Great Legal Marketing

“A Parade of Moving Interest” was a phrase that Ben Glass explained to a packed room full of lawyers from around the country looking to stand out from the crowd. Unless you were a Dan Kennedy devotee, you most likely needed Ben’s explanation to understand the concept that a consumer or potential client isn’t looking for you or your legal services when they wake up in the morning.

How then do you market to a group of people who don’t need you now? That was the challenge that Ben attacked so well. On Friday night and Saturday morning, we were treated to Dan Kennedy talking about that exact issue. “How do you market to a group of people who inherently mistrust what you are and what you have to say?”

The answer was insightful. It took Ben and Dan hours to get to the bottom line and was well worth it.

Here’s my take-away from the conference:

You must build relationships. You must get people to like you and trust you. How do you do that? I’m glad you asked, because Ben, Tom Foster and Rem Jackson explained just that over the course of two days in Reston, Virginia.

The obvious way to build a relationship is with personal interaction. Absent that, the next best way is using video. There is no other media available that allows a prospective client to get to know you, like you and trust you, before they ever meet you. Lawyers can leverage video to maximize their time by creating one educational message that can be watched 10 times, 1000 times or 1 million times, all for the same exact cost of zero.

There was a new topic at GLM this year: Lawyers competing for prizes based upon worst marketing to best marketing. The competition was fierce.

Neil Goldstein, a PI attorney from Long Island gave a heart-rendering overview of how Ben helped him transform the way he practiced law and changed his life. Brian Mittman a disability attorney in Westchester, NY described a similar transformation, and created a humorous video about blog-talk-radio. An unusual competitor was Larry Weinstein, a CPA from Texas who showed us step-by-step what an incredible marketer he has become using the strategies and techniques used by Ben Glass, Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer. Jason Epstein also explain his transformation. The last attorneys competing for a MacBook Pro or and iPad2 were Andy Garcia and Collin Phillips, PI attorneys from Massachusets. They created a video that spoofed the movie Social Network and was really funny. The winner of a new MacBook Pro? Phillips & Garcia!

I also need to mention four really smart lawyers who are clients of the Lawyers Video Studio who also attended GLM: Jack Carney-DeBord, a PI/Divorce attorney from Ohio; Brent Adams, a PI attorney from North Carolina; John Burns, a PI attorney from California and Joe Hanyon, a PI attorney from Pennsylvania.

For those of you who have never attended a GLM conference and simply buy the DVD’s to watch at home, let me tell you that you’re missing out big-time. The reason to go to a legal marketing conference like this is to hang out with smart lawyers. You begin to build relationships with like-minded lawyers who are looking to improve their marketing. At the seminar you’ll find many lawyers who love to share their ideas just by asking them. Talking to super smart legal marketers like Dave Frees, a Trusts and Estates attorney in Pennsylvania; Bob Battle, a DUI attorney from Northern Virginia, Jim Brown, a Bankruptcy lawyer and Charlie Hoffheimer, a divorce lawyer are worth everything. You can’t get that simply by listening to a DVD.

FYI- this was my third legal marketing seminar within a two month period. Become a marketing student, implement what you learn and watch what happens to your law practice. It works.

If you don’t know Bob Battle, you should. Bob is a DUI attorney in Virginia who is an amazing lawyer and marketer of his legal services. He’s a solo practitioner, just like me.

I had a chance to talk to Bob after I presented a lecture to a great group of attorneys at MILOfest (Macs in Law Office) seminar in Orlando, Florida last weekend. I was talking about why creating video for lawyers is so important to market their law practice.

Bob was kind enough to express his thoughts about me and my presentation in this short video, which in reality is a wonderful testimonial by Bob. Thank you Bob, for taking the time to tell us what you thought about my presentation.

For more information, I urge you to explore my website, http://lawyersvideostudio.com and when you want to get started creating your attorney video, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me, Gerry Oginski at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. I welcome your call.

Gerry Oginski, Esq.
The Lawyers’ Video Studio
25 Great Neck Rd., Ste. 4
Great Neck, NY 11021
516-487-8207

Dateline:

November 8, 2009; Somewhere between Orlando, Florida, and New York (The livemap function tells me we’re somewhere over North Carolina now)

I’m flying at 33,000 feet looking out my window on JetBlue back to New York. I see clear blue skies and a few clouds. I’m heading back from Orlando, Florida where I had the chance to talk to a group of lawyers about why video for lawyers is so important. Here’s the bottom line: Lawyers who haven’t started creating video are losing out tremendous opportunities.

I presented on Friday morning, November 6, 2009; a gorgeous cool 75 degree day with crystal clear skies. The room was filled with lawyers and their Mac laptops. There wasn’t a PC in sight. For the lecture, I borrowed my daughter’s 13 inch MacBook, which is light enough to carry anywhere. In fact, I’m using it to type this blog post.

POINT 1: A WAKE UP CALL

I was amazed at the response following my talk. Attorneys were coming up to me thanking me for enlightening them about the need for lawyer video. A handful of lawyers told me they never even considered ‘education-based’ video to market their law practice. Many attorneys I spoke to afterward said that they enjoyed my presentation so much that they are definitely going to start creating video.

I even had a law professor tell me he was going to create two different videos; one geared toward trial lawyers and the other directed to appellate lawyers. It was exciting to see how lawyers finally ‘get it’ when shown how significant video can be.

POINT 2: USE DIFFERENT (ETHICAL) WAYS TO MARKET YOUR PRACTICE

During my talk, I recognized DUI attorney Bob Battle from Virginia sitting in the audience. Bob is an innovator in marketing a solo practice; especially a DUI practice. In the beginning of my talk I showed the group that I looked like a bobble-head in the first video I ever put online. Why do I mention this? Because Bob Battle is probably the only attorney to create an actual bobble-head of himself to help market his practice.

POINT 3: TALK TO OTHER ATTORNEYS IN DIFFERENT PRACTICE AREAS

During the lunch break I had a chance to talk with attorney Victor Medina, the attorney who created and put together MILOfest. Victor is a trusts and estates attorney in New Jersey and he clearly ‘gets it’ in terms of marketing. In addition to being a Mac expert, Victor was telling me how effective seminars are to market his practice.

You can’t practice law today simply by hanging a shingle out, taking out a small yellow pages ad, going to bar association meetings and hoping that someone will call. Instead, savvy lawyers, especially Mac-loving lawyers who use their Mac computers in their law office realize that the practice of law for solo and small firm lawyers means you wear many hats.

POINT 4: ADOBE ACROBAT IS USEFUL-If you know how to use it

At MILOfest we learned the importance of Adobe Acrobat in preparing great presentations and were shown how to actually use it. We also learned why having a 3-D timeline can help convince a judge or a jury of the sequence of factual events in a clear and unmatched way.

POINT 5: BLOGGING IS IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH YOURSELF

Later in the day we heard from the Grand Daddy of blogging; Some actually call him the Blawgfather, Grant Griffiths. Grant is excellent at getting the message out that lawyers have to blog. It’s as simple as that. Blogging is a great way to market yourself. Grant and his son have developed a fascinating theme for WordPress blogs called Headway. What makes Headway so interesting is the ability to change your blog instantly and easily, without knowing any code.

I am happy to report that this blog, The Lawyers’ Video Studio, runs on a Headway theme from Grant Griffith’s team. If you have a chance, take a look at my site to see what I’ve done with it, then head over to Headway and see what others have done with their blogs.

In a few days I’ll be posting a video testimonial describing what attorney Bob Battle thought about my presentation. In addition, you’ll hear from one lawyer who said this was the best conference she’s ever been to! Now, that’s impressive. I look forward to next year’s MILOfest.

Dateline:

November 8, 2009; Somewhere between Orlando, Florida, and New York (The livemap function tells me we’re somewhere over North Carolina now)

I’m flying at 33,000 feet looking out my window on JetBlue back to New York. I see clear blue skies and a few clouds. I’m heading back from Orlando, Florida where I had the chance to talk to a group of lawyers about why video for lawyers is so important. Here’s the bottom line: Lawyers who haven’t started creating video are losing out tremendous opportunities.

I presented on Friday morning, November 6, 2009; a gorgeous cool 75 degree day with crystal clear skies. The room was filled with lawyers and their Mac laptops. There wasn’t a PC in sight. For the lecture, I borrowed my daughter’s 13 inch MacBook, which is light enough to carry anywhere. In fact, I’m using it to type this blog post.

POINT 1: A WAKE UP CALL

I was amazed at the response following my talk. Attorneys were coming up to me thanking me for enlightening them about the need for lawyer video. A handful of lawyers told me they never even considered ‘education-based’ video to market their law practice. Many attorneys I spoke to afterward said that they enjoyed my presentation so much that they are definitely going to start creating video.

I even had a law professor tell me he was going to create two different videos; one geared toward trial lawyers and the other directed to appellate lawyers. It was exciting to see how lawyers finally ‘get it’ when shown how significant video can be.

POINT 2: USE DIFFERENT (ETHICAL) WAYS TO MARKET YOUR PRACTICE

During my talk, I recognized DUI attorney Bob Battle from Virginia sitting in the audience. Bob is an innovator in marketing a solo practice; especially a DUI practice. In the beginning of my talk I showed the group that I looked like a bobble-head in the first video I ever put online. Why do I mention this? Because Bob Battle is probably the only attorney to create an actual bobble-head of himself to help market his practice.

POINT 3: TALK TO OTHER ATTORNEYS IN DIFFERENT PRACTICE AREAS

During the lunch break I had a chance to talk with attorney Victor Medina, the attorney who created and put together MILOfest. Victor is a trusts and estates attorney in New Jersey and he clearly ‘gets it’ in terms of marketing. In addition to being a Mac expert, Victor was telling me how effective seminars are to market his practice.

You can’t practice law today simply by hanging a shingle out, taking out a small yellow pages ad, going to bar association meetings and hoping that someone will call. Instead, savvy lawyers, especially Mac-loving lawyers who use their Mac computers in their law office realize that the practice of law for solo and small firm lawyers means you wear many hats.

POINT 4: ADOBE ACROBAT IS USEFUL-If you know how to use it

At MILOfest we learned the importance of Adobe Acrobat in preparing great presentations and were shown how to actually use it. We also learned why having a 3-D timeline can help convince a judge or a jury of the sequence of factual events in a clear and unmatched way.

POINT 5: BLOGGING IS IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH YOURSELF

Later in the day we heard from the Grand Daddy of blogging; Some actually call him the Blawgfather, Grant Griffiths. Grant is excellent at getting the message out that lawyers have to blog. It’s as simple as that. Blogging is a great way to market yourself. Grant and his son have developed a fascinating theme for WordPress blogs called Headway. What makes Headway so interesting is the ability to change your blog instantly and easily, without knowing any code.

I am happy to report that this blog, The Lawyers’ Video Studio, runs on a Headway theme from Grant Griffith’s team. If you have a chance, take a look at my site to see what I’ve done with it, then head over to Headway and see what others have done with their blogs.

In a few days I’ll be posting a video testimonial describing what attorney Bob Battle thought about my presentation. In addition, you’ll hear from one lawyer who said this was the best conference she’s ever been to! Now, that’s impressive. I look forward to next year’s MILOfest.

For those lawyers who have not jumped on video yet or are struggling to figure out what content to put in your video, here’s a brief example of what you can include in your video:

If you’re a DUI/DWI lawyer, how about a video that discusses what to do if you see flashing lights behind you while driving? Sounds simple, right? It is. Walk a person through exactly what happens when the police officer steps up to your car. “Hand over your license, registration and insurance card. Be polite…” You might have written an article about this, but now turn that into an educational video clip.

Explain the different sobriety tests a policeman will use if he suspects you are intoxicated. Explain why the tests are not all perfectly objective, and what that might mean later on if you try to contest them. DUI attorney Bob Battle recently did this in a video filmed by Fairfax, Virginia trial attorney Ben Glass, that delved into why an intoxilizer used in Virginia was inaccurate.

If you’re an immigration attorney, explain the process of how a person applies for a green card. What information is needed? How long does the process take? How much does it cost?

If you’re a patent attorney, explain how someone goes about applying for a patent.

If you’re a bankruptcy attorney, explain how you can get creditors to stop harassing you at home.

Get the idea? The content is right in front of you. Just think about what your prospective clients want to know. Then package it into a short, concise video that explains the process.

_______________________

If you’d like to learn more about creating attorney video, I strongly urge you to explore my articles and blog posts here in the Lawyers’ Video Studio. Any questions, give me a call at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Gerry

For those lawyers who have not jumped on video yet or are struggling to figure out what content to put in your video, here’s a brief example of what you can include in your video:

If you’re a DUI/DWI lawyer, how about a video that discusses what to do if you see flashing lights behind you while driving? Sounds simple, right? It is. Walk a person through exactly what happens when the police officer steps up to your car. “Hand over your license, registration and insurance card. Be polite…” You might have written an article about this, but now turn that into an educational video clip.

Explain the different sobriety tests a policeman will use if he suspects you are intoxicated. Explain why the tests are not all perfectly objective, and what that might mean later on if you try to contest them. DUI attorney Bob Battle recently did this in a video filmed by Fairfax, Virginia trial attorney Ben Glass, that delved into why an intoxilizer used in Virginia was inaccurate.

If you’re an immigration attorney, explain the process of how a person applies for a green card. What information is needed? How long does the process take? How much does it cost?

If you’re a patent attorney, explain how someone goes about applying for a patent.

If you’re a bankruptcy attorney, explain how you can get creditors to stop harassing you at home.

Get the idea? The content is right in front of you. Just think about what your prospective clients want to know. Then package it into a short, concise video that explains the process.

_______________________

If you’d like to learn more about creating attorney video, I strongly urge you to explore my articles and blog posts here in the Lawyers’ Video Studio. Any questions, give me a call at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Gerry