| 1. |
What is the history of the National Association of Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Attorneys Web Site? |
| NAABLA was created in
February of 2003 as a networking organization for
attorneys doing this kind of work nationwide as well as a resource for the
hospitality industry. Over the next two years considerable effort went into
locating one or more attorneys in each state and convincing them to
participate.
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| 2. |
How did the link exchanges with major organizations such as DISCUS, NCSLA, NBWA and National Restaurant Association come about? |
| These link exchanges were
initially developed over the first two years in order to increase NAABLA's
exposure to the industry and hopefully drive quality business to our members.
This program is on going and we periodically check to confirm that NAABLA
remains listed on the corresponding sites. In the occasional event that the
other site goes off line or drops the link back to NAABLA, the link to that
site at NAABLA is dropped. Members are asked to suggest any other industry
sites with which a link exchange may be beneficial to the group. Some
organizations such as NCSLA and NALCP require payment of dues and a portion of the
sustaining membership's annual dues goes to off-set these costs.
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| 3. |
Before I read any further, does it cost anything to participate? |
| For
the first two years listings were free but we closed the book on free listings
the end of 04. The goal never was to sign up as many attorneys as possible but
rather to create a limited national network of attorneys doing this type of
work who could refer business to each other. In order to generate a reasonable
annual income to keep NAABLA going and support our marketing campaign, we are now accepting only Sustaining
Memberships at $500 per calendar year. This annual fee allows us to pay Google
for participation in their AdWords program, maintaining the web-site, and be a paying member in a number of industry organizations
such as NCSLA and NALCP.
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| 4. |
I understand the Sustaining Membership dues are $500 for the calendar year but it is well into the year. Do you ever pro-rate the year's dues? |
|
No - too much trouble.
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| 5. |
For a given state how do you determine the order of listings? |
| For
the first two years, the order of listings for a given state was
determined by the order of initial participation. In early 05 all members were
given the opportunity by e-mail to become Sustaining Members with the
understanding that for a given state Sustaining Members would be listed before
non Sustaining Members. In both categories, rank is determined on a first come
basis. Starting January 1, 2007 if a state had a least one sustaining
member we no longer listed any other non-sustaining members in that
state. That policy continues.
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| 6. |
Our firm would like to become a Sustaining Member of NAABLA. What is the next step? |
| Send
an e-mail to NAABLA
with the information
you want listed for your firm and we will e-mail you back an invoice.
Upon receipt of payment we will try to post your listing within 48 hours
and let you know.
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| 7. | It is late in the calendar year. What is the risk if we wait until next year to join? |
| Any
other firm that becomes a Sustaining Member this year will always be listed
ahead of yours.
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| 8. |
If my firm pays more money than the Sustaining Membership dues, can we be ranked higher in the listings for our state? |
|
No. Membership and rankings are not up for bid.
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| 9. |
Our firm would like to also be listed under the "Federal TTB / BATF Attorneys" or "Multi-State Licensing Coordination". How does this work and is there an extra charge? |
| Any
sustaining member may request to be included on the Federal TTB list or the Multi-State
Licensing list. There is no
additional charge.
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| 10. |
Other than becoming a Sustaining Member now what else can my firm do to receive the maximum benefit from joining NAABLA? |
| (1)
Mention NAABLA to your multi-state clients when appropriate; (2) if your firm web site has a links or resources page, include a link to NAABLA (this also helps our ranking with the internet search engines); (3) remember to mention NAABLA to out of state attorneys when appropriate. (4) consider listing your membership in NAABLA on your business cards, e-business cards and letterhead. The more each member promotes the NAABLA network, the more benefit each NAABLA member will receive.
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| 11. |
How do you communicate with the members and do you ever purge the membership list? |
| We try to keep the e-mails to a
minimum so when you receive one, please read it. It is incumbent upon
the members to keep us notified of changes in their
information. Failure to respond to e-mails can result in a member's
listing being deleted. Failure to pay your sustaining membership dues by
the due date can result in your firm's listing being dropped without
further notice.
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| 12. | Does NAABLA have meetings, conventions, etc? |
| No. We are a
marketing / networking organization who's sole purpose is to
increase business for our members.
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| 13. | How does NAABLA rank with the internet search engines such as Google? |
| Considerable
effort has gone into maximizing our ranking with the search engines. As a
result, NAABLA usually comes up first out of hundreds of hits when one searches
for "liquor license attorney". You are invited to try it yourself.
Obviously this has to be an on going project as the net and search engines are
constantly evolving. In addition, in the fall of 2008 we started a paid
marketing campaign using
Google AdWords and saw visits to the NAABLA site increase ten fold.
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| 14. |
Our firm has been a member but we have now split into two firms and both want to remain members. How do you determine which is listed ahead of the other for our state? |
| This
can get tough. Being a Sustaining Member obviously helps. Having a link back
to NAABLA on your site helps. We may on request rotate the two listings
each year. There is no perfect answer.
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| 15. | Can you please tell me whether the $500 annual fee covers listings in more than one state and also whether it covers firm membership or is it $500 per attorney referenced on the website? |
| The
$500 annual Sustaining Member fee is per office per state and does cover
firm membership. We list as many attorneys per office as requested
If a firm has two offices in one state and wants both listed two SM fees
are required. If a firm has one office but want two or more separate
listing for each of two or more attorneys, separate SM fees are required. If a firm has an office in two or more states and wants all
offices listed a SM fee per office/state would be required.
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| 16. | As a member will I have any input into the way NAABLA operates? |
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Suggestions and comments from sustaining members are always welcome.
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FAQ's last revised on 07/20/2011