blog development

what is it?

Blogs are, technically, nothing but web pages. But that’s like saying that, technically, the QE2 is just a really, really big boat. Blogs have changed the Internet by making the ability to update a website so easy that hundreds of thousands more people are now able to get their ideas online.

Think of it this way; setting up information on a web page used to require the following steps:

• Get a website hosting company (often expensive, sometimes requires expertise)
• Get a domain name (again, some expense and trouble)
• Get a web master or someone who can use the software necessary to “build” websites; Frontpage, Dreamweaver, Flash, NetObjects, etc. or other HTML/XML packages.
• Get designers (not always the same as webmasters) to make the web pages attractive
• Get the information from the content experts (sales, marketing, product people... whomever) to the designers, and then to the wembaster

That’s a lot of steps. In contrast, getting information from the content experts out on a blog is very easy:

• Subscribe to a blogging service (TypePad or Blogger). Takes about 5 minutes. Cost ranges from free to $15/month.
• Log in and start blogging. If you can compose email, you have the technical savvy to blog.

It really is that easy. An article Andy wrote for the American Lawyer Media Law Journal Newsletter, “Marketing The Law Firm,” titled, “Why Aren’t You Blogging?” has instructions on setting up a blog in as little as 2 minutes. It also has even more details about the history and practicalities of blogging. Full text of article available here.

what does blog development involve?

OK. If blogging is so easy, and if anyone can do it in 2 minutes... why the heck would you need a marketing company to help you out with your blogging.

Excellent question.

Writing is easy, too, though... right? But companies spend millions every year on professional writers in their advertising agencies, PR and marketing departments and copy writing firms. Same is true with blogs. The format is easy to learn. The context can be difficult. Just like any marketing tool, you can do it well, or you can waste lots of time and embarrass yourself.

Blog development is the process of identifying:

• The best methods by which to set up your blog(s),
• Who will do the writing -- both initially and long term
• How to best aggregate search to your blog and other web sites
• How to build a “network” of cross-links to other blogs/sites to build traffic to your blog
• How to consistently seek new material for your blog
• How to build your style and audience

Just getting a blog and putting stuff up doesn’t cut it. That’s like taking out an ad in the newspaper and using it to print nothing but your address and phone number. You may get some results... but it’s not the optimum use of the medium. Once a blog is up, we can also help by providing ongoing research and writing for your blog, either as dedicated authors, “ghost bloggers,” guest bloggers or draft writers. We can also research other cross-linking opportunities and send out requests for cross-posts at other blogs and sites, getting increased traffic for you, essentially acting as PR agents for your blog.

why do this?

Because blogs, once they are up and running, are way, way, way (way) easier to update and keep updated and continue to keep updated than web sites. They allow lots of people on your staff and in your organization and from your marketing vendors to put information up extremely quickly. They are an example of a “difference of scale” becoming a “difference of kind.” How so?

Because they are so easy to update, they get updated more often. Because they are so easy to update, many more people do just that. And because frequently updated text is one of the things that search engines rank more highly than anything, blogs do very well in the rankings at Google, Yahoo, MSN, AskJeeves and AltaVista. Also, because content providers -- the people who care about their issues -- can speak directly to their audiences, blogs provide a much more authentic marketing vehicle than many other kinds of marketing communications.

In short, blogs help you get your message in front of lots of people.

why do it  with sanestorm?

We’ve done blogs. Andy Havens created the Legal Marketing Blog (now maintained by Larry Bodine). In less than 6 months, the Legal Marketing Blog was on the first page of rankings at Google, Yahoo and AltaVista for the highly sought-after search term “legal marketing.” At its height, the blog was attracting 400+ visitors a day. That’s not bad... considering Andy was posting just two or three times a week on his lonesome. He also created a now retired blog on Indian Legal Outsourcing that rose to the same first-page ranking on the search terms “legal outsourcing” and “Indian legal outsourcing” in less than three months.

Sanestorm writers are experts at helping other people get their materials together. Many of the tasks associated with blog development are similar in concept to ghostwriting and editing, with which we have great experience.

Blogs are a really neat way to get great content on the web quickly and establish a fresh, real avenue of communication with your audience. Let us help you do your blog right the first time and get it up fast, professionally and get it “kick started” into the blogosphere. You have nothing to lose but obscurity.