As most of you know, Grant and I are giving away a free copy of our Blawg for Profit course.  Well, we decided that wasn’t good enough.  We are also going to give away a free custom Wordpress blog.

You can get details on how to enter here.

Comments(0)

Grant Griffiths and I are launching Blawg for Profit October 15, 2007.  To celebrate, we are hosting a Pre-Launch Party by teleconference call October 12 at 3:00 pm Eastern.  Call details will follow.

And, we are giving away a free course.  Here are the details on how to enter.

Hope you make it to our party!

Comments(0)

Susan Carter Liebel writes one of my favorite Solo Lawyer blogs - Build a Solo Practice.  She recently included my practice area blog - the Alabama Family Law Blog, in her article on Blogs that Bring Business.

The blogs to which she links are instructive examples.  But, as instructive is the article that accompanies them.  It is a nice primer on how to have a profitable blog.

Susan, this is my public statement of gratitude for including me in your terrific article.  Thank you.

Comments(0)

As many of you know, Grant Griffiths and I are working on a program that will teach lawyers how to create and maintain a blog that attracts more clients.  When we announced the Blawg for Profit program, I noted that we would also be releasing some other free blogging resources as we got closer to the release date.

I am happy to announce the first of these is now available.  It is a free 7 lesson eCourse on better blogging for lawyers.  If you read these posts in your browser instead of a newsreader, then you may have noticed the sign in box at the top of the sidebar.   If you’d like to subscribe to the course, please enter your name and e-mail in the form.  The introductory message will be sent to you immediately, and the first lesson will soon follow.

You’ll also be subscribed to the Profitable Practice e-zine that contains marketing (both online and offline tactics) and practice management tips and strategies specifically designed to help solo and small firm lawyers design their perfect practice.

I hope you find both of these resources valuable.

Comments(0)

After announcing the release of Blawg for Profit, I received several questions from lawyers about why I thought blogging should be a part of a lawyer’s marketing program.

In my opinion, there are a number of reasons to have a blog for your law practice. Here are nine of them:

1. It’s cheap. You can start your own blog for less than $10 per month. Compare that to yellow page advertising.
2. It’s fast. You can start a blog and have it live on the internet in literally a matter of minutes.
3. It’s easy. Once you understand how blog publishing software works, if you can write an e-mail then you can publish an article to your blog.
4. Blogs are search engine friendly. Do you google? An increasing number of people have google as their home page. Google and other search engines rank quality blogs higher than static webpages. That means when a prospective client types in your target keywords (e.g. mobile divorce lawyer) you come up on the first page of the search results (no, really go do it - type in my number one target search phrase for my practice blog, mobile divorce lawyer, in google and see what comes up). Same thing for alabama divorce lawyer and alabama divorce law, etc - you get the idea. It works.
5. Blogs establish your authority. Publishing a blog is much like publishing a book. You become viewed as the authority for your subject matter.
6. The media look to blogs for sources for their stories. Not only do prospective clients find bloggers on the internet, so do the mainstream media. Do not be surprised if you are contacted to be a source for a story in your practice area. Last year a Time magazine reporter contacted me about a family law story she was working on. It turned out I was not able to help with exactly what she was looking for, but still.
7. It’s a way to grow a nationwide network of other lawyers. Bloggers support one another. They link to each other’s sites (which helps the search engine ranks of both sites). They refer business to one another. They share resources and tips.
8. Blog articles can be easily “repurposed” for other publishing efforts. A series of blog posts can be easily turned into an article or report you can offer to prospective clients or that can be published in a bar journal. Writing articles has been a staple in lawyer marketing for years. Blogging gets you in the habit of writing content that can be re-used for that purpose in other media.
9. It’s a public service. Many of us became lawyers in order to make a positive contribution to society. If you publish good, helpful content on your blog, your site becomes a valuable resource to those in your target market.

There’s more. But, do you really need any?

Comments(0)

I recently have had “e-mail discussions” with several lawyers who contacted me about how effective my divorce law practice blog (www.alabamafamilylawblog.com) has been at bringing me business.  When I tell them, they often are incredulous.  But, it’s true.  Next to referrals, it is the number one way I get clients in the door.  And, it is unbeleivably cost effective.

Fine, they say, but I’m not technically inclined.  I don’t know how to start a blog or which service to use.  Now I can tell them I have the answer…

Drum roll, please…

I am pleased to announce that I have teamed up with the highly respected -maybe less so after this announcement - Grant Griffiths to create a program (Blawg for Profit) that will walk solo and small firm lawyers (actually any lawyer could use it, but I suspect only solo and small firm lawyers will) step by step through the process of creating, launching, marketing and maintaining a blog from scratch.  Soup to nuts from concept to client; it’s a success blueprint for blogging.

I cannot yet reveal all of the details.  And, it will not be available to purchase for a couple of months yet.  But, I wanted to let you know its coming.  In the meantime we will be releasing several FREE resources to help those of you who are ready to launch your blog, or are ready to increase the effectiveness of your blog where it matters - getting prospective clients to find it and contact you as a result.

Some of these FREE resources to look for include a Blog Service Comparison Chart to understand the myriad choices of blogging platforms that are available and which is best for you, a free e-course (7 Days to a Better Blog), and last, but certainly not least, a new blog on blogging that will be jointly authored by the aforementioned Mr. Griffiths (who was apparently not busy enough with the half dozen or more that he is publishing currently) and yours truly.  Details will be released on this site and Grant’s Home Office Lawyer blog as they become available.

And, if you have particular questions you would like answered in this product, it’s not too late.  We are still putting the finishing touches on the content.  So, if you have questions, e-mail them to me or Grant or post them to the comments section of this post.  Although we will not be able to address every question, we will certainly attempt to answer as many as we can.

Comments(4)

Most online marketers realize the importance of quality inbound links.  Fellow blawger Jamie Spencer, of the Austin Criminal Defense blog, addresses the issue of how to get such links in this post.  His advice: post good content and link out to other similar blogs.

It’s great advice that Jamie has obviously put to practice with great results.

Comments(0)

Search engine optimization is one of those mysterious subjects that few people understand (and, I dare say, fewer lawyers). Check out this post from Daily Blog Tips in which he links to 7 very good blogs which cover the topic of SEO.

SEO is constantly changing. If you are interested in the subject (and if you aren’t interested, the only legitimate reason is that you have someone else that stays on top of it for you), then check out these blogs. Subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite few.

Here is the list that Stephen provides at Daily Blog Tips:

• Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog - Bruce is an old name in the industry. His blog is a great resource for SEO news and tips in general. What keeps me coming back, though, are the hilarious in-post comment wars he has with Susan. Think we could do something like that, Daniel?
• Marketing Pilgrim - Andy Beal’s got some great material on a variety of different marketing-related topics, including a lot of articles on SEO and blogging.
• Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO - There’s nothing quite like getting news straight from the source. Matt works for Google. He’s a great read to begin with, but you just can’t beat his blog for authority when it comes to the internet’s #1 search engine.
• Search Engine Land - Although the blog itself has only been around for a few months, Danny Sullivan has been an SEO bigwig for much longer.
• Search Engine Roundtable - If you want to stay abreast of conversations on the hottest SEO discussion boards (e.g. Cre8asite, WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint, etc.) without, well, having to read them, this blog is your first stop.
• Search Engine Watch - This blog is definitely one of the oldest and most respected sources for search engine news. It’s a bit drier than the others; good for information, bad for personality, but still useful if all you’re interested in are the facts.
• SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog - Rand Fishkin and co. provide some great information. Be sure not to miss their whiteboard fridays.

(from: Top 7 SEO Blogs)

Comments(0)

Problogger has a nice article on promoting yourself through your blog.    In it he sets out 7 tips to “sell yourself” in your blog.  All of his points are important.  I’d summarize his advice into the following simple motto: provide value and be interesting.

Personally the article caused me to think about my own efforts at my practice blog, www.alabamafamilylawblog.com.  I think I tend to err on the side of providing value, and often neglect being interesting (by injecting my personality and/or using story).

Review the 7 tips.  What changes do you need to make on your practice blog?  You do have a blog for your practice area, right?

Comments(0)