Since I started my blog I have been asked on more than one occasion, "Who Provides Your Content?" At first, I didn't understand the question. I explained that a company called LexBlog worked on the design on the website (and I have to say they did a fantastic job) and provides hosting and other technical internet services.
"No" the questioner said, "Who provides your content?"
I have since learned that some attorneys pay companies to provide them with articles, which the attorney then puts in their newsletter or on their website without attribution. I wasn't aware that was common, but it must be because I've been asked about it more than once.
So I would like to answer the question both for posts that I've already made, and with a promise for all future posts.
The person who provides all of my content is and always will be me.
If I ever decide to have a "guest poster" it will be more than clear that the post is by them. If I see an article or blog post by someone else that I think would be useful for my readers, I will quote it with full attribution and a link back to where it came from.
Why would I do it this way, when it is so easy to take "professionally" written articles and post them as my own?
- I love to write and I especially love to write about topics that interest me. Estate planning and the related issues including tax and retirement planning and asset protection are interesting to me. I enjoy writing about them and I'm certainly not going to pay someone else to do it for me.
- Blogging makes me a better lawyer. It forces me to sit and think and research and write about specific issues that I don't necessarily think about every day. In researching a post (and I have a few in the hopper that I'll post over the coming days and weeks) I'll often learn something new, or reevaluate my position on an issue.
- I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Even if you, my readers never knew that the words you were reading weren't mine, I would know, and it would bother me.
So for better or for worse, my blog is just that, my blog. Written, typed, and edited entirely by me. It's been a great experience for me so far, and I hope that you, my readers are enjoying it and continue to do so.
P.S. Thanks to those of you who have privately pointed out all of my typos, allowing me to change them. Typos are just more proof that the posts are coming from me.
