I have been working on getting more members at PEBFORUM. One thing I have been doing is building useful tools on the site. A new addition is my Linked Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities. It is a searchable linked listing, including an Index for the critria used to award disability compensation.
On real world news, I received my notice of admission to practice law at US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
A website for military physical disability
A little more about my marketing efforts. As I mentioned, I started www.pebforum.com to provide Servicemembers with quality information about the Physcial Evaluation Board process. I had my suspicion that this might happen, but it was not the idea when I started....I have gotten the majority of my clients from inquiries from the site.
So, as a consequence I needed to figure out how to maximize on these referrals. I started with Google Adwords. Basically, I put up a bunch of text ads online and spent like $100 on advertising. Along the way, I got a few mentions in Army Times (which in one week drove up registrations by 200 members!). But I realized that many, many Servicemembers were not being reached.
I decided to work on Search Engine Optimization. From the start of this summer, when I couldn't FTP files to my server and had no idea what HTML tags were, I have learned alot. But this SEO stuff is a different ballgame. This week, I installed h1 and h2 tags (which are descriptive keywords that SE see for better ranking), a sitemap generator (tells the SE where to look and when), and a new product called vBSEO (for vbulletin SEO- vBulletin is the software that powers my forums). I wrote more about this at the PEB FORUM -Vbseo post. Read it if you like!
So, as a consequence I needed to figure out how to maximize on these referrals. I started with Google Adwords. Basically, I put up a bunch of text ads online and spent like $100 on advertising. Along the way, I got a few mentions in Army Times (which in one week drove up registrations by 200 members!). But I realized that many, many Servicemembers were not being reached.
I decided to work on Search Engine Optimization. From the start of this summer, when I couldn't FTP files to my server and had no idea what HTML tags were, I have learned alot. But this SEO stuff is a different ballgame. This week, I installed h1 and h2 tags (which are descriptive keywords that SE see for better ranking), a sitemap generator (tells the SE where to look and when), and a new product called vBSEO (for vbulletin SEO- vBulletin is the software that powers my forums). I wrote more about this at the PEB FORUM -Vbseo post. Read it if you like!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Getting started
When I was a Soldiers' Counsel at the Texas Physical Evaluation Board, we sometimes had Soldiers retain civilian counsel. It was relatively rare that this happened,maybe once every other month, but I was able to observe a few things.
First, I never saw the same civilian attorney twice. That told me that there were very few attorneys that you could call expert practicing in this area.
I also saw a real mixed bag as far as quality of representation. I recall one attorney calling me to "consult" on his clients case. He basically asked me to explain the body of law covering the PEB. He obviously did not understand the concept of fitness v. unfitness and he was indignant when the formal PEB found that his client was not unfit due to his PTSD. He didn't understand that diagnosis has little to do with unfit finding.
Over time, I also saw that in many cases clients did not have a good understanding of the law, had been given bad information, and would have gotten a higher disability rating if they had good legal advice or information early in the process. I got to thinking about this and decided to put up a website, www.pebforum.com.
The idea was to put out expert information to those going through the process. I started the site while on active duty, really before I decided to leave the Army and to go into private practice. Since then it has grown into a springboard for my practice.
First, I never saw the same civilian attorney twice. That told me that there were very few attorneys that you could call expert practicing in this area.
I also saw a real mixed bag as far as quality of representation. I recall one attorney calling me to "consult" on his clients case. He basically asked me to explain the body of law covering the PEB. He obviously did not understand the concept of fitness v. unfitness and he was indignant when the formal PEB found that his client was not unfit due to his PTSD. He didn't understand that diagnosis has little to do with unfit finding.
Over time, I also saw that in many cases clients did not have a good understanding of the law, had been given bad information, and would have gotten a higher disability rating if they had good legal advice or information early in the process. I got to thinking about this and decided to put up a website, www.pebforum.com.
The idea was to put out expert information to those going through the process. I started the site while on active duty, really before I decided to leave the Army and to go into private practice. Since then it has grown into a springboard for my practice.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
First post
Well, this is the first post. This blog will cover the development of my solo (for now) law practice. To give you a little context, I recently got out of the Army as a JAG Officer. Before that, I was in the National Guard and I got mobilized after 9/11. At the time I was in command of the 1166th Transportation Company. After spending a little under two years at Ft. Bragg, NC, I decided to apply for an active commission as a JAG.
My experience in the JAG Corps was...interesting. I won't go into it all now. Just suffice it to say that my last assignment was representing Soldiers at the Texas Physical Evaluation Board. That is the administrative Board that makes recommendations regarding injured and wounded Soldiers' disability ratings (if they are unfit for continued military service). I took a real liking to representing those going through the process. So, I decided to stick with it after I got out.
That gives you enought background to follow the arc of this story. One thing I hated to see while I was on active duty was the lack of good information on the military disability evaluation system. So, I put up a website to put out good info to those who need it. It can be found at PEBFORUM.COM. I am writing about this for reason I will explain later. But for now, if you have personal need, check out the site. And if you know a wounded warrior who may benefit, pass that along, too.
My experience in the JAG Corps was...interesting. I won't go into it all now. Just suffice it to say that my last assignment was representing Soldiers at the Texas Physical Evaluation Board. That is the administrative Board that makes recommendations regarding injured and wounded Soldiers' disability ratings (if they are unfit for continued military service). I took a real liking to representing those going through the process. So, I decided to stick with it after I got out.
That gives you enought background to follow the arc of this story. One thing I hated to see while I was on active duty was the lack of good information on the military disability evaluation system. So, I put up a website to put out good info to those who need it. It can be found at PEBFORUM.COM. I am writing about this for reason I will explain later. But for now, if you have personal need, check out the site. And if you know a wounded warrior who may benefit, pass that along, too.
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