law student Archives - Memos and Mirth

Branding, reputation, image.

July 1, 2010

Man on laptop at cafe by Tim Gouw via Unsplash.

I somehow feel the need to write this post once a season, usually after a lawyer messages me regarding a bikini picture on this site.

My full post about branding and this blog is here, but I can be concise, I hope…

Most blog readers are familiar with mommy bloggers like Heather Armstrong, Ree Drummond, and Maggie Mason, but for some reason the legal and advertising industries are uncomfortable with real personal blogs written by law students and marketers.

Professionals expect law student blogs to either be poorly disguised resumes or anonymous blogspot accounts that strictly focus on the law school experience.

Blogs by advertisers are supposed to regurgitate Mashable’s biggest stories with the occasional foodie or knitting post. These bloggers need to appear hip, techy, and yuppie… in an urban outfitters outlet sort of way…

blog theory / Just Sayin

Law student blog rankings are a scam

April 24, 2010

Several readers have asked why I am not participating in a “best of blogging” competition for law student blogs. The answer is simple: the competition is a scam.

It works as follows:

NoName Legal Website (NLW) needs visitors. NLW has no credibility because it is a content aggregator and offers little (or no) original content. Snooze.

But NLW has a plan! Lawyers and Law students love competition and arbitrary rankings. Heck, all the law schools in the country tout their US News Ranking while simultaneously bitching about how ridiculous the rankings are.

So NLW creates its own rankings of the top law school bloggers. NLW informs the bloggers of their nominations through pingbacks and emails. The student bloggers mention the competition and link back to NLW. The new traffic helps NLW build a reputation and to compensate for its lack of original content.

NLW now has visitors without paying for advertising space.