To recap, in my earlier post I challenged you to “Imagine for a minute….”
A law firm sponsors a non-lawyer blogger who writes about commerce and trade, the banking bust, the housing debacle, the bail out bill. And, they openly state that they draw some of their material and perspectives from the professionals and resources provided by ABC Law Firm. OR….
A law firm sponsors lawyer bloggers and real people, moms and dads, to blog side by side on the topic of childhood diabetes, lawyers and musicians to blog side by side about music and the local symphony, or scientists and the environment?
Economical and a terrific value, sponsored conversations, at least those that are authentic and transparent, are the new answer to your law firm’s recessionary budget. (Just remember you heard it first here! I have plenty more ideas where that came from….)
I think that the first one out there will cause great groaning among the masses of law firms looking to differentiate themselves –and having to play catch up in a changing market.
If I were considering sponsoring an established blog, here is a sample conversation I’d be having with the blogger(s) I’d want to sponsor.
There are a number of pieces of due diligence to complete before taking the plunge, but these should give you a start.
- Why are your readers here?
- What is the mindset of your readers?
- What do they want?
- Are you committed to this topic?
- Is there consistency in posting?
- Is this who we both want to be seen with?
- Does it make sense as to how you [we] want to be seen in the social Web community?
And then ask yourselves:
- Do you trust the blogger (s)?
- Do they have a trustworthy track record? (did you Google them?)
- Do they write effectively?
- Do they trust you?
- Will their readers trust you?
- How will we staff the effort?
- How can we leverage our involvement? (traditional PR?)
Are there any lawyers or law firms doing this now? Let us know.
If you were considering sponsoring a blog, what questions would be top of mind? What would keep you from doing it? What opportunities do you see?
Drop a comment. What do you think of the idea? Look like an advertorial?
If you’re looking for more ideas on how you can do this the right way, I’d be happy to take the conversation off-line to protect your coup!
