Sometimes it can take years to discover you (me in this case) to realize you’re doing things the wrong way.
I met with a leading lawyer working in a niche a few weeks ago who was incredibly passionate about their work.
I sought them out to meet because I saw them online as well as on national television. I believed they could do more to help the people they served—and the people they could serve, via blogging. They were excited about the opportunity, and we’ll talk again.
Someone on my team asked me, why hadn’t they blogged before? Why hadn’t they at least thought about blogging?
I explained that it never crossed their mind. They and their operations people were presented with websites, SEO, and content marketing—all good, but merely tools to have online presence—rather than a way to shape their field.
Blogging, if considered, was seen as just another checkbox in a marketing plan, disconnected from the work they love and the reputation they’ve built.
No one ever showed them the dream.
Real blogging—the kind that positions a lawyer as the go-to authority in their niche—isn’t about marketing. It’s about owning the conversation in your area of law. It’s about:
- Practicing in the area you love, without worrying where the work will come from.
- Being sought out by clients, reporters, and peers—not chasing them.
- Building a body of work that outlives your career, helping others long after you’ve written it.
- Leaving a legacy that your family (even your grandchildren), colleagues, and profession can look to with pride.
A lawyer who blogs with consistency and authenticity becomes the trusted name in their space. Not because they gamed an algorithm, but because they shared their knowledge and experience with the world—because they cared and connected with people.
I realize now that someone—me—needs to sell them this dream. After all, I believe in this dream—this vision with every fiber in my body.
In the early days of LexBlog, I was passionately conveying and spreading this vision. Over time, I became complacent, watching as we shifted to what I’d call the selling of blogs and our publishing platform, rather than the dream of what real blogging can mean for a leading lawyer in a niche.
I may be a little older, but I am no less passionate. I can begin to do things the right way—again.