Gerry Oginski's Total Online Video Solution

I was asked this question recently by an attorney who was considering hiring me to create his video. He lived in a large college town and was considering hiring some college students who were learning about video and TV production. He asked a good question: “Can’t I just go to these people and have them shoot my video?”

The answer is, “Of course you could.”

They may know how to create quality video and post it online, but those folks are not experienced trial attorneys. They don’t know what an online viewer is looking for when searching for a lawyer. They won’t know who your ideal client is. If your video producer doesn’t know who your ideal client is and what types of legal problems they have, how can they help you create great content that will compel an online viewer to pick up the phone and call you?

That’s the problem that I see with the majority of attorney video online today. The quality of the actual video is fine. That’s not the problem. It’s the content that is sorely lacking. You are hiring a video producer to help guide you to create not just good content, but great content that will get you noticed online.

Do you really think that college kid who’s a whiz with uploading videos to YouTube will know what you can and can’t say in your video? Will he (or she) know how to enter the conversation going on in the minds of your viewer? If they have no experience as an attorney, how can they possibly figure out what you should be talking about that will convert online viewers into callers?

Sure they can copy other attorneys online and use formats that they think is right. But that’s the same yellow pages mentality that attorneys have used for many years. “If my competitor is doing it, and he’s spending money, then he must be doing something right.” Wrong.

You need to stand out from the crowd. You need to be different and stay within the ethical boundaries of your state’s rules. Can your college kid do that? Will the video producer you hire be able to do that?

I’m different, and it shows.

I am the only veteran medical malpractice trial lawyer who is also an experienced video producer. I am the only trial lawyer who is actively helping other lawyers get onto video to market themselves in the best way possible; using video. My program, The Total Online Video Solution for Lawyers is the only program in the country where we make it simple, easy and fun to create six months worth of video content in one day. Nobody else does this.

I know what online viewers are looking for. I get calls and emails every day from people who have watched my videos and ask for more information. I’m different, and it shows.

Come join me on this great video journey. I want to help you and show you that it can work for you.

Call me at 516-487-8207 or send me an email, Gerry@lawyersvideostudio.com

I welcome your call.

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Fairfax Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer, Ben Glass, says, “Gerry Oginski is the master of online video. He’s done more videos than any lawyer out there. The big edge that Gerry has over his competition is that his videos allow consumers to get to ‘know’ him before they even pick up the phone. His use of video on his website and his video blog is amazing.” Ben Glass, Esq., BenGlassLaw.com, Fairfax, Virginia, 703-591-9829

Mark Merenda

Mark Merenda, CEO of SmartMarketing for attorneys says “My clients love the fact that he’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. 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

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Gerry

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The answer is, a really smart personal injury trial lawyer who recognizes how important it is to have a trial lawyer as your video producer.

John Burns was an airline pilot flying wide-bodied jets before he decided to become a personal injury trial lawyer in Southern California. When he decided to create educational video to market his law practice he recognized that there were no video production companies that had a trial lawyer who he could connect with, that understood the type of law he practiced. Until he found me.

He found what I offered so compelling that rather than have him shoot video with a videographer that I personally trained, he decided to fly across the entire country and come to my office so I could direct and produce his videos. Talk about an ego boost! What he learned during our video shoot confirmed his belief that it was vitally important to have a trial lawyer as his video producer. In a few weeks, you’re going to hear John, in his own words on video, describe why he flew cross-country to shoot video with me in the Lawyers Video Studio here on Long Island.

During one of John’s videos he mentioned an area of law that I felt needed to be changed. I stopped him and he corrected the important point he was making. He immediately told me that if this was being done with a regular videographer, there was no way this important nuance would have been picked up, and would likely have been misinterpreted by someone listening to it.

We shot over 40 video clips in one day. A long and very productive day. Congratulations to John Burns and watch for previews of his videos and behind the scenes photos- one of which is posted here.

If you’re interested in the only video coaching group for lawyers in the country, then click here to learn more. If you want to start creating compelling video that will convert online viewers into callers, like John did today, I encourage you to click here to learn more.

Gerry

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I don’t know about you, but I can buy a case of 24 bottles of water at Waldbaums for $3.99. To pay $3.20 for a bottle of water is outrageous. I asked the cashier at the ski resort why they don’t charge $5.00 per bottle. She was shocked and didn’t understand why I even made a comment.

Her response? “I don’t set the price. I only charge it.”

For all they knew, they COULD charge $5.00 per bottle, and people would pay for it. So what’s the problem? Every skier who bought a bottle of water would remember the outrageous price that left a bitter taste in their mouth. They’d think twice about returning to a resort that charged ridiculous prices for food and drink.

Wait. Isn’t this about the “Skiing experience?”

No way. It’s about marketing and the impression you leave with your client or customer.

What does this have to do with creating attorney video and marketing your practice? Everything.

If your potential client thinks the value for your services are outrageous, they’re going to remember it. If your prices are that much higher than your competitor, then explain why in your video. You may be worth the higher price, but without a credible explanation, you run the risk that your viewer will not want to pay for your services.

Addendum:

Last week, I went to Nassau Colliseum to see a monster truck show with my 7 year old son. It was a last-minute invite from a friend of mine. Being a good dad, I took some snacks from the car, including a bottle of water and a banana. Before getting to the ticket counter, security made me throw away my snacks and water claiming “No food  and no drink allowed inside.” I thought it was worse than TSA agents at the airport.

So what happened? Of course my son got thirsty during the loudest show I’ve ever been to (and the last and only monster truck show I will go to). The decibel level approached that of standing next to a jet engine at takeoff, maybe even louder. Luckily for me, my friend had the forethought to bring earplugs. Getting back on topic, a trip to the concession stand blew my mind: $4.50 for the same bottle of water posted above; the same one I’d thrown out just half an hour earlier in front of security.

In a word, “Outrageous.”

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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 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 clickhere.

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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Seiko Analog/Digital Chronograph

My watch needed a new battery the other day. It’s a Seiko diving chronograph. Steel bracelet, multi-function display, with day/date/time/stopwatch/ alarm and count-down timer. Oh yes, did I mention it tells time both analog and digitally? It’s really cool.

Well, I decided to take it into a little jeweler’s shop on the same street as my office. I dropped the watch off, told them I needed a new battery, and I’d be back in 10 minutes.

In 10 minutes I returned. The owner told me they replaced the battery and that it would cost $20. That was a shock. In fact, it was way overpriced for a battery. I told the owner that to get a battery change cost at most $10.

Then, the owner told me that “By the way, you can’t wear this in water now.”

“What?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, we don’t have the machine to make your watch waterproof. Therefore, you should not wear it in water,” came the reply.

I responded, “Do you know that this is a diving watch? You can wear this to a depth of 100 meters? I wear this watch when I swim. I bought this watch so I could wear it in the water, and now you’re telling me I can’t wear it in the water because you put in a new battery but don’t have a machine to make it waterproof? How can you replace a battery in a diving watch and then tell the customer they can’t wear the watch in water?”

I said that had I known they didn’t have this equipment, I never would have given my watch to them for a new battery. Besides, the cost to put in a new battery and seal the watch properly costs only $20 in Manhattan in the jewelery district. The owner didn’t believe me that it cost only $20.

“It’s true,” I said. I always bring my watches into the city to get this done. I didn’t this time, since I wasn’t planning to be in the city for another week.

The owner finally said, “We can bring it into the city to seal it, but it will cost us money to do that. We’ll work something out with you when we get it back.”

“Fine,” I replied. I needed the watch properly sealed and wanted to wear it.

A week later the watch was ready and the owner told me  it cost him $20 to get it sealed. “That’s ridiculous,” I said. $20 for the battery and $20 for the sealing? No way.

“Would you agree to split the cost for sealing the watch; only $10,” the owner implored.

I seethingly took out my $10 bill, handed over the currency, took my watch and walked out the door, never to return again.

They didn’t even set the time for me; presumably because they didn’t know how to set both the analog and digital portions of the watch.

So what does this $10 story have to do with your legal practice and creating video? I’m glad you asked.

You charge fees. Either you have a flat fee, hourly fee or contingency fee. Create a video that clearly sets out the basis for your fee and how you calculate it. Doing so will educate a viewer about what you charge so there will never be any misunderstandings about your expectations and your client’s requirement to pay.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

___________________

“Video blogging is something we all should be doing, yours truly included. If I had to name one of the top experts in using video on a blog, Gerry Oginski would be my go-to guy. In fact Gerry is a great example of how a professional service provider can use video to get their message out and how it can be used to provide information to their audience. I just wish I could get Gerry to be a regular contributor to Blog For Profit.”

Grant Griffiths

Founder, BlogForProfit.com and HeadwayThemes.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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You need to read this book, written by my good friend Tom Foster of Fosterwebmarketing.com and myself, to get you motivated. You’ll learn tons of useful information about why video is so important to market your practice and why it’s the future of the internet.

The book is in and now available at Amazon.com for $16.95. (Don’t worry that it says out of stock. It’s here.)

Here’s the link:
How Really Smart Lawyers are Using Video on the Web (to Get More Cases)

It’s a great investment and an even better read!

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9 BENEFITS TO USING VIDEO:

1. Viewers get to see you
2. Viewers get to hear you
3. Viewers get to know you
4. Viewers begin to trust you before they ever walk in your door
5. You become the wise man at the top of the mountain
6. You are viewed as the legal expert
7. You are giving away information in order to gain an audience
8. Viewers see that you are a real human being
9. The image of a grumpy stuffy lawyer dissipates when a viewer sees you on video

CREATE AN EDUCATIONAL MESSAGE

What do I mean?

Do not use online video the same way lawyers have used TV commercials since 1973. A 30 second commercial on YouTube does nothing to help you get new clients in your door. The same is true for 60 second commercials too. Take advantage of the unlimited capacity for as much video as you can create. (There are some important caveats you need to know. More on that later.)

TIP #1: EXPLAIN

Explain the last case you successfully handled for a client. Tell your viewer why your client came into your office. Explain the legal issue in layman’s terms; tell the viewer what you did to help your client solve their legal problem. Then, and here’s the million dollar tip, explain to your viewer that if they have a similar problem, they should call you for more information.

TIP #2: GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE

Give the information away. It’s free anyway (for most consumer-level attorney specialties). If you are a personal injury attorney, or workers compensation attorney or divorce attorney, explain how things work. Your potential clients will get this information from you when they come into your office anyway. Why not give it away and allow your viewer to become a better informed and educated consumer of  legal services? The internet is the ideal place to give away your information. The more you give, the more calls you should get. (There’s a lot of psychology involved in that reasoning that I will not go into here.)

TIP #3: BE CONCISE

When creating video, do not expect a viewer to watch you ramble endlessly. You must make your video long enough but also short enough. (How’s that for a double-sided lawyerly answer?) You want to be concise, but you do not want a short commercial. You want to explain, but you don’t want your viewer to lose attention and go elsewhere. What’s the ideal length for a relevant video? Approximately 2-3 minutes. Yes, there are always exceptions, just as in law. Some will be shorter; some will be longer.

TIP #4: NO WEBCAMS NEED APPLY

“Can I use my webcam or little flip video camera to make these educational videos?” You could. But then you’d be wasting your time wondering why not many people are watching your videos. Your webcam is great for a quick hello to a friend or relative. The video quality is generally poor, as is the audio quality. The new generation of flip video cameras are great little hi-def video tools that were unheard of five years ago. The major drawback is that they do not work well in low-light situations and none of them have the ability to use an external microphone, which is an absolute must when creating quality video to post online.

TIP #5: CHOICES

You have two options to create attorney video:

(1) Do it yourself, or (2) Hire an experienced video company to do it for you.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, like me, you need tons of time and dedication to creating strategy, lighting, audio, video, calibrating your equipment, shooting video of you- yourself, uploading the video footage to the computer, learning how to edit, insert transitions between scenes, correct color, add stereo sound, add graphics, add intro and exit music along with any background music, shoot b-roll footage to insert into video, render the video to a quicktime or flash file, then compress that file to make it compatible to upload online. Then, you have to upload the edited video to video sharing sites, put it on your blog and website, and there’s more! You now have to optimize the text so that your videos will be found in the search engines. You must give the videos ‘tags’ and ‘keywords’ for the search engines. But there’s still more to do! Then you have to let the world know about what you’ve just created.

How? Simple. Use all of your available social media to do that. “Ugh,” you think. “All that, just for one video?” That’s right…if you want to do it properly. You’ve got to Tweet about it. You’ve got to put your video on Facebook and MySpace. You’ve got to tell your friends, relatives and acquaintances about it. “Is that all?” No. There’s more! (I feel like this is an infomercial where they say, “Wait…there’s more! For only $12.95 you get…”)

Then it’s time to start your next video…and the cycle continues. If you do not have the time or desire to learn the technical details of creating, editing and uploading your video, I strongly recommend that you skip option #1 and to directly to option #2: Hire a reputable video company to create your videos for you.

What should you look for when deciding to hire a video production company?

1. A firm with experience producing attorney videos. Do not use a video company that just finished a wedding shoot that weekend. I would also hesitate using those video companies that create video depositions. Why? Because they usually do not have experience knowing what an online viewer looking for an attorney wants in an attorney video.
2. Ask whether the video producer is a lawyer. Why is that important? A practicing lawyer has a pretty good insight into what consumers need to see, or want to see in an attorney video. A lawyer brings a particular type of experience when creating attorney video; especially an attorney video producer who has created hundreds of educational videos for use in their own marketing of their legal services.

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Susan Cartier Liebel, creator of Solo Practice University says, “Gerry has the aptitude and technical savvy to create compelling, engaging and highly-professional videos to get potential clients to pick up the phone. Educational marketing through video is the future. Gerry is your teacher.”

Susan Cartier Liebel, Esq., Creator of Solo Practice University

Solopracticeuniversity.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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You’re wondering why your colleagues are bitchin’ and moaning all the time about how tough it is to get cases now-a-days? Have you ever joined a ‘downer-festival’ where every lawyer sitting in the attorney’s lounge is complaining about how the lousy economy is hurting business (except for bankruptcy attorneys)?

Every wonder why your current form of marketing is just getting you by and not really doing what it’s supposed to?

If you’ve asked these questions, you are not alone. You’ve got a problem. A big one. Your cases are dwindling. Your cash flow is diminishing. Your future cash flow is not looking that good either. Your yellow pages ad has not resulted in any return on investment…yet. Your TV commercial got you a few calls; but those were junk. Nobody called when you ran your radio ads. Your website isn’t bringing in much business either. What can you do to solve your problem?

The answer is video. Remember that video will not improve your yellow pages ad; nor your radio ad or any other marketing you’re doing. What creating video will do is distinguish you from all of your competitors and give a viewer a compelling reason to call you and not the lawyer down the street. It is the best return on investment anywhere. It plays 24/7; all for the same low price of…NOTHING! Where else can you create a video once and have it watched over and over for FREE? Nowhere.

Video is the solution. Start now, before everyone jumps on the bandwagon and realizes how important this is to market your legal practice.

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

Fairfax Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer, Ben Glass, says, “Gerry Oginski is the master of online video. If you have not seen his videos, you should. He’s done more videos than any lawyer out there. The big edge that Gerry has over his competition is that his videos allow consumers to get to ‘know’ him before they even pick up the phone. His use of video on his website and his video blog is amazing.” Ben Glass, Esq., BenGlassLaw.com, Fairfax, VA  703-591-9829

______________________

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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You missed my online webinar about the importance for attorneys to market themselves with online web video. That’s ok. You’re going to have another opportunity to listen in; once I get the mp3 recording, I’ll be posting that to The Lawyers’ Video Studio.

In addition, in today’s video and in a series of highlights from the webinar, you can listen in and actually see me giving my webinar presentation. I invite you to join me, for less than two minutes, to see how I started off.

By the way, you’ll see in the video that I’m wearing a telephone headset while giving the seminar, and I also have a wireless lavalier microphone that the video is picking up. Stay tuned for more.

By the way, one thing I ask. If you find that the material I post is useful and helpful, let me know either by a comment on the post, or even better, in the form of a testimonial. When you send me a testimonial I will include your name, contact info, photo and website, which gives you a back link to your website.

Thanks for taking time to read my blog!

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1. A lawyer sends you a potential new client. You fail to call and thank him.
2. A lawyer refers a person who just called them. You retain that client and fail to send a personalized thank you note to your referring lawyer.
3. A referring lawyer, who you have had a good relationship with for years, calls you and tells you he’s sending a family friend to you for a legal problem. He asks you to take good care of him. You assure him you will. You never follow up and let the referring attorney know what happened or whether you were retained.
4. You retain a client and never let your referring attorney know the status of that case.

If these four scenarios sound familiar, I have a suggestion:
Go through every one of your files and keep your referring attorney in the loop. In many states, referring attorneys take on the same legal responsibility as you do, even though they may be ‘hands-off’ and have nothing to do with the day-to-day workings of the case. Send a note; an email; a thank-you; a phone call to let your referring attorney know you’re hard at work on the case he sent you.

Failure to follow these simple steps will result in fewer calls by your referring attorneys. Guaranteed.

What does this have to do with creating attorney video?

How about creating a video geared toward your referring attorneys. Explain the process of what you do once you take on a referred case and how often you expect to update that attorney.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Have a great day!
______________________
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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“Michigan real estate attorney Timothy Klisz of the Klisz Law Office says “Hi,” and introduces himself right away. That’s good. His introductory graphics last 10 seconds — a bit too long for my attention span. He then starts giving very good information about foreclosure and different options that you, as a homeowner, should consider. Great tips and good use of video to educate a viewer. So far, he’s got my five TechnoScore points.”

To read the full YouLaw review, click here.

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