If you have created your own law blog, you have taken a huge step towards creating an online marketing presence. Blogs, however, require constant attention and upkeep, and can start to feel stale after the initial excitement wears off. If you find yourself ignoring your blog, or you are just bored with it, shake things up a bit.
Add new voices
Successful TV shows always add new characters to bring in new viewers and keep the old ones satisfied, and blogs are no exceptions. Different viewpoints will get the conversation going again, and will bring in new readers.
Push the envelope
Step out of your comfort zone and say how you really feel about something, or propose an alternative strategy that is not considered the standard. You should not reinvent yourself, but there is nothing wrong with letting loose sometimes (unless it infringes on the rules of professional responsibility).
Guest post for someone else
This can draw near readers, and new viewpoints to your own blog. Much like working in a new location can shake up your thinking, guest writing might help you realize something about your own blog you want to change.
(photo: Roo Reynolds)
Randall Ryder practices consumer rights law in Minnesota and is a publisher of Elder Parent Help. Follow him @randallryder.
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Could not agree more. Our stats are up by 134% since we took a more aggressive marketing approach to getting the word out about our blog.
Blog maintenance is such an overlooked issue by many lawyers. Merely “having” a blog is no better than merely “having” a website.
Ten years ago, lawyers got sold on purchasing expensive static websites that didn’t produce results in terms of visitors, new business leads, and ultimately clients.
Today, blogs are the new internet “must-have”. However, many lawyers are getting sold on blog solutions without understanding the importance of maintenance. Whether it’s a website or a blog, successful internet marketing requires consistent content.
Unfortunately, for many solos and smaller law firms, time is a scarce resource. Before investing money into a new website or blog, it’s important to make a plan with regard to how you’re going to maintain it.
Or, worse, lawyers are buying a blog solution that includes the content—which also gets sold to a dozen other people.
I like this post. Musings really did not take off until I got consistent with my postings. I don’t post with the frequency of some blogs, but I get something up twice a week. One from me and one from a Guest Poster if possible.
I think two times a week is a good target. Drafting two posts is not excessively time consuming, and is enough to keep your audience interested.
The content, of course, needs to be solid.
Thanks for the post. I’m six months into a solo practice and just started a blog last week. I was challenged to post something every day for a 2-3 week period and watch the results. So far, so good, though I freely admit I don’t expect to keep that pace up over the long term.