Coming today to Fat Friday: Yvonne Renfrew reviews Drobo for redundant hard drive storage, Bill Hodes discusses the legal ethics of lawyer ranking systems like Avvo, Ron Kramer responds to Gerry Oginski's YouLaw review of his video, Ed Schoenecker explains how to change a case name in TrialDirector 5.2, and Michael Jones discusses RAID drives. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 63 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
This issue also contains links to every article in the September 2009 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
TechnoScore: 2.5
1 = Lowest Possible Score; 5 = Highest Possible Score
"I am a business attorney" is how lawyer Bill Godfrey of Godfrey Legal opens this video. Godfrey is clean-cut; his beard is closely cropped; he's wearing a nice suit, and he is sitting in front of a nice-looking bookcase. The video has nice B-roll footage, he clearly has a penchant for pocket watches, and the background music is pleasing.
From a technique standpoint the video is excellent. The quality is crystal-clear, and shows scenes of his office, him talking on his cell phone, and also looking at a law book standing in front of a bookcase. For technique, I give this video a TechnoScore of 5, but I must take into account the content and sidebar, which is nowhere near as gratifying.
From a content standpoint, the video is lacking, and garners a score of 1.0. The sidebar doesn't contain any content, which means no search engine indexing. (How then can I explain how this video has garnered 300 views? This video also resides as a link on the video production company's Web site.) Averaging both scores out leaves this video with a TechnoScore of 2.5.
The video is a verbal resume describing what type of law Godfrey practices. I got the clear impression that this attorney knows exactly how to handle business matters. Being in business for over 35 years, he seems extremely competent and knowledgeable about his area of expertise.
However, I actually counted the number of times the attorney said the word "I," and was shocked to hear him say it 13 times in one minute. Included within the short video were references to "me" (3), "my" (2), and "we" (2). It reminded me of the Beatles song "I Me Mine."
Most people searching for a lawyer don't care about "you." I know some video producers disagree with my opinion. They feel that viewers want to learn about what the attorney does, where they came from, and what schools they attended.
I disagree with this assessment. In my experience, people looking for an attorney online make a number of assumptions:
The attorney is licensed in the state in which they practice.
The attorney has gone to law school.
The attorney has taken and passed the bar exam.
The attorney has experience in the area in which they practice.
Most people do not care where the lawyer went to law school. Nor do they care whether you were on law review or participated in moot court competition. They want to know how you can help solve their problem.
This lawyer clearly states the type of law he practices. However, the constant references to "I handle this, I handle that, I do this," distract from the educational message that he can achieve using video. All we learn is the particular type of law that he practices. Once I know that, my next question is, "What information does he provide that other lawyers do not?"
Tip #1: Let Your Clients Talk for You
If you have tremendous experience, have a former client describe it in a video testimonial. Let your former client talk about you, so you don't have to refer to yourself.
Tip #2: Ask and Then Answer FAQ's
If you have tremendous experience, ask a question that is frequently on the minds of people who seek legal advice in your practice area. Then use the video to answer that question. Doing so establishes yourself as an expert, without ever having to say "I'm an expert."
Tip #3: The Sidebar Is Your Friend
Use it to take advantage of Google, Bing, and other search engines, enabling prospective clients to find and watch your video.
Conclusion
Telling a viewer what type of law you handle is a good first line. But you should use your video to explain how you have helped clients in the past, and/or provide answers that demonstrate your knowledge. This approach will make you much more persuasive, and result in more leads from your video.
Till next time, see you on video!
The Back Bench
Certified Family Law Specialist and online video producer Kelly Chang Rickert says: "I liked this video a lot! Godfrey really emphasizes his "business" acumen by placing symbolic objects throughout his introduction. I thought the video was extremely classy, down to the finishing touches on the selected music! Godfrey is also articulate and humble — someone I would trust to make a deal for me. I'm sold."
Lawyer, journalist, and legal media consultant Robert Ambrogi says: "This well-produced video is effective in conveying three key points: what he does (business law), what qualifies him to do it (experience in practice and in-house), and how he does it (personal attention tailored to clients' goals). My one minor criticism is that the frequent images of timepieces distracted me. I could not decipher the message they were meant to convey. His Web site makes the point that he strives to save clients valuable time they could use elsewhere. Perhaps in a future video he should tie in this message. But overall, an A-."
TechnoLawyer publisher and online video producer Neil Squillante says: "Bill Godfrey's video looks sharp and his smooth performance makes him persuasive, but the video never explains all the visual references to timepieces. Does he practice law efficiently, give his clients a free pocket watch when they hire him, or moonlight hawking antique clocks on the Home Shopping Network?"
About YouLaw
YouTube offers law firms a free advertising platform with tens of millions of potential clients. But a poor video can hurt more than help. In this column, lawyer and online video expert Gerry Oginski reviews and rates the latest law firm videos. A panel of fellow experts (The Back Bench) add to Gerry's reviews with pithy remarks. We link to each new YouLaw column and all other noteworthy law firm marketing articles in our weekly BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.
About Gerry Oginski
New York trial lawyer Gerry Oginski has created more than 150 informational online videos for his medical malpractice and personal injury practice. Realizing that most video producers don't have a deep understanding of the practice of law and what potential clients look for, Gerry launched The Lawyers' Video Studio, which provides free tutorials and video production services. If you need help producing a video, please contact Gerry now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 60 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 59 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
This issue also contains links to every article in the September/October 2009 issue of Law Practice and the September 2009 isse of Law Technology News. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
TechnoScore: 1.5
1 = Lowest Possible Score; 5 = Highest Possible Score
Have you ever watched a news reporter on the street when a passerby waves at the camera or makes funny faces behind the reporter? You almost want the reporter to turn around because the passerby is more interesting. That's the problem with this video by immigration attorney Kurt Hermanni.
In the video, Hermanni talks about how illegal immigrants might be afraid to pursue their legal rights if injured in an accident. Ironically, Hermanni says he does not handle personal injury cases. "If you feel you are afraid to present yourself in an action in civil court, I am here for advice," he says. Hermanni fails to completely connect the dots so it seems like a non-sequitur, but there's an even bigger problem.
There's a large framed print behind Hermanni — and it's as crooked as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. During the entire video, I half expect to hear a laugh track. I keep waiting for the attorney to turn around to see what's so funny. I wonder why the frame is not level and even, and whether this attorney watched his video before uploading it. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this video is a spoof of a lawyer commercial. But it's not.
Watch the video for yourself to see why I deducted 3.5 points from its TechnoSore. I gave the video 1/2 a point for having the most extensive description I've ever seen on YouTube. I'm not so sure that's a good thing because it's mostly a lengthy resume that describes Hermanni's experience, skills, memberships, areas of expertise, as well as his contact information.
Tip #1: Always Watch Your Final Edited Video
Perhaps Hermanni walked by this crooked wall hanging a thousand times and never noticed. And that was fine … until it served as the backdrop for this video. Time for a reshoot.
Tip #2: Ask and Answer One Question Per Video
If you ask multiple questions, viewers may not care about all of the questions and decide not to spend any time watching your video. Viewers may also lose track of what you're talking about.
Giving one answer limits the video to only one topic. If your viewers Have a similar problem, you have identified that exact issue of interest to them. Now you've got their attention, and increased the likelihood that they will contact you.
Tip #3: Illuminate
Before starting your video shoot, you must set your white balance so your camera knows the correct colors. If you rely on automatic white balance you run the risk that your colors will be incorrect and dark, as in this video.
Also, don't forget to light up your background. Doing this will greatly improve the look of your video. You cannot rely solely on sunlight or overhead fluorescent lighting to provide light for your video. You need dedicated lights to illuminate your face as well as your background.
Till next time, see you on video!
The Back Bench
Certified Family Law Specialist and online video producer Kelly Chang Rickert says: "Not impressed. The production quality is poor — the picture is crooked, his head is cut off. The speaking quality is also poor — Kurt hesitates too much, and struggles for words (not good for a lawyer). Overall grade: D for effort."
TechnoLawyer publisher and online video producer Neil Squillante says: "Either the camera is crooked or Hermanni needs to sit up straight and the frame behind him straightened. He should also rehearse his script, and change the title of the video to better reflect its content (as one commenter complained)."
About YouLaw
YouTube offers law firms a free advertising platform with tens of millions of potential clients. But a poor video can hurt more than help. In this column, lawyer and online video expert Gerry Oginski reviews and rates the latest law firm videos. A panel of fellow experts (The Back Bench) add to Gerry's reviews with pithy remarks. We link to each new YouLaw column and all other noteworthy law firm marketing articles in our weekly BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.
About Gerry Oginski
New York trial lawyer Gerry Oginski has created more than 150 informational online videos for his medical malpractice and personal injury practice. Realizing that most video producers don't have a deep understanding of the practice of law and what potential clients look for, Gerry launched The Lawyers' Video Studio, which provides free tutorials and video production services. If you need help producing a video, please contact Gerry now.
Coming today to Fat Friday: Susi Schuele discusses social networking for lawyers, Mark Buckley responds to Gerry Oginski's YouLaw review of his YouTube video, Fredric Gruder reviews QuickFile4Outlook, MailStore, and Adobe Acrobat for email management, Harry Styron shares the biggest benefit his law firm derives from blogging, and James Atkins reviews Speakeasy's VoIP services. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 51 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
I'm back again with five more technology hacks for small law firms. While technology is not necessarily a bastion of hope in these dark economic times, it can give the small firm practitioner a leg up on the competition and level the playing field for client service and communication compared to a larger outfit. If you missed my first five hacks, you can find them on TechnoLawyer Blog.
1. Track Your Time Writing Emails With MonetaMail
MonetaMail is an Outlook add-on that tracks the time you spend on email activities.
MonetaMail is inspired by the following facts:
Email is the most popular communication tool. Much email activity is of short duration (certainly under the 6 minutes for the 0.1 hour minimum time tranche). Many users do not actually know how much time they spend in email and usually grossly underestimate their email activity time. Moreover, users do not want to leave the workflow of reading and replying to email to track their time.
The solution, prior to MonetaMail was to either ignore or forget about billing for email time, make some wild guesses, or sift through your Sent folder and reconstruct what happened.
MonetaMail tags, tracks, and reports your email time by two different user-selected descriptors (you need set up a descriptor only once per email address). The basic idea is to track the time that slips through the cracks by seamlessly integrating into Outlook. The reporting function enables you to evaluate email productivity by client, project or time-period, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The captured time should eclipse the $99 price.
2. Send Video Emails With Eyejot
Even in the hands of a gifted writer, the written word can prove difficult to decipher. Enter video messaging service Eyejot.
Eyejot enables you to send video messages by simply signing up, logging in to your account, uploading or recording your video, and clicking "Send." There is no software to install or download. It works with all major browsers.
A free account enables you to send an unlimited number of 60 second email messages, and provides support for RSS feeds and iTunes, and a visual address book. Upgrading to the Pro version for $29.95 per year extends the video length to 5 minutes and provides an inbox perpetual in duration (the free account stores email for only 30 days).
For $99.95 per year, the Pro Plus version enables you to add your own logo and color scheme to Eyejot's notification elements, receive alerts when recipients view your video messages, and attach documents to your video messages.
3. Tweet From Outlook
Twinbox is a free Microsoft Outlook plugin that seamlessly integrates with Outlook to enable Twitter users to update, reply, archive, search, and receive their friends' tweets.
After download and installation, simply visit the "Options" menu and enter your Twitter username and password. What sets this app apart from stand-alone Adobe Air based Twitter applications such as TweetDeck is the ability to archive, manage, group, and search your tweets the same way you manage your email. You can also upload photos and Outlook attachments and automatically download all tweets matching the keywords you specify, similar to a supercharged Google Alerts for Outlook. Thus, Twinbox enables you to monitor what people are saying about you and your firm.
4. Backup Your Browser Settings With FavBackup
FavBackup is a free portable utility (meaning it does not have to be installed, just executed) that will backup your browser preferences, passwords, extensions, and sessions.
It works with all major browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Google Chrome. Backing up is as simple as running the downloaded file and following the guided prompts.
5. Set Up Advanced Voicemail With YouMail
YouMail is a free voicemail service that will blow the pants off your cell phone carrier's default voicemail package. Think Google Voice without the extra phone number.
YouMail provides visual voicemail, personalized greetings based on the caller, voicemail sharing, caller blocking, and voicemail alerts by email and text. For a fee of $3.99/month, you can have voicemail messages transcribed and emailed to you. Another nifty feature is the ability to make folders to organize your voicemail messages as you would your email. You can also download your voice messages in .mp3 format.
What better way to organize client communications, send notes to yourself, and compartmentalize all communications? Give it a try and let me know what you think.
How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 59 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
