Are you blogging for business and not getting the desired results?  Well, you are not alone.

Thousands of lawyers are blogging. But, how many are doing it well? Here are the top 10 mistakes I see:

  1. Failure to identify the targeted reader. It is pretty basic. You need a plan which identifies the type of client/referral source you want to read your blog.
  2. Picking topics no one cares about. Potential clients only care about their problems, opportunities and changes. They want to read about solutions to those.
  3. Not posting regularly or frequently. If you do not have time to post at least once a week, you should not be blogging.
  4. Picking a poor title. Some of the titles I see remind me of headings from legal briefs. Your potential clients and referral sources will decide whether to read your blog based on the title.
  5. Writing posts that are too long. Your potential clients and referral sources do not care about the history of Swiss watch making. They simply want to know the time.
  6. Writing long paragraphs. You may not realize it, but your readers will look at your blog post visually. If the paragraphs are long, they will be less likely to read it.
  7. Writing about you and your law firm. Your potential clients and referral sources do not care about you or your law firm. They care about themselves and their business.
  8. Writing that attracts the wrong potential clients. If you are a management side employment lawyer, your blog should be aimed at businesses so you do not receive lots of calls from disgruntled employees.
  9. Writing for lawyers and not for potential clients and referral sources. Unless your target audience is lawyers, use words that businessmen use.
  10. Talking down to your readers. Potential clients and referral sources like lawyers who are confident. They hate lawyers that are arrogant.

If you are blogging you should be reading Copyblogger and Problogger. They are top notch blogs for learning blogging skills.

I wrote a regular monthly column for Roads and Bridges Magazine for 24 years. I can assure you that my writing improved over time. Your blogging will improve over time also.