“You have to write a blog for your practice!”
You probably heard this line from colleagues, marketing specialists, or coaches. If your website is nothing more than a glorified resume and payment portal, it might turn off potential clients. They want to know more about the person who will be representing them.
Also, everyone else is doing it. Even the large law firms have a blog on their website. They must be doing it for a reason.
So you decided to blog. But you don’t know how to begin and have a lot of questions. Should I use a free blogging host? Or should I use a paid one? What should I write about? How often should I write? What topics would bring in the most clients? Or should I write about what’s on my mind? Should I pay for an SEO? Or are SEOs scams?
So if you clicked on this hoping to find the magic formula to immediately getting more clients through your blog, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Blogging should be done but isn’t really necessary if you have other marketing strategies. Some firms get clients regularly with the help of their blogs. Others do fine without them.
Today, I want to focus on the basics of setting up and writing a blog.
Setting up. If your firm has an existing website, the easiest way to start a blog is to incorporate it into your website. Create a blog section and start writing.
Some people prefer to set up a separate website. There are free blog hosts, like Blogger and WordPress. But you may want to ask your local lawyer’s group to get any other recommendations.
I recommend trying a few platforms and choose the one you feel most comfortable with. This is important if you have never blogged before. Most blogging platforms should have basic word processing capabilities such as allowing you to bold, italicize, or underline words. The blogging platform should also be compatible with your computer. Finally, you should see if your posts are compatible with mobile platforms such as smartphones or tablets since more people are using them to read.
Whether you want to try out a platform’s paid premium service is up to you, but you may want to ask around before doing so. The best reviews come from real people, so you should ask around. I’ve heard most people say that the premium services are not worth it.
Blog topics. A blog is empty without content. So what should you write about? If you are blogging for business, you should write about subjects your potential clients would be interested in. Since we are living in an era of short attention spans, your goal is to keep the reader reading until the end.
A very good topic for a blog post is a common question or problem you get from potential clients. Usually their issues are so small that hiring a lawyer would not be cost effective. But a detailed blog post would be sufficient to help them. These topics are good because clients with smaller issues can turn to your blog instead of calling for a free consultation. It can also establish your expertise for potential clients with bigger issues who may need your help.
Another good topic is an analysis of recently released court decisions related to your practice area(s). As most court decisions have a lot of technical legal language and citations, you can summarize the court’s ruling and reasoning. You can also provide some commentary and explain why this court case is important for the reader.
If you briefed cases in law school, that skill might be useful in the real world after all.
Also, if there is a new, developing area of law that you are interested in, write about that as well. Since the area is developing with no clear-cut answers, you can get away with being wrong so long as your reasoning is strong. It can also establish your expertise early.
If there are any big stories in the news related to your field of practice, you can write about it and provide commentary.
Finally, be mindful of your audience. If your main clients are from Main Street, you should minimize using technical language or legalese. If you are seeking experts in the field or a more sophisticated audience, you can be more liberal with complex prose.
Writing frequency. I see a lot of legal blogs that are dead after a few months. Sometimes because the writers think they have nothing to write about. Others are discouraged because their blogging masterpieces did not get them their dream clients but instead attracted tire-kickers. And others just became too busy to write.
Personally, I think it is a good habit to write regularly, even if it is once a month. As time passes, your numerous posts will demonstrate the depth of your expertise. But don’t feel compelled to write too often, otherwise it will feel like a chore.
Having a blog for your practice is a good idea. Chances are, someone will read your post eventually. I’ve had people contact me about posts I made here years ago. Like most new ventures, getting started is the hardest part. But once you get the hang of it, have fun with it, make your posts informative and share your posts with as many people as possible.
Steven Chung is a tax attorney in Los Angeles, California. He helps people with basic tax planning and resolve tax disputes. He is also sympathetic to people with large student loans. He can be reached via email at sachimalbe@excite.com. Or you can connect with him on Twitter (@stevenchung) and connect with him on LinkedIn.
