Thanks for the mention, but us “old heads” do it in a different way. I guarantee you that we market every day. We just do it in a different way. A lawyer who doesn’t “market himself or herself” is independently wealthy, foolish or determined to fail. We carefully nurture our referral sources. We find ways to keep our names in their heads and, if we can, on the tips of their tongues. For example, my partner Steve LaCheen likes to send referral sources articles he reads in law journals that apply to their practice. I e-mail articles from sources like the NY Times and make phone calls as well as give “curbside opinions.” We both spend a good deal of our day answering questions from other lawyers. The whole point of “marketing” is to get and keep your name in the front of someone else’s brain so that when a criminal case comes in that needs to be referred out they think of you instead of someone else. We learned this the hard way and over time. A friend sends a case to someone else and not you. Why? Whoever they sent the case to was probably the person they last had contact with on a criminal matter. So we spend a lot of time keeping ourselves in the front of other lawyers’ minds. That way we do not become an afterthought.

I think the difference is that you think in terms of media, websites, etc. we think of marketing as a personal task, a one to one exercise. Each has its merits.

Don’t worry about trying too hard. You’ve got the juice to be a blawger. Just do it. Write well and I’ll send you links all day long. So will Bennett and Turk and everybody else, and it will beat the pants off of SEO any day.

Mark Bennett kids me above about having seeded my opening paragraph of this entry with three “criminal defense lawyers.” He’s right. That was excessive. But even one use of the phrase would have served its purpose without detracting from the overall quality of the entry.

I noticed that, unlike most other commenters, you do not include a link back to your own site. Do you do this on purpose? And, if so, do you do this on principle?

If you write well about intersting issues, others will link to you.

If you lard the posts with SEO, people won’t.

So choose: Do you want Google juice from inbound links or do you want to be a blogospheric orphan by trying to game Google with SEO?

Which do you think will enhance your reputation?

Since my wife never reads this blog, I will have to pass along your compliment to her. Thank you — on both the beauty and the brilliance.

And don’t forget about the “Philadelphia lawyer” thrown in there for good measure. And I’m not even targeting the Philadelphia market. But point well taken. It’s become so automatic, I don’t even realize I’m doing it anymore.

And just to be clear: By saying “sorry about that, dear,” I was referring to my wife and not to you.

Thanks for commenting. It’s an honor to have you on the site.

Besides, if they see something on this blog that they don’t like, they shouldn’t hire me anyway.

That’s the right attitude. Be yourself on the blog, let the potential clients know what they’re getting. You won’t get hired by the ones who are wrong for you, and you can charge more to the ones who are right.

A criminal defense lawyer.