Rush Nigut usually finishes his day with a quick scan of the important headlines from around the country, mostly focusing on those pertaining to franchising, human resources or starting a business. Then, he writes up his analysis of the day’s events, giving his take on the issues and sending those opinions out for the world to see.

However, Nigut is not a writer by profession. In fact, he’s not a writer at all. He’s an attorney with Sullivan & Ward P.C., a West Des Moines law firm. But since he started his law blog, or blawg, last March, he has been active in trying to keep potential clients informed about the trends in his profession.

“It’s more than just marketing, even though that is definitely a big plus,” Nigut said. “This can help clients make better choices.”

Now Nigut, along with local patent attorney and fellow blawger Brett Trout, are going to help “spread the gospel” of blawging on Nov. 10 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston.

“From what we can tell, we really are the only attorneys in Iowa doing this,” Trout said. “And it’s such a great tool that if we could keep it to ourselves and not let anyone else use it, I know I would in a heartbeat. But it’s like the Internet. How are you going to keep it a secret? So we thought we would help get the word out ourselves.”

A new wave of legal bloggers is now emerging, consisting of law firms using Web publishing as marketing. Not only are blogs a good way to demonstrate a firm’s expertise and to give people a sense of a lawyer’s personality, Trout said, but search engines like Google are designed in such a way that search results from blogs come up before others.

“We have links in our blogs to other legal blogs all over the country and world,” Trout said. “Search engines are known to rank a site if the content is updated often and if more Web sites link to it than similar sites. If you do a search on Iowa patent attorneys, my name is the first one you’ll see. It’s not because I’m the biggest; it’s because I blog.”

According to a June 2005 Harris Interactive poll, more Americans use search engines to find a lawyer than any other method. Online marketing is beginning to allow firms to stay in closer contact with clients, offer more services, do targeted marketing and win new clients for less financial investment.

Nigut said the other big benefit to blogging is demystifying the practice of law.

“My father always said that what makes someone a lawyer is understanding all those thick books on the shelves,” he said. “I’m putting a lot out there that can help clients get a better sense of legal issues and give them the tools they need to make decisions.”

Nigut said nobody is as smart as everybody, so instead of shying away from cooperating or interacting with other law firms around the state or country, blogging encourages the sharing of ideas.

“You get to see some really great minds discuss the issues in your field, and then you yourself can chime in with your opinion,” he said. “I’ve learned so much since I started this that I never would have encountered otherwise.”

Trout said a blawg also can give clients a better idea about what kind of person a lawyer really is.

“A blog is much more of a stream of consciousness than what lawyers typically write,” he said. “My best clients have come through referrals, and this is an online version of a referral. People get a better sense of who you are and are more comfortable calling you.”

Nigut said one of his goals is to change the way people perceive lawyers.

“I want to improve our public image, and this is a way to further that,” he said.

So if blawging is such a great marketing tool, why are Nigut and Trout the only attorneys in Iowa utilizing it?

“Lawyers are very reluctant to be the first ones to do anything,” Nigut said. “I was lucky in that I had a firm that was very supportive of what I was doing. Not everyone is that lucky.”

Trout agreed, saying when he was younger and worked for other law firms, most of the older attorneys were skeptical of emerging technologies, such as the Internet and e-mail.

“I told a firm I was working for in the mid-’90s that I would pay to have the Internet hooked up for a month just so they could see how useful it was. I was sure once they saw it they would pick it up,” Trout said.

What was their answer?

“They told me no,” he said. “They were very reluctant to change. Ten years ago that was what we were up against, and today there isn’t a lawyer in this country who doesn’t use the Internet every day. And I think it will be the same way with blogging. At the end of the decade, a majority of lawyers will be doing this.”

One sign that this is true, Nigut said, is the fact that though many local lawyers were hesitant to sign up for their Nov. 10 seminar, students at Drake University Law School were quick to see the value.

“It’s a generational thing,” Nigut said. “These are people who grew up with the Internet and computers, and so to them this is just an extension of that.”

Nigut said there have been judges who have cited blawgs in their decisions, showing just how much respect many are giving to blawgs.

“Blawgs are getting more authority,” he said.

An added benefit of blawging is its low cost. Trout uses a free service to publish his blog, and Nigut uses a service with some extra features that only costs a little over $100 a year.

“You can’t get that type of marketing for that price any other way,” Trout said.

For more information or to register for the Trout and Nigut’s seminar, go to http://www.lawpportunities.com and click on events.

Iowa’s Blawgs

http://blog.bretttrout.com

www.rushonbusiness.com

www.lawpportunities.com