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.

Article By:

 of

2013 National Law Review Law Student Writing Competition

The National Law Review is pleased to announce their 2013 Law Student Writing Competition

NLR-Writing-Competition-Ad2 (1)

The National Law Review (NLR) consolidates practice-oriented legal analysis from a variety of sources for easy access by lawyers, paralegals, law students, business executives, insurance professionals, accountants, compliance officers, human resource managers, and other professionals who wish to better understand specific legal issues relevant to their work.

The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site.  No entry fee is required. Applicants can submit an unlimited number of entries each month.

  • Winning submissions will be published according to specified dates.
  • Entries will be judged and the top two to four articles chosen will be featured on the NLR homepage for a month.  Up to 5 runner-up entries will also be posted in the NLR searchable database each month.
  • Each winning article will be displayed accompanied by the student’s photo, biography, contact information, law school logo, and any copyright disclosure.
  • All winning articles will remain in the NLR database for two years (subject to earlier removal upon request of the law school).

In addition, the NLR sends links to targeted articles to specific professional groups via e-mail. The NLR also posts links to selected articles on the “Legal Issues” or “Research” sections of various professional organizations’ Web sites. (NLR, at its sole discretion, maydistribute any winning entry in such a manner, but does not make any such guarantees nor does NLR represent that this is part of the prize package.)

Congratulations to our 2013, 2012 and 2011 Law Student Writing Contest Winners

Spring 2013:

Winter 2013:

Fall 2012: 

Spring 2012:

Winter 2012:

Fall 2011:

Why Students Should Submit Articles:

  • Students have the opportunity to publicly display their legal knowledge and skills.
  • The student’s photo, biography, and contact information will be posted with each article, allowing for professional recognition and exposure.
  • Winning articles are published alongside those written by respected attorneys from Am Law 200 and other prominent firms as well as from other respected professional associations.
  • Now more than ever, business development skills are expected from law firm associates earlier in their careers. NLR wants to give law students valuable experience generating consumer-friendly legal content of the sort which is included for publication in law firm client newsletters, law firm blogs, bar association journals and trade association publications.
  • Student postings will remain in the NLR online database for up to two years, easily accessed by potential employers.
  • For an example of  a contest winning student written article from Northwestern University, please click here or please review the winning submissions from Spring 2011.

Content Guidelines and Deadlines

Content Guidelines must be followed by all entrants to qualify. It is recommended that articles address the following monthly topic areas:

October 2013 Suggested Topic:

  1. Immigration Law Reform
  • Submission Deadline:  Monday, October 14, 2013

Articles covering current issues related to other areas of the law may also be submitted. Entries must be submitted via email to lawschools@natlawreview.com by 5:00 pm Central Standard Time on the dates indicated above.

Articles will be judged by NLR staff members on the basis of readability, clarity, organization, and timeliness. Tone should be authoritative, but not overly formal. Ideally, articles should be straightforward and practical, containing useful information of interest to legal and business professionals. Judges reserve the right not to award any prizes if it is determined that no entries merit selection for publication by NLR. All judges’ decisions are final. All submissions are subject to the NLR’s Terms of Use.

Students are not required to transfer copyright ownership of their winning articles to the NLR. However, all articles submitted must be clearly identified with any applicable copyright or other proprietary notices. The NLR will accept articles previously published by another publication, provided the author has the authority to grant the right to publish it on the NLR site. Do not submit any material that infringes upon the intellectual property or privacy rights of any third party, including a third party’s unlicensed copyrighted work.

Manuscript Requirements

  • Format – HTML (preferred) or Microsoft® Word
  • Length – Articles should be no more than 5,500 words, including endnotes.
  • Endnotes and citations – Any citations should be in endnote form and listed at the end of the article. Unreported cases should include docket number and court. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and proper format of related cites. In general, follow the Bluebook. Limit the number of endnotes to only those most essential. Authors are responsible for accuracy of all quoted material.
  • Author Biography/Law School Information – Please submit the following:
    1. Full name of author (First Middle Last)
    2. Contact information for author, including e-mail address and phone number
    3. Author photo (recommended but optional) in JPEG format with a maximum file size of 1 MB and in RGB color format. Image size must be at least 150 x 200 pixels.
    4. A brief professional biography of the author, running approximately 100 words or 1,200 characters including spaces.
    5. The law school’s logo in JPEG format with a maximum file size of 1 MB and in RGB color format. Image size must be at least 300 pixels high or 300 pixels wide.
    6. The law school mailing address, main phone number, contact e-mail address, school Web site address, and a brief description of the law school, running no more than 125 words or 2,100 characters including spaces.

To enter, an applicant and any co-authors must be enrolled in an accredited law school within the fifty United States. Employees of The National Law Review are not eligible. Entries must include ALL information listed above to be considered and must be submitted to the National Law Review at lawschools@natlawreview.com. 

Any entry which does not meet the requirements and deadlines outlined herein will be disqualified from the competition. Winners will be notified via e-mail and/or telephone call at least one day prior to publication. Winners will be publicly announced on the NLR home page and via other media.  All prizes are contingent on recipient signing an Affidavit of Eligibility, Publicity Release and Liability Waiver. The National Law Review 2011 Law Student Writing Competition is sponsored by The National Law Forum, LLC, d/b/a The National Law Review, 4700 Gilbert, Suite 47 (#230), Western Springs, IL 60558, 708-357-3317. This contest is void where prohibited by law. All entries must be submitted in accordance with The National Law Review Contributor Guidelines per the terms of the contest rules. A list of winners may be obtained by writing to the address listed above. There is no fee to enter this contest.

Michigan Right to Work – What’s the Effect: A Data Point

barnes

How Michigan’s Right to Work law would ultimately impact union dues payer rolls has been a topic of some debate. Now we have a data point, but it may not tell the whole story.

Michigan’s Right to Work law became effective March 28, 2013. The law gives employees the right to choose to join and/or financially support a union. In other words, it allows employees to retain the representational benefits of their union representation without paying dues. If an employee elects not to pay dues, the employee’s union still must represent the employee with respect to grievances and arbitration. Unions refer to this as “freeloading.”

There has been much speculation about what impact the passage of Michigan’s law would have on the number of dues paying members. Today, an article in the Detroit News reported that, according to the Michigan Education Association, Michigan’s 150,000 member teachers union, only 1 percent of its members have elected to exercise their rights under the Right to Work law and stop paying dues.

Michigan

This, however, likely only tells part of the story because the law does not impact union security provisions in contracts that have not yet expired and some contracts were “rush-renewed” to ensure that they would not be impacted by Right to Work for several more years.

In addition, the Right to Work law did not impact union “check off” provisions which are often tied to a card that is signed by a union member and authorizes the employer to deduct dues from the member’s paycheck and send them to the union. Such cards can serve as an impediment to a member desiring to stop paying dues because they can be irrevocable for a period of time, even if the employee revokes his or her union membership. These agreements, which can be irrevocable for up to a year under federal law, are a hurdle that trip up many employees trying to end dues payments immediately. However, while certain restrictions on dues check off authorizations have been approved under federal law, it is unclear whether the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) will find such restrictions lawful or violative of Michigan’s Right to Work law.

The point is, MEA’s 1 percent report is only one data point; it will take a lot longer to tell the impact on the number of dues paying members in the MEA and other unions.

See all our previous Right to Work coverage here.

Article By:

 of

Immigration Reform Resurfaces Amid Congressional Breakdown Over Funding and Debt Ceiling

GT Law

As the country waits for Congress to resolve the government funding and debt ceiling stalemate, immigration reform simmers in the background. This week, a group of Democrats introduced a Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, H.R. 15, entitled the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.” This is not the much awaited work product of the secret bi-partisan Gang of 8 (which has now been disbanded), but rather an almost verbatim reproduction of the Senate passed CIR legislation, S. 744. The new House bill does include provisions from the McCaul-Thompson “Border Security Results Act” (H.R. 1417) reported out of the House Homeland Security Committee and passed this summer with bipartisan support. It also removes the Corker-Hoeven border security amendment, which seeks to add approximately 20,000 border patrol agents, more than 700 additional miles of border fencing, a mandatory E-Verify program nationwide, and an entry/exit tracking system for temporary visitors to the United States.

House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are working through the normal order and are drafting separate bills to address the future of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., as well as new temporary worker provisions for lesser skilled workers. We expect the Judiciary Committee to take up measures on immigration in the next few weeks. We also expect the “Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement (SAFE) Act” (H.R. 2278) and other border security measures to be brought to the House floor this year.

Article By:

 of

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.

Article By:

 of

Update on Government Shutdown's Impact on Trade

Katten Muchin

The ongoing federal government shutdown is impacting a wide variety of import and export trade activities. While the situation remains fluid as each agency executes its contingency plans, below is a summary of the current impact on trade.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP): The majority of CBP employees are exempt from the furlough as being deemed essential to the country’s security. Most of those exemptions are related to the agency’s ongoing revenue collections. Currently, ports are maintaining their normal hours of service. CBP also seems to be accepting and processing protests, although with some delays. However, CBP appears to have stopped processing ruling requests or responding to any court documents due to the shutdown. Among the CBP personnel not exempted from furlough are technicians and program managers. As a result, certain additional CBP activities, such as bonds and licensing and processing FDA refusals, may also be impacted.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): FDA continues to perform entry review and to address high-risk recalls, civil and criminal investigations, and other critical public health issues. However, FDA has furloughed personnel as well, resulting in entry review delays. The agency is giving priority to perishable entries, defined as merchandise expiring within 30 days, and to any lifesaving medical product. The agency has generally ceased routine establishment inspections, monitoring of imports, notification programs such as those involving food contact substances and import formula, and its laboratory research activities.

International Trade Commission (ITC): ITC has shut down its investigative activities, including antidumping and countervailing injury investigations and reviews, and intellectual property rights infringement investigations and ancillary proceedings. The schedules and deadlines for all investigative and pre-institution activities are being tolled and all hearings and conferences have been postponed. In addition, ITC’s website is down, so information such as the online Harmonized Tariff Schedule is not available.

International Trade Administration (ITA): ITA’s website—including the online steel licensing system—is down. The agency recommends sending an email to steel.license@trade.gov for manual processing of license requests for shipments that do not have a steel license. Enforcement and Compliance (formerly, Import Administration) intends to uniformly toll all administrative deadlines related to the administration of US antidumping and countervailing duty laws for the duration of the shutdown. These include deadlines for preliminary and final determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and administrative reviews and deadlines for all actions by parties to these proceedings.

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS): BIS is no longer accepting advisory opinion requests, classification requests (CCATS), encryption reviews, encryption registrations or export license applications. Similarly, BIS will not issue any final determinations. The SNAP-R application on BIS’s website is not available and will not reopen until the shutdown ends. All pending export license applications, commodity classification requests, encryption reviews, encryption registrations and advisory opinion requests will be held without action by BIS until the shutdown ends. Applicants may request emergency processing of export license applications for national security reasons.

Department of Agriculture (USDA): USDA’s website is down. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is operating in the ports, but personnel will not be available for the renewal and authorization of notifications or permits.

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (ATTTB): ATTTB has halted its regulatory functions, noncriminal investigative activities and audit functions. But it will ensure that all tax remittances are processed because these functions have been deemed necessary for safety and protection of property.

As Congress continues to debate the necessary appropriations to fund the government’s operations, the trade community should expect further impact on trade operations.

Article By:

of

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:

A Different Kind of Adobe Update: Adobe Announces Data Breach Compromising Information of 2.9 Million Customers

MintzLogo2010_Black

Adobe Systems Inc.,(ADBE -1.24%) announced earlier today that has been the victim of a cyber attack that has compromised information of 2.9 million of its customers.  In a blog post Thursday morning, Adobe’s Chief Security Officer Brad Arkin referred to such attacks as “one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today” and added that the attack on customer information is believed to be linked to an attack in which hackers obtained source code for certain Adobe products, including its Cold Fusion web application platform and its Acrobat family of products.

Adobe Systems Inc. reported what it called a sophisticated attack on its computer network, involving illegal access to both customer information and source code related its programs

The scope of the breach was first disclosed by security blogger, Brian Krebs in his blog, Krebs on Security.  The customer information accessed by the hackers includes names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders.  At this time Adobe does not believe that decrypted credit or debit card numbers were obtained.  Adobe has reset passwords for certain customers and will be notifying customers whose debit or credit card information is believed to have been accessed.  For those customers whose credit or debit card information has been accessed, Adobe will offer a complimentary one-year membership with a credit monitoring service.

This latest incident is a reminder that cyber attacks are not only an “unfortunate reality” of doing business, but are also increasingly common.  If your business collects customer or user information, there is no time like the present to make sure you have a response plan in place.

Read more:

New York Times – Adobe Announces Security Breach

PCWorld – Adobe Reports Massive Security Breach

Wall Street Journal — Hackers Hit Adobe Systems Network 

AllThingsD

Article By:

 of

Action Steps NOW To Comply With The Affordable Care Act

Womble Carlyle

Although the one-year delay in the effective date of the pay-or-play provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) (until January 1, 2015) gives employer-sponsored health plans more time to prepare for those requirements, many ACA provisions will take effect on January 1, 2014. Employees are asking for information regarding these changes and the Department of Labor is already including ACA requirements in its benefit plan audits. The target keeps moving. Here is what you need to do NOW to ensure that your health plan is in compliance on January 1, 2014 and that you are prepared for what’s coming: 

  • Distribute the required Notice informing your employees about their coverage options by October 1, 2013 and to all new hires after October 1, 2013.
  • Determine if your plan will have “grandfathered” status in 2014.
  • Confirm that required plan design changes are in effect for 2014, including:
  • Elimination of annual limit on essential health benefits.
  • Elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions for new enrollees.
  • Limiting waiting period for enrollment to 90 days.
  • Elimination of restrictions related to participation in clinical trials (non-grandfathered plans only).
  • Conform cost-sharing provisions to ACA requirements (non-grandfathered plans only).
  • Provide coverage for ACA “essential benefit” categories (insured plans in individual and small group markets only).
  • Timely provide updated Summaries of Benefits & Coverage.
  • Develop strategies on how to use the rest of 2013 and 2014 to plan for ACA provisions that will go into effect in 2015, including (1) pay-or-play provisions, such as determination or confirmation of applicable larger-employer status and how to determine full-time employee status; and (2) reporting requirements.
  • Consider alternative options to continuing to provide health care coverage for your various categories of employees.
  • Implement cafeteria plan changes related to ACA and repeal of DOMA.
  • Bring wellness programs into compliance with ACA.
  • Prepare to pay ACA reinsurance fees (self-insured plans only).
  • Make sure you are complying with the final HIPAA rules concerning “protected health information” that went into effect on September 23, 2013.

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by