Imagine that you needed to hire an attorney and you decided to search out one online.  For those attorney’s that have web video, which one would you choose if you were to base your decision off their video?  Would you choose the lawyer who tells you how great they are and what a fantastic law school they went to?

On the other hand, maybe you’d prefer a lawyer who tells you how wonderful their firm is and how much money they’ve obtained for their clients over the last ten years? Better yet, would you prefer a lawyer who does nothing more than say “Come to me because I’m a lawyer and I’m here?”

There is a recurring theme when you watch attorney video; most attorneys’ videos are quite poor. I don’t mean technically bad, I mean their content is bad. What’s so terrible about their content? Let me count the ways:

1. They offer no useful information,
2. They don’t explain anything,
3. They don’t understand what their online viewer is looking for.

Why would anyone look for a lawyer online?  The answer is simple. They don’t know a lawyer and they don’t know someone who knows a lawyer. They’d rather search online to see if someone can help solve their legal problem. That’s where 99.9% of lawyers miss the boat. This also applies to other professionals who use the Internet to market their services. People going online and searching attorney videos are people who have a problem. They are looking for someone to fix their problem.

How can you be the one that resonates with them and compels them to pick up the phone to call?

When an attorney creates an online video to market his or her services, he does so hoping that an online viewer will:

1. Find the video
2. Press play
3. Watch the full video
4. Be so compelled by that video that the viewer will request more information.

Let’s go through these one at a time.

1) Searchers Must First Find the Video

Many attorneys rely on their video production company to optimize their video for the search engines. Some producers know how, others don’t. You can see which ones ‘get it’ by reading the description of any attorney video on YouTube.

Those do-it-yourselfers may not fully understand why it is so critical to have a compelling headline, a summary of the video in the description and relevant keywords.

It goes without saying that even with a technically perfect video, if nobody can find your video, you’ve wasted a lot of time and money creating your video.

2) They Must Press Play

Just because a video is listed on page one of YouTube in the search results, does not mean it will be watched. Unless you have a compelling headline and content, nobody will care about your video.

Think about it again. Why would anyone beside your spouse, mother and best friend watch your video? Unless it’s a hilarious viral video, most people will not be interested in watching your attorney video. Then who will watch it? People who have a legal problem. People who need help. People who are searching for an attorney to solve their particular problem. Unless your viewer has a legal problem like the one you handle, your video will not be watched. It’s that simple. That’s why most lawyer videos never go viral. If you follow REELSEO’s Jeremy Scott’s viral video roundup every Friday, you see detailed reasons why video goes viral. Attorney videos never fit the pattern for widespread viewing of their video.

Why Attorney Videos are Never Viral

Attorney video is never funny, unless it’s a parody or a spoof. Lawyer video is pretty boring and never ‘cutesy’ in the way you might see in a viral video.

“Objection! Judge…that video has no information. The lawyer just talks about himself.”

“Objection sustained. You’re right. Next video please, and make it snappy, I want to go to lunch…”

A video doesn’t need to go viral in order to be watched.  In fact, for an attorney, if it does go viral, it’s likely a mistake.  But, a video that’s unwatched is wasted marketing dollars.

3) They Need to Watch the Full Message

That seems easy right? You spend your time making a good video. You think you have content that people want to watch. You upload your video and then watch your analytics. You can’t understand why your videos are not watched till the end. Most people are leaving after 15 seconds. Huh? Some stay to watch a full minute. One or two linger for 2 1/2 minutes. Yet nobody got to the five minute mark. “What’s up with that?”

Do you know why you must evaluate your analytics? So you know what you’re doing right, and more importantly, what you’re doing wrong! If nobody is watching your video till the end, you need to ditch that video and start over. You need to edit and trim your content and fix your description and headline.

Here’s a little secret that most online viewers inherently know but attorneys do not. Many lawyers talk way too much and don’t listen enough. If that’s how you come across on your video, you’ve lost your viewer forever. Lawyers talk for a living. Lawyers give advice on a daily basis. Yet, it is the video producer’s job to control the attorney by guiding him and focus what he’s trying to say.

Remember, anyone can create a technically excellent video once you learn how. However, it takes an experienced video producer to know what your online viewer is looking for and how to get your talent, in this case the attorney, to convey that message in a way that the viewer will want to watch.

4) They Should be Compelled to Act

Why would someone want to call you after seeing your video? Do you tell them something they don’t already know? Do you explain something to them that shows you’re an expert without coming out and saying “I’m the expert!” Or, do you tell them about your credentials; where you went to school; that you graduated in the top of your class at Harvard law school; that you clerked for a Federal judge for a few years, and that if they’re lucky, you might just talk (down) to them?

Guess what? If you’re a professional offering your services and using video to market your services, do you really think a viewer cares about you? They don’t. 99% of attorneys using video online today don’t understand that. A viewer who is taking the time to search for a lawyer doesn’t know a lawyer and is looking for someone to help solve their problem. Talking about yourself too much simply gives them a reason to look elsewhere. Ironically, the fault lies not with the attorney for talking about themselves, but rather his video producer, who should know better and understand what a viewer wants and needs to watch.

The only way to get a viewer to pick up the phone and call, is to create a compelling video that a viewer needs to watch. If you can learn how to do that, you’ll be way ahead of your competition.

Conclusion – How to Create A Compelling Attorney Video

So, how do you create a compelling video that a viewer will want to watch? Simple. Don’t talk about yourself; explain how you can help solve a viewer’s problem (without giving any legal advice); give information that nobody else is providing online; give the information away for free. Why do that? So that you are viewed as the wise man on the totem pole, and viewers will want to call you for more information.

Definitely despite all those bad things that you may find by googling IE6, it was (and still is) an epic event in lives of Microsoft fans and other people that have any relation to the web. Everybody will agree that it is really a notorious browser – even Wikipedia can’t find better words than these: “This version of Internet Explorer is widely derided for its security issues and lack of support for modern web standards, making frequent appearances in “worst tech products of all time” lists, with some publications labeling it as the “least secure software on the planet”. It’s needless to say more.

Of course it is a rather old software and the main reason of its popularity was the Microsoft’s browser policy (remember that old case when IE was a part of Windows software – that was when IE hegemony started). But now we can ask a reasonable question – is it really bad that one of IE versions is going to become a part of the web history? Actually it’s obvious that even Microsoft is glad that IE6 is finally going down but what about other IE versions? Here is latest data about Top 12 browser versions as of the period of May 2010 – those are the global stats where the IE6 share remains rather high unlike the U.S.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Version Market Share

Anyways IE6 (along with Vista and few other products) has taught Microsoft that they should be more careful in creating new software versions and products. The lesson was obviously learned and as the result we can see Windows 7 as well as many interesting things about the forthcoming IE9. It is necessary to remind you that Internet Explorer 9 will support HTML5 and CSS3, will have new Java Script Engine called Chakra, Direct X video acceleration and so on. Summing up everything we’ve said it’s clear that IE is alive and kicking. But it’s a good thing we’re not the ones it’s kicking – web designer community is quite happy with alternatives that they’re used to (Firefox and growing Chrome). IE will never become a browser for developers – it’s a browser for moms, in-laws, housewives etc. Whoever but the web developers. At the same time IE will be quite happy with what’s left for it – a huge piece of Internet audience will stick to it for years and years. That’s the equilibrium, IE version of it.

A re-posting of Template Monster Blog

Thanks again NJ, I’ll be back next year and I hope to see you all at the National Show in Orlando!

While some features vary from platform to platform, ProVDN’s definition of it’s platform is that it’s basically a service for storing and streaming videos for video professionals. The online platform allows these professionals to upload their video content directly to ProVDN’s servers where the video is transcoded into several web ready formats and stored on a network of geographically diverse servers. These new versions are designed to stream flawlessly to users that may be on different internet connections and on diverse viewing  platforms including to the iPhone and iPad.

There are three levels of service providers in the Online Video Platform space. There are the free, or nearly free services like YouTube and Vimeo, there are the Enterprise provider like Brightcove and Ooyala, and then there is the underserved middle market where ProVDN is positioned. Bloggers and personal videos will always use a YouTube like service because it’s cheap and easy, and folks like ESPN, Discovery, and CNN will always go with a Brightcove type service because it’s ultra high quality, full featured, and because they can afford it. But where do independent video pros go for high quality, easy to use service that they can afford? Well until now they really didn’t have an option, but now with ProVDN they do.

Looking at two videos side by side even a seasoned professional would have a difficult time telling which video was streaming from Brightcove and which was from ProVDN. In addition to the ultra high quality encoding and streaming, just  like the enterprise providers, ProVDN has simplified the user interface and video management process by eliminating the features that only a few high end clients need and adding an interactive, real time, client commenting and video approval application. This industry first virtually eliminates the traditionally arduous task of receiving client comments, video project sign off and approval.

But don’t take my work for it. Go to provdn.com today. Sign up for a free 30 day trial and see for yourself  why videographers from around the world are choosing ProVDN as their Online Video Platform.

It was big news yesterday for Noam Lovinsky, CEO and Co-founder of Episodic, with the announcement that his company has been acquired by Google. Following a day of April Fool’s Day jokes, that included Brightcove had acquired Ooyala – this deal is no joke, and was actually being signed yesterday. This is Google’s eighth acquisition since September, and eleventh acquisition in nine months. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed and Google has released a generic statement saying they are impressed by the Episodic team and share the same vision for video (Though sources tell us it was $25M). But on the Episodic company blog, both Lovinisky and his Co-Founder Matias Cudich, say they are thrilled about this new partnership and what means for their customers and the online video space, mobile phones and IPTV devices. The Episodic team starts work as a Google employees next week.

The San Francisco, California-based online video platform (O.V.P) has been around for two years but had kept relatively quiet in stealth mode building the platform, officially launching the complete platform only last October. Last year Episodic focused on delivering video to the mobile devices starting with the iPhone and expanded to the BlackBerry, and even Windows Mobile. Now with the official launch as a “comprehensive solution”, Episodic differentiates itself as an all-under-one-roof platform rather than having a network of partners like its competitors in the space. Customers like Showtime Sports and other national cable networks, web publishers and small and medium businesses, use Episodic, for content management, delivery and monetization.

We interviewed Noam Lovinsky at Streaming Media West in November 2009, and he discussed how our industry is barely 15 years old, and video monetization and delivery on the web and mobile devices have just begun to mature. You can see that full post here. Noam predicted that in 2010, we’ll see the rise of the promise of “TV Everywhere” and a shift in business models from ad supported content to paid content. He added that moving forward, video will be core for web site development as HTML coding was in 1999
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Google Buys Episodic – You Down With O.V.P.? Yeah You Know Me!
Larry Kless | April 3, 2010 |
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google episodic1 200×59 Google Buys Episodic You Down With O.V.P.? Yeah You Know Me!It was big news yesterday for Noam Lovinsky, CEO and Co-founder of Episodic, with the announcement that his company has been acquired by Google. Following a day of April Fool’s Day jokes, that included Brightcove had acquired Ooyala – this deal is no joke, and was actually being signed yesterday. This is Google’s eighth acquisition since September, and eleventh acquisition in nine months. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed and Google has released a generic statement saying they are impressed by the Episodic team and share the same vision for video (Though sources tell us it was $25M). But on the Episodic company blog, both Lovinisky and his Co-Founder Matias Cudich, say they are thrilled about this new partnership and what means for their customers and the online video space, mobile phones and IPTV devices. The Episodic team starts work as a Google employees next week.

The San Francisco, California-based online video platform (O.V.P) has been around for two years but had kept relatively quiet in stealth mode building the platform, officially launching the complete platform only last October. Last year Episodic focused on delivering video to the mobile devices starting with the iPhone and expanded to the BlackBerry, and even Windows Mobile. Now with the official launch as a “comprehensive solution”, Episodic differentiates itself as an all-under-one-roof platform rather than having a network of partners like its competitors in the space. Customers like Showtime Sports and other national cable networks, web publishers and small and medium businesses, use Episodic, for content management, delivery and monetization.

We interviewed Noam Lovinsky at Streaming Media West in November 2009, and he discussed how our industry is barely 15 years old, and video monetization and delivery on the web and mobile devices have just begun to mature. You can see that full post here. Noam predicted that in 2010, we’ll see the rise of the promise of “TV Everywhere” and a shift in business models from ad supported content to paid content. He added that moving forward, video will be core for web site development as HTML coding was in 1999.

Why is Episodic excited about joining Google?

Episodic and Google share a common vision for video on the Web. Online video will be ubiquitous, engaging, entertaining, informative and effective. Both teams place value on creating a great experience for viewers and on delivering a powerful and flexible platform for publishers, marketers and advertisers of all kinds. We’re very excited to join the talented team at Google and to continue creating great experiences for viewers and powerful platforms for publishers, marketers, and advertisers. (From the Episodic blog, Episodic Joins Google)

Google issued this generic statement on the acquisition:

We are impressed by the Episodic team, the vision they have for Internet video, and the progress they have made in bringing a great video experience to the web. We look forward to working with this talented group of individuals, and the technology they’ve created, to continue to deliver a powerful and flexible platform to our partners.

With the “shared vision” that both companies have, Episodic’s technology integration YouTube could develop “YouTube Pro” of the service to expand into syndication on other video sites and devices, live streaming, paid content, advertising and monetization. See Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins’s post, Episodic Acquired by Google, and What it Means for YouTube, where he provides interesting analysis into whether or not this was a personnel acquisition or a technology acquisition.

While it’s been rumored that Google was planning to buy an online video platform, many expected that either Ooyala or Brightcove would have been the targets. But Google’s purchase of Episodic and recent acquisition of video codec vendor On2, demostrates that Google is serious about expanding its video strategy. Another recent acquisition in the online video platform space was just a few weeks ago when KITdigital acquired Atlanta-based OVP Multicast Media, and with the saturated OVP market, more disruption and consolidation within the space is expected.

For Episodic, and the online video, mobile and OTT spaces at large – this is big news.

About Episodic, Inc.
The Episodic publishing platform enables the broadcast of live and on-demand video to any web site, mobile phone or Internet connected device. With Episodic, content producers are able to push video to their web properties, showcase content via social networks, and even build custom-branded iPhone applications around their media. Episodic spans the video value chain, providing everything publishers need to manage, measure and monetize their content. Episodic is based in San Francisco, Calif., and is privately held. For more information visit www.episodic.com.

To see just how many of these platforms are playing catch up, grab your iPhone and go to http://vidcompare.com, Kris Drey’s incredible OVP comparison site. Then browse the featured OVPs and look at their “Video Sample”. Maybe 2% of the 80+ platforms there will have a video that plays for you. Were they asleep at the wheel?

PS: ProVDN is one of the 2%.