Why I Blog, and You Should Too

Blogging is the new fondue party, all of the cool people are doing it.

You'll recall that I'm an avid (or maybe not so avid) blogger. I publish this site, and the blog on my law firm site. You'll also recall that on a number of occasions, I've posted articles about blogging, and blogging tools. I'm a particularly avid fan of Wordpress and the Headway Theme.

I think blogging gives you a creative outlet, and an opportunity to keep up-to-date on information and current events.

One of the most difficult things is creating fresh content. My goal is to publish 3 posts to my law firm site per week. At first that doesn't seem like a lot, but if you're like me and you're trying to manage a full-time practice, 3 posts, plus everything else, ends up being quite a task.

To help minimize the workload, I find it helpful to mass produce posts when my creativity is high, and schedule them to appear at a later time and date. Some bloggers don't condone this behavior, and may suggest that fresh means fresh. The content loses some of it's quality. I beg to differ, and suggest that whatever your style may be, is the best approach you can take.

A benefit is that having a website with rapidly-changing content improves your web exposure. I remember the "rush to the web" mentality many law firms had regarding the internet. Now, with over a decade of usable internet time and experience behind us, the internet novelty has collapsed. People expect lawyers to have websites, and I think they're kind of shocked when the attorney doesn't.

Unfortunately, as some have suggested, the truth is that law firm websites are merely the conduit for funneling contacts to your business, it's the relationships that matter most. Great clients breed great client referrals and lasting income.

Headway & WordPress, A Winning Combination

For almost nothing, I've got my website with blog up and running. You've heard me ramble on how great the Headway theme is for WordPress. I can't say much more than I've already said.

I keep enjoying how simple the combo is, and how well they produce viable results. 

One of the drawbacks to the Headway Theme is that you need to know/understand a little about web coding to "get" how things work. Other than that, with the visual editor, you're able to move and fix just about anything you need.

Recently, I combined my website & blog (the blog was located on a subdomain). The whole process took me about 1 hour to complete. The editing was painless with WP and Headway.

If you're looking to get your firm online and blogging, Headway & WordPress are certainly the easy way to go.

WordPress Plugins to Get You Started

I love WordPress and the Headway Theme. I think the two systems are very useful, and cost effective (check out this post for my Headway review). I like WordPress because: 1) it's the blogging platform supported by my webhost (very useful when you screw up); 2) it's free (I think TypePad charges for hosting); and 3) the WordPress site has millions (literally) of helpful people creating plugins, applications, and support forums.

I've decided to give you a list of my favorite WordPress plugins, and hopefully, you'll add to this mix (in no particular order).

1. Sociable Plug-in - this plugin adds a nifty little banner at the bottom of your posts to allow readers to add the posts to their favorite social website.
2. Simple Google Sitemap Generator - sitemaps are key to getting recognized in Google. This generator does the hard work, and you take all the credit.
3. RSS Footer - if you're a paranoid, "end-of-the-world" type guy like me, you're afraid that someone's going to rip off your content, sell it to the "gub-ment", and use it to create the next Kennedy conspiracy, of which you'll get no credit. This plugin stops that. You get credit for uncovering/creating the conspiracy. P.S., it also protects you from getting copied and reused without credit.
4. Google Analyticator - I use Google Analytics, you should too. This makes it easy. Analytics is it's own monster.
5. Dean's FCKEditor - this plugin adds extras to your simple editor.
6. WP-Cumulus - If you like cloud tags, this is an easy one to use.
7. Wordpress Automatic Upgrade - easily upgrade your WordPress site and plugins. One-touch upgrade...SWEET!
8. Statpress Reloaded - A great plugin to get more information about your blog's visitors, search terms, etc.

Hopefully, this list will get you started on your blogging adventure. If you find a good WordPress widget or plugin you're happy with, please let me know.

"Blawging" 101

Creating a blog is one of the best things you can do for your law practice. The blog gives you the ability to become an "expert" in your specialty. If done correctly, potential clients searching for information will discover your blog and site.

Well-known and esteemed blogger/marketing guru/practice management pro, Jay Fleischman, recently blogged about some easy steps you can use to set up your law firm blog. His tips, which you'll find here, give a brilliant summary of building the law practice blog.

It's important to remember that blogging is one opportunity to liberate yourself. The law firm blog gives you a platform to express yourself. Like Jay mentions though, blogging is difficult. It's not easy to constantly develop new content (remember: the key to getting "Googled" is vibrant, relevant, changing website content).

Blogging can be a rewarding and educating experience. Blogging can help you keep up with current legal developments and the world at large. Go get a blog!

You may also want to check out Jay's related post about fixing up or getting started with your firm website.

Congratulations. You're a genius

There's a nifty little gizmo out in cyberspace that "scientifically" gives you the education level required for a website. If you're reading this, consider yourself lucky, you're a genius.





I will attempt to continue stimulating your intellect.