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Law Firm Internet Marketing An Executive Summary Using the Q&A Format – Part I

Aug 18

Posted by Henry Harlow in business | No Comments

What do I need to know first about law firm Internet marketing?

“In modern business, it is not the crook who is feared most, it is the honest man who doesn’t know what he is doing.” Pablo Casals

There are tons of vendors out there who want to sell you websites and law firm Internet marketing services. Most are honest people who simply don’t know what they are doing. In many cases, they are attempting to sell you something that is overpriced and that won’t produce you any new clients at all, let alone good clients. The attorneys I have worked with report to me that the whole Internet marketing process confuses them. They don’t know who to believe. Some have spent considerable sums already on websites with little or no results. I aim to stop all that. So keep reading.

Do I need law firm Internet marketing?

Yes. According to Reuters News Services by 2007 there will be over nine million legal services searches done online each month. Additionally, prospective clients and clients expect you to have at least a website or think you may be behind the times if you do not. Finally, while the yellow pages are not a good attorney marketing vehicle today they are going away since people are searching the Internet and not going to the yellow pages.

What is/is not law firm Internet marketing?

Having a website is not law firm Internet marketing. At a minimum you do need at least a “brochure website” of a few pages, however, that website is unlikely to get you new business and is definitely not Internet marketing. The rest of this article (in four parts) is going to help you get clear on what Internet marketing is all about.

Where does Internet marketing begin?

Law firm Internet marketing begins with you becoming an educated consumer and then keyword research. Researching your practice’s best keywords will tell us what words your prospective clients are using to search for legal services on search engines, what legal services your prospective clients are the most interested in, what your prospective client is thinking, how to attract these prospective clients to your site at the search engine instead of going to your competitors site, what your competitors are doing/not doing, what content to write for each of your top keywords (recommend writing a page each to at least the top 20 keywords), what are the words to use for PPC law firm advertising and how to begin search engine optimization. If you have not adequately completed keyword research using software tools like Wordtracker you have not done adequate keyword research and are likely to fail at your law firm Internet marketing.

You mentioned, “…what content to write for each of your top keywords…”. What are you talking about exactly?

I am talking about what is known as the CTPM model of Internet marketing developed by Ken Evoy M.D. in 1997. This model works because it is in total alignment with how the Internet works. The C is the first part of the model and it stands for Content – create in demand content (you determine what is in demand from the keyword research). The T is Traffic – attract targeted traffic. The P is for pre-sell – pre-sell the targeted traffic (using such things as newsletters, RSS feeds, free downloads, e-books, auto responders, audio, video, and teleclasses). The M is Monetize – this is where you convert these pre-sold prospective clients to clients easily.

You mentioned, “…tools like Wordtracker…” with respect to keyword research in law firm Internet marketing. What is Wordtracker?

Wordtracker is a software tool that can be used to thoroughly research your keywords. Wordtracker is at least arguably the best keyword research tool in the marketplace and there are others. You can go to http://www.Wordtracker.com to get all the details. Your vendor can use this tool easily and should use it for keyword research to put your law firm Internet marketing on the right track from the beginning if at all possible.

You also mentioned “…how to begin search engine optimization.” What is meant by search engine optimization (SEO) and exactly what is it and how does it fit into law firm Internet marketing?

There is no mystery in SEO in particular and law firm Internet marketing in general so don’t let anyone bamboozle you on that one. As I said earlier SEO begins with appropriate keyword research. If you have not done that you are dead in the water since this is the foundation of everything that comes after in law firm Internet marketing. The next step is the “C” or content mentioned earlier in the CTPM model. You will need to write “keyword optimized” content to each of your top 20 keywords or another way to say this is writing your content in the way that search engines want to see it so they rank you higher than your competitors. Your content needs to fit together in a site plan (the term site plan refers to in what order your pages will appear and how they link to one another) that has an appropriate pyramid type structure. This pyramid type structure includes your home page (the peak of the pyramid) themed keyword phrase being supported by all the tier two pages (the next layer of the pyramid) and their tier three pages (usually the base of your pyramid although you could go deeper) support them resulting in higher rankings for all of your pages. There are some technical aspects to SEO as well like the use of clean HTML, heading text, meta tags, alt tags, site map, etc., however, mercifully I won’t go into those since they should be known to your technical person. The bottom line is put nothing in the way of the search engines spiders (spiders are sent out from the search engine to “read” the sites on the Internet) being able to “read” your site like fancy flash pages get in the way big time for instance. To know more in depth about keyword optimization you can go to Wordtracker.com where they have a really fine Keyword Research Guide if you want to know more of the details. All of what I just told you is known as “on site optimization” strategies for law firm Internet marketing. There is also “off site” optimization as well involved in SEO. Off site optimization means getting one-way links from high-ranking pages of other sites that are related to your top 20 keywords (there we are again with that keyword research being vital) that link to your site. Search engines see these links like a “vote” for your site. The more high quality “votes” you have the higher they will rank your site. The term “link popularity” is used to describe this process in law firm Internet marketing. The royal road to high quality links is having (here he goes again) keyword researched and keyword optimized quality content on your website. You get these links from website directories, article directories, online forums, press releases, etc. I left out reciprocal links because most SEO authorities think they are no longer worth the effort since they are difficult to get and don’t really contribute much (or can even hurt) to your page ranking.

We have completed the first part of law firm Internet marketing at this point. In part two we will go into Google Page Ranking, dealing with your competitors, RSS, the factors surrounding costs of law firm Internet marketing and more. I am committed to you being a master of law firm Internet marketing at least to the point you will get new clients from your efforts and not get taken to the cleaners by vendors who may not know any better.

You can download free now the 125 page Report titled “31 Proven Law Firm Marketing Strategies” by Henry Harlow and much more. You can increase your income; reduce your work hours as you serve your clients better than ever – guaranteed. http://www.Law-Firm-Marketing-Coach.com

Author: Henry Harlow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Build Your Wealth With Small Investments

Aug 11

Posted by Mika Hamilton in business | No Comments

When you want to start building your wealth, it will probably need to be with small investments. This is a great way to get started in wealth building but just like with large investments, money can easily be lost. This means that you will need to investigate carefully what you are doing and how you are going to go about it. Here are some tips to help you to start building your wealth with small investments.

Develop A Strategy

Before you start to look for opportunities, you may want to divide up your available money into three or more segments. This will allow you to make more than one investment simultaneously, and it will give you other money, too, just in case the first investment should tie up your money for a longer period of time than you had thought. You could also use some of it for short-term investments, and other money for longer-term investments.

High Risk or Low Risk?

You will also need to decide what your risk factor is going to be for each segment of your money, too. For instance, you may use some of it for lower risk investments that will keep that portion of your money relatively safe. Another portion of your money could be used for high-risk investments, but you will need to be willing to possibly lose this money if you do. Other money may be designated for long term investments, and some just for short-term investments.

Look For Opportunities

Learn all you can about wealth building before you start investing in any kind of high-risk stock. You may even want to seek advice from a professional. Long term investments, which should be the money that you cannot afford to lose, you should invest in stable instruments like bonds, mutual funds, or CD’s. These do provide a lower interest rate, but they are solid.

Investing in the stock market is an idea. Stay away from the high-risk stocks until you know what you are doing, or it could lead to quick losses. Once you are comfortable, you can expand your investments into the short-term more profitable stocks. Forex may be another option. Either one will not take a lot of money to get started, just be sure to shop around for brokers, since prices vary.

Alternative Investing

Instead of thinking only about the stock market or more traditional methods, don’t forget about investing in things that will increase in value, as well. This usually includes assets that you can hold such as gold, coins, stamps, art, antiques, cars, and many more. Collections of various things, such as memorabilia of some kind, can also provide you with an investment of increasing value. If you need ideas for this type of investment, simply go to eBay and see what some of the high-ticket items are.

These items, as well as investing in new businesses, could provide you with relatively safe investments as long as they are protected. Some of them can also be sold easily for liquidity.

To learn more about the new wave of option investing available to personal investors visit http://www.optiontradersjournal.com where you will find a range of free videos, e-books and reports to help you learn option trading to help you get started in this exciting investment field.

Investment webmasters or publishers, please feel free to use this article provided this reference is included and all links remain active.

Author: Mika Hamilton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Utah Internet Marketing – Outsource or In-house?

Jun 22

Posted by Marci Lynn Crane in business, marketing | No Comments

If you live in the beehive state or have recently visited Utah for the first time you might have noticed a youthful quality within the state. In Utah-especially in college towns-there is an entrepreneurial energy that keeps new businesses (and the experienced) in the hot skillet of competition.

Utah Internet Marketing: The Competition is Hot

Online virtual reality is becoming just as competitive or more so than it’s offline counterparts. Utah business men and women are competing for top rankings and widespread advertisement campaigns. Utah Internet marketing campaigns are tough competition especially since online virtual mediums are in an almost constant state of change.

If you are a Utah business owner, it can be difficult to decide which Utah Internet Marketing company is the best Internet marketing company for your particular needs or whether or not you should consider an in-house Utah Internet Marketing option instead. This article is designed to help provide you with the information you need to make a more educated decision.

Looking to Outsource Utah Internet Marketing Services?

If you decide that you want to outsource your Internet marketing campaign to a Utah Internet marketing company, it’s going to be more difficult to keep tabs on your company’s Internet marketing projects. So…….when you go looking for a proactive Utah Internet marketing company you need to make sure you have the right information and the right people underway in your own company first.

Make sure your company is ready for outsourced Internet Marketing executing the following steps:

  1. Find someone within your own company who can manage and consistently check up on the progression of your Internet Marketing campaign. Essentially, this marketing person doesn’t have to be a full time marketing employee. An energetic and ambitious employee who normally works in research, HR, as a consultant, in sales or even in accounting might have a hidden flair for marketing and may enjoy watching, tracking and reporting the progress of the campaign. He or she must spend a good portion of his or her working hours keeping in touch with Internet marketing employees, staying abreast of SEO and PPC projects, contributing to blogs and taking time to approve SEO content. This might seem like an obvious expedient but but you might be surprised how many companies essentially leave their marketing process in the hands of a Utah Internet marketing company of which they know very little. This can damage a campaign even if the Internet marketing company in question is conscientious of providing the services they are contracted to provide. Simply put, almost any Internet marketing company is likely to grease the squeaky client wheels and if you aren’t calling, checking up, asking questions and confirming launch dates, it’s very likely that your company will receive second rate services.
  2. Decide exactly what it is that you want your website to accomplish. Whether you want visitors to buy products, make inquiries or submit information via your website, you need to know your goals and the respective priorities that will help you reach them.
  3. Decide how much you want to spend. Your budget will determine the range of prospective Utah Internet marketing companies you can work with. Spending more will not necessarily get you better service or results so it is important that you know how much you want to spend. That way, you can select the best Utah Internet marketing company within your price range without getting unduly distracted.

Start Looking for a Utah Internet Marketing Firm

Once your own company is prepared to invest in an Internet marketing campaign, it is important to look for a Utah Internet marketing firm that has the following five characteristics1:

  1. The Utah Internet marketing company you select should be able to promise you something. Internet marketing sales persons might be quick to say that Internet marketing companies can never promise any thing since so many Internet marketing services are variable in nature. In a sense they are correct, but if they can’t give you a promise of generalized progress over a given amount of time, it isn’t likely that they are trying hard enough to win your patronage.
  2. Does their site rank well? This is important since they are after all an Internet marketing company. Ask them which keyword phrases they rank well for and take a look at their online material. Their sales persons may be slick and polished but if their website is less than helpful it’s not likely that you have found the Utah Internet Marketing company that is going to do your website the most good.
  3. If a company can’t guarantee a certain amount of satisfaction (defined satisfaction) then forget it and move on to another company.
  4. Choose a company that is willing to explain their services to you. Some companies enter the world of Internet marketing without understanding what exactly their Internet marketing firm will do to recruit links for their site. Not knowing the basics can get your company in trouble.
  5. Look for a company that prides themselves on their market research capabilities.

In-House Utah Internet Marketing

If you like getting your own hands in the action then perhaps in-house Internet marketing is the game you should play. In-house marketing is beneficial in the sense that you have complete control of your Internet marketing process. It also means that when things get tight you can suspend your campaign and not be penalized for late payments.

Whether you go in-house or take the route of outsourcing, investing in Utah Internet marketing is important for almost every kind of Utah business.

1 The five characteristics are taken from the following online article:
http://www.salemglobal.com/website-marketing-choosing-seo-firm.php

Author: Marci Lynn Crane
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Have An Idea? Starting A Business? STOP! Read This Article

May 22

Posted by Jim Hart in business, business startup, strategies | No Comments

As a business consultant I am asked a lot of questions about success, especially from younger clients from age 25 35 who are loaded with ideas and the youthful enthusiasm but lack experience. My answers are usually the same each timeyou have to have a good idea, a written plan backing that idea and enough business knowledge to deal with the issues surrounding start-up launch and rollout. And thats where things get a little shaky for most people. They have the ideas. They have the enthusiasm. But they dont have a realistic written plan (if they even have a plan) and they lack true knowledge and experience.

Most people starting in business have never written a business plan and/or dont have enough business acumen to write one correctly. Specifically, they lack real world business education and experience. These same entrepreneurial-types virtually always over estimate sales and under estimate costs. They dont have a firm grip on management, marketing, advertising, human resources and accounting, law or finance. They have a lot to learn and will waste time and money on costly mistakes to gain hard learned and expensive lessons.

And the complexity of an idea kills many projects before they get off the ground. I have heard every business opportunity under the sun for manufacturing, distribution, retail sales, borderline scams and on and on and on and my conclusion is this:

KISSkeep it simple stupid. Keep you start up costs low and human resource requirements at a minimum. The more intellectual your product or service, the more involved you will be in the day to day grind of work product output. You want to be able to clone yourself. You want your business to be so simple a monkey could do it. Let me give a quick example: Lets say you want to set up a mortgage company. In this case, you have to know a lot about a lot and your staff will have to know a lot about a lot and these educated people are going to want a nice big fat juicy payroll. Whereas, a business like an oil change company hires people with little or no education to simply drain car oila monkey could do it! The result is a number of successful business franchises. Simple process, low paid employees.

Then I tell people, before you run off and look for your big success with a new idea stop and think about how you can make money doing something simple, something you can clone, something with low start up costs, something you can test quickly and easily. Something like; washing residential and commercial windows. Why window washing? Whats your up front start up costs? All you need to get started is a bucket, a squeegee and some cleaning fluid! Then, go sell. If you were the company washing all the commercial windows between Chicago and Detroit you would be a millionaire. And a monkey can do it.

The problem here is, like every business, making the sale. But remember something; if you create a new product or service, you will have to spend time educating people about your offer before you can sell it. Thats twice the work. Do something they are already familiar with–that way you can spend your time selling rather then educating and selling. Something like washing windows. I dont care what your business or idea may be; if you cant sell it, the project will fail.

This is why you need a plan. Do you want some free business coaching? Here it is, and it wont cost you a dime. Click the link belowget the Business Planning Ebook, its the best planning tool you will EVER find. I use it all the time. Thanks for reading and good luck!

We have a number of Free EBooks you can download at our site that is related to this article. Our site does not hyper-advertise at you to sell product. Our EBooks are high quality, powerful and worth your time.

Click the link below, go to the freebie section to get your Ebooks. This offer is an Ezine Article exclusive.

Copyright 2006
James W. Hart, IV
All Rights reserved

Author: Jim Hart
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Wealth Building Using 7 Principles

Apr 27

Posted by Ola Abitogun in business | No Comments

Wealth is the ability of choice and freedom of time and money. Wealth can be created simply and easily if one does not skip any of these important principles. Any success achieved without these principles is temporary and can be easily cut short by a third party, economical manipulation or shifts.

1. Quality Service or Product: Someone needs to be served in a repeated fashion if you want to create permanent wealth. You also need your consumer to need you and have the ability to refer more customers when they are happy with your service. Your product or service must be close to oxygen and water on peoples’ needs scale. Every business and corporate America is a pyramid scheme. The illegal ones are those that does not serve, provide services or sell any product.

2. Credibility: This can be acquired quickly by partnering up with an entity or person with a well documented track record of success and service. It is who you know and not what you know in life; not business only, but in life. The consumers, customers or whatever you want to call those you serve are naturally attracted to credibility. They would pay more for a bad product or service with good credibility if necessary.

3. Residual or Passive Income: This is the type of income that you generate when you do something only once and get paid over and over again; sometimes forever, either you get out of bed or not. True wealth is created only when your residual income outpace your residual bills.

4. Leverage: Every one physically has 24 hours in a day. One needs to strategically have more than 24 hours in a day to create true and permanent wealth. True wealth cannot be created with linear income regardless of how big your salary is; even $1 Million per annual. Leverage simply means doing more with less and the simplest way is to override residual income or others’ efforts.

5. Simplicity: Keep it super simple (KISS). One must be a able to explain your product and service in a simple and plain lay man language. Consumers that will continue to pay for your services are naturally attracted to simplified and friendly usability of product and services. Simplicity does not mean inferiority.

6. Initial Investment of Time and Money: Beware of any business opportunity that does NOT require this 2 things. If one does not invest time and money, it is as simple as they own nothing. Also, it psychologically removes the urgency and hunger for success by about 80%.

7. Education and Inspiration: Mindset is everything. One literally is a millionaire in their mind before it manifests in reality. The transition between being broke and being rich is a roller coaster and it can only be successfully done true constant education and inspiration. Most importantly surround yourself with successful people or people with same goals and a mentor.

Ola and Shola Abitogun are brothers and business partners. Ola Abitogun has a BS in Computer Engineering and MS in Engineering Management. However, he has successfully being involved in the Real Estate Business for 5 years. Shola Abitogun has a BS in Bio-Medical Engineering and MS in Pharmaceutical Engineering. He has successfully worked in the corporate America for 4-5 years and realized that true wealth cannot be created with any linearly paid or salary job. They have both achieved financial success, helped others do the same and dedicated their lives and careers to helping average people achieve financial freedom and true wealth through their organization, TBS Wealth Institute, Inc For more information on becoming a student and enrolling in their free Wealth Mentoring Program, visit http://www.TBSWealthInstitute.com

Author: Ola Abitogun
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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5 Rules to Reduce Risk When Starting a Business

Mar 31

Posted by admin in business, business startup, internet business, mindset, mitigating risk, strategies | No Comments

5 Rules to Reduce Risk When Starting a Business in the Other 8 Hours

By Robert Pagliarini

I have a metal paperweight on my desk with the inscription, “What would you do if you could not fail?” It’s a nice ornament with a feel good message, but it’s completely wrong and dangerous. Anybody can fail at anything. If you start a new venture without first thinking about and limiting risks, you can put your finances — and worse yet — your relationships in jeopardy. What starts as a way to build a dream life during the other 8 hours, become your own boss, or make a fortune can turn into a nightmare if you don’t limit your risk.

A better and more useful message would be, “What would you do if it didn’t matter if you failed?” To me, that’s much more realistic and powerful. Instead of taking a risk that could end in a cataclysmic strikeout, your goal is to limit the risk of financial catastrophe. This means containing projects so that a swing and a miss doesn’t have the potential to ruin your life.

Here are 5 rules to reduce risk when starting a business in the other 8 hours:

  • Get free help. You should enlist the support of others. Find service partners willing to invest their time a piece of the venture’s future income instead of upfront cash. The same person who would laugh you out of their office if you asked them for a $2,500 investment may gladly trade $2,500 of their services for a small piece of ownership in a promising new venture. Why? Like you, most people are looking for an opportunity to get ahead without risking too much. If someone can invest a little of their time with the hopes of making a huge return, they may jump at the chance.
  • Make small bets. In the investing world, everyone talks about risk tolerance — a measure that determines how psychologically comfortable you are with the possibility of losing money. This is good to know, but more critical is knowing your risk capacity — that is, how much money can you afford to lose without it destroying your finances and your ability to pay your rent? Start small and start slowly. Immediately committing thousands of dollars to an idea is as ridiculous as walking up to a girl you’ve never met and asking her to marry you. You need to put a little out there and get a little back. Then you can put a little more out there and hopefully get a little more back.
  • Negotiate fiercely. You must be relentless about getting what you need. You don’t have the luxury of a six-figure budget. You’ve got to get your ventures up and running as cheaply as you can. One way to minimize risk is to negotiate everything. Don’t accept anything as is. Negotiate discounts, concessions, bonuses, terms, etc. It will feel awkward at first, but keep practicing.
  • Limit liability. If you are producing a product or providing a service that could lead you to get sued, you must protect yourself against lawsuits by incorporating and by having the proper liability insurance. Don’t risk financial disaster by not shielding your personal assets from your business assets.
  • Keep your day job (at least for now). It’s important to have that steady and predictable income during the day while you swing for the fences at night.

Unless you’re sports-challenged, you know if you get three strikes you’re out. But what if that weren’t the case? What if you could swing and swing and swing without ever striking out? A swing and a miss is not a failure when you follow these rules. A swing is simply one swing closer to a hit.

You can download several free resources(assessment, poster, audio interview, video, and more) at www.other8hours.com and learn more about my new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose.

Read More

* Bad Day? 5 Tips to Keep Your Motivation
* Is it Too Late to Improve Your Finances?
* Make Money From Your Hobbies

(Baseball image by Scott Ableman, CC 2.0)

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