February 10, 2012
Mark
Hunter
Video Biographies
by Mark Hunter
February 10, 2012
More and more lawyers are using video to differentiate themselves. Video provides potential clients the opportunity to learn more about a lawyer than what is written in the biography. Hopefully through the video, potential clients will feel a connection with the lawyer and want to make the initial contact.
So videos’ are good. They are also time consuming, can be expensive and aren’t right for everyone.
I recently completed a number of videos for a lawyer including his biography. The intention was to give the potential client a slice of information and leave them wanting more. Screen time was limited to two minutes and emphasis was placed on the video being more than just a talking head
Once go-ahead was given the process was fairly straight forward:
- Have the lawyer write the initial script, edit it and re-edited. It will likely be re-edited once again during filming.
- Interview three possible videographers before making a decision. Pricing will likely be all over the map even when providing the same information and a sample. Creating a professional quality video requires a professional's touch (even though you can film this on your mobile phone it is not recommended).
- After filming, the lawyer mentioned to me that he couldn’t believe how much work it was. In fact he thought he would come in read the script and be done in 20 minutes. In actuality it took nearly 3 hours (and he was very good).
- The videographer will likely provide two to three samples to work with for each video. As with most things there is back and forth before the final product is ready.
- There are different options when it comes to posting the material either on your own website or on the web (YouTube, vimeo, etc). Both have pros and cons but likely your IT department would prefer it posted externally with links back to your website.
Once the video is released, solicit feedback from current clients and people you trust. What do they like and what can be improved upon. It is important to note that not everyone in your firm should have a video nor will everyone in your firm want to have a video. Certain people gravitate to this medium as such come across as sincere rather than forced. Lawyers in very niche markets may not need a video as everyone in there chosen field knows them. It was suggested to me that only younger people should be on film. Personally I don’t think age is as much of a factor as comfort in front of the camera.
It will be difficult to attribute new files coming in as a direct result of the video(s). However, statistics show that people review a lawyers’ biography prior to calling them so if the lawyer has an eye for the camera it cannot hurt having a video.
More and more lawyers are using video to differentiate themselves. Video provides potential clients the opportunity to learn more about a lawyer than what is written in the biography. Hopefully through the video, potential clients will feel a connection with the lawyer and want to make the initial contact.
So videos’ are good. They are also time consuming, can be expensive and aren’t right for everyone.
I recently completed a number of videos for a lawyer including his biography. The intention was to give the potential client a slice of information and leave them wanting more. Screen time was limited to two minutes and emphasis was placed on the video being more than just a talking head
Once go-ahead was given the process was fairly straight forward:
- Have the lawyer write the initial script, edit it and re-edited. It will likely be re-edited once again during filming.
- Interview three possible videographers before making a decision. Pricing will likely be all over the map even when providing the same information and a sample. Creating a professional quality video requires a professional's touch (even though you can film this on your mobile phone it is not recommended).
- After filming, the lawyer mentioned to me that he couldn’t believe how much work it was. In fact he thought he would come in read the script and be done in 20 minutes. In actuality it took nearly 3 hours (and he was very good).
- The videographer will likely provide two to three samples to work with for each video. As with most things there is back and forth before the final product is ready.
- There are different options when it comes to posting the material either on your own website or on the web (YouTube, vimeo, etc). Both have pros and cons but likely your IT department would prefer it posted externally with links back to your website.
Once the video is released, solicit feedback from current clients and people you trust. What do they like and what can be improved upon. It is important to note that not everyone in your firm should have a video nor will everyone in your firm want to have a video. Certain people gravitate to this medium as such come across as sincere rather than forced. Lawyers in very niche markets may not need a video as everyone in there chosen field knows them. It was suggested to me that only younger people should be on film. Personally I don’t think age is as much of a factor as comfort in front of the camera.
It will be difficult to attribute new files coming in as a direct result of the video(s). However, statistics show that people review a lawyers’ biography prior to calling them so if the lawyer has an eye for the camera it cannot hurt having a video.
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