Real Lawyers Have Blogs : Law Blogs, Blawgs, Law Firm Marketing

The State Bar of Texas has launched a contest 'Lone Star Stories: Texans on Justice,' inviting all Texans of all ages, lawyers and lay people alike, to submit three-minute-or-less original videos to YouTube that illustrate their vision of the promise of justice for all.

Per an article in Texas Lawyer, entrants under 18 can win a $2,500 scholarship, while those over 18 are competing for a $2,500 cash prize. The Bar will be informing teachers around the state about the contest to encourage more video entries from students.

I agree with State Bar President Gib Walton, who launched the Bar's YouTube contest at the suggestion of Crane MetaMarketing, who sees 'this as a new venue for the citizens of Texas to express their opinions on the justice system in Texas and to do it in a fun environment.'

YouTube, used as a community of user generated videos, is using YouTube the smart way. Contrast Texas' approach with the Pennsylvania Bar Association whose advertising company used YouTube to run a Bar television advertisement to emphasize the good that lawyers accomplish.

No one at YouTube gives a darn what a Bar Association has to say about the wonderful things the Bar's members do. (I am not discounting lawyers' contributions to society) YouTube viewers want to see what other people say and Bar Associations should promote themselves and the law through what non lawyers think about the law. As Walton says 'We know Texans have opinions, I'm looking forward to what Texans have to say.'

Update From Carolyn Elefant: I'm impressed by the Texas Bar's initiative -- and excited by the prospect of bar associations using video for another reason as well. Now that the bars realize that they can harness the power of YouTube, perhaps they can combat what they perceive as tasteless TV ads not through heavy-handed regulation but simply through a counter video campaign.

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Wired GC's John Wallbillich, a former general counsel in the Midwest and founder of Lexvista Partners picked up on this morning's NY Times story on the use video by law firms. The goal of the firms - to recruit the YouTube generation.

The firms hope to persuade students that their lawyers, and by extension the firms, are young-thinking and hip.

The need to attract top-notch summer associates is crucial; they are the pool from which most new hires are made. More than 19,000 graduates join law firms each year.

So far, the firms' efforts have run the gamut from simple conversations with summer associates to videos promoting the firm's expertise or its diversity.

Law firms may have to cover a couple conflicting bases here. That's making their videos appear professional so as to 'maintain the firm's image' while at the same time appealing to a YouTube audience which sees videos being done in a more spontaneous fashion.

Law students can tell the difference between video's that cost $75,000 or are produced by PBS documentary veterans and the type of video young people themselves havee shot and seen all over the Internet. Assuming the goal of the firms is to be more like the recruits and less like other law firms, law firms are going to need to let their hair down a bit.

Plus having the law firm video stored on YouTube, as opposed to merely saying we're doing YouTube like stuff, has advantages. One young people trust the YouTube brand. Two, YouTube video's can be easily taken and played at other blogs and web sites. Law firms should want to have their videos displayed by potential recruits at the recruit's own blogs - extends the reach of the video's and gets them in more trusted environments.

Wallbillich summarizes law firms' challenge.

...[V]ideo is going to be much more common on law firm web sites in the future. But if the process is directed solely by marketers, law firms will miss some of the real impact that this personalization of their practice could make.

Great to see law firms using video, but to hit the mark they'll need to get closer to Scoble walking around Microsoft shooting impromptu video, including videos with CEO, Steve Balmer, and Chief Engineer, Bill Gates. Those videos of 4 or 5 years ago did an incredibly effective job in reducing the 'evil empire' view of Microsoft.

Update: Searchviews on NY Times article:

While the attempt by these firms to embrace the social media movement is admirable, I question their use of YouTube to portray their firms as the 'hip place to work.' Social media is founded on a philosophy of transparency and full disclosure. It's a two-way conversation wherein users are able to question and challenge the marketer - or, in this case, the potential employer's self-representation. After all, having recently spent a year with a the District Attorney's Office, I can assure you that young associates and lawyers do not spend their days bouncing around on 'hop balls' as one firm's video depicts.

A more effective use of these firms' time and money would be to embrace social media in a different fashion. Rather than trying to paint a rosy picture of a work environment that may or may not exist, law firms would be wise to create an honest dialogue between potential candidates and current summer associate (or new hires). For example, what if a firm sponsored a Q&A forum moderated by current summer associates? Could they create a Facebook/Myspace group created for the sole purpose of bringing together new and potential hires? Or, how about a 'Day in the Life Of' blog written by a recent hire?

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Following our appearance on Lawyer2Lawyer's podcast on law firm's use of YouTube and online video, Technolawyer's Neil Squillante posted his top 5 tips for law firm online video.

Here's Neil's paraphrased list with a few of my comments.

1. Hire a professional. Hire a professional filmmaker, and it could be any film school graduate to create a storyboard, direct, and edit.
2. Optimize for search engines. When you upload your video to YouTube, carefully write your description with Google searches in mind and link back to your site. I've found Google indexing YouTube video's right along with other web content. But unless you create a title that describes the nature of the video, ideally including keywords relating to your niche area of the law, the video will never be found.
3. Promote your video. You must then execute a promotional plan to drive traffic to your video. At the very least, let your clients know about the video and encourage them to send the link to others.
4. Go local. YouTube's embedding code allows you to place the video you have uploaded at YouTube on your own blog or web site. It's free. If you're concerned about the YouTube brand there are other services that allow you to do the same. With the trust factor with Google's YouTube brand running high and most folks knowing you can click on the YouTube video on your site to get the code so it can be run on their blog, I'd use YouTube.
5. Make sequels simultaneously. Leverage your investment by producing several videos at the same time for release at different times.

Technorati Tags: YouTube, video

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Had the pleasure to appear on Bob Ambrogi's and Craig William's weekly Lawyer2Lawyer podcast to discuss YouTube for legal marketing.

Appeared with Neil Squillante, the publisher of TechnoLawyer, and Los Angeles Divorce Attorney Kelly Chang.

Kelly's done a nice job with her own YouTube video advertising her family law practice. Kelly's upfront and personal approach in the two minute video breaks through people's stereotypical views of lawyers. It's worth a look.

Technorati Tags: YouTube

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