Blogging, Media and Journalism

5 Milestones For Measuring Blogging ROI

Business development success online is a marathon, not a sprint.

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Lawyers and law firms need to measure their return on blogging. Too much time and money time is put into blogging to do it on a lark.

The ROI, or blog success, is not measured by traffic to your blog or increased traffic to your law firm website from your blog.

Blog ROI should be measured by five milestones. Look at the milestones at six months, a year, and again at two years. Business development success online is a marathon, not a sprint…

Comfortable networking online

Are you, as the blogger or the lawyers in your firm who are blogging, growing comfortable networking online?

Using the Internet for business development is not about broadcasting. The goal is to communicate with people in an engaging fashion so as to build relationships and word of mouth. A blog is the home base for this online networking activity.

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Networking online is an art. It’s not necessarily hard, but it does not come naturally to the vast majority of lawyers, including young lawyers who are digital natives.

Networking online is a conversation that requires you to listen to what other thought-leaders, bloggers, and reporters are saying (writing). Using an RSS reader to follow sources and subjects so as to listen to the conversation is a learned skill. So is strategically engaging those you’ve heard.

Getting comfortable with blogging as networking online is key to achieving the next four milestones toward blog success.

Professional development

The best lawyers in town have no problem getting work. Blogging helps you become a better lawyer.

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You not only impart valuable information through blogging, but blogging is also a great medium for learning. You will do so by following sources and subjects in your RSS reader, you’ll shape ideas as you blog, and you’ll network with the people you engage.

Lawyers join associations, networks, and travel to conferences for learning and to build a network of lawyers and professionals to call on. Blogging is learning and networking on steroids.

In addition to learning and networking, you’ll be staying abreast of developments in the industries and niches in which your clients do business.

Are you or your firm’s lawyers growing professionally through blogging?

Growing network of relationships

Business development online or offline is all about relationships. Not with everyone, but a targeted audience of clients, prospective clients, and the influencers of those first two.

Are you blogging strategically to build and nurture relationships with these folks? Are you blogging and using ancillary social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to build trust, friendships, and real connections?

Relationships do not come by publishing content and widely distributing that content. Relationships come by networking online through virtual engagement and conversations.

Word of mouth reputation as “go to” professional

How are you viewed in your firm, in your community, state-wide, and nationally, if your niche fits that? Are you viewed as one of the leading lawyers in your field? Are you becoming a lawyer’s lawyer in your niche?

Blogging takes too much time, passion, and commitment to set the bar low. Why shouldn’t you be achieving what so many lawyers around the country are achieving through blogging?

High-quality clients

I’ve told lawyers from day one that blogging success ought to be measured by the bottom line. Your accountant or law firm’s CFO does not have a line item for traffic, but they do have a line for revenue and profits.

Is your blogging helping you get the type of work you want to do from the type of clients for whom you want to work? Do you see how your blogging is setting you up for long-term career success?

Blogging for practicing lawyers is not an academic exercise. Good lawyers are earning significant money doing what they love as a result of relationships and word of mouth built through blogging. They’re supporting their families, paying for their kids’ education, and building a retirement fund through blogging. Make that you.

You’re unlikely to set the world on fire in your first year of blogging, but can you see a path to becoming a “go-to” lawyer? Can you see blogging getting you to these five milestones?

If not, re-examine your blogging. What could you be doing better? Could you be more strategic? Who are the other blogging lawyers in your niche who have hit these milestones? What could you learn from them?

Don’t get distracted by traffic, it’s a false God idolized by misguided lawyers and law firms. Focus on these five milestones in measuring ROI from blogging.

Kevin O’Keefe (@kevinokeefe) is the CEO and founder of LexBlog, which empowers lawyers to increase their visibility and accelerate business relationships online. With LexBlog’s help, legal professionals use their subject matter expertise to drive powerful business development through blogging and social media. Visit LexBlog.com.

LexBlog also hosts LXBN, the world’s largest network of professional blogs. With more than 8,000 authors, LXBN is the only media source featuring the latest lawyer-generated commentary on news and issues from around the globe. Visit lxbn.com now.

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