In a word, yes! Speak to the multitudes, not just a few.
“Why should lawyers be blogging?” One answer seems clearest: exposure. Publishing on LinkedIn offers your content to a wider audience in abundant ways. Here is the ABA link from an earlier post.
Your audience is not restricted by the number of chairs in the room; attorneys who publish on LinkedIn share exponentially to many about their knowledge, their passion and offer insights that others truly appreciate, because of your educational content. LinkedIn publishing definitely makes it easier to communicate with substantially larger numbers of professionals within the legal community and these relationships can be mutually beneficial. Plus, LinkedIn makes publishing totally free (pardon the redux), reaching 414 million members as of 1Q 2016.
3. Attorneys have superb writing skills.
Your depth of knowledge will make writing a blog easier than you think. It’s not tedious to generate 400 word content (about 30 minutes or less); your LinkedIn post can be proofed by one of your colleagues or paralegals to correct small typos. For a large firm, the bench strength is considerable for junior as well as senior attorneys to participate. It’s even easier when using a dictation device like the Dragon app.
Consider a series of topics so that there is a cohesive plan and you’ll be able to conceptualize your draft content even when commuting to work.
Be sure to compose your content for your intended reader, using vernacular that suits the targeted audience. Your post should address the questions that you always get asked from experience or new trends that you’ve observed, keeping your content always client-centric. These posts don’t need to be lengthy, but should be done regularly.
- Keep your voice authentic. You’re starting a conversation with your peers, with people you don’t know and with anyone else who is seeking education. Your post doesn’t have to be A Brilliant Blog That Amazes Everyone.
- No one is writing an op-ed review. Remember that you can edit the post after publishing it, more than once.
- Be sure to tag your published content. You’ll be prompted when writing it.
- Write from your profound experience. No self-promotion, mind you.
- Get started on a schedule that suits you. And consider a topic outline that forecasts 3 or 4 topics in advance as a best practice.