What’s MORE Interesting? A static headshot video or someone movie around in a video?
In 99% of attorney videos, we are static, standing still, not moving around. How boring is that? Compared to action, compared to a person on video who MOVES!
Action is always more interesting than inaction when it comes to video.
The majority of my videos are static, just like yours, that’s because when I’m shooting video, I’m doing it myself. My camera is on a tripod. I have a lens that creates a blurry background while I’m in perfect focus. That forces a viewer to focus on what’s clear rather than what’s blurred. They pay more attention that way.
But I’m standing still and don’t sway back and forth, as that would be annoying. My DSLR camera doesn’t have a follow-focus control, and I have to set the focus before I start to record. If I move closer to the camera or away from the camera, I will be out of focus. That’s why I stay in one place. But compare that to action.
Action would be much more interesting than watching a talking head and someone’s lips move. The challenge now, of course, is that shooting video while moving is harder than it looks. It’s not easy, and again, it’s not fun.
Why do I raise this issue?
Because in the sea of video crap I see on YouTube each day, it becomes clear that attorneys have reverted to doing what all their competitors are doing. We did it with the Yellow pages. We did it with billboards. We did it with TV and radio advertising. Now, we’re doing it with our videos.
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We copy what we believe is working for other attorneys. We listen to the vendor selling us the media. He’s suggesting how to get our message across on his media. Next thing you know, all the attorney marketing messages start to look and sound alike. It’s a simple matter of taking out one lawyer’s name and inserting another. The same thing happens on video now.
In the early days, when YouTube was a new phenomenon, it was easy to stand out.
There weren’t many lawyers using video to market their practices. Now, most lawyers have some video presence.
I’m going to ask you an important question that someone asked my son one day.
How Do You Stand Out From the Rest?
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He asked my son what he was planning on doing after graduating from college. My son was interested in creating a company that designs websites. He had created websites for a few businesses and was looking to turn it into a business. The man then asked him, “How are you going to stand out from all the other guys who are doing the exact same thing?”
My son hesitated before answering. I didn’t like his answer. His answer talked about the features and benefits a consumer would get from his services. His answer didn’t answer the question. His answer didn’t set himself apart from the other web development guys.
Later that night, my son was clearly frustrated and spent a good deal of time trying to come up with ways to show how he’s different from the others. Now I’m going to ask you that same question. How are YOUR videos different from your colleagues and competitors?
- You both handle the same type of cases.
- You both have similar results.
- You both have similar experiences.
- You’ve both created videos to market your law firm.
What have you done in your videos to make yours stand out from all of your competitors?
In all likelihood, you’re going to be as frustrated as my son was trying to answer this question.
Think about this… Maybe you shot your video outdoors, in a T-shirt and shorts, on a beach with bikini-clad women standing behind you or maybe you were standing in front of your Lamborghini sports car. Maybe you were interviewing your opponent after your case finished to get his opinion about some of the defenses he raised. Maybe you were interviewing your expert about how he arrived at his expert opinion. Maybe you were interviewing a police officer about how he conducts a traffic stop or even an investigation of an accident scene.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s Action in your video. Maybe you invited your viewer to join you in a walk around the neighborhood while you chat with ‘him’ about an interesting topic that’s relevant to him.
In The ‘Good Ole’ Days’
When I first started creating educational videos to market my solo practice, there was NOBODY in the legal field, creating educational videos. I started my videos out of desperation and because I didn’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on TV, radio and yellow pages advertising. That meant I was doing something that my competitors were not doing.
When I started seeing lawyers put a video online, I noticed they were always shooting video in front of their law books in their law library. That’s because their video guys thought lawyers needed to look lawyerly in a suit in front of their lawyerly bookcase.
How did I stand out from all those lawyers shooting video in their law library?
Simple.
I shot a video in my basement.
I shot a video in my bathroom. (Yes, my bathroom.)
I shot a video on my lawn.
I shot a video on vacation.
I shot a video without a jacket or tie.
I shot a video wearing a polo shirt.
I shot a video holding my dog.
I NEVER shot a video in front of a legal bookcase.
That was just one way my videos stood out from the crowd.
I shot a video in a T-shirt in the Negev desert in Israel.
I shot a video wearing a tuxedo.
I shot a video wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses.
There’s an unlimited number of ways you can stand out from the crowd. You just have to be a bit creative. Don’t get hung up on what you think your viewer wants to see.
They don’t really care if you’re wearing a suit.
They don’t really care if you have a beard or a wool cap on.
They don’t care if you’re in your backyard, smoking a cigar.
They just want one thing from you…
To learn how their type of case works.
To learn how you might be able to help answer their legal questions.
To realize that you have the answers to their problem.
That brings me to your call to action.
How is your call to action different than all the others who are doing the same thing?
Are you just saying, “Call me?” Are you giving your viewers a reason for them to call you? I’ll bet you’re not.
You’re probably saying the same things that your colleagues and competitors are saying.
How does that help you stand out from the crowd? It doesn’t. Just like action always is more interesting than in-action, you must pay careful attention to your call to action.
Hopefully, your viewer has watched your entire video. At the end of your video, hopefully, you included a call to action. Too many times, I’ve seen attorneys just abruptly end their video with no call to action. That’s a waste of your time and money. Why? Because your viewer won’t know what they need to do next. If you don’t tell them what to do, inertia will take over, and they’ll move on to another lawyer video and quickly forget you.
Instead of saying “Call Me” how about you offer them a copy of your book?
Instead of telling them to call you, how about you enter their name for your weekly newsletter?
How about offering them your personal cell phone number so they can speak to you directly and immediately? (Not many lawyers will be so bold to offer this.)
Keep in mind this basic principle…
None of what you do in your videos will matter if you don’t generate this one thing.
The one thing is TRUST.
You MUST generate trust with your viewer for them to want what you have to offer.
If you fail to generate trust with your viewer, it doesn’t matter how else you’ve stood out from the crowd. They won’t call you. They won’t believe you have the answers to their questions. Fail to generate trust, and you’ve wasted your time, energy, and resources creating marketing messages that will sit and fade away.
Till next time, see you on video!
