Bloggers Are You Just Reporting The Score Or Telling The Story

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Bloggers: Are you just reporting the score or telling the story? In Indianapolis on Sunday, the New York Giants proved that a team on the brink of failure can make a run and win the Super Bowl  by being “all in.”  Earlier, in Phoenix, Kyle Stanley, just one week after blowing a three shot lead on the final hole of a PGA tournament, came from behind to win the Phoenix Waste Management Open. As you know, I had written about the “All In” Giants and Kyle Stanley’s meltdown. I thought about both of these amazing comeback stories and remembered a blog I read a few years ago  Why Winners Win and Losers Lose. I enjoyed re-reading it. I also wondered how some of the great American sportswriters like Grantland Rice, Red Smith,  Jim Murray  or Shirley Povich  might have written about these two incredible comeback stories. They would have written that the Giants beat the Patriots and that Kyle Stanley won the golf tournament, but they would have peaked your attention by telling the story. I suspect many of you have never heard of these great 20th Century writers. Grantland Rice is thought to have written the best opening of any sports column in history. It is certainly the most quoted. In his famous 1924 article The Four Horseman, he began: Outlined against a blue-grey October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again.   In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. (the Notre Dame backfield) A great sportswriter paints a picture and puts the reader into the story. If you would like to read more great sports articles, read: Ten Great Pieces of Sports Writing. Most lawyer bloggers seem to just report on a court decision, new legislation or new regulations. While that is important, it would be analogous to Grantland Rice simply reporting that Notre Dame beat Army. To be a successful blogger, and attract readers who may become clients, you must do more. There is an interesting story to tell beyond the case decision, legislation or regulations. It is how the decision, legislation or regulations will impact your clients’ industry and business. I believe the best lawyer blogs are able to capture their readers by telling the story.  Are you telling that story? I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.