I read with interest Adrian Dayton’s recent blog: 2012 Blogs of the AmLaw 100. I confess that part of my interest stemmed from the fact that I coach bloggers at some of the firms mentioned in the post. Number one on the list is Fox Rothschild with 32 blogs. I am blessed to have worked with most of the Fox Rothschild bloggers. I believe the Fox Rothschild blogs are very helpful to their clients and other readers.

Jeff Polsky is a Fox Rothschild labor and employment lawyer I have coached who has created an excellent blog: California Employment Law Blog. I recently asked Jeff to share with you how he writes to engage his readers. Here are Jeff’s ideas:

To write a successful and engaging blog about the law, you have to unlearn many of the “rules” you’ve learned about writing generally. Here are four examples:

1. Show some personality

You can write 100 briefs without using the pronouns “me” or “I” and that’s fine. But a blog is an opportunity to connect with the reader on a more personal level. You do that by sharing your own experiences, being conversational, and (assuming you have one and it’s not detestable) letting your personality show.

2. A picture is worth a 1000 words

Legal writing rarely includes pictures or photos. But, blogging is a visual medium and pictures help you engage your audience. Legal writing with all text and no images is standard. But a computer screen filled with text is boring and unappealing.

3. Take advantage of the ability to link items to your post

In most legal writing, if you want to direct the reader to a source or a tangential issue, you can use a footnote. In a blog, you can allow the readers to click on a link that takes them anywhere in the internet (even to another entry on your blog) for more detail on a point that interests them. Readers expect that. Give it to them.

4. Keep it short and sweet

Like this.

So far this year, we’re averaging around 4,000 unique visitors per month on our California Employment Law blog.

If you are blogging, are you following these four tips to engage your audience?