Stem’s clients were busy again in October, publishing thoughtful commentary, appearing in the media, and launching new sites and services. Here are this month’s highlights:

• Law practice management software tool Clio announced its new “Clio Sync for Outlook” tool today, to the joy of Sam Glover at Lawyerist.
• Nursing home abuse lawyer Jonathan Rosenfeld wants us to know that good nursing homes do exist, and describes how to find a good one in your area.
• Medical malpractice attorney Angelo Patane of Koplow & Patane officially launched his Arizona Birth Injury Lawyer Blog, where he discusses cerebral palsy and other birth injuries and defects.
• Federal crimes attorney Ron Chapman describes changes to Florida drug laws that provide additional ways to avoid prison.
• The Mesothelioma lawyers group at Hissey Kientz LLP warn navy and merchant marine veterans that they may be at risk for developing asbestos-related illnesses as a result of exposure to the chemical during their military service.
• Corporate owned life insurance attorney Mike Myers appeared in the documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” and on ABC’s Good Morning America to discuss dead peasant insurance policies.
• Vancouver law firm Clark Wilson’s insurance lawyers Nigel Kent and Krista Prockiw published an in-depth paper on proposed changes to BC’s Insurance Act.
• New Jersey drug crimes attorney John Marshall writes about how heroin distribution and possession are on the rise in New Jersey.
• The Meadows Addiction Treatment Center is offering an extensive list of upcoming free lectures on topics ranging from addiction, anxiety, eating disorders, and trauma recovery.

We’ll be back next month with more new and noteworthy projects.

My latest Web Law Connected column is up at Slaw.  The article is titled Social Media & Business Productivity, and addresses the current trend of law firms using proxy servers to block in-house access to social media websites.

Perhaps unexpected, I really sit on the fence on this issue; and didn’t take the anti-blocking stance.  There are a number of ‘middle-ground’ alternatives which few firms have explored to date – including time based restrictions, and role-based (ie. based on business need) blocking.

The opinions and solutions on this issue are, unfortunately, extremely polarized.  I think it’s also worth noting that neither extreme position (global blocking or unfettered access) actually aligns with the business goals of most law firms.

For a more detailed review, please link on over… I think the article does a reasonable job of describing my thoughts on the debate.

I spoke at the Pacific Legal Technology conference this past Friday with Susan Van Dyke. The topic, as perhaps expected, was web 2.0 tools for lawyers, with a slant toward business development.

The PPT slides are now available via slideshare, and embedded below.

A big pat on the back for Stem client Themis Solutions, makers of law practice software Clio, on the occasion of its first birthday!

It’s been a tremendous first year for Clio since it launched one year ago today. Since then, the company has added has hundreds of users globally, who collectively manage (pulled from an upcoming press release): 150,000 contacts, 20,000 matters, and 25,000 documents.  Looking at their buzz page, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm.

The following quote is from Themis Solutions President Jack Newton on the company’s success,

“In our first year we’ve made great strides to enhance and refine Clio’s feature set, while ensuring it remains easy-to-use and accessible to all lawyers. This has been a terrific year and we see an exciting road ahead.  All success aside, we will keep our focus where it has always been: to provide an excellent product and superior customer support experience to our subscribers.”

If I had to pick my own moment from the first year, it would be this article from Kira Fonteneau. You don’t get a better endorsement than a client writing a hands-on article like that. … Launch day last year would be a close second. :)

In honour of birthday #1, the company announced three major new features today:

1. Outlook Synchronization (two-way synchronization of Outlook contacts, calendar items and tasks – items entered or updated in Outlook will appear in Clio and vice versa)
2. New and Improved Reports  (Client Ledger, Productivity by Lawyer, Work in Progress (WIP), Accounts Receivable (A/R), and more)
3. QuickBooks Integration

Also noteworthy, to celebrate the milestone, new users get a $25 discount on their first month’s subscription by entering the discount code “HAPPYBIRTHDAY” during checkout.

Congratulations to founders Jack Newton & Rian Gauvreau, and everyone at Clio. Many happy returns of the day…and year!

Fall is in full swing for Stem’s clients — here’s a quick peek at what everyone’s been up to since our last update:

• Mike Myers, a corporate owned life insurance lawyer at McClanahan Myers Espey, launched a new website, Dead Peasants Insurance Frequently Asked Questions, at DeadPeasantInsurance.com.
• Clark Wilson LLP labour & employment lawyer Valerie Dixon authored an article for Canadian Insurance magazine entitled “Competition is Fierce— Restrictive Covenants in the Shafron Case“.
• NJ criminal defense lawyer John Marshall revealed that extradition is on the rise in New Jersey and theorized that renewed interest in extradition may be related to the economy.
• Products injury firm Hissey Kientz put together a linkblog for mesothelioma and asbestos news.
• Florida federal crimes attorney Ron Chapman wrote about judges’ rulings related to expunction of criminal records on FloridaCriminalRecordsFAQ.com.
• New York brain injury lawyer John Hochfelder wrote about brain injury damages verdicts for lead paint poisoning in children and construction workers.
• Gregg Strellis, an attorney with Chicago injury firm Strellis & Field launched his new blog, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog.
• Arizona medical malpractice law firm Koplow & Patane rolled out their new firm website, azinjuryfirm.com.
• The Meadows of Wickenburg introduced its Soldiers & Military PTSD Treatment Program, which helps troops affected by service-related stressors.
• Legal case management SaaS provider Clio was featured in a case study in North Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly. The case study profiled Place & Hanley, a law firm that found Clio to be a good fit for their geographically distributed firm.

We’ll be back next month with another look at our clients’ achievements and successes.

Taglines as branding devices have been a subject of  interest for some time now.  Jeanine Magsitza compiled a list of 100 law firm taglines in 2002;   Nathan Burke analysed AmLaw 200 firm’s use of taglines on their websites in 2005; and a few months ago, Carolyn Elefant advised on how to write a good tagline.

Curious to see whether taglines have changed much since 2002, we decided to update the list and see if we could find more. We compiled the list by scoping out hundreds of US, Canadian, and international law firm websites, starting with the AmLaw 100 2009 and  Lexpert’s 30 Largest Canadian Law Firms and Magsitza’s big list from 2002. If we could quickly discern a tagline, we made note of it here. We left out generic-type taglines that really only refer to a state or city, or simply to the number of years the firm’s been around.

Taglines follow a variety of formats and styles; repetitive pairs, patterns, puns, and wordplay all figure prominently, and all with the goal of describing the firm’s philosophy succinctly and (hopefully) memorably.  (For more discussion of tagline formats, see this report from InterAct Marketing.)

Do they accomplish those goals? You be the judge!

101 Law Firm Taglines – 2009 Edition

AmLaw 100 2009:

1. Akin Gump: Power of Collaboration
2. Alston & Bird: Leadership. Creativity. Results.
3. Baker Botts : Deeper Understanding. Better Solutions.
4. Baker & Hostetler:  Counsel to Market Leaders
5. Bingham McCutchen: Legal Insight. Business Instinct.
6. Bryan Cave:  A Broader Perspective (SM)
7. Crowell & Moring: Experience. Creativity. Results.
8. Dickstein Shapiro: Experience Innovation
9. DLA Piper: Everything Matters
10. Faegre & Benson: More together.
11. Greenberg Traurig: We’re Built for Change (SM)
12. Haynes Boone: Setting Precedent (SM)
13. Holland & Knight: Industry focused. Relationship driven.
14. Howrey: The Advantage of Focus (SM)
15. Jenner & Block: When it’s a Matter of Importance. (SM)
16. Jones Day: One Firm Worldwide
17. Kilpatrick Stockton: Traditions of Innovation
18. Locke Lord: Practical wisdom, trusted advice (SM)
19. McGuireWoods: Relationships that Drive Results
20. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius: We’re In This Together. Your Team and Ours.
21. O’Melveny & Myers: Connecting Communities, Clients, and People
22. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker: One Vision. One Firm.
23. Perkins Coie: Legal Counsel to Great Companies (SM)
24. Reed Smith: The Business of Relationships
25. Shearman & Sterling: Aligned for Excellence
26. Shepard Mullin: Our Mission is Your Success
27. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal: Partnering for Progress
28. Steptoe & Johnson: When Experience Matters (SM)
29. Womble Carlyle: Innovators at Law

Other US law firms:

1. Adams & Reese: Out in Front
2. Andrews Kurth: Straight Talk is Good Business
3. Arnall Golden Gregory: Not If, But How (SM)
4. Barnes & Thornburg: Enduring Values
5. Bernstein: A Business Approach to Legal Service (SM)
6. Boyle Fredrickson: You’ve got ideas. We protect them.
7. Burr & Forman: Results Matter
8. Compatore Law: Legally Speaking
9. Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz: IP Smart. Business Savvy. Client Connected. (SM)
10. Cozen O’Connor: The confidence to proceed.
11. Davis Wright Tremaine: Defining Success Together
12. Dickinson Wright: Great Lawyers. Great Law Firm.
13. Ervin Cohen & Jessup: It’s Not a Common Practice. (SM)
14. Foster Townsend Graham: Damn Fine Litigators.
15. Fox Rothschild: Let Our Experience be Your Guide (SM)
16. Fredrickson & Byron: Where Law and Business Meet
17. Gardere: Legal Knowledge. Human Wisdom.
18. Goulston & Storrs: thinkresults
19. Greenebaum: Breakthrough Law (SM)
20. Grodsky & Olecki: What makes us different makes us better.
21. Halloran & Sage: Your solutions start here. (SM)
22. Harris Beach: Lawyers you’ll swear by. Not at. (SM)
23. Holland & Hart: The Law Out West
24. Holme Roberts & Owen: Experience Listens. Be Heard. (SM)
25. Jackson Lewis: All We Do is Work (SM)
26. The Law Firm for Non-Profits: Helping Good People Do Good Things^®
27. Leonard Street & Deinard: Uncommon Wisdom. Common Sense. (SM)
28. Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith: Client Focused. Results Driven. (SM)
29. Miller & Chevalier: Discern the Difference (SM)
30. Morse Barnes-Brown Pendleton: The Law Firm Built for Business (SM)
31. Munsch Hardt: Right Firm. Right Now. (SM)
32. Murthy: We Know Immigration Matters (SM)
33. Phillips Nizer: Resourceful Representation (SM)
34. Quarles & Brady: Common Ground. Uncommon Vision.(SM)
35. RMKB: A Better Legal System (SM)
36. Rose Law Firm: A Heritage of Results
37. Sheehy Ware & Pappas: Experience you need. Results you want.
38. Snell & Wilmer: Character Comes Through (SM)
39. Strellis & Field: Experienced. Driven. Effective.
40. Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald: Building Solutions (SM)
41. Wells Jaworski & Liebman: Effective. Efficient. Expeditious.

UK law firms:

1. Berrymans Lace Mawer: Clear Concise Advice
2. Bond Pearce: Clients First
3. Browne Jacobson: Law, less ordinary.
4. Charles Russell: Understanding Relationships
5. Clifford Chance : Committed to Helping Our Clients Succeed
6. Holman Fenwick Willan: Lawyers for International Commerce
7. Irwin Mitchell: Towards a Positive Future
8. Lawrence Graham: Lawyers. Just Different.
9. Linklaters: Globally Minded
10. Mischon: Not just any law firm.

Canadian law firms:

1. Aikins, Macaulay & Thorvaldson: Legal Expertise with You in Mind
2. BCF LLP :  …Making it Possible
3. Blake Cassels & Graydon: Business is our Signature
4. Borden Ladner Gervais: It Begins with Service
5. Brazeau Seller: Business people. Business law.
6. Clark Wilson: BC’s Law Firm for Business
7. Cox & Palmer: The Difference is a Great Relationship
8. Crease Harman: We Mean Business.
9. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin: Beyond Results (TM)
10. Field Law: Our Practice is Your Solution
11. Fillmore Riley:  Practicing Excellence
12. Fraser Milner Casgrain: Your Future is Our Business
13. Gowling Lafleur Henderson:  A Tradition of Excellence
14. Lang Michener: High Performance (R)
15. Langlois Kronstrom Desjardins: A large firm with a human touch
16. Macleod Dixon: Local Expertise, International Depth
17. McMillan: Take the Lead
18. Robinson Sheppard Shapiro: Our Independence Makes the Difference
19. Siskinds: Leaders in their Field
20. Stewart McKelvey: When Results Count.
21. Zvulony & Co: A Small Firm That Acts Big. (TM)

Reader-contributed taglines:

• Harrison Pensa: In any case.
• Boughton Law Corporation: Built on relationships (TM)
• Harris & Moure: The International Law Firm for Business
• Dolden Wallace Folick: Insurance Law Expertise…It’s Our Policy
• Hull & Hull LLP: Trust Experience (TM)
• Hoyt & Bryan: Partners in Planning, Friends for Life
• Bernson & Burnham, PLLC: “We look at the law differently.”
• Davis LLP: Nationally Established. Internationally Recognized.

Did we miss your firm? or get it wrong entirely? Drop us a note in the comments, or an email in the coming days, and we’ll revise accordingly.

And finally, a huge thanks to Emma Durand-Wood (who now has a profile on the Stem website).  Emma was responsible for pulling this idea from one of our brainstorming sessions, researching and then compiling the list! A great project, with valuable results!

Since our last update in June, we’ve added 12 new blogs to LawBlogs.ca:

• Canadian Business Law Blog (Shane McLean)
• Disability Denied (Mark Yazdani)
• Les chroniques de droit criminel (Eric Bernier)
• IP, Innovation and Culture (James Gannon)
• B-Law-G (Auger Hollingsworth)
• Blogosarus Lex (Legal Resource Centre of Alberta)
• Fired Without Cause
• Nova Scotia Car Accident Law Blog (David Brannen)
• Heritage Law Blog
• Morton’s Musings
• Aboriginal Law Blog (Davis LLP)
• Rehan Khalil

LawBlogs.ca now lists approximately 175 blogs from Canadian lawyers, law students, legal researchers, marketers, and practice advisors. Pretty impressive!

We’re planning some big changes on LawBlogs.ca — hopefully this fall — jurisdiction and practice area categorizations are two improvements we’ve got in the works.  Be sure to let us know of any blogs we’re missing.  Your suggestions keep our list current!

Summer was no reason for Stem clients to slow down. Here’s a quick list of what they were up to in the month of August:

• In his second post about legal in-sourcing, McClanahan Myers Espey LLP attorney Randy McClanahan called for an end to the billable hour and encouraged companies to consider retaining outside counsel by contingency fee or other performance-based fee structures.
• New York personal injury lawyer John Hochfelder guest-blogged at Point of Law, covering a variety of topics such as golf ball injuries and wrongful death pain and suffering awards. While most law blog readers wouldn’t see John as a tort reform kinda guy, he seemed to fit in quite well. Walter Olson recognized him as ‘POL’s first plaintiff’s side guest blogger‘,  along with a little recognition from fellow New York PI lawyer, Eric Turkewitz.
• And speaking of Mr. Hochfelder, his (critical) post about a skydiver’s parachute failing to open, and the woman suing her ‘life saving’ instructor was a viral marketing hit last week. Over a 48-hour period, the post logged more than 22,000 unique visitors!
• Clark Wilson LLP’s Corporate Finance and Securities Chair Bernard Pinsky wrote an article for Lawyers Weekly entitled “Raising capital across borders: Why we need an international agreement on securities regulation“.
• On his Nursing Homes Abuse Lawyer blog, Chicago elder law attorney Jonathan Rosenfeld wondered whether nursing home chains intentionally attempt to deceive the public about true corporate ownership.
• Product injury law firm Hissey Kientz LLP launched a new practice page for Fleet phospho-soda, as well as a new microsite, HerbalFenPhenLawyers.com.
• Phoenix criminal attorney Lawrence Koplow answered seven frequently-asked questions about Arizona search and asset seizure.
• West Palm Beach lawyer Ronald Chapman discussed a little-known law: that it is illegal for a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess a firearm.
• Themis Solutions, the makers of legal case management software Clio, described why they take a “less is more” approach to software design, usability, and purpose.
• Our only non-legal client, The Meadows Addiction Center launched a new FAQ website at AddictionandFamily.com.
• And finally, NJ criminal attorney John Marshall wrote a post describing an increase in identify theft and credit card fraud cases in New Jersey.

And, we’ll be back next month with more client news to share.

Heather Morrison of the CNW Group, formerly Canada News Wire, released a 11-pg report yesterday titled Canadian Law Firms and their Use of Social Media. I am quoted in it, so please excuse the vanity reference.

The report itself offers a nice overview of the benefits of social media investment. That’s important, but the part I appreciated most was the focus on relationship building. Great relationships are a key driver of success for any law firm (or lawyer’s) search strategy. The reason? Relationships not only improve our network of contacts, which alone is a worthy goal, but they form the basis of the link network behind most firm websites.

Links, remember, are ultimately a form of online currency and a driver of what many people refer to as ‘google juice’ – a measure of trust, and better search rankings.

At one point in the paper, I’m also quoted saying that firms ‘not skip steps‘. Let me explain that further. Broken down, I often consider these three components:

• content – eg. blogs, papers, newsletters;
• distribution channels – eg. twitter, email, RSS, JD Supra; and
• relationships - either mirroring & codifying one’s existing relationships with links, or driving new relationships with social media;

Most firms (not all) have content at least partially covered. They may be sending out paper or email newsletters (distribution) and connecting with existing clients. In the past, that’s what firms had to work with. Could they now have more forms of content? or distribute via more channels? Absolutely, but it’s hard to argue that having those basic pieces functioning (think: 80:20 rule, existing clients…) didn’t create some success.

But this 2/3 element scenario, also created a huge gap in search marketing. Without relationships driving links, firms weren’t creating any kind of an ‘after effect‘; where their published content continues to rank well in the search engines, and continues to drive new readers creating exposure. But with Social Media participation (I include blogger-to-blogger relationships here), and creating new relationships with the associated links, firms are often able to make their publishing work harder & longer. In the cases of extremely popular content, years after the date of publication.

As the years pass, and a firm’s volume of substantive publishing increases, so too does this ‘after effect‘.  And the driver in all this is pretty consistent. Having a solid network of ‘web friends’, who are also web publishers, is one tough combination.

There are lots of other benefits to social media usage, which are covered in the report. But that’s my take on the why SM participation reflects positively on search marketing.

Here’s our quick look at what Stem clients have been busy with over the past month:

• Web-based practice management solution Clio picked up three recommendations from TechnoLawyer’s recent post SmallLaw: A Law Practice Survival Guide for the Involuntarily Solo.
• Florida criminal attorney Ron Chapman addressed the issue of false accusations of domestic violence and explains what police are not allowed to testify about when a case turns on whether a person was acting in self defense.
• Nursing home attorney Jonathan Rosenfeld was interviewed by Ottawa, Illinois-based newspaper The Times, where he gave tips on how to detect nursing home abuse.
• A new feature article entitled “Green Buildings: Moving to the Mainstream” has just been published on BCRELinks.com, which is published by Clark Wilson’s commercial real estate group.
• Texas contingent fee litigation firm McClanahan Myers Espey blogged about a recent US Court of Appeals decision that labeled STOLI translations “insurance fraud”.
• Arizona criminal defense lawyer Lawrence Koplow blogged about how to make your criminal record almost go away, addressing issues related to DUI convictions, wrongful arrests, criminal records, and expungement. Lawrence also just published a post on Super Extreme DUI convictions.
• New York injury attorney John Hochfelder launched a new site, Brain Injury Lawyer FAQ, where he answers questions about traumatic brain injury lawsuits and related topics.
• Addiction treatment center The Meadows was pleased to see that The Intimacy Factor, co-written by Meadows Senior Clinical Advisor Pia Mellody, was highly recommended by Dr. Drew Pinsky in Newsweek.
• At the New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog, attorney John Marshall discussed some of the factors that can affect your blood alcohol content and showed how quickly one can become intoxicated.
• Products injury law firm Hissey Kientz LLP is gearing up to launch a microsite to support its new Herbal Fen-Phen practice group.

We’ll be back next month with more news and achievements.

If a blog post doesn’t receive any comments, does that mean you struck out?

Actually, it’s quite common for blog posts not to receive comments. In the legal industry, and especially with lawyer blogs, we see it all the time.  The truth is the majority of online readers are lurkers. It’s called the 90-9-1 Rule, where 90% of your readers won’t respond in any way, 9% will contribute and participate once in a while, and 1% will do the vast majority of digital interaction.

This can be a difficult phenomenon to explain, but it hardly means that you haven’t connected with your intended audience.  Remember: the more focused the subject, the smaller the target audience. Apply the  90-9-1 rule to most lawyer blog audiences, and it’s a recipe for a comment-free wasteland.  I also think it’s quite unfair to compare a lawyer’s blog comment numbers to the more news-y blogs out there. You can’t compare a lawyer’s substantive commentary to ATL or ABA Journal.

Two important points:

1. Some blog posts just don’t warrant a comment — case in point, see my last post on the sudden abundance of twitter experts our there. It’s received zero comments, but 41 retweets and 1500+ visitors. The post was a fun lark, but clearly not worth commenting on.  That doesn’t mean it didn’t strike a chord or find an audience.
2. There’s always a chance for commentary to connect with readers in the future — Another example: back in 2006 I wrote the Top 10 Uses of RSS in Law Firms.   Three weeks passed and it might have had 30 readers. It subsequently got picked up by Dave Winer, and took on a life of its own.  To this day, that post drives more visitors to my personal blog than anything I’ve written there since. … Side comment: This story is also one of the reasons I still believe in search marketing and the power of positioning content in front of audiences. Blog commentary & search exposure combined continue to have a long-term impact on my own content marketing.

Bottom line: Are comments nice?  Of course they are, but you have to see the big picture.  As most experienced bloggers will tell you, comments are only one form of feedback. Don’t forget to also watch:  site traffic (both post specific, and general trends),  social media mentions, email feedback, mentions on other blogs, and general increases in your profile (eg. offers for speaking engagements) & your personal network (eg. more industry-based friends & contacts).  You need to consider all the available metrics as a group.  Micro-measuring comment counts (or even counting interactions post-by-post…) isn’t going to cut it in face of the 90-9-1 rule.

About an hour ago, Kelly Phillips Erb, aka TaxGirl, put an entry on Twitter that I think most regular users of the service would agree with:

Some people obviously see value to twitter, and some think it’s a waste of time.  Everyone has a right to critique, so that’s not (entirely) at issue. But when it comes to writing about the nuances of Twitter (or any web tool for that matter) – those ‘how to become a success‘ type stories – having a little experience should be a prerequisite. No?  Frankly, there are a few ‘personas’ out there that I think most of us wish would stop before they start.

Here are my ‘top-10 tests’ to figure out if you should stay away from that fashionable Twitter article:

1. You don’t have an account.
2. You have an account, but have six tweets to your name.
3. You followed six hundred people with no tweets in your account, and can’t figure out why no one returned the favour.
4. You’ve been on (but mostly off) the service for less than three months.
5. You’re a journalist and your editor told you to start an account.
6. You’re a journalist who’s opened an account expressly to write a story about twitter.
7. You’re evaluating the ROI of twitter as a business development tool.
8. You’re a marketing consultant and you think “it’s about time” to write about this twitter thing.
9. You’re intentionally set to write a Twitter critique article purely for the backlash & media exposure.
10. You’re David Letterman. (ok, funny filler. enjoy!)

Avvo’s Marketing Manager Conrad Saam recently produced a feature comparison table for the various legal blogging platforms. Unfortunately, the list included a number of inaccuracies, prompting responses from Kevin O’Keefe (for Lexblog), Rick Klau (for Blogger), and a number of others. The list was also a pretty short, and seemed to be crafted to showcase Avvo’s new entry into the market.

Ok, fair enough. That’s Avvo’s prerogative on their own blog, and Rick & Kevin did a fine job standing up for their services. But beyond the controversy, the post did raise a couple of very common questions: 1) which blog software & vendors are out there?, and 2) how should lawyers make their decision on a provider?

Let’s start with the second question. Picking a blog software is all about finding a good fit. It’s a balance between your budget, your skills (and the skills of those you employ), the control you require over the software, and the amount of ‘hand holding’ necessary from your provider. Broken down further:

• Budget:  This one should be easy, but is often not. If you’re spending dollars in this space, you quickly find out that your money is not going to software. Blog software is cheap, no matter who provides it. The cost comes from the added extras: a professional design, custom coding, functionality changes, software upgrades, training, backups, security, etc.  Do you want someone to pick up the phone when things go wrong?
• Skills:  The less money you spend, the more you need to be comfortable with the out-of-the-box (OOTB) product. And free, often equals OOTB plus your time (or the time of people you pay).  This is a balance, however, and many people can create & manage a blog themselves, with the time committed varying case-by-case.  The best advice I have to give to lawyers is: a) to value your time invested in extra blog management tasks, and b), to know the limits of your resources. 95% of the time, blogging is a simple painless process. But if you lose  a couple of weeks each year tinkering, you need to consider whether this is a hobby or a business investment.
• Control: Many of the hosted solutions restrict the design options and custom coding, so you need to be content with the product they are delivering.  If you require complete control of the design and functionality of your blog, that can have a big influence on your decision. Wordpress, for example, has both a free hosted version, and an open source free download that may be installed on your own servers (the former being a self-managed solution, and the later offering the most control). Feature wise, blog software are often very similar. So how do you differentiate? For me, the big factor is design flexibility. Either pick a provider that delivers that professional looking design, or choose a  software with complete custom coding capability.
• Hand holding: Being a novice at anything is tough, and blogs are no exception. Most lawyers are good writers, but few are coders. Many seasoned bloggers often forget how many hours they’ve invested in learning this stuff. Personally, I think most new blogging lawyers would benefit from focusing on their transition to the first-person opinion-driven blog writing style. If you think you need training & advice, don’t choose software. Choose a service provider.

Now for Part 2. Here’s a list of some of the viable options out there. These are solutions, companies or software, that we have personal experience with. Depending on the circumstances, any of them may be a good fit to build or host a legal blog.

• Hosted Wordpress – Located at wordpress.com (not  .org).  While it lacks in full control over the design and ability to modify code, the platform is very solid. You can apply your own domain name (recommended if you want to move your blog later); and if you’re a CSS whiz, you can pay to apply your own custom template. Good choice for: the somewhat tech savvy &  budget conscious. Comparable to Google’s Blogger.
• Self-hosted Wordpress – Located at wordpress.org (not .com), where you download the software and install yourself.  This is what we use for our own blogs here at Stem. In my view, it offers the most control, but also requires the biggest investment. If you see Wordpress design themes for sale, or freelancers offering Wordpress design, it’s more than likely for the self-hosted version.  Good choice for: the most tech savvy, OR, a lawyer outsourcing development and wanting full control over the layout, design & functionality.
• Lexblog – Ignoring the colourful personality of the CEO, Lexblog remains the industry leader. We have a number of co-clients with them, and I do recommend Lexblog as a ‘turn key’ solution. As described in the budget item above, you don’t hire Lexblog for their software. They’re hired to execute my laundry list of added extras, and to answer the phone when you need help. Good choice for: the time conscious, less tech savvy, new bloggers.
• Justia – Probably the second name out of most peoples’ mouths when they think lawyer blogs (and perhaps the first for websites). Tim Stanley & Co. have an excellent industry reputation, and their blogs are prominent in many markets.  Good choice for: same crowd as Lexblog, but for those that like Justia’s blog designs better.
• Google’s Blogger – This was my first blog software, and where I continue to host my personal blog. For me, Blogger remains the simplest solution available, free or paid. I would strongly advise putting a domain name to your blog ($10/yr) before you start, so you have a migration path later. But short of some widget functionality (which can be hand coded into the templates), I have few complaints. Good choice for:  those lacking tech skills, little to no budget, but want get going. Comparable to Hosted Wordpress.
• G2 Web Media – Long time legal blogger Grant Griffiths, who also has a bootcamp introduction for new blogging lawyers, is a frequently missed alternative. G2 Web Media has some nice designs, and works as an intermediary using the self-hosted Wordpress solution. Good choice for: the lawyer who wants a unique blog design, custom functionality, but needs to outsource design & support.
• Skunkworks – Our local friends up here in Canada, Skunkworks are another reliable developer option. Doug Jasinski and company have a combined background in both traditional media and advertising, along with some solid multi-platform blog designers. Good choice for: the lawyer that wants their blog to match firm branding efforts.
• Drupal - Drupal is one of most flexible CMS products I’ve worked with, but I’m hesitant to recommend it as a blog platform for individual lawyers. Especially for the less tech savvy. Where Drupal does fit in nicely is for community driven websites – a collaborative blog for a legal association perhaps. I put Joomla in this class too. Good CMS, but you’ll be tinkering if you want to use it for blogging.
• Movable Type & Typepad – Comparable to WP self-hosted and WP hosted, respectively.  Movable Type is the core platform Lexblog uses, without LB’s configuration bells & whistles. Typepad tends to be underrepresented in the legal market, and we don’t currently host any clients there; but some colleagues do, and sing their praises.

There are undoubtedly others; especially more companies that build blogs for lawyers. But I can only work from personal experience here (so please don’t email asking to be listed). Also understand that your decision is not carved in stone. As long as you put your blog on a domain that you own … did I say that enough times in this post? ;) …  you can migrate to another platform in the future.

Good luck with your new blog!

For someone who does the vast majority of their work online, including using Google Apps quite extensively here at Stem, I was pretty excited to see this announcement about the new Google Chrome Operating System.  That is, until I hit the second paragraph:

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

Maybe it’s just me, but when you “Introduce” a new product line (See post title: “Introducing Google Chrome OS”), shouldn’t you have something to show now? And not in 16-18 months.

Awfully kind of you to introduce me to the new OS, Google.  Hey! I know, let me return the favour with my own introduction. … See you in 2011! :)

A fun idea germinating from a discussion with Jordan Furlong… Is it possible to reduce a company’s elevator pitch down to the 140 character limit of a twitter entry?  Brevity never being an easy task, it seemed like a challenging & hopefully productive exercise. So, I’m in.  I’ll queue the entry below up on my own account in a few minutes.

If anyone reading would like to also take part, please include a #TEPitch hashtag.  And for those of you not on twitter, here’s what I came up with:

Stem does leg work to help law firms get noticed: in search engines & social web + build grass roots brands, trans 2 profile & MSM #TEPitch

Fitting everything into an entry like this is near impossible, so getting down to the company’s core services was essential.  Obviously, our phone rings here at Stem because we are a lawyer SEO company. That’s a foundation, so I’m putting it right up front. We also stick to working within the legal industry. I think that’s decipherable from the company name, but important for the message. Our development of new ideas, fleshing out of web brands, and the ‘trickle up’ effect on media coverage round out the last few words.

While we deliver a fair bit of consulting, both informally within our retainer service and via written reports, I always like to say that Stem executes projects on behalf of clients, and that our opinions come along for the ride. The word consulting is also a tough term to differentiate, so while ‘doing the leg work‘ may be too casual for some, at least for me, it’s a more expressive way of putting it.

I’m also overlooking some of the web development work we do, but again (& like any elevator pitch) something had to give.  I consider web development a ‘value add’ element we bring to client relationships, and (at least for now) not directly why we get hired.

So there you have it. My tweetable elevator pitch for Stem. If you’d like to try the same for your company or organization (or blog, or ???), please do. The more the merrier!

And… Happy July 4th to all our friends & clients down south!

Cheers,
Steve