Blogging While A Mile High

Okay, this post is not what you think. It just means I am in Denver, participating in the ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law's 3rd annual CLE conference. I was part of a panel discussion on "Growing Your LEL Practice." An older attorney, one of my co-panelists, said (and I'm paraphrasing), "You don't need all this blogging stuff. I never needed any of this blogging stuff. All I ever needed was a great reputation. That's how you get business!" I didn't know quite what to say. I felt bad for the guy, because new technology and new ways of marketing are obviously threatening to his sense of himself, and the success he had building his business. It would be more convenient, I know, if we lived in a world where simply being good at your job was enough to guarantee a steady stream of new clients. I certainly wish that was so for my own business, and I didn't need to go to conferences or buy exhibit booths, or spend time and money on search engine optimization. But in business, a great reputation is not worth much if nobody has ever heard about it. You can be a brilliant attorney and starve.