I don't think the two ideas are mutually exclusive. Granted, the things you say we should be thinking about are all important, but I think the issues we're talking about all deserve attention as well.

Like I just posted over on your blog, for many years people didn't recognize my name, but rather the name of my blog. That's completely my fault – I didn't appreciate branding back then, and since that time I've done a lot to make my name more of a brand – through podcasts, Twitter, articles, etc. But the blog name has definitely been a handicap.

By saying "I am not sure why people get so caught up in…what their presence looks like on their blog or website," it sounds like your opinion here is that the look/feel of your blog (the "sportcoat," as you say) is not as important as the big rocks of engagement and relationship building. You're not saying that, are you? After all, you're in the business of selling beautiful, professional-looking "sportcoats" to lawyers. (You also wrote a post "Law Blog Design Matters" two years ago: http://bit.ly/cKBhEs)

I don't know about any of you, but I desperately need a new sportcoat. My blog design is old, outdated, and just plain ugly. If I showed up to a conference wearing a 1950's sportcoat, people might respect my ideas, but they'd still probably think I was the weird guy in the old-timey sportcoat. If you're going to engage with people using Twitter or podcasts, appearance may not matter much. But if you're using a blog or a website, the look/feel of your blog goes a long way in establishing your credibility.

If I missed the point, I respectfully withdraw my comments.

I know if I go do WP, something, somewhere will get screwed up in the process.

But WP allows better control of comments, so that you can edit out the gratuitous links and keep the content that remains. And I sort of like that.

Blogger's biggest problem for me is the lack of decent tools for the comments.

I know if I go do WP, something, somewhere will get screwed up in the process.

But WP allows better control of comments, so that you can edit out the gratuitous links and keep the content that remains. And I sort of like that.

Blogger's biggest problem for me is the lack of decent tools for the comments.

Seems to me you're misguided in your approach. First question is what do you want to do? Who do you want to do it for? What is the reputation you want to have that is being spread by word of mouth? Where are you looking to grow professionally?

Then make the decision to engage your target audience and network so as to build relationships with your target audience through your blog and other client development/professional development work – whether on or offline.

I am not sure why people get so caught up in the title of their blog, the history of their blog, and what their presence looks like on their blog or website. Professional growth or client development is about meeting people and engaging them. You can start doing that in a more focused and strategic way, assuming you are struggling with your focus, from your existing blog.

Just because we have the Internet, and now social media, does not mean that anything has changed from 75 years ago in the way lawyers build relationships by engaging their target audience.

I can't imagine you'd have been asking people 25 years ago if you think you ought to change the sport coat you've been wearing to meet people as you are not sure it's been working well for professional development. You'd have been asking other things that were more important – where should I focus my energies in networking with people? how do I do a better job of that? if I have multiple loves (journalism, advising law firms on social media, and practicing law) how do I present myself and who do I engage?

What do I know, but I'd be focusing on the big rocks like that, not on whether to change your sport coat.

Also, since WordPress doesn't force you to put the blog in the root directory, you could keep the static page you currently have.

Lee Rosen's advice to move your readers to feedburner early to avoid losing subscribers is a good idea. I would also put 301 redirects in for both blog homepages to the new blog; and if you move domains, 301 redirect every post URL over also.