Sei sulla pagina 1di 65

Session OM35

Blogging: Why the Fuss?


ALA 36th Annual Conference and Expo Las Vegas
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at 3:45pm Ron Friedmann
Prism Legal Consulting, Inc. ron@prismlegal.com

Are blogs today what web sites were in 1995-96?

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? The business case for blogs Blog software RSS Other blogging considerations

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? The business case for blogs Blog software RSS Other blogging considerations

Whats a Blog?
Web log Easy way to create web content Short entries, most recent at top No tech skills required Not a technology decision

Blog Features
Many options to create Easy design One author or many Organize entries by topics Automatic archiving E-mail subscriptions

Blog Jargon
Post Blogroll Blawg Comments Feed A single entry Links to other blogs A law-related blog Reader text about a post Method to deliver posts

Permalink

URL specific to the post

Agenda

What is a blog? Whos blogging? The business case for blogs Blog software RSS Other blogging considerations

Whos Blogging?
Kids Creeps Techies Business people Companies Lawyers Law firms

Large Firm Branded Blogs

Large Firm Branded Blogs

Large Firm Branded Blogs

Large Firm Blogs by Topic


Antitrust (2) Bankruptcy E-Discovery Employment (2) Energy (2) Family Financial Inst. Health (2)

IP (2) Nano Privacy Real Estate/Constr. (4) SEC (2) State Appellate (2) Tax Telecomm (5)

Mid-Size Firm Branded Blogs

Large Firm Semi-Branded

Whos Blogging - GC

Other Legal Bloggers


ALM Network of Bloggers
How Appealing Legal Pad Legal Sanity May It Please The Court Leadership for Lawyers Adam Smith, Esq. Blawg Review I/P Updates MyShingle.com Jottings by an Employer's L. Crime and Federalism Silicon Valley Media Blog The Estrin Report
(Feb 2007)

Insurance Scrawl The Common Scold Robert Ambrogi's LawSites Law Department Management Prism Legal Human Law InhouseBlog The Wired GC Future Lawyer LawMarketing Blog Legal Pad Counsel to Counsel

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? Business case - EXTERNAL Blog software RSS Other blogging considerations

Why Blog?
Location, location, location Woops, I meant marketing, marketing, marketing

Establish expertise Earn awareness Connect to clients and prospects Obtain links to your web site

Recruiting Have fun, meet people

Marketing Expense Growing


AmLaw 100 spent 2.2% of revenue Up 30% from prior year

Competition, Mergers Fuel Rise in Firm Marketing Budgets The Recorder, 3/5/07, at law.com Citing a BTI study of AmLaw 100 in 2006

Evaluating Marketing Options


Whats the cost of qualified lead? Whats the value of a new matter?

70% of business executives and in-house counsel go online during the firm selection process. Blogging will increase your firms visibility.
December 2006 $295
http://www.incrementaladvantage.com/ia/pc-149-20-the-marketability-and-legality-of-law-firm-blogs.aspx

Forrester Analytic Framework

http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli/2007/01/new_roi_of_blog.html

Marketing Channels

Synchronous

Seminars, webinars (firm or 3rd party) 1-on-1 client or prospect meetings Networking functions

Asynchronous

Updates (paper or e-mail) Articles Books Pod- or video-casts Web sites Blogs

Channel Considerations

Cost: time and out of pocket Frequency Reach and audience size Measurable impact Targeting Re-use value Ease of digesting Risks Tech effort

Channel Comparison
Webinars Seminars 1 on - 1 Network Updates Articles Books Podcasts Web Site

Blogs

Favorable Cost High Frequency

* ** **

* * *

*** * *

*** * *

** *** ** * **

* * ** * **

* * * * **

** * ** ** * *

**

**

***

Broad Reach

**
** *

***
*** *

Easy to Measure *** *** *** Easy to Target High Re-use Easy to Digest Low Risk Easy Tech **
**

** **
*

*** ***
* ** ** * ***

** * ***

*** *** * ** * *

*** *** * ** * *** ** **

** *
*

*** **

** **
*

**

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Comparing Outreach Options


Survey of 46 mainly large firms
20% have blogs 60% publish e-newsletters; 90% of 200+ lawyer firms 3% have done a podcast

Source: Larry Bodine blog post (1/4/07) citing Primary Research Group report

E-mail versus Blogs

E-mail limitations

Dated Lost in inbox Too much detail Avoid spam filters Shorter Current Choose delivery Track readers

Blog benefits

See Tom Baldwin, CKO, Sheppard Mullin blog post (10/14/04) See also Blogging Is the New Black, LawFirmInc (12/8/05)

Benefits at Sheppard Mullin

Benefits
Better search engine visibility Less production time v. newsletters Anecdotal evidence of new matters Media attention

Worth the effort?


Blogs are what web sites were in 1995 Better delivery for what we do anyway Easier than e-blasts, once set up

Source: E-mail exchange (Feb 07) with Tom Baldwin (CKO) and Vickie Spang (CMO) of Sheppard Mullin

Benefits at Holland & Hart


Health care one lawyer practice Blogging was the marketing plan 600 visits/week New clients from all over US

Found H&H because of high search engine visibility

Source: The Lonely Blog, Law Firm, Inc., April 2007

Benefits at Stark & Stark

Benefits
50 new billable matters from NJ Law Increased web presence More media looking for comments Better placements for print articles

Worth the effort?

Absolutely

Source: E-mail exchange (Mar 07) with R. DeLuca, Dir. Biz Dev, Stark & Stark

Recruiting
Find your web site Learn about your practice Show that you are with it Talk to your audience

Bad News Travels

Media Web sites and blogs keep students updated on juicy stories about law firms

Reputation and recruitment


Law Journal, 6/27/05 at law.com)

(National

Control Your Destiny

Why not [blogs] for recruiting purposes as well?


Recruiters should blog re hiring Multiple blogs for varied perspectives Attorneys share practice news New associates describe first week

Are Your Recruiting Efforts Geared for the Online Generation? Law Practice Today, ABA, online, Oct 2006

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? Business case - INTERNAL Blog software RSS Other blogging considerations

Internal Blogging
Share information Foster team work Reduce e-mail clutter Create KM repository

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? The business case for blogs Software options and features RSS Other blogging considerations

Software Options
Free v. pay Hosted v. your own web site Free-standing v. integrated Brands

www.typepad.com www.blogger.com www.wordpress.org www.sixapart.com/movabletype

Categories and Authors

Multiple authors an option


Fairly common No right or wrong answer Consider vetting issues

Categories organize content


Help readers find postings Automatic filtering

E-mail Subscriptions
www.feedburner.com www.feedblitz.com www.squeet.com www.blogarithm.com

Tracking Hits
Built in software Third party software (examples)

www.google.com/analytics www.statcounter.com

Analysis

Measuring Hits By Month

Measuring Hits By Page

Tracking Hits By Source

Measuring Hits By Visitor

Hit Tracking at Stark & Stark

Hit tracking
Google Analytics Track hits and search terms Marketing reports to management

Actions taken
Include search terms in future posts Search spikes > more posts on topic Many hits > targeted e-mail blast

Source: E-mail exchange (Mar 07) with R. DeLuca, Dir. Biz Dev, Stark & Stark

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? The business case for blogs Blog software RSS [Real Simple Syndication] Other blogging considerations

RSS

Real Simple Syndication Get latest posts without visiting a blog

Pull v. Push Reading multiple blogs in one place Many newspapers and other info sources Add New York Times RSS feeds

News aggregator (news reader)

Not just for blogs


Newsreader - Bloglines

Newsreader - Yahoo

Newsreader Outlook 2007

5 Large Firms with RSS


Duane Morris Fulbright Jones Day White & Case WilmerHale

WilmerHale RSS (partial)

Agenda

Whats a blog? Whos blogging? The business case for blogs Blog software RSS Other blogging considerations

Finding Legal Blogs (Blawgs)

Blawg

Your Source for Legal Blogs, Podcasts & News Feeds Blawg Republic is a real-time search engine that monitors the legal blogging community every hour.

Blawg Republic (including Directory)

BlawgSearch (including Directory)

Maintaining Momentum
Content is king Keep posting How often is often enough? What voice, what content?

Blogs are informal Timely, practical, and short

Do you send e-mail updates?

Momentum at Sheppard Mullin

Motivating lawyers
Some blogging time counted as billable Partners have bought in they help make sure lawyers write Chose practices where lawyers were already writing

Vetting blog posts

Each practice has a partner who serves as editor

Source: E-mail exchange (Feb 07) with Tom Baldwin (CKO) and Vickie Spang (CMO) of Sheppard Mullin

Misplaced Fears - Overview

Takes too much time


Write a post in as little as 5 minutes Short + informal; not scholarly If you know a word processor, e-mail, and browser, you can learn in under 10 minutes. People with interesting thoughts are busy Blogs let them share your quickly and easily Better exposure than from article or speech

It's too hard to learn

I'm too busy

A Lawyer Blog-Convert

Id long written 1000-word columns

Editors feared me: always near to the wire Writing turns out to be easy Word should be so intuitive! Posts can be short - reference what I notice Or lengthy analyses or anything between

With blogs, time and HTML were worries


I found a voice

A long post is only 10 minutes work

Simon Chester, Partner, Heenan Blakie and blogger (slaw.com and blog.colpm.org). Paraphrased from his comment at blog.colpm.org.

URL: Unique or Tie to Firm?

Sheppard Mullin
Avoid spam problem with main URL Search engines find most relevant site Blog branding matches main site

Stark & Stark


Geography or content more memorable Driving traffic to main site not a goal Interlink resources

Source: E-mail exchange exchanges with firms cited

Risks

Ethics rules

See, e.g., NY State sec. 1200

Legal risks
Liable or defamation Copyright infringement

Losing momentum But compare alternatives

Risk Mitigation - Disclaimers

Davis Wright

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Porter Wright

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP offers this blog for general informational purposes only. The content of this blog is not intended as legal advice for any purpose, and you should not consider it as such advice or as a legal opinion on any matters. The information provided herein is subject to change without notice, and you may not rely upon any such information with regard to a particular matter or set of facts. Further, the use of the blog does not create, and is not intended to create, any attorneyclient relationship between you and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP or any individual lawyer in the firm. No such relationship will be considered to have been formed until we have had an opportunity to resolve any conflict of interest issues and have advised you, in writing, of the nature and scope of the legal services to be provided. Unless we establish an attorney-client relationship with you with regard to the particular matter, we will not treat any information that you may send to us, or submit as a comment to a blog article or entry, as confidential or privileged, and any unsolicited communications may be disclosed to other persons without regard to confidentiality considerations. Use of the blog is at your own risk, and the site is provided without warranty of any kind. We make no warranties of any kind regarding the accuracy or completeness of any information on this blog, and we make no representations regarding whether such information is reliable, up-to-date, or applicable to any particular situation. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP expressly disclaims all liability for actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the contents of this blog, or for any damages resulting from your viewing and use of this blog.

Attitudes to Overcome
Risk averse Precedent based Fear of failing Competitive

The first movers have moved. The second movers have moved? Whats next?

Conclusions and Observations


Blogs are easy low tech barrier Readership is big and growing (?) Clients likely to get increasing share of news via blogs and RSS in future To blog or not?

Think marketing and content, not tech How long did you wait for a web site?

References - Articles

RSS Resources You Can Use: Automated Web Surfing for Lawyers (Law Practice Today, Nov
2006, Mighell and Kennedy)

Is Your Blog Exposing You to Legal Liability? (law.com, 12/22/06, Savell) Bloggers Beware: Debunking Nine Copyright Myths of the Online World
(LLRX.com, Dec 2006, Biehl)

Ten Ways Blogs Boost a Law Firm's Image


(Law Tech News, Nov 2006, Poll)
Malkin)

Blogging Is the New Black, (LawFirmInc, 12/8/05,

New York Law Firms Struggle With New Restrictions on Advertising (New York Times, March
2, 2007)

References Blog Posts +


New ROI of blogging report from Forrester (1/25/07, Forrester) Final NY Advertising Rules are Atrocious
(1/8/07, Larry Bodine)

$20,000 of billable time used to maintain a blog (7/25/06, Larry Bodine citing Ed Poll article) Directory of Large Firm Branded Blogs
(3/5/07, Prism Legal web site)

AmLaw 200 law firm blog growth in line with law firm blog growth (3/6/07, Kevin OKeefe)

Potrebbero piacerti anche