Originally published on January 11, 2011 in our free SmallLaw newsletter. Instead of reading SmallLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.
TechnoScore: 2.0 Today's video review addresses a novel issue that I have not seen before in law firm videos. I recently came across Sulimani Law Firm, an intellectual property firm headed by Natalie Sulimani that has a video with a pre-roll ad. What does that mean? You have to watch an advertisement before watching the lawyer's video! The ad changes from day to day — one day it was Best Buy, another day Comedy Central. Not good. I couldn't exit the video or restart it or fast-forward it. That's also not good. Many people, myself included, do not like watching pre-roll ads, especially when we're about to watch a promotional video about a law firm. Tip #1: Don't Allow Advertisements in Your Videos Forcing your prospects to watch an advertisement means you've lost your viewer before they ever see you or hear you, defeating the purpose of creating a video. With an educational video you establish trust, confidence, and personality that allows a viewer to get to know you. Nobody will want to get to know you if you force them to watch an advertisement first. Only two reasons exist for a pre-roll ad: 1. The lawyer is trying to generate revenue, which is not the case here or usually. 2. The video hosting site is free, and the only way the site makes any money is to allow advertisers to buy pre-roll ads. This video is hosted by Blip.tv, a free video sharing site. Best practice tip: Never rely on a video sharing site without reading the terms of service. You may have no control over what they do with your content or what ads appear on your video. If possible, host the videos yourself to guarantee that your video will never contain third-party advertisements. Tip #2: Include Necessary Disclosures Discretely Throughout the video, the subtitle "Attorney Advertising" appears through much of the main video. In New York, attorneys must put the words "Attorney Advertising" on their Web site to "protect" consumers. However, when it appears prominently throughout the video, it's like a trial lawyer telling the jurY during opening argument, "What I'm about to tell you is not evidence. Nothing I say is evidence, and nothing I'm going to tell you matters, since you'll hear testimony and see evidence during the trial." What the trial lawyer has done is tell the jury, "Just disregard everything I say because what I say doesn't matter." Instead, if you must put that phrase in your video, do it once, and unobtrusively. Don't keep the visual up constantly. It detracts from your message and basically tells a viewer to disregard everything you're saying. Tip #3: Don't Let Your Video Production Company Promote Itself When you move your mouse over the video player, a lower-third graphic shows up with the attorney's name. Within that graphic is the video company's name with an active link to their Web site. When you click, it takes you to the video company that created this video. Also, at the end of the main video, the video company displays its name and Web site. Why is this a problem? I suspect the video company that created this video didn't pay the attorney to market their services. I have repeatedly written in the past that you should never let your video production company advertise themselves on your video, unless they pay you to do so. Why should you give them free advertising when they just charged you to create video to market yourself? More importantly, I wonder whether the lawyer is aware of this promotion and gave it her blessing. Bottom Line? You must ask your video production company whether your videos will be privately hosted to prevent unwanted pre-roll ads from showing up in your videos. Also, if your video company wants to market themselves using your video, make sure they have your consent and, if possible, pay you for doing so. Till next time, see you on video! The Back Bench
1 = Lowest Possible Score; 5 = Highest Possible Score
TechnoLawyer publisher and online video producer Neil Squillante says: "Natalie Sulimani has a good pitch for small business owners, but delivers it poorly. Her script needs a rewrite to make it shorter and remove some of the awkward phrasing, and, more importantly, she needs to rehearse it a few dozen times before lights, camera, action."
Written by Gerry Oginski of The Lawyers' Video Studio.
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