Category: Internet

Retail Shopping: Virtual or Reality?

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In the 1998 movie, “You’ve Got Mail,” the charming children’s bookshop owned by Meg Ryan’s character is threatened by the mega-box book store owned by Tom Hank’s character. Despite the small shop’s long history as a part of the Main Street USA-style neighborhood, the store eventually folds underneath the pressure exerted by the discount powerhouse next door. Flash forward to 2014, and Borders book stores have closed their doors due in large part to Amazon.com’s supremacy in the sale of on-line books. According to Bloomberg News, in December 2013, “Cyber Monday web sales surged, sending online shoppers to a single-day record as Amazon.com and EBay, Inc. siphoned customers from brick and mortar stores.” At first glance, it seems like there’s only bad news for traditional retail shops.

Retail Shopping You've Got Mail

But here’s some good news: physical shopping centers can compete with the convenience of one-click online shopping by offering the right combination of stores, services, restaurants and entertainment that will draw consumers to live retail destinations.

Consumers will be more likely to shop in brick and mortar stores for products they want to touch and try out first hand, such as beauty products by Sephora, home furnishings by Boston Interiors, or high end clothing.  Specialized fitness studios such as yoga studios or indoor cycling classes and luxurious salon and spa services will also attract even the most avid online shoppers.

In addition, many new outdoor centers offer more immersive options than the traditional strip center or enclosed mall: These so-called “urban villages” feature amenities and entertainment venues such as walking boulevards, outdoor plazas for concerts, retro bowling alleys, ice skating rinks and even life-size Chess boards. In addition, many of the new centers offer a wide range of culinary options to satisfy every craving, from an elegant first-class steakhouse to a casual French bakery and cafe — the perfect place to indulge in a sidewalk cappuccino or chocolate croissant. Chain restaurants and discount stores strung along the highway don’t stand a chance against a restaurant or boutique located in one of these vibrant centers. These shopping hubs often have plenty of space and facilities for special events: restaurants can host celebrity chef events, and the outdoor spaces can accommodate fashion shows, fine art performances, art shows and other seasonal and community events.

By offering products and services that people prefer to buy in real life and by creating destination centers where friends and families will flock to shop, eat, socialize and have fun, the experience of shopping on Main Street USA will surely remain an integral part of the future of retail.

Article by:

Jane Errico

Of:

Sherin and Lodgen LLP

How a Lawyer can Start a Successful LinkedIn Group for Business Development (Part 2 of 3)

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In my previous post, we looked at some preliminary steps attorneys can take to plan a LinkedIn Group. Once you’ve laid this foundation, it’s time ask yourself three questions:

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  • Has the niche you seek to fill with your group been addressed by existing, active groups?
  • Is the focus of your group going to be broad enough to attract a reasonable amount of participants, while being narrow enough to attract your target audience?
  • Are you able to commit to starting meaningful discussions on a daily or weekly basis, encouraging group members to participate in the conversation and removing posts that are spammy or overtly sales-oriented? (This is your last chance to back out!)

Now that you are ready to take the plunge, you’ve got some housekeeping items to attend to:

1. Develop a Strategy

Draft a brief outline of your group’s focus, target audience and goals (both for the group and for yourself). State some objectives for the group, such as, “Inform members of timely news and events” or “Enhance the interaction among professionals in this industry.” Your outline should include a content plan that identifies, for example, the types of timely issues and events your group will track. Identify how you will track this information. Put as much detail into your group plan as you can prior to launching it, to ensure that you have a clear roadmap to guide your efforts.

2. Name Your Group

LinkedIn Groups are used to attract and coalesce like-minded people, so the group name should reflect the interest area. The name is also important as a search term – what words will your target audience type to find your group? Spend some time searching LinkedIn Groups to see what is already being used and what would work best for your group. Also, keep it under 54 characters – if it’s any longer, the title will get cut-off in a search.

3. Get a Logo

A logo is a key element in presenting your group as a professional entity. If you have an in-house designer, talk with him about your group and share your strategy so he can design something appropriate. If you don’t have an in-house designer, ask around for a freelancer. This process shouldn’t take long, but it will go a long way toward giving your group an identity.

4. Create Your Group

When you create your group on LinkedIn, you’ll not only want to have your logo ready to upload, but you’ll also want to post a group summary and a list of group rules for members to refer to.

5. Finally – Invite Contacts to Join!

  • Use your existing network to build an initial membership base. Invite coworkers, past colleagues, and clients (who fit the group’s profile) to join the group. LinkedIn will allow you to send out up to 50 announcements per day to your connections.
  • As manager of the group, regularly support group members who start, and contribute to, discussions. Do this by commenting, liking and sharing their posts.
  • It is permissible to visit similar groups of which you’re a member and mention your group. Politely compliment the group and then mention that you’ve got another group that members in your group’s niche may want to consider joining.

This is the second post in a three-part series detailing how lawyers can start successful LinkedIn Groups to foster their business development efforts. For Part one, click here.

Article by:

Aileen M. Hinsch

Of:

Knapp Marketing

How a Lawyer can Start a Successful LinkedIn Group (Part 1 of 3)

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Enter LinkedIn Groups.

I recently worked with an attorney who had identified a missing opportunity in his market. He was a member of real estate-related LinkedIn Groups, and he actively participated in these groups, but the groups weren’t focused on his local market. Knowing that his hometown had a thriving real estate community and its own specific issues (it’s a well-known tourist destination), he started planning his own group for local real estate professionals. With careful planning and maintenance, he saw his group grow to over 150 professionals in just 30 days, and he even picked up a new matter from a group member during this time. Cha-ching – SUCCESS!

So what did this attorney do to lay the foundation for a thriving group?

1. Research

This attorney researched the current LinkedIn groups for real estate as well as professionals of all industries within his local market. He made sure that his group would fill a void in the market, and he also reviewed the membership of other groups to confirm that his target audience was participating in these other LinkedIn groups – hoping to eventually lure them to his by providing a valuable network.

2. Planning

He understood that he would need to invite his own contacts to get the group up and running. Months before launching the group, he began building and categorizing his LinkedIn contacts by region and industry. He set aside time to do this every day for several months so he would have the quantity of contacts needed to start the group as well as having earmarked the appropriate contacts to invite. Put simply, he identified his target audience.

3. Participation

You know the saying, you need to walk before you can run? It’s true for starting a LinkedIn Group, too. Our attorney set aside an hour each Friday to post articles to groups he had already joined, as well as to his entire network. He also participated in discussions within these groups. This helped him to get used to the ongoing commitment required of managing a LinkedIn group, and it also educated him as to what works best in terms of providing quality content that spurs group conversations.

4. Enthusiasm

As I worked with the attorney on these initial steps, he reminded me of something that we all need to remember. Active, ongoing participation in anything – whether for business or pleasure – requires that you enjoy it. If you dread logging in to LinkedIn, then starting a group isn’t for you. But if you think this may start to “get a little bit fun,” as he did, then you know you are on the right path.

Article by:

Aileen M. Hinsch

Of:

Knapp Marketing

Google Sticks a Fork in Guest Blogging for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

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Last month, Google’s Matt Cutts, who heads up the search engine giant’s webspam team, wrote this on the Google Webmaster blog:

So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy. In general I wouldn’t recommend accepting a guest blog post unless you are willing to vouch for someone personally or know them well. Likewise, I wouldn’t recommend relying on guest posting, guest blogging sites, or guest blogging SEO as a link building strategy.

So should you halt your guest blogging efforts?  Well, in a word, no.  Because SEO is not the only reason you guest blog – either on other blogs, or hosting guests on your own blog.  Which is why Cutts later updated his original post to say this:

Google SEO Search Engine Optimization

It seems like most people are getting the spirit of what I was trying to say, but I’ll add a bit more context. I’m not trying to throw the baby out with the bath water. There are still many good reasons to do some guest blogging (exposure, branding, increased reach, community, etc.). Those reasons existed way before Google and they’ll continue into the future.

Guest blogging used to be ONE way to develop quality links back to your own website or blog. Unfortunately, those trying to game the system with low quality content have made it – as Cutts says – a spammy practice.  Those that use guest blogging as their sole source of link building will now be out of luck and may even be penalized.

But I would still recommend guest blogging as a way for attorneys to spread their authority to other audiences that may not have otherwise been engaged by your own blog or website.  It can also still be a great way for you to improve the visibility of your firm and, when shared on social media, can help your SEO efforts from that standpoint.

As this blog post and other recent developments at Google demonstrate, you can’t go wrong when it comes to SEO if you pay attention to these 3 things:

1.  Designing a website that provides users with a superb experience – from the way they navigate the site to the information they find there.

2.  Developing high quality, relevant content for your area of practice that people want to read to help them solve the problems they would hire you for, populated with relevant keywords.

3.  Being an active participant on social media networks that your prospects and clients frequent, sharing all that great content you’ve developed for your website and your blog and engaging online with your target market.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

California Continues to Shape Privacy Standards: Song-Beverly Act Extended to Email Addresses

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Executive Summary: California retailer restricted from requiring a customer email address as part of a credit card transaction. We knew that asking for zip codes is intrusive personal questioning, and now asking for email has been added to the list.

California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act (Cal. Civ. Code Sec. 1747 et seq.) (“Song-Beverly Act” or “Act”) restricts businesses from requesting, or requiring, as a condition to accepting credit card payments that the card holder provide “personal identification information” that is written or recorded on the credit card transaction form or otherwise. “Personal identification information” means “information concerning the cardholder,other than information set forth on the credit card, and including, but not limited to, the card holder’s address and telephone number.” The California Supreme Court has previously ruled that zip codes are also “personal identification information” under the Song-Beverly Act. See Pineda (Jessica) v. Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc., 2011 Cal. LEXIS 1502 (Cal. Feb. 10, 2011).

Recently, a United States federal district court in California expanded “personal identification information” to include email addresses in a decision denying retailer Nordstrom’s motion to dismiss claims it violated the Song-Beverly Act. The plaintiff sued Nordstrom for collecting his email address as part of a credit card transaction at one of its California stores in order to email him a receipt, then subsequently using his email address to send him frequent, unsolicited marketing emails. See Capp v. Nordstrom, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151867, 2013 WL 5739102 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2013).

Raising a case of first impression under California law, Nordstrom claimed that email addresses are not “personal identification information” under the Song-Beverly Act, so the Act did not apply. The court disagreed with Nordstrom and found the opposite based on the California Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in Pineda. Nordstrom’s argument that email addresses can readily be changed, unlike zip codes, and consumers can have multiple email addresses was not persuasive. The court held that an email address regards a card holder in a more personal and specific way than a zip code. Unlike a zip code that refers to the general area where a card holder works or lives, email permits direct contact with the consumer and implicates their privacy interests. The court concluded that the collection of email addresses is contrary to the Song-Beverly Act’s purpose to guard against misuse of personal information for marketing purposes. In particular, the plaintiff’s allegation that his email address was collected to send him a receipt and then used to send him promotional emails directly implicates the protective purposes of the Act as interpreted in Pineda.

Pineda held that zip codes are personal information for purposes of the Song-Beverly Act, and therefore a brick and mortar retailer violated the Act when it requested and recorded such data. In the Pineda decision, the California Supreme Court found that zip codes, like the card holder’s address expressly called out as “personal identification information” under the Act, were unnecessary to completing the credit card transaction and inconsistent with the protective purpose of the Act. This is especially true when a zip code is collected to be used with the card holder’s name in order to locate the card holder’s address, permitting a retailer to locate indirectly what it is prohibited from obtaining directly under the Act.

Nordstrom also argued that the plaintiff’s claims under the Song-Beverly Act were preempted by the federal “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act” (better known as the CAN-SPAM Act), but the court disagreed. While the CAN-SPAM Act contains a preemption provision, it only preempts state laws that regulate the manner in which email messages are sent and their content, both of which are not regulated under the Song-Beverly Act.

Retailer tip: The federal court issuing this most recent decision recommends waiting to request an email address (or a zip code) until after the consumer has the receipt from their credit card transaction in hand, and then sending the consumer emails only in conformance with the CAN-SPAM Act.

In the wake of Pineda, retailers faced class action lawsuits for requesting consumer zip codes at check out. This new decision could have a similar effect.

Article by:

Of:

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

Are You Ready for the Coming Explosion of Cybersquatting?

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The next wave of domain-name barbarians is gathering outside the gates. Here’s what you need to do now to keep your trademarks, and your e-commerce, safe.

Almost every business has had to deal with cybersquatters – pirates that launch web sites designed to divert customers by using domain names that mimic the business’s trademarks.

Until now, the war has focused primarily on domain names within the “.com” sphere. But the battlefront is about to expand – dramatically.

The international body that runs the Internet (called ICANN) has recently begun releasing new generic top-level domains (“gTLDs”). In addition to the familiar “.com,” this program makes it possible to set up a business name, a trademark, a geographic designation – virtually any word in any language – as a gTLD in its own right. Almost 2,000 applications for gTLDs were filed, and more than 1,000 will ultimately be granted. Because many of the new gTLDs will sell domain names to all comers without any attention to whether they are violative of someone else’s trademark rights, they will create a giant new arena in which domain name pirates can operate.

So what should you do now to protect your brands and your domain names?

1. Lock up the family jewels.

ICANN has mandated the creation of a Trade Mark Clearing House, in which owners can list their registered trademarks. It has also required that all newly-released gTLDs offer a 30-day “Sunrise” period in which owners of marks listed in the TMCH get first crack at registering them as domain names. In addition, during the Sunrise period and for sixty days thereafter, other parties that apply for those marks will be advised of the TMCH listing and, if they pursue their application, the owners of the TMCH-listed marks will be notified, giving them an opportunity to invoke various dispute-resolution procedures.

The Trademark Clearance House is now in operation, and it makes sense for brand owners to list at least their “core” trademarks there. These are the marks in which you have invested the most time, energy, and money; the ones most closely associated with your business; the ones you have already had to protect most often in the .com realm.

2. Plan now to make preemptive registrations in gTLDs of particular interest.

An important limitation of the Trade Mark Clearing House is that it protects only against domain names that are identical to your registered trademarks, not to common misspellings, typos, and so on. This leads to a second important step: being prepared to file preemptive domain name registrations for common variations of your brand.

Now is the time to identify specific gTLDs in which you will be especially interested in and to watch for their release dates. For instance, if you’re in the auto industry you will likely want to be active in such gTLDs as “.auto,” “.car,” and the like. As soon as the Sunrise period for one of your identified gTLDs opens, be ready to file immediately. This is an instance where the best defense is a vigorous offense.

Many brand owners were caught unawares years ago when the Internet burst upon the scene, and control of brand-related domain names became crucial. There’s no way to stop the next wave of cyberpiracy. But there’s also no reason not to be prepared for it.

Article by:

John C. Blattner

Of:

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Can Law Firms Get Business From the Internet?

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Yes, but…

Law firms can absolutely get business from the Internet when armed with a strong plan and backed by an appropriate investment.

How Has Internet Marketing for Lawyers Changed?

The Internet is no longer dominated by single industry websites that people simply visit and read. Today, consumers can interact.  They can browse a website, look at and comment on a firm’s Social Media pages, view a law firm’s rating and write their own review.

Business from the Web

A few years ago, a law firm could set up a website, do some on-page search engine optimization (SEO) work, add a few links and get site rankings and cases. Today, search engines look at a variety of factors to determine if a site has value. Search engines look at content to ensure that it is relevant and has true value. They look at visitor activity. They analyze incoming links for quality and relevance. They look at a law firm’s online presence, including other websites and social signals.

The potential for attracting new clients through the Web is tremendous. While other advertising mediums are shrinking, the Web’s growth continues to be explosive. Law firms that take the right approach and are selective in choosing their vendors are drawing more clients and cases to their firm.

What Should Law Firms Seek in a Web Marketing Vendor?

Law firm SEO vendors who have been watching the Internet as it changes know what it takes to make a practice succeed online. When searching for the right vendor, look for one with proven success and a team of experts.

Successful Internet marketing for lawyers requires more than just a designer with an eye for professional flair. The vendor should customize websites and SEO campaigns. Some of the larger vendors employ great salespeople, but clients are provided with cookie-cutter designs and template SEO processes.

Your marketing provider should be legal specific. The firm should not have to push the vendor through projects to get work accomplished. The vendor should understand and be able to easily navigate the world of legal marketing. The vendor should have licensed attorneys who understand and can navigate the ethics of law firm marketing. Prior to hiring us, one of our clients had been forced to spend more than twelve painful months and significant staff-time to launch his site.

Look for a Web marketing company with sufficient staff to support your campaign.  The staff should include professional designers, attorney content managers, programmers, a Social Media team, marketing consultants and strong account managers.

The best vendors are those that endeavor to be a law firm’s partner, not just a vendor. When you find a company that gives your firm the personalized attention it needs, they can be a true asset. This type of vendor will grow with your firm instead of making a sale to you and then going down the street to sell to your competitors. They commit to your firm’s long-term success and return on investment.

What Kind of Return Does Internet Marketing for Law Firms Offer?

If law firms are partnering with the right SEO vendor, there can be huge return on investments for the firm. One of our clients, Ken Hardison, receives a 10 to 1 return on every dollar he invests.  Another client recently settled a case the firm acquired from the Internet for close to $10M. Our Motor Vehicle Accident, Social Security, Workers’ Compensation, Family Law and Bankruptcy clients receive several cases from the Web each month.

Today, very few prospective clients go to the Yellow Pages to find a lawyer or law firm; they search on the Internet first. Achieving a successful ROI through online marketing takes time and strategy, but there are solid results available to those to who invest properly. We work hard for our clients to rank high in the search engines and have compelling websites so they will get the call.

Article by:

Consultwebs.com, Inc.

Of:

LeAnna Easterday

Cyber Security Summit – October 22-23, 2013

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

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Where:

Need Ideas for Your Legal Blog? Here's a Bunch

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If there is one thing I hear over and over again from attorneys when it comes to blogging, it’s this:   “What do I blog about?”

The reason to have a blog is to establish your authority as an expert in your field of practice. You must keep your target market in mind at all times when writing a blog – it needs to be about topics your clients and prospects are interested in, providing good in-depth information on each topic (now more important than ever for SEO) that they can’t find anywhere else.

Still, the creative juices do run dry at times. Which is why it’s so great that the LexisNexis Law Marketing blog has started highlighting monthly events, anniversaries, holidays and observances that have a legal connection.

Here is their list for October/November, categorized by practice area:

Civil Rights Law:

  • October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
  • October is Gay and Lesbian History Month
  • Oct. 14: Native American Day
  • Oct. 17: United Nations’ International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
  • Oct. 20-26: Freedom from Bullies Week
  • Oct. 21-27: Freedom of Speech Week
  • November is National American Indian Heritage Month

Corporate Law:

  • October is National Crime Prevention Month
  • October is National Cyber Security Month
  • October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
  • Oct. 16: National Boss’s Day
  • Oct. 16: Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day
  • Nov. 3-9: International Fraud Awareness Week

Education Law:

  • October is National Bullying Prevention Month
  • Oct. 20-26: Freedom from Bullies Week
  • Oct. 21-25: National School Bus Safety Week

Elder Law:

  • October is Health Literacy Month
  • October is Long-Term Care Planning Month
  • October is National Organize Your Medical Information Month
  • Oct. 15: Medicare open enrollment begins
  • Oct. 20-26: National Save for Retirement Week
  • November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
  • November is National Family Caregivers Month
  • November is National Home Care and Hospice Month
  • November is National Long-Term Care Awareness Month
  • Nov. 1-7: National Patient Accessibility Week

Environmental Law:

  • Oct. 18: Forty-first anniversary of the passing of the Water Pollution Control Act

Estate Planning:

  • October is Long-Term Care Planning Month
  • Oct. 20-26: National Save for Retirement Week
  • November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month

Family Law:

  • October is Antidepressant Death Awareness Month
  • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
  • October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
  • October is Gay and Lesbian History Month
  • October is National Bullying Prevention Month
  • October is National Organize Your Medical Information Month
  • Oct. 17: Get Smart About Credit Day
  • November is Military Family Appreciation Month
  • November is National Adoption Month
  • November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
  • November is National Family Caregivers Month
  • Nov. 1: National Family Literacy Day

Health Care Law:

  • October is Antidepressant Death Awareness Month
  • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
  • October is Health Literacy Month
  • October is Long-Term Care Planning Month
  • October is National Organize Your Medical Information Month
  • Oct. 15: Medicare open enrollment begins
  • Oct. 17-24: Food and Drug Interaction Education and Awareness Week
  • Oct. 24-31: Prescription Errors Education and Awareness Week
  • November is National Home Care and Hospice Month
  • November is National Long-Term Care Awareness Month
  • Nov. 1-7: National Patient Accessibility Week

Insurance Law:

  • October is National Crime Prevention Month

Intellectual Property Law:

  • Oct. 29: 44th anniversary of the creation of the Internet

Labor Law:

  • October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
  • Oct. 16: National Boss’s Day

Personal Injury Law:

  • October is Antidepressant Death Awareness Month
  • Oct. 21-25: National School Bus Safety Week
  • Oct. 24-31: Prescription Errors Education and Awareness Week

Real Estate Law:

  • October is National Crime Prevention Month

Who’s Afraid of Website Data Migration?

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Does the phrase “data migration” send chills up your spine? Would the fear of moving content from your old website to a new one hold you back from pulling the trigger on a website project?

If you nodded “yes” to either of those questions, you’re not alone.

The topic of data migration can be scary for marketers. Simply put, trained communicators are not database jockeys, and the prospect of ones and zeros flying back and forth can cause discomfort. But comfort level aside, should the fear of data migration warrant the keeping of a crummy website?

What can go wrong?

Everything, right?! There’s a chance that data could get lost, or content could end up in the wrong places, causing countless hours of aggravation for the marketing department…

Or not.

Professionals who do this all the time are well practiced in the art of handling the various challenges associated with data migration. But how can marketers be assured that their migration won’t go awry

How to do data migration

Data migration is not rocket science – or magic. At its simplest, it can be summed up as matching database fields from the old website, with the new. The actual act of migrating data (also called “data mapping”) can vary in its level of difficulty, depending on the condition, structure and size of the firm’s current website database. But irrespective of how old your website is or how it was built, the basic steps involved are the same.

Here’s a simplified version of the process that we use at Great Jakes:

  1. Analysis: The first step involves requesting a “data dump” of all the text content of the website and of the headers for each data table. We analyze the data to determine how much of the migration can be automated.

    We also investigate whether it would be more practical and/or cost efficient to not automate the migration and instead configure a “data-entry” website to have the data manually moved from the old website into the new. It’s not as hard as it sounds, and it’s not unusual that we end up recommending a combination of automated data-migration and “data-entry” website methods. It all depends on how the old website’s data are formatted.

  2. Transfer setup: The next step involves planning the “field-mapping” – writing the appropriate scripts necessary to move the data into the proper fields of the new website.
  3. Migration: A month prior to delivering a finished website, we migrate the data from the old website to the new, using data from a second data dump that contains all of the most current content (text, photos, PDFs, videos, presentations, audio files, etc.).
  4. Testing: Finally, we rigorously review the data migration results to ensure that everything moved as planned.

Better the devil you know – right?

While the steps outlined are straightforward, data migration is a time-consuming but doable process. Consequently, larger websites with more data will require more time to analyze, set up, migrate and then test.

So, the best way to ensure that everything goes smoothly is to take a peek under the hood. Have a pro examine your existing website. They might find some issues, like embedded tables or miscellaneous image files tucked in strange places. You’ll probably need to make some decisions about how to migrate these items. But most likely, they’ll probably find that the hurdles to moving the content are a lot lower than you might think.

Don’t let those two little words “data migration” keep you from advancing your firm’s business goals! There’s too much to be gained from having a properly conceived website.

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