Monday, February 10, 2003 6:50 PM
Most lawyers face the question of how best to market their expertise to potential clients. One of the strengths of a Blawg is its ability to quickly and inexpensively convey a legal professional's expertise and/or opinion. Too often, a lawyer's subject matter expertise remains largely locked up, only shared during the occasional scholarly article, seminar or speech. And, for many lawyers, the many hours spent serving clients and pursuing new business leaves little time to author articles or otherwise convey their expertise. Take a look at the biography of the average lawyer, and you will see many of the articles and opinions they have penned trend towards either his/her law school years or the end of their days of actively practicing law.
The power of the blawg concept in lawyer marketing is two fold: one, it dramatically lowers the "cost and effort" threshold for expressing expertise and opinion; and two, it offers content in a manner that is much more likely to be read.
The "cost and effort" threshold requirements for expressing expert opinion on a legal subject cannot be ignored. Drafting an article for publication in traditional media often involves many hours of research, writing and editing. Costs include non-billable hours and the time-consuming (and often unfruitful) effort of submitting the article to legal journals and magazines, some of which have specific editorial criteria that must be met. In contrast, a blawg entry can consist of a single paragraph covering breaking legal issues that can be added to a website in a matter of minutes. Also, for lawyers such as time-crunched associates eager to market themselves (but with little time to do pursue such endeavors) and solo practitioners with a limited marketing budget, a blawg is a simple, inexpensive and efficient marketing outlet.
Moreover, since blawg content is often short and to the point, it realistically has a chance of being read by potential clients. In these days of information overload, the expectation that potential clients (many of whom are not lawyers) will read through an entire article covering some legal topic is increasingly unrealistic. However, a well-crafted blawg, with daily, brief updates covering subjects of interest, fits nicely with the way people (and especially web users) read in today's world.
Finally, it is not unreasonable to suggest that maintaining a blawg will assist lawyers in establishing themselves in the media as a subject matter expert, something many lawyers strive for as a means to better market their skills. Indeed, many reporters and researchers today use the web as a place to gather information in preparation for a report or article. Clearly, an author of a blawg who has established himself/herself as a subject matter expert has only enhanced their chance to be contacted by a media source crafting an article or report involving that subject matter. Especially, when the author has not yet established an extensive professional network or when the media source is located in another region of the country or world.
In conclusion, blawgs will ultimately serve as a valuable addition to the lawyer's bag of marketing tools. The efficiency, reach and low cost of law marketing via blawgs is simply too great to be ignored.
Back to the Beginning, Four Purposes for Blawgs
Bookmarks: Intro | Research | Gaining New Clients | Supporting Existing Clients | Marketing Lawyer Expertise
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