The Good the Bad and the Ugly of Online Networking

The Good
Law Firm blog guru Kevin O'Keefe has many examples of how online networking activities, like blogging, have landed lucrative jobs and driven in clients by the hoards.

The Bad
Adam Steen, a true networker's networker, however, warns of the dangers of viewing companies as "competitors" rather than potential networking "collaborators. " According to Adam, "businesses that stand alone and are unwilling to collaborate with 'competitors' may miss an opportunity to grow strategically and/or financially."

The Ugly
Business lawyer Rush Nigut (shhh, I told him he was only going to be "Bad") waxes philosophic on the dangers associated with CyberSlamming. Cyberslamming is when people on social networks and message boards post (here is the intellectual property tie-in . . . wait for it . . .) defamatory comments about you.

Instead of doing my own legwork to determine what to do if you find yourself the hapless victim of CyberSlamming, I have instead posted anonymous, yet quite scathing Rush-related aspersions on fourteen social networking sites and message boards. I will await my answer in what I assume will be one of his more lively upcoming posts.

If your network does not extend onto the web, you are calling iPhones with a tin can and a string. Your business has to become part of the conversation to survive. But tread lightly. As noted above, you never know when a misstep might cause you endless amounts of online trouble.

Brett Trout

blogging networking cyberslamming defamation

Iowa's A-List Bloggers Unite

Yesterday heralded the launch of IowaBiz.com, a daily blog written by the best bloggers in the state. Here they are:

* Rush Nigut - Business Law
* Adam Steen - Networking
* Brett Trout - Internet Law
* Brian Honnold - Insurance
* Drew McLellan - Marketing
* Joe Kristan - Finance
* Mike Sansone - Social Media
* Mitch Matthews - Life/Work Balance
* Shirley Poertner - Leadership
* Timothy Johnson - Project Management
* Tom Vander Well - Customer Service
* Victor Aspengren - Corporate Culture

If you think any of these topics do not apply to your business, then you REALLY need to read IowaBiz. IowaBiz will show you how your business is not about numbers, it is about community, about sharing, about starting the conversation with your customer. Build a better business and the customers, as well as the numbers, will come.

Tune in, read up and respond to the posts. Become part of the conversation. I look forward to meeting you there!

Brett Trout

IowaBiz blogging Iowa

Link Love and the Practice of Law

I noticed I have been getting a lot of press this week. From Colin Samuels' incredible Infamy or Praise to a substantial quote in the Des Moines Business Record concerning the Iowa Microsoft case.

One particularly notable hat tip came from Canadian Law Librarian, and host of Blawg Review #105 Connie Crosby. In her post, she quotes some rather profound insight from Rajesh Setty, author of Life Beyond Code, in his 10 things they didn't tell you about blogging:

7. If you want to succeed, you HAVE to start making others succeed.

You want to succeed in your blogging initiatives. Others want to do the same. If everyone thinks that ONLY they want to succeed, it will be hard work for everyone. Please spread the word about other blogs. You don't have to promote other blogs blatantly. A little bit of "link love" will go a long way. Don't worry. People will reciprocate if you write "linkworthy" content

This is particularly important advice for lawyers who blog. You are never going to succeed as an island. That old school philosophy of "step on everyone to get to the top" just does not work in the blogosphere. The great news is that you do not have to despise your colleagues. The main reason I enjoy blogging so much is because the successful bloggers I meet are such great people and lawyers are no exception. Upon meeting me, their first thought is "How can I help you." They do not expect anything in return; they just want to give back to something that has done so much for them.

The best thing about blogging is that it naturally weeds out the bad eggs. Blogs make you transparent. If you are honest, that shows through. If you are nice, people can see that. You can try to hide it, but your blog will eventually bring out your true personality. Blogging is putting a new face on an oft criticized profession. People are using blogs to sort the wheat from the chaff and find the best lawyers out there. Based upon the lawyer bloggers I have met, and continue to meet, I have a new found optimism that the legal profession is more civil, more collegial, smarter and more caring than it was even five years ago, and it is getting more so every day.


Brett Trout

Be sure to check back in Monday, when I will be filling Blawg Review #106 with dozens of links to the amazing attorneys putting this new face on the practice of law.

Blawg Review Lawyers Blogging Rajesh Setty

Need More Law Blogs?

Ever thought you might need to read a law blog other than Blawg IT (hypothetically, of course). You might want to check out this week's Blawg Review #102 over at Declarations and Exclusions. Blawg Review is a travelling post of recent law blogging. It is also a nice way to keep your finger on the pulse of the Blawgosphere.

Click all the links and you will eventually end up back here. After all that reading, who knows? It may even give you the bug to start blawging yourself!

Brett Trout

blawg blawg review law blogs

Blogga Nostra

The Blogga Nostra is meeting again tomorrow (Friday) morning at 8:00 am at Panera in West Des Moines. If you have always admired patent attorneys from afar, but were afraid to ever approach one, here is your chance.

More importantly, if you are a Central Iowa Blogger, or have any interest in starting a blog, stop by for coffee and meet the helpful folks who are actually doing it. If you are not careful, you might get some great blogging insight and some awesome personal and professional contacts in the process.

Brett Trout

Blogga Nostra Central Iowa Bloggers Des Moines blogging

Where's the Patent Lawyer?

Tino Buntic has come up with the blogging equivalent of sliced bread: 2000 Bloggers

Like all great ideas, 2000 bloggers is as simple as it is powerful. Tino lists pictures of 2000 bloggers selected by nothing other than their attention to the blogosphere and responsivness to his offer of help. What you end up with is captains of industry hobnobbing with students, hippies rubbing shoulders with lawyers and hippie lawyers battling their own internal angst.

Just by virtue of the fact that these 2000 Bloggers are now linking to one another, 2000 Bloggers has raised the value of its indivudual blogs, making it even more powerful. (Contact me if you would like a copy of the code to post this incredible mosaic on your own blog).

Because of its diversity, 2000 Bloggers has very little overlapping readership and covers nearly every nook and cranny of the blogosphere. Now that we are all here, the real question is how do we use this awesome power bestowed upon us?

[Indeference to my readers, I have removed the photo montage. If you want to find out more about the 2000 Bloggers project, this website should have all of your answers]

Iowa Blogga Nostra

I had great meeting with the Des Moines Family of the Iowa Blogga Nostra today at Panera in West Des Moines. The Des Moines "Family" includes:






* Brett Trout (Intellectual Property)
* Rush Nigut (Corporate Law)
* Sandy Renshaw (Blog Design/Build)
* Drew McLellan (Marketing)
* Andy Brudtkuhl (Web Design)
* Mike Wagner (Branding)
* Tim Johnson (Project Management)
* Mark True and Cory Garrison (Stories)
* Sherry Borzo (Small Business)
* Tom Vander Well (Customer Service)
* Michael Libbie (Advertising)
* Mike Sansone (Blog Coach)
* Mitch Matthews (Personal Development)
* Brett Rogers (Strategy)
* The Steens (Venture Capital)
* Matt Owen (Cowboy Blogger)


Whether you are a blogger, blog reader or just have an interest in meeting some great minds (and me) in the Des Moines area, be sure to check back here a few days prior to each meeting for updated time and place information.


Brett Trout

Iowa Blogga Nostra Des Moines

California Supreme Court insulates bloggers from defamation liability

Rush Nigut scooped me on a big blog-related lawsuit I should have been following. Thanks to Rush for the heads up. Although the facts of Barrett v. Rosenthal do not involve bloggers, the ruling of the California Supreme Court in that case surely does. Yesterday the California Supreme Court ruled that 47 USC 230 not only insulates Internet service providers from liability associated with defamatory comments posted by third parties, it also insulates ordinary Internet users who repost defamatory material.

While the ruling does nothing to protect bloggers who aid in the creation of the defamatory material, bloggers can rest easy that, at least in California, they will not be liable for the defamatory nature of information they reprint from somewhere else. Keep a close eye on this District of Columbia case, however which threatens an opposite ruling which could put bloggers' heads on the chopping block. While this new California ruling protects bloggers from liability associated with defamation, neither this ruling, the anticipated DC ruling or 47 USC 230 limits blogger liability for patent, trademark or copyright infringement, other intellectual property laws, criminal laws, state laws, or communications privacy laws. Be sure to check out Eric Goldman’s Technology and Marketing Blog for the latest 47 USC 230 case law updates.

Brett Trout

Other Related Topics:
Defamation, 47 USC 230, Blog Liability, Barrett, California Supreme Court