Starting a law blog
Starting a law blog can be a great way of building a strong profile and generating work from your own desk. So, why don’t many more lawyers do it? Or more to the point, why do so many lawyers have the intention to start a law blog but never quite get around to actioning their intention? I have found three main reasons that arise again and again with my clients. Which one is yours?
“What if my post goes viral in a bad way?”
A few years ago I delivered a workshop on blogging for a group of marketing managers and assistants from a very well known UK accountancy network. The aim of the workshop was to get them to blog for the very first time. Collectively, they were both excited and petrified about the prospect. So, what’s scaring them? The same as most soon-to-be bloggers: the fear that they will write something stupid, which then could go viral around the world and make them and their practice look foolish at best. It’s a very real fear, but not one founded on much substance. It’s actually quite hard to get a blog, article, or video to go viral. Normally this happens when the post contains something ultra ultra topical or controversial, or something highly amusing. If you are writing for a new legal blog, it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll do any of those. In fact, in the early days your challenge is to get any readers at all. Worry about world-wide notoriety later.
“I don’t know what to write about!”
I was on a call with one of our clients in Toronto. He wanted to build his profile across the industry, so, we talked about blogging. He was really up for it, until he asked: “So, what would I blog about?” He was stumped. No need. A quick brainstorm over the phone and he rapidly generated 12 great ideas which were enough content to keep him going for 12 months. Another way of finding good content to blog about is to think about to your last few client conversations. What questions did they ask you? What were they concerned about? If they are of concern to one client, then they are going to be of interest to another. These are great starting points for a blog post. Personally I find it very useful to build a content plan of both WHAT I want to blog about and HOW this will help me generate more client leads. This then focuses me on what I am writing, as well as how to promote it afterwards. It helps me overcome any writer’s block. Therefore, write out a content plan before starting a law blog. Work out what your themes are going to be for at least the next 6 months.
“I don’t have the time to blog”
Look, I get the fact you are slaving away all day (and sometimes all night) at the day job, and your billing figures are often the most important KPI for you. However, if you want to progress your career past being a senior associate or if you want to become a freelancer lawyer or set up your own legal practice, you will need to build your own profile. Starting a legal blog (and maintaining it) is an excellent way to do this. You don’t need to blog weekly or daily. A blog that is well-thought out and updated monthly can be more powerful than a blog which is updated weekly and isn’t of the same quality.
Monthly is a great frequency if you have “no time to blog.”
Which one of these is the reason that starting a law blog is still on your To Do list? Or, is it all three? You are not alone, and you can make the leap into being a well-respected legal blogger. Here are some more posts about blogging, how to do it, why to do it, and so on. What to blog? How to use a blog to win new clients. How to write great blog content in no time. Blogging to avoid the feast/famine cycle. What should I write in my firm’s blog? Download my free e-book Blogging Made Easy for more tips and tricks.
