Social Media Marketing and SEO Services

Social Media Marketing Tips by Blast Creative and Brenda Segna

2010-07-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here is another great social media networking tip brought to you by Blast creative and Brenda Segna.

The most frequent question that I get asked is what time of the day should I make my posts on Facebook and Twitter and how often should I post?

The answer is going to vary depending on your target audience. Who is your target audience? What age range? What demographic?

If you are targeting high school teenagers, you don’t want to post before school gets out—for most that’s between 3 to 4. If you’re targeting college students—you have more flexibility if jobs don’t interfere.

For stay at home mom’s, early morning, mid-morning, early afternoon and evening. They have more flexibility with their time and typically spend a little more time on Facebook and Twitter.

Business Owner and Marketing Professionals-they are doing social media networking all day long and into the evening. Your posts for this genre have the best chance of reaching their targeted market anytime.

The general population-people working 9 to 5-you need to post early morning, before 7 a.m. or late evening after 8 p.m. They may check their pages on Facebook and Twitter periodically throughout the day on their cell phones, but the apps on cell phones are limited. So if you want to be sure that you reach your targeted audience, post before 7 in the morning or after 8 in the evening.

How often should you post? The first thing to remember that is people can get sick of all your posts rather quickly and can “unfriend” or “unlike” you with one little click of the mouse! I recommend a minimum of 5 posts per week. 1 per day, Monday thru Friday! Don’t make all of your posts about business either. Nobody wants to get hit up with a sales pitch every time they log-in into Facebook or Twitter.

Use positive quotes, funny videos from YouTube, share something about your business that is personal. A charity event, a night out with staff and post pictures! You can tag your friends in the pictures and all of their friends will see it!

Have different staff members make post—they should always identify themselves so that everyone knows who they are talking to!

You have the potential to reach the largest audience in history if you utilize your Facebook and Twitter pages correctly! Be smart, have fun and watch your ROI go through the roof!

For more information on Social Media Marketing, Web Design, Facebook and Twitter Page Designs or any of your marketing needs, please contact Brenda Segna at Blast creative today!

Every Company/Business No Matter What Size Needs To Be Social

2010-07-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

By Blast creative and Brenda Segna

When I first joined Facebook it was to reconnect with high school classmates, to share pictures and updates with relatives who lived in Canada, Italy and across the country. But today, Social Media has revolutionized the way that we do business! Social Media Sites assist companies to give up to the date information to their clients and to receive comments and/or feedback from their clients/customers instantly!

Social Media has become the key to many companies, celebrities, and non-profits success. Has your company tapped into this powerful market yet?

According to The Wall Street Journal, the city of New York is seeking to hire an in-house social media specialist to handle their Facebook and Twitter accounts, confirming the fact that Social Media is the new frontier! It used to be that you had to run ads in the newspaper or magazines to reach your targeted audience, not anymore, thanks to Social Media Sites!

Should you tweet or use Facebook? Absolutely and use both! These social media platforms provide a powerful stage for success! For most of us, these sites have proven invaluable, driving sales and awareness like no other tool in history has done before!

If you are a new startup company, then part of your strategic planning should include social media sites! Part of your marketing budget needs to be earmarked for Social Media Marketing if you want to succeed in today’s world and stay steps ahead of your competition.

The world of Social Media is massive, the do’s and the don’ts, how to reach your targeted audience and the list goes on. It overwhelms many business owners and that is where Blast creative comes into play. They have a finely tuned process that enables them to gain the right exposure that will drive sales and company awareness for your business.

Business owners need to realize the importance of Social Media Marketing and the ability of these social media sites to gain the attention of your targeted market.

Blast creative assists business owners by managing every aspect of your social networking experience. We know all the social media lingo, we are continuously attending seminars and classes to learn the latest applications and tools, Blast creative can make a buzz about your business that will make an impact.

Over the past 5 years there has been a dramatic increase for Social Media Coaches/Specialists to assist business owners to correctly run their social media campaigns so that businesses are effective in obtaining customer attention and interaction!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an established business or just starting out, the use of Social Media in the year 2010 is key to the success of your business. This path of awareness supersedes traditional marketing paths and puts a real value on the customer base you are targeting. Word of mouth can now be found on Social Media Sites!

For more information, contact Brenda Segna at Blast creative today!

Basic Facebook

2010-05-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

If you would like to learn more about Facebook, then sign up for my Basic Facebook Seminar on my Facebook page. Basic Facebook Webinar for beginners. Everything you need to know about setting up your account, finding friends, uploading and tagging photos, creating profiles, groups and like pages. Learn to grow your business on Facebook.

Basic Facebook Webinar Topics

1. How to Set-Up Account
2. Facebook Layout
3. How Facebook Works
4. How to Deal with Long Lost Family Members
5. Your Profile Picture
6. How to Upload & Tag Photos
7. How to Write a Note
8. How to Post a Link
9. How to Upload a Video
10. How to Upload & Tag Photos
11. How to Create a User Name
12. How to Find Friends
13. How to Create a Group and a Fan Page
14. How to Invite People to an Event on Facebook

5 Big Things That Will Impact You with Google Caffeine

2010-01-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

1. Social Media Sites is where it’s at! Twitter and Facebook have moved up in the ranks. With Google indexing Twitters and Facebook syncing it’s post with Twitter. This is good news for the little guy who is working his social media sites; this can really help with your search updates.

2. On and Off the Site Optimization Still Counts! When it’s all said and done, best practices still apply. Staying focused on this area keeps your program focused on gaining sustainable long-term natural search benefits, and not taking a backward-looking approach that just may jeopardize future returns for the sake of trying to spare last week's positive algorithmic bias. This means paying attention to core elements like content, link structure, site architecture and structure, promotion in the right offsite networks, and all other general best practices.

3. The index size, or “competition,” of single keyword search relevance will increase. Your web site will compete against a larger pool of web catalog pages indexed for single word brand or head terms. It appears that Google will index more pages on the Web, so the prospective “results pool” will be greater and thus more competitive for those trying to get to the top of the page. This adds value for searchers because it will possibly increase the preciseness of results.

4. You’ll see a boost in relevance for long-tail searches.In contrast to the increased number of pages being indexed for single word brand and head terms, the index size for multi-keyword phrase searches in Caffeine appears to yield less competition via Google’s Web catalog / Index. Therefore, if Google were to get a “Caffeine” jolt, your pages would likely compete against a smaller pool of pages for more exacting searches. This might be the key to Google’s logic when it comes to improving accuracy. This could also give larger brands an advantage for their product and deep level pages, which could potentially see a boost in relevance for long-tail searches.

5. You’ll get results (SERPs) in half the time, on average.While it would be hard to notice with the naked eye, the new engine appears to generate SERPs in half the time. This would improve usability and user experience on Google. After all, searchers want accuracy– but they also don’t like waiting around.

SEO Services In A Tough Economy

2009-08-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know of anyone who isn't feeling the pinch in these tough economic times. Now more then ever businesses need good SEO services and Internet marketing to drive traffic to their sites. There are several things that can be done that to increase your sites page rank and drive traffic to your site.

A good SEO Service Provider and Internet Marketing Company will review your site and customize a plan that meets your needs and your budget. SEO is not rocket science, but it is time consuming and needs to be done consistently in order to see results.

At BLaST creative we have learned from years of experience that when doing white hat seo and organic seo that it typically takes 3 months before you start to see results. And depending on the competition and what they are doing as far as SEO, it could take longer.

Some things that you can do to help increase traffic to your site as well as increase your page rank and search engine listing.

1. Meta tags-if your site doesn't have them, they need to be added, especially a good description and keywords.

2. Heading tags, alt tags-if you currently aren't utilizing these on your site then you need to update them.

3. Content-is it fresh and does it contain the keywords that you are trying to target? If not you need to update this as well.

4. Backlinks-Google just changed their algorithm again, you need to get relevant organic backlinks for your site.

For more information on SEO Services and Internet Marketing, please contact BLaST creative today!

Detecting and Fixing Site Visibility Issues

2009-05-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

In terms of the Integrated Approach, site visibility refers to compliance of a page's source code with the requirements and needs of search engine spiders. This topic is based on the knowledge that the spiders are computer programs instructed to parse your HTML pages, then analyze certain page areas and undertake certain actions such as requesting other pages by following the hyperlinks found on the given page.

Thus, we can make the conclusion that specific page areas bear a certain importance for spiders and thus play a role in overall search engine visibility. Another conclusion is that consistent site structure is an essential factor for spiders to be able to effectively crawl your site.

Following are the main visibility problems that are usually encountered on a website (especially large sites):

• Broken links;
• Broken redirects;
• Missing ALT attributes;
• Missing TITLE and META (keywords and description) tags
• Old pages which are not regularly updated
• Deep pages (located far from the home page or from the page where the spider enters your site)
• Excessive length of TITLE and META tags

Most of these problems (except for broken links and redirects) will not frustrate your visitors. These flaws, however, are potentially dangerous for your positions in the SERP (search engine result pages) and for indexing of your whole site by search engine spiders.

Let's get into a deeper explanation for each of these problems.

Broken links
Broken links are a common scourge for webmasters, especially with large and dynamic sites. A search engine robot will not be able to access a page that is hidden behind a broken link. Most robots, however, will not stop spidering your site when they meet a broken internal link, provided they have some other links to follow. But if the broken link is intended to point to a strategically important content page, the page won't be indexed and the problem then becomes more serious.

Broken external links are not as critical from the visibility point of view; rather they state problems for the visibility of the site or page they're pointing to.

Redirects and broken redirects
Most common redirect codes are 301 (Moved Permanently), 302 (Found), 304 (Not Modified), 305 (Use Proxy) and 307 (Temporary Redirect).

As a webmaster, you may implement a redirect in a number of different ways: either by sending the corresponding HTTP headers from within your server-side code (PHP, ASP, PERL etc), or by putting the instructions into the ".htaccess" file in the directory on the server, or by putting a special META REFRESH tag directly into the HTML code of the page:

meta http-equiv="REFRESH" content="0;url=http:www.mywebsite.com/new-file.htm
In this case, the user-agent (either a visitor's browser or a search engine spider) will treat the tag as if it has met a 301 (Moved Permanently) redirect.

Actually, from all the redirects enumerated above, only one (301) is considered search engine-friendly and is recommended by the search engines. The others have been abused by spammers in the past (and are still often used in black-hat SEO) for creating doorway pages for search engines and for cloaking a website. Thus, search engines apply strict policies to pages for which they get all the other redirect response codes from the server (300,302 and above).

Moreover, this redirect abuse led some search engines to ban sites that use META refresh tags for redirecting the visitor. AltaVista is the strictest: sites with the refresh attribute set to less than 30 seconds have been banned as spam. The policy of other search engines varies. In the past, Google hasn't been too worried about spam since it relies mainly on link popularity to rank sites - but they have recently started to pay more attention to these issues.

Because of this, we recommend that you use a server-side redirect with the help of a dynamic technology like PHP or ASP. If this isn't possible, use the ".htaccess" file (on apache servers) with the following line:

Redirect 301 /page1.htm http://www.yoursite.com/page2.htm

to redirect the visitors from page1.htm to page2.htm.

Broken redirects will lead to the same results as the broken links, that is, spiders will not be able to index the pages hidden behind the broken redirect, unless they find that page through some other links or redirects used on your website.

Missing ALT attributes
ALT attributes are used within the "< IMG >" HTML tags to describe images textually if the browser will not display the image. The ALT attribute is also useful in providing additional information when a user hovers the mouse cursor over a displayed image.

Nowadays ALT attributes are not as important for search visibility as they used to be a couple of years ago. Therefore, there won't be any harm for your rankings if you omit them. However, it's useful to include ALT attributes, especially to get your images ranked for particular keywords in the image search, which also brings you organic traffic.

Missing TITLE and META tags
This is probably the most serious gap in your readiness for the SEO campaign. The TITLE tag, META keywords and META description tags are the primary regions where search engines attempt to find relevant keywords for your site. If some of your pages are missing these TITLE and META tags, you should put these on your page before starting any further optimization analysis.

Old pages
One of the algorithms Google now applies for ranking Web pages is the SandBox algorithm. It means that the pages that haven't been updated for a long time will gradually lose their positions in the rankings even if they initially had high positions. Google constantly crawls the Web and adds thousands of new pages to its index. These new pages have unique content, but it is the novelty or “newness” of these pages that may cause Google to rank them higher than the actual content would otherwise dictate. Google assumes that newer pages probably contain more updated information than older ones. This process will gradually "dissolve" your site in the competition, while your pages get "crowded out" by the new additions from the top results.

To retain your high positions, you not only need to constantly add to your link popularity, but also update your pages often and add new content pages from time to time.

Deep Pages
An average search engine spider will not crawl your site deeper than 2 levels away from the home page and the most advanced spiders are instructed not to go further than 4 levels deep. Under "depth" we mean number of jumps which should be made from page to page along the links to get to the destination page from the source page (which is, most often, your home page). So, if a spider enters your site on your home page, it will read all pages linked to it, then all pages those pages link to and then most spiders will stop. If your site has any pages that link any deeper than this your site structure needs optimization.

It's important to understand that the link structure and file structure are two different things: you may keep all your 500 pages in the root directory, yet some of them may be 5 and more levels deep according to the link jumps.

TITLE and META tags length
The information placed in the TITLE, "keywords" and "description" META tags is indexed by search engine spiders for use on the search results page. There is a limited amount of space for these. If they are too long, they will be cut off in the search results display. Moreover, search engines will not read more than certain amount of characters in the tag. Even further, some search engine spiders may consider an excessive amount of characters as spamming. Therefore, it's useful to check whether the length of these vital page areas is within sensible limits.

For information Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing and Web Design, please contact BLaST creative today!

Gift Cards for SEO?

2008-12-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

SEO, search engine optimization comes all shapes and sizes, but gift cards? Well, in a round about way, you can utilize gift cards sites like CityDeals.com to enhance your SEO standings. By purchasing a banner ad from City Deals that links to your site, you basically have purchased a backlink for your site. The added bonus being that sites that are linked to City Deals are quickly indexed and pulled to the top of the search engines.

For sites like the Windmill Restaurant, a Montana Steakhouse, who has a page rank of zero, this can be very beneficial. For sites like Focus Sped, a school in Plano Texas that helps kids with Autism and other learning disabilities, this can not only help their page rank, but City Deals receives over 50,000 visitors a month with over 297,000 page views. Now that’s a lot of traffic, a lot of people viewing your banner ad and it’s great for SEO!

For sites like Doug Batts Prepaid Legal Services, it can mean a double bonus. SEO for page rank and literally thousands of visitors viewing his banner ad with the ability to click straight through to his site and that’s one way to generate new business for your site. Meredith Haberfeld Coaching is another site that reap the benefits of SEO from using City Deals gift cards site.

The thing that I like best about utilizing sites like City Deals for SEO purposes, is that not only do you help increase your own page rank, you get exposure for your business, plus you can shop for awesome deals on discounted gift cards.

Gift Cards for SEO? The answer to that question is an absolute yes! Take advantage of the sight today! For more information about SEO and Internet Marketing, contact BLaST creative today!

The $5 Article with Original Content

2008-11-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

The world.wide.web has opened the door for new avenues of enterprise for many entrepreneurs including the freelance writer. The problem is that no one wants to pay for the services of the professional writer adequately. The request comes in for original content, a quote for statistics and lets don’t forget that you should be able to do this in 15 minutes.

The 15 minutes is my favorite line, obviously it’s not a writer who is making the request. The research alone for any good article is going to take a minimum of 1 hour. And while I am an excellent writer, even I need more than 15 minutes. Writing for the web has been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a bazillion things, but it is still work and worthy of decent pay.

Yes, there is plagiarism, but don’t assume or accuse every writer out there of it. I hate the ad that says; “I check for plagiarism,” so don’t apply. Okay, well if you paid more than $5 an article for “original” content, you wouldn’t get the bottom of the barrel writers.

I love writing! I love what I do, but like many Americans, I too am trying to make a living. I’ll give you original content, content that is SEO friendly, content that is full of facts, is accurate and up to date and original. But what I can’t do is give you that copy for $5.

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

BLaST Creative Copywriting for Your Website

2008-07-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

When I write an article for a magazine or newspaper, I get straight to the point. It’s necessary to have a hook in the first paragraph or you lose your reader. So you have to start with the facts immediately!

People surf the web in a similar manner to the way that they skim newspapers, stopping to read stories and/or blogs that grab their attention and they leave your site as soon as they get bored. So lets cover a few steps that will assist you in writing attention-grabbing copy.

The intro

When you are writing copy, the most important part of your content is the first sentence. In 30 words or less it is necessary for you to grab your readers attention and explain what it is that you want them to know. A boring intro can send your readers to another site.

Begin your drama from the first word

Try to make the first word of your copy as dramatic as possible. For example which of these intros do you like the best?

Having already burned 300 acres, the Cascade fire is still burning out of control.

Cascade Fire Crews brace for weather.

The five Ws and an H

So now that you have an intro it’s time to help your reader discover the rest of the story and you don’t want to leave them with any questions.
So reread your copy and make sure that you’ve answered the following questions:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• How

In everyarticle or copy, you’ll need to tell your readers what happened, who or what did it, but don’t worry about answering all six questions in the first paragraph.

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

BLaST Creative Web Content

2008-07-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Let’s face it, the biggest reason that any of use the web is to save time. It’s waaay faster to look up what time the movie is playing at the local Cineplex on the website the to have to listen to all of the list and times, etc on the phone or even driving there in person to see what’s what!

The same is true for the content on your web pages. Your content needs to be relevant and short, if you have a lot to say, it’s better to write a paragraph or two and link the rest to a separate page, giving the reader a choice. Why have your visitors come to your site and what do they want to know? Let them have the information the quickest way possible.

Don’t use BIG words, don’t talk over people’s head, talk to the lay person. Speak in your own voice, don’t use words that are extraordinarily looooong!

It doesn’t matter if you are trying to register students for dance class, sell dance clothes, or just tell about your business, if people can’t understand what you’re trying to say, you will fail.

Even if you’re writing for a specialist audience, like doctors or rocket scientists, ask yourself if you’re using bigger words to help your site reach its goal or to make yourself sound clever.

Along that same line of thinking, don’t be too short, give descriptive detail so they know what it’s about instead of searching somewhere else because they need more detail.

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

BLaST Creative Search Engine Optimization

2008-06-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

There are lots of things that can be done for search engine optimization or SEO. One of the things that we do at BLaST Creative for SEO Services is utilize pay-per-click advertising like Google AdWords.

Google Adwords and other pay-per-click advertising networks work by paying a set fee every time somebody clicks on an ad for your site. This may sound expensive, but it really isn’t. You can set an amount of $25 per month and all of the other parameters as well. If people are clicking too much or not enough, you can change how it’s setup.
Other things that are helpful for search engine optimization include setting up a blog about your business, podcasting, utilizing online press releases, and of course you can always use traditional advertising through local newspapers or flyers.

In order for your website to do well people will need to find your site by utilizing search engines. Google is number one right now on the search engine lists, followed by Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask. There are literally hundreds of search engines, but if you can get listed on the top ones, the rest will follow suit.

BLaST Creative SEO Services can help your web pages perform as well as possible in Google and the other major search engines. There are literally hundreds of things that you can do to help your web pages rank higher in the search engines’ results pages.

But don’t waste too much,SEO techniques become obsolete rather quickly. Search engines have to constantly change their algorithms and they way that they index web pages, because some people try to cheat the system, therefore, the search engines have to stay ahead of the game so that it’s fair to everyone!

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

Hyperlinks—To Underline or Not To Underline, That Is The Question

2008-05-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

This week at BLaST Creative Web Design, we’d like to talk about hyperlinks or what you’ve probably heard called by it’s shortened named, links, are words or images that help with navigation, they take you to another part of the web page that you are on or even to another web page or web site entirely when you click on them.

In most cases the links that are present in the body of text are underlined and their color is different from the surrounding text, making it easier for visitors to spot your links. And in most instances, if you hover your mouse over them they will change color.

At BLaST Creative we like to be different, so we designed our website different from others including when it comes to the links. We did not applying the underline under the links. It’s really an easy thing to do, but we realized that our visitors would are familiar with the underline and but we wanted our site to be different, familiar as well, and we believed that people have had enough experience with the web that they will know to click on the navigation tabs without an underline.

Basically, you don’t have to underline your links, you can be different, but consider your visitors and what you are trying to accomplish? Is it worth not underlining your links?

At BLaST Creative, we decided to be different and unique by not underlining our links. You can too! Links are good and very beneficial for marketing, so answer the question for yourself to underline or not to underline and link away!

Why Businesses Need SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Services?

2008-05-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

More than 70% of online consumers start their quest for a product, service or support call using a search engine. If you’re a business owner, how can you honestly afford NOT to be associated with this massive audience?

The bottom line is that you cannot afford to miss such opportunities. As a business owner you can use search engine optimization to drive more business from people who have never even heard of you before.

You need SEO Services, Internet Marketing Services and link building campaigns that work. SEO services and Internet marketing services will help generate sales for your business while increasing website traffic naturally. You need a search engine optimization strategy and link building campaign specifically designed for your websites products and services,natural SEO services and organic website promotion.

Achieving better rankings begins with proper web site optimization; a great link building strategy and well planned online marketing goals. But beware, some website services use tricks or claim to have secret tips they can't share with you. Your SEO provider should be able to share everything with you and strictly follow Yahoo, MSN and Google web master guidelines. If you have questions they should be clearly explained, as well explaining their site promotion techniques. SEO services should utilize top website optimization tools to analyze the top competitor websites.

Do you need expert search engine optimization services or top search engine rankings in organic results pages? BLaST Creative's experienced Internet marketing combines the highest quality website promotion strategies, link building campaigns and search engine placement to help you rank better.

SEO and link building strategies aren't just about fixing Meta data and submitting your site to directories. Quality link building will provide you hundreds to thousands of incoming links pointing directly to your website.

At BLaST Creative we will develop a link-building plan that is long lasting. Our services have an excellent track record increasing website rankings naturally. Highly competitive keywords will need a custom link building strategy to achieve higher rankings. This will also increase link popularity in the top engines. We use several variations of your keywords in your back links to get the perfect balance. This is important due to recent Google updates.

Pay per click advertising: If your company needs instant traffic during the website design process, we can provide help with online advertising. Maximize your current ad budget.

Growing Companies:

Companies can maximize budgets and web exposure with our business website solutions. Many companies simply can't afford a high monthly budget.

Website submission: Each URL submission to search engines. Do you need to keep your site rankings or link popularity up? The way to do that is with directories, press releases, article and Blog submissions that provide your website tons of new back links. Save by bundling your Meta Tags, URL submissions and keyword research. Have your website reviewed today and see the positive affect that BLaST Creative's Internet marketing services can have on your business! Learn more about our search engine optimization service, pricing or web tools contact BLaST Creative today.

How Can I Spend My Economic Stimulus Check?

2008-04-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering what to spend your economic stimulus check on? If so, how about your front yard and backyard, give your home a face-lift with outdoor landscaping. The front of your house is the most visible, you want passers-by to stop, to admire your landscape and you want a PA landscaper like Designer Landscaping PA to turn your backyard into a personal outdoor oasis.

Backyard Allentown PA Landscaping Installations

You may think that backyard installations can have better or worse value return. And you would be correct a costly gazebo or storage shed wouldn’t have the same installation cost-to-property value ratio as a reasonably priced pond or swimming pool. Your first question when considering Allentown PA landscaping is what backyard landscaping project fits your lifestyle, that will tell which project to undertake.

If you dream of afternoon barbecues then a deck is something that you may want to consider investing in. If you preference is a calm, quiet evening dining, you mat want to consider a patio. If you like to retreat in your backyard to enjoy the peace, to meditate and enjoy nature then a pond/waterfall combination may be ideal. A swimming pool can be an amazing addition that the whole family can enjoy. Your Designer Landscaping PA backyard landscaping should be unique, not trendy, unless you're sure it fits your lifestyle and/or you plan on selling your home in the next few years.

Cashing that economic stimulus check, planning for the future can mean more than just spending more on your installation project or getting the most bang for your buck. A frequent example of this is an above ground swimming pool installation. If you have children, they may bug you to put in a swimming pool. Spending more on this swimming pool may increase its lifetime by an extra ten years. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but once the kids leave for college, you may not want the pool or the maintenance.

You could invest that extra money and in ten years use that money to replace the swimming pool. Designer Landscaping PA above ground swimming pool is one of the easiest installations to replace. Digging the foundation for the swimming pool is also natural ground preparation for a garden or patio.

Backyard Allentown PA Landscaping Care and Maintenance

Basic landscaping care and maintenance can be more about getting the most for your money. Planting or removing trees or other plants can provide many options and several of them can save you money and still accomplish comparable effects. Existing topsoil can often be revitalized in a relatively short amount of time at a significantly cheaper price. The most important thing is to ask a lot of questions before you make any actual plans. Talking to a Designer landscaping PA professional about what you want for your backyard landscaping is the best thing that you can do. Be sure to ask what your options are and make sure you can justify each decision to yourself.

This article was written for marketing purposes, if you are interested in learning more about article marketing or SEO services please email me for further information.

BLaST Creative SEO Services and SEO Copywriting

2008-04-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

SEO Services and SEO Copywriting is taking off in our world today. Utilizing search engine optimization services can level the playing field for any business.

BLaST Creative SEO Services come in a variety of shapes and sizes and the cost can get really pricey as well. There is copyediting, copywriting, keywords, press releases, meta tags, blogs and the list goes on and on. And while it can be overwhelming, hiring an SEO Service Provider can make your Internet Marketing issues much easier to deal with, hire an expert to make sure that it's done correctly.

What to look for in an SEO Service Provider:

• Copywriting
• Copyediting
• Utilization of keywords
• Link building
• Web content
• Top Ranking in search engines
• Pay per click advertising

What can an SEO Service Provider do for you? What difference can they make for you and your business? And more importantly, what can you afford for Internet Marketing? Can your SEO Service Provider cross over to all avenues of advertising and marketing?

As a business owner, you need to define your marketing needs, and the amount of time and money that you want to invest in your marketing campaign.

And last but certainly not least, the exciting news about SEO Services is that thanks to the cyberspace, your SEO Service marketer can live anywhere and provide you with optimal results.

For more information on SEO Services and SEO Copywriting, please contact BLaST Creative.

SEO Services and Copywriting for Search Marketing

2008-04-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

The first thing that you need to know about SEO services and copywriting for search marketing is that content is key. Whether or not your website will make it in the vast world of cyberspace depends on your ability to write compelling, targeted copy. Successful copywriting will help with your ROI by keeping visitors on your site, it will make you stand out from your competitors and gives you an edge with the search engines.

There are two main things that you need to achieve with SEO Copywriting, first you have to write expert content that will appeal to your reader, and second you need to make it appeal to the search engines. You will also need to use targeted keywords to successfully deliver your message.

SEO Copywriting

Search Engine Optimization Copywriting (SEO Copywriting) is a combination of writing text so that not only reads well for your viewers, but also is also appealing to the needs of the various search engines. If your site text is missing the words that are commonly searched-upon by users in the search engines you won't get the rankings you want. And then there is the flip side, if you stuff your text with keywords and forget about your customers' needs, you'll be considered a spammer and get booted from the engines. So what’s a person to do to make everyone happy? Oh, the pressure!

You craft original content pages that include just enough leading key terms to appeal to the engines. Effective SEO copywriting is one of the most important things that you can do because it will put you in a better position for you content to be seen by the search engines and prospective clients, thereby increasing both traffic and conversions.

High School English

Remember when you were in high school and you asked yourself why do I have to learn this stuff? When am I ever going to use this stupid inverted pyramid? The answer to that question is today my friend, today. When creating your text, reach into that scrapbook in your memory and pull up that picture of the upside-down triangle.

The base or the beginning of your upside down triangle should contain your most important content or keywords, the bottom or the tip should hold the details or the least important information. Using the inverted pyramid, also known as the upside-down triangle, method is important because it projects a clear summary of what you will be discussing to your viewers. Based on this information the reader determines if they are interested in reading your entire text it is also called the hook. Putting your keywords within the first 200 words of your text will increase your chances of tantalizing their taste buds while making you search engine friendly at the same time.

Short Sentences, Short Paragraphs, Lots of Content

There is no rule out there for writing the perfect copy, and there isn’t a magical number for the amount of words that you need in your copy. Having said that, most SEO experts recommend around 250 to 500 words per page, with one to four targeted search terms strategically placed within the text. Your keywords need to flow with the page and content and not sound forced or like you are trying to stuff your content with keywords.

When designing your page keep in mind that most Internet readers scan your page in search of keywords. They only way that you are going to get them to stop and read your content is if they see something that appeals to them. Keep your sentences short and direct, but don't hold back on content, the more content the better! Short paragraphs are key. If your content is all in one paragraph, your viewers will look at it and click to some other site, because they want short, quick, and easy. So write short paragraphs and utilize a lot of white space. Remember to use bullet points, bold and italicized text for emphasis. Doing so will make it easier for the reader to spot key points.

Before You Draft Your Content Know Your Keywords

Before you draft your content know your keywords. This will make it so much easier to create effective copy from the start than to go back and try to stuff keywords into already written text.

When I write copy, I like to use 1 or 2 keywords per paragraph. And you should also know that search engines generally give more weight to the first 200 words within a page. So it is vital to make sure that keywords are used appropriately near the top of the page and proportionally throughout the page. Also, don't forget to use keywords in your headlines. Most search engines deem a headline to be one of the most important sections of the copy. Including text in your headline will give it additional weight.

So now do you think that you are done? Sorry, but you are just beginning, your reader and the search engines have one basic need, they love content, especially when it is updated and relevant. There are few things more effective in promoting your site than regularly updating that site with fresh copy. Frequent updates will help your company to solidify its Internet presence and keep customers’ happy and coming back, as well as helping you with the search engines. Regular updates will cause your site to be regularly crawled by the search engines and lead to higher rankings.

BLaST Creative and CSS Stylish Sheets

2008-04-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

At BLaST Creative we use HTML to control almost every part of the look and feel of your website, from the fonts and colors you want, to the position of elements on the page. By using CSS or cascading style sheets, it’s a better way to control the look of your website.

CSS is used in conjunction with HTML, the HTML tags mark up your web page, while the CSS control the elements on the page look and where they go.

A website’s css is usually stored in a separate file which the individual HTML web pages call in. The advantage of this is that one css file can control the look of your entire site. So, if you want to change the color of all the text on your site, you just make one small change in the file and it’s done.

CSS has quite a few other advantages over just using HTML. CSS sites are quicker to download, they get better search engine rankings, they’re easier to adapt for mobile phones, PDAs and web tv and they’re more accessible to people with disabilities.

If you are interested in learning more about web design, web marketing, SEO or article marketing please email me for further information.

BMW Repair Billings MT

2008-03-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Tip of the week from Metric Wrench, BMW Repair Billings, MT, aiming procedures for fog and driving lights:

Park your BMW on a level surface with the fog lights 25 feet away from the wall. Measure the distance from the ground to the center of the lamp. Mark the same height on the wall. Turn your fog lights on. The lamps should be aimed straightforward. For fog lights, the top of the beams should be 4" below the mark on the wall. For driving lights the center of the beam's hot spot should be 1-1/2" below the mark.

BMW Engine Maintenance Program:

A little prevention care can save both time and money in costly BMW repairs in Billings, MT and extend the life of your BMW. Here are a couple of suggestions:
Whenever available, use original equipment components that have been designed specifically for your model BMW.

Today, advance additives and lubricants are available that enhance the performance and longevity of your engine. Ask for these lubricants when tuning up your BMW. And, of course change your oil every 3,000 miles.

Bring your BMW in for service at Metric Wrench, the BMW Repair Shop in Billings, MT on a regular basis and your bimmer will be running for years to come.

BMW Fun Facts

Bimmer vs Beemer

Like the debates between Hillary and Obama so too is the debate between Bimmer and Beemer, you say tomAto and I say tomato.

Bimmer - proper accepted slang for BMW cars. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know this, most people don’t.

Beamer/Beemer - proper accepted slang for BMW motorcycles. People around the globe misuse this term, but we can’t really fault them, they just don’t know any better, but now you do.

Bummer - When you get a speeding ticket.

Bitter - Another German car. Very rare; hand built.

So just why is a BMW car called a 'bimmer' not a 'beemer' or 'beamer'?
The answer in part lies in knowing some BMW history and what came first. All real BMW enthusiasts know that BMW got a big start on two wheels, what many call the real BMWs.

In those days, BMW motorcycles were quite active in racing, and one of their competitors at the track was often the BSA bikes.

Well as things would have it, track slang developed, and the BMWs were usually referred to as 'beemers' and the BSAs were referred to as 'beesers'.
So, of course for any true enthusiast, there is no way that a BMW car could be called a 'beemer', so they were called 'bimmers'.

Unfortunately, in the US and Canada, and perhaps other countries, there was a time (kind of still is) where for various reasons, a BMW owner was considered an upwardly mobile person, and of course due to the fun in driving their BMWs most all of them had big grins on their faces.

Hence it is little surprise that the non-enthusiast types out there incorrectly labeled BMW cars and their owners as 'beamers' or 'beemers.’

This article was written for marketing purposes, if you are interested in learning more about article marketing or SEO services please email me for further information.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing: Pennsylvania Landscaping

2008-03-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing: Pennsylvania Landscaping

This article was written for marketing purposes, if you are interested in learning more about article marketing or SEO services please email me for further information.

Christopher Johnson, Attorney-Diamond McCarthy, LLP

2008-03-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

Christopher D. Johnson joined Diamond McCarthy in 2001. He has extensive experience in the area of debt restructuring and corporate reorganizations. He has served as counsel for debtors, official committees of unsecured creditors, chapter 7 and 11 trustees, liquidating trustees, and creditors...

read more | digg story

Diamond McCarthy

2008-03-14T21:17:00.003-07:00

The current trend in the legal market is towards the mega-firm. Mid-size firms are vanishing, as they are swallowed by firms with thousands of professionals. Such firms typically promote themselves to clients as one-stop shopping, touting experts in every legal field imaginable.

read more | digg story

High Variance Diamond McCarthy

2008-03-14T21:17:00.001-07:00

Trip Finley, Esq. has extensive experience in representing parties in a wide variety of complex financial disputes, including matters involving securities fraud, lender liability, fraudulent transfer and bankruptcy litigation.

read more | digg story

Pennsylvania Landscaping

2008-03-14T21:15:00.001-07:00

Landscaping is an artistic pursuit and every landscape is unique. You will spend many hours in your landscape and it should please, delight and serve you. Since 1992 Designer Landscaping has been creating outdoor living spaces unique to the lifestyle and setting of our clients.

read more | digg story

What is Litigation?

2008-03-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Litigation is always in the news, class action lawsuits, asbestos cases, drug recalls, it’s everywhere. But what does litigation really mean?

Litigation is a controversy before a court or a lawsuit. All action involves risk; most action involves the possibility of subsequent claims and litigation. The threat of litigation usually deals with the degree of injury. In most instances, lawyers are less likely to pursue litigation in cases where the injury is not serious. Most personal injury cases are taken on a contingency fee, and lawyers know that a modest injury will probably result in a modest fee that might not even equal a reasonable hourly rate. Also, if the case on liability is questionable, the defense is more likely to try a case of modest injury, and that makes it even less desirable to the lawyer. Where the injuries are severe, the odds of litigation are much greater.

There are two kinds of litigation: civil and criminal. If you break a state or federal law, you commit an offense against society. The government, on behalf of the community, begins a criminal proceeding to hold the offender responsible. A criminal litigation is therefore between the government and the accused or defendant. The government is represented by a prosecutor, typically a district attorney (for state prosecutions) or a federal prosecutor (for federal crimes). Either a private criminal attorney represents the defendant or a public defender appointed by the state.

A civil action encompasses virtually any non-criminal court proceeding. It can be a private action between two citizens, a proceeding by one person against the state, a suit by an individual against a corporation or any combination thereof. The party brings the suit, known as the plaintiff or petitioner, usually is seeking a sum of money (damages) from another party (the defendant or respondent) to compensate her for a claimed injury or loss. Sometimes the remedy sought involves not money but performance; one party wants the court to compel another either to do something he is obligated to do or to stop doing something that is injurious to one bring suit. In a civil action, the case turns not on the defendant’s guilt but on the issue of liability, a party is found either liable or not liable. The burden of proof required to establish liability in a civil suit is generally a lower threshold than the “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” requires in a criminal trial.

In the either a criminal and civil litigation, the parties may never actually make it to court; they might come to a mutual comprise before the trial date. Parties to a civil suit might reach a financial agreement or other settlement, while the prosecution and defense in a criminal case might agree to a plea bargain, under which a prosecutor offers a reduced charge or sentence in exchange for the defendant’s plea of guilt.

What is Bankruptcy?

2008-02-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding in which people who are unable to pay their bills can get a fresh financial start. The right to file for bankruptcy is provided by federal law, and all bankruptcy cases are handled in federal court. Filing bankruptcy is a way to instantly stop all of your creditors from trying to collect debts from you, at least until your debts are sorted out according to the law. Which means if you are experiencing a lot of nasty phone calls, they will stop.

According to Tripp Finley, Esq. of Diamond McCarthy Law Firm, bankruptcy can make it possible for you to eradicate the legal obligation to pay most or all of your debts. This is called a discharge of debts. It is designed to give you a fresh financial start.

Bankruptcy can stop foreclosure on your house or mobile home and provide you the opportunity to catch up on missed payments. However, bankruptcy does not automatically eliminate mortgages and other liens on your property without payment.
It can prevent repossession of a car or other property, or force the creditor to return property even after it has been repossessed.

It can also stop wage garnishment, debt collection harassment, and similar creditor actions to collect a debt. Restore or prevent termination of utility service. Allow you to challenge the claims of creditors who have committed fraud or who are otherwise trying to collect more than you really owe.

But bankruptcy cannot fix every financial problem. And it may not be the right course of action for you. In bankruptcy, it is usually not possible to eliminate certain rights of "secured" creditors.

According to Tripp Finley, Esq. of Diamond McCarthy Law Firm, a "secured" creditor has taken a mortgage or other lien on property as collateral for the loan. Common examples are car loans and home mortgages. You can force secured creditors to take payment over time in the bankruptcy process and bankruptcy can eliminate your obligation to pay any additional money if your property is taken. However, you generally cannot keep the collateral unless you continue to pay the debt.

Bankruptcy also cannot discharge certain types of debts singled out by the bankruptcy law for special treatment such as child support, alimony, some student loans, court restitution orders, criminal fines, and some taxes.

Protect cosigners on your debts. When a relative or friend has cosigned a loan, and the consumer discharges the loan in bankruptcy, the cosigner may still have to repay all or part of the loan.

Different types of bankruptcy include:

Chapter 7-which is known as straight or liquidation bankruptcy. It requires a debtor to give up property, which exceeds certain limits called exemptions, so that the property can be sold to pay creditors.
Chapter 11-which is know as reorganization, is used by business and a few individual debtors whose debts are very large.
Chapter 12-is reserved for family farmers.
Chapter 13-is called debt adjustment and it requires a debtor to file a plan to pay debts or parts of debts from current income.

Most people filing bankruptcy will choose to file under either chapter 7 or chapter 13. Either type of case may be filed individually or by a married couple filing jointly.

As with any area of the law, it is important to carefully select an attorney who will respond to your personal situation. The attorney should not be too busy to meet you individually and to answer questions as necessary.

The best way to find a trustworthy bankruptcy attorney is to seek recommendations from family, friends or other members of the community, especially any attorney you know and respect. You should carefully read retainers and other documents the attorney asks you to sign. You should not hire an attorney unless he or she agrees to represent you throughout the case.

In bankruptcy, as in all areas of life, remember that the person advertising the cheapest rate is not necessarily the best. Many of the best bankruptcy lawyers do not advertise at all.

Arley "Trip" D. Finley-Attorney-Diamond McCarthy LLP

2008-02-25T17:20:00.001-08:00

Trip Finley, a founding partner of Diamond McCarthy Taylor Finley & Lee, LLP, currently assists us as Senior Counsel. He has extensive experience in representing parties in a wide variety of complex financial disputes, including matters involving securities fraud, lender liability, fraudulent transfer and bankruptcy litigation.

read more | digg story

Ladd Hirsch-Attorney--Diamond McCarthy LLP

2008-02-24T19:23:00.003-08:00

Ladd Hirsch is a business-oriented, dynamic trial attorney with more than 22 years experience representing clients in a wide variety of complex business litigation matters and arbitration proceedings. Ladd joined Diamond McCarthy as a partner in 2006.

read more | digg story

Lisa Tsai-Attorney-Diamond McCarthy, LLP

2008-02-24T19:23:00.001-08:00

Lisa Tsai is a partner who joined Diamond McCarthy in June 2004. Prior to joining the firm, Lisa served as a litigation associate at Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, California. Lisa has represented clients in a wide variety of complex business litigation, including fiduciary litigation, business and partnership disputes, just to name a few.

read more | digg story

Arley "Trip" D. Finley-Attorney-Diamond McCarthy LLP

2008-02-24T19:22:00.001-08:00

Diamond McCarthy LLP

2008-02-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

An important aspect of writing and/or marketing is learning how to write a press release. Below is an example of a Press Release, it is key to state your purpose for the release, give as much detail as possible without being too wordy. There are numerous Internet sites as well as the AP that you can distribute your Press Release too. Verify all of your facts:

DIAMOND MCCARTHY LAW FIRM OPENS NEW OFFICE IN NEW YORK

Diamond McCarthy, a boutique law firm specializing in the investigation, litigation, and cost-effective resolution of complex business disputes on a local, national, and international stage. announces the opening of its new office in New York City. Taking almost 10,000 square feet on the 39th floor of the New York Times Building, the groundbreaking new headquarters of the New York Times on Manhattan's West Side.

As Managing Partner Allan Diamond explained, "We wanted our New York office to reflect our firm's reputation and values." The New York Times Building has been heralded as architecturally innovative and part of the eco-friendly building revolution, which is consistent with our firm's reputation for legal innovation. Diamond McCarthy's Law offices have floor to ceiling unobstructed panoramic views looking to the East, South and West at the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, southern Manhattan's bridges, the Hudson River and the Statute of Liberty They are quite simply, breath-taking.

Founded by a group of attorneys, Diamond McCarthy is committed to providing innovative legal solutions to their clients' most complex problems - wherever those problems arise. From their inception, they have addressed the most significant and complicated issues facing their clients across the Continent, through the Caribbean, and into Europe.

Diamond McCarthy's national and international presence continues to expand, with their international docket including objectives for clients from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands, the Republic of Colombia, and the Philippines, as well as their domestic docket that includes matters pending before federal and state trial and appellate courts from coast to coast. No matter where their clients may be or where their problems may arise, Diamond McCarthy is committed to solving its clients' problems and getting effective results.

Richard Janvey, who has been practicing in New York for the past 35+ years (formerly with Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP, Arthur Young, and his own firm, Janvey, Gordon et al), has become a partner at Diamond McCarthy and is heading up Diamond McCarthy's New York office. Joining Richard is Joan Secofsky, also with 35+ years of experience (formerly with Skadden Arps, Proskauer Rose and others). For more information, please see their individual biographies at diamondmccarthy.com.

Consistent with Diamond McCarthy's "single firm approach," its New York office already is involved in all aspects of the Firm's complex commercial litigation/trial and insolvency practice. "The demands of our international trial practice require that we approach case staffing on a firm-wide basis, rather than office by office," Diamond said. "That permits us to devote our resources to the cases for which they are best suited and most needed, rather than being hindered by physical geography." As Janvey added, "Our New York office provides Diamond McCarthy with valuable new resources, while permitting the Firm to better serve its clients in New York and abroad."

The Firm's sub-prime litigation task group, formed earlier this year, will be collaborating and working with the New York office, and the Firm currently is planning to launch one or more new sub-practice group areas to be spearheaded out of the New York office.

620 Eighth Avenue (between 40th & 41st Streets)
39th Floor
New York, New York
Telephone number (212) 430-5400

Diamond McCarthy LLP

2008-02-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

What is Texas Appellate Law?

The following is an overview of the Texas appellate law as well as the Fifth Circuit appellate law. Every step of an appeals process can involve numerous and complex issues or they can be resolved rather simply. The following overview is intended to be simply that, an overview.

In Texas courts a decision by a district judge can be appealed to the Court of Appeals and then to the Texas Supreme Court. If a case is in federal court, a decision by the federal district court can be appealed to the 5th Circuit and then the United States Supreme Court.

All cases begin in a trial court, before they ever reach an appellate court. The trial judge has the ability to dismiss the case on the pleadings early in the litigation as well as dismissing it after a summary judgment motion well into the litigation. The case has the potential of being tried before a judge or a jury and a final judgment could be entered after a full trial. And in some cases, the trial judge will enter a judgment that is different than the jury's verdict. But at some point, the proceedings in the trial court will come to an end. And at that point, a party unhappy with the outcome, typically the losing side, but sometimes even the winning side, has the opportunity to appeal.

An appeal is placed in motion with the filing of the notice of appeal in the trial court. The party appealing, which is referred to as the appellant, must also designate an appellate record. The appellate record consists of materials from the trial court that the appellant would like to present to the appellate court and use in appeal.

• Appellate Panel and Oral Argument
An appellate panel decides appeals. The Texas Court of Appeal and the Fifth Circuit decides cases in three-judge panels. These judges are chosen randomly from the pool of available appellate judges on the courts. In appeals to state supreme courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, the entire court usually hears the appeal. State supreme courts typically have seven justices, and the U.S. Supreme Court has nine justices.

Once the briefing is completed, the appellate court will hear oral argument. The time between the close of briefing and oral argument varies tremendously between different courts. The Texas Courts of Appeal typically will set oral argument a few months after the close of briefing; the Fifth Circuit often takes well over a year to set oral argument. The Fifth Circuit, however, often decides cases without oral argument.

The oral argument in the Texas Court of Appeal is at most 30 minutes and is usually about 5 - 15 minutes. The Fifth Circuit usually sets oral argument at 10 minutes, but sometimes 20 minutes. By the time of oral argument, the judges on most appellate courts will have read the briefs, had at least one of their research attorneys or clerks prepare a bench memorandum discussing the issues, and often discussed it among themselves.

The lawyers at oral argument usually focus on just the most important aspects of their case, and the judges will frequently ask questions. This is not the time to reargue the entire case.

At the close of oral argument the case is submitted to the appellate court for a decision.

• Briefing
In a standard appeal process, the parties will file a total of three briefs with the court.

The appellant begins with the ‘opening brief.’ The appellant's opening brief will explain the facts and procedural history of the case, and then explain what went wrong in the trial court and why the appellate court should reverse the earlier decision.

Next, the non-appelling party, who is called the appellee, will file a responsive brief. In this brief, the appellee or respondent basically explains the facts and the procedural history of the case and then argues why the trial court reached the right result and why the appellate court should not reverse the decision.

Finally, the appellate can file a reply brief. In this brief, the appellant has the opportunity to argue why the respondent's claims are wrong. However, the appellant may not make any new legal argument in the reply brief; the appellate can only "reply" to the respondent.

All briefs must contain proper citations to legal authorities (cases, statutes, etc.) and proper citations to the appellate record.

• Standards of Appellate Review
An appeal does not mean that a new trial has been granted. The appellate courts do not retry cases or hear new evidence, they do not even hear new legal arguments. Instead, appellate courts review what occurred in the trial court to see if the proper procedures have been followed and the proper law has been applied. Because of the restricted nature of this review, the issues that are raised on appeal are normally significantly different from those that are raised at trial.

In most cases, the appellate court will turn to the trial court or jury on factual issues. However, the appellate court determines and decides the definition of the law. On issues of law, the interpretation of prior case law, or a statute, or the Constitution, the appellate court will not defer to the trial court but will instead independently decide the issue.

On an appeal if there is a pre-trial dismissal after a summary judgment motion or a demurrer, in most of these situations, the appellate court will review the materials and independently decide whether the case should have been dismissed or whether it should have been allowed to go to trial.

On an appeal from a judgment after a trial, the appellate court will reverse the judgment only if it finds the trial court committed legal errors that were prejudicial which means the outcome would have been different during the trial. It should be noted that minor legal errors are normally not reason enough for a reversal. This rule is often referred to as the harmless error rule.

• Decision
The appellate panel issues a written opinion which explains how it came to the decision that it did. Similar to the time between briefing and oral argument, the time between oral argument and the written decision can vary greatly between different courts. The Texas Court of Appeal has 90 days to issue an opinion, although they have the option of resubmitting the case and extending their time by 90days. The Fifth Circuit has no deadline, and the time can vary tremendously.

If the appellate court deems it appropriate, the written opinion will be published in the official reports and will be binding authority for litigants in the future.

• Rehearing by the Appellate Court
Any party that is dislikes or is disappointed with the opinion has a brief time window in which to request that the appellate court rehear the case. (When the time window closes, the appellate court loses jurisdiction to rehear the case.) Because of this, these petitions are almost never granted. If the arguments have already been made and considered, the court will more than likely not consider them again. And if the arguments have not already been made, the court probably won’t consider new argument.

But, in very rare cases, the appellate court may have misunderstood the law or the applicable facts of the case. (Note: this is not the same as understanding but disagreeing with a party's claims about the law and the facts of the case.) If this is the situation, the appellate court has discretion to rehear the case.

• Review by a Higher Court
A party who is dissatisfied with the results on appeal can also petition a higher appellate court to review the case. In Texas, this would be the Texas Supreme Court, and in the Fifth Circuit, it is the U.S. Supreme Court. (If a federal issue is involved, the U.S. Supreme Court can take cases from the Texas courts.)

With a few exceptions (like death penalty appeals), the Texas and U.S. Supreme Courts are not required to take any particular case; they choose what cases they will decide. The courts generally do not view themselves as simply providing a second layer of appellate review. Instead, they view themselves as insuring uniformity in the law in important issues. As a result, the Texas and U.S. Supreme Courts are likely to take cases where the lower courts have reached different conclusions on the same issue. They are not likely to take a case merely because the appellate court reached the wrong result.

Consequently, the petition asking the higher court to take review must be carefully drafted with this in mind.

• Interlocutory Appeals and Appellate Writs
Most appeals involve cases that have been concluded in the trial court, but there are times when a party can appeal from a trial court order before the case is over. In the Fifth Circuit, these are called interlocutory appeals. In the Texas Court of Appeal, these are technically not appeals at all, but are original proceedings, called writ petitions, asking the Court of Appeal to issue an order (or writ) directing the trial court to modify one of its orders. The circumstances in which a party can file an interlocutory appeal or a petition for an appellate writ vary from court to court and are often very technical.

That defines what Texas Appellate Law is; I’d like to thank Diamond McCarthy LLP for taking the time to answer my questions as I wrote this piece. If you have further questions or inquiries you should speak with a lawyer in your area today or check with a law library in Texas.

Diamond McCarthy LLP

2008-02-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

An important aspect of writing and/or marketing is learning how to write a press release. Below is an example of a Press Release, it is key to state your purpose for the release, give as much detail as possible without being too wordy. There are numerous Internet sites as well as the AP that you can distribute your Press Release too. Verify all of your facts:

DIAMOND MCCARTHY LAW FIRM OPENS NEW OFFICE IN NEW YORK

Diamond McCarthy, a boutique law firm specializing in the investigation, litigation, and cost-effective resolution of complex business disputes on a local, national, and international stage. announces the opening of its new office in New York City. Taking almost 10,000 square feet on the 39th floor of the New York Times Building, the groundbreaking new headquarters of the New York Times on Manhattan's West Side.

As Managing Partner Allan Diamond explained, "We wanted our New York office to reflect our firm's reputation and values." The New York Times Building has been heralded as architecturally innovative and part of the eco-friendly building revolution, which is consistent with our firm's reputation for legal innovation. The Firm's offices have floor to ceiling unobstructed panoramic views looking to the East, South and West at the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, southern Manhattan's bridges, the Hudson River and the Statute of Liberty They are quite simply, breath-taking.

Founded by a group of attorneys, Diamond McCarthy is committed to providing innovative legal solutions to their clients' most complex problems - wherever those problems arise. From their inception, they have addressed the most significant and complicated issues facing their clients across the Continent, through the Caribbean, and into Europe.

Their national and international presence continues to expand, with their international docket including objectives for clients from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands, the Republic of Colombia, and the Philippines, as well as their domestic docket that includes matters pending before federal and state trial and appellate courts from coast to coast. No matter where their clients may be or where their problems may arise, Diamond McCarthy is committed to solving its clients' problems and getting effective results.

Richard Janvey, who has been practicing in New York for the past 35+ years (formerly with Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP, Arthur Young, and his own firm, Janvey, Gordon et al), has become a partner in the Firm and is heading up Diamond McCarthy's New York office. Joining Richard is Joan Secofsky, also with 35+ years of experience (formerly with Skadden Arps, Proskauer Rose and others). For more information, please see their individual biographies at diamondmccarthy.com.

Consistent with Diamond McCarthy's "single firm approach," its New York office already is involved in all aspects of the Firm's complex commercial litigation/trial and insolvency practice. "The demands of our international trial practice require that we approach case staffing on a firm-wide basis, rather than office by office," Diamond said. "That permits us to devote our resources to the cases for which they are best suited and most needed, rather than being hindered by physical geography." As Janvey added, "Our New York office provides Diamond McCarthy with valuable new resources, while permitting the Firm to better serve its clients in New York and abroad."

The Firm's sub-prime litigation task group, formed earlier this year, will be collaborating and working with the New York office, and the Firm currently is planning to launch one or more new sub-practice group areas to be spearheaded out of the New York office.

620 Eighth Avenue (between 40th & 41st Streets)
39th Floor
New York, New York
Telephone number (212) 430-5400

Giving Your Idea Form

2007-12-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

Giving your idea form, but how, you may be wondering, do I get from a good idea—with a few rough notes scribbled on paper—to a finished product—the written manuscript? One way is to give your ideas form by thinking of a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Story Article

Problem: Beginning Lead or hook
Complication: Middle Development
Solution: END Wrap-up

Since a whole is the sum of its parts, it can be easier to think of the parts of your story or articles first, breaking your writing down into small workable segments as you outline your ideas.

Fiction

Step 1 Fine-Tune Your Idea

Try jotting down your story idea in one sentence. This is a quick way to bring your idea into focus and to test it for human interest.

Some writers call such a one-sentence idea a “headline” or putting their story into a nutshell. Get to the core of what your story will be about—without any of the trimmings. If it seems hard to find this core at first, keep working at it.

Step 2 Turn Your Idea Into a Story

What makes a story? People tell each other stories all the time—what happened on the way home from work, what a neighbor did, what the grocer said, how a co-worker reacted—but if these stories were written down they wouldn’t qualify as good fiction. Why? Because they are only incidents.

We see or are involved in incidents continually. An incident doesn’t have a plan—it just happens. Incidents can be funny, dramatic, heartwarming, even horrific. But they are still incidents. They make for good conversation but not good fiction.

Here’s an example of a wonderful incident:

Late on a cold November afternoon, a girl got on a New York City bus. She was loaded down with luggage: a heavy backpack, two big suitcases and a long cardboard tube that might have contained a large poster. She was puffing with exertion as she hauled everything up the steps. The driver shouted, “You can’t get on with all that.”

The girl ignored him, quickly dropping her fare into the farebox and trying to disappear down the crowded aisle. Angrily, the driver pulled the brake, got out of his seat and went after her.

“Hey,” he shouted. “You can’t get on.”

“But I am on,” the girl said.

“Well get off.”

“Why?” the girl asked.

“You can’t bring all this stuff on at rush hour.” He glared at her. The girl tried to hold her ground but she began to falter.

Her face grew red. Her eyes began to water. She looked confused and very tired.

“Off!” The driver yelled, seeing his advantage.

Suddenly, as if they had rehearsed it, all the passengers stood up. “We’re getting off, too,” they shouted back to the driver. “You’re unfair…look at this poor girl…let her ride…”

The driver was stunned. He snapped his mouth shut and ran back to his driver’s seat, put the bus in gear and took off down the avenue without another word.

This incident is a “slice of life.” It’s wonderful to hear about…perhaps even read about. Such slices of life are often used as fillers in newspapers or magazines. But they don’t qualify as stories, for a number of reasons.

For one thing, we don’t know anything about the girl. If we analyze more closely, we might have to agree with the driver that she should not have gotten on the crowded bus with all that luggage. If we knew her better, we might not like her.

For another thing, nothing is resolved. The girl got to ride the bus to her destination but so what? We don’t learn much knowing this. We have no reward to take away from the story except that it was a sympathetic gesture on the part of supposedly coldhearted New Yorkers to have threatened a riot.

More important, the girl didn’t do anything to solve her own problem. The people in the bus did it for her. At the end of the incident, the girl and the people remained as they were at the beginning: strangers.

What’s needed to make this incident into a story? The basics of any good piece of fiction. We need to know more about the girl and what her problem is. Her trip must be urgent. If she can’t get to where she’s going on the bus, what will happen?
Perhaps she must be at the station to meet her fiancé, with whom she is eloping. If she misses the train, he will go without her, knowing that she meant what she said. What did she say? Earlier in the day she told him she was through with him forever, because she thought he had betrayed her. But no sooner was he off to the station, than she found out the truth. Of course, she regretted her words immediately. She packed quickly, rushed out the door.

Now we are worried about the girl, hoping she will get to the station on time. But a complication sets in. The people in the bus join in with the driver, urging her to get off. It’s rush hour, they’re tired and she’s taking up too much room. She hasn’t got enough money for a taxi. What will she do now?

Drama? Urgency? That’s what makes a story.
An incident is something that happened. The action occurs by circumstance and had no particular purpose, nor does it lead anywhere.

A story describes the actions and events that grow out of a particular problem. Things move along a purposeful path to the resolution of the problem. A reader gets involved with a story because of concern for the characters and interest in seeing how things will turn out.

An easy way to remember the difference between an incident and a story is to think of a prize fight. A blow-by-blow description of the fight isn’t much of a story, is it? But what if we know all about one of the fighters and why he must win the fight, and also find out that someone wants to make sure this fighter doesn’t win?
Problem, complication, solution—these three elements woven together with characterizations that make a reader care are what make a good story plot.

When you think plot, think design and plan. A story is designed and planned by you—that’s what makes it a story, not an incident.

When you think plot, think entangle, perplex, intrigue. These elements will add the conflict and concern that will keep a reader interested.
Have you jotted down a sentence that sums up your story? Now, begin thinking of your story’s parts.

Internet Writing

2007-11-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ranking well in the search engines is not difficult. In fact search engine optimization is relatively easy. What stops most people from ranking well in search engines is misinformation. Every week there’s yet another quick fix to ranking well in search engines and people jump from one quick fix to the next hoping for that Top 10 position in Google and never achieving it.

There are 6 key areas of search engine optimization that you need to know about. These are the basics. Getting these right will help you achieve the search engine rankings that website owners want.

Domain Name - The jury is still out on the how relevant a keyword rich domain name is. What I mean by keyword rich domain name is say for example your site was going to be about money making ideas then an idea domain name could be either http://www.moneymakingideas.com/ or http://www.money-making-ideas.com/. My own personal preference is with the hyphenated approach e.g. http://www.money-making-ideas.com/ simply because I believe that search engines can read it more easily. To register your domain name I would suggest using either 000Domains.com or GoDaddy.com (I use GoDaddy.com because they are directly linked with Google.)

Content - Useful content. Not keyword stuffed, spammy pages. Write something useful for visitors.

Keywords - Keywords are the words or phrases that you expect people to search for your site/service/content with. There are two distinct factors to consider when choosing keywords for your site.

1. You need to target specific keywords.
2. You need to choose the keywords that you want people to find your site with.

Put yourself in your visitors shoes - think about what they might use to find you in the search engines. What keywords or key phrases would you type into a search engine to find your site? What keywords or key phrases would your potential visitor use to search for you? Always, always think like a typical websurfer.

Keyword density - This is how often your keyword is used on the page itself. For example if you have 100 words of text on a single page and you mention your keyword 5 times then you have 5% keyword density.

Opinions vary on this but anywhere from 1% - 7% is considered ideal. If this doesn't make sense to you then it's ok. The simple rule is this: less is more. Do not alter the text on your webpages to include your keyword over and over again because.........well.... it looks stupid, won't instill any confidence in your prospective customer and might also get you penalized or removed from the search engines.

How To Format an Article

2007-10-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

Formatting an article--an article format is different depending on where you are sending it. If you are writing for the web, your article needs to be formatted for the website that you are writing for. It should include keywords from that site.
Most magazines have a set of guidelines that you can write, visit their web page or read in Writer's Market for specifics. Normally it should be double spaced, a size 12 font, and the style of font must be easily read, Times New Roman, is your best bet.
Most magazines accept submissions electronically, again you just have to check their guidelines, some will accept attachments, while others want you to cut and paste into the body of your email.
You will also need to provide a word count. You should always do a spell check and grammar check. Even if your copy is great, if you have misspellings and a lot of problems with grammar, most editors will hit the delete key! I hope this helps you. If you have more questions please feel free to ask!

Ciao for now!
Brenda

How To Get Started Freelance Writing

2007-09-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start this blog so that I could help people understand about freelance writing and help them along their own path to getting published. There is good news for freelancers, a vast market is waiting. There are more than five thousand magazines in today’s market which doesn’t include all of the internet opportunities available that take freelance material. Every day, aspiring writers strive to discover how they can get their work published with their own bylines. I hope that his blog can answer those questions.

To begin, your personal knowledge and expertise can find its way into this vast market. For example if you know are a nurse, there are numerous Nursing Magazines, if you enjoy hunting or fishing, there are numerous Hunting & Fishing magazines. Whatever your passion, there is a magazine for you and online resource for you to write articles. Your experiences can become articles or stories for print magazines, or ezines, or blogs.

A little market research can uncover a wealth of specialty magazines—sports, hobby, travel, auto, military, business, health, nature, mystery and more—as well as hundreds of literary and regional publications that could be markets for your work.

Find out what these magazines are all about by reading them, explore the Internet, and research what is available to you. Never go by the name of a publication or web page to make an assumption about its contents. Titles can be misleading. And a lot of web pages have a need for articles and usually have a wide array of topics and opportunities. Be sure of what a magazine and/or web page publishes—and give yourself a better chance for success—by reading. Editors return hundreds of manuscripts every month from people who have no idea what their magazines want. Businesses also turn away quality work for their web pages, because some writers just submit their work without researching where they are sending it.

Find out what these magazines are all about by reading them, explore the Internet, and research what is available to you. Never go by the name of a publication or web page to make an assumption about its contents. Titles can be misleading. And a lot of web pages have a need for articles and usually have a wide array of topics and opportunities. Be sure of what a magazine and/or web page publishes—and give yourself a better chance for success—by reading. Editors return hundreds of manuscripts every month from people who have no idea what their magazines want. Businesses also turn away quality work for their web pages, because some writers just submit their work without researching where they are sending it.

“It’s a terrible waste of time, energy and postage for all of us,” says one editor.
Visit the library or send for sample copies of the magazines. If you do your market research up front, you’ll decrease your chances of singing the “rejection slip blues.”

Writing, like any craft is hard work, it can be fun and yes, you can make a living at it. But you have to want it and you have to be willing to put in the time. I look forward to sharing this process and would love to hear your comments, or suggestions for blogs, or even to answer your questions. You can also visit my webpage at http://www.brendasegnawebmarketing.com/

Ciao for now,
Brenda