Think of a lawyer whose name travels beyond their immediate professional circle.
Perhaps you know their work because they explain difficult legal questions on YouTube. Perhaps their newsletter arrives every Thursday. Perhaps you have heard them interview business owners, read their book or watched them turn a confusing legal issue into a clear, useful conversation.
Their expertise gives them something worth saying. Their willingness to say it publicly gives people a reason to remember them.
That is an opportunity many lawyers leave untouched.
They build experience, do good work and hope their reputation will travel. Meanwhile, another lawyer is helping potential clients understand their problems before those clients ever book a consultation.
The public-facing project that looks secondary to the practice can become an important route into it.
Expertise needs a way to reach people
A prospective client cannot easily evaluate the quality of a legal opinion they have never received. They can, however, notice whether a lawyer explains something clearly, understands their situation and asks thoughtful questions.
A useful article or video gives them that experience.
Imagine a business owner considering a partnership. They encounter a lawyer’s explanation of the conversations founders should have before going into business together. The piece discusses decision-making, money and what happens when someone wants to leave.
The owner recognizes questions they have been avoiding. They also encounter a lawyer who makes those questions easier to approach.
That does not guarantee a retainer. It creates a meaningful introduction.
By the time the owner needs advice, the lawyer’s name has a connection to something useful. The consultation can begin with a degree of familiarity already established.
Give people something specific to remember
A firm website, LinkedIn profile and professional biography help people check your credentials and understand your services.
The harder question is what brings someone back.
“Commercial litigation lawyer with extensive experience” describes a qualification. A recurring series explaining how business disputes develop gives that experience a recognizable expression.
The same principle works across practice areas:
- A family lawyer could explain difficult decisions people face during separation.
- An employment lawyer could answer the questions owners ask when hiring their first employee.
- An estates lawyer could write about the conversations families postpone.
- A litigator could interview specialists about how evidence is understood and challenged.
The strongest topic sits where your knowledge meets a recurring concern for the audience you want to reach.
You do not need to become interesting to everyone. You need to become useful and recognizable to the right people.
Pick the format you can keep producing
An ambitious launch is easy to imagine. A sustainable publishing habit requires a more honest assessment of your working life.
If speaking helps you organize your thoughts, start with short videos, audio explanations or interviews. If you think most clearly through writing, choose articles or a newsletter.
Those are starting points, not rules. Courtroom confidence does not automatically translate into comfort on camera, and drafting contracts does not mean you will enjoy writing a public newsletter.
Choose the format you are willing to return to after a demanding week.
A modest series that continues has more opportunity to build recognition than an elaborate project abandoned after three episodes.
Start with one main format and one main publishing destination. Add distribution as your process becomes manageable.
Five ways to turn a side project into useful legal marketing
1. Choose one audience and one recurring problem
“People who need legal help” is too broad to guide good content.
“Owners preparing to hire their first employee” gives you a person, a situation and a set of questions. It also helps you decide what to leave out.
2. Build a list from real conversations
Write down the questions clients repeatedly ask, the terms you repeatedly explain and the misunderstandings that complicate decisions.
Use those patterns to develop general educational content. Build hypothetical examples rather than exposing client details or assuming that removing a name makes a story anonymous.
3. Answer one question completely
A short piece does not need to cover an entire practice area.
Explain what the issue is, why it matters and which questions someone should consider next. Identify important limits where the answer depends on circumstances.
The reader should finish with a clearer understanding.
4. Set a publishing commitment that survives busy periods
Choose a realistic interval and reserve time for it. Keep a few finished pieces ready when possible.
Your plan should account for the weeks when client work expands. A schedule that only works during quiet periods will always feel temporary.
5. Make the next step easy
Give interested readers a clear route to your biography, relevant service page or contact details.
Then pay attention to what happens. Which topics produce thoughtful questions? Which pieces do people mention when they contact you? Those signals can help you improve the project without chasing every spike in views.
Start with the question you already know how to answer
You can begin today.
Write down one question that regularly comes up in a first meeting. Answer it in 200 words, using the language you would use with an intelligent person outside the profession.
Read it aloud. Remove the unnecessary introduction. Make the explanation clear. Publish it somewhere you can return to.
That first piece will not build a reputation by itself. It gives your expertise a public starting point.
Give your next client something to remember before they need someone to call.
Related reading: Personal Branding for Lawyers: Build a Reputation Beyond Your Firm’s Name · The Lawyer Ruined Dessert. Your Next Client Should Thank Them..
Related interview: Jasmine Daya on Law Girl, visibility and professional boundaries.
Original marketing commentary by Adele Salikhova. The examples are illustrative, not reported client matters.