the activities it can replace, and the nature of the effort involved.

I hear the time objection to lawyer blogging three or four times a week. Legal marketing professionals pushing law blogs for their law firms are running into the same objection. ‘We’re busy lawyers, we don’t have time to blog.’

Shel’s suggestion in responding is a good one. Help lawyers understand the value of blogging, the activities it can replace, and the how little effort may be involved.