Many family law practitioners have started a blog. And stopped. Of the family law blogs I follow, most have gone dormant. Many of the others add a post only a few times per month. I think you’ve largely voted with your feet by deciding not to start a blog or abandoning it after you got it going. Blogging is time consuming and tough to do with the daily pressures of running a practice.

Blogging does several things for you. It helps your search engine positioning. It gets you media attention. It keeps you – top of mind – with your internet savvy peers around the world. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. There are a host of other benefits as well.

The problem, as I see it, with blogging in family law, is that a blog is usually about ongoing changes and developments. Unfortunately, most family law developments, like new case law or statutes, aren’t of great interest to our prospective clients. Potential clients are largely looking for answers to their questions about their urgent concerns. They seek a treatise rather than a news update.

Should you be blogging? Yes. But only if you’ve got the time to make a long-term commitment and you’ve already done some other things first. Most of us haven’t done these “other” things. So, for the most part, we should be working on other, higher value, marketing activities.

Before blogging, I would suggest that you’ve checked these three items off your list –

(1) Have systems in place that allow you to serve each client in such a manner that they commit to referring their friends and family to you should the need arise,

(2) Have a strong network of ten referral sources (per attorney) sending you six paid consultations (not merely referrals) per year,

(3) Have a high-quality website that features great information about divorce in your state.

Once you have those three prerequisites in place then go ahead and blog. Be sure to send me a note and I’ll add your link to our North Carolina Divorce site.