Shameless self-promotion? Maybe.

I can only speak for myself, but I’d imagine that the bulk of bloggers want to see as many visitors come to their site as possible. We put a lot of time and effort into writing these posts in the hopes that somewhere someone will see value in our words.

Some of us blog to attract new clients. Some are hoping readers will click on ads to make a little side cash. Some want to establish themselves as experts in their particular field. Others don’t know why they’re doing it, they just know they want their voices to be heard.

Regardless of the reason, blogs need readers. And apart from the occasional visitor who stumbles onto a blog through search, bloggers need active promotion in order to attract new sets of eyes. This is not the most highly visited blog out there, but I’d like to share what I’ve done in my attempts to find new readers.

1. Blawg.org- Since this is a blog primarily about legal marketing, it made sense to get listed in a directory entirely devoted to legal blogs. One of the main benefits of being listed here is the fact that Blawg.org frequently selects “Thought Leaders” and featured sites. This is valuable real estate on their home page, making your link much easier to find than searching the site or wading through directory levels.
Result: When Lawfirmblogging.com was the “featured feed” on Blawg.org, approximately 15% of new visitors came from Blawg.org. Currently about 5 to 7% of new visitors come from Blawg.org each month.

2. Technorati- Technorati is the main search engine for blogs in general. It allows bloggers to “claim” their blogs, and in doing so, bloggers can notify technorati that they’ve added a post. Technorati then indexes the new post and adds it to their search results. In short, you tell technorati what you’ve got, and technorati lets searchers get to it.
Result- Currently about 15% of visitors come to this blog from technorati.

3. Technorati Tags- I’ve made this a separate item from Technorati in general, as tagging is a different beast entirely. Tagging is a way of telling technorati what your posts are about. It is another way to categorize posts in addition to the actual keywords in the text. I use WordPress for this blog, and have installed a plugin that allows me to easily add technorati tags.
Result- Since I started spending a few extra seconds per posts for tagging, my traffic from technorati has nearly tripled.

4. Squidoo- I’ve posted about Squidoo before. From Squidoo’s FAQ: “a lens is a single web page filled with information and links that point to other web pages, to continually updated RSS feeds, or to relevant advertising. It’s a place to start, not finish.” It takes very little time to set up a lens, and once you’ve done it, it is self-updating since it uses RSS.
Result: Squidoo is very new, so I’m not surprised that my lens has generated little traffic. I’ve had some visits, but the lens is not in my top 25 referring sites.

5. Newsvine- Though it is still in private beta, newsvine seems to have a lot of promise. It allows you to “Read. Write. Seed.” Writers can have their own column on newsvine, and their writing is added to the pool of news stories along with the Associated Press and other traditional news sources. Seeding is another way to influence the news. It allows users to point readers to articles they’ve read elsewhere on the web. Though I can’t show you what newsvine looks like right now, keep it in mind. You’ll be hearing that name soon.
Result: Too early to tell….especially since it is not publicly available.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Register has a story on “Robot Agents,” which provide online arbitration and mediation to help resolve disputes. The system, called e-Dispute connects claimants and respondents through chatrooms, video conferencing, and forums, with the goal of reaching a binding agreement.

Of course, the robot itself doesn’t actually make any decisions. That is left to an “independent online arbitrator”.

The first question that comes to my mind is: how is the arbitrator selected?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Ah, yes. Another new beta. I have to admit: I’m getting to be a Beta addict. I love it when I get an email telling me that I’m allowed to peek inside something that is not yet available to the public. Whether it was Squidoo, Yahoo’s Publisher Network, or now, Newsvine, I immediately jump in and tinker around.

I remember when I got my first invite to Gmail. The reason for the invite so early? I had started a blog at Blogger when it first opened. You can see the spiral, can’t you?

I don’t really like to use the term Web 2.0. But these new services like Newsvine, Basecamp, and Squidoo are all part of a “do one thing and do it well” wave of internet strategy. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone a la Yahoo and Google, the Newsvines of the world see something lacking online, and just try to fix that one thing.

Though again, this is my first time looking at Newsvine from the inside, it seems like newsvine is trying to bring together disparate news stories into one nice, easy-to-use package. Rather than simply aggregating news, they’re actually offering a publishing and linking platform, allowing authors to point to news stories they’re reading with one click. This is the main feature that attracted me. Rather than having to grab a link, put it into WordPress, and hit submit, I now just have a button on my browser. When I see a story I like, I click the button, and it’s sent to my Newsvine account, where I can then comment on the story. I understand that WordPress has similar capabilities, but WordPress isn’t a news source. So Newsvine, to me, seems like it’s both a content publisher/aggregator as well as a destination.

Unfortunately, however, you can’t see anything I’ve posted at Newsvine…….yet, since they’re still in private beta. Like Gmail, Newsvine gives their authors invitations. Each author can invite 20 friends to join in while still in beta. So, if anyone is interested, send me an email and I’ll get back to you.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Small Firm Business online has an article written by Michael Booth from the January 4th New Jersey Law Journal. Mr. Booth reports that in New Jersey, the State Supreme Court’s Committee on Attorney Advertising has some new restrictions on lawyers’ online directory listings. In short, listings for an attorney’s services must include language identifying the listing as a paid ad.

The opinion was in response to an attorney who wanted to have his listing on a commercial site where, for a flat fee, he would have an exclusive listing. The attorney asked the Committee if doing that was allowed. Their response:

“[W]e conclude that a lawyer who seeks to give anything of value in order to participate in such a listing must, before doing so, ensure that the listing or advertising contains a prominently and unmistakably displayed disclaimer, in a presentation at least equal to the largest and most prominent font and type on the site, declaring that ‘all attorney listings are a paid attorney advertisement, and do not in any way constitute a referral or endorsement by an approved or authorized lawyer referral service,’”

This decision was intended to “protect the public trust.”

In addition, in May, the committee said that firms can have web addresses that describe their specialties, but they may not use these addresses in ads. So, although a firm cannot use a descriptive name as their official name, it is okay to have the domain name.

And finally, in Opinion 33, the committee stated that firms, in their ads, cannot use statements from satisfied clients that talk about the effectiveness of the representation. They can, however, use statements about the quality of the lawyer client interaction.

So it’s okay to say Attorney Smith is a really nice guy, and he has minty fresh breath. But saying “Attorney Smith was a great attorney- he won my case.”

From the proposed attorney advertisting guideline:

An appropriate client endorsement or testimonial may state, for example, that the
lawyer was sympathetic or concerned, returned calls, communicated frequently, was
prompt in responding to client requests, or was professional in his or her dealings.

The use of any endorsement or testimonial given by a client under the above
guidelines must cease when the lawyer has a reasonable basis to believe that the client’s
opinion has changed. Notification of a change in the client’s opinion need not come
directly from the client but may be implied or inferred from actions or statements that
would lead to a reasonable belief that the client is no longer satisfied with the lawyer or
the law firm.

Interesting stuff.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This is probably a no-brainer for most of you out there, but blogs are outperforming email newsletters. I think it has a lot to do with our disdain for spam and being inundated by emails. When you subscibe to an email newsletter, you’re telling the publisher you’re interested in what they have to say. But you’re not telling them when you want them to say it.

When you are a blog reader, however, you can easily see if there are any updates through an RSS reader, and check out the content whenever you feel like it. Say you’re having a busy day, and you get an email newsletter. Let’s be honest: if it goes off your screen, will you ever go back to it? Not likely.

In a recent article in Small Firm Business (published by ALM), Ryan Malkin highlights Sheppard Mullin’s success with blogs. In the article, Malkin says:

Prior to the launch of its blogs, a handful of Sheppard Mullin’s 21 practice groups had been sending updates on legal developments to a total of more than 7,000 clients and prospective clients. For example, for the last three years, the antitrust practice group had been distributing a monthly newsletter via an e-mail blast. But with new spamming laws and better spam blocking software, the firm was “running the risk of being blacklisted,” says Vickie Spang, Sheppard Mullin’s chief marketing officer. If a corporate client’s software pegged the firm’s newsletters as spam, it would block all e-mail from the firm — even those sent directly from a lawyer to an employee of the company. Such an event, of course, would seriously compromise the firm’s ability to conduct business. Thus, a primary goal was to find a way to provide updates and other information to clients without running the risk of being blacklisted.

The solution, of course, was blogging.

One of my clients started a blog a few months ago. He already had a large readership for his site, and sent out a monthly email newsletter to a few thousand registered recipients. But since he started blogging, page views have doubled…..into the very high six figures.

Popularity: 3% [?]