I don't know how I let my own LexBlog birthday go by without thanking Kevin O'Keefe (video here from smays.com) for building this blog in October of last year and, more importantly, for letting me in on all of his Blog Secrets when I called him one day to say,

"Hey!!  Kevin.  I'm not reaching my market.  Wassup?"

It was that conversation that led almost immediately to the construction of the IP ADR Blog and the potential dissolution of my marriage (only half kidding, folks!)

I thank my blogging buddies on a regular basis so am not going to list them here again.  What I am going to do is to become completely transparent by giving you my statistics, one of the best reasons to buy a lexblog product in the first place (and no Kevin does not pay me for this; he inspires me to do this).

O.K., here goes.

The Monthly Statistical Increase Over LexBlog Year One

MONTH          TOTAL               UNIQUE 
Oct ’07           7,854                 4,880
Sep ’07           6,913                4,085
Aug ’07           4,808                2,732
Jul ’07            4,826                 2,501
Jun ’07           5,515                2,793
May ’07          5,725                 3,145
Apr ’07           5,546                 2,850
Mar ’07           4,081                1,691
Feb ’07           3,112                 1,016
Jan ’07           2,556                    916
Dec ’06           2,124                    596

I don't know what happened to the November '06 statistics (Kevin?) but they were pretty low even though I'd been using a Blogger template for the same blog since June of '06.  

I frankly don't know whether these statistics are good or bad.  I only note that they rise steadily over time.

These are also of great assistance to me when Mr. Thrifty (over 60) tells me (for the 100th time) that "nobody reads blogs, particularly not lawyers".  I think he's still using a quill pen.

Most Recent Key Word "Hits" in Order of Frequency

deposition training:  Found Advice for Young Lawyers -- On the Job… 16
sears washing machines: Found Buying a New Washing Machine at Sears? Try… 15
negotiation law blog:  Found Southern California Arbitration Mediation… 12
WATNA: Found Be the Best Negotiator You Can Be: a Step by… 11
settlement conference:  Found Ten Settlement Conference/Mediation Traps… 10
Sears washing machine:  Found Buying a New Washing Machine at Sears? Try… 9
conflict avoidance:  Found Conflict Avoidance: Social Obligations,… 9
"I'm billing time" lyrics:  Found New Improved "I'm Billing Time" :… 8
Victoria Pynchon:  Found Settle It Now Negotiation Blog : About 8
effective and efficient organizations:  Found Organizations in Need of an Effective and… 7
mediated settlement agreement:  Found Form Mediated Settlement Agreement and the… 6
simmons v. ghaderi:  Found Cal Supremes Take Up Mediation… 6
i'm billing time:  Found New Improved "I'm Billing Time" :… 6
radiohead set own price:  Found Radiohead's "Set Your Own Price"… 6
radiohead set your own price:  Found Radiohead's "Set Your Own Price"… 6
differences between arbitration and…Found More Statistics on the Differences between… 6 effective and efficient organization:  Found Organizations in Need of an Effective and… 6
leaving BigLaw:  Found Leaving BigLaw to Hang Out Your Own Shingle… 6

The Time People Tend to Spend Reading the Blog Once They Find It

This is a fairly typical "session tracker" report.  I don't know what "timed out" means, but I often see a 5 minute notation so I'm pretty sure it's more than five minutes.  This shows not only how the reader found my site, but also how long they viewed it. 

• 1 hit from Search google.com (negotiation with a Watna) timed out
• 3 hits 2 mins, 47 secs
• 1 hit from Search google.com (Litigation strategy for young attorneys) timed out
• 1 hit from Search google.ca (toronto parking tag class action lawsuite) timed out
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit from Search google.pl (sobanski palace complex plans) timed out
• 2 hits from Search google.com (snyder vioxx settlement los angeles) 2 mins, 29 secs
• 3 hits 1 min, 58 secs
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit from images.google.com/imgres… timed out
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit from Search google.com (vioxx settlement Girardi) timed out
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit timed out
• 1 hit from Search google.com (divorce mediation strategy) timed out

There are a lot more statistics on the LexBlog tracker, but I figure I'm down to the total geek bloggers by now and even they are getting bored.

What do these statistics mean to me?  They confirm that I am building an audience; they tell me what my readers are interested in; and, the assure me that people stay to read once they find me, even when they're just downloading an image.

They are the candles on my FIRST LEXBLOG BIRTHDAY cake. 

Thanks Kevin!