THE PROBLOGGING UNLAWYER
By Annalyn S. Jusay (now blogging at www.annalyn.net)
With their observant mind, keen eye for details, gift of gab and dexterity with words, add lawyers to the growing list of professionals who blog in their spare time. Such is the case with Paul Santos, who considers himself a "non-practicing attorney." He owns and manages the Picture City chain of digital shops and simply calls himself The Unlawyer. With his hectic schedule, it's a wonder how he still gets the energy to write, posting as many as 78 entries in a month. He still sees himself blogging five years from now. " There is just too much stuff on- and offline not to take notice of and not write about it," says he. More in the following interview:
Q. Please tell a little something about yourself.
A. I am a 38-year old non-practicing attorney - the reason why I call myself The Unlawyer online - and my day job is I manage a chain of photo shops. I will be married 10 years this December to Mrs. Unlawyer, who by the way *is* a practicing attorney, and we have two children.
I strike a lot of people as formal. In many ways, I am, but I can sing the Spongebob Squarepants theme for you if you like.
I like taking pictures, and not just because it happens to be my trade. I started on this hobby when I was in grade school, with a Kodak Instamatic camera, and more or less kept up with it ever since.
I also like collecting die-cast airplanes and books, travelling to new places, and dining out. I prefer reading books on business and history, but I have a taste for James Ellroy and, thanks to my wife, Patricia Cornwell.
I am active in my industry's organization and speak often on its behalf.
Q. When did you start to blog? Did anybody influence you?
A. I started The Unlawyer in October 2005 after deleting an earlier version wherein I felt I made plenty of mistakes that only a complete erasure could cure.
When I commenced posting again, one of the things I decided to implement was to discard my anonymity and reveal who I am.
I wasn't influenced by anybody to take the blogger's path; it seemed to be an interesting thing to do.
Q. Why do you blog? What do you like about this activity?
A. Blogging keeps me both entertained and educated at the same time. I get to practice my writing and photography, and sharpen my skills in both. I also find it a handy way of keeping track of the interesting things I read online, as well as keep me better acquainted with the issues that affect my industry.
In many ways, blogging is like a extension of a technique I mastered in law school, where I discovered the best way to study legal concepts is to take copious notes and divide the text into comprehensible clauses.
The result of all this blogging to date? Now I know: I am better at photography than I am at writing! I classify myself more as a linker than as a writer as a result.
Q. What benefits do you derive from blogging? For instance, do you think a blog helps you promote your business?
A. One major benefit of maintaining a personal blog (The Unlawyer) is that I get to meet a lot of new people online. At the same time I learn more about people I already know because of their respective blogs.
I've also noticed that I've become more observant of my surroundings and of other people.
The rationale behind my business blog (Picture City Digital) is something else altogether. I launched it in 2005 to establish my company's first-ever Web presence, but I didn't want a site that merely displayed static content that is de riguer for many corporate websites. I wanted the site to display basic information about the company and at the same time offer useful information so readers will visit it over and over again and if they are based in the Philippines, or if they intend to visit it, take the time to find out what my company is all about and hopefully patronize it.
Q. On the other hand, what do you dislike about blogging, if any?
A. Blogging can be such a two-dimensional medium; that is, it's very easy to misunderstand who a blogger is because it is a conversation bereft of context usually supplied by body language and other non-verbal cues.
For example, some blog readers assume that a blogger's intimate writing style is an invitation to become familiar. Or a writer's online persona may be entirely different from what he truly is in real life.
On the technical side, comment and trackback spam is such a nuisance. Good thing there are free tools like Spam Karma and Aksimet to help deal with it.
Q. How do you choose which topics to post?
A. I prefer to talk about business, with an emphasis on retailing, and politics. I also like talking about my other interests such as mobile computing and wireless technology. I also comment on current events. I also post the occasional video, too.
There are days I can't think of anything to say, and for that I examine my collection of pictures and see if I can make a story revolve around it.
Q. What are your blogging habits?
A. My goal is to be able to publish at least two entries a day: one in the early morning and one at night. There are days I can, but there are days I can't, especially if I have a full day on my plate, like driving the kids to school, meetings at work, or visiting my stores.
I try to devote at least one post a day on business on weekdays. I leave off business topics on weekends.
I devote plenty of time catching up on the news both online and off as a matter of habit, even before I started blogging, so I get a lot of ideas right there.
Q. Can you tell us more about your blog design and what platform you're using?
A. For The Unlawyer, I am using the TriColumn theme designed by Matthew Phiong on WordPress. I chose it because of its simple design, as well as its potential to effectively display online ads. For Picture City Digital, I am using the White As Milk theme on WordPress, too.
Q. In your own opinion, what are the qualities of a good blogger?
A. A good blogger should take to heart Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. It's good advice I've ignored often enough.
Post often, but don't let your blog consume you, or let it displace other offline activities.
Publish plenty of original content. If you intend to quote or borrow ideas from somebody else's work, be so kind as to acknowledge and link back to the author.
A good blogger should also pay attention to his blog's design. Avoid adopting a blog template or blog design elements that distract the reader from your writing or your pictures, or make it difficult for your readers to download your content. Not everybody is online with a broadband connection.
Offer useful information to your readers.
Most of all, be yourself.
Q. What are your observations of the Philippine blogosphere? How do you think Philippine blogs can make its mark in the world?
A. A lot of Philippine blogs I've read tend to discuss personal matters, although I am now seeing more and more sites devoted to politics, technology, and business.
If anything, Philippine blogs can make their mark on the world by offering interesting and useful items to readers and backing it up with research.
For comments and inquiries, email annalyn.jusay@gmail.com
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