20. So Should I Start A Blog - What to Consider

Pros

Low cost of entry

Little tech know-how is required

Can help diversify a marketing portfolio and give solos and small firms exposure beyond what they could otherwise attain

Blogs are still new, and not all practice areas have been "blogged on" so there's some "early mover advantage" that can still be achieved

In short, there's really nothing to lose by trying a blog...

But....

Blogs are tremendously time consuming - those we polled estimated spending a minimum of 1/2 hour a day on blogs several times a week. And if blogs aren't updated with some regularity, people will stop visiting the site to check for updates.

Benefits aren't immediate - the general public is just starting to use the Internet to find lawyers; it can take a few months to establish a blogging presence

Possible risk that competitors will steal your material - though that has not been the experience of bloggers to date.