I have no idea whatsoever what InvespConsulting is nor how it decides (really!) what the "ULTIMATE BLOG RANK" is.  But Settle It Now has never made the ABA Top 100 Legal Blogs despite its ABA listing as the most popular ADR Blog.  And that's a bummer because the ABA is my market, man!

We bloggers put a lot of work into these blogs - more work than could ever possibly be justified by ROI.  We do so because we love our work and want to share it with the world; because we like to learn from other bloggers and to share our insights with them; and because we're readers and writers and, frankly, geeks!

We also blog, I think, because we always wanted to be part of the "life of the mind" that University promised to be but never quite delivered because . . . heck! we were too young to appreciate it.  In my case, that meant cutting far too many classes to play PONG (yes PONG)

in the bar at The Surfer on the boardwalk at Pacific Beach just south of U.C. San Diego from which I graduated by, among other things, throwing myself on the mercy of my T.S. Eliot prof who permitted me to give him my final paper on "Burnt Norton" in the faculty dining room (thanks Jack!) as well as on Professor Lettau who let me out of the required upper division German Literature class after I flunked my translation mid-term on "Death in Venice" ("Never return to class," he said, "and I'll give you a B!")  

I'm temporizing.  Putting off what I'm about to say.  Here it is!

SETTLE IT NOW IS THE NUMBER ONE ULTIMATE RANKED CONFLICT RESOLUTION BLOG by this obscure company.  (they even gave me this prize:  !!)

Because I endeavor to provide value instead of endless self-promotion in this blog, I give you a recent interview with two of the legal blogging world's foremost authorities, Robert Ambrogi and Larry Bodine.  Excerpt below and full interview here (.pdf).

What are the most essential ingredients to a successful legal blog?

Ambrogi: The elements of success for a legal blog are theme, authority, consistency and voice.  By theme, I mean that the blog should have a distinct focus (a topic of law, location, element of practice, target clientele, etc.). By authority, I mean that the blogger should have command of the subject and write posts that reflect that. The best posts are those that combine knowledge and insight, so that the reader will learn something about the topic and also about what the blogger thinks of the topic.

By consistency, I mean just that. Daily is good but not essential. A blogger should strive to post a couple times a week at a minimum. Better to write fewer posts of higher quality than to post a steady stream of useless information.

By voice, I mean a recognizable style. For many bloggers, this comes with time. Write for a general audience and avoid the kind of stiffness and legalese common in other forms of legal writing.  [A]s with any form of marketing, [blogging] success is measured by the goals one hopes to reach. Traffic, for example, is not a measure of success if it is not coming from the blogger's potential clientele. At its simplest, success in blogging can be measured by the degree to which the blogger is able to achieve greater recognition and greater respect among those who constitute potential clients.

Bodine: Successful bloggers post frequently – once a day if possible. (I typically pre-write several days worth of posts, and time them to appear one day at a time). Successful bloggers are totally focused on their readers’ interests – they never stray off-topic and they keep out egocentric posts about being on vacation and what they saw on TV. Their content must be “unmissable” – it must make a difference in their reader’s lives. A successful blog always reflects the interests of its constituency.

As you can see, I've violated nearly all the rules but "voice" here, hoping my readers will forgive the occasional idle ramble through my stream of consciousness.