Legal Ghostblogger

How Much Controversy Is Enough For A Professional Blog?

Business bloggers walk a fine line between being edgy enough to attract attention but still approachable enough to attract paying clients.  Entrepreneurs, business owners, lawyers--these professionals know by now that blogging is the single most cost effective way to market your business, and they're ready to jump in and take advantage.  But with professional blogging comes a unique challenge: How to be honest enough to be a leader in your field, but not offend anybody. 

In my experience, most professionals will err on the side of caution.  Attorneys especially (with a few exceptions) want to stick to the straight and narrow.  Most of my clients will balk at a post with even a hint of politics or scandal. For example, I have quite a few clients who are elder law attorneys, and I frequently write blog posts for them about long-term care and nursing homes.  This morning I found a great story in the LA Times about nursing homes.... and sex.  Generally any story about nursing home policy is perfect blog fodder for my elder law clients, but this particular story--in spite of the fact that it is well written and deals with a perfectly legitimate issue--is almost assuredly off-limits. 

The problem is that readers want to know about the controversial issues. And even if you as a professional are reluctant to come down firmly on one side of an issue or another for fear of alienating half of your readership, you should at least make it known that you are aware of the issue.  Sometimes it's enough to write something along the lines of:

"Read an interesting article in the LA Times today about Sex bans in nursing homes.  Who knew elder issues could be so steamy!  I'd love to know what my readers think of this issue..."

... and let your commentators provide the controversy!

Staying away from controversy may be safe, but it makes for bland blog posts, and isn't going to do anything for your readership.  Blogging has been called the transparent medium, and readers like to think that reading your blog makes them part of an exclusive inner circle. 

It goes without saying, of course, that all of my readers are indeed a unique and exclusive group, which is why I can tell you that normally I wouldn't say this, but just between us...

These few Precepts in thy Memory…

“Lo, thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.”

(Sonnet XXVII, by William Shakespeare, b. Apr. 23, 1564, d. Apr. 23, 1616)

It is obvious from the above quote that William Shakespeare had the heart of a blogger.  Aside from experiencing the unquiet both day and night (a condition with which ALL bloggers are familiar), he was creative, appealing, humorous, unafraid, and most of all, prolific; all qualities which are essential in any successful blog writer.

But Shakespeare has much more to offer bloggers than writerly solidarity, and a close look at his works reveals the following lessons for blog writers:

1. Exclude irrelevant details. Shakespeare gave very little stage direction. In fact, most of his direction consists of “Enter Romeo” or “Exeunt”.  Blogs are by nature short, and writers have only a few paragraphs in which to express their thoughts to readers. Those readers appreciate writing that is straightforward and concise.
2. Be versatile: When his public was looking for comedy, Shakespeare gave them The Taming of the Shrew.  When they were struggling with their consciences he wrote Hamlet.  Bloggers too, must always have their fingers on the pulse of their readership.
3. Pay attention to language: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…” Shakespeare’s language was honest and inspiring, gritty and beautiful.  We can’t all aspire to the same authorial genius, but we can give our readers a beautiful architecture; spelling, punctuation and grammar are the foundation, our passion for the subject matter is the heart.
4. A good ending: Shakespeare’s plays almost always ended with a wedding or a funeral.  He left very few loose ends.  Blogs that end well stay in a reader’s mind, and keep them coming back for more.
5. Make your writing available to the public: As bloggers we don’t have entire acting troupes and theater staffs at our disposal, but we do have e-mail subscriptions, RSS readers, and regular posting schedules.  Let your readers know when and where to find your work, and have it easily available.

Harold Bloom writes of Shakespeare as the inventor of the human; perhaps we could dub him the patron saint of bloggers as well.

Blog to the Death?

I love being a blogwriter.  But it turns out my beloved business could kill me. 

The big news in the blogosphere these days is Matt Richtel’s story in the New York Times, In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop, which claims that blogwriters are so overcome with stress that they’re dropping like flies.

If stress is the cause of death in the cases cited by Richtel, I’m not sure blogging can be blamed.  Blogging should be no more or less stressful than any other home business.  And anybody who works primarily from home is going to have to learn the fine art of setting boundaries.

In my experience, blogging is much like journalism; an article of substance, on a regular basis, by a certain deadline. Granted, blogging is a somewhat new media, and undefined as yet, so serious bloggers are going to have to work harder to prove they are professionals, but I’m not sure a “blog to the death” is required quite yet.

On the other hand, if serious risk to life and limb can be proven, perhaps we professional bloggers should be demanding higher salaries?

The How-To of Headlines

It was suggested to me recently that my headlines could be snappier, shorter, and more… well, succinct.  My immediate reaction was to bristle and go on the defensive; who is this person to tell me how to write headlines??  But the truth is that headline writing is an art.  Some people might even say it’s a gift.  You either have a talent for it or you don’t. 

Well, I hope that last part isn’t true, because the headline is the first impression your reader has of your post, and as such it carries a heavy burden. I’d like to hope there’s a chance I can learn to do it well.  Here are some great resources for headline writing that I have found in my search:

·         Copyblogger’s excellent series How to Write Magnetic Headlines

·         How to Write Great Headlines by Stuart Brown

·         Ben Yoskovitz’s The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google Or Digg

·         Mark Merenda’s Smart Blog, which is full of great tips for writing and marketing of every kind

·         And of course the best resource: your own experience.  Take note of the headlines that catch your attention as you’re perusing the web, newspaper, or your favorite magazine

Headline writing is more about psychology than anything else, as is the case with all marketing.  What you’re trying to do with a headline is catch your reader’s attention and convince them not only that they want to keep reading, but that they need to keep reading.  That’s a lot of pressure to put on one short sentence.  Some people may have a natural gift for it, but for the rest of us, I hope that education and practice will do the trick.

Happy Headlining!

What Living with the Irish Taught Me about Progress

A couple of years ago my family went to live in Dublin, Ireland for a few months. The experience of living in another country was an eye-opener, and one I would gladly repeat if given the chance. While there I was privileged enough to learn some fascinating lessons from and about another culture.  But the thing I think about most in regards to blogging and business is the beautiful way Dubliners were able to fuse history and progress.

Dublin (and Ireland in general) had only recently come into its booming economy. Everywhere we looked there were new buildings going up, old buildings being refurbished, neighborhoods being expanded or roads being re-surfaced.  In some areas it was quite a shock to see the beautiful landscape end suddenly in a very modern looking mall, but in many places the advent of progress was tasteful and seamless, and nowhere more so than Dublin Castle, where ancient stone turrets are flanked by a more modern brick and glass library.

Blogging and social media have also only recently come into their booming popularity (by recently I mean within the past 5 or 10 years), and are still experiencing some growing pains of their own.  Bloggers still have to deal with people asking “Blog?  What’s that?”  Or what’s worse, there are many out there who are suspicious of blogs and inclined to regard them as gossip.  Many of us bloggers want to embrace the new media; explore it and push it to the limits to see what we can do with it.  But some of our readers won’t be ready for too much change all at once.  Not only that, the history that brought us to blogs is rich and beautiful, and still holds many useful lessons for us.

So how can bloggers, like the Irish, fuse history and progress? Well, my personal history is in literature, which means I like to take my lessons from the great writers; Shakespeare, Swift, Austen, Twain.  These were writers who knew the range of human experience and cared deeply for it.  They weren’t afraid to write about what was unpopular, they weren’t afraid to poke fun at serious topics.  They also knew that what they wrote made an impact on people, and took their craft seriously.

Readers on the internet have notoriously short attention spans, and any blogger knows that you have to grab attention quickly, say what you have to say, and leave them wanting more.  But I say that with all of this brevity we’re forgetting some of our history.  There is value in fine writing and a thought followed to completion.  And maybe—just maybe—there are still a few readers out there who would prefer Dublin Castle to a shopping mall.

If Classic Writers Were Bloggers

I love that blogging is so new, and that we’re all getting in on the ground floor.  It’s wonderful to be a part of this burgeoning new style of writing.  There is so much conflict and debate, creativity and innovation. Each and every one of us who has a blog has a chance to shape this new literary form.  Is this how Miguel De Cervantes felt, writing Don Quixote, one of the first novels ever?  Now I’m not saying that my writing is equal to any of those classic writers, but what if some of those classic authors were around today, dipping their pens to the blogosphere. . . ?  (Caution: Irreverent and possibly traitorous thoughts ahead.)

William Shakespeare’s Blog: Words, Words, Words; daily commentary on the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Charles Dickens’ Blog: The Artful Blogger; whether I will turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anyone else, these posts must show.

Miguel De Cervantes’ Blog: Leaving La Mancha; a chivalric quest for the digital grail.

Jane Austen’s Blog: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of an internet connection must be in want of a blog.

Ernest Hemingway’s Blog: The Search Ranking Also Rises; isn’t it pretty to think so?

Virginia Woolf’s Blog: Blogging Among the Vegetables

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Blog: Reaching for the Green Light; blogging as a matter of infinite hope…

Increase Your Readership with Keyword Knowledge

There is no use in having a blog if nobody reads it. But how do you bring readers to your blog?  One of the most effective ways is to incorporate search keywords.  Lorelle on WordPress and Copyblogger both have a some great suggestions about how to incorporate search keywords into your website or blog.

Most of us want to just get out there and write.  This may be the best way to go about it in the beginning, when you’re looking to find your voice and build your confidence, but as your blog matures you’ll be able to think more and more about improvements and focus.  With so many blogs out there on the web you have to make your blog available and easy to find. With search engines, that means using the right search keywords.

Incorporating keywords into your blog can mean the difference between being a social blog and being a business blog.  A social blog is like an online journal; a way to connect with your friends and family.  A business blog has purpose.  It reaches out to new people and attempts to share information with them, teach them something that can benefit them personally or professionally. In order to reach these people in an effective manner, you need to know first what you’re selling, and second what they’re looking for.

We write a business plan or a mission statement when we start a business; my suggestion is to do the same for your blog.  Incorporating keywords and reaching out to your niche market will be easier and more effective when you are sure of your own focus.  Then read the articles mentioned in the first paragraph and become an expert on keywords.  Because you can have the best blog in the business, but it won’t do you any good if your intended customers can’t find you.

3 Steps to a Great Blog, Even If You Don’t Write Well

You don’t have to be Shakespeare to have your own blog, because a blog is about many things, not just the writing.  A blog is about distributing information, building an online community, and keeping up a regular correspondence with your readers.  And because blogs are generally a short but frequent medium they tend to be somewhat forgiving.

Of course, if you want to have a regular readership that consists of more than just your mother it helps to have a writing style that is somewhat easy on the eyes—or that at least follows the basic rules of grammar.

The good news is that there is help, and it doesn’t require re-taking your high school English course.  Here are three tips to get you started:

1.       Subscribe to other (good) writers' blogs.  Reading good writing is the best way to become a good writer. If you want to be a good blogger, it will help to read good blogs.  This is a good one because it’s fun and beneficial.  I recommend one of my favorites: skelliewag.

2.       Use spell and grammar check. Some people are bad with numbers, some with dates.  It’s perfectly understandable if spelling is not your forte.  But it is inexcusable when you have a built-in editor at your fingertips.

3.       Read your posts aloud. Reading your posts aloud will help you catch any number of awkward sentences you may have lurking in there. And it will have the added benefit of helping you develop your unique blogging “voice”.

These are just three quick tips to get you started.  But you’ll find that the very best way to become a good blogger is with practice.  So set aside your fears and get started!