Posted on
November 21, 2008 in
For all the talk of Generation Y’s technological savvy, I’m surprised that more young Houston criminal-defense lawyers don’t have websites or blogs. Most of them haven’t even taken the free step of claiming their Avvo profiles.
Can anyone explain to me why that would be? Are they all spending their online energy on MySpace (where I don’t set foot unless I’m investigating some thug who has falsely accused one of my clients)? Are they practicing law in Second Life? Are they defending dwarves in World of Warcraft?
I’d really like to know.
Mark, don’t confuse tech-savvy with marketing savvy. They could very well be connected technologically but not appreciate the value of blogging or websites for business.
An internet present and social media for play and an internet presence and social media for professional advancement are two different things. :-)
I was in middle school in the main years of the Vietnam war. We didn’t learn about the war in school because it wasn’t being taught yet, and we didn’t learn it in real life because we weren’t paying attention. I’m reminded of this when I keep finding young lawyers who, never mind writing blogs, don’t read them, and don’t know anything about subscribing to feeds, managing information on Google Docs or similar sites, etc. I sometimes wonder if these things fall into a learning “gap” for them the way Vietnam did for me.
Many young lawyers are ambivalent about marketing and trying to figure out their practice grooves. Many that are marketing are beating the streets. Many just don’t have the time, and are dealing with the nuts and bolts of getting a practice going.
Blogging among lawyers has taken on an interesting connotation. My anecdotal observation is that in a place like Seattle, there was an initial surge, it sounds like the numbers have leveled out. When you mention your blog to another non-blogger lawyer you get a quizzical look.
I don’t have much meaningful to add to the discussion of “the value of online marketing for lawyers” except to say that I enjoy blogging, but find that non-blogging marketing is just another form of networking. Some people like to go to bar dinners while others don’t. Some people like pro bono work while others don’t.
I think it’s worth distinguishing blogging from “marketing”. I like the way Scott articulated it, although he went to the extreme. I’m comfortable blogging about an area of law that I follow. I’ve never really been super comfortable marketing, and not sure that I will be. I guess time will tell.
I’m sure you’re all right.
I think most lawyers are unaware of the marketing they are doing, and think of marketing as something people do to get more clients — something that those of us who have attained a certain level certainly do not want.
I see marketing as something to do to get fewer clients who can each afford to pay for a larger share of my time.
Good point. The quality of clients is important and something that took (and is taking me) a while to realize.
Yes, I am extreme on the subject of marketing. I’m a dinasaur, but I have never and will never sell myself like slab of lawyer meat. All the youngsters will tell me I’m wrong and that they have to market, market, market.
It’s total self-serving baloney, but if they say it enough, they won’t feel like whores for doing.
Scott,
What do you have against whores?
There are whores who stand on the street corner by the courthouse trolling for clients, whores who market themselves in the pages of the free weeklies, whores with web pages (and probably blogs), and whores who get all of their clients through word of mouth. They’re all marketing themselves, as is (not “should” but “is”) everyone else with a service to trade for cash.
Those who get all the high-paying clients they could want through word of mouth might call themselves “courtesans” or “call girls” or “escorts”. But it’s the commerce, and not the marketing, that makes them whores.
Perhaps Web sites and blogs are so old-hat that youngsters aren’t interested in them. Blogging is the sort of thing that Boomers do.
Unfortunately for me, Avvo doesnt have any bar data for my state… And I am still trying to find the right domain name!!! I want to be like Mark!!! Well the Mexican version!!!
Remy,
When are you going to join us on Twitter?
Mark.