So what’s the big deal? Not what she said in her voice mail, but what she didn’t say. Importantly, it’s what I heard in between what she was saying that was amazing.

It sounded almost like background noise. Listening carefully, I noticed something familiar about what was being said in the background. Then I heard my name. I realized she was calling me while watching one of my educational videos.

How cool is that? She liked what I was telling her in my video and decided to call to ask questions. That fact confirms what I teach attorneys about how video can be used to convert online viewers into callers.

Ideally, you want your viewers to click on your video, watch it fully and then call you to ask questions. It’s really cool when they call while watching your video.

Want to learn what will convert your online viewers into callers? Come join me in the only video coaching group for lawyers anywhere in the country.

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Dave Kaminski of Web Video University does an excellent job of reviewing the Canon t2i DLSR camera. Here’s my question:

You’re an attorney who wants to create video. You want a camera that will last for years. You want the latest technology. You don’t want to spend a fortune. The choices of video cameras are overwhelming. SD or HD? Hard disc or tape-based? Pocket Flip camera or Kodak Zi8? $500 camcorder or a prosumer model costing $1,500?

Now, you have even more choices. Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax are all vying for your dollars by adding hi-definition video capabilities to their digital Single Lens Reflex (dSLR) cameras.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering buying a DSLR to shoot your attorney video:

1. It’s costly. This camera with lens will cost $900-$1,200 depending on the lens you buy.
2. You must buy an external wireless mic which will run you anywhere between $150-$600, depending on the mic you buy. You simply cannot use the built-in mic because it’s noisy and picks up the autofocus lens mechanism.
3. Then you need a ‘rig’ to hold all this stuff together while on your tripod. Otherwise, you’ll have to use tape or velcro to hold it up.
4. There is no flip-out screen to see yourself while you shoot video of yourself. This is unfortunate. It means you have to hook the camera up to an external monitor with a cable. If one is handy great. Otherwise, through trial and error, you have to figure out if you’re in the camera frame.

If you’re willing to spend anywhere from $1,100 to almost $2,000, then this camera might just be for you. Be forewarned. As Dave mentions in his video, this camera is NOT for the person who wants to simply turn the button on, press record and start talking. This is for the camera buff who really enjoys playing with all the settings and enjoys the technical details to get a good video shoot.

Oh yes…did I also mention it takes stunning photos?

I am tempted to sell my Sony DSC F828 with my flash to try this out.

Sony DSC F828

What do you think? Is it worth it? My 8 year old, the budding camera man, doesn’t want me to sell it since he knows how to use this camera really well. He’s not sure if he’ll be allowed to play with the Canon t2i if I sell my Sony. All thoughts appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Best regards,

Gerry

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I want to introduce you to two really smart attorneys who are implementing the ideas and methods that I teach and turning them into action.

The first attorney is Steve Gacovino, from Gacovino and Lake Associates in Sayville New York. He and his partner Ed Lake handle mass tort litigation, product liability cases and personal-injury in New York.

Steve’s first series of videos are designed to educate consumers about various defective drugs and products that have been recalled and pulled from the market. He describes things that consumers need to know in order to make an educated decision about which attorneys to hire.

The next attorney I want to introduce you to is Michael Serres of the law firm Pyrros & Serres. They are very successful workers compensation attorneys handling cases in New York. Their videos showcase and explain details about workers compensation and Social Security disability cases.

Watch my video above to learn why these attorneys are using video to market themselves online. Learning how to create video is so crucial to market yourself as an attorney today. I encourage you to explore my blog and if you have questions about my video coaching program or my total online video solution for lawyers, I encourage you to pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail: Gerrya@lawyersvideostudio.com. I welcome your call.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Gerry

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SOUND CHECK
Have you ever just sat in your office and listened to the sounds? If you did, I bet you’d hear traffic, a siren, a horn, a hum from your computer, the cackle of secretaries laughing at some joke, your partners walking by your office talking loudly, your phone ringing, and on and on.

When you are deciding on a place in your office to shoot video, you must consider all of these elements and ways to eliminate or reduce these ambient sounds. Otherwise, your pristine looking video will have unwanted background noise. Yes, that noise can be minimized in the post-production phase with video editing software, but the better practice is to eliminate it while taping instead of later during editing.

LENGTH OF YOUR VIDEO

How long will your video clip be? The short answer is “Not too long.” The longer answer is “Not too short.”

You are not limited to thirty or sixty seconds of a quick commercial of you screaming at potential clients that they must come to you. With online video, you can use your time to explain to clients how you can help them. That’s the key. Again, if you’ve taken the time to watch some attorney videos, you will see that most videos do nothing to help explain anything to potential clients.

Most website companies will tell you they need to shoot a few hours of video in your office that could take most of the day. You think “Ok, that’s fine. I expect to get lots of usable video for all those hours, right?” No, you’re wrong. These same companies take your video and multiple re-do’s of the same topic and will edit them into maybe four or five video clips. “Four or five hours of video shooting, and all I get is four or five video clips?” Yes, that’s true. “But how long is each video clip?” “About 1-2 minutes each,” comes the suave reply.

“Wait a second…you’re telling me that after spending four, five or six hours shooting and re-shooting videos; spending an entire day disrupting my office schedule doing this video stuff, all I can expect to get is a total of eight to ten minutes of video??!!” Yes, that’s correct. “I don’t get it! I’m paying all this money, spending all this time, and this is the end result? That’s crazy!”

Yes, it is crazy. These same website companies tell you that potential clients have limited attention spans. This has some truth to it. They also tell you that in their “experience” viewers can absorb only one to two minutes of video. I disagree. I think one to two minutes of video are not very helpful and do not give you enough time to explain a particular legal concept or answer a particular question.

If you put your videos on video sharing sites like YouTube, Yahoo Video, Blip.tv, Metacafe, Mefeedia, etc. you don’t pay a dime to have these sites host your video. However, there is a drawback to only using these video sharing sites to “host” your videos: You lose control of that video. Ads will appear as an overlay on your videos that will entice viewers to click away, never to return to your video.

I firmly believe that your video clips should be anywhere from two to four minutes in length. I have found that if a viewer has found your video and has a pressing legal issue, they have no problem watching a few minutes of your video if you are answering a legal topic that applies to them. In fact, I have had people call me telling me that my videos were so helpful, educational and informative, that they spent hours and days watching all of my videos.

That’s impressive since I currently have over 250 educational videos online about medical malpractice, wrongful death and personal injury law in New York.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

To give you some insight into how I create my own videos, it takes me 15 minutes to set up my equipment, one to two hours to get one full hour of video tape, and 10-15 minutes to take down my equipment. From that one hour of video, I can usually obtain four to five usable video clips that average from two to three minutes in length.
Now we enter the post-production phase.

POST-PRODUCTION

What happens now that the video-shoot is over, and the video techs have left your office? The video tape has to be uploaded to a computer. If I’ve shot one hour of video, it takes a great deal of time to get the video onto the computer. Once it is physically on my computer, I must edit it using video editing software. This is very time consuming and labor intensive.

VIDEO EDITING

For a one hour video, it will take at least six hours (or more) to edit the video, add graphics, background music and convert the video file to a file that is internet-compatible, compressed and ready to be uploaded to your website and the video sharing sites. This is by far, the most time consuming part of making the actual video.

Once your video clips have been edited and are now “ready for upload” they must be optimized for the video search engines, and the regular search engines. The videos are useless if they’re not recognized by the search engines and indexed by sites like YouTube and Google.

The editing is the “behind-the-scenes” work that makes your video come alive. Most attorneys just want to see the final product, and that’s ok. However, when a video editor spends 8 hours to edit your videos, you will begin to understand why website companies charge so much money.

Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 21 years. He has produced and created over 300 educational videos to help consumers understand how lawsuits work in the State of New York. If you want to see how Gerry has used video to promote take a look at his New York medical malpractice video blog.
Gerry created the Lawyers’ Video Studio to help other lawyers get onto video. To get started creating video to market your legal services, Gerry now offers a “Done-for-you” service where he does everything, except show up on camera, where you don’t have to learn anything technical. Take a look at Gerry’s Total Online Video Solution for Attorneys.

You can reach Gerry personally at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. He welcomes your call.

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How Really Smart Lawyers Are Using Video On The Web

Do you?

You know how to press “Record” on your flip camera, right? You know not to shoot in low-level light, right? You know not to use your on-board microphone, right? You know how to set your white balance, even on your little handy video camera like your Kodak Zi8, right?

Excellent. Then why aren’t you creating video to market your law practice? If you are, why aren’t those viewers calling your office? What are they waiting for, a personal invitation? Are your viewers really expecting you to reach through the computer screen and physically pull them into your office? Get real.

Ok- let’s get serious here and dump the sarcasm. Do you know what it takes to create great video? Initiative. Guts. Drive. That’s it. The rest falls into place.

Anyone can hire a video company to produce great quality video. That’s the super-easy part. The hard part is learning what to talk about in your video; learning what your viewer wants to see and hear; learning to stop talking about yourself, and finally, learning how to tell the world about your new video.

I want you to read that paragraph again, because it’s so important.

You must remember that unless your video producer is also an experienced trial attorney, they may have no idea who your ideal client is. If you hire a wedding videographer to shoot your video, he or she may show up in your office and simply say, “Ok, start talking.” That won’t get you anywhere with your viewers.

In jury selection you want to let jurors talk. If you’re doing all the talking, you learn nothing about your jury. If you ask your jurors open-ended questions, it gives them an opportunity to talk and you will actually learn something about them. Why can’t you do the same for your videos?

Stop talking! (Figuratively). Instead, start giving your viewers information that THEY NEED to know. Don’t give them information you think they need to know about you, your wonderful credentials and your law firm: “We’ve been in business since the Ice Age…”

“Our collective wisdom is greater than the teachings of the Bible…”

“Our partners have all been on law review and clerked for the Wise men of…”

Here’s what a viewer says to all that: “Yeah, so? How will that help solve MY legal problem?”

You think you have what it takes to create great content for your video?

If not, give me a call so together, we can create great content for your videos.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

___________________

“Gerry Oginski is a master of online-video marketing for lawyers.  He creates excellent video and is valuable source of information.  But, don’t take my word for this — view Gerry’s videos and judge for yourself.  You won’t be disappointed.”

______________________

About Gerry

How Really Smart Lawyers Are Using Video On The Web- New Book!

Gerry is a veteran New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer and is the only video producer who is also a seasoned trial lawyer. He has produced and created over 250 educational videos to promote his own law firm using his New York Medical Malpractice Video Blog.

Gerry created the Lawyers’ Video Studio to help get other lawyers get onto video. Gerry offers an all-in-one, ‘we-do-it-all for you’ system where he does everything for you except appear on camera. Learn more in the Lawyers’ Video Studio.

You can reach Gerry personally at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. He welcomes your call.

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I was even more curious because it had my name and website listed under the headline. I knew that I didn’t write a blog post with that name or a video with that title. I was intrigued.

The website URL was the New York Times online blog. I clicked on the link which took me to the New York Times online site. The blog post was all about black ice and how dangerous it is in New York City. Further into the article the writer mentioned a video I made titled “Slip and fall on snow and ice-who is at fault?” and some of the comments I made in my video.

It was a great pick-up and mention of my video in this blog post. In the discussion following the post, there were clear differences of opinion about who would be responsible for black ice. I was also pleased to see that the writer had mentioned that this is only one of many videos I had created.

THE BACK STORY

Here’s the back story on that video. A few years ago I wrote an article and posted online and also my website. It was a lengthy detailed article explaining what a consumer needed to know if they slipped and fell on snow and ice. The article came about because of the case I handled involving a woman who slipped in a parking lot on black ice. When I got into video a few years ago, I realized this would be a perfect topic for viewers to learn about so they could understand how an attorney proves a slip and fall case on snow and ice in New York. Most people are unfamiliar with notice requirements. Rather, they often come into the office thinking that simply because they fell and got hurt that automatically means they have a valid case. Anyone who practices personal injury law knows that’s simply not the case. Proving notice is essential, whether it is constructive or actual notice.

Click here to watch the video.

In any event, the writer of this blog post J. David Goldman was writing about Black ice in New York City and must have found my video by doing a Google search on the topic of slip and falls and black ice.

For those attorneys who think that video doesn’t work, they are dead wrong. Video establishes you as the “go-to” expert; establishes your credibility and builds trust with your viewer. I have been contacted many times by news reporters based upon informative videos I’ve created. It’s a really cool feeling when a news reporter calls you and says “I was watching your video online and I would like to ask you more questions for a news piece I’m working on.”

In fact, just today I received a phone call from a woman who found my videos online and called to ask me for more information. She was so appreciative of the information I had in my videos that she told me she watched at least 10 of them before calling me. Importantly, she said every time she did a search online, my videos kept coming up in her search results. That’s the purpose of creating educational and informative videos, so that you’re not only the logical choice for viewer to call, but the only choice.

If you haven’t made the jump onto video yet, I strongly encourage you to explore my website here in the Lawyers’ Video Studio to learn how video can help improve your marketing message. My goal is to help get you  onto video to improve your life, your practice and your income.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Have a great day.

Gerry

________________

Horsetiger Limited, Managing, Marketing & Media

Rod Mitchell, Director

rod.mitchell@horsetiger.co.uk
www.horsetiger.co.uk

________________

About Gerry

How Really Smart Lawyers Are Using Video On The Web- New Book!

Gerry is a veteran New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer and is the only video producer who is also a seasoned trial lawyer. He has produced and created over 250 educational videos to promote his own law firm using his New York Medical Malpractice Video Blog.

Gerry created the Lawyers’ Video Studio to help get other lawyers get onto video. Gerry offers an all-in-one, ‘we-do-it-all for you’ system where he does everything for you except appear on camera. Learn more in the Lawyers’ Video Studio.

You can reach Gerry personally at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. He welcomes your call.

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“You sound like you’re in a tunnel.”

“You sound like you’re in the toilet.”

“You sound tinny.”

“Your audio seems like it was made with a child’s toy microphone.”

STOP USING YOUR BUILT-IN MICROPHONE!

If you don’t want to spend more than $20 to improve your video, then run to Radio Shack and buy a wired lapel microphone. That will improve your video significantly. Your built-in microphone picks up all ambient sound including your dog barking, the air conditioner, the vent, the police siren, the telephone ringing and on and on.

Your built-in mic makes you sound awful. That’s not the image you want. Get a mic you plug into your camcorder. If you really want crystal clear audio, get a wireless lapel microphone system. But then again, if you want crappy audio that nobody will listen to, then go right ahead and keep using your built-in camera microphone.

Thanks for reading my blog!

______________________

Mark Merenda, CEO of SmartMarketing for attorneys says “My clients love the fact that Gerry’s a lawyer and not just some wedding photographer with a video camera.”

Gerry’s videos are great! Aside from turning out technically superb pictures, he understands the legal marketing field. I highly recommend Gerry’s services to any lawyer who wants to create an instant bond with potential clients.

Mark Merenda, CEO SmartMarketingNow.com Naples, Florida 239-403-7755

______________________

Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 21 years. He has produced and created over 200 educational and informative videos to help consumers understand how lawsuits work in the State of New York. If you want to see how Gerry has used video to promote his own practice click here.

Gerry created the Lawyers’ Video Studio to help lawyers get onto video. To get started with creating video to market your legal services, Gerry offers a simple and cost-effective turn-key video creation system where he does everything for you except appear on camera, click here to learn more.

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http://lawyersvideostudio.com

In this video I give a “State of Affairs” commentary about online attorney marketing from 2009. In the next series of Fireside chats you’ll see more commentary about how attorneys need to engage their viewers more and leave behind the old ways of ‘marketing’ themselves with traditional forms of advertising.

Watch the video to learn more.

Best regards,

Gerry

The Lawyers’ Video Studio
“A great place to learn how to create and improve your attorney video.”
25 Great Neck Rd., Ste. 4
Great Neck, NY 11021
516-487-8207
Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com

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Lawyers who use pay-per-click are literally paying rent to be on the right-side of Google search results, or at the top of the page with the yellow background. Many of these firms are nowhere to be found in the organic search results. What does that mean? If you stop paying rent, nobody will find your website.

The same is now true for your videos.

YouTube has created a program that allows you to appear at the top and on the right side of the search results in a YouTube search, for a fee, of course. Pay-per-click for video. Guess what? Stop paying rent and try to find your video. If you can’t, your videos will not be watched.

More importantly, you need to ask why your videos are not being indexed and ranking highly in YouTube’s organic search results. If you’re not coming up in the organic search results, you have a big problem. You need help. I have the solution.

Take a look at my turn-key system to get you on video. Create video; have it uploaded; optimized for the search engines; blogged about; put on my own blog; and tell the world about it using my social network and yours as well. Our video incentive program is the best value for your money. Anywhere.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

______________________

“Whether trying to learn valuable tips on how to shoot online video for yourself or knowing what to ask an online video company, Gerry Oginski and The Lawyers’ Video Studio has quickly become the hub for information about online videos for the legal profession.  Online video is the future of law firm marketing and Gerry has more knowledge about that area than any other person.  Gerry has become a leading expert about online videos for attorneys and his information has encouraged our firm to increase our use of online video and make it the priority for our marketing and advertising campaign.”

Damon T. Duncan, Esq., Duncan Law, PLLC  628 Green Valley Rd., Suite 304, Greensboro, NC 27408 t:336.856.1234

DamonDuncan@DuncanLawOnline.com

http://www.DuncanLawOnline.com

______________________

Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 21 years. He has produced and created over 200 educational and informative videos to help consumers understand how lawsuits work in the State of New York. If you want to see how Gerry has used video to promote his own practice click here.

Gerry created the Lawyers’ Video Studio to help lawyers get onto video. To get started with creating video to market your legal services, Gerry offers a simple and cost-effective turn-key video creation system where he does everything for you except appear on camera, click here to learn more.

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There is no shortage of dry cleaners in Great Neck. The key is finding one that is convenient. That’s why most people use local services; because they are convenient and easy to get to. Remember that when deciding where to open your office.

I decided to give the dry cleaners that are literally next door to my office a try. Why not? I pass by their store every day when I go to and from work. They seem nice enough. All dry cleaners are the same, I thought. They all solve the same problem: They clean my clothes and expect a fee. They all use the same cleaning process, so differentiating one dry cleaner from another is virtually impossible. So why choose one over the other? Convenience.

When I went in for the first time, I noticed that the place is brightly lit, and the front desk is always manned by the same woman I see everyday. We park our cars in the same lot behind our building. It turns out it is a husband and wife team that runs the shop. Setting up my account took less than two minutes.

I’m happy to report that every time I walk in to drop off or pick up my clothes the same woman has a smile on her face and welcomes me by name. She knows who I am, and before I even have a chance to pull out my laundry ticket, she has punched up the information on the computer and gone to the back to obtain my clothes. That is true service. Our transaction finished, she turns to me with a great big sincere smile and says “Thank You Mr. Oginski, have a great day!”

Imagine that you could offer this type of service to your clients when they walk in the door. That would certainly make their day.

How can use this to improve your attorney video? Simple.

When you create your video, make sure you welcome your viewer. At the end of your video thank them for watching. That’s how you show a viewer you appreciate their time.

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