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How much time does it take to publish a good law blog?

That’s a question I get everyday. No question lawyers see the value of publishing a blog for professional and business development. Lawyers and law firms want to get started, they’re just afraid of the time commitment.

The answer is not as much time as you think. Consider the following:

  • Publishing a law blog does not have to be an everyday activity. About 47% of the blogs on The LexBlog Network have been updated in the last week. About 70% within the last two weeks. I’d suggest publishing at least every two weeks, if not more often, when you get started. Blogging takes longer when you’re new to it. As you get the hang of it, I’d suggest two to four times per month.
  • It does not reflect badly on a lawyer or law firm if there has not been a blog post in a period of time. Blogs are not something that people return to in order to see if there’s been an update. Blogs stream insight and commentary to people via email updates and RSS feeds. If you haven’t said anything in the last week, that’s okay. Of course I’m not suggesting you go months at a time without posting to your blog.
  • Comments are not something that requires moderation on a daily basis. A popular law blog generates few comments (2 to 3 a month) so comment moderation is not time consuming.
  • Blog posts should be short and cover one point at a time. A good blog post can take as little as 30 minutes.
  • Good lawyers stay up to speed by reading. Many lawyers find their blog an excellent place to share what they’ve read providing their insight and commentary as a follow on. Such posts, which do not take much time, become part of what would be their routine as a good lawyer regardless of whether they published a blog.

Is it worth putting in the time to blog? Consider the following:

  • Seattle Attorney, Dan Harris, publisher of the China Law Blog, one of the most popular law blogs, told me over lunch yesterday that his posts take him from 15 to 45 minutes, with 25 minutes being the average. Dan, who tries to post six times a week (well above the typical blogger), has found his blog to be very successful for business development.
  • New York City Attorney, Peter Mahler, publisher of New York Business Divorce on business dissolution matters, takes one to three hours writing a single blog post per week that he publishes on Monday morning. When with him in New York this last Winter, Peter, who has always gotten his work by referral and word of mouth, told me his blog was generating over one-half of his work. He recently shared he’s averaging one new client a month as a result of his blog.
  • Toronto Attorney, Chris Jaglowitz, the principal writer on the Ontario Condo Law Blog, published by Gardiner Miller Arnold, told me over a beer in Toronto last week that their blog was generating 20 ‘one hour paid consultations’ per month, with well over 50% of those one hour consultations leading to be retained on a significant matter. Chris’ blog, with relatively short posts, was updated four times in September and five times in October. Two of October’s posts were a list of helpful links Chris had shared on Twitter.

No question publishing a blog takes time. All good things do. Lawyers who are meeting with success in blogging routinely tell me they’re surprised by two things. One, that they learn a lot through blogging — they’re becoming a better lawyer. And two, that blogging does take a fair amount of time.

How much time do you spend as a lawyer blogging? Drop me an email or leave a comment here.

  • http://www.orlandobankruptcylawtalk.com Hunter

    Interesting post with great perspectives Kevin.
    I started “seriously” blogging on 8/1/10 and, today, just hit post #50.
    I spend about 1 hour per optimized post and have found the whole exercise surprisingly rewarding.
    My goal is to average 3 optimized posts per week going forward.

  • http://www.ctemploymentlawblog.com Dan Schwartz

    Kevin, overall I agree with your post but take issue with one statement “It does not reflect badly on a lawyer or law firm if there has not been a blog post in a period of time.”
    What’s the period of time we’re talking about? A week or so? Fine. A month? SIX months? Well, if I’m a reader I would ask — if you’re not interested in updating your blog, I’m not really interested in following the blog. I’ve stopped following several blogs for that reason and I’m sure others have too.
    A blog is a reflection of the author, just like a firm website. A blog with serious cobwebs might send a message that the author isn’t able follow through with commitments. At the very least, put up a note to say that the blog will be updated soon if the attorney is busy for an extended period of time….

  • http://kevin.lexblog.com Kevin OKeefe

    Good to hear about your blogging success and that you’re enjoying it Hunter.
    I agree wholeheartedly Dan that going too long without an update can reflect poorly on you. But we’ve got some lawyers who don’t post more than once or twice a month that are doing real well blogging. You’ve done one heck of a job with the CT Employment Law Blog updating more often than that – the result being that you’ve become widely known.
    The more the niche and the more the authority the blogger, perhaps the longer you can go between updates. If I’m an IP lawyer doing work for a specific type of pharmaceutical process, when I talk people in that niche will listen. No matter whether it’s 4 times a month or 6 times a year.
    I look at a blog as a voice in a conversation where you go out and network — not a place where people come to you. If you’re not out networking, no one can hear you and you’re in turn not getting the business development bounce. But you’re not necessarily embarrasing yourself by not being out there.
    As for a website getting stale, what’s a stale law firm website? As long as a website has current info about the firm, its lawyers, its professional team, what the firm and lawyers do, and how to contact everyone, your website is fine. I wouldn’t worry about updating a website for fear it reflects poorly on you anymore than I would worry about updating a brochure.

  • http://www.maryland-criminallawyer.com/ David Benowitz

    I agree with you. Blogging does take time especially for a lawyer who is always busy. If you’re asking if it is worth giving some time to blog, I answer yes. It does not just helps you to become a better lawyer at the same time you are also helping other aspiring lawyers that follows your post. Overall, I really agree with your post. Thanks. Hope this will inspire other lawyers to open up their dashboard and update their blogs.

  • http://www.chinalawblog.com Dan

    Not only does blogging not take nearly as much time as widely believed and not only is it good for business, but it is also a really good way to stay focused on what is going on in your particular niche. I would consider my blogging time well spent even if it never brought in a client simply because it is a great drill for forcing me to confront and work through the key issues facing my clients.

  • http://www.sanantonioemploymentlawblog.com Tom Crane

    It takes me perhaps 15-45 minutes to write one post. Average would be perhaps 20 minutes. I tend to proofread later, which would add another 10 minutes. As you have said, Kevin, that is about how much time one would spend doing other sorts of marketing activities anyway. I post about 3x per week. I enjoy writing the posts. Its well worth my time.

  • http://www.ctemploymentlawblog.com Dan Schwartz

    Kevin: Your point is well taken – its certainly quality not quantity that matters. My point, though, is that there are certainly plenty of people that stop blogging and feel “guilty” for not blogging more (much like going to the gym. I think the best path is to aim for something do-able. Like have a post each Monday — or by the 1st and 15th of each month. Give the reader something to look forward to than have them guess when something new might pop up.

  • http://www.lotempiolaw.com/promo/about/ Vincent LoTempio

    There’s two time constraints to actually posting a blog post: one is physically putting information into the webpage and the other is finding something intelligent to say. I wish the interface of physically putting the blog was seamless. There are a few things that would make it easier for you to post. For instance if the screen where you insert your blog was larger it would be easier to copy paste to it. It is so small that every time you hit the save button the screen moves and it takes three clicks to get back to where you were, which really adds up over time. It takes at the very least an hour to make sure the posts look just the way you want them to look. It never looks the same way in the preview as it will when it uploads to the site. Then it takes a few more minutes just to get it to look right after you finish. With all that being said it is rewarding when it’s up and finished.
    The second part is getting the content for the blog post and of course that takes time because you can’t post about everything that you read about. And if you are reading various articles about a subject that are posting about sometimes you get lost in the forest, however I do agree with some of the other comments that just taking the time and reading about interesting things in your area of law will make you a better lawyer in that field.

  • http://www.valanduseconstructionlaw.com Timothy R. Hughes

    As far as the writing part goes, an hour a post or less is probably true. I would say this dramatically understates the time and effort of effectively blogging though. You need to read up, reaching out to folks is very helpful, commenting on other posts is useful, and so is helping out other folks’ blogs too.
    Those pieces are more time consuming, but also have tended to be the most important piece for us in developing ties and leading to work/referrals.

  • http://derechofamilia.wordpress.com martinezroges

    I’ve started blogging seriously at the beginning of January 2010. I’m posting once a week, on monday morning. A post is taking on average half an hour. I’m spending also some time answering questions that people ask in the blog, on average another half hour.
    After those months, Now people are talking about me in a very positive way as niche practitioner, my name starts to be Know in my profession and new clients are arriving from the blog.

  • http://www.rainmakervt.com Mike O’Horo

    If you have something significant to say, you’ll make time to say it. If you don’t, you’ll be too busy to say something insignificant. In both cases, your readers will appreciate the decision.

  • http://www.shapiroandmack.com Jason Shapiro

    Today a legal blog is helpful for an online presence. Its good to do blog comments as well. It all helps with connecting with your target audience.