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October 7 2008

October 7 2008. lex Blog. TM.

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October 7 2008

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  1. October 7 2008 lexBlog TM Law Blogs : What You Must Know : Creation, Use, and Ethical & Liability IssuesNew York City Bar AssociationNew York, NYDaniel E. Clement, Attorney at Law, NYCScott H. Greenfield, Attorney at Law, NYCEric Turkewitz, Attorney at Law, NYCKevin O’Keefe, CEO, LexBlog, Inc, Seattle 1 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  2. 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 2 lexBlog TM What we’ll cover Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  3. lexBlog TM What’s a law blog? • 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 3 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  4. lexBlog TM What it’s not • Journal • Posts archived by calendar • Blend of personal information, random thoughts and political views with legal information & insight 4 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  5. lexBlog TM

  6. lexBlog TM

  7. lexBlog TM

  8. lexBlog TM

  9. http://privacylaw.proskauer.com/

  10. lexBlog TM

  11. 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 lexBlog TM Where do you find them? Building Blogsfor Lawyers 5

  12. Name of blog Blog publisher Authors Categories/topics Promotional categories About you Your services Contact info with intake form Email subscription Comments Social bookmarking lexBlog TM Key features 6 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  13. 7 lexBlog TM General advantages Building Blogsfor Lawyers • 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

  14. lexBlog TM Relationship to firm website • 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? 8 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  15. lexBlog TM 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 9 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  16. Software architecture designed for publishing & getting content indexed Relevant & substantive content Regular content updates Incoming links ‘Blog : Better listing on Google’ lexBlog TM Why superior search results? Building Blogsfor Lawyers 10

  17. 11 lexBlog TM Importance of search engines Building Blogsfor 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?

  18. lexBlog TM 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 12 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  19. lexBlog TM Adoption rate • 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 13 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  20. 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 lexBlog TM Who’s reading blogs? Building Blogsfor Lawyers 14

  21. 15 lexBlog TM RSSReal simple syndication Building Blogsfor Lawyers • 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

  22. lexBlog TM Newsreader Collects RSS feeds

  23. lexBlog TM 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 16 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  24. lexBlog TM 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” 17 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  25. lexBlog TM Time commitment Building Blogsfor Lawyers • 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 18 * Harvard Management Communication Letter, Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2005

  26. lexBlog TM Legal Ethics & Liability Matters Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  27. 19 lexBlog TM Blogs covered as advertising? Building Blogsfor Lawyers • Free Speech • Commercial Speech - Sullivan • Reasonable limits on commercial speech - Bates

  28. lexBlog TM Applicable New York rules • Websites covered • Label as ‘Attorney Advertising’ • Name of lawyer • Location of office • General advertising rules 20 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  29. Cannot give specific advice Cannot breach client confidences No false or misleading communication lexBlog TM General ethics rules Building Blogsfor Lawyers 21

  30. lexBlog TM Use disclaimer Building Blogsfor Lawyers • Not legal advice • General public information • Need to see lawyer in your state • No attorney client relationship 22

  31. 23 lexBlog TM Liability issues Building Blogsfor Lawyers • Defamation • IP • Fair Use • Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

  32. lexBlog TM Blog Publishing Platforms Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  33. lexBlog TM Free • Blogger • Can you use them as professional? • Do you know how to blog? • Do you have the time to learn? 24 Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  34. TypePad GoDaddy, Yahoo & the like lexBlog TM Low cost Building Blogsfor Lawyers 25

  35. lexBlog TM Professional blog software Building Blogsfor Lawyers • Types • WordPress • Moveable Type • Drupal • Expression Engine • Who • You • Web developer • Professional blog developer 26

  36. lexBlog TM Better blogging : 5 keys to success Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  37. lexBlog TM 27 What we’ll cover Building Blogsfor Lawyers • Keeping posts simple & clear • Effective linking • Creating good titles • Using tags • Frequency of posts

  38. 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 lexBlog 28 TM Keep posts simple & clear Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  39. Legal Legal Sanity by Arnie Herz http://tinyurl.com/5pkylg

  40. Legal True Gotham by Douglas Heddings http://tinyurl.com/6rzgg5

  41. Links are the currency of blogging Best blogs send people away Helps readers Helps SEO Helps marketing Provides trackbacks lexBlog TM 29 Link effectively – why? Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  42. 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 Link effectively: How? Building Blogsfor Lawyers

  43. Ct Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Dan Schwartz http://tinyurl.com/3gy83p

  44. Equine Law Blog by Allison Rowe http://tinyurl.com/3zafhp

  45. Climate Change Update by Thelen Reid http://tinyurl.com/4jvlsh

  46. Legal Texas Appellate Law Blog by Todd Smith http://tinyurl.com/3pdj4o

  47. SEO Readers using RSS readers Posts displayed by syndication News sites Social networking sites Common sense lexBlog TM 31 Create good titles : Why? Building Blogsfor Lawyers

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