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Attorney Video Optimization Can be Compelling!

December 27th, 2007

Get Legal TV 

There are probably five readers out there who know why I’m excited about this. :)  

In early November 2007, I gave some thoughts on video optimization. It’s a great vehicle, but has been manipulated by overzealous webmasters looking for high search engine results.

The Attorney Store has recently integrated legal video marketing, and in a very cool way. It’s not an attorney staring in a camera speaking in monotone explaining why he can help my needs. It’s compelling online conversations that build trust with me even though I’m a thousand miles away (the company holiday celebration video is my favorite).

Here’s a link for different videos:

Screenshot:
WBAP Radio Room

I think there is more to come, but these videos are very compelling even though I don’t live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

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Posted in Social Media, Video Marketing | No Comments »

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

December 23rd, 2007

Vikings Wreath picture courtesy of cbssportsstore.com

A big thanks to the localmn blog readers out there and a warm Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

It’s been quite a few years since a lot of snow has been in Minnesota for Christmas, which makes it extra special. Travel has been a bit difficult, but it’s worth it.

For an early Christmas, I did get to meet my precious and newest nephew, Carver. He’s only a month old, but he does have a wonderful blog. He’s now in competition with Alana Marie for the world’s youngest blogger. :)

Speaking of family, there will be more news of green office products coming up soon.

For Christmas Eve, I’m secretly hoping that we’re going to have some sweet…

Haammmm

… inside family joke. We think Cartman is funny.

Thanks again to all!

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Avvo Lawsuit Dismissed!

December 19th, 2007

Avvo

I’ve written about Avvo a few times. For those who don’t know, Avvo is a legal portal that provides free ratings to find attorneys based on different criteria. Once launched, they were immediately sued by a Seattle attorney who didn’t like his Avvo rating. Last time I wrote about this, I hoped that the next post would be to announce that the silly lawsuit has been dismissed.

Well, congrats to Mark and the whole Avvo team! It’s dismissed as they announced on their blog (feel free to see a detailed dismissal in PDF, too).

This is a little personal to me. By nature, attorneys get a bad rep by being called ambulance chasers and shysters. At my last position, I did a ton of search marketing for attorneys. Out of the hundreds I’ve worked and talked with, I can probably count on one hand that fit into the “ambulance chaser” or “shyster” category.

The select few just happen to be more vocal… hence the silly lawsuit and the notorious bad rep.

Note – Avvo is still relatively new and has not yet provided Minnesota attorney profiles. I’m guessing the next post will be to announce that this has happened. :)

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Posted in Local Search, Social Media | 3 Comments »

Google Contest for Local College Students

December 17th, 2007

Courtesy of the Inside AdWords blog

Google just put out an online marketing contest for college students and their profs. Pick a local business, get $200.00 in local AdWords advertising, and work with a local business to create an effective online and offline marketing strategy. It’s pretty slick and worth looking at if any Minnesota readers here are applicable.

In addition, Google has enhanced their pay-per-click advertising platform for local targeting. If you’re a regional chain business, it allows you to easily showcase ads to consumers in your area, and to not showcase ads to consumers who are not in your area.

Targeting Minnesota Areas

This option has always been there in a way, but excluding areas streamline the process. The above example is to exclude ads within Minnesota geographical areas, although the same is applied nationwide. If you sell products and ship only to states west of the Mississippi River, you can easily disallow ads that would also be shown east of the river.

Go (MN) College!

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Posted in Google, Local Search | No Comments »

You Subscribe, Search Marketing Standard Donates, MN Music Education Wins

December 4th, 2007

Search Marketing Standard

The folks over at Search Marketing Standard are now offering a promo for their print magazine. Get four quarterly mags for $4.95. Just subscribe by Dec. 10th with coupon code 67LOCALMN.

Some of the readers of this blog understand the basics of search marketing, but don’t do it for their job. If this is you, it’s certainly worth the five bucks. Take it on a plane, read on the couch, whichever… it’s always a good read. Actually, it’s worth it for search marketers too. There’s just something nice about reading a print mag for those of us who work online.

The part I’m very happy about is they are donating part of every subscription through this blog to a charity of my choice. For me, it’s gotta’ be local and I choose to support the MacPhail Center for Music.

There are probably one or two readers that know I’m a huge supporter of music education, whether it’s early childhood music lessons or adult music therapy for the challenged. If you didn’t know this, now you know something more about me. :)

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Posted in Minnesota Business, Search Marketing, Small Business Marketing | 4 Comments »