Are law blogs content marketing?
This morning I read about a Cuban blogger, Yoani Sánchez, who is going to launch a digital newspaper. The paper will be the first independent media on the island in half a century.
Sanchez has become one of the most recognized critical voices because of her blog, which has won many international journalism awards
Yesterday I read about a St. Cloud, Minnesota blogger, who through her own research, aided the police investigation of assaults on teenage boys in the area. Twin Cities television stations have run stories this week about the bloggers work and whether a solo perpetrator was involved all of the attacks.
I view stories like this as the height of citizen journalism. Covering things that have gone uncovered until now for which the public, or at least a segment of the public, has a keen interest.
Also over the last couple days, I have run across countless articles, inside and outside the legal industry, on “content marketing.” Not an altogether bad idea, but I am at a loss as to why blogs, especially law blogs, would be labeled content marketing.
I have watched over the years Seattle Attorney, Bill Marler (@bmarler), and Miami Attorney, Jim Walker (@cruiselaw), blog tirelessly on food safety law and cruise law, respectively. Each penning, personally, every one of their thousands of blog posts.
No question these guys have made the food and cruise industry safer than it was 10 years ago. No question they’re shining a light, via blogging, on news and information that never saw the light of day before their blogs.
I’m sure the information that is leaked to them by people inside the industries and from government officials would blow people’s minds.
Walker and Marler are just two of the countless lawyers, on and off the LexBlog Network, whose blogging on consumer and business matters are covering what has gone uncovered in journalism before now.
Should what these lawyers and other lawyers like them are doing via blogging be labeled as “content marketing?”
To label it as marketing, per se, seems, to me at least, to cheapen their efforts.
No question lawyers who passionately blog about niche issues in an engaging fashion are going to grow their businesses. Why not?
They care. They’re probably better than other lawyers who don’t stay abreast of developments as well as bloggers. They’re engaged. They have established trust with the public. They are improving the image of the legal profession.
I may be old and out of touch, but law blogging to build relationships and report on niche items that the public has a desire to know feels like something more than “content marketing.”
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