I’ve been blogging here for almost five years. I’ve been trying to find a fitting way to mark that anniversary. But 2010 is not only the 5 year anniversary of this blog – and of my venture into on-line writing, education, regurgitating and at times postulating. It’s also the 20 year anniversary of my becoming an attorney. And since blogging is a form of “social media”, it got me thinking…
The whole “social media” thing that people talk, consult and some even obsess about: The Twittering. The Facebooking. The Blogging. Isn’t it really just another way of being “out there” and “being seen?” Yes – it is. “Being seen” has really has evolved since I started blogging.
Many professionals don’t have time to network at morning meetings where they practice elevator speeches, handshakes and are reminded about the importance of eye contact and listening to others. It also – to be perfectly blunt – has a tendency to interfere with actual work. Like doctors, we attorneys – especially we bankruptcy attorneys – need to actually practice as well as read, study and keep updated on law and the news. And manage a life. Social media has replaced much of the early morning coffee and late night cocktail business meetings that can be tedious and tiring.
Years ago, someone told me – at one of those “morning meetings” – that I should refrain from telling people I practice bankruptcy law because the subject made some uncomfortable. Another person even suggested I change practice areas because when I told people what I did, it was “such a downer” which was too bad since I was “such a nice guy.” I remember thinking ‘what do I tell people? That I help give them a fresh start?’ As true as that might be, it also sounds as if I give long luxurious facials or high colonics.
In the late 90s, I bought into one of those pre-packaged websites that are still very popular. It was barely $200 for the year. At that time, few law firms actually had websites – and since it was the late 90s, firms were still wrapping their heads around “brochures.” Over time, I found that my website was amazingly popular with people who were deep in debt and embarrassed to ask for help from friends, neighbors and even trusted colleagues. In my experience, people found me because they were using the web as a means of finding answers to their debt problems… on their own, late at night, in the privacy and safety of their own home. People were calling on me because they felt they – on some level – already knew me based on what they had read on line. Over time, I got a better website, and eventually started to blog.
Out There
The evolving social media technology has allowed me to put myself “out there” – so that those who want to know what I have to offer can get to know me without the awkwardness that might be experiences by two Utah adolescents at a pre-arranged marriage ceremony. It took me a while to latch on to Facebook – and I openly mocked Twitter (here, check the archives) before I discovered its ease in both obtaining information useful to me and my clients, and sharing information I hope my readers and followers find useful. But even though social media technology is wildly groovy, using it without honesty is nothing more than puffery (you might think of a more appropriate word than puffery, but for now, all that comes to mind for me is “puffery”).
“Putting yourself out there” means doing just that - with typos (whoops!), bad hair (was born with it), questionable theories (never said my opinions were right – only said they were mine) and even more questionable fashions (not always able to tell blue socks from black. I admit I am not perfect. I think there’s now 11 steps left.)
But I think social media mechanisms – like blogging and all the others – can really only succeed when they are genuine. If social media is becoming wildly popular it’s because more and more people are moving away from the “puffery” that others engage in efforts to impress. More and more people are making business decisions based on their comfort level with knowing the person who they are entrusting their important business decisions. They want real people to help them. They want information about bankruptcy, the law and about the person they are considering placing their life in their hands.
After some long thought, I’ve concluded that the only way I can mark this anniversary of sorts is to tell you how I got to this point: to share with you what journey has been like over the past 5 years as a blogger and over the past 20 as an attorney. In what I’ll call the “20/5”, over the next several months I’ll be sharing with you my journeys that brought me here. You’ll still catch articles on bankruptcy and debt issues. But perhaps when all is said and done, you will have a better sense of how I got here, and where I might be going. Perhaps too, you’ll know me a little better.
And that starts tomorrow. Honest.
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Tags: The 20-5 Series
