Not Everyone Blogs–Therein Lies Your Competitive Advantage…

Almost every serious professional probably has a website but not every professional has a blog. In fact, a small percentage of professionals blog. An even smaller percentage blog well. Therein lies the competitive advantage…

The best bloggers are self-starters with a bias toward action. They realize that the vast majority of their peers don’t have the break-through energy or staying power necessary to blog well. They exploit that.

Take, for example, Bill Marler, the managing partner of Seattle-based Marler Clark. He is one of the most prominent foodborne illness attorneys in America. Marler’s esteem as the subject matter expert on all things food safety skyrocketed after he started MarlerBlog. The New Yorker’s Wil S. Hyltona captures the essence and acclaim of Marler in A Bug in the System:

You might hate lawyers, you might not want us to make money, but look what the beef industry did. Ground beef has learned its lesson—but chicken is still, in many respects, unregulated. So we have to keep fighting. –Bill Marler

Because of his reputation as a food safety advocate, Marler is often contacted before different food poisoning outbreaks are announced. He uses his blog to get more media coverage, more quickly:

I email reporters earlier in the day, letting them know that I’ll be posting new outbreak information on my blog that evening, if they want the story. Knowing information before others gives you real power in the Internet age. Blogging enables me to share what I know in a way that’s far more immediate and far more effective than a basic press release.

Although Marler Clark has a website and uses a variety of other marketing vehicles, Marler believes that his blog–well populated with his insights–is his differentiator. In his words:

A web search on the Internet does not distinguish good food borne illness attorneys from those who claim the specialty but really don’t have experience in the space. The Internet is not sophisticated enough to figure out what is a quality business and what is not. If I didn’t play in the blog space, it would be harder for people to find me and make the decision that I know what I’m talking about.

Doug Steding, a partner at Miller Nash Graham & Dunn, is another standout. He tailors his blog around the legal and policy issues around environmental science, with topics frequently driven by national news. Today, his blog, Science, Law & the Environment outperforms the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in search results, even though the EPA is the source of the rules materials. In Steding’s view:

We top Google because we’re writing on relevant topics, and what we’re writing is being shared, read and used. We focus on a specific niche and write on things people care about. There’s no trick to it. Having a standalone blog has given me a personal brand, and one that we’ve been able to build on as a group since I joined Miller Nash Graham & Dunn last year. It’s something I’ll carry through my career, and is a critical component of building my reputation as an environmental lawyer.

Bloggers like Marler and Steding differentiate themselves from the pack by:

1. Specializing. Find your niche—something that you’re passionate about—and reflect that in your blog URL. No one is going to seek out a blog for general information they can get somewhere else. Niches lead to riches.
2. Knowing the audience. Who do you want to reach? Prospective clients? Other professionals? Consumers? Write for them. Keep a list of questions your clients ask you. The fact that they’re asking tells you there’s an interest or confusion around the subject and if one person is asking dozens more are probably googling the same thing. Fill the void. Write on those topics.Google search: washington state clean power plan
3. Being real. Write about relevant topics in conversational way. Talk about things you care about. Let your personality out. Being you attracts. Remember, the act of blogging is the act of networking—invite your reader into the “conversation.”
4. Showcasing expertise. Your blog is certainly the hub that defines your expertise but you can also elevate and cite other experts and peers who influence you. Also, from time-to-time, seek out a guest blogger. Make your blog the resource for the best, most current information on your specialty.
5. Helping Google. Make sure your posts are categorized and tagged appropriately. Don’t make Google guess how to best index for post for search. If you want to attract clients or build a network in a specific geographic area, mention that city or region naturally in your posts.
6. Seeding blog posts. If you want your blog posts to be shared then quote other people, send them the link to the post. Engage and thank them for inspiring you. Most people love the attention and will share your post inside their network. Guess what? That expands your network.
7. Writing on schedule. Commit to regular posts. Once a week is fine. Make sure to block out and–schedule the time–to blog. Your readers want consistency.

Let’s wrap this up…

The truth is that many blogs are personal. Many are authored by hobbyists. Many sell ad space. Only a small sliver of the 250 million-plus blogs are professional in scope. That’s a huge opportunity. Yet, even though blogging is a powerful way to establish authority, most professionals lack the discipline to follow-through.

When Marler and Steding publish a blog post they increase the likelihood of:

• Being found via potential client’s Google search,
• Starting a conversation that drives more business, and/or;
• Someone sharing their post on social media to a whole new audience (E.g. this post).

Marler and Steding don’t look at their blogs as destinations. They don’t fret waiting for readers to come. They appropriately and tastefully dispatch their blog posts to the people they want to network or connect with via social media channels or email. These guys are on offense. They know their target. They know who they want to influence.

Who are the bloggers you admire? What do they do well? How are you being discovered on the Internet? Are you building an online reputation that equals or exceeds your offline reputation? Are you using the Internet and social media to build business relationships?

Just what is your competitive advantage online?