Capitalista Careers
The Unwashed Advocate
Law Street is gearing up for several promotions over the next few months, and one of them is to spotlight blogger talent. To kick us off I decided to interview one of of our favorites. We’ll also be highlighting legal blogging industry front-runners and guest bloggers. Law Street is always looking to feature fresh talent! If you’d like to guest blog for us, visit the connect page and check it out! Ok. That’s my plug. On to the interview.
I had the privilege of speaking with Eric Mayer this week. Mayer pens the legal blog, “The Unwashed Advocate.” If you haven’t read it yet, check it out. It’s honest, tongue-in-cheek, snarky, hilarious, and, well, unwashed. If you don’t believe me, just read this excerpt from the home page.
Do you have legal problems? Reading this blog will not help. In fact, it will probably make them worse, and it will definitely make you feel worse. You don’t want that. If you think you may need legal representation, find yourself a good lawyer–preferably one who is recommended by other lawyers.
Mayer isn’t a full-time blogger — he has his own practice, The Mayer Group, which provides civilian counsel for military legal issues. The Unwashed Advocate didn’t start in the conventional way. In fact, Mayer was sort of anti-blog prior to starting his own, finding that blogs have a tendency to facilitate “crappy information and writing” and were using the platform merely to increase SEO and their appearance on Google. He did, however, have things to say, and after spending six years in the Army, Mayer realized he craved a voice.
“In the army, you aren’t as free to speak your mind and my family has had a history of big mouths. I started the blog slowly then finally loosened the ropes on it,” Mayer said. His blog doesn’t preach for his practice. “I don’t over advertise, I don’t interweave the blog with my practice.”
Why is The Unwashed Advocate a blog we should watch? Not only is the writing fantastic, but Mayer has a keen opinion on blogging in the current legal market that shines through. As the legal industry changes, he has managed to create a space for himself outside of his nine-to-five career. His advice on this? Not everyone should do it in the same way. “If you don’t like writing, don’t blog.”
His mantra speaks to a common struggle for young professionals: we have a lot of available technology at our fingertips, and endless opportunities to increase our visibility in search engines, to clients, and to future employers. While self promotion is extremely important, and might help propel your career, take a page from the Unwashed Advocate’s book and make sure you’re in touch with where your talents lie and not just jumping on a bandwagon. The goal, first and foremost, should be to ensure we’re presenting ourselves in the best way possible.
xo The Capitalista
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Alexandra Saville (@CapitalistaBlog) is the Media and Writing Specialist at Law Street Media. She has experience in the publishing and marketing worlds and started her own publishing company right out of college. Her blogs, The Capitalista and Capitalista Careers, focus on the young and the entrepreneurial.
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