Attorneys & Web 2.0
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An article in the September 2008 issue of the ABA Journal reveals that only 8% of law firms and 2% of attorneys maintain a law blog.
Wow. That’s a lot lower than I would have expected, especially since this same survey shows that 96% of attorneys are doing their legal research online and over half of the solos who participated in the survey have websites.
Ironically, a vast majority of the attorneys responded that they receive their information from websites, newsletters and discussion lists. But who provides the information contained on those websites and in those newsletters?
Obviously there is a huge market for online legal news. And in this field, news needs to be…well…new. Static websites that are rarely updated are not news. Articles, blog posts, newsletters…this is the direction that news in the legal field is heading. Legal blogs even have their own unique title and are referred to as “blawgs”.
Legal blogs are no longer a task left up to the firm’s IT guy. Sure, they can set up a website for the firm, maybe even add a blog and show the attorneys how to add content. But who is going to write the content? The IT guy can’t help you with that. He knows computers, not legal analysis. And every firm has at least one attorney who really ‘gets’ technology and has a real interest in it. But what are the chances that he has time to maintain an active website with constantly updated content? Probably pretty slim. And what if you’re a solo attorney? Or what if you are ‘the attorney/computer geek’? Do you have both the time and the computer skills to take on such a vital task?
The purpose of sharing this information isn’t to give you some sort of sales pitch but I am going to explain to you how a Virtual Legal Assistant can help you solve this problem.
First, there’s the blog set up. You may already have a domain and website but how do you add a blog? The most common blogging platform is WordPress. A VLA can install WordPress for you, add the essential plugins such as those for SEO (search engine optimization), comment forms, and social bookmarking, and even design a template for you incorporating your practice logo and contact information.
Then there’s the content. Now obviously, as the legal expert, you’re going to be the one responsible for providing the content. But chances are that you don’t have the time to sit and write it out, especially since the time you spend on it is non-billable. The most efficient way to do this with the assistance of a VLA is to send an outline or notes or dictation to your VLA for compilation or transcription. The VLA would then draft the post for you, submit it to you for your approval, and then once you’ve approved the content, your VLA can take care of adding it to the blog for you.
Once you’ve got your blog set up and some content added, its time to promote it and let others know its out there. Your blog audience may be other attorneys or potential clients. Consider both of these as a possible source of income. From other clients, you may acquire referrals and from the non-attorneys who have probably found your blog through a search for information about a specific legal topic, you may gain a new client.
Again, marketing your blog is an area that your VLA should be equipped to handle. After all, we do own our own business and have spent a lot of time marketing it using many of the same methods we would use to promote your blog. There are several social networking sites, most of which I have mentioned before, that provide marketing opportunities. Linked In has become very popular with those in the corporate world and there are many LinkedIn groups available for specific industries, including law firms and even legal bloggers. You can also take advantage of social bookmarking and use those to highlight particular posts. One of my favorites, other than the well-known Stumble Upon and Digg, is Social Median. Social Median allows information consumers to “clip” certain articles and categorize them to be shared with special interest groups. For example, I subscribe to groups such as Knowledge Management for Legal Professionals, Law and Technology, and two that I created, Work at Home Resources and the Virtual Assistant Industry.
Here’s a perfect example of how blogging and networking has helped one attorney build his solo practice. Andrew Flusche is a Virginia attorney who has expanded his business to include webinars (online seminars) and a regular business law column at the Home Office Warrior, a popular website for professionals and entrepreneurs working from home in a variety of industries.
Hopefully this article has given you some ideas and inspired you to take advantage of the online resources available to help you in the growth of your legal practice. And, as always, Advantage Virtual Assistant is available to assist you in these areas and answer any questions you may have.
