June 14

Lawyer Blogs – Connecting With Clients in the Internet Age

I read on CNN the other day that a whole 122 newspapers in the US were going under and closing shop.

Threatened by the internet which breaks stories faster than a newspaper can, the mounting cost (both financial as well as enviornmental) of paper, and a multifold decrease in advertising have lead these newspapers – many of them old, established names to take this step.

Lesson: The age of internet is upon us – like it or not – and unless you adapt, you’re bound to perish.

Its keeping this in perspective that I’ll talk about blogs, and how they can help you as a practicing attorney to get more clients and keep in touch with the old ones.

The legal profession is all about reputation and image. This is the reason why old and reputable law firms are usually heavily involved in the local community and charity. It is also because of this reason that law firms will often refuse to lay off employees, even if it means eating into their profits.

Having a personal blog online is, thus, a great way for you as a lawyer to connect with an audience of prospective clients. Whether you’re a beginning associate or an old and experienced practioner of the art of jurisprudence, you’ll find that sharing your knowledge and expertise on legal matters can be both highly profitable as well as personally and intellectually rewarding.

Visitors coming to your blog will come looking for both advice as well as opinion. If you combine the two effectively, you’ll soon build an image that will help to establish your name and reputation online, which will carry on in the real world and provide you with a steady stream of clients and goodwill.

What to blog about?

Since as a lawyer, you’ll mostly draw your clients from your local area, it makes sense to blog about issues within your community or city. A local crime that has gripped the city’s attention, a controversial case of police brutality, or a case of corruption in the mayor’s office (depressing topics all, I know) can make for good subject matters for a lawyer’s blog.

At the same time, also don’t be afraid to voice your opinion on matters of national importance. If you feel you have something to say about Rod Blagojevich, then go ahead, say so.

Also, feel free to dispense advice through your blog. If you specialize in tax law, for instance, then write about what to do when the IRS comes knocking at your door. Write about medical insurance policies if you specialize in insurance law. Pick your area of speciality and write about it. Not only will it help your readers and built clients, but will also be enjoyable to you.

One more thing: don’t let it be all about law. Talk about yourself, your hobbies, likes and dislikes. An interesting event that happened the other day, or any other interesting though. I’ve seen too many blogs that are filled with just professional information, which, consequently, makes it feel automated or too stiff and formal. Writing about your personal life, in fact, will only cement your public image.

How to Blog?

There are dozens of blogging platforms out there with various degrees of quality, difficulty and functionality. Most of them are free, but a few others charge a small monthly fee.

The most popular free blogging services are Blogger and WordPress.

Blogger

Blogger is one of the most popular services and very easy to use. I’m sure you’ve stumbled across a blogger blog – they usually are in the format “xxxx.blogspot.com”. Moreover, there is a very strong existing community of blogger users, so you already have a ready made audience.

On the other hand, Blogger is severely lacking in features. There are very few themes, fewer plugins to increase functionality. Although its learning curve is extremely flat, it is still not recommended because of its lack of features.

WordPress

WordPress is arguably the best blogging software on the planet. It has a very strong community of developers who have churned out hundreds of plugins and themes that can increase the functionality of this blogging software manifold. You can, with the implementation of a few plugins and themes, make your blog into a full fledged corporate website, or a slideshow of your favorite pictures.

On the other hand, WordPress can be fairly difficult to learn. While setting up a basic blog is easy, actually taking advantage of WordPress’ features can take a bit getting used to. If you’re handy with computers and know a bit of HTML or CSS, you’ll find WordPress to be a dream, though.

Typepad

Typepad is one of the few paid blogging services on the internet. They charge you $4.99/month for their basic services (or at least they were when I checked last). They offer you a blog with a plethora of customization options and themes. Moreover, Typepad makes blogging extremely easy. Right from its interface to its features, Typepad is customized towards the user experience, making it the most user friendly blogging software on this list – a feature that is well worth the monthly fees.

On the cons side, Typepad has fewer features than WordPress. It does not benefit from the open-source community of developers that WordPress has built up over the years, and thus, lacks the former’s extensive features.

Others

There are a few more blogging softwares such as B2Evolution and Nucleus. Honestly, I haven’t used these extensively to recommend them, nor do they benefit from the ease of use/features/ popularity that the above three softwares benefit from.

If you’re well versed with the internet and feel game to take on a challenge, I also recommend using Joomla. Joomla is not exactly a blogging software – it is used more often to build websites – but the functionality it offers are amazing and you’ll definitely enjoy working with it once you get the hang of it.

Other Tips

Make sure to respond to the comments on your posts. This will help build a dialog with your readers, and ultimately, a reputation and clients.
Post frequently: you don’t have to make blogging a chore; post when you have something to say, but make sure you don’t keep more than half a month’s break between posts – an internet audience can be very fickle and thin out over time.
Don’t obsess over themes or the look of your blog. Too many first time bloggers spend hours upon hours to pick *just* the right theme for their blog, just the right theme for their headers. Remember that the visitors to your blog come there for the words, not the design. A good design is definitely helpful and easy on the eyes, but not something to obsess over.