More Lawyers Are Blogging and Realizing the Benefits
A few days ago, law marketing guru Larry Bodine pointed out that about 10% of lawyers now have blogs. While law firms often embrace new technologies more slowly than the rest of the business sector, blogging has been an exception.
Apparently, lawyers have begun to understand that, as legal marketer Joshua Fruchter of eLawMarketing has noted in a recent post on his LawyerCasting blog about best practices for law firm blogs: "blogs are an excellent marketing tool because they deliver exactly what search engines want: targeted content updated on a regular basis that attracts inbound links. The high search engine visibility of blogs, in turn, attracts media visibility, which helps lawyers build their reputations as thought leaders in niche practice areas."
Another blogging pioneer, Kevin O'Keefe, the founder and president of LexBlog, Inc., observes at Real Lawyers Have Blogs, that law firms are using blogs to the same degree as other American businesses. Citing a report that only about 5% of small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees) have blogs, O'Keefe notes that small firms are using blogs in roughly the same numbers as comparably-sized businesses generally. That's great news for lawyers because, as O'Keefe explains, "Blogs are here to stay. Lawyers who fail to join the conversation among thought leaders in their niche will be conspicuous by their absence."
Larry Bodine would, no doubt, agree. He offers 7 compelling reasons to start a professional blog. I like his reasons and they offer me a reason to continue blogging. Let me add one that he doesn't mention, but that I consider equally important. Blogging is a great way to network with other lawyers. Prospective clients aren't the only people who read blogs. Lawyers' blogs allow colleagues to communicate with one another about areas of shared interest and can encourage lawyer-to-lawyer referrals.
By Steve Imparl, guest blogger
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