Donna Seyle, a friend and lawyer I met on Twitter, visited my new blog yesterday and direct messaged me a very insightful question. “With all the arguments regarding “to blog versus not to blog”, why have you decided to take up the sport?”

I think the real question should be – given my first hand experience with how powerful blogging can be for one’s reputation, what on earth took me so long?  And I can only admit to a great fear of commitment.  I am a woman who sobbed her way into a wedding ceremony that ended in one of the happiest marriages on record (my own), simply for fear of commitment.

I might not have been blogging for myself for the past several years, but I have helped several clients use blogs to amazing (yes, really) success, and I know the rules.  OK – maybe just one rule.  A blog is like a child:  feed it regularly and constantly or it dies.  You can’t be all into it for a few months and then take a hiatus.  If you do so, poof!  There went your hard work and good will.  Why would I add another high maintenance item to my life (sorry, husband and son)?

Why indeed.  As an active marketing professional, I simply cannot imagine any action that I can take that has the potential to provide the rewards that blogging can and does.  To name a few:  credentialing, personal growth, visibility beyond my strong and weak ties, an instant “get to know you” for potential new clients; a hub for my network and community, an intimate forum in which to share my insights and learning.

As an illustration of this, I will blog a case study soon of a client of mine and how their top-quality blogs helped literally put them on the map despite the fact they were a new, small, boutique law firm in a tough legal climate.  General counsel read law blogs when hiring and vetting law firms as well.

But you don’t have to wait for that – take a look at the blogs of the friends who commented on my last blog post.  Chances are you already read their blogs.  I know I do.  Cordell Parvin, of Cordell Parvin Blog, Jordan Furlong of Law21, Tom Matte of The Matte Pad, Jonathan Groner, editor of Crime In the Suites (my client’s blog), Adrian Dayton and Bob Ambrogi.  I also have seen how the blogs of, Jayne Navarre, Heather Morse, Larry Bodine, Pam Woldow and Kevin O’Keefe (among many others) have showcased their expertise and enhanced their reputations.

If you blog, how do you feel about the results versus the effort?  And if you don’t blog – why not?  Do you think it’s the right choice