You Write a Legal Blog, but Are You a Reader?

The last thing any of us need is more complication. What I’m going to explain now is something that makes your life better. It sounds complicated, but it’s not.

If you write a blog, I wonder if you read blogs? That’s what you are asking your readers to do – why not do it yourself?

You’ve heard that you can “subscribe to” or “follow” a blog. Let’s discuss.

Remember that blogs are updated frequently and contain current, breaking news, often from a personal POV. That’s why Google loves them. Let’s say you find a blog like Arizona Bankruptcy Blog. You think “I’d like to stay abreast of what he publishes.”

Your options are:

• Set a to-do list reminder to periodically go to http://www.arizonabankruptcyblog.info/ (face it: you won’t do it).
• Subscribe, and use an RSS Feed Reader. I will explain how.

Following and subscribing are the same thing. I want the news I want, and I want it brought to me. Don’t ask me go find it. That’s what your Reader does – working silently and in the background, it checks your subscriptions and brings you the news you have subscribed to. It’s that simple.

Two Reader alternatives (among many):

1. Use Google Reader. Sign in. Click on “add a subscription” and paste in the URL of a blog. Reader will automatically pull in any new posts, using the magic of RSS. Then check Google Reader every 3 days or so. The news will always be there, waiting for you.
2. Use Outlook. In your mailbox you should see a folder entitled “RSS Feeds.” Right-click on it and select “Add Feed” and paste in the blog URL. Note: Outlook is great for this, but can be a little more picky to deal with. You need to use the URL of the blog's RSS feed.

Pick an option, above, and subscribe to this blog, or any blog. Findlaw has several fine legal blogs. The Arizona legal community has many fine blogs. Your Reader will do the heavy lifting for you. So dive in!