Why Do You Blog?

(I resurrected this post to compliment the following post: What I've Learned From Blogging These Past 18 Months)

Lorelle von Fossen over at the Blog Herald asks a very interesting question:  Why Do You Blog?  She is an excellent writer and really nails the question.  Also read the comments as they expand upon the content of the post.

It's fair to say most lawyers blog to create business for their firms, present authority in a niche.  They employ tried and true strategies to work the system for positioning. Yet it is also fair to say there are lawyer bloggers who take their natural desire to write and advocate and use it for personal expression on a myriad of topics that move them beyond the practice of law.  This could be in addition to their professional practice-area based blogs.

The side benefits of blogging is creating an extended community for ourselves, meeting like-minded people, not so like minded people, make friends, acquaintances, new business partners.

So, it is only appropriate for me to say why I blog.  I started blogging because on a business level I felt if I didn't get on the train now, I'd be forever choking in its dust behind the caboose wondering what great adventure I missed.  And because I am one always ready to explore new frontiers I knew there would be unexpected adventures waiting for me if I kept my eyes and ears open.

Then I discovered it went beyond business.  It became a forum for me to express ideas which apparently resonated with others plus I love stimulating debate and blue-skying about the next adventure over the horizon.  These internet conversations presented opportunities to meet people, wonderful people, intelligent, business savvy people who proposed ideas for collaboration beyond my original expectations for this blog, opportunities I would never have had otherwise.

I've learned with blogging you must remain open to the opportunities that present themselves when you least expect it.  Stick to your mission, whatever that mission is, and ultimately your personality will come through.  I've said before that you cannot be a fraud on the internet.  You cannot maintain a facade for long; it's exhausting and you ultimately fail once you are 'outed.'  You miss out on all the benefits you could have had if you had just stayed true to yourself.

And interestingly, there is no competition with your voice if you understand you are uniquely you.  That's not new age thinking; it is the reality. Others may 'get there first' whatever first is because they have their own mission for their blog and employ various strategies to further their mission.  But you are not racing with or against them.  You are steadily plugging away at your mission, whatever you've defined that to be.