Lawyers are still holding tightly to the older, more traditional ways of marketing. As we've heard before, old habits die hard. This is especially true when it comes to lawyers advertising their services in the web 2.0 universe. The effects of too much self-promotion are becoming abundantly clear.
Websites, newsletters, blogs and other advertisements are becoming increasingly self-promoting.
Getting exposure for your content is usually a good thing. However, with professional services, such as lawyers providing legal services, bad publicity is not a good thing.
Don't write content that serves no other purpose than to "toot your own horn".
Here is a list of ways to avoid blatant self-promotion:
1. Stop talking about yourself. By writing about the material you know best, by positioning yourself as an expert in your field, and by making your content creative and interesting, you will promote yourself indirectly. Think about the last article you read that you really enjoyed. I bet if you didn't know the author before, at the very least you checked out who they were afterward. This is what lawyer marketing on the web is all about.
2. People on the internet have a short attention span. Marketing your legal services on the web gives you very limited time to make your point. Be informative, but concise with your writing. Create lists, outlines, and short paragraphs.
3. Stay current, but don't get overwhelmed. In addition to being brief, you need to be current. With web 2.0 lawyer marketing, people don't want to wait a month for your next blog post. By the same token, you don't need to produce 3 articles a day to stay current. I would advise planning out a couple of blog posts, perhaps 2-3 a week. Do the same with your social media efforts. This will help you increase the effectiveness of your efforts.
4. Be yourself. Put a creative and interesting spin on your articles. As the pool of information on the internet fills, you need to be interesting and relevant to rise to the top. The best way to achieve this is to speak in your own voice.
Websites, newsletters, blogs and other advertisements are becoming increasingly self-promoting.
Getting exposure for your content is usually a good thing. However, with professional services, such as lawyers providing legal services, bad publicity is not a good thing.
Don't write content that serves no other purpose than to "toot your own horn".
Here is a list of ways to avoid blatant self-promotion:
1. Stop talking about yourself. By writing about the material you know best, by positioning yourself as an expert in your field, and by making your content creative and interesting, you will promote yourself indirectly. Think about the last article you read that you really enjoyed. I bet if you didn't know the author before, at the very least you checked out who they were afterward. This is what lawyer marketing on the web is all about.
2. People on the internet have a short attention span. Marketing your legal services on the web gives you very limited time to make your point. Be informative, but concise with your writing. Create lists, outlines, and short paragraphs.
3. Stay current, but don't get overwhelmed. In addition to being brief, you need to be current. With web 2.0 lawyer marketing, people don't want to wait a month for your next blog post. By the same token, you don't need to produce 3 articles a day to stay current. I would advise planning out a couple of blog posts, perhaps 2-3 a week. Do the same with your social media efforts. This will help you increase the effectiveness of your efforts.
4. Be yourself. Put a creative and interesting spin on your articles. As the pool of information on the internet fills, you need to be interesting and relevant to rise to the top. The best way to achieve this is to speak in your own voice.
About the Author:
Jeff Berman is Executive Director at AttorneySync. If you are looking for new lawyer marketing ideas or unique ways of advertising for lawyers we should talk.
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