One mistake a lot of new bloggers make (not just blawggers — bloggers of all stripes) is confusion between blogging and marketing. In other words, they think the blog is the marketing plan.
The problem with this approach is that blogging is just a tool — it’s a means to an end. Michael Martine at Remarkablogger recognizes this, in his recent post regarding a conversation he had with Brian Clark of Copyblogger fame:
What may be hard to take is that it’s not really about blogging at all. A blog is a tool. Just one tool, at that. That notion isn’t hypocritical or sacrilegious to me at all. I mostly write about business blogging, where the blog is a tool designed to further the goals of the business.
This is true of all business blogging, including blogging for your law business. (And please, let’s not revisit any tired old debates about whether law is a profession or a business, because we should all know by now that it’s both.)
So use your blog in your marketing plans but don’t depend on a blog alone for your marketing. Integrate that blog into your other activities. Put your blog URL on your business card. Use hard-copy prints of exceptional posts as direct-mail pieces. Videotape a client seminar, and put the video on your blog. Always, of course, make certain that your actions comport fully with your ethical rules.
