Chances are you have a video camera with flash memory. It will hold a memory card, maybe 8GB or 16GB. If you’re really on the cutting edge, you will probably have a Class 6 high capacity memory card.
As most of you know, tape-based video has gone the way of the 8-track (for those of you old enough to remember what 8-track is).
You’ve made a conscious decision that you need to create video to market your law practice. There’s a lot of stuff on the web by various “experts” who tell that it’s easy; it’s hard; it’s easy as long as you buy my stuff to do it; it’s easy provided you follow my hundreds of steps to create quality video, and more.
The problem with most of these so-called experts is that they don’t really tell you how “easy” this really is. In fact, it’s not easy. It’s difficult and here’s why.
I’m on vacation with my family in St. Maarten, a beautiful Caribbean island. We were spending an afternoon at Pelican beach, a great little beach with a protected cove and crystal clear blue water. About 100 feet from shore, in really deep water, sat a square dock with a ladder. It’s used for sunbathers and brave swimmers who want to dive off of a dock in the middle of the ocean.
Surely you have a backup plan, right?
You spent months creating great attorney video and have been uploading them directly to YouTube. You figure that YouTube is the 800 pound gorilla in video sharing sites, and would never go down or go away. You might be right that it will never go away, but guess what? It’s not uploading my videos now because of “site issues.”
Lawyers are trying all sorts of things to get themselves noticed. Many established law firms with older partners have been reluctant to utilize new technology to market themselves in today’s brutal economic climate.
I spoke to an attorney the other day who was very excited to tell me that his firm had just created a logo and now all of their business cards would have their logo on it. I was tempted to ask the attorney whether any clients failed to hire them in the past because they did not have a logo.
Some lawyers believe that creating a slideshow with music qualifies as a “video.” Although that slideshow can be uploaded to the video sharing sites and indexed the same way as a true video, in my definition, a slideshow does not qualify as a “video.”
One can argue that the bullet points that flash across a slideshow can convey useful information to a viewer searching for an attorney. That point is valid. But if you are going to the trouble and expense of creating a message that will help your online viewers decide…
I just don’t get it. I know that our blackberries, iPhones and smart phones encroach upon our personal lives. People use their mobile devices anywhere and everywhere they go. It is not uncommon to see a man standing at the urinal holding his Blackberry checking his e-mail. (Yes, I have seen this.)
You think you have the guts to create attorney video?
You think it’s simply a matter of standing in front of the camera and pushing the red record button? You think it’s as easy as pressing the ‘upload’ button directly to YouTube without editing? It might look easy when the professionals do it but I guarantee you that unless you have the desire, the time and inclination to learn how to do it really well, it’s not easy.
I had a conversation today with someone who felt that using a Flip-style video camera to record stream of thought video was better than creating video in a studio setting where you can control the video, lights and audio.
I told this attorney that it doesn’t matter what camera you use to create your video.
I was asked this question recently by an attorney who was considering hiring me to create his video. He lived in a large college town and was considering hiring some college students who were learning about video and TV production. He asked a good question: “Can’t I just go to these people and have them shoot my video?”
The answer is…
