Everything I Know About Lawyer Video Marketing at $25,000 off!

You’re a self-styled ‘do-it-yourselfer’ like me.

You don’t want anyone doing things for you.

You’re self-reliant. You’re bold. You’re independent.

You’re eager and have the energy to learn.

You don’t want to spend big bucks paying someone to do something that you know, deep in your heart, you can do on your own. Congratulations…

You’re just like me or at least just like I was a few short years ago when I was in your exact position.

You want to start creating video on your own and are now looking to buy equipment to get you started.

Where do you start?

Here are 3 tips that will help you. Buy

1. A mid-priced camcorder (high-definition is a must)
2. A wireless microphone
3. A set of lights

That’s it. You now have the knowledge necessary to go create great educational video to market your law firm…sort of.

Well, sorry for the tease, but that straightforward statement is sort of true. You already knew that information. Nothing new there.

What you may have been expecting was an actual recommendation for WHICH camera to buy. You may have expected to learn WHICH microphone works best and WHICH set of lights you need to purchase.

The reality is that I have all that information and I want to give it to you and it’s easy to get it.

LEARN EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT VIDEO MARKETING

For years now, attorneys have been asking me

• “What camera should I buy if I shouldn’t use my webcam to shoot video?”
• What wireless microphone gets the best audio for my attorney videos?
• What lights do you recommend?
• How do I set up my lights?
• What settings do I use on my camera to get the best quality?
• What settings do I use in my editing software?”

I decided the time was right to put together a personalized and individualized online video tutorial program to answer all those questions and tons more…and that’s exactly what I did!

I created a step-by-step online tutorial program that shows you exactly:

• What equipment I use and why
• Why you may not want to use some popular video and audio equipment to shoot your own videos
• How I come up with ideas for my videos
• What a viewer’s mindset is and how, if you don’t understand it, you will never create great compelling video
• What I do
• How I do it and importantly
• Why I do it.

In my new program I walk you through creating my videos from the moment I start at my kitchen table, through the planning and production phases, through the editing and publishing and then into the steps needed to gain traction and visibility of each video.

I show you tips, strategies and tactics that I personally use and teach lawyers in my high-end done-for-you video marketing programs. You’ll be able to ethically copy and model exactly what I do so you too can create video to market your law firm.

Keep your eyes peeled for my announcement when my brand-new DIY online video program is live and ready for you. Should be very soon now.

Why do they do it?

Because they think they know how.

They are ‘tech savvy’.

They have a video camera or an iPhone and believe the ‘gurus’ that by putting up something, it’s better than nothing.

WRONG.

Putting up crappy video means your viewers will never turn into callers.

Putting up video that is technically incorrect or has problems means that your viewer will believe that your legal ability is directly correlated to your technical ability.

The correlation has no basis in fact, but your viewer doesn’t know that. In fact, your viewer doesn’t care. Once you’ve made an impression on them, they don’t want to hear more. “Click…next video from the next lawyer…”

It’s true.

Your viewer wants to see a technically proficient video with no glaring problems or distractions. They want your great content. If you fail to give them what they want, they will go elsewhere. Guaranteed.

What can you do to insure that your video is technically good? Make sure you know how to create great quality video. Then you can focus on the message.

How do you create great video?

Simple.

Learn from a colleague who has done it before you. Learn from someone who is willing to teach you. To educate you. Learn from a lawyer who has used video to successfully market his solo practice using online video.

How?

Simple.

Participate in my brand-new online video tutorial program called “Everything I know about video marketing for lawyers at $25,000 off!”

You’ll learn everything that I do, from start to finish. I take you from how to create your content to what equipment to use. I show you where I gets ideas for videos and much more. By joining my brand-new  introductory video tutorial program, you get to follow me, copy me and model my content as your own to create great video to market your law firm online.

Click here to get onto the pre-launch list for my new program designed for the do-it-yourself lawyer who is eager to create video on your own to market your law firm.

No…I’m just an actor who plays a trial lawyer on TV.

No…I’m just impersonating a trial attorney to gain your trust.

No…I have nothing better to do than pretend to be a trial lawyer and I’m asking you to put your trust in me.

What kind of question is that?

It’s ridiculous.

It questions the foundation of what you do as a professional. It’s offensive. It’s objectionable. It’s outrageous. It’s preposterous.

Yet, your consumer, who is searching for a trial lawyer who can solve their legal problem asks just that question.

Why do they ask that question?

Because they don’t really know the answer.

They don’t know that you’ll take offense to the question.

They don’t know what “real” trial lawyers do.

Why not?

Because nobody has ever taught them. The only info they got about real trial lawyers is from watching TV and going to the movies. Maybe they’ve read about trial lawyers in the papers. But that’s it.

So what can you do to change a viewers perception about what real trial lawyers do?

You know what I’m going to say…

You know that I’m going to tell you to create a video about what YOU do as a trial attorney.

Why would I tell you that?

Simple.

I want you to educate and teach your online viewer about what you do and how you do it.

By doing that, you will establish yourself as the expert. It’s that simple.

So go ahead. Create that video. Then send me the link and I’ll be happy to embed your educational video on this blog. Yes, I will. Show your viewers that you’re a real lawyer and how you can help solve their legal problem. I will reward you by putting your video on my blog for all to see.

David's fastball is his "Hook." Very intense and fascinating to watch.

A hook is something that pulls a viewer in.

It’s something that makes you stand out.

99.9% of lawyers don’t have a hook.

I’m not talking about a catchphrase or a slogan. I’m talking about what’s compelling about you or your content. Most lawyers never even consider hooks. Yet hooks are key to drawing a viewer into your video; it’s key to getting them interested in your content and it’s key to converting them into a caller.

Your hook is not “We care…”

It’s not “We’ve been in business for 35 years…” or “We have free parking…”

It is “Here are 3 things to know if you’re in this situation…”

It is teaching them about their legal problem.

The hook gets them to realize that you have specialized knowledge.

The hook gets them to recognize you’re the expert and they need more of your information.

So counselor, what’s your hook? I’d love to know. Tell me below.

At the end of every YouTube video, you are presented with a 12 video grid of related videos. The idea behind this is to offer the viewer multiple options to watch similarly related videos. Naturally, you can always click away to similar videos that appear on the right-hand side of the YouTube video page. That is always an option.

However, for a viewer who has stuck around and watched your entire video and is interested in learning more, YouTube presents 12 other, related videos in an attempt to get you to watch one of those as well.

Gerry Oginski's New York Medical Malpractice YouTube Channel Statistics

The statistics you see here in this photograph taken only days ago, reveal an incredibly startling statistic for my own YouTube Channel. This is highly instructive and you should pay close attention. The majority of people who are coming to watch my videos are coming from related YouTube videos. That piece of information is vital to understand how people find my content.

So what does this have to do with spotlight annotations? The answer is, everything.

What if you could create a video that preempts a viewer from ever getting to the 12 video related grid? What if you could create a way that asks viewers if they want to watch more videos of you rather than leaving it up to YouTube to decide what they believe is related video?

The reality is that YouTube will only put up a few truly related videos. Many times the other videos in the 12 panel grid have nothing to do with the type of content you talk about. That means that you are losing an opportunity to keep your viewer interested in your content.

By creating Spotlight annotations you now present your viewer with options to continue to watch your YouTube videos that they can click on while watching your existing video before they are ever presented with the 12 panel related video grid.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

You have to watch my video below to see exactly what I mean. Make sure you watch it till the end, otherwise you won’t understand what I’m talking about. Then make sure to continue reading below.

You’ve Settled Your Accident Lawsuit in New York; Should You Use a Structured Settlement?

Why do I share this information with you?

Because one of the brand-new features we have created in the Lawyer’s Video Studio for you takes advantage of this great technology.

We’ve now created a great and easy solution for lawyers who have already created their own videos by creating supplemental blog posts, interactive transcripts and spotlight annotations to maximize your exposure and increase your chances that your viewers will find, see and want your video content.

Want to learn more about it? Send an email to: Kathleen@lawyersvideostudio.com and put in the subject line:

Spotlight annotations-I’d like more info.

1. 

   Google video migration to YouTube

   Your old Google videos stink

2. You shot them in standard definition video
3. Your audio also stinks

If you created any video and had them on Google video, you probably got a message from Google recently telling you that you can simply and easily transfer those videos over to YouTube. You can. They’ve made the process really simple and easy.

The more important question is, why would you want to?

Back when Google video had their own video distribution channel, separate and apart from YouTube, this was an excellent place to gain traction and visibility for your videos. However, after Google bought YouTube they began to transition all of their existing video content over to the YouTube platform. After that was completed, they shut down Google video.

I actually went to my old account to see which videos I still had there. I laughed when I watched the videos that I created in 2008 and 2009. The content was great. The video quality was not. I had shot all those videos using a standard definition camera. The audio was not that great and some of those videos look grainy and pixelated.

The best thing you can do if Google asks you to migrate your old videos on YouTube, is to say “no thanks,” and delete those videos. Then, take out your high-definition video camera, lights and wireless microphone and create great new content to put up on YouTube. Believe me, the video you put up today will be 1000 times better than whatever masterpiece you created a few years ago.

There are a number of websites and companies that go around giving awards to people who create great videos.

That’s nice.

Those websites promote the videos and drive traffic to their own websites. They encourage the “Winnees” (that’s not a real word, btw) to also promote the fact that their videos have won an award or two.

That’s also nice.

Here’s what these awards DON’T do:

• They don’t convert a viewer into a caller
• They don’t improve your ROI (return on your investment)
• They don’t challenge you to create compelling content
• They don’t identify the content a viewer wants to know and learn about
• They don’t directly improve your revenue and your bottom line

If these video awards don’t do any of that, why would you care if you won an award or not?

The same reason everyone likes to win an award…ego.

Here’s my take on video awards…(not that you asked, but I’m going to tell you anyway)

They’re meaningless. Totally, absolutely meaningless. I say that from a video marketing perspective and nothing more. Ego should play no part in your initiative to educate and teach your online consumer or potential client.

You wouldn’t boast in your marketing materials that your videos have won 12 awards for blah, blah, blah.

The more important questions for me are:

• Of those great videos, how many have generated calls to your office?
• How many of those calls were good valid cases?
• Of those good cases, what types of results were you able to achieve for those clients?

Then, you can track your ROI and determine if those “Award-winning” videos truly were effective.

Don’t worry about the awards, and focus on the bottom line. Make great quality video with excellent content your viewers want and need to know. That’s the winning formula.

So many times I watch an attorney video and scratch my head wondering “What was he thinking?”

I’m referring to the description box. Lawyers, their employees, servants, agents, vendors and gofers put nonsense in their description box. One of the most important pieces of information you can put in your description box is your url address for your main website.

Remember…the purpose of creating great educational video to market yourself and your law firm is to DRIVE TRAFFIC to your main website and to pick up the phone and call you. That’s the goal! If you are not doing that, then you are making some huge mistakes.

Here’s a perfect example:

My main website url is: http://www.Oginski-Law.com.

That means that when you put the url address in the description box you put the FULL url address. Not “Oginski-Law.com.” Not “www.Oginski-law.com.”

Here is the correct format to put your url address: http://www.Oginski-Law.com

Doing it the right way means you will have a live, clickable link on YouTube. Otherwise, you can’t click on it. Otherwise, you have just put another obstacle in your viewer’s path to get to you and your website.

Make sure your url is in the proper format and then GO TEST IT on YouTube. See if it works.

Why do you need to know this information?

If you’re creating your own videos and editing them and uploading them, you’ve got to do it right. It’s as simple as that. Hopefully you found today’s post helpful and informative. Well, there’s lots more where that came from. If you want to learn more about creating video on your own, then I encourage you to sign up for my pre-release list for a special offer for you; the Do-It-Yourself attorney.

My soon-to-be-released introductory video online tutorial program will take you by the hand and show you EXACTLY what I do and how I do it. You’ll be able to copy what I do so you can create great video content for your law practice. Click here to sign up for the prelaunch details.

Who's calling please?

Try this experiment.

Set up your video camera on your receptionist who answers your phone. Don’t tell her. Let the video record about an hour. Play it back in the evening while you’re decompressing after a long day. Pay attention to how the phone is answered, what is said and importantly how it’s said.

The person who answers your phone is the face of your law firm. Literally. That person (or persons) is the front line of who you are. If you have not properly trained this receptionist and are simply leaving it to chance that you will get a great encounter, you’re missing a key understanding of what they do.

A receptionist is more than just a live answering machine. A receptionist develops relationships with your clients. She (or he) greets them when they walk into the office. A savvy receptionist will get to know all the deliverymen, UPS, Fedex, etc.

When a potential client calls your office, you need to make them feel special. You need to make them feel like their case is the only one in the world for you. You need to give them a great initial phone experience.

Tell me if this conversation, which happened to me today, gives you that wow feeling:

Scene: [Gerry calling doctor's office]

Action: Waiting 30 seconds for someone to pick up. Finally, a harried sounding elderly woman answers and says curtly, “Hello. Please hold on…” [I am put on hold for 6 minutes. No music, no time announced to wait. Nothing. I hang up, knowing I have better things to do.]

Action: [Redialing doctor's office 30 minutes later]

Same woman answers after 45 seconds of phone ringing and simply says “Can you hold?”

“No I can’t. I was waiting 6 minutes before and nobody picked up,” I reply.

“Is this an emergency?” she asks in a frustrated tone as if I’m bothering her.

“No,” I reply.

“Well, I’ll connect you to the assistant’s voicemail,” she says.

“No. The doctor specifically told me to call back and leave this message for him.”

[Hmph she mutters.] “Ok,” sounding dejected that she actually has to write a message and hand it to someone. “What’s the message?”

I tell her the message, which took no more than 10 seconds to relay to her and she simply said “Fine,” and hung up.

Does that conversation make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

Not me. I thought I was imagining it. So, I asked my 9 year old who was in the car with me and heard everything on speakerphone, what he thought.

He said “She should be fired or re-trained.” I agreed.

I wonder…do you think I should tell my doctor about this interaction and how it’s affecting his business?

Imagine if I were a new patient. The receptionist’s actions reflect 100% upon the doctor. Is this the impression you want to give your new potential clients?

Listen in to your receptionist and make sure they’re not making the same mistakes I just told you about.

1. If you think you can ‘wing it’ because you’re such a great attorney, let me tell you, you’re wrong.
2. If you think you won’t screw up during your video shoot because you’re such a successful lawyer, let me tell you, you’re wrong.
3. If you think you know how to present your material without preparing, because you know the law inside and out, let me tell you, you’re wrong.

The lawyers who think they need not prepare are fooling themselves.

Every successful lawyer who walks into court to try a case has spent hundreds of hours preparing for trial. Preparation is the key to every success. Failure to devote the proper time, energy and resources to preparing is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. The same is true for your video shoot.

• You MUST prepare.
• You MUST practice.
• You MUST get your intro down just right.
• You MUST identify your headline correctly.
• You MUST be able to present your content succinctly, with passion and enthusiasm.
• You MUST be able to give a cogent call to action.

The only way you can do this properly is to practice. Practice makes perfect is the old adage that is 100% true for your video shoot.

Lawyers who practice their content over and over, wisely recognize that their time and resources are valuable. Attorneys who practice have an enjoyable video shoot; they are more confident. They are comfortable. They have fun.

Make sure you prepare for your video shoot.