ARMA LIVE! 2013 58th Annual Conference and Expo – October 28 – 30

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming ARMA LIVE! 2013 Conference.

ARMA

When

Monday, October 28 – Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Where

Las Vegas, NV

The Premier Event in Information Governance brought to you Bigger, Better, and More Colorful! When ARMA International comes to Las Vegas, you should expect the most comprehensive educational and networking experience in information governance. And, you should expect it to happen on the Las Vegas strip.

In a word…VIVA!

ARMA Live! Conference 2013 (ARMA 2013) offers inspiring speakers to motivate, the best in the business to educate, and cutting-edge best practices and technology tools to stimulate your quest for career growth. The knowledge and skills you will take away from ARMA 2013 will push you over the top as an even more valuable asset to your organization.

9th Annual General Counsel Institute – November 7-8, 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming 9th Annual General Counsel Institute.

GCI%209%20Ad%20Nov%202013

When

November 7-8, 2013

Where

New York, NY

In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, change is a way of life – in your company, your legal department and your own legal career.

The combined forces of a fluctuating economy, exponential growth in technology, and the constant evolution of both law and corporate culture require a resilient and agile legal workforce. As in-house counsel, your ability to offer practical and deliverable solutions to the complex challenges facing your company will maximize your legal department’s value and solidify your position as a valued business partner.

At GCI, you will be inspired by powerful personal stories of resiliency. You will explore current legal issues and develop best practices to anticipate and respond quickly to your clients’ needs. Through substantive legal workshops and the open exchange of ideas with senior lawyers facing similar challenges, you will improve your skills to address issues head on, drive positive changes in your own legal department, and marshal the strength not just to survive, but to thrive in a world of constant change.

Resilience is the power to understand the challenge and to recognize the opportunities. You will leave GCI with a personal plan to incorporate today’s critical skill of resilience into your role as in-house counsel.

Prior GCI participants have come from throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe and included counsel from large Fortune 100 to small private companies to non-profit organizations.

• Attend plenary sessions with leading general counsel and distinguished
speakers.
• Participate in CLE-eligible workshops led by subject matter experts.
• Enjoy opportunities for informal networking throughout both days.
• Interact with general counsel and other senior corporate counsel in
informal settings and optional evening activities.

10 Free Keyword Research Tools + How to Use Them [INFOGRAPHIC]

The Rainmaker Institute mini logo (1)

An old friend – Google’s free Adwords Keyword tool – has gone off the grid for good, leaving in its place the new Keyword Planner. The Planner is a little more detailed, but still fairly easy to use and still free.

A recent post at the GroTraffic.com blog had a list of 10 free keyword research tools you will find useful, as well as a good infographic that provides step-by-step instructions on how to conduct keyword research:

Mergewords – especially useful for creating long tail keyword phrases which are critical to your SEO efforts.

Wordstream – will give you up to 30 free keyword results; after that, you have to subscribe.

SEMRush – the first 10 results are free; a subscription is required for more. Data analysis and keyword performance info is also offered on the site.

SEOBook – this site has a free keyword tool that requires free registration to access.

Keyword Eye – if you are more visually oriented, this site is for you.

KGen – if you use Firefox as your browser, this tool is available as an add-on and will rank keywords on any given website.

Bing Keyword Research Tool – part of the Bing Webmaster Tools.

Keyword Spy – lets you evaluate competitive websites for keywords they use.

Thesaurus.com – this website gives you synonyms for your keywords.

Ubersuggest – suggestion tool for more keyword ideas.

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ARMA LIVE! 2013 58th Annual Conference and Expo – October 28 – 30

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming ARMA LIVE! 2013 Conference.

ARMA

When

Monday, October 28 – Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Where

Las Vegas, NV

The Premier Event in Information Governance brought to you Bigger, Better, and More Colorful! When ARMA International comes to Las Vegas, you should expect the most comprehensive educational and networking experience in information governance. And, you should expect it to happen on the Las Vegas strip.

In a word…VIVA!

ARMA Live! Conference 2013 (ARMA 2013) offers inspiring speakers to motivate, the best in the business to educate, and cutting-edge best practices and technology tools to stimulate your quest for career growth. The knowledge and skills you will take away from ARMA 2013 will push you over the top as an even more valuable asset to your organization.

12 Tips to Increase Referrals & Revenues With Email Marketing

Katten Muchin

Despite all the focus these days on social media, email marketing still remains the most effective way to reach prospects, remind clients, and reconnect with referral sources. According to the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project Report, email remains the top use of the Internet across all age groups.

Far too few law firms properly utilize email marketing to generate more referrals and develop new business. I’m going to lay out a game plan for your firm so you can implement an effective email marketing program.

He or She Who Has The Biggest List Wins!

I have said this to audiences for the last several years, but it bears repeating, he or she who has the biggest list wins! Your list is one of the few tangible assets of your law firm that is of a true lasting value. What makes your firm valuable is your ongoing relationship with your current and former clients, prospects and referral sources-that is to say, your list!

As a business owner, you must do everything you can to build, maintain and grow a healthy list of interested prospects, clients and referral sources. Developing a robust email marketing list should be at the core of your law firm’s business development efforts.

Here are proven ways to build a great law firm marketing list:

Insert a newsletter sign-up form on each page of your website and on your blog. Include a brief summary of the benefits of receiving your no-cost, monthly legal newsletter as well as a link to a sample they can read.

Promote your newsletter on social media. A growing number of law firms are using social media as a low-cost method to promote their law firms. Periodically include snippets from your newsletter in your social media.

Invite your connections on LinkedIn to join your list. Send out an email invitation to all your connections on LinkedIn asking if they would like to join your newsletter.

Use networking events to grow your list. If you’re like most attorneys, you have a stack of business cards somewhere on your desk from people you have met at networking events and you haven’t done anything with those names since then. Instead of letting them collect dust, put them on your newsletter list. It is the easiest way to stay connected long-term.

When you have a speaking engagement, provide a sign-up sheet for your complimentary newsletter. This technique has a very high response rate because the audience has already expressed an interest in your practice area by virtue of attending your presentation.

Partner with other non-legal professionals who serve a client base similar to yours. For example, if your area of practice is estate planning, financial planners, CPAs, tax attorneys or real estate professionals might have a target client similar to yours.

The overall goal is to continually grow your list and produce top quality content of interest to your list so they start to see you as a thought leader in the field.

Creating an Email Marketing Program for Your Law Firm

If you do not already have a regular email marketing campaign in place – like a monthly e-newsletter – here are 10 tips to keep in mind as you embark on your list building efforts:

1. Use every opportunity to build your list. Every prospect your office talks to on the phone, every person who fills out a form on your website, every business contact you network with, every visitor to your website or blog, every contact on social media, every referral source you meet for lunch, and every new client you sign up-invite them all to join your monthly newsletter.

2. Give away a free report on a topic of interest to your prospects when they sign up for your newsletter. This is a great way to entice reticent people to divulge their contact information.

3. Only send emails to people who have agreed to receive them. One of the services we offer is “done for you” newsletters for law firms and I will occasionally have a new client ask me about buying a list of targeted prospects. In general, I do not recommend purchase a list of names as they have no existing relationship with you and you will likely receive a lot of spam complaints.

4. Include an opt-out option in every email you send. Make it easy for people who are no longer interested in your content to unsubscribe.

5. Be sure your content is always relevant to your audience. Write about areas they are interested in. Don’t be afraid to take a specific point of view. As famous business author Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad put it, I would rather be loved or hated, but not forgotten.

6. Always include a clear call-to-action. Tell them what you want them to do: Do you want them to call your office for a free consultation? Do you want them to visit your blog for more information on a specific topic? Would you like them to attend your upcoming webinar?

7. Use professional email marketing software to send it out. We recommend a program like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, iContact, or Vertical Response. They are all very easy to use and costs start out around $20 per month. These programs will give you great insight into how many people are looking at your newsletter (open rates), how many people click on a link to “read more” (click through rates), and how many pass it on to a friend (“recommend” rates).

Due to spam blockers and concerns over viruses being sent via email, we do not advise you to send it out via Microsoft Outlook® or even worse as a PDF attached to an email.

8. Send your email on a consistent basis. We recommend every 4-6 weeks, but some of you could send it even more frequently.

9. Test to find out the best time to send your newsletter. The day of the week and the time of day can make a huge difference in the open rates of your newsletter. Email marketing studies show that in general, the best times for sending B2B emails is Tuesday through Thursday between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The best times for sending B2C emails is Tuesday through Thursday between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. or on the weekend, but your audience may be different and the only real way to find out is to test it.

10. Keep the “from” name consistent. You should use your name or the name of your law firm in the “from” line.

11. Use clear, concise and interesting subject lines. Don’t make people guess what your email is about. Studies have shown the two biggest factors in determining if your email gets open is does the recipient recognize who it is from and the subject line.

Make your subject lines interesting. If you get two emails and you don’t immediately recognize either sender, but one of them has the subject line “10 ways to double your law firm’s revenue this year” and the other one has the subject line “March Newsletter from The Rainmaker Institute,” which one will you be more inclined to open?

12. Keep it short and sweet. You should be able to read your entire newsletter in less than 5 minutes. If you have a great article that is longer simply include several paragraphs in your newsletter then add a link to “click here to read more.” Everyone’s attention span is getting shorter as multiple mediums for messaging continue to grow.

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Cyber Security Summit – October 22-23, 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Cyber Security Summit.

cyber security

When:

Where:

9th Annual General Counsel Institute – November 7-8, 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming 9th Annual General Counsel Institute.

GCI%209%20Ad%20Nov%202013

When

November 7-8, 2013

Where

New York, NY

In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, change is a way of life – in your company, your legal department and your own legal career.

The combined forces of a fluctuating economy, exponential growth in technology, and the constant evolution of both law and corporate culture require a resilient and agile legal workforce. As in-house counsel, your ability to offer practical and deliverable solutions to the complex challenges facing your company will maximize your legal department’s value and solidify your position as a valued business partner.

At GCI, you will be inspired by powerful personal stories of resiliency. You will explore current legal issues and develop best practices to anticipate and respond quickly to your clients’ needs. Through substantive legal workshops and the open exchange of ideas with senior lawyers facing similar challenges, you will improve your skills to address issues head on, drive positive changes in your own legal department, and marshal the strength not just to survive, but to thrive in a world of constant change.

Resilience is the power to understand the challenge and to recognize the opportunities. You will leave GCI with a personal plan to incorporate today’s critical skill of resilience into your role as in-house counsel.

Prior GCI participants have come from throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe and included counsel from large Fortune 100 to small private companies to non-profit organizations.

• Attend plenary sessions with leading general counsel and distinguished
speakers.
• Participate in CLE-eligible workshops led by subject matter experts.
• Enjoy opportunities for informal networking throughout both days.
• Interact with general counsel and other senior corporate counsel in
informal settings and optional evening activities.

2nd Annual FATCA Compliance Conference – November 5-7 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming 2nd Annual FATCA Compliance Conference.

FATCA%20Nov%205-7

When

5-7 November, 2013

Where

New York, NY

The 2nd Annual FATCA Compliance Conference by marcus evans will bring together industry leaders in tax compliance from across the country to sharpen their comprehension of the complexities of FATCA, implement a platform to ensure high-quality, accurate information, develop client management strategies to maintain positive customer experience, and mitigate risks while striving to become fully compliant by July 2014.

This highly anticipated event takes place approximately 8 months prior to the FATCA compliance deadline of July 1, 2014, providing attendees with a unique opportunity to benchmark their practices against their peers and clarify any complexities with which they are still struggling.

Industry leaders attending this conference will benefit from a dynamic presentation format consisting of workshops, panel discussions and industry-specific case studies that provide accurate, real-world knowledge. Attendees will experience highly interactive conference sessions, 10-15 minutes of Q&A time after each presentation, 4+ hours of networking, and exclusive access to speaker presentations post-event.

Promising #1 Rankings is Unacceptable for Legal Online Marketing Vendors

Correct Consults Logo

Every reputable search marketer will tell you that a Web vendor promising number one rankings is blowing smoke. Google’s Matt Cutts warned about vendors that promise number one rankings as far back as 2008, then again in 2012.  Despite these voices, many companies still guarantee number one search engine spots – which raises the question: “Is promising number one rankings really that bad?”

Vendors who promise number one rankings for their law firm clients set unachievable standards for themselves, their clients and the legal marketing profession. Occasionally these damaging black-hat SEO tactics work for a few weeks or months — until Google catches up with them. When that happens, all the money invested into creating your Web presence is wasted.

online marketing rankings google

You can safely bet that Google’s algorithm will constantly change as the search engine giant places increasing emphasis on user experience. Strategies that may secure top rankings today might be the same strategies that hinder a site tomorrow. No company can be certain as to where their client’s site will rank next, and it is misleading for any company to indicate they do.

A legal online marketing vendor must also account for the fact that high rankings for a law firm website do not necessarily equate with an increase in newly signed clients. Websites have a shelf life. Many factors can affect conversions. If your design is dated or stale, you might need an upgrade before users are attracted to your site again. An outdated site conveys a lack of concern for the firm’s Web presence and image, almost as if you hadn’t refurnished your visitor’s lobby in 20 years. Additionally, a website that does not have calls to action and is not designed for conversions will hurt your ability to convert visitors to clients.

A guarantee of a number one ranking may lead a law firm to have unrealistic expectations of its Web marketing company. A vendor that works incredibly hard to stay abreast of search engine marketing trends, takes preemptive measures to protect their client sites and keeps lines of communication open sets the standard. But even that exceptional vendor cannot, and should not, guarantee top search engine spots. What they can and should do is promise to work tirelessly on a campaign to make it the best it can be. All sorts of factors, such as investment levels and client involvement, will affect a site’s ability to outrank other sites. Those factors are not entirely controlled by vendors, even the exceptional ones.

At the end of the day, what you really want is to be able to convert qualified leads into clients and grow your practice. You may not necessarily need number one rankings to accomplish this goal. What you need is a Web marketing vendor who is just as committed to your firm’s success as one of your partners. If the company handling your firm’s Internet marketing campaign is dedicated, then your campaign will be a success – whether your site occupies the first or fourth spot on a search results page.

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ARMA LIVE! 2013 58th Annual Conference & Expo – October 28 – 30

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming ARMA LIVE! 2013 Conference.

ARMA

When

Monday, October 28 – Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Where

Las Vegas, NV

The Premier Event in Information Governance brought to you Bigger, Better, and More Colorful! When ARMA International comes to Las Vegas, you should expect the most comprehensive educational and networking experience in information governance. And, you should expect it to happen on the Las Vegas strip.

In a word…VIVA!

ARMA Live! Conference 2013 (ARMA 2013) offers inspiring speakers to motivate, the best in the business to educate, and cutting-edge best practices and technology tools to stimulate your quest for career growth. The knowledge and skills you will take away from ARMA 2013 will push you over the top as an even more valuable asset to your organization.