Blawg In A Box

This is the fourth and last (planned) entry in the Blawg Focus Makeover series. Earlier posts examined the importance of focus, and how to tell when your blawg needs a focus makeover. This post tells you how to execute the planned makeover, and offers up some tips to make it easier on you.

Re-examine the Plan

You’ve decided your blawg needs to have its focus tweaked — or radically redone. Either way, you’ve taken a hard look at your practice, your ideal clients, and you know how you’re going to approach this blawgging business: demographically or by practice area.

Take a last critical look at the plan. Make sure you’ve covered contingencies such as:

• Likelihood of renewable resources – is this topic or demographic likely to have developing news, litigation, or legislation sufficient to “feed” your blawg topic needs?
• Self-interest — writing a blog of any kind takes some level of commitment. It’s not a project that lends itself to scattershot, hit-or-miss approaches. Is this topic likely to sustain your interest over the long haul? Sure you can “make” yourself keep at it, day after day, but why add yet another obstacle to an already complex undertaking?
• Appropriateness to business plan — you’re not blawgging in a vacuum, of course. Remember your business goals and your business plan. Keep these guiding principles in mind. Your blawg should serve your business plan — not the other way around.

Prepping the Blawg

Should you announce the coming shift in focus to current readers? Yes, I think you should — with one caveat: if it’s a minor tweak, then don’t talk about it — just do it.

Don’t tackle the work on your blawg directly. Instead, do your planning and pre-execution in a text editor or program such as MarsEdit (for Mac users), then upload all at once to minimize the interruption to the site.

When’s the best time to make over your blawg? Depends on your readers. Take a look at your analytics or stats package, and see when the most activity on your blawg takes place. Avoid that time frame, and go for the least active time slots. Generally speaking for my blogs, that’s the 4 AM — 6 AM EST time slot.

Consider tackling the makeover in stages — perhaps working on your blogroll first, and then the categories later. This might make the work a bit more tolerable, and the makeover itself less noticeable.

But if you’re going for a major overhaul, then don’t back down from it. Announce it; publicize your schedule for making the changes; tell your readers what those changes will be. Go even further and sponsor a contest for your readers to coincide with the makeover!

Debriefing Your Makeover

You’ll want to keep an eye on your blawg after the makeover. Ensure that your links are all working properly, and that each page displays correctly. Enlist a friend or two to test out the site on different browsers.

Finally, don’t look at a makeover as a one-shot deal. Keep alert for ways to refine your focus and your blog’s expression of that focus in small ways as you build out your site.

NB: Due to an incorrect timestamp, this post - which was supposed to run on Tuesday, as promised on Monday - wasn’t. My bad. Lesson learned: double check your timestamps before you post!

WordPress is pretty well-established as the number-one recommended blogging platform, and it’s the only platform the Blawg Coach will work with. WordPress has earned its reputation as the most versatile and beneficial platform for serious bloggers. And if you’re blogging for business — any business, but especially service providers such as lawyers — then you are by definition a serious blogger. (Or should be. But that’s probably another post entirely.)

But the setup of WordPress software is notoriously difficult for technically-challenged folks and beginners (which also describes many lawyers who want to blog). Fortunately, there’s an easy solution.

First, however, an explanation …

The Difference Between WordPress and WordPress(.com)

It might surprise you to learn that there are two different “flavors” of WordPress. There’s the WordPress I’m writing about — the open-source blogging platform application that you upload to a server and utilize to create a dynamic, versatile, easily customizable blog that’s hosted at a URL of your choice — and then there’s the other WordPress.

That other WordPress is WordPress.com, a freely available blog hosting solution for bloggers who want to get set up quick and easy.

Why Not WordPress.com?

Well, you might say, if WordPress.com is so quick and easy (not to mention free, hello!) why not use it?

The answer: Because, while it’s fine for many non-professional uses, it’s not that great for our (read: your) needs. You need grad-school level blogging, if you’re doing this for your law practice (and I assume that’s why you’re here).

Here’s why: WordPress.com gives you a URL that’s what we call a “second level” — in other words, http://myblog.wordpress.com, as opposed to http://www.myblog.com. This is bad for many reasons, but mainly it affects your search engine results, looks unprofessional, and means that you lack any rights over the server on which your blog is hosted.

WordPress.com also offers a limited number of themes. If you set up a WordPress.com blog, and eagerly start hunting for the option to change your theme to a new one you just found online, you’re going to be sorely disappointed — it’s not there. You have to get an independently hosted blog run on WordPress software to get the vast theme choice that attracts so many bloggers to the platform.

Please note: don’t be offended if you have a WordPress.com blog. I’m sure it’s a great blog. But you would be getting better results if you had a independently hosted blog on your own URL.

The Solution: One-Stop Hosting

So, what’s a poor lawyer to do, then? You’re convinced you need WordPress but you don’t have the time or, frankly, desire, to wade through these instructions (and believe me, I understand — the first time I waded through them, lo, these many moons ago, I felt the same way). You could hire me to do it for you. Or any of the countless freelancers who advertise all over the web.

Or you can go to one of the select hosting companies that already have WordPress installed for you. Here are a few — you can find others, I’m sure, with a simple web search:

• Blue Host
• AN Hosting
• HostICan
• DreamHost
• Host Gator

These hosting companies give you the option of signing up for hosting services and getting your WordPress blog without going through the complicated install directions. Just follow the host’s directions for activating the blog (usually with one click or so), and you’re set to install any theme you like and set up your blog with relative ease.

The Not So Easy Way

Of course, if you prefer a different hosting company, and you’re technically skilled enough to be comfortable with the Codex directions, then here’s a simplified rundown. Please note, though, you’ll want to take a look at the full instructions located here.

1. Acquire your URL, unless you’re going to do so as part of your host company services.
2. Get your hosting account set up. Write down your FTP information.
3. Set up a database on the server, and create a user for it with full admin privileges.
4. Download and unzip the latest and greatest WordPress version.
5. Change the file named “wp-config-sample.php” to “wp-config.php.” Edit the file in a text editor to include your MySQL user’s info (which you set up in step #3).
6. Upload via FTP to your server.
7. Follow these instructions for further setup.

   Finally, A Note

   If you’re wondering why I’m divulging this awesome tip and thus potentially driving clients away from Blawg In A Box, the answer’s simple: I believe so strongly in blogging’s place in marketing the solo and small law firm that I would rather give this information away and get a few more bloggers out there than keep it to myself. If this gets more lawyers blogging, this is a good thing, in my view.

   Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

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See what happens when I take six weeks off from this blog to retool and revamp? It all starts back up again — this frantic “You have to have a professionally designed blog!” I feel like it ought to be accompanied by seizure-like shaking, wild eyes, and a slight shriek to the voice, you know?

This viewpoint — you must have a professionally designed blog — has been adequately disproved, I think. If you’re not convinced, perhaps Yaro Starak — widely considered one of the premiere blog coaches around today — can convince you. If even Yaro says “it’s not the most critical element” then how can it be essential to success? Answer: it can’t. As he says, it’s important - and I agree - but if your financial status doesn’t permit an originally designed theme, relax. Why? Because it won’t detract dramatically, as long as your site is readable, functional, and contains sufficient white space.

Why does this fallacy keep popping up? Some possibilities:

• Confusion between good design and professional, high-cost design. Of course you need a readable blog, with an appropriate amount of white space and an attractive aesthetic. But - folks - c’mon! There are thousands of perfectly suitable themes available freely on the web. You can even tweak them by adjusting colors, changing images, reorganizing sidebars, with very little effort or technical training. (Note: don’t try this at home without very clear instructions, OK? Trust me.) The comments on this post that’s linked to in the above Home Office Lawyer blog post don’t say “Give me a professional blog design or I’m walking!” They say “It should look nice and be readable.” Pick a theme that delivers and be done with it - then concentrate on what counts more (that’s content and tone).
• Fear is a powerful motivator. It’s only natural to be a little anxious about something new, especially when the something new is based in a technology that isn’t very familiar — like blogging. Looking at the landscape of options and platforms, settings and hosting companies, themes and templates and plugins (oh my) — I think it’s highly understandable that many people would rather just say “This is way too big for me so I’ll outsource it and let someone else deal with it.” The irony, of course, is that it isn’t that difficult, and all most folks need is good instructions and some reassurance. (Of course, those instructions are hard to come by; rectifying that is one of my goals.)
• Lawyers have a tendency to overkill the opponent. Don’t take this the wrong way - I’m one too, and I am just as guilty. We don’t want to slay the dragon — we want to slay it, flay it, tan the hide and roast the rest up for dinner. Why start a blog when we can start a BLOG, with eye-catching graphics and gorgeous Pulitzer-winning graphics — something No One Has Ever Seen Before?! And you know what? If that’s what you want — what you really, really want — then go for it. (Zig-a-zig-ah.) But if you want a blog, and you’re not sure you have the cash for a $5,000 site overhaul — in fact, you know you don’t — then don’t let these exhortations stop you, however well-meaning they may be. You can have a fantastic blog without the design fees emptying your operating account. Isn’t it wonderful to have options?
• Consider the source. A lot of the people making these assertions sell professional blog designs. But, you might say, so do you - albeit through contract design work. Well, yes, friend, I say, you’re right. I do. I offer it as an option to my clients. My thinking is this: not everybody who walks in the department store wants a designer label. Some just want a really good pair of tennis shoes. For those folks, I have the predesigned themes option. For those who are really itching to slip their tootsies into a pair of Jimmy Choos, I introduce them to my good friend Cory Miller or another excellent designer.

Tomorrow: if you can’t get what you want (that $5k superblog) I’m going to show you how to get what you need — a clean blog design with a robust content management system that’s optimized to make SEO and marketing as intuitive and simple as possible - for the cost of hosting alone.

Edited to make it clear that while the Choos might be pricey, my friend Cory isn’t.

OK, so we’ve explored the design floor phenomenon - the debate between “you must have a pretty site and good design (and the exorbitant fees? Suck it up)” and “good enough is good enough - put your money and your effort where it really matters, and it isn’t your site’s looks.” We all know where I stand, and I think, judging from Kevin O’Keefe’s last comment on the subject, we can figure out where he stands as well.

And most of you already know I also write at another pretty popular virtual hang-out space for solos called The Inspired Solo. That, by the way, is a site that’s truly changed my life (by way of forcing me to think about my approach to practice, and creating opportunities for me to learn from some really amazing “teachers” in the process).

Since I regularly get mail from other solos who claim it’s improved theirs, too, I have to conclude that the message is hitting home with at least somebody out there. The message is simple, but not easy: I want solos to reclaim their power to create their practices and their lives in whatever way makes sense for each individual lawyer, completely untethered to someone else’s perception of what the solo practice of law “ought” to look like.

This is why I feel pretty safe saying what I’m about to say: Inspired solos can do better than simply “living large.” In fact, such meager aspirations are sort of the whole point of escaping Big(F)Law in the first place, at least for many of us.

Why “Living Large” Is Aiming Too Low

I think the whole desire for “more, better, faster, prettier” (not to mention “more expensive”) is reaching epidemic proportions in this country. I also think it’s a sickness. At the same time, I can state with equal certainty that there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting something that happens to be expensive. How can I say both things congruently? It’s all about the “why” - and the “how much” - as it is with most things in life.

Why do you want that $2500 blog or website? Is it because it’s prettier, cooler, snappier? Or is it because that’s what you’re conditioned to want? We’ve all been schooled in the “you get what you pay for” approach to shopping for anything, be it services or goods. Problem is, those considerations don’t really apply to the new marketing, and they certainly don’t apply to the Inspired Solo approach to marketing.

And how much are you aiming for? Is it just the site? Or do you also have to have the best office location, the most expensive furniture, the priciest suits? If so, let’s come back to “why” for a moment: why is it necessary to have the most expensive version of everything? Is it because that version has essential features that are required for your particular, individualized marketing plan to work? Or is it because that’s what you’ve been conditioned to think?

Way too many of us have fallen happily in line with the “more is more” army, marching along, gobbling up every pricey resource in site - and getting absolutely no value out of it. I have no argument - no quibble at all - with someone who’s thought about it, done the research, made his or her plan, and reached the decision through logic and intuition that this widget is the one for him or her (despite the fact that it happens to cost more). But that’s not usually what happens. Far too often, it’s a decision making process that looks something like this:

• Identify the need
• Start researching
• Quickly become overwhelmed
• Give up and pick the costliest option, hoping against hope that it will be the best

In blogging, that’s not just wrong - it’s potentially fatal.

Why The Most Expensive Blog Isn’t the Best Blog

It’s really simple. Blogging - good blogging, especially blogging aimed at converting potential targets into qualified leads into paying clients - has precious little to do with the blog itself!

That’s probably a radical thought but it’s absolutely true. What makes a blog valuable? It’s the readers - more specifically, the amount of attention your blog draws from readers. Attention is the new currency, and you must make a lot of it to succeed in these competitive times, smack dab in the middle of the Information Age.

And while pretty pictures draw readers in for a bit, web users today are not going to stick around for those pretty pictures. They are coming to your site for one of two reasons - to find a lawyer, or to get legal information. And that pretty picture has nothing to do with either goal.

So bigger doesn’t equal better. Pretty doesn’t equal more successful. What draws the kind and quality of attention you want to attract? One thing, and one thing only: content. And why not go for the more expensive blog anyway? Just to - I don’t know - stack the deck in your favor? Well, if you’ve got money to burn and you’re dead set on burning it, go ahead - be my guest and burn away. But here’s my point - it’s not necessary. And it’s often dangerous.

Why do I say dangerous? Simple: we lawyers are practical folks, by and large. We like to solve the problem, then move on. And spending a lot of money on an expensive site looks a lot like a solution. Problem is: it isn’t a solution to anything.

You’re not blogging in order to put an artistic site on the web-waves. You’re blogging for clients. You’re looking to up your profits with your blawg - to bring in the cases you want to handle. Solve that problem by focusing on content, and on marketing, and on tailoring your content to meet the marketing purpose. That doesn’t require fancy coding or pull-down menus. It requires your creativity and your words - no one else’s.

And the stuff that you do need? Contact forms, for instance, and static pages where you can explain in more depth what your practice area is like for each client through FAQs, articles, or documents you want them to be able to access? All available through plugins or widgets in WordPress which are (say it with me!) FREE.

Some Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Blog

Let’s try an experiment. Close your eyes (well, first read through the instructions, then close ‘em). Try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who is looking for legal information related to your practice. Perhaps a loved one just got arrested for DUI. You’ve been served with a complaint for divorce. Or maybe your company just found out a competitor stole a trade secret. Whatever you’ve got, put yourself there in the middle of that space.

Now, open your eyes and click on over to your blog. Still in the mind-space of that person looking for information, ask your blog these questions (silently, of course, unless you want your paralegal to think you’re chock full o’ nuttiness):

• Yo, blawg. Do you let me know what you’re about in the first 60-90 seconds?
• What do you tell me about the subject I’m looking for information on?
• Do I first have to wade through a bunch of annoying and off-topic information to get to the good stuff?
• What voice are you using to speak to me? Is it respectful but conversational? Is it stuffy and pompous?
• What sort of “feel” am I getting from you? Do you belong to someone with whom I’d like to work? Or do you make me want to roll my eyes and give you a big fat “Whatever” as I move on down the Google list?

Now, I ask you. Would any of the “ideal” answers to those questions be impacted in the least by a “prettier” design? (Answer: not one. You can achieve the ideal using the very “WordPress Default Theme 1.0″ you see before you - well, you see it if you’re reading it on the blawginabox.com site itself, and not in an RSS reader).

The Bottom Line Tip: Aim Higher

So here’s the bottom line on this cautionary tale: don’t just aim to “live large.” It’s so unworthy of you. Aim higher. Aim for ideal - YOUR ideal. It’s something no one else on earth can possibly hope to replicate because - like you - it’s one of a kind. Just because you can spend more, doesn’t mean that you should. You don’t have to spend a fortune, small or otherwise, in order to create a great blawg that works for you and your practice. You just need to know how to do it.

Stay tuned - tomorrow, I’m going to show you how you can learn everything you need to know to do it yourself. For free. That’s right - I’m making my own services obsolete by offering what I know, and what I do for paying clients, for free.

Why would I do such a foolhardy thing? Simple - because this is what the Inspired Solo approach is all about. This is how you do it - you offer outstanding value to potential clients, for free.

I know many folks don’t have the technical expertise and time to do it themselves, so I know I’ll still have paying clients - I’m not worried about that. But those of you who want to take it on yourself - with more time than money, as we all say at the beginning?

You’re going to get a very special prize. Starting tomorrow.

In the last post on this subject I wrote about RSS and how it will reduce the importance of the “looks” of a blog, as it begins to gain greater acceptance. I also wrote that the day of RSS saturation or prevalence hasn’t arrived yet, but that even so, the value of your blog rests, not in the blog’s appearance, but in how well you meet the needs of the people you’re targeting, and how strongly those targeted readers (TRs) “fit the bill” as your prospective ideal client (IC - and that’s the last 2-letter acronym I’ll throw at you this post, I promise).

And it looks like I already got my first naysayer!  Kevin puts out very nice-looking blogs through his company LexBlog and I believe he’s invested in the idea of aesthetics though clearly he recognizes that good content is prime. (That’s pretty much beyond argument at this point in the evolution of blogging.)  But I quibble - strongly - with this assertion: “I don’t think you are going to get top quality design for 500 to 1,500 and get that design developed with the other necessary services you’ll need to be an effective blogger.”

How do I disagree with these statements? Let me count the ways.

1. “…top quality design…” part 1 - Well, obviously, in my view top-quality design isn’t necessary to achieve the goals of inspired blawgging (namely, to create an aura of expertise around the blawgger while targeted carefully selected and identified readers and converting them into qualified leads through offering high quality content of interest to the reader - phew. Or we can just say “getting good clients”).  Else, I wouldn’t be encouraging my potential clients to embrace the less-is-more philosophy!
2. “…top quality design…” part 2 - Who defines “top quality” in terms of design? What is found to be excellent or visually appealing is clearly going to differ between different lawyers. The same goes for functionality - what’s of use to you in your site might be (almost certainly will be) very different from what functions I’d like in my ideal site.
3. “… 500 to 1500…” - seriously, yikes! You’d be far better off putting that cash into quality business cards and upgrading to a Mac. (Sorry - couldn’t resist.) You can have a completely functional website for the cost of hosting, period. And …
4. ” … the other necessary services you’ll need to be an effective blogger.” - This is my biggest quibble - not to mention point of confusion. What necessary services Kevin’s referring to, I can hardly begin to speculate. But in my view, here’s what you need to be an effective blogger:

• A platform - WordPress is free.
• Hosting - you can get it pretty darned cheap these days. I pay $7.99 a month.
• A template - again, WP themes are available in massive quantities for free (or very low prices - $50 or so being the usual price I see).
• Knowledge - again, free (though perhaps a little time-intensive if you have to go track it down on the Internet or worse,  get it through hard experience as I did)
• Basic writing skills - you already have them if you graduated from law school (though you’ll need a very different approach).
• A plan - not just for the blog itself but how to integrate it into your marketing plan for your practice.

These - along with a source for information (which you have at your fingertips if you’re reading this on the web) - are all the “necessary services” you need.  Everything else (including RSS widgets, Amazon book affiliate widgets, related posts code, and much more) is available through plugins - also available for free.

In short - I guess I do agree with Kevin on one thing. You can’t get everything you need to blog for $1500. You can get it for free.

Well, OK. $8 a month.

Technorati Tags: blawg, blog design for lawyers

I wrote briefly yesterday about how this blog is now my laboratory to test out my hypothesis that blog design isn’t that important in the success of a blog. I thought I might explain that hypothesis a bit further, and why arguing the point might be difficult at best, futile at worst - at least to lawyers.

For all the talk about lawyers being early adopters, many of us are slow to embrace new technologies that require a learning curve. RSS is one of those technologies that, for whatever reason (and I admit, I don’t entirely understand why myself), has been slow to catch on with the general population, and even more so with lawyers. This in and of itself is a strange fact. Why? Because lawyers also love to save time, don’t we? Anything that can help us take care of nonbillable tasks more quickly and get to the good stuff - the stuff we can bill our clients for - is a good thing. (Although if you’re still billing by the hour, you might want to consider a radical reinvention.)

RSS is just such a technology - the rare bird - a true time-saver. It aggregates all of the blogs and news sources we like to read that publish regularly and frequently (say, daily or more often) and puts the feed in one spot. Instead of navigating to different websites, looking for the new items, reading, then clicking to the next site and “lather, rinse, repeat,” all we have to do is log onto our reader application or site and, well - read.

But - here’s the hypothesis’s weak point - RSS isn’t widely embraced by either the general public or lawyers, and so the lawyers who blog are reluctant to let go of what is perceived to be the drawing point for any web page: how it looks.

Think about it - how many law firms do you know that get seduced by the siren call of the luxurious office? Why do lawyers do that? Why do we spend so much money on stuff that doesn’t matter? Especially when we know that clients who come in to those offices often feel irked that they’re paying for those luxurious appointments - why? We do it because we think otherwise - we do it because we think that’s what lures clients in. The trappings of success. The look of success - be it a Chippendale couch, a barrister bookcase - or a specially-created one-of-a-kind blog design.

But here’s where my hypothesis might win the day: tides shift. People evolve, and learn new things. RSS will lose its ’scariness’ at some point and maybe we see signs that’s already happening. Certainly with the explosion of feed-based sites and blogs, and the growing attention to lawyer satisfaction issues, we will be looking in the future for anything and everything that will help us streamline our days so as to maximize the time available for what works, and what feeds us.

So this is a grand experiment in every way - like any scientist, I’ve considered my hypothesis but I’m not married to it. If it works, terrific - I’ve liberated thousands of lawyer/bloggers from the tyranny of paying anywhere from $500-1500 (seriously!) for so-called unique designs (that are often nothing more than canned templates with altered color schemes and headers that take 20 minutes to create), and most importantly from the illusion that a good design will save the blogger from having to spend the time to create good content. If it doesn’t, then I’ll use my CSS skills to make a new design, or outsource it to him or her  (both of whom do great design).

Don’t misunderstand: a great design is worth its weight in gold. But beneath that eschelon of greatness is a whole realm of “good enough” that’s free and publicly available; with a little CSS knowledge, you can even tweak the colors, fonts, and aspects of the layout. Here’s the real bottom line on design: if it’s stopping you from blogging; or if it’s preventing you from doing the real work required because you’re too busy fussing around with the design “just a little bit more” - then please, take my advice: pick a theme. Install it. (Or hire someone to do it for you.) And start blogging.