I got a really good laugh when I spied this book sitting on my bookshelf while looking for my “Evidence in Negligence Cases” book written by New York personal injury trial attorney Tom Moore. I’d totally forgotten this book that I bought years ago while trying to figure out how to market myself online.

The subtitle is “The complete guide to creating winning ads,” by Kerry Randall and printed by the ABA Law practice management section. The really funny thing is I remember reading this book cover to cover,  marking it up, highlighting it and trying to use it to improve my Yellow Pages ad.

This is the stuff that the ABA printed to help lawyers learn how to market themselves. It was originally printed in 2002, thirty years after attorneys started using Yellow Pages to market themselves. Now that’s what I call being on the cusp of attorney marketing! (Notice the sarcasm?)

Chapter 20 is titled “Choosing your reputation: creating a memorable slogan.” Yes, that’s what attorneys need to set themselves apart…a slogan! It’s abundantly clear to me that the information contained within this book is so outdated and so irrelevant in today’s age of social networking and online marketing that I truly got a hearty laugh seeing this book hidden in my bookshelf.

As a year-end project I cleaned out more junk and got another laugh. When I went out on my own in 2002, one of the first marketing things I purchased was a program that my good friend Ben Glass refers to as ‘something that made me want to puke’. I agree. The advice being given in this attorney marketing program was basically a “call here for free cheesy report.”  When you gave your name,  the program urged you to  to bombard  that potential client with multicolored mail with time-stamped deadlines.  I’m happy to say that that program was ridiculous, and a great learning experience for me.

Bar associations today are supposed to help teach their members things that they didn’t teach you in law school. Since law schools neglect to teach lawyers how to market themselves, lawyers are left to learn how to figure this out on their own or be mentored by more senior attorneys. There are very few bar associations across the country that endorse and actively seek expert lawyer marketers to teach their members how to make money in the practice of law. Many lawyers still feel that marketing and advertising is not something a proper professional should do. Many of our bar associations feel the same way.

Unfortunately, that explains one reason why bar associations are so behind the eight ball when it comes to teaching attorneys how to effectively market themselves and make a good living in the process. Lawyers who recognize that marketing is crucial in today’s practice of law understand the importance of all the types of media that you can use and should be fluent in. This applies not only to solo practitioners and small law firms, but midsize law firms and even big law firms as well.

Yellow pages advertising is out. Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter are the standards by which most people in the 21st century are using to communicate their online message. Lawyers who wait for the next book from their local bar association or national Bar Association will be years behind and continue to wonder why their marketing is not really working.

So, if you want to get a really good laugh, clean up the junk in your bookcase, and realize that traditional forms of attorney advertising simply don’t work.

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To learn how to communicate effectively using the best tools possible, I encourage you to explore my blog here in the Lawyer’s Video Studio. To learn how really smart lawyers are using video to set themselves apart, I encourage you to read my new January 2011 lawyers video studio newsletter.

Have questions about creating video? Call me: 516-487-8207 or by email: Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. I welcome your call.

Attorney video is a game-changer. It has been for me.

1. Video shows you are different
2. Video allows a viewer to see you; hear you and begin to trust you.
3. Video begins to establish trust with your viewer before they ever walk into your office. Lawyers have a really bad reputation among the general public, and most people do not think highly of lawyers. Video allows you to gain their trust before they ever meet you. You cannot accomplish that with any other form of attorney advertising.
4. Video allows you to show that you have information that your ideal client wants to know.
5. Video allows you the chance to show that you’re human and approachable.

These five reasons only scratch the surface of why you need to create video today.

To learn how one lawyer has taken the legal community by storm and provides the only online video solution for attorneys, you need to explore Gerry’s Total Online Video Solution for Lawyers.

In case you didn’t know, Gerry is the only video producer who is also a medical malpractice trial lawyer who has created almost 300 educational videos to market his own law practice. He created the Lawyers’ Video Studio because there were no lawyers helping other lawyers getting onto video today.

Give Gerry a call today at 516-487-8207 or send him an email at Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. He welcomes your call.

I never thought I’d be talking about world domination, but it’s crucial to dominate in order to outshine and outperform your competition.

Answer this question: How are you different from your colleagues down the street that do the exact type of work that you do?

• “I’m bigger.”
• “I’m smaller and more personal.”
• “I have more experience.”
• “I do better legal work.”
• “I return phone calls; they don’t.”
• “I charge less than they do.”

Great, but those are all differences for a commodity; a legal service. You haven’t yet told me how YOU are different. The way to show you’re different is with video.

Not one video. Not two or three. But with five, ten, fifteen and more videos. Not 15 or 30 second videos that have no useful content. But with real content that your potential consumer wants and needs. Not legal advice, but general topics of importance.

You want someone to be able to say “I went online to find an attorney, and the only lawyer I kept seeing was you. You’re all over the internet with your videos.”

That’s dominating the online video world.

P.S. That’s exactly what one of my competitors said about me when they were doing some surveillance of who their competition was online.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

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“Gerry’s advice regarding Attorney Video Marketing is spot on.  You cannot afford not to listen to him.  As a pioneer, he has blazed the trail for us all.

Our firm would not trust outsourcing our legal marketing to just anyone.  It is critical that any vendors we use in marketing our law firm be owned or at least managed by an attorney as there are too many ethical pitfalls that a non-attorney marketer may fall into.”

Emery Brett Ledger, Personal Injury Attorney, Newport Beach, California

www.ledgerlaw.com 800.300.0001

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ABOUT GERRY

Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 21 years. He has produced and created over 230 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 other 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. To get onto video today, learn more in The Lawyers’ Video Studio.

Watch each video.
Read each title. Then ask yourself if each video sounds remarkably familiar.

“WHO’S AT FAULT IN A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE?”

New York Attorney Steven North answers:

“WHO’S AT FAULT IN A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE?”

New York Attorney Dan Minc answers:

“WHO’S AT FAULT IN A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE?”

New York Attorney Arthur Blitz answers:

Do These Videos Sound Familiar? They should. They were all done by the same video production company. But there’s even more similarity here.

• The title is the same for each.
• The background is the same for each.
• They’re even looking at the same place off-camera.
• YouTube shows they each have less than 20 views per video, even though they were uploaded over seven months ago.

But there’s a bigger problem here.

Each of the three attorneys are from different law firms. They compete with each other in the same geographic area here in New York City.

Why is that a problem?

I’d be pretty mad if my video production company had competing attorneys talk about the same exact question in their videos.

You see, a video producer helps shape and control what the attorney is going to talk about. The producer provides suggestions to the attorney about what their viewers want to hear and learn about. A video producer that blatantly tells three competing attorneys to talk about the same exact topic and asks the same exact question would make me very upset; especially if he or she didn’t tell each of these attorneys that their competitors would be asked the same exact question.

So why is that a problem?

How do you differentiate the three attorneys from these three videos?

I’ve been in practice over 21 years in New York and have created hundreds of educational videos and I can’t differentiate them from these videos.

I don’t fault the attorneys here. Rather, the fault lies with the video producer who obviously knew they’d be asking the same exact question to three different lawyers who compete with each other. The lawyers each paid good money to create their video. If this were me, I’d be rather upset.

What’s the bottom line?

Make sure your video producer helps you create original content. Make sure they’re not also creating the same exact content for your competitors. If they are, I suggest looking elsewhere for your video production needs.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Have a great day!

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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, the right questions to ask, and the concerns attorneys have about their professional image. Mark Merenda, CEO SmartMarketingNow.com Naples, Florida 239-403-7755

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Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 21 years. He has produced and created over 230 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 other 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 how to get onto video today.

How would you feel watching a video in which you see a nice family having a meal together, leaving in a car, and suffering a catastrophic car accident, complete with screams, glass shattering, ambulance lights and siren, heart beat audio in the background, scenes of the emergency room, and even a trip to the lawyer’s office? That’s what you see in this truck accident reenactment by Gordon & Elias.

Contrived and overdone, this video tries to play on your emotions complete with a badly bruised child, a trip by the widow to the cemetery to lay a single flower on her husband’s tombstone, the widow at home overwhelmed by her bills, etc.

To read the full YouLaw review and watch the video at Technolawyer Blog, click here.

Mary Cary, founder of Video Blog Marketing in San Francisco, California had this to say about me and The Lawyers’ Video Studio:

“We are huge fans of Gerry Oginski at VideoBlogMarketing.com and here are the top three reasons why:

3. Gerry’s professional and natural presence on video – Gerry is real and you can feel his pure enthusiasm,

2.  Gerry is coaching attorney’s to move into this decade!  No offense attorneys, but sometimes you are a bit behind the times when it comes to your Internet presence – listen to Gerry, he knows what’s up,

and the #1 Reason Video Blog Marketing is a huge Fan of Gerry Oginski:

1. He sends inspiring and fun emails keeping us informed that bring a splash of joy to our day.  Thank you Gerry from Me, Mary Cary at Video Blog Marketing in San Francisco!

Keep up the great work Gerry!”

It’s always nice when someone gives a written testimonial. It’s even nicer when someone takes the time to create a video testimonial. Thank you Mary!

Mary Cary
VideoBlogMarketing.com | (415) 690.7112
Website / Blog Design | Internet Marketing | Video Production

Mary Cary, founder of Video Blog Marketing in San Francisco, California had this to say about me and The Lawyers’ Video Studio:

“We are huge fans of Gerry Oginski at VideoBlogMarketing.com and here are the top three reasons why:

3. Gerry’s professional and natural presence on video – Gerry is real and you can feel his pure enthusiasm,

2.  Gerry is coaching attorney’s to move into this decade!  No offense attorneys, but sometimes you are a bit behind the times when it comes to your Internet presence – listen to Gerry, he knows what’s up,

and the #1 Reason Video Blog Marketing is a huge Fan of Gerry Oginski:

1. He sends inspiring and fun emails keeping us informed that bring a splash of joy to our day.  Thank you Gerry from Me, Mary Cary at Video Blog Marketing in San Francisco!

Keep up the great work Gerry!”

It’s always nice when someone gives a written testimonial. It’s even nicer when someone takes the time to create a video testimonial. Thank you Mary!

Mary Cary
VideoBlogMarketing.com | (415) 690.7112
Website / Blog Design | Internet Marketing | Video Production

HOW SMART LAWYERS ARE USING VIDEO ON THE WEB (Without Breaking the Bank)

by Gerry Oginski, Esq. and Tom Foster

I just got word this weekend that my new book, which I co-wrote with Tom Foster, CEO of Fosterwebmarketing.com has just been released. You can see the cover in this blog post.

I don’t yet have the link to Amazon.com yet, or the direct link to purchase it here, but it will come very soon.

This book is the culmination of the latest information you need to start yourself on a journey onto video to market your legal practice. In this book, you get two unique viewpoints: One from a veteran trial attorney (me) who has produced over 225 educational videos to market my own law practice. The other is from one of the leading webmasters in the country who explains why video is so important in converting your visitors to your website.

I also have another announcement:

Over the next few weeks you’re going to hear about a new coaching program I’m creating for lawyers who want to create video. If you sign up as a member of my coaching program, as one of the many benefits, you’ll get a free copy of this extremely helpful book.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

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Video Production Manager, Mike Acosta says

“For any of you who have been living under a rock, Gerry Oginski is the person many of us in the video world consider solely responsible for the movement by law firms to use online videos on their websites. Gerry single handedly has changed the way attorneys are viewed by their website visitors. You see, Gerry “gets it.”

If I were a law firm looking to add online videos to my website, I would call Gerry Oginski and pay him to come conduct a seminar about how to use online video as a Law Firm Marketing tool.”

Mike Acosta, Video Production, www.HBProductionGroup.com, Longwood, Florida

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Gerry is a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for over 21 years. He has produced and created over 225 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.

Many of you know that in August I revamped this website by switching from Blogger over to WordPress. I transferred over all the content to my WordPress blog and have continued to add content on a regular basis. The other night I went back to the original site, which is still online under the URL of http://videoforlawyers.blogspot.com and was shocked.

When I had last been to my site, my Feedburner counter indicated that there were 1812 readers subscribed to my blog. What shocked me was that when I looked at the Feedburner count again, it had increased by over 100 readers even though I had not added any content on the old site since August. This was fascinating.

I immediately realized that these people did not know that I switched my blog over to WordPress, and changed the URL to http://lawyersvideostudio.com. What I also needed to do was redirect people going to the old blog directly to the new one.

Importantly, I created a quick blog post on my old site letting my readers know that we had the new site up and running with tons of fresh new content. Importantly, I told my readers that if they really want content that I did not disclose to the public, then they have to sign up for my e-mail updates.

What does this have to do with creating video?

Nothing. Imagine that, coming from me. I’ve created a blog post in The Lawyer’s Video Studio having nothing directly to do with video. This is a shocker, to me anyway.

What does this have to do with attorneys who market themselves online?

Everything. If you are transferring your blog or website from one place to another, make sure that your readers from your old site know that you have a new website address, and make sure your URL is redirected seamlessly.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Have a great day!