Free SEO advice for your blawg

December 14, 2007 By Leave a Comment

If you want to know how to optimize your blog for search engines and other great tips for building visitors and subscribers, check out this easy to read free resource, The Blogger’s Guide to SEO. I have it on good authority that the author of this guide is a good authority. In fact, he wrote the book on it: (The SEO Book).

Author Aaron Wall says, "While we wrote a 300+ page book about SEO, only a dozen pages are needed to cover how to do SEO for a blog." Get it? It’s not because there’s not much you can do with a blog vs. a static web page, it’s becuase you don’t have to–blogs do most of it for you.

If you are hesitant to start a blog (or add one to your existing web site), perhaps this will persuade you. But hey, if you don’t want free advice about getting free traffic that could turn into paying clients, then go ahead, renew your M-H web page and tell yourself you are marketing online. (Yes, I’m being sassy; deal with it.)

The latest version of the software I used to create The Attorney Marketing Center blog (and several new web sites) has just released a new version. Very cool. I’ll be upgrading the site soon and show you some of the new bells and whistles. In the mean time, you can check it out on this page.

 

 

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Technology, Web traffic

Even more free software for marketing online (thru Xmas only)

December 12, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Does AdWords make AdSense for lawyers?

If you take some time to learn what you’re doing with Adwords, you can economically drive targeted traffic to your web site. The campaigns I’ve run have only been on Google searches, however, mainly because I didn’t want to take the time to find appropriate web sites for my (Adsense) ads to appear.

I just downloaded a new piece of software that makes that easy, and it’s free until Christmas Day. I’ve just started playing with it and like what I see. If you use Adwords, or think you might any time soon, check it out. Here’s the page with a demo video and download link: http://portalfeeder.com/adsensefinder.php

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Filed Under: Advertising, Online Marketing, Technology, Web traffic

More free software–promote your law firm web site through blog comments

December 4, 2007 By Leave a Comment

One way to promote your web site or blog is by posting comments on other blogs, but finding the right ones is time consuming. To some extent, you can automate that process with "Comment Kahuna," free software from  Jason Katzenback, Marc Quarles & Jason Potash at DealDotCom.com

This link takes you to a short video that explains how it works, and then you can download the software.

I used Comment Kahuna to find attorney marketing blogs I’ve never seen, and I then posted pithy comments thereon, linking back to my web site. Because your searching and posting activities are saved for you, it’s easier to go back to web sites where you have posted and see if your moderated comment got posted and if any follow-up by you is called for.

In the process, I found some good material I can use, here. For example, one site I found had an article listing web sites/directories where lawyers can list their web site. Here’s that article, and my comment.

Speaking of software, Susan Cartier Liebel mentioned she’s using PC Pitstop Erase to erase personal data from her lap top. Since data that has been deleted from your hard drive can be recovered by identity thieves, and stolen lap tops are a major source of identity theft, software like this is something every attorney should have. As I mentioned a few days ago, new laws impose liability on businesses (and that includes law firms) for failing to safeguard certain non-public information, so losing your lap top (or a breach of your desktop) could spell real trouble. If you’ve used PC Pitstop Erase, or something else you can recommend, please add your comments.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Technology

Free software let’s you add videos to your web site

November 27, 2007 By 1 Comment

Would like to add video to your web site or blog? Techsmith, makers of Camtasia, wants to give you a free copy of their powerful screen capture software. You can use it to post audios, videos, software demos, narrated Powerpoint presentations, or anything else you can think of. And did I mention, it’s free?

The catch? It’s not the latest version. Camtasia Studio 3.1.3 has all the core functions of the latest release, minus the newest bells and whistles.

Posting (original) videos to our web sites is something we all need to do, and this is a good place to start. I haven’t used the software yet, but I’m told it’s easy to use. My first project will be a video tour of another website I own, showing what’s what and where to find it, how to subscribe to the newsletter and the feed, and so on.

To get your free copy of Camtasia Studio 3.1.3, here’s all you need to do:

Step 1
Download the software from here – (save the file to your desktop).
http://download.techsmith.com/camtasiastudio/enu/312/camtasiaf.exe

Step 2
Go to this page, complete your name, country and e-mail address and Techsmith will send you a software key to unlock the program.
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/pcpls.asp

Step 3
Install the software and then input the key to unlock it and you will have the full working version of Camtasia Studio 3.

Note: Unfortunately, this is available for PCs only (sorry Mac users!)

Thanks to Yaro Starak for alerting me to this offer.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Technology

New resources for marketing your law practice online

October 18, 2007 By Leave a Comment

If you’re interested in marketing your law practice online (and you should be) there are two resources I want to recommend. The first is a new book, "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott. The sub-title is, "How to use news releases, blogs, podcasting, viral marketing & online media to reach buyers directly." That about says it all. I’ve just started reading it and can tell you, it’s excellent. Highly recommended.

The other resource is a free ebook from consultant Brandon Cornet at websmartlawyer.com. It covers web sites, blogging, search engines, lead generation, and has links to oodles of resources. Valuable stuff.

Cornet’s ebook is itself a fine example of viral online marketing, in that it is a free download from his web site (you don’t even need to supply an email address to get it), coupled with good content that demonstrates his knowledge and experience. Sure enough, here I am "distributing" it to you, and thus, this strategy could quickly generate hundreds of qualified leads for Cornet’s consulting services.

It illustrates another key marketing concept, niche marketing. Cornet could hold himself out as, simply, an Internet/website consultant, hoping to appeal to "everyone" but, like so many others, he would find his voice drowned out by his many competitors. Instead, by targeting lawyers, he narrows his focus, which should make it easier to both generate leads and close them, since clients (and that includes lawyers) prefer specialists.

Both books agree, the Internet has forever changed the rules of marketing. Those who ignore this, do so at their peril.

 

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Filed Under: Blogging, Book review, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Press release, Publicity, Specializing, Technology, Web traffic

How to choose the right specialty & my web site diary

September 5, 2007 By Leave a Comment

I posted two articles on the web site today:

  • How to choose the right specialty. Choosing the right right area(s) in which to specialize is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. To help you decide, ask yourself, and others, these questions.

  • David’s web site diary. Here’s what I have done to create this web site. If you’re interested in starting your own blog, here’s what I did (and why). I will update this page as this site develops.
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Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Specializing, Technology Tagged With:

How I (finally) got organized

August 27, 2007 By 1 Comment

I‘m in love!

Well, okay, when you’re talking about a piece of software, that might be a bit strong. But, I can’t help it…

I really am IN LOVE!

The software I’m talking about is Info Select. It’s been around for twenty years and I can’t believe I just found out about it.

Info Select is an information management system that allows you to organize EVERYTHING: notes, contact info, ideas, emails, phone logs, client data, calendars, presentations, research…

EVERYTHING!

I don’t use Outlook anymore. I use Word only occasionally. I’m getting rid of mounds of loose scraps, notes, reminders, post-its that have adorned my office for years. I can see my desk again!

I can now find anything I’m looking for by using Info Select’s robust search capability.

Here’s what one lawyer says about a previous version:
http://www.stepup.com.au/product/isw6/lawyer.htm

More info:
http://www.innovationtools.com/Tools/SoftwareDetails.asp?a=68

Here’s the company web site: http://miclog.com. They offer a thirty-day free trial. Careful, it’s addicting!

If you use Info Select, please share your experiences. If you haven’t, check it out!

David Ward
“Be a mentor with a servant’s heart!”

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Filed Under: Productivity, Technology, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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