A list of 15 rules for clients. This is brilliant.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I come across some random stuff doing research but wow, this has to be one of the simpler marketing programs I’ve stumbled across. And no, I don’t mean it’s a “snap” I mean simple like stupid. With blogs all too easy to create these days everyone’s blogging and after a buck.

The George Lindemann Jr pro blogger program just doesn’t seem to offer any substance. George, if I was going to do an all in one blogging program (and I’ve thought about it before), it would go something like this:

• Two Options: Hosted or Host yourself
• Hosted - Change templates to fit your ideal look and feel, preinstalled tools and plugins, monetization, etc.
• Host yourself - a plugin pack included in the plugin directory, optimization guide (simple, effective), monetization optimized templates, etc.

I would also talk about building real links. George Lindemann Jr’s program focuses on social media links which aren’t that effective (not from those sites anyways).

I’m strongly considering a full on legal blogging package.

Popularity: 8% [?]

The last month has been tough. I’ve been facing what I could refer to as “The Blogger’s Paradox”- I’ve been getting so much work that I simply haven’t had time to write anything meaningful. I’m not saying that this blog has generated so much business that I cannot find a few minutes to post anything. That’s not the case exactly. But I have had enough work to keep me from really dedicating the time I feel necessary to come up with quality posts.

Which brings me to the question: With blogs, should frequency of posting trump the quality of posts?

In some senses, I think so. First, frequency of blogging is often tied into attracting a following. I know that personally, as I tend to visit blogs that are updated daily (or at least a few times a week) over blogs that are infrequently updated yet have quality posts.

However, in the end, it is the quality of posts that make the blog. If the information I’m reading isn’t interesting and informative, it could be updated every hour- I’m not coming back.

So, I think there’s a balance. Keeping a blog that is updated regularly even when the author does not have a completely original, informative post. But at the same time, I truly believe bloggers should stay away from “forcing it.”

To me, “forcing it” happens when you do not have a topic to write about, yet you try to produce a post anyway. When that happens to me, I usually just link to something else I’ve found interesting. If I’m really uninspired, I’ll go into photoshop and make a picture of something ridiculous and post it without any explanation. Like this:

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hugh McLeod of GapingVoid has a manifesto by Chris Houchens called “Marketing by committee.“

From it:

If one person can produce ineffective crappy marketing, imagine what a committee can do.

Popularity: 5% [?]

On LexBlog, Kevin O’Keefe points to a study by my alma mater, Northeastern University, on “What Makes a Successful Corporate Blog?“

The study identified five factors as important to the success of a blog:

1. Culture- If you’ve got culture traits that are interesting to people (think Google) or if you’ve got culture problems (think Dell or Microsoft), showing what your company’s culture is really like is a great reason to blog. With the Google scenario, you’re giving customers a glimpse into a fascinating company, and giving behind-the-scenes info on a universally loved brand. On the other hand, when you’re dealing with consumer distrust or bad PR, blogging (if done correctly) can help repair a tainted reputation.
2. Transparency- Blog readers want to read authors they can trust. They don’t want to read blog posts by a company that is trying to take a thinly veiled approach at hawking their products. It really is a balancing act. Sure, your company’s blog can help sell products/services. But at the same time, you don’t want to seem like like you’ve got too much of an agenda.
3. Time- It takes time and research to write a worthwhile blog.
4. Dialogue- You’ve got to talk with your audience. You’ve read the cliche “Blogs are a conversation.” Well, they are. And successful blogs are conversations between the audience and the writer(s).
5. Entertaining writing- When the blogger brings a unique style to the blog, it makes the blog so much more interesting.

How does this relate to law firm blogging?

Culture- I don’t see how law firms would offer a glimpse inside their inner workings on a blog. Unlike Google or Microsoft, law firms aren’t trying to persuade the masses  to use their products. A law firm’s target is much more narrow in scope, and would not likely benefit from showing how business is conducted (not to mention issues of confidentiality).

Transparency- Law firm bloggers have seemed to do a great job with transparency. Rather than having huge, blinking ads saying “BE A CLIENT!!!!!! WE’RE THE LAW FIRM FOR YOU!!!!!!!”, attorney blogs are best when they establish the author as an expert on an issue. And since that expertise is essentially the service clients are purchasing, there is more benefit in the content and the writing than advertising the firm. Am I saying attorney bloggers should get rid of any mention of their firms, or get rid of links and contact information for their firms? Absolutely NOT. That’s the point. But the idea is to gain trust, then gain the clients.

Time- This is a big issue with law firm bloggers. When the time you spend writing can be so easily calculated into opportunity cost figures, the question of “is it worth it?” will always come up.

Dialogue- For the most part, law firm blogs are good at encouraging conversation. When the attorney is an expert on an issue, they’re likely to embrace discussion.

Entertaining Writing- Without style, reading a law firm blog, regardless of the expertise of the author, can be, well, boring. But when you have a writer that can make a sterile subject seem interesting, you’ve got something.

Popularity: 20% [?]

I apologize for posting so infrequently this month, but I’ve been working on some “behind the scenes” projects that are very exciting (to me at least!).

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something for legal bloggers (and with a name like LawFirmBlogging, I probably should post on-topic articles from time to time), so today I’d like to share a new site with you.

Zippy.co.uk is a technorati-like search engine for blogs, but it has a LOT of information. Type in the URL of your blog, and you’ll get the following information:

• Internal Links
• External Links
• External/Internal Link Ratio
• Total 2 Word Phrases
• Total 3 Word Phrases
• Total 4 Word Phrases
• Textual Content
• Alexa Ranking
• Google PageRank
• Google Backlinks
• Number of Indexed Pages in Google
• Yahoo Backlinks
• MSN Backlinks

Aside from providing a way to centralize data from the different search engines, the 2, 3, and 4 word phrase count is especially useful. Since most people only enter 2-4 words in their search engine queries, knowing your keyword density is very important. Clicking on the Total 2,3 and 4 word phrases reports will give you a rundown of your frequently occurring keywords, with both a count and the keyword density.

If you’re looking for a quick, dashboard-like application that gives a very good overview of how your blog is performing, it’s worth doing a quick search with Zippy.co.uk

Popularity: 14% [?]