Hey Lawyers!

Should your law firm marketing content be written by AI? Today’s content is about some ways to protect your license when advertising. It’s about your Bar Association has Rules for Marketing & Advertising!

I am pleased to say I get around 3,500 open my emails these days! But only a few of you watch the video. Which is totally fine! Of course you’re readers! In this case, however, this post is slightly better as a video… I have samples… but it’s mostly here for the readers too!

On that note…I can’t live without my Bose Noise Cancelling headphones for moments just like this; when you want to watch the video, but you might disturb someone.

So in case you’re in need of a lil’ privacy, here’s an Amazon link to my fav headphones – BOSE HEADPHONES LINK (I don’t make anything from this… it’s just a friendly share)…

Ok… with that out of the way, today we’re going to visit how… while ChatGPT helping people write a lot of amazing things, there’s a lot of pitfalls writing for lawyer advertising. (HINT: The Bar Assn)

[Here’s a good time to watch the video because I show a lil’ snippet of a movie…]

So according to LivingLifeFearless.com, In December 2022, “28 Squared Studios” and “Moon Ventures” released the first-ever short film called “The Safe Zone” which was groundbreakingly written and directed by ChatGPT’s AI technology.

But should you trust your law firm content to be written by AI?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE’S
A BLUNDER WITH OUTGOING CONTENT?

Well last week we sent an email “repost” from earlier this Summer that referenced dates that didn’t make sense. The whole thing was a little ill-conceived. And actually a bit of a mistake! (apologies)

Luckily, this is the first time this has happened (that I know about) since 2008 sending approximately 758 posts weekly since October 1, 2008 and many more daily (about 5,757) since then on social media.

So I’m apologizing here! (Thank you to Kimberly too)… Anytime you see something “weird” from us please let me know! I love and appreciate the heads-up!

But you probably understand the consequences for making a mistake is a lot different for us (a legal marketing agency), than it would be making a mistake with the bar rules in your state.

I can apologize, but you could lose your license… this rarely happens if ever, but it is important to adhere to the bar rules.

BAR RULES FOR MARKETING AND
ADVERTISING IN THE UNITED STATES
Bar Rules in Marketing & Advertising is a big topic and over my 15+ years, as the founder of GoMedia Marketing & Productions, I have had to teach a lot of people how to understand the pitfalls of writing marketing copy for lawyers.

Like a lot of people, I was really excited when ChatGPT came out. Also I was pretty skeptical.

So, I began thinking about how to get my assistant Mary Mae, who works in the Philippines to use ChatGPG. English is her second language.

I have always been really careful about having Mary Mae write anything on behalf of our law firms. So when she does, it means a lot of checking and double checking and detailed proof reading on my side of things.

Besides that we learned the hard way when she lifted some content from somewhere when I wasn’t looking. This was long ago and thankfully in everyone’s past.

So we absolutely must have 100% original content on all platforms; and I thought ChatGPT was going to get me out of a lot of proofreading.

CAN CHATGPT WRITE FOR LAWYER MARKETING?
Let’s take a look (this time it’s probably better to watch this video to see what I mean so click the link above) … at the first social media posting I got for proofreading from my assistant written for Michael Sullivan (don’t worry Mike we didn’t use any of it)

This ChatGPT social media posting would not work for most bar rules in the United States.

(here’s the youtube link for you readers; and it should start exactly where I show you what can go wrong with the ChatGPT lawyer posts)

DIRECT YOUTUBE LINK TO THE MIDDLE OF THE VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/xLtLloNUdjw?si=XKm30PItf4EePj-G&t=224

My brain kind of stopped (insert car accident sound in there) … at the word “specialize”!

MY RULES FOR YOUR BAR ASSOCIATION:
So I’ve found that Florida and Kentucky have some of the strictest bar rules for marketing and advertising, so I start there and then dial it back if needed.

Here’s my basic GoMedia Marketing rules for lawyer marketing & advertising. Most of the time I know something wrong when I see it… but this outline helps (and it’s not formal…just an outline):

• We can’t make promises, guarantees or a prediction of an outcome.
• We can’t say we’re the best.
• We can’t specialize most of the time. (I work with a lawyer who has an ABA specialization and even then he is not comfortable to say he specializes).
• They need to know you are not their lawyer unless they sign an agreement.
• Also, many states want you to say THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT in a certain sized font (KY).
• Finally… Using qualifying words like sometimes, likely, usually help a lot in marketing.

We’re super busy helping lawyer with their marketing!

After all these years, it’s always to case the we can get a little relaxed about our own marketing; when we have a fleet of our favorite law firms chugging along from all over the United States on our most unique journey together.

We’re friends, family, we care about each other’s success… I really find myself in this journey with you! (and playing my guitar)

You should know that I’m always here for you and would love to hear about your law firm. Reach out to me anytime for a zoom chat where we can discuss what you have in mind.

Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video (except you tend to read rather than watch it… but that’s ok!)… thank you anyway!

Mary Cary (Specializing in legal marketing & media production)