Some lawyers want to know how many views my videos get. Others want to know who is watching their videos; how much of the videos are watched and when the video is seen.

What these lawyers fail to recognize is that the number of views your videos generate are meaningless if the video fails to convert your viewer to a caller.

There is a misplaced belief that the more people who watch your video means that there is a greater likelihood that someone will call after watching your video. However, that’s the old ‘throw something at the wall and see if it sticks’ method of marketing. That’s not an accurate way to measure your marketing success.

In addition, Dave Kaminski from Web Video University points out that in a recent blog post What Counts As A Video View? You’d Be Surprised that “People tend to obsess over how many views their videos receive on sites like YouTube.  Unfortunately, what they don’t understand is that a view often doesn’t mean much.  And that’s because of how video views are tracked.”

Kaminski correctly points out that “Across the most popular video sites, if someone watches your video in it’s entirety, only half the video or only one second, that is counted as a view.  But it gets better. If a viewer refreshes their browser, that gets counted as a view.”

The purpose of having video metrics is to evaluate how your video is doing in relation to your other videos, and in relation to other similar videos. While it is impossible to drill down to your competitors videos to the level that you need to do a true evaluation, there are some factors that will help you determine how you’re doing.

Lawyers are competitive by nature. They want to win. Just like they strive to have thousands of followers and fans on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the number of people who press the ‘like’ button is meaningless. You can’t truly know all those people, and you can’t possibly be close to all of them. It’s the same with video metrics.

Sure I want to know how many people have clicked the ‘play’ button. I like to know if my videos are being watched to the end. I would enjoy knowing why someone has left my video mid-way to watch something else. However, those metrics are impossible to know. We can’t peek into the mind of the viewer while they are watching.

Here’s the bigger question. Let’s say you have that information. What are you going to do with it now that you know it? There are only two things that you can do with such information:

1. Revise and re-edit your existing video to make it more interesting and concise, or
2. Use it to create new video that takes into account what you’ve learned about this existing video.

If you’re not going to revise the current video or use it to make new video, then the results of your video metrics are useless.

When your video has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube, it’s a nice ego-boost. However, if the video is not converting, then it doesn’t matter if it’s been watch 10,000 times or 10 times.

Your goal when creating video is to get your online viewers to convert to callers. If you fail to achieve that result then your video metrics are useless.

My recommendation is to focus on your content and forget about the number of views you get. Keep track of the people who call and which videos they watched that prompted them to call. Those are the best metrics that will tell you what’s working and importantly, what’s not.

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Come join me in the Lawyers Video Studio with the only ‘done-for-you’ video program in the country that’s run by a veteran New York medical malpractice trial lawyer. As the only experienced video producer who is also an seasoned video producer you get the benefit of learning what works using attorney video and importantly what doesn’t. If you’re ready for video, call me today for your complimentary phone conference at 516-487-8207 or by email: gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. I look forward to speaking with you.

Are You Ready to Create Video?

Some attorneys will just know. Others will wait and watch what their colleagues are doing. Still others will never get around to picking their heads up from their work to wonder what all the fuss is about.

Which lawyer will you be?

I believe there are three kinds of lawyers. I happen to have been all three at different times in my legal career.

• The workhorse
• The rainmaker
• The marketer

The workhorse is typically an attorney who just got out of law school and works like a dog for the next five to seven years in a law firm learning everything and getting as much experience as possible. There’s no time for marketing; no time to think about rainmaking. The only thing on your mind is working hard, getting noticed by the partners and hopefully, if you’re so inclined, being asked to become a partner.

The rainmaker actively looks to bring in new business. He (or she) realizes that there are relationships to make, networking meetings to attend and money to be made by getting known. He doesn’t yet understand or know what type of rainmaking activity works best or which ones combined will generate income, but at least he’s trying to figure it out mostly by trial and error.

The marketer is someone who works on the business and not just in the business. The marketer realizes and understands that in order to grow your law business, you need multiple sources of business to keep you afloat, especially during harsh economic times. The old maxim “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” certainly applies to legal marketers. Focusing on just one marketing method is a guaranteed road to very limited success. A really good marketer will understand what “ROI” means: “Return on Investment.” That lawyer will always be looking to get the best ROI with any marketing he does. In other words, he looks to get the best bang for his buck.

Here’s my recommendations to understanding whether you’re ready to create video:

1. The workhorse is NOT ready for video. He is in the trenches each day and may not truly realize the benefits of creating attorney video to market himself and his law firm. The workhorse may not even know why lawyers would even create educational video.
2. The rainmaker IS ready for video. He is looking for ways to increase revenue to his law firm. He’s exploring different ways to see what works and what doesn’t and will look to his more-experienced colleagues for guidance. The unfortunate consequence of looking to colleagues is that this creates a ‘me-too’ marketing approach, and if it works for them, then it’ll work for me mentality. Bad idea. Don’t follow the pack.
3. The marketer IS definitely ready for video. He knows the value of creating a personal bond with his online viewer. He understands how important it is to answer viewers questions before they ever pick up the phone. He realizes that video is the best way to interact with a potential client and to show his expertise before he ever meets that person. The marketer knows that creating video is the best ROI out of any attorney advertising media currently available. He knows that the future of the internet is video. He also understands that video works for him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whether he’s in the office, on vacation or sleeping. This type of lawyer is ready to leverage his knowledge of the law and put it to use in creating educational video to market his law firm. This is the ideal attorney who is ready for video.

Which lawyer are you?

Which lawyer do you want to be?

In one year, do you see yourself asking these same questions and achieving the same results you’ve always achieved? Or, do you want to change and grow your business and your income? The choice, as always, is yours.

If you’ve heard me speak in front of hundreds of lawyers across the country you’ve heard me say this:

A good marketer is one who knows how to make a decision.

A great legal marketer is one who takes action on that decision.

An incredible legal marketer is one who implements that decision to take action.

Taking action is the only way to achieve results. Lawyers who sit around and debate all day lose opportunities that really smart marketers take advantage of. So…what are you waiting for? An invitation?

Ok, here’s your invitation:

You are cordially invited to take action and become the best legal marketer you can be.

Listen in to what Atlanta personal injury attorney Greg Stokes had to say after shooting video with the Lawyers Video Studio:

Come join me in the Lawyers Video Studio with the only ‘done-for-you’ video program in the country that’s run by a veteran New York medical malpractice trial lawyer. As the only experienced video producer who is also an seasoned video producer you get the benefit of learning what works using attorney video and importantly what doesn’t. If you’re ready for video, call me today for your complimentary phone conference at 516-487-8207 or by email: gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. I look forward to speaking with you.

Have you taken advantage of the opportunities you have today?

Have you lived your life with passion?
My good friend Rob Anspach advocates living your life with passion and by doing so it will make you wildly successful. I agree with him.

What are you going to do today that is different than yesterday that will change your practice and your life? If you can’t answer that question, you need to re-think where you’re going and what you want from your law practice and your life.

Seize the opportunity to stand out from the crowd and be different. Being different is good. Video will show you you’re really good.

To learn more about how video can make a difference in your life and your legal practice, I invite you to explore my Total Online Video Solution for Attorneys. Listen to attorney Greg Stokes explain what he thought of my video program. Click here to listen.

Frederique Constant- Ballerina Jewelers, St. Maarten

Let’s say you own a watch company. You compete with Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Movado, Festina, Frederique Constant, Alpina, Citizen, Seiko among many others. How do you market your watches?

Don’t they all just tell time?

Don’t they all have an hour hand and a minute hand? (Assuming it’s not a digital watch).

Don’t they tell you time in a 12 hour period? Most have a date. Some have a day and date. Some are automatic winding; some are quartz and require a battery. Some use light to power their watches.

Some use rare metals like titanium; others use gold. Most are stainless steel. Some can go down to 5000 feet in the ocean, others are simply water resistant and never make it past the bathroom sink. Still others cannot go in any water at all. Of course there are many styles, models and colors to suit every interest. Most importantly, how do you set yourself apart from all your competitors if every one of these time-tellers does the same thing?

Think about what you do every day. You practice law. You went to law school and are now in the real world looking for clients to support your practice and your lifestyle. How are you different from all of your colleagues and competitors?

Doesn’t everyone in your specialty handle the same type of law? Is what you do really that different from your competitors?

Let’s say that your level of experience and success is virtually identical to one of your good friends. How would a consumer be able to distinguish what you do from everyone else?

Let’s go back to the watch company. Their advertisements use exquisitely detailed and very large photos of their gleaming polished watches in their print ads. They appeal to the sports-buffs; they appeal to the individual who participates in rugged ‘manly’ sports like rock climbing, yachting and skiing. Those ads also appeal to wanna-be athletes who believe that wearing this chunk of metal brings them closer to that ideal man who wears this type of watch. You know that man, the one that requires a massive, chronograph-laden watch with 20 different functions. Others appeal to ladies fashions with bright, brilliant diamonds that surround a mother-of-pearl dial and bezel.

With watches, the appeal and detail of the photos are key to attracting buyers. There’s also the celebrity endorsements that certainly help. When you think of James Bond, what type of watch does he wear? An Omega. When you think of Andre Agassi, the tennis player, what watch does he wear in his ads?

Putting aside the celebrities you might represent, how else can you distinguish yourself? Putting up large photos of yourself doesn’t do much to set yourself apart from all other lawyers. Yet, the watch companies use details of each of their watches to set them apart.

One uses a self-winding mechanism that is the leader in these devices. One says they’re the watch worn on the moon. Another says they are the only Swiss watch company to develop rugged, action-packed mechanical devices to withstand 3 G’s worth of movement- as if you’re planning on using the watch to routinely go on death-defying roller coasters or fighter jets with massive amounts of G-force.

One of the best advertising I’ve seen from a watch company is a tutorial on how their watch actually works. They show you step-by-step how the different pieces of their watch makes the device that you wear on your wrist tell time accurately. They use photographs and diagrams to explain.

Why can’t you do the same using video?

The sooner you start creating video to help your online viewers understand how law works, the sooner you will be able to effectively set yourself apart from your competitors.

Want to learn how to do that in a simple, fun and profitable way? Then spend the next 58 seconds watching this video that explains just one way I use video to market my law practice. It’ll be eye-opening when you see the possibilities. What are you waiting for? Click here.

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“You’re videos are the ideal of what an attorney video should be!”

Here’s a great note I received from Tanner Jones at Consultwebs.com after listening to a presentation I gave in North Carolina:

“Good morning, Gerry.

Our team thoroughly enjoyed your presentation while in North Carolina.  You have obviously mastered the technique and have done a superb job at marketing your law firm via online video.  We have all read and enjoyed your book, “How really Smart Lawyers are using Video on the Web to Get More Cases.” I have already encouraged a prospective client to browse through your site and view your videos as an example of what the ideal legal video should be.”

Tanner Jones, Marketing Consultant,  Consultwebs.com, Inc. 1-800-872-6590

Final Cut Express

Some might say yes. Others say “Phooey. I’ll just press record and then when I’m done, simply upload right to YouTube.”

Besides content, editing is way up there in terms of importance and here’s why:

1. You’ve got to make your video direct and to the point. If you don’t edit out the garbage and excess verbiage, your viewer will be turned off. Don’t think that your brilliant lessons on the law are going to sway an online viewer. They won’t. Edit, edit and when you think you’ve got it just right…edit it some more.
2. It’s tough to get a totally perfect video shoot. Even when you shoot the same scene 20 times. Besides creating a concise video that (hopefully) a viewer will want to watch, editing allows you to really think about whether a viewer searching for an attorney will pay any attention to what you’re talking about.
3. Editing your video allows you to add graphics, which is always a nice touch. It allows you to color correct your video; this is very important especially when the exposure is not correct or the coloring is off. Does your audio have problems? Editing is the time to fix it.
4. Want to show that you’re a savvy video expert? Transitions show off your editing prowess.
5. Want to show off that music you’ve been playing and perfecting? Use it for an intro and exit.

If you don’t edit your videos, you look amateurish and simply have stream-of-thought consciousness; someone who just didn’t or couldn’t take the time to create a great-quality product that someone would want to watch.

My advice: Take the time to learn how to effectively edit your online videos. If you don’t have the time or don’t want to do it, hire an experienced video production company to do it all for you. It’ll be worth every penny and every minute you save. Guaranteed.

To learn more about how attorneys save time and money by joining the Total Online Video Solution program for attorneys, watch this 58 second video.

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Chris Davis & Mischelle Davis

“Gerry,

We were so happy to finally meet YOU!! We thought that we knew a thing or two about using video in our law practice until we discovered YOU. You are THE MAN!!! Meeting you last week prompted us to completely rethink our video strategy AND we decided that we weren’t doing nearly enough!!! You light a fire under our butts! We are now back in Seattle and refocusing and redoubling our video marketing efforts!!!

Thanks Gerry!!!”

Mischelle Davis

Davis Law Group, P.S.
2101 Fourth Avenue, Suite 630
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: (206) 727-4000

Go Kart racing in St. Martin, Grand Case

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 you that it’s easy. They tell you it’s hard. They tell you it’s easy as long as you buy my stuff to do it. They tell you 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 at all and here’s why.

You need the technical know-how and YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT CONTENT TO CREATE THAT WILL GET A VIEWER TO CALL.

None of these “experts” tell you what to talk about. None of them explain the difference between what regular businesses put on video and what lawyers need to say in their video. If you only try to emulate what other successful lawyers  create on video, I guarantee you will be missing pieces of the puzzle that will leave you wondering months later what you did wrong when nobody watches your video and you don’t understand why.

Here is a list of the pros and cons of creating video on your own to market your practice:

PROS

1. You create something out of thin air
2. It’s enlightening
3. It’s satisfying
4. It’s educational because you’re learning a skill
5. It may cost you less money in the long run than if you hired an experienced video production company to create video for you, but it’s a tradeoff of your time
6. It’s really satisfying when an online viewer calls you after watching a video that you created all on your own from scratch

CONS

1. It’s very time consuming
2. It’s very technical
3. You need to learn all the secrets of creating great quality video
4. You need to figure out what content to create
5. You need to determine by trial and error what will convert an online viewer into a caller
6. You need to learn:
   1. What video equipment to use
   2. What audio equipment to use
   3. What lighting equipment to use
   4. How to use each piece of equipment and the proper settings for each
   5. How to get the video footage off the camera and onto the computer
   6. How to use video editing software
   7. How to add lower third graphics
   8. How to color-correct your video
   9. How to tweak the audio
   10. How to edit
   11. How to render each video
   12. What settings to render the video in
   13. How to add transitions
   14. How to add music intros and exits
   15. How to create the proper format for different video sharing sites; .mp4, .mov, flash, quicktime
   16. How to compress the video to a size compatible with online video while still maintaining hi-quality, hi-definition video
   17. How to distribute your completed videos
   18. How to optimize your videos for the search engines

For those attorneys who are do-it-yourselfers, like me, I encourage you to learn how to create video. But, you need lots of time, energy and the desire to want to do this; all the while maintaining your full-time job of practicing and managing your law firm. For those lawyers who have no desire, time or inclination to learn any of this, then my total online video solution is perfect for you. In fact, I designed my program just for YOU.

Most attorneys don’t want to deal with marketing. Those that do, don’t want the hassle of becoming videographers, video producers and video editors and learning tedious and time-consuming skills that will take away time from what they’re really good at; practicing law. If you don’t wake up every morning and have ten new ideas about how you can create 10 video topics to help your online viewers choose you over your competitors, then don’t even start to learn how to do this. Focus instead on a video production company that does it all for you.

Ask yourself these questions:

• When your car breaks down, do you get under the car with your tools and fix it yourself?
• When there’s a leak in your roof, do you climb up a ladder and fix the roof yourself?
• If your watch breaks, do you get your jewelers tools and start cracking open the case to see what the problem is?
• If a huge tree limb breaks off and falls on your lawn, do you grab your chain saw and spend the next 5 hours cutting it up and dragging away the pieces?

If you like to do things yourself, great. However, is your time worth more to have an experienced video company do it all for you;  is your time worth more practicing law, or is the time spent being a videographer going to generate more income for you?

A do-it-yourselfer may think it’s more cost-effective to create video yourself. I started off thinking that way too. I was totally wrong. Four years ago, I wish there was a video production company that offered everything that I do now so I wouldn’t have had to spend thousands of hours learning to create video by trial and error. I’d have eagerly paid someone a lot of money if there had been a company similar to the Lawyers Video Studio offering a total solution for lawyers.

If you’re on the cusp of trying to figure out whether to do this yourself or have an experienced video producer who is also a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer create your video then I encourage you to call me at 516-487-8207. I welcome your call.

To learn more about my total online video solution for attorneys, click here.

If you are an attorney looking to create a fresh, innovative and interactive website, then I strongly encourage you to contact Tom Foster at FosterWebmarketing.com. I’ve worked with Tom over the last 5 1/2 years and believe he is the only webmaster around who truly “gets it” and understands the most up-to-date, effective and ethical marketing methods for attorneys. I created this testimonial to help other attorneys benefit from Tom’s expertise. I was not asked to create this testimonial nor am I being paid anything for it. I encourage you to take a look at my own website that Tom maintains, New York Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, and then, contact any of the 200 law firms who currently use him to see what they have to say.

Explore his newly revised website and click on each one of the attorney websites listed within his site to see for yourself how he helps them stand out from the crowd. If you have questions about using FosterWebMarketing, then I urge you to e-mail me, Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com.

Thanks for taking the time to watch this short video testimonial and my blog post.

Have a great day!

Gerry

If you are an attorney looking to create a fresh, innovative and interactive website, then I strongly encourage you to contact Tom Foster at FosterWebmarketing.com. I’ve worked with Tom over the last 5 1/2 years and believe he is the only webmaster around who truly “gets it” and understands the most up-to-date, effective and ethical marketing methods for attorneys. I created this testimonial to help other attorneys benefit from Tom’s expertise. I was not asked to create this testimonial nor am I being paid anything for it. I encourage you to take a look at my own website that Tom maintains, New York Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, and then, contact any of the 200 law firms who currently use him to see what they have to say.

Explore his newly revised website and click on each one of the attorney websites listed within his site to see for yourself how he helps them stand out from the crowd. If you have questions about using FosterWebMarketing, then I urge you to e-mail me, Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com.

Thanks for taking the time to watch this short video testimonial and my blog post.

Have a great day!

Gerry