By now, every lawyer has a website.
Every website has photographs.
Every website tells how great you and your firm are.
But how do you really distinguish yourself from all the lawyers who compete with you on a daily basis?

In most jurisdictions, including New York, you are not permitted to badmouth any other attorney. Nor can you compare yourself to another law firm or attorney by name. How then can a prospective consumer make an educated decision about which attorney is right for them if attorneys cannot objectively compare themselves to other similar attorneys?

If you haven’t guessed by now, the answer is with “Video.”
Video allows you to be yourself. It allows the viewer to see you, hear you, and begin to trust you before they even pick up the phone to call you. So how will that distinguish you from everybody else? Simple. Just be yourself.

In the “old days” a lawyer would distinguish themselves in the yellow pages by offering the following:
“Free parking,” “Easy credit card payments,” “Free consultation,” “No fee if we don’t win,” “We’ve recovered millions.”

After a while, all yellow pages ads said the same exact thing. From a consumer’s standpoint, it would be difficult, if not impossible to distinguish one lawyer from another simply from reading those ads.

Video allows you to explain.
Video allows you to ask questions and to answer them.
Video allows you to educate your potential clients. No other form of media allows you to do this as cost efficiently as video.

Conclusion:

If you truly want to distinguish yourself, get onto video today.

About Gerry

Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 20 years. He has produced and created over 170 educational and informative videos to help consumers understand how lawsuits work in the State of New York. Gerry created the Lawyers’ Video Studio to help laywers get onto video. If you’d like help getting onto video, give me a call. I can help you. If you simply need guidance and help with creating your own video, I’m available for consultation on an hourly basis. If you want an all in one turnkey system, I can do that too. What are you waiting for? Take that first step to star in your own video today. It will be the best return on investment you can make. I guarantee it.

To get onto video, call me at 516-487-8207 or by email at lawmed10@yahoo.com- I welcome your call.

Two years ago when attorneys started to use video to market their services I recognized that most lawyers were using video as if they were TV commercials. Even the better videos were nothing more than “Hey, come to me, because I’m a lawyer.”

I realized that a better way to use video was to educate viewers who were interested in the field of law in which I have specialized for almost 21 years now. Creating video has literally changed my life and the way I practice law.

I am a solo practitioner and have tried all the traditional forms of advertising; yellow pages, TV, newspaper, classifieds, display ads- all leading to wasted dollars. Video has allowed me to create one video that is available to a viewer looking for an attorney 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I pay the same whether that video is watched one time or 25,000 times. That’s an incredible form of marketing. There is no other method of advertising where you can achieve a similar return on investment anywhere.

I used to think up ethical ways to try and distinguish myself from other attorneys who compete with me in New York. However, nothing compares to video. Video is the key to showing how you’re different from everyone else. You get to speak directly to a viewer who is looking for an attorney. You get to capture their attention for a few moments while explaining how you can help them.

Over the last two years I have created over 170 educational and informative videos posted to my website and video sharing sites, to help online viewers understand how lawsuits work in New York. I receive calls every single day from viewers across the country who have watched my videos, thanking me for providing useful information that nobody else provides.

My goal in creating these videos was not to become popular. Rather, my goal was to educate people who had questions about medical malpractice, wrongful death and personal injury cases here in New York. You see, the other benefit of creating a video is that once you create it, anytime a potential client has a similar question, they can watch that video without any further repetition or additional effort on my part. Create it once, have it watched thousands and thousands of times.

One video I created called “Questions Never to Ask at a Deposition” has been watched almost 30,000 times. That, in my opinion, is amazing.

When I go to legal marketing seminars, other attorneys come up to me saying how much they really like what I’ve done using video. They recognize my face and my voice because they’ve watched my videos. They feel they already know me. Importantly, I didn’t create videos to be recognized at legal seminars, but rather to educate potential clients. Being recognized is a nice side-benefit.

Video is the best tool to market yourself on the internet today. It offers the best ROI and allows a viewer to get to know you before they ever walk in the door.

Creating video is fun for me. I enjoy the video shoot and importantly, the entire post-production process where I take a rough video project and turn it into a concise, clear, pointed message that viewers want to watch to answer their questions.

For more information about how I can help you get onto video, I encourage you to explore the articles here in the Lawyers’ Video Studio. I now offer you the ability to hire me as your consultant and guide you through the video process, or hire me to do it all for you (except appear in your videos) from start to finish. Give me a call at 516-487-8207 or email me at lawmed10@yahoo.com to get you onto video. I guarantee it’ll be the best investment you can make in your marketing today.

The next blooper in a series of attorney bloopers. Out-takes during video shoots. Some lions and monkeys thrown in too.

I like when a lawyer gives helpful information in their title. It encourages me to click on their video. Before watching the video however, I look to the sidebar to see how they describe their video. Attorney Mark Humphreys gives limited information, but still provides his phone number and Web site for easy contact.

As soon as the video starts to play, he introduces himself. I like that and he’s off to a good start. “If you or your business has been harmed by a big insurance company, there’s a good chance we can help you make it right.” Ok, I’m listening.

“Keep in mind that insurance companies make money when they don’t pay a claim.” Interesting information. He then offers viewers five tips on what to do when your claim is denied. Even better. So what’s the problem with the video?

Click here to find out.

Technolawyer publisher and online video producer Neil Squillante has some interesting comments about this video:
“If he regularly beats insurance companies, he should have enough money for a well-tailored suit.” Read the full review to find out what he means.

I see people creating attorney “videos” with nothing more than a slide show with accompanying audio. Many times these glorified slide shows don’t even show a picture of the attorney who is talking. Instead, they show photos of crashed cars, people in wheelchairs, the outside of a hospital, an ambulance or a police car.

If you really want to create a bond with your website viewer, you’ll skip the slide show and create a real, honest-to-goodness video of yourself. Using a real camcorder.

A viewer does not want to see non-descript photos, with some voice in the background. They want to see the lawyer, they want to hear the lawyer, and they want to feel confident that you know what you’re talking about. A slide-show animation with your voice in the background just doesn’t cut it.

Your best bet? Use the web to your advantage. Use the video; use the audio; and give your viewer what they want to see and hear. Doing that will far surpass any slide show.

I see people creating attorney “videos” with nothing more than a slide show with accompanying audio. Many times these glorified slide shows don’t even show a picture of the attorney who is talking. Instead, they show photos of crashed cars, people in wheelchairs, the outside of a hospital, an ambulance or a police car.

If you really want to create a bond with your website viewer, you’ll skip the slide show and create a real, honest-to-goodness video of yourself. Using a real camcorder.

A viewer does not want to see non-descript photos, with some voice in the background. They want to see the lawyer, they want to hear the lawyer, and they want to feel confident that you know what you’re talking about. A slide-show animation with your voice in the background just doesn’t cut it.

Your best bet? Use the web to your advantage. Use the video; use the audio; and give your viewer what they want to see and hear. Doing that will far surpass any slide show.

I am amazed at the volume of traffic on Twitter about people who market to attorneys, and attorneys who actively market using the same old screaming method and jargon found in 30 second TV commercials that lawyers have always used.

Here are some examples as of 6/24/09
“Lawyer marketing with Twitter”
“Lawyer marketing with Facebook and MySpace”
“Injured? Call me”
“The Little Black Book” of lawyer marketing”
“A Lawyer’s Guide to Creating a Marketing Habit in 21 Days”
“Should Your Firm be Tweeting? Social Media Marketing 101 4 Attorney Marketing Online”
“New York personal injury lawyer marketing (press release)”

I don’t get it. If all these lawyers are busy marketing to potential clients, who is left to practice law and work on cases that are already active?

I also don’t understand why these lawyers who are actively promoting themselves continue to shout the same annoying message that have turned off the public for years. Stop yelling about your services. Instead, tell your viewers how you have helped others. Then, when you’ve done that, put it in a video.

Ken Hardison

North Carolina Personal Injury attorney Ken Hardison and President of the Personal Injury Lawyers Marketing and Management Association interviewed Gerry about why video for lawyers is so important. When the audio podcast is available I’ll post it here.

Just had an article published (June 2009 edition) in the Nassau Lawyer titled “How Lawyers Can Use Video Effectively.”

You’d think all I did was create attorney bloopers. Not. These are bite-sized misspoken words as I’m trying to get my marketing message onto video.

It’s a neat little 32 second diversion.