Observed

New York Times auto writer Lawrence Ulrich sights a Buddhist monastery and sees a connection to how the new BMW 6 Series handles on the winding ocean-side roads of Northern California. Does this willingness to take chances with storytelling suggest anything for the way we handle marketing content for professional service providers?

So, OK, I’ll admit that a journalist covering the auto industry isn’t exactly analogous to someone writing for business readers.  The keyword here, however, is exactly.

Because Lawrence Ulrich has something to offer those of us who order, create and approve content for law firm Web sites, client brochures and such.  As auto writer/critic for The New York Times, Mr. Ulrich takes a technical subject that’s part of everyday life and makes it come alive.

Decide for yourself.  See, for example, whether the wit and intelligence in this piece about BMW’s new 6 Series doesn’t suggest how your looks-and-sounds-the-same-as-everybody-else’s content might acquire some zing and become more engaging.

I could go on and on.  Of all of the things I like about this article, here’s a passage that made me laugh out loud:

With both of those optional onboard systems, along with chunky 20-inch wheels and tires, the 650i felt unflappable along Route 301 near Carmel — almost an affront to the nearby Chuang Yen Monastery, whose Buddhist monks might take one look at the lavish BMW and advise, “Peace comes from within, do not seek it without.”

Yes?

OK, granted, you’re probably not writing for fans of Fergie or will.i.am.  Work with me anyway, because I see a connection between the digital freneticism of the Black Eyed Peas and your visitors’ non-linear distractability.

If your goal is to get read (much less, remembered), keep your content short.  Probably under 250 words for anything you might consider a page — such as a bio, practice group description, About Us…or, this blog post.

The Neilsen Effect is why.  As in Jakob Neilsen, a Danish software engineer considered to be one of the foremost user experience gurus.

Neilsen and others have found, for starters, that we read online content 25 percent slower than we read the same content in hard copy.  As Neilsen characterizes this and other Web visitor behaviors,

“[U]sers are selfish, lazy and ruthless.”

Here’s a still-timely 2008 Michael Agger post that explains this and more…including the average user’s unwillingness to scroll.

Distractable

We’re addicted to Anything But This.  I check Facebook, listen to BEP on YouTube, look out the window, tweet something…etc., blah.  You?  It’s not in the DSM (yet), but some psychologists label it Fear of Missing Out.

And, my sense is that it’s in our DNA.  That we survived on the ocean or in the jungle or on the savannah or prairie by being hyper-alert and hyper-vigilant.

In other words, we didn’t have the luxury of The Long.  So, keep it short.

Praesent in multis potuit paucis? (Or...Why use a few words when many could do?) I wonder how much lawyers' love of Latin has to do with the hunger for academic respect that influences so much of their law school training. Or, with the powder-wigged, Boswellian affectations that characterize the case law they studied?

Take a peek behind the curtain of law school training in today’s New York Times.   In it, reporter David Segal outlines the failure of legal education in the U.S. to prepare lawyers to practically earn their keep.

The piece made me think about what might inspire the florid written wordiness I so often see from lawyers, even in non-legal business development content.  Could it have something to do with the obsession of law school professors to be taken seriously in academe?  Or, with the hidebound, 18th and 19th-century (and earlier) case law that still comprises so much of what law students pack into their brains?

Is the use of Latin, hallowed despite its death (or, perhaps, because of it), another way of compensating for the profession’s inferred inferiority.  Is Latin a way for lawyers to prove they they deserve to be taken as seriously and respected as much as, say, physicians or clergy?

Mr. Segal reports that the winds of reform are gathering, offering hope that law student loans and other wrongs will be blown away.  Maybe these fresh breezes will arrive with copies of Strunk and White.

When I step into the room created by social media, it's incumbent for me to stick around for the conversation...particularly when I start one myself. In other words, I shouldn't shake your tree if I don't want your peaches. No?

LexBlog’s Kevin O’Keefe wasn’t the only reason going to Boston for most of this week was worth it for me.  But he was a big reason.

Kevin, Igor Ilyinsky, Deb McMurray and other law firm marketing thought leaders were presenting at the annual conference of the LMA New England Chapter.  A couple hundred marketers and vendors met to talk about this year’s topic — the interface between lawyers and technology.

When Kevin moderated a panel on social media, he reminded me of why I still resist Twitter.  It’s because I already feel overwhelmed and over-connected.  Despite the filters and other settings I can use to configure who and what I follow (and vice versa), it just seems like another case of being careful of what I ask for.

I also get what Kevin says about the risks of being technically clever and merely auto-Tweeting new blog posts.  (more…)

Despite what some attorneys may believe, it helps to have something personal in your Web bio. You don’t have to tell your life story, but give your visitor a taste of what you’re like as a person—particularly if you hang-glide, cure tropical diseases or do anything else that demonstrates a passion for something other than the law.

Prospects, clients and referral sources come to lawyers’ Web sites for three principal reasons.  They’re looking for solutions to their problems and assurance that someone will make their lives easier.  They’re are also thinking about whether or not they might actually like working with you.

Personalization of attorney bios is a great way to set the lawyer apart and establish a personal connection right off the bat with a client.  Surveys of business people – lawyers and non-lawyers alike – confirm that given the choice (and evidence that points them in the right direction), they’ll pick someone they might possibly like over someone else.

How personal is too personal?  According to the folks at Great Jakes, while it’s important to let the reader know that they’re dealing with a real person, some lawyers make the mistake of downplaying their legal expertise or even skipping it all together. The strongest bios are the ones that use a personal tone without dumbing anything down.

Want to know how to make your law firm Web content sing? Then take a half hour and listen to Lisa DiMonte and Doug Stern share some simple do's and don'ts that will do just that!

I spoke with Lisa DiMonte this week about how to write outstanding content for law firm Web sites.  She’s the free-range genius behind MyLegal.com.

Anyway, here’s a link to the 27-minute podcast Lisa produced as a result of our conversation.  For starters, she and I talked about the importance of being relevant to your typical visitor’s reasons for coming to your site in the first place.

We also covered several style-related topics that will make sites more engaging, readable and memorable.  For example.

FWIW, the interview will be syndicated internationally on BlogTalkRadio.

Enjoy!

Ovid got it. The young Narcissus and Echo, the mountain nymph, fell in love with, respectively, his own image and her own voice. As a consequence, both faded away, leaving only the aural effect and the flower we know. The same fate awaits the law firm with Web content that does not adequately create a sense of dialogue with the visitor and their needs.

Start with the simple stuff.  For example, begin Web site content with a phrase or a sentence or a something about the client. It might be as simple as writing “Clients seek our help navigating complex interstate commerce regulations.”

In other words, get the client out front.  Better yet, characterize them strategically.  For example, say “Leading regional manufacturers seek our help navigating complex interstate commerce regulations.”

The key is to make your content more about the client (“them”) and less about the firm (“us”).  Keep this in mind for whatever Web or other business development content you’re creating.

Plus, the more client-facing your Web content, the more readable.  It adds variety when you don’t over-rely on “our,” “the firm,” “we” and their repetitive variations.

In addition to the style of the content, make sure you document the firm’s record addressing the needs of the client…and do not merely enumerate the firm’s credentials.  That’s why it’s essential to incorporate client-facing summaries of representative matters into your bios, practice group descriptions and industry descriptions.

Such an approach is not only more responsive to the visitor’s needs, but it will also set you and your site apart from the vast majority of the law firms which appear to still be enamored with themselves.

I’ll be the main event Sept. 14, 2011, on a blogtalkradio program, Website Content for Law Firms.  The show is a production of MyLegal.com and Lisa DiMonte (who calls herself MyLegal’s Legal Vendor Aggregator).

Here’s a peek at some of what Lisa and I will be covering:

1. Law firms have always known that their sites were there to provide a sense of assurance to others.  The question has been, What’s the best way to do this?
2. People come to law firm Web sites for three reasons when they’re looking to hire or recommend a lawyer.  What do you think these are?
3. It’s essential to incorporate client-facing summaries of representative matters into bios, practice group descriptions and industry descriptions.  What’s the best way to do this?
4. I like to use the first person voice occasionally.  It not only adds a little more variety, but it also lets the reader know that they’re dealing with a real person.  Yes?

There’s more where these came from.  Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, let me know what you think, OK?

Law firm blogs are like gardens. When Boston established its Public Gardens in 1837, everyone knew that the grass, flowers and trees wouldn't take care of themselves. So, too, with law firm blogs...which, with a little of the right attention, will help build awareness for your brand and further your reputation as a thought leader.

Blogs are becoming more and more common with law firms of all sizes and types.  While launching a blog is relatively easy enough, what then???

Here are my Top 5 Law Firm, Sustainable Blogging Do’s and Don’ts:

1. Leverage. Not enough ideas for posts? Remember: Once is not enough.  Turn that client memo into an article. And then turn that article into a speech and a blog post…or, posts.  Three (or more) on a match is OK. (more…)

Toy first? Or, reach for the french fries instead? So, too, with the choices visitors make as they navigate Web sites. Paths tend to vary with the type of site and countless different objectives, whims and other variables. Acceptance of this understanding offers several valuable lessons for how we might write and deploy Web content.

Nutritional analogies aside, Web sites are like Happy Meals. Some people like to start with the french fries. Others go for the toy. And, so on.

Same with Web site user experience. While most of us land on the home page, after that, it varies. On law firm Web sites, studies show that visitors tend to head to the bios. If we’re on a merchant’s site to shop for pewter floor lamps, we’re liable to let the internal search function take us where it will do us the most good.

The lesson here is to realize that the average person is NOT linear when they visit a site. We graze.  Or, as some put it, (more…)