March 9, 2011
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Company Culture
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Kevin O’Keefe was a trial lawyer for 17 years, practicing in rural Wisconsin where he grew up. In the 1990s, he started tinkering with listservs [Internet-based e-newsletters] and Internet message boards. What started as a hobby, evolved into Prairielaw.com, one of the first online communities for lawyers, where people with problems got answers to their questions. It published as many as 150 posts by lawyers daily.
This caused a problem. If you are in a small business profession, you already know the importance of focus. O’Keefe’s focus was being split between his legal practice and his immersion in social media.
“I couldn't be married to two parties without screwing one up,” he recalled.
So O’Keefe left his law practice to grow Prairielaw. He packed up his wife and five kids and moved to Seattle.
By participating in Prairielaw, lawyers discovered that contributing there was a new, credible way to find clients. It was more dignified than the late night local TV ads that some other lawyers were using at the time. O’Keefe became known far beyond Wisconsin and Prairielaw demonstrated his hobby had value when he sold it to LexisNexis.
But that sale was more of a start than an end. He had become hooked on what the internet could do. He was early into blogging and obsessive about what the new communication technologies could do for lawyers.
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In 2003, he started LexBlog, a blogging network for lawyers. It was a bootstrap effort, operating out of his family garage.
Instead of practicing as a lawyer, law firms would be his customers. His pitch was simple: blogs let lawyers show their expertise and build business from it. O’Keefe’s added value was that he had become an expert at blogging and could help law firms get good at it. There was also far greater power in a network of lawyers than in a firm starting a standalone blog.
LexBlog had one of those inauspicious starts. A few law firms paid him a $1,000-startup fee to set them up, teach them the fundamentals, and get them going. The monthly fee would be $200. Any unhappy customers got a full refund.
Today, LexBlog is the world’s largest blog network for lawyers and O’Keefe gets to charge a little more. It has client law firms all over the world. About 80 of the largest law firms in the US are on LexBlog. LexBlog services include design, training, marketing, hosting, SEO, along with coaching and consulting.
The LexBlog network today hosts over 5000 lawyers posting on 1000 law firm blogs. There are about 4500 new posts per month and some of the lawyers have more than 100,000 visitors to their blogs each month, according to O’Keefe.
Yet, it remains a small business. O’Keefe employs only 25 people and the garage where it all started now hosts the family car. Financially, his team does quite well.
Like other social media pros, O’Keefe has migrated Lexblog onto multiple social media platforms. He posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and is just starting to tinker with Quora. A bit surprisingly, O’Keefe’s LinkedIn-based Legal Blogging Group has over 5,000 members. He has been using Facebook for years but has only recently started to pay closer attention. “Law firms have not taken to Facebook like they have taken to LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs,” he says.
On the other hand, O’Keefe is seemingly ubiquitous on Twitter, where he shares news and commentary and posts 15-20 links daily.
O’Keefe tries to be generous with the ideas and information in the content he posts. It’s a case of teaching by example, precisely what he advises clients to do.
He added these tips for any small businesses trying to succeed in social media:
1. Chiefs over Indians. O’Keefe advised companies to avoid assigning junior people to be the company online voice. “The top management needs to be involved. How else do you build relationships? How else do you demonstrate thought leadership?” he asks.
2. Blog strategically. Don’t just shovel up content. Provide information and ideas that will engage clients and prospects. Respond or anticipate to their questions or concerns. Also pay close attention to influencers, top clients, media and, top bloggers. Find ways to engage them with your social media activity.
3. Be yourself. O’Keefe warns lawyers, “ don’t hide behind your law firm brand.” People are looking for authenticity. “You'll shine like a star when people see you acting like an everyday person.”
4. Listen first. O’Keefe—as do most experts—see far greater power in listening to relevant voices on social media than broadcasting messages. “You wouldn't shout out content through a bullhorn at a cocktail event. Don't do it online, either.”
5. Be curious. Lawyers are trained not to ask questions in court that they don’t know the answers to. This doesn’t work online where it is smartest to ask questions and enjoy a forgiving environment for making a few mistakes now and then.
6. Ask for the work. Lawyers online sometimes seem shy when asking people for the business they hope to get. O’Keefe advises professionals to “ask for the type of work they want to do from the type of clients they want to work with.”
One last thought, if you ever need to find a good lawyer: Lexblog may be a smart place to look.
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