TechnoLawyer Blog: Monitors

SmallLaw: 12 Ways to Use Video in Your Law Practice

By Lee Rosen | Monday, June 14, 2010

Originally published on June 7, 2010 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.

It's time to incorporate video into every aspect of your practice. It's a great tool for marketing, communicating, documenting, and training. You can leverage an inexpensive camera like no other single tool in your arsenal. You can buy a camera, microphone, tripod, and lights for less than $500. You'll recoup your costs in a few hours. We use a $150 Kodak Zi8. We've added a lapel microphone from Radio Shack, a tripod from BestBuy, and some bright halogen lights from Home Depot. The high definition picture looks stunning. Below you'll find 12 ways you can put video to work. You'll come up with more once you get started — plus check out fellow SmallLaw columnist Gerry Oginski's law firm video reviews.

1. Put Video on Your Web Site

Let prospective clients get to know you. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million. Video gives people a real feel for who you are and what you're like. If you've got video and your competition doesn't, you're going to win every time. Provide tutorials on the law throughout your site. Help people understand the issues. Use video rather than a headshot on your bio page, and tell your personal story. If you already have written content on the site, you can recycle it as video.

2. Create a YouTube Channel

YouTube is the second largest search engine, and generates two billion video views per day. YouTube video shows up in the traditional search engines too. Create a channel and post your videos explaining the law and providing practical advice. It works — I had a guy chase me down at a local mall to ask if I was "that lawyer from YouTube." He thanked me for my advice.

3. Send Video Messages via Email

Create video "newsletters" and client updates. Explain the latest developments in your area of the law. Send special messages for special events. Send a video holiday card, adding humor if you've got it in you. How about a video birthday greeting for your most important client?

4. Record Your Next Presentation

We all give speeches from time to time. Have someone record your next lecture and post it on your Web site and your YouTube Channel. You're putting time into preparing for your talk so you may as well maximize the return on that investment. Odds are that you'll have far more viewers on YouTube than you had at the live presentation.

5. Prepare a Guided Tour of Your Office

If you have a nice office show it off. Give prospects a behind-the-scenes tour. Introduce everyone and show their offices. Zoom in on the knick knacks and have your staff tell stories behind the items they have on their desks. Clients love knowing what the office looks like before they visit. It reduces anxiety and builds the client's connection with your firm.

6. Record Your Client's Opinions About Your Work

Create a three-to-five minute video of a happy client explaining the outcome of their case. Let your client tell the story and explain how you were able to help. Post the video on your Web site, YouTube channel, and elsewhere. You can automate the upload of the video to sites other than YouTube with a free service from Tube Mogul. (Just be sure to check the rules on testimonials in your state.)

7. Create a Facebook Page for Your Practice

You can upload your videos to Facebook and receive tremendous exposure. Facebook has half a billion users. It can't hurt for your smiling face to show up on a site with that much traffic.

8. Practice Your Speaking

Use your video rig to practice opening statements and closing arguments. Then sit down and watch the video. Other uses — prepare for your upcoming Rotary club speech or CLE presentation. There's no hiding from the camera. You'll learn more about your public speaking shortcomings from video than from any other source. Even your spouse probably won't be nearly as cruel as your camera.

9. Prepare Your Clients

Sit them down in front of the camera to prepare for depositions, trial testimony or other presentations. Telling clients what they're doing wrong isn't nearly as powerful as showing them. In some jurisdictions you can use your own video camera to record a deposition and play parts of it back at trial.

10. Use Video With Skype

Client meetings over Skype with the camera turned on result in much better communication than audio-only. You can see facial expressions and understand where the other party is coming from. Your video camera or Webcam can easily integrate with Skype for free videoconferencing.

11. Shoot Video for Illustrations and Archives

A camera will come in handy as you meet with clients. When clients show you something, film them. This way you'll have a visual record you can use to explain records or property to others. This footage might even prove useful should you go to trial and need an exhibit.

12. Create Training Videos

Record your office procedures. Some tasks are easier to show than to tell. For example, as the Food Network has proven, a video on making coffee is much more effective than written instructions. The same is true for running a complicated copy job. Create a training video when it makes sense.

Video is powerful — magical even. You've got to use it in your law firm. With a little effort, a little gear, and some creativity, you can put it to work for you in dozens of ways. One final tip — take a vacation after making all these videos, and bring your video camera. We all love sitting down in your living room with some popcorn to watch your vacation videos.

Written by Lee Rosen of Divorce Discourse.

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Email Archiving/Filing Tip; Google Voice Review; Mac Switcher Tip; Stamps by Fax; Split Billing Tip

By Sara Skiff | Thursday, June 3, 2010

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Bryan Conway explains how to use Adobe Acrobat for archiving and filing email, David Grabill reviews Google Voice, Edward Kionka offers some money-saving and other tips for law firms that switch from PC to Mac, Marilyn Herrera explains how she buys postage, and Paul Purdue suggests a program for split fee billing. Don't miss this issue.

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TechnoLawyer's New Best Friend Plus 110 More Articles

By Sara Skiff | Monday, May 17, 2010

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 75 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Dual Monitors and Multitasking — A Contrarian View

iPad Is a Move in the Right Direction

One PPEP Junkie Down, 199 to Go

Law Firm Media Survey Reveals Pay, Policies

This issue also contains links to every article in the May 2010 issue of Law Practice Today and the May/June 2010 issue of Law Practice. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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Another Law Firm Switches to Mac; Retainer Fee Strategy; Time Matters Messenger; DictaNet Review; Dual Monitors

By Sara Skiff | Thursday, April 22, 2010

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens discusses why and how his firm switched to Macs, J Homel shares his strategy for handling retainer fees, Ruth Laura Edlund explains how to best use Time Matters Messenger, Frank Lanigan reviews DictaNet for phone dictation, and Simon Kogan discusses dual monitors. Don't miss this issue.

Future of Music; Reviews of Chrometa, Acer Aspire 4810T, Backblaze Pod; iPad Alternative

By Sara Skiff | Friday, April 16, 2010

Coming today to Fat Friday: Entertainment lawyer Mark Klarich discusses the future of the music industry and the way we consume music, Caren Schwartz reviews the Acer Aspire 4810T-8480, John Townsend reviews Chrometa, Robert Maize discusses the INTERWRITE as a possible alternative to the iPad, and Tom Trottier reviews the Backblaze Pod for mega data storage. Don't miss this issue.

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AQ: Interwoven (Autonomy) v. eDocs; WordPerfect-to-Word Costs; Three Monitors; Pensoft Payroll Review; ProLaw Review

By Sara Skiff | Thursday, February 25, 2010

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Jim Perrier compares Interwoven Worksite (now Autonomy) and eDOCS, Blair Clark discusses the costs of switching from WordPerfect to Word, William Lloyd explains why he uses three monitors, James Degnan reviews Pensoft Payroll, and Mazyar Hedayat reviews ProLaw for small firms. Don't miss this issue.

The Case Against Document Management Systems; Creating Audio Clips for Trial; WinSplit Review

By Sara Skiff | Monday, February 15, 2010

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Carol Bratt discusses why law firms don't need document management systems (and discusses the role of legal assistants), Dorraine Stanley shares several tips for creating audio clips for trial, and Andrew Weltchek reviews WinSplit for large monitors. Don't miss this issue.

Reviews of Orion, Nero Recode, Ergotron, Amicus Attorney; Network Tip

By Sara Skiff | Thursday, February 11, 2010

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Steven Best reviews Orion practice management software, Christopher Reddy reviews Nero Recode and shares some video conversion tips, Peter Pike reviews Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition 2009, Aaron Craft shares an often overlooked tip regarding uninterruptible power supplies and networked software, and Lawrence King discusses dual monitors. Don't miss this issue.

Reviews of BofA Payroll Service, Olympus Dictation System; Why LexisNexis Dropped Time Matters Professional; KVM Switch Tip; Integrated Calendars

By Sara Skiff | Thursday, January 28, 2010

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens reviews Bank of America's Easy Online Payroll service, Anthony Vrsecky reviews his firm's experience with Time Matters since version 2.0 (and CIC Robert Gray explains responds and explains LexisNexis' thinking behind Time Matters 10), William Lloyd discusses how he uses dual monitors with a KVM switch, Brad Bailey reviews the Olympus DS-4000 digital recorder along with the AS-4000 transcription system, and William Tait shares his thoughts about stand-alone versus integrated calendaring systems for law firms. Don't miss this issue.

Dual Monitor Tips; Canon ScanFront 220P Review; Acrobat Versus OmniPage; Cheap Practice Management; Much More

By Sara Skiff | Thursday, September 24, 2009

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Norman Kolasky shares several tips for dual monitor setups, Philip Franckel reviews Canon's ScanFront 220P and discusses Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and Roy Greenberg reviews Acrobat and OminPage for PDF to WordPerfect file conversion. Don't miss this issue.

TechnoLawyer Blog: Monitors

All the legal technology and practice management news that's fit to blog.