The rise and fall of Blogbot as an example of a marketing trial

It was fun while it lasted. But I have heard back from several regular readers that the Blogbot provided no real value, and some real irritation. The "fun factor" simply wasn't high enough to justify keeping on a feature that would potentially keep regular readers from returning.

Blogbot has not been harmed; I have retired him to a server in the Bahamas where he will we get to relax and spend his retirement years reading Shel Silverstein poetry.

Please note that this exercise conforms to the "Andy Havens' Primary Rule of Marketing:" Have a goal. Try something. Measure the results. If it works, keep doing it. If it doesn't, stop.

My goal was to increase the enjoyment of my readers. I tried the Blogbot. The measurement was reader comments. The result was more negative than positive. Blogbot goes bye-bye. The entire process is also transparent and communicated publicly. Why? So that we can all learn about marketing together.  Learning is a process that requires us to make mistakes.

There is no shame in trying. The shame is in doing it in a poorly planned or executed manner. I don't consider my work with Blogbot a failure -- I will probably use him in a different program or promotion in the future, or use him differently in the blog environment. I also now know how to utilize the technology efficiently, so that I can recommend it to colleagues and clients who might find it useful. And I can do so with some good tips, since it took me awhile to get all the bugs worked out.

So... keep Blogbot in mind when you put together a new and different marketing program. Have a goal. Have measurements that will allow you to assess your progress towards that goal. And, if the goal is not met, don't consider the program a failure -- all learning requires mistakes. You know more afterward than you did before.  That's not a net loss, but a net gain. Law firm marketing needs more practitioners who understand that "failure" is only really a bad thing if you don't understand why you failed, so that you can improve your programs in the future.