This is a guest post from California Estate Planning attorney Jennifer N. Sawday. Jennifer’s blog can be found at California Estate Planning Blog where she blogs about “matters involving estate planning in California.” And you can follow Jennifer on twitter at @JenSawday.
My law practice is in a specific area. I handle California probate, estate planning, wills, trusts and related litigation. I also handle California guardianships and conservatorships. My realm is the Southern California probate courts. Probate in California is a very lucrative market as attorney fees are set by statute based on the value of the estate at the inventory completed as to decedent’s date of death. Competition is rather fierce for getting probate clients.
The same can be said for estate planning. Estate planning in California is a must have due to how our courts handle matters where there is not a revocable trust, nominations for guardians or valid powers of attorney. Estate planning attorneys are almost a dime a dozen in California with most solo attorneys who handle a general practice will likely dabble in preparing “basic” trusts or a power of attorney for a client and larger firms having a token estate planner on staff to assist their clients. Plus attorney fees for estate planning range the gamut from a $300 “trust mill” package to a $10,000 or more high end “branded” product. For those attorneys who are passionate about their practice area and charging reasonable fees — it is hard to make yourself known without participating in social media.
I began blogging using Typepad in December 2005 and consistently posted for 2006. I knew then that blogging would pay off dividends in the long term. I was also passionate about sharing my knowledge and differentiating myself in my practice area. Blogging was my ticket for doing so. I just knew. Having blogged for as long as I have, I blog much less frequently now and tend to only blog when business is a little slower. I have noticed a significant uptick during the times I blog and the amount of new clients that contact me as a result.
When Twitter launched, I had a personal account for a few months and learned how to use it quickly. I soon deleted that account as Twitter used personally was overwhelming for me. Later in March 2009, I relaunched my approach on Twitter and kept it strictly business with some personal interaction in my tweets.
The day that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died was a banner day for attorneys especially wills and trusts attorneys. One tweeter called it an “EP attorney’s woodstock.” And after realizing the Twitter chatter on their deaths and the note about deaths occuring in 3’s, I put up a very basic post about how celebrities die like the rest of us and need an estate plan like the rest of us. The post was meant to remind every day clients and potential clients about the importance of an estate plan. Sure, I was also trying to capture additional readers and trying to boost my own stats by blogging about a national topic on the day that Michael and Farrah both died. The post took all of 8 minutes to log in, write up and post. I put the link on Facebook and tweeted it.
The following Monday I got an email from another attorney in Texas, Tamera Bennett, asking if she could record a call with me about the California probate process and what I thought about Michael Jackson’s death and matters in probate court. Tamera sent me a link to the probate papers already on file with the Los Angeles County probate court to review. I called her number the next morning for about a 15 minute question and answer that was taped. She wanted to know what papers were filed and why. She posted it on her blog as a podcast and tweeted its link. She also found me on Twitter before I had a chance to even tell her I had a Twitter account. I followed her immediately. And saw her tweeting the remainder of the afternoon about her podcast. Awesome.
Around 5pm that evening, my office got a call from a producer from the national Bev Smith radio talkshow asking if I would be available to join her live in 10 minutes on her radio broadcast to talk about the Michael Jackson probate filings. After I spoke to the producer, he said he heard my podcast earlier that day and loved my approach on the topic. I’m making a leap, but I believe the producer picked up Tamera’s podcast from a re-tweet.
I called Bev Smith back and was on live talk radio offering my commentary on the Michael Jackson probate, the California probate process and related analysis to all of the legal questions that Bev Smith asked on air. I was on air for over 40 minutes and was asked to stay through multiple commercial breaks. Clearly she thought I was a success. She mentioned my name very clearly and the name of our firm. It was unprecedent national publicity for me and our firm.
It all started with me embracing social media and realizing the opportunity that existed to get SEO from posting immediately on the Michael Jackson frenzy. I do not plan to post regularly about the Michael Jackson issue. That is not my goal. My goal is to have every day folks like me and you set up an estate plan. If you don’t believe me, then read my blog.
