In April 2004, Chicago lawyer Dennis Crouch decided to start a professional blog called the "Patently-O" patent law blog. Aimed at an extremely narrow audience of lawyers, this niche destination covered patent cases, claim drafting tips, and book reviews.

Fast forward to 2006: the blog gets 30,000 visits each week. Crouch, a third-year associate with Hulbert & Berghoff – a 55-lawyer IP law firm – has been quoted in Business Week, Forbes, Law Bulletin, IP Law Bulletin, and many other publications. The blog has brought in many new business inquiries, including one from a Fortune 100 company, and generated patent prosecution work, domain name dispute litigation, and patent litigation for the firm. The blog is the authority in the field.

Why Do You Need A Blog If You Already Have A Website?

By definition, a blog is a website. A firm can have both, and they complement and send traffic to each other. The difference is that a blog has a limited scope – it covers a single aspect of one area of law – and new content is ordered chronologically, with the newest item at the top of the list. Blogs also have a personal voice and typically reflect the analysis, insight, and opinion of the writer. A professional blog discusses a substantive topic, and does not include personal material.

"It's been much more of a business developer than I expected," the boyish-looking Crouch says. What's amazed him the most is that the blog has generated referrals from attorneys he's never met, but who sent him work based on his blog alone.

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