creating & sharing videos for your law firm website
TRANSCRIPT
Creating & Sharing Videos for Your Law Firm Website
Allison Gagliardi | PaperStreet
Creating videos? Scary? Nah.
This is scary.
LET’S DEBUNK VIDEO-MAKING & POSTING:
• Reviewing basic rules to follow • Generating topic ideas • Learning the technical aspects of YouTube • Leaving with something helpful: a step-by-step
guide
WHY BOTHER?
WHY BOTHER?
WHY BOTHER?
BEST PRACTICES
• Once a month
• YouTube is better (PaperStreet’s opinion)
• Short & Simple
• Optimize
• Add tags and categories
• If you are using YouTube, make sure it is connected with your Google+ page
• Brand your YouTube page
• Choose a good thumbnail
• Direct traffic from your site
THE MEGA TOPIC IDEA LIST • Discuss legal developments • Explain controversies in the news • Define legal terms • Preview big local events (Mardi Gras,
football games, festivals) • Did a local story make national news?
Share your opinion on it. • Answer frequently asked questions • Answer questions directly from clients
(bonus: you can tag the person on social media when you share the video)
• Combine photos of office activities in a year-end slideshow
• Recap any event with a slideshow of photos
• Do you sing happy birthday in the office? Tape it.
• Recap a case your firm recently won (pending bar rules)
• Introduce a member of your team
• Show off your office with a tour • Tape office involvement in charity
events, conferences, speaking engagements
• Upload your commercials • Get access to press links mentioning your
firm • Win an award? Talk about it – show
excitement. • Start a video diary – 30 Days of Being a
Lawyer • Give advice to budding lawyers (good
when students are about to take the bar exam)
• Group shout out (10 seconds) • Trending topics
HOW DO I MAKE MY VIDEOS?
Professional $$$ hire a local videographer
Soon-to-Be Professional $$ hire the video editor at the local college newspaper
In-House $ Get a tripod, iPhone and a friend
STRATEGIES TO TRY
• Schedule your shoot for one day and just bring several clothing items (dresses, shirts, ties, necklaces, jackets). Record all of your evergreen topics in one day and stagger when you add them to the site.
• Create a video “host” list – when an idea strikes for a video (because it can’t always be planned) whoever is next on the host list will do the talking.
• Designate a person who is active at the firm to record in-house activities (birthdays, speaking engagements)
UPLOADING TO YOUTUBE
1. Login at YouTube.com
2. Click Upload in the top right hand corner
3. Select your files to upload (your videographer or tech-savvy in-house person should send you the final files)
4. While it begins to upload fill in the title and description.
5. Assign tags. For example: lawyer, real estate law, Florida …
6. Click publish
POSTING TO YOUR SITE 1. On YouTube, under your video display there is a button that
reads Share. Click Share.
2. Click Embed and copy the code that appears in the text box.
3. Next open up your content management system and add a new blog post.
4. Copy the embed code into the text area and format the blog as normal (add a title, author, body content).
5. Preview your work to make sure the code is producing the video.
6. Publish your blog post and share the link.
STEPHANIE EXPLAINS IT ALL
REAL EXAMPLES
• Thorn Tax Law – Notice how the branding on the YouTube channel is consistent with the main site. The channel description and blog posts are optimized and videos are less than 5 minutes each.
• Bloom Legal – Good implementation of answering questions and providing topical information.
• The Laws Offices of David I. Fuchs – Remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge craze? This law firm took the challenge – a great example of making a quick video to join the conversation of a trending topic.
STEP BY STEP
1. Establish a team – it doesn’t need to be more than 2 people
2. Set a goal – how many videos do you want to produce a year?
3. Create a 365 day agenda – what topics will you discuss and when? Who will record? Who will do the talking? Who will do the posting and when will you add each video to a site. Make one master document.
4. Hire your expert, or appoint an in-house go-to and schedule your video dates
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Video Marketing – How it Works and Why You Should Use It
• Part 1: Video Blogging Basics – Best Practices & Topics Ideas
• Part 2: Creating, Uploading and Posting Videos to Your Website
• Webinar: Videos and Your Website
• How to Get Rid of Related Videos When Embedding from YouTube
