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October 7 2008 1 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Law Blogs : What You Must Know : Creation, Use, and Ethical & Liability Issues New York City Bar Association New York, NY Daniel E. Clement, Attorney at Law, NYC Scott H. Greenfield, Attorney at Law, NYC Eric Turkewitz, Attorney at Law, NYC Kevin O’Keefe, CEO, LexBlog, Inc, Seattle
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2 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers What we’ll cover Introduction to blogs Ethical & liability issues Blog publishing platforms Better blogging practices RSS, the secret to successful blogging Growing traffic to your blog Social networking for lawyers
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What’s a law blog? 3 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Web site Covers niche area of law or locale Published by one lawyer or practice group Directed to regular readers within target audience of blog publisher As easy to update as writing an email - no coding experience needed Distributes content via RSS and email Unique domain name & url address Found via search engines, known domain, or links
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4 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers What it’s not Journal Posts archived by calendar Blend of personal information, random thoughts and political views with legal information & insight
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lexBlog TM
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lexBlog TM
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lexBlog TM
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lexBlog TM
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http://privacylaw.proskauer.com/
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lexBlog TM
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5 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Where do you find them? Google – standard search Google Blog Search Other blogs Blog directories –ABA (blawg) legal blog directory –Justia (blawg) legal blog search LexMonitor – journal of law blogs
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6 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Key features Name of blog Blog publisher Authors Categories/topics Promotional categories –About you –Your services –Contact info with intake form Email subscription Comments Social bookmarking
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7 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers General advantages New blog launched quickly Easy to use ‘Learning curve is very low’ Inexpensive ‘Insignificant marketing expense’ Comprehensive publishing, content syndication (RSS) and interactive communication tool Cannot tell difference between well designed blog and website
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Relationship to firm website 8 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Complementary to site Blog is ‘educational magazine’ published by law firm Networking ‘leaving the office’ Joining the conversation ‘blog is your voice’ Draw traffic to site & lawyer bios Can a blog be your website?
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9 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Advantages to a lawyer Enhance reputation of lawyers as trusted and reliable authorities Establish brand based on expertise Educational & tasteful marketing Syndication of content via RSS Far superior search results to Web sites Cost savings
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10 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Why superior search results? Software architecture designed for publishing & getting content indexed Relevant & substantive content Regular content updates Incoming links ‘Blog : Better listing on Google’
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11 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Two-thirds of people do online research before selecting a service or product Nearly 70% of business executives and in house counsel go online to research lawyers during the hiring process What do people find when googling you? Importance of search engines
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12 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Advantages over current Internet marketing Web site articles –Poorly indexed & optimized for search engines - Pdf’s especially –Frequency of content? –Difficult search –No table of contents/navigation –Users do not return to site Email newsletters –Corporate firewalls may block –Spam filters may block –Far less viral marketing effect
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Adoption rate 13 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 3,000 plus law blogs 4 new law blogs per day > 30% of large law firms 49% growth in large law firm blogs from November, 07 to March ‘08
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14 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Who’s reading blogs? 75% reporters use blogs & RSS to locate experts and get insight on stories Corporate executives –>20% read at least one business blog/week –96% generally familiar with blogs –30% working understanding of blogs Busiest Americans read blogs
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15 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS Real simple syndication Streams content to target audience Built into blogs Builds subscribers Content reaches target audience Content reaches amplifiers –Bloggers –Media - trade & general mass media Email if not using RSS
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lexBlog TM Newsreader Collects RSS feeds
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16 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Aim high! Connecticut Employment Law Blog 5000 visits in first 6 weeks Few calls a week, new client Nearly 100 incoming links from third party websites and blogs Regularly cited by leading law & employment bloggers (3 of the most read) CT law periodical coverage
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17 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Where’s the content coming from? Current content - extend it’s reach Online news Legal cases Info from trade magazines & newsletters Info from CLE’s RSS feeds = “The Discussion”
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18 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Time commitment * Harvard Management Communication Letter, Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2005Harvard Management Communication Letter, Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2005 Brief posts –2 paragraphs, 2 to 3 sentences each –Expectation is less than that of articles Harvard Business School - 1x/week * Less than articles, newsletters & alerts
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lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Legal Ethics & Liability Matters
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19 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Free Speech Commercial Speech - Sullivan Reasonable limits on commercial speech - Bates Blogs covered as advertising?
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20 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Applicable New York rules Websites covered Label as ‘Attorney Advertising’ Name of lawyer Location of office General advertising rules
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21 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers General ethics rules Cannot give specific advice Cannot breach client confidences No false or misleading communication
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22 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Not legal advice General public information Need to see lawyer in your state No attorney client relationship Use disclaimer
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23 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Defamation IP Fair Use Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Liability issues
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lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Blog Publishing Platforms
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24 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Free Blogger Can you use them as professional? Do you know how to blog? Do you have the time to learn?
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25 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Low cost TypePad GoDaddy, Yahoo & the like
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26 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Types WordPress Moveable Type Drupal Expression Engine Who You Web developer Professional blog developer Professional blog software
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lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Better blogging : 5 keys to success
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27 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Keeping posts simple & clear Effective linking Creating good titles Using tags Frequency of posts What we’ll cover
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28 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Keep posts simple & clear Blogs not read like a novel or treatise Brevity or will lose subscribers People scan on the net Bullets Salient points in bold Offer insight & commentary Who is your audience
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Legal Legal Sanity by Arnie Herz http://tinyurl.com/5pkyl g
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Legal True Gotham by Douglas Heddings http://tinyurl.com/ 6rzgg5
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29 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Link effectively – why? Links are the currency of blogging Best blogs send people away Helps readers Helps SEO Helps marketing Provides trackbacks
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Link effectively: How? Link to all references Do not use url in text Anchor text is key vs. ‘click here’ Authors Posts Link only to first reference of subject 30 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers
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Ct Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Dan Schwartz http://tinyurl.com/3gy83p
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Equine Law Blog by Allison Rowe http://tinyurl.com/3zafhp
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Climate Change Update by Thelen Reid http://tinyurl.com/4jvls h
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Legal Texas Appellate Law Blog by Todd Smith http://tinyurl.com/3pdj4o
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31 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Create good titles : Why? SEO Readers using RSS readers Posts displayed by syndication News sites Social networking sites Common sense
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Th Think syndication
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32 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Short Subject is well defined Keywords are in beginning of subject Create good titles : How?
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Chicago IP Litigation Blog by David Donaghue http://tinyurl.com/673cza
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D & O Diary by Kevin La Croix http://tinyurl.com/5z8yz6
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American Constitution Society Blog http://tinyurl.com/6452cr
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Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer Blog by Ron Chapman http://tinyurl.com/6aufed
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33 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers SEO Organizational tool/hyper search Readers You Social media & networking sites Effective use of tags : Why?
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34 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Effective tags : How? Specific to subjects in post Not rise to level of category or subcategory Limit number to 4 or 5 Use consistent text for similar tags
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Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Dan Schwartz http://tinyurl.com/59u4dr
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Pennsylvania Employment Law Blog by Russell Krafft http://tinyurl.com/5jenfc
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35 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Frequency of posts Once a week Make it easy on yourself Use reader Engage in conversation Answer questions you receive
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lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS: The Secret Sauce of Blogging
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36 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Why use RSS How to use a RSS newsreader How to subscribe to particular sources How to subscribe to particular subjects How to subscribe to mentions of you, your blog, and your firm How to reference content discovered in RSS feeds How to use RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation How to use RSS feeds to market your blog What we’ll cover
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lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS Newsreaders
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lexBlog Desktop RSS Newsreader
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lexBlog Google Reader
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lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers How to subscribe to particular sources
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Subscribe to blog’s posts lexBlog TM
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Grab the RSS feed url lexBlog TM
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lexBlog TM Subscribe to News Website
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Grab the RSS feed url lexBlog Grab the RSS feed url
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lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Subscribing to particular subjects
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Google Blog Search lexBlog TM
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Google Blog Search lexBlog TM
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Subscribe to Google Blog Search Result lexBlog TM
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Subscribe to Blog Search Results lexBlog TM
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Google News lexBlog TM
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Google News lexBlog TM
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Subscribe to Google News RSS Feed lexBlog TM
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Subscribe to Google News RSS Feed lexBlog TM
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37 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Subscribe to your self for vanity feeds Name Company/firm’s names Blog’s name Blog url Website url
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lexBlog Search and subscribe to your url
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lexBlog Referencing content from RSS feeds
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38 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers ID A-list bloggers Legal area Industry People with interest in legal area & industry ID A-list publications ID A-list keywords & phrases Topics People Competitors RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation & market blog
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39 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation & market blog Enter discussion with thought leaders Network with media – trade & mass Network with conference coordinators Best blogs send people away Blogging at its best is a conversation Marketing is a conversation
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lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Marketing Your Blog : Growing Traffic
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40 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Defining success Entering into the “discussion” with other leaders Registration with blog directories and blog search engines Law blog announcement sites Twitter Social networking sites ala LinkedIn, StumbleUpon Blogroll Meeting “A-list” bloggers Commenting on other blogs SEO Press releases What we’ll cover
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41 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Defining success What is your goal? Traffic is not goal Be realistic Influence takes time
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42 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Entering into the discussion with other leaders Talk about their posts Talk about what’s relevant to them Don’t be a troll Best blogs send people away Best way to become influencer
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lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Blogs are a Rotary meeting Find the discussion Listen to the discussion Engage in the discussion Empower your audience Use your blog to organize in person meet ups 43
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44 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Register with blog directories and blog search engines ABA Blawg Directory Justia BlawgSearch LexMonitor Vertical law blog directories Local blog directories Inter alia – blog announcement site
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45 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Twitter Get your account Individual versus firm Personal versus information tweets Add value to the discussion Share your posts Reference context of post Follow leaders to grow twitter followers
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46 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Social Networking Sites LinkedIn StumbleUpon Getting others is key Facebook FriendFeed
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Blogroll What is it? Custom on each blog A list blogs Blogs of interest Using to get noticed Leveraging blogroll to gain intro’s 47 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers
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48 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Meeting A-list bloggers Email Twitter In person Comments in blogs and FriendFeed
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49 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Commenting on other blogs More than valuable than posts Bloggers love comment love Legal blogs Industry blogs Local blogs
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SEO Post titles Blog categories Blog post format Anchor text in links Bullets Bolds Headers Garnering organic links Effective blogging leads to SEO 50 Building Blogs for Lawyers lexBlog TM
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51 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Mainstream press Press releases Building a relationship with reporters –Report on what they report –Email –Post as a resource on ‘news story’ They have jobs – understand what it is They are your friend Use of LinkedIn with reporters
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52 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers And more… Syndication of content –Existing sites –Keep your eyes open Guest posting Having guest posters Interviews Cover events Let LexBlog know of successes – ‘LexBlogosphere’
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Re lexBlog Results of social networking & use of social media
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Thanks & for info/questions Dan Clement DClement@clementlaw.com Scott Greenfield SHGLaw@aol.com Eric Turkewitz eric@turkewitzlaw.com Kevin OKeefe, LexBlog, Inc. kevin@lexblog.com lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers
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www.lexBlog.com
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