(I created this video under cloudy skies. Click the play button to watch. Then change the setting to 720p on the bottom right of the video player. Your setting might read 240p or 360p or 480p. For best video resolution, change it to 720p to get crystal clear video).

You do realize I’m referring to shooting video outdoors, right?

This has nothing to do with shooting video indoors or in a studio.

The best day, according to video experts such as Harry Brockman, HBProductionGroup.com and Jim Folliard, Fairfaxvideostudio.com, is to shoot on a cloudy day. Why?

There is no direct sunlight to create harsh shadows. Clouds are perfect natural diffusers to spread light across evenly. When you create video in your office or in a studio, you typically use soft box lighting. The purpose is to spread out and create even lighting where there are no shadows anywhere.

For years, I thought that creating video outdoors under a cloudy sky was a terrible place to shoot video. I thought the video would look dark and give a gloomy feel to my videos. Once I learned how to use the manual settings on my camera, I recognized with the help of video wizard Harry Brockman, that shooting video on a cloudy day is the perfect way to shoot video outdoors.

Now remember, I’m not saying go outside and shoot on a rainy day. Instead, I’m saying that if you are going to be shooting video outdoors, understand all of the inherent challenges (including your neighbors cutting your lawn on Labor Day weekend while you are trying to shoot video) to shooting video outdoors and learning to take advantage of clouds in the sky.

• 

  Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal

  To be accurate, an article I wrote was included in a law journal article published by a law school.

• To be more accurate, I made the Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Journal, written by Ebony Nicholas (Volume 28, Issue 2).
• To be even more accurate, out of 28 pages of legalese and legal citations, I was footnote number 70 (out of 158 footnotes). Hooray! (We all know how important those footnotes can be

For the first time in more than 22 years of law practice, I can now say that something I wrote has been quoted in a scholarly law journal article. But wait…

Let’s look closely at what this 28 page journal article was about. It was titled “A Practical Framework For Preventing Mistrial By Twitter.” In other words, it was a scholarly journal article delving into the details of social networking and the perils of using Twitter in the legal world.

I was fascinated to find that one of my articles was actually contained within a scholarly piece. I took the trouble to locate the article and then to actually read the entire 28 page scholarship. I was even more amazed that the author used my article as a footnote to show a contrarian viewpoint of the whole Twitter thing.

What made this even more interesting was that the article I wrote did not appear on my website, nor in the multiple blogs that I write. Instead, it appeared in my New York injury Times newsletter. My article took the position that all jurors should be allowed to twitter. I gave very specific reasons about the benefits of allowing jurors to twitter and how all lawyers and judges could greatly benefit from learning what the jurors were thinking at any given time.

The footnote to the Journal article states following:

“But at least one New York attorney believes that jurors should be allowed to tweet
during trial: Gerry Oginski, The Law Office Of Gerald Oginski, LLC, Why Jurors in New York
Should Be Allowed to Twitter.”

A contrarian viewpoint on the whole Twitter thing. Nice. A footnote in a scholarly law article. Even nicer. When I was on Moot Court in law school I never understood the whole ‘footnote’ and ‘footnote editor’ thing. Instead, I was happy for receiving a nice plaque for our success during Moot Court competitions.

At least now I can say “I’m a footnote in history!”

NY Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyer, Gerry Oginski

I’m not talking about the domain for this blog, http://lawyersvideostudio.com. Instead, I’m talking about my medical malpractice domain http://www.oginski-law.com. That is the center of my online universe. It’s an established website with thousands of pages of content.

My gut reaction was “No way would I ever sell my main website.” I was  actually offended that someone would want to buy my personal domain.

Putting aside the ethical issues for a moment of having a non-lawyer own a lawyers web domain,  I began to ask myself, “Why would an entrepreneur want to buy a lawyer’s website?”

The answer is simple really. He wants to make money. He wants to monetize a site that is getting good traffic. He wants to benefit from somebody else’s knowledge, expertise and hard work. Plus, he’s willing to pay a good price for it too.

That prompted me to go into my analytics and look at my most recent statistics. I had not looked at my stats in a few weeks.  6,800 unique visitors this past month. Those are not “hits” or page views. These are people who came to my site and watched my videos, read my content, read the articles, free reports, blog posts and much more.

That number clearly pales in comparison to popular websites, news sites and video sharing sites. However, for a lawyer’s website, it’s actually pretty awesome. Especially in a field of law where we market to people who don’t necessarily need our services at this moment. I’m confident that the number of viewers next month will dramatically increase once again.

Getting back to the troublesome ethical issue of having a non-lawyer own a lawyer’s website, it brought me back to the old rule  in New York that says a non-lawyer cannot own any part of a law firm. my website is simply an extension of my law firm. Ethically, I do not believe a non-lawyer could own a lawyer’s website.

Having clarified that in my mind, I quickly began to think “How much would my website actually be worth and what inherent value doesn’t have?” The possibilities are endless.

Let me hear your thoughts about how you think someone could value your law firm website from both an economic standpoint and a goodwill standpoint. I’d love to hear what you have to say.  My reply to the offer to buy my domain: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Thank You Card

When we were younger, we were taught to be polite and say “Thank you.” It’s a kind gesture; an acknowledgment that you went out of your way to do something nice. A few years ago I saw an assistant store manager use the power of a ‘thank you’ in a remarkable way. My wife had gone into a Brighton store (handbag and accessories) and made some purchases. A few days later, upon our return from vacation, my wife was greeted with a beautiful, hand-written, detailed thank you from the assistant store manager. I was shocked.

That type of personal attention and personalized thank you typically comes from somebody who spends a ton of money in a store. I am particularly grateful that my wife did no such thing that day. Instead, she made a few ordinary purchases and was rewarded with an extraordinary response.

I got a new car this week and a few days later got in the mail a thank you from the car salesman who sold me my car. The envelope was handwritten and it had a real stamp on it. I opened the envelope and almost burst out laughing. It was a single piece of photocopy paper that had been folded in half and then folded again into quarters. It was something that my 8 year-old would print out from a 10-year-old computer program that would print out a little message on one corner of the folded paper and then again on another quarter of that paper. The quality of the paper was basic photocopy paper that was thin and flimsy.

The salesman simply scribbled his name to the preprinted message, folded the paper and shoved it into a small envelope. That was it. He was done.

Mind you, I did not expect a thank you note nor did it really matter to me whether I received one for my purchase. However, there is a big distinction between a cheesy thank you and one that takes a few moments of your time that represents a quality thank you. The difference is night and day. The thank you I received from the car salesman showed a total lack of creativity, interest and quality in the message he was portraying to a valued customer. On the other hand, the assistant manager who sent my wife a handwritten note on custom stationery created a lasting impression of someone who truly cared about her customer, even though the purchase was not that significant.

What’s the take home message that you can use when you market yourself to your potential clients? Instead of sending them a canned thank you for visiting your office, take the extra time to write out a personalized handwritten thank you showing them that you care. I think I’m going to take my own advice and get myself some new personalized stationery and make sure that every new client who walks through my door, whether I take them on as a client or not, will receive a handwritten personalized thank you from me.

To all those people who use personalized thank you’s, congratulations. It makes a difference.

I went to dinner last night with some very dear friends that we see once a year. She’s an attorney. She’s a solo who works out of her home after having worked for many years in a large law firm. Being the marketing student that I am, I asked her where she gets her cases from and what type of marketing she does. She replied that the work she gets is entirely from referrals. That’s a good position to be in.

I then asked what she does to thank those referring attorneys. “Nothing,” she answered.

“Nothing at all?” I asked, stunned that she would not even thank those attorneys beyond a verbal thank you.

“No, nothing.”

I then “If a referring attorney asked you how you distinguish yourself from every other New York lawyer, what would you say? Her answer: “The people who send me cases know me for many years. They know my work. They trust me.”

“Ok, I understand that,” I thought to myself. But she didn’t answer my question. I asked what separates her from all the other attorneys who do the same exact work. Her reply consisted solely of identifying those people who already knew her and trusted her. I couldn’t help but think about all the work and money she was leaving on the table by showing off her expertise in many different ways.

Most attorneys, when asked what makes them different from their competitors, talk about their experience and what they’ve accomplished for their former clients. Some say they’re less expensive than their competitors across town. “We don’t charge for photocopying or phone charges.” “We don’t have fractional billing. We only bill in 10 minute increments.”

What these lawyers are pointing to are features, not benefits of their law practice. They are simply commodities that can be bargained with, negotiated with and encourage client dissatisfaction. What do I mean? If a client is unhappy with an attorney who cannot distinguish himself, the client simply says “I’m discharging you and going to the next attorney who is less expensive and can do a better job…”

It’s like saying “What’s the big deal between supermarkets? They all sell the same food. Waldbaums across town sells the same food as Shop Rite but for less money.” Those clients will view you as simply a commodity. That’s a very bad position to be in.

What does this have to do with video marketing? I’m glad you asked. (I thought you’d never get around to asking that pressing question.)

It has everything to do with it.

Video marketing shows that you’re not a commodity. It allows you to show you’re human and approachable. It allows you to position yourself as an expert, without ever having to say you’re an expert. Video allows you to showcase your knowledge about your area of law. You can’t do that effectively with any other form of advertising media available today. Video allows you to form a bond with your online viewer,  get them to trust you and begin to like you, just from your video.

Let me know what you think about being a commodity and the importance of setting yourself apart.

_______

REFER A FRIEND, GET A BONUS!

Unlike my friend mentioned above, if you refer an attorney or small business owner who signs up with my Total Online Video Solution, I will give you an affiliate referral fee. How much is that fee? I’m glad you asked: $1,000 dollars. Just make sure to tell the person you refer to mention your name so we can keep track of it in our records.

Listen in as a really smart attorney tells us what it was like during his video shoot with me. Brent Adams, a Raleigh, North Carolina personal injury attorney describes his experience shooting an entire day of video in the Lawyer’s Video Studio. Listen in to hear what he has to say. It’s worth your time.

Click here to learn how my Total Online Video Success Program can help you market yourself and stand out from the crowd.

Lawyers Video Studio Sept. 10' Online Newsletter

In this month’s newsletter, we welcome four new law firms to the Lawyers Video Studio.
Learn how really smart attorneys are using video to market themselves today. Read about the newest law firms who recognize how important video is to market their law practice.

Click here to read the newsletter.

Read about 4 different ways I’ve used video in the last few months to market my own practice. Find out why you don’t want to be a videographer and learn all the technical mumbo-jumbo.

Click here to read the newsletter.

If you’re interested in getting onto video today I urge you to call me at 516-487-8207 or by email: Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com. I look forward to speaking with you.

http://www.oginski-law.com

You know the saying “you just had to be there?” In this video I show you two things that happened during a recent cross examination of a medical expert in a trial I recently handled. These two things destroyed the doctor’s credibility even though he had excellent credentials and was a very experienced witness. Watch the video to learn what happened.

To learn more about New York medical malpractice cases, I encourage you to explore my medical malpractice website. If you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me since I can answer your legal questions. You can reach me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I welcome your call.

The Law Office of Gerald Oginski, LLC
25 Great Neck Rd., Suite 4
Great Neck NY 11021
516-487-8207
lawmed10@yahoo.com

http://www.oginski-law.com/

Your treating doctor tells you that he cannot come in to trial since he will be away at the time of your trial. What do you do? Is there some way you can take the doctor’s testimony to be used at trial?

Watch the video to learn what a video deposition is and how it can be used at trial in New York.

To learn about how medical malpractice and accident cases work in New York, I encourage you to explore my popular website http://www.oginski-law.com/. If you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I welcome your call.

The Law Office of Gerald Oginski, LLC
25 Great Neck Rd., Suite 4
Great Neck NY 11021
516-487-8207
lawmed10@yahoo.com

http://www.oginski-law.com

A charge conference is not what happens when your credit card company calls to find out why you went over your credit limit. Nor is it a strategy session with the people in charge of the running of the bulls.

Rather, it refers to a conference with the attorneys and the judge during trial. It is one of the most important parts of a trial that litigants are not present for and don’t participate in. Watch the video to learn more.

To learn more about medical malpractice & accident cases here in New York, I encourage you to explore my NY Medical Malpractice & Accident website. If you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me since I can answer your legal questions at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I welcome your call.

The Law Office of Gerald Oginski, LLC
25 Great Neck Rd., Suite 4
Great Neck, NY 11021
516-487-8207
lawmed10@yahoo.com