You don’t want to be shouting into the void. Husch Blackwell Partner David Stauss, editor of their privacy and data security blog Byte Back, joined Bob Ambrogi on This Week in Legal Blogging, to discuss the importance of writing content that’s relevant to readers, why blogging is a great idea for young lawyers and how the team at Byte Back catches readers’ attention quickly.
For weekly chats with the best bloggers in our community, with insight on what’s worked for them, be sure to subscribe to This Week in Legal Blogging wherever you get your podcasts—including:
If you’re on Apple, be sure to drop us a rating and a review.
Episode Recap
David Stauss, Partner at Husch Blackwell, begins by describing his practice, which focuses primarily on privacy law—and assisting clients in preparing for and responding to data security incidents. As part of that, he’s Editor of the firm’s blog, Byte Back. The blog, as he describes, does a great job at speaking to a specific audience and, with each and every post, making it clear why someone should read it. He explains the tactic they use to do that.
In addition, he explains that blogging is part of the bigger business development puzzle—but especially for younger lawyers, it’s a great way to build up a reputation on a subject.
Episode outline
- 1:50 – David describes his practice and what he does for his day job
- 2:30 – Background on Byte Back and what David and his team do there
- 4:45 – David’s history with blogging and why it’s important to his practice
- 6:30 – The workflow and editorial process on Byte Back
- 8:40 – How the team at Byte Back gets a sense for their readers, how they write to them and why it’s so important
- 10:25 – How do the blog’s editorial standards inform what is produced for the blog? David describes why they always lead with a ‘Key Takeaway’ on every post.
- 13:30 – Why making posts digestible and succinct is so important.
- 15:15 – Why blogging can be great for younger lawyers when it comes to developing and demonstrating expertise
- 18:02 – What it takes to find the time to blog—and why you need to put in the work
- 20:45 – The impact of blogging on business development and why it’s part of a big picture
- 25:15 – Once again, why it’s so important to make why a post is important clear to readers
- 30:00 – Why David wishes he had the opportunity to blog when he was a younger lawyer—and why it has so much value when you do it right