Why Blog?
In the past I have written about why a law blog may not be for everyone.
Here is a great blog post examining four highly successful law blogs. Some tidbits from the article (found through Above the Law):
Blogging takes time. Four the four blogs profiled, the weekly time estimates are 2-3 hours, 5 hours, 5 hours, 3-10 hours.
It takes time (estimated as 52 posts or 1-2 years) before a blog will generate business, but when it does, it pays off.
Commitment and continuity are two required elements for a sucessful blog.
Any blog's success depends on the comittment and creativity of the author.
Keep in mind these are blogs authored by lawyers as an enhancement/marketing effort for existing law practices. I look at blogs differently when they themselves are the primary point of the endeavor or are a profit-making entity in their own right. For example, Above the Law or Overlawyered. I'm not sure where I would put SCOTUSblog, since it started out as marketing and blew up into the foremost media authority on the Supreme Court. Clearly, the time commitment to blogs like these is well outside the 2-10 hours a week for a typical law practice blog.
I have never tried to quantify the effect of this blog in terms of business generation. First, I am not certain there is a direct relationship between the two. Second, that isn't really why I do it anyway. I like to write. I hope that this blog contributes to the profession by sharing ideas, trial techniques, and new law, and that it provides a resource for the public by showing what is really involved in personal injury litigation.
Basically, blog because you like it and you want to. As with most things with that foundation, sucess will follow.
