Remember today is the big Pre-Launch party for Blawg for Profit.  Be on the call for some helpful information on blogging to attract clients and for the contest winners.  Thanks for everyone that entered the contest.  Hope to see you on the call.

The details for accessing the call are in the post immediately below.

Grant and I are grateful for the response we’ve received from our announcement about the release of Blawg for Profit.  As most of you know, it is a complete course on how to launch and run your own profitable blog.

But, we will also be offering custom Wordpress blogs, and an ongoing members only site with continously updated training and resources.  After all of the great feedback we’ve received, Grant and I decided we wanted to up the ante on the contest we announced last Friday.  So, in addition to the free course, we will give one lucky winner their own free custom Wordpress blog plus 3 months membership in our blog marketing group (which inlcudes hosting for your blog, plus ongoing training and support to make sure your blog is successful). 

To enter for the free blog, go to this post, and enter your comments and be on the call to see if you’ve won.
Here are the details for the call, including the access number and passcode to get on the call.

Topic:  “Blawgging for Profit: What You Must Know”

Date:   Friday, October 12, 2007
Time:   3:00 pm to 4:00 pm Eastern

Phone #:  218-486-3695
Passcode: 422342#
Cost:  No charge – you pay only your own long distance charges.

On the teleconference, in addition to finding out who wins the free blog and the free course, we will be covering substantive content, including:

• How to increase traffic to your blog,
• How frequently you should post, and 3 simple ways to easily get fresh content, and
• The blogging mistakes you must avoid.

As most of our readers know, Grant and I are launching our Blawg for Profit program Monday, October 15, 2007. Blawg for Profit is the culmination of six months work that Grant and I have put in together trying to create a product that helps solo and small firm lawyer obtain the benefits of blogging that we each have. Through Blawg for Profit, we will be offering a turnkey, custom Wordpress blog, as well as a “do it yourself” course that walks you through the process step by step.

On Friday, October 12, we are celebrating that launch with a Pre-Launch Party by teleconference call at 3:00 pm Eastern (call details to come - but save the date now!). All solo and small firm lawyers are invited, and on the call we will be sharing some practical, valuable advice on how to effectively blawg for profit.

Also, on the call, to celebrate the release, we will be awarding one lucky winner a free copy of the Blawg for Profit course. The course consists of 4 audio CD’s, 2 DVDs, a Workbook, and several other goodies all of which are designed to make you a more effective blogger.

To qualify for the drawing that will take place during the call, here is what you have to do:

Go the the comment section of this post, and enter a comment stating why you would like the program, and how you think it would benefit your practice. That’s it. Then be on the call to see if your name is the entry that gets selected for the course.

Make sure your comment is posted by midnight Thursday, October 11 to be considered. And, remember to leave your e-mail so we know how to contact you about receiving the prize if you are the winner.

Everyone on the call will receive some valuable information about blogging to attract clients, and each person on the call will also get a special gift just for being a part of our Party. So, don’t miss out.

We are nearly ready to launch our Blawg for Profit program.  But, until we do, I recently stumbled upon this great list from Daily Blog Tips.  Though some of these may be for the more technically minded, at a minimum it will help you identify issues to discuss with your web designer.

Matt Cutts is a software engineer at Google.  As many of you know, Google is rather secretive about “the algorithm” and how to best get ranked on the search results page.  Matt recently gave a speech on some search engine optimization strategies.  A link to the video of that speech is here.  A summary of some of his most interesting revelations is here.

I was glad to see him say that Wordpress is good for search results right out of the box.  That is the platform this site as well as my lawforprofit site is based upon.  It is also the platform we are using for the customized blogs we are doing for clients here at BlawgforProfit.

A hat tip to Daily Blog Tips for the find.

In the Blawg for Profit program, to which this blog is a companion, we discuss directory submissions and which directories you should consider submitting your blog to in order to help your search engine rankings.

As we discuss in detail in the program, some directory sites our free and some are not. Some are worth submitting to (and paying for) and some are not. You can get our recommendations in the program. But, here is a post I recently found in which another blogger suggests directory sites he thinks are worth paying for. He includes the Yahoo paid directory, which I also recommend.

I often get asked whether a lawyer should put ads, such as Google Ads on their practice blog. Short answer NO!! I and others agree, a blog a lawyer is using to promote his or her practice is no place for ads. The amount of clutter and image your blog will have from such ads is not worth the small amount of money you will make.

If you have a desire or need to promote something on your blog, promote yourself. Promote a service you are providing. Promote a free report you have to offer. But, don’t put Google Ads on your blog.