A retrospective on my second year as a blawg author (2nd anniversary of this blog)

At 2,030 posts, I have slightly more than doubled the number of posts I wrote in my first year. TypePad tells me that Law Department Management has had 110,000 page views in its two years; I’m proud now of 200 to 300 visitors a day (“90% new”) and 350 to 450 page views, with steadily increasing numbers. So far in 2007, 54 percent visited from a US site, 12 percent from the UK, 10 percent from India, and the rest from at least 15 other countries. About 65 percent of my readers look at a post that came up on a search engine, mostly Google. About 20 percent come to the site directly such as through a feed and the remaining 15 percent visit from another blog. Almost 150 subscribers rely on feeds, mostly through Bloglines. There are around 30 blogs that link to Law Department Management.

In the last two months, my blog has made great strides. Aided by a smart junior in high school named Morgan, the site now boasts SiteMeter, FeedBurner, Technorati, and Google capabilities. Using GoogleGroups I have urged readers to sign up to receive a Word version each month of my posts. It has been an exciting introduction to the new technologies that have grown up around the web.

Another major development during this past year is that I have sought to extend the scope and depth of this blog. On one track, I have invited selected co-authors to contribute posts within their areas of expertise. What they know well covers topics that I do not know at all so I think it is a good mix of this forum and their knowledge. On a second track, some ideas are gelling on books that are based on the compilation of posts from this blog. An exciting collaboration will elaborate on the ideas expressed here and will be a “mash up” of this technology and a more established medium. Third, I keep adding updates in the form of Rees Morrison Morsels – 38 so far.

During the past year, as I create new post I have tried to refer frequently to earlier posts as well as to pull together related posts into what I call meta-posts. Slowly, some clarity is emerging from the 2,000+ points of light.

Unlike most bloggers, I rarely comment on the blogs listed in my blog roll, because I am better suited to identifying and summarizing new material. As it is, I delightedly follow a policy of objets trouvés. One of my friends calls me a magpie, those birds which like to pick up bright, shiny objects like I enjoy ideas. My blog has referenced more than 160 different print sources of material (and many online sources) as I read widely and see material everywhere that is grist for a post.

I have continued during the second year to scratch my head over the paucity of comments and emails. It thrills me when someone writes anything substantive about my posts and I make it a point to reply to everyone personally. Please drop me a line if only so I can say hello to you.

Finally I would like to thank a few of the people who have helped me with my blog. Jeff Gussis, the energetic author of In-House Counsel, has been a particularly inspiring guide, as has Ron Friedman of Prism Legal. Craig Williams sets a standard of excellence on his site, May it Please the Court, and Dennis Kennedy is fondly remembered for organizing a blogster gathering at Legal Tech last year.