Lawyers as Bloggers

In for a Penny, In for a Pound

In March 2013, I posted my first post on this blog.  After several months of business coaching with Christine Kane and exposure to the concept of "content marketing," I wanted to explore the platform and its uses. I wanted to run an experiment. 

How long would it take the Google bots to find me?  I'd been told it would take a year of daily blogging.  So, I committed to that publication schedule.  In 2013, I made 182 posts over a ten month period.  Not exactly every day, but just about 20 posts a month or 4.5 posts a week. 

In the process, I regained the voice I had had as a columnist for the magazine published for members of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL).  The coverage is eclectic, but then I promised broader coverage in my description of the blog:  "Discussing new ways to meet the needs of law firm clients, mediation parties, negotiators, and law students."

Two years later, I have published almost 300 posts. 

Last month, my webhost sent me a message letting me know that my URL domain name and hosting fees will come due soon and be automatically renewed.  That message makes me pause to consider whether investing in the blog makes sense.  The answer continues to be "yes." 

In a few weeks, I'll pass 75,000 pages views, most of which are bots.  So, the experiment worked.  Google the words "The Red Velvet Lawyer," and the top six search results will refer to the blog.  Google the words "Paula Marie Young," and the first three search pages feature mostly me.  Those searches also reflect my commitment to social media. 

A blog, however, reminds me of the scene in the film, Little Shop of Horrors, when the alien plant demands: "Feed me!"  

Several times a week, I scroll down my own blog roll looking for new posts from other bloggers.  Today, I cleaned out any bloggers who were not posting on at least a 3-month basis.  Yes, it is a commitment, but it is an important way to contribute, educate, share, and grow.  Bloggers who post valuable content on a regular basis deserve the attention they garner.  They distinguish themselves from other folks in the market through their tenacity.  And, for lawyer-bloggers, their blogs can help ideal clients find them and pre-qualify for offered services.

Finally, the blog implements two coaching lessons I've applied for a very long time:  "Don't be afraid to be seen" and "do it imperfectly."  Both lessons lead to greater success.

Seth Godin's Advice on Marketing a Law Practice

Love this Guy's Advice!

Marketing guru, Seth Godin, has a string of blog postings on his Squiddoo website that every lawyer should read.  I am creating this blog posting just so I can go back to it again and again.  

For a list of his books I found compelling on the topics of content marketing, permission marketing, and social media marketing, see here. 

Content Marketing Lessons from Actor Kevin Spacey

They are Dying for Stories

One of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey, gave a speech that has run through the content marketing world with great enthusiasm.  In fact, he will now be a keynote speaker at the Content Marketing Institute's World 2014 conference in Cleveland, Ohio on September 8-11, 2014.  I'm going!

If you have not watched this video, you can find it here. It's really great, especially if you're a House of Cards fan, like I am.

Spacey explains the experience he had with marketing the series to the major networks before Netflix backed the project.  He then argues:

The audience has spoken.  They want stories.  They are dying for them.  They are routing for us to give them the right thing. 

And they will talk about it; binge on it; carry it with them on the bus and to the hairdresser; force it on their friends; Facebook; tweet; blog; make fan pages; make silly GIFs; and God knows what else about it. Engage with it with a passion and intimacy that a blockbuster movie can only dream of.  

And, all we have to do is give it to them.  The prize fruit is right there.  Shinier and juicier than it's ever been.

He also explains:

Give them [the audience] what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in . . . . The audience wants control.  They want freedom.

Give it to them, even if the story is dark, sophisticated, complicated, developed over a long time, and made available for binge consumption.  What does that "tribe" want?  How do you engage with that tribe?

If you want more information about content marketing and the cultural shift behind it, see my posts here and here.

Content Marketing: My Recommended Reading List

Content, Permission, and Social Media Marketing: 

What You Need to Know to 

Market Your Legal Services More Effectively

As promised in an earlier posting, here is my list of recommended reading on content marketing.  

Chris Brogan, Google+ for Business: How Google’s SocialNetworking Changes Everything (2013).

• Brogan explores this newer platform that allows you to follow influences (unlike Facebook where people must give you permission to follow them).   I joined it because I figure the Google bots were paying attention to the content (like my blog postings) that I reposted there. 

• I also follow Brogan through his website, http://www.chrisbrogan.com/, which is very stylishly designed and includes an example of a “Valuable Free Offer” opt-in page.  By opting in, you get on his “list,” which then serves as permission for him to continue to engage with you. 

• He also has a podcast (available in iTunes) and blog.

Kelby Carr, Pinterest Marketing for Dummies (2012).

• I love this platform because of its visual orientation and the ability to generate strong emotions through the boards you create.  This book provides a great introduction that I would use in conjunction with Gary Vaynerchuck’s most recent book (see below).

• For a look at the Pinterest account I created for ASL, see here. You need to have a Pinterest account to access it. 

Andrew J. Dagys, Podcasting Now! (2006).

• I don’t know that I will become a podcaster, but I was curious how to use this media to provide high-quality content to potential consumers of products and services.

• I also like the podcast: This Old Marketing, by Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose (available on iTunes).  It covers content marketing, brand storytelling, and social media marketing. 

Seth Godin, Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers intoFriends, and Friends into Customers (1999).

• I have read everything in Godin’s ouvre. Most of Godin's books seems to be a collection of edited blog posts.  Even so, I love his work and he has helped me make important shifts in my thinking. 

• This prolific and well-known thinker, author, and trend-spotter (if not creator), -- whom Tom Peters called an Internet Marketing Guru -- wrote one of the first books on permission marketing.  It makes the distinction between push marketing and pull marketing.  My business coach introduced me to the concept from a practical perspective.  This book helped me understand the theory, psychology, emotions, and technology behind this huge cultural shift made possible by the Internet. 

• For me, it provided a huge shift in my thinking about how to interact with clients, customers, potential students, and other people who came into my life. 

Seth Godin, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable (2002).

• This short book to explain that the key to success is to standout (like a purple cow in a field full of brown cows) in a noisier and nosier marketplace.   “[B]oring always leads to failure.” It builds on his permission marketing book.  

• He calls on us to take risks and do amazing things.

Seth Godin, Free Prize Inside! The Next Big Marketing Idea(2004).

• This book is more eclectic (again a collection of blog posts, I’m guessing), but the focus is on marketing philosophy and strategies given the shift to social media platforms.  He preaches about connection, being remarkable, leading the way, and creating a conversation about your product or service.  He invites readers to create a product or service worth talking about.

Seth Godin, Tribes: We Need You to Lead (2008).

• I talked about this book in an earlier posting.

Seth Godin, All Marketers Tell Stories: The Underground Classic that Explains How Marketing Really Works -- and Why Authenticity is the Best Marketing of All ( 2012).

• Godin asks us to consider three questions as marketers:
• What's your story?
• Will the people who need to hear this story believe it?
• Is it true?

• He argues that great marketers do not talk about features and their benefits.  Instead, the tell us with stories why we should buy expensive wine or expensive cars. 

Susan Gunelius, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies (2010).

• Very good book that will teach you how to create, design, start, promote, and maintain a blog on any of the leading platforms.   I used it to create The Red Velvet Lawyer, and if I can do that, anyone can create a blog.

• This series offers book with particular blogging focuses. So check the other publications, too.

• P.S. If I had to do it over, I’d be sure to use a blogging platform that allows me to archive posts by topic.  Blogger only archives by date, but it was a good starter platform because of its template choices and ease of use.

Mitch Joel, Ctrl Alt Delete: Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life.  Your Future Depends on It.(2013).

• Another author’s look at building relationships with consumers through social media marketing and permission marketing.  He makes the distinction between blasting consumers with you marketing message and building relationships with consumer through high-touch, valuable content that draws them to your product or service.  It argues that consumers are smarter than ever and connected in a way that a smart businesses can use, but only by providing a high-quality customer experience from beginning to their next purchase (and then some).

• This is a good introductory book, like Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing (see above) or Gary Vaynerchuck’s The Thank You Economy (see below).

Kyle Lacy, Twitter Marketing for Dummies (2011).

• I have not read this book yet.  I have just started playing with Twitter with intention to market me or the law school.  I would be sure to combine its advice with that of Gary Vaynerchuk in his new book, described below.

Ben Norman, Get to No. 1 on Google: Fast Track to the Top! (2012).

• This book helped me understand the theory behind Google SEO (search engine optimization),  advised whether to pay for search page priority placement or “earn” it organically, suggested many ways to earn organic optimization, and covered topics on why Google placements are important to your business and personal brand.  It also covered the ethics of optimization and the penalties for trying to outsmart Google’s algorithm (which changes frequently).

• Even though this book is only a year old, Google is an ever-changing world.

Al Ries and Jack Trout, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk (1993).

• My business coach recommended this older, but durable, book on the challenges any business faces in marketing a product or service.  My business coach put this on her required reading list for her students in her Gold Mastermind program.

Al Ries and Laura Ries, The 22 Immutable Law of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service Into a World-Class Brand ( 2002).

• Marketing is brand building.  The brand differentiates you from competitors.  Branding pre-sells the product or service by creating a strong (you hope, positive) association in a buyer’s mind.  This book offers laws of branding, as the title suggests, and has added 11 laws of Internet branding.

Tim Templeton, The Referral of a Lifetime: The Networking System that Produces Bottom-Line Results Every Day (2005).

• My business coach recommended this book.  The writing style irritated me a bit.  It was written as an extended conversation among several players, but the advice and strategies are solid.  They would be especially helpful for lawyers, who must rely, in part, on referrals to build a successful law practice.
• I especially like the idea of providing regular gifts of appreciation to your better referral sources.

• Here's the publisher's description of the book:

In The Referral of a Lifetime, author Tim Templeton frames a powerful plan for cultivating clients and customers in a fable about businesswoman Susie McCumber, who feels increasingly like a failure. A friend refers her to the mysterious Mr. Highground, who introduces her to four successful people. They show her how they transformed their businesses and their lives by determining how others view them and how they view themselves as both human beings and businesspeople. Each of the four represents a "type" in this schema - from the "relational/business" type who puts the relationship first but thinks strategically when the talk turns to business, to the "business/business" type, who avoids relationships unless they work to a business advantage. Templeton shows how understanding one's type allows one to showcase strengths while improving weak areas in this simple, easy-to-use guide to success in business and in life.

Gary Vaynerchuk, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World (2013).

• Explains how to use the existing and developing social media platforms by describing each platform, explaining its “native” communication style, describing its primary audience, and offering good and bad examples of the use of each platform.  Beautifully illustrated and well-written.  Includes discussions of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine, and Snapchat.

Gary Vaynerchuk, The Thank You Economy (2011).

• My business coach recommended this good summary of why you should be using social media to market your product or service.  Very engaging writing.  I finished the book in a couple of days. 

• He says:

I believe that we are living through the early days of a dramatic cultural shift that is bringing us back full circle, and that the world we live and work in now operates in a way that is surprisingly similar to the one our great-grandparents knew.  Social media has transformed our world into one great big small town, dominated, as all vibrant towns used to be, by the strength of relationships, the currency of caring, and the power of word of mouth.  In order to succeed now and in the future, it’s going to be imperative that we remember what worked in the past. 

Infographics on Web-based Legal Marketing

More on Legal Marketing: Especially for You Visual Learners

I really like these infographics about web-based marketing for lawyers over on The Rainmaker Blog.  Check out all twelve covering the following topics:

• How to do Keyword Research.
• 7 Website Essentials to Land You More Leads.
• How to Get More Likes on Facebook.
• How to Create Perfect Posts on Social Platforms.
• Increase Traffic to Your Website.
• Using Social Media for Lead Generation.
• SEO Copywriting: 10 Tips for Writing Content that Ranks in 2013.
• 14 Ways to Make Google Love Your Site.
• Breakdown of a Person's Google Results: How People Look in Google -- And How to Look Better.
• Mobile is the Future . . . Is Your Website Optimized? 
• How to Build a Credible Blog.
• Getting Past Your Social (Media) Anxiety.

And, here is a wonderful video depiction of how marketers can make it harder for your customers/clients to "buy" on line.