Marketing Videos for Mediators

Yesterday Skillman Video group shot a legal marketing video for Massachusttes Dispute Resolution Services in Salem, MA. This is a mediation firm that arbitrates disputes between parties outside a courtroom. We redesigned the firm’s website this summer and founder Brian Jerome. wanted to create a video that would let his potential clients get to know him and his firm a little better.

This legal marketing video was unique because it was directed soley at attorneys seeking mediation, not the general public. The average joe has no real need for a mediator, but other firms use them extensively. This meant that Mr. Jerome spoke in a more business-like manner free to use terms of art. Direct, professional, and approachable was the best way to convey the message that his organization is unbiased, fair, experienced, and trustworthy. He didn’t have to be flashy or inviting or cute because he didn’t need to appeal to the masses.

MDRS reminded me most of our B2B clients: They have a small target audience, in this case only other attorneys, and are free to speak in depth without fear of alienating laymen. In B2B videos professionalism speaks for itself.

We went in and made a quick, attractive set in an otherwise dull conference room using what was available on location. One of SVG’s talents is making fast sets from nothing. For some of our best set design check out our social video on youtube.

Now that we’ve done web design and video for Massachusttes Dispute Resolution Services, they are considering doing a series of videomercials or social videos with us about more in depth, specific topics. What might you want to learn from a series of legal marketing videos? Check out some of our other work for law firms here.

Legal Marketing Video @ Fields and Dennis

This week we shot a legal marketing video at Fields and Dennis, a family law and estate planning firm. This was another example of our quick and easy  production approach like our work here. We shot a short one minute video in just a couple hours at the firm’s offices.

First impressions are everything in marketing, so it’s important to introduce yourself on your website. A short video gives a friendly face to your company, introduces visitors to your services and indicates that you take what you do seriously enough to invest in a video production. More and more companies are creating video content, and it is quickly becoming a standard marketing tool. If you make a short and sweet video it will entice viewers to read more about what you do and ultimately contact you.

The client had prepared a short script, but when we shot it, the video was about 2 minutes long. Over the course of several takes we worked with the client to cut the video down to one minute. That’s the perfect length for a quick introduction. We like to call these short marketing pieces Videomercials.

Check out other examples of Videomercials on SVG’s portfolio page. Here are a few more reasons you might want to invest in a Videomercial for your company.

James Brady and Associates

Last week we shot a short marketing video for James Brady & Associates, a Walpole law firm. Skillman Video Group is carving out a nice list of legal clients.

One of the challenges of shooting legal marketing videos is avoiding the typical, clichéd lawyer voice you hear in commercials. James Brady wanted to present a friendlier, more approachable face and avoid the histrionic, pushy approach seen in those  scary black-and-white commercials on daytime TV. Mr. Brady is naturally a friendly guy, so we didn’t have to coach him. We only needed a few takes and a couple hours to set up, shoot, and wrap out.

While shooting we discovered that there was a lot James wanted to talk about, but it didn’t fit into a short 1-minute marketing video. This videos might be the perfect opportunity for Skillman Video Group to produce a series of longer legal marketing videos I talked about here.

Action!

When a director says “Action” that exactly what he wants to see: Characters with an objective doing things to each other to achieve their objective. Actors think in these terms. What am I trying to do in this scene? What is my obstacle? Who am I working with or against? Why?

It works the same way in marketing. What are you trying sell? To Whom? Why?  We help answer these questions by developing your content and writing marketing copy – essentially scripting your lines. We also prepare you so that when the camera roles you sound and look confident and natural.

I talked about preparation on our blog. We had one interviewee struggling to get through her prepared lines. We suggested that she imagine that she was meeting Christina Skillman, our director, at a networking event, and that the client had to convince her to join the company in under a minute. It was a familiar scenario for the interviewee. When she thought in those objective-based terms her delivery was so natural and convincing Christina was ready to submit her resume.

That’s the kind of performance tweak we can suggest to take your video to the next level. Skillman Video Group can also develop content, allowing you to focus on your day-to-day work.

Legal Marketing Videos at Wolf Greenfield

Last week we shot a series of marketing videos for Wolf Greenfield, a prestigious intellectual property law firm in Boston. Wolf Greenfield was one of our first law firm clients, and it was great to see everyone again.

We shot simple talking head recruiting pitches for the client’s website to attract scientists to a career in IP law. Associates, shareholders, and technical specialists at the firm prepared pitches that were so convincing that the SVG crew almost applied to law school.  Luckily we think we will stay within the legal video marketing business so the court rooms and patent offices are safe for the time being.

What made the shoot so successful was that the client was very well prepared. Each interviewee prepared a short one-minute pitch which they practiced with their marketing team. Everyone knew his or her “lines” which meant that not only was the shoot fast and efficient, but it was fun even for the most screen-shy people. Preparation also allowed each participant’s personality to shine through because they didn’t stumble to find the words. A well-prepared client gets the best videos.

If you are nervous about appearing on screen or getting the best value for your video content investment, you can talk to SVG. We help prepare clients for their screen debut.

Legal Marketing Video Shoot at Duane Morris

Skillman Video Group recently went on a video shoot at the national law firm, Duane Morris LLP. Duane Morris hired SVG to shoot a Legal Marketing Video of their Boston office for their web site. SVG shot a series of interviews with the firm’s partners discussing their practice areas and experience for both internal….and external marketing purposes. Duane Morris will be using the videos to market their attorneys to potential clients, as well as to use for recruitment of new hires.     The partners discussed both personal and professional topics and we concentrated on their areas of expertise, their goals for the firm, and even personal interests and hobbies.

Marketing for any law firm begins and ends with their attorneys.  If your lawyers are essentially your product, then video allows a law firm  to showcase those lawyers in a personal, intimate way.  By allowing potential clients to see and hear your attorneys speak about their experience and goals  – you are allowing them to build trust and repore with a client before they pick up a phone to call!  In the legal field, where personal relationships are crucial, video marketing is the only medium that can clearly and accurately represent your services.

It is also important that your legal marketing videos look and sound professional.  Lighting and audio are key components to any video shoot.  If your attorneys look or sound unprofessional, it will do a poor job marketing their skills and abilities to the public!  Producers at Skillman Video Group are adept and not just lighting and audio, but also directing the on-screen talent.  Speaking on camera is sometimes very difficult for those who are not used to doing so in their every-day job.  Our producers will work with the on-screen talent to make them feel comfortable and help them look and feel their best.  Call today to learn more our Legal Marketing Videography and Video Production services!

Video Depositions

We’d like to highlight a new service at Skillman Video Group, Video Depositions!  A “deposition” is defined as “The sworn testimony of a witness taken before trial held out of court with no judge present. The witness is placed under oath to tell the truth and lawyers for each party may ask questions. The questions and answers are recorded. When a person is unavailable to testify at trial, the deposition of that person may be used. This can also be part of the pre-trial discovery (fact-finding) process.”

Legal depositions are yet another area exponentially improved by the medium of video. Video provides the judge, insurance adjuster or jury, the ability to both see and hear your claimant tell their story in a controlled yet powerful format.   This can especially be relevant in personal injury cases.  For example, we recently completed a Video Deposition for the personal injury law firm of Parker Scheer LLP.  Our camera crew spent a half day with a team of lawyers from the firm, interviewing the claimant about the accident and its immediate and long term impact.   The video was later edited down to the most essential and meaningful facts of the case.  What are the important facts of the case?  How has his life changed since the accident?  Thanks in large part to the power of the claimant’s story, as told through the video legal deposition, the case was settled out of court just a week later.  Call us today about our Video Deposition Service and see how it can help your upcoming case!

The Importance of Closed Captioning in Professional Video Production

Skillman Video Group offers closed captioning services for both DVD and web based video formats.    Closed Captioning is a term describing several systems developed to display text on a television or computer/video screen to provide  interpretive information to viewers who wish to access it. Closed captions typically display a transcription of the audio portion of a program or video as it occurs, and can include non-speech elements such as music or background noise.

A lot of times we get asked what the difference is between “closed captioning” and “subtitles”.  The term “closed” in closed captioning indicates that not all viewers see the captions—only those who choose to decode or activate them (usually through your TV).    “Subtitles” assume the viewer can hear but cannot understand the language, accent, or  that the speech is not entirely clear, so they only transcribe dialogue and some on-screen text. “Captions” aim to describe to the hearing-impaired all significant audio content—spoken dialogue and non-speech information such as the identity of speakers and, occasionally, their manner of speaking—often along with music or sound effects.

However, the benefits of closed captioning extend far beyond the deaf or hard of hearing community. As time goes by, the general population is beginning to recognize its other useful applications.  For example, it is not uncommon to see closed captioned programming in noisy public environments such as airports, public lobbies, and sports bars.  It has also been said that Closed Captioning can aid those who are trying to learn English as their second language.

Closed Captioning is a great and very affordable “add on” for many of your live event, marketing or corporate video productions.  The power of video is that you audience can see AND hear what is being spoken.   For what equals out to be just a few dollars per minute, you would be widening the audience for your marketing, training, testimonial or social media video to include those who are hearing impaired.   Captioning is a service that betters our community and enhances the teaching power of media.  Contact Skillman Video Group today to see what we can do for your video production with our transcription, closed captioning and subtitling services today!

Grow your business in 2010 with a professional Internet marketing video!

This time of the year, there are lots of blog posts and articles about how you can “Grow your business in 2010″, but it can be difficult to sift through the plethora of information and find what really works for your type of business.  If you read our post on Professional Video in Social Media (scroll down), you will see that one of the biggest areas of growth in 2010 is Internet video marketing with over 40% growth projected for this genre in the coming year.  If these trends come to fruition, then a day is coming when businesses will no longer see web marketing videos as a luxury but a necessity and a key tool in their overall marketing strategy.     As we have stated before it is imperative in any marketing endeavor  to look and sound your best.  Using professionals to shoot and edit your videos will result in a better quality product and give you a much higher rate of return on your investment then if you tried to do it yourself without the proper equipment,  training or experience.  Quality does matter to your audience and our goal as professionals  is ultimately to translate those viewers – into clients!  A high-quality corporate or marketing video from Skillman Video Group can be the key to kick start your business in the new decade.

In researching some of the most popular ways video is going to expand over the next few years, we came across a couple blog postings listing and describing 42 different ways to use video on the Internet for your business (yes – 42 different ways).  They were rated by the authors by Popularity and Growth Potential.  A summary of all of these types can be found on Reel SEO and the original posting with descriptions can be found with One Market Media.  There are so many ways you can grow your business with a professional video, but to save you some time we thought that we would highlight some of the video categories that got the highest rating in both Popularity and Growth Potential, so you can start brainstorming now about what kind of video Skillman Video Group can do for you.

• Customer Testimonials/Success Stories
• Man-in-the-Street Interviews
• Product Presentations/Demonstrations/Reviews
• Visual Stories
• Corporate Overview
• Staff Presentations
• Training Video/Employee Orientation
• Just-in-time Learning
• Internal Communications
• Health, Legal, & Safety
• Internet Commercials/Viral Video/Email Video
• Content Marketing (Huge Growth Potential)
• Landing Pages/Microsites
• Video Press Release/Community Relations Video
• Event Presentation Video
• In-Store video
• Mobile Video

The producers at Skillman Video Group have years of experience helping businesses like yours see real growth in their market share through the use of web marketing videos.  We have the cutting edge, professional equipment needed to create your perfect corporate or marketing video, for either your web site, DVD distribution or e-mail marketing campaign.  The producers at Skillman Video Group also have experience in leveraging the power of social media sites (such as Youtube.com or FaceBook) and Search Engine Optimization techniques to attract new viewers to your site and increasing your overall  web presence on all major search engines.   2010 is here, start it off with a bang – Contact us today to learn how!

How to Prepare for Speaking on Camera

Skillman Video Group specializes in marketing videos for both large corporations and small businesses in the Boston area and all of New England.  As we have said in previous blog posts (feel free to scroll down and check them out) in this day and age of Internet social media, viral videos, and Internet (or “inbound”) Marketing, a great professional corporate video from Skillman Video Group is a great way to market your product or service, build brand awareness, and increase sales.  Creating repore with viewers who come to your site by adding the “human touch” through the use of the video medium, can not only help you reconnect you with former clients, but also open the door for new clients to feel instantly connected to what you and  your business stand for.

As you can see in our Portfolio page, many business leaders and employees have courageously stepped forward and placed themselves in front of the camera  to speak  about their company and the services they offer.  For some (and maybe for you), this is an entirely new experience and as we have said before, it is not as easy as it looks!  The professionals at Skillman Video Group recognize this and are ready and willing to help!  The whole experience of “lights, camera, action!” can be daunting (trust us when we say we’ve seen it before), but if the speaker is properly prepared for the shoot, it will go quickly and smoothly.  With this in mind, Christina Skillman, Sr. Producer and Principal at SVG and the production professionals at Skillman Video Group willingly stepped out from behind the camera and created a short “How To” video to highlight some of the pre-production work and planning that goes into creating the ideal “Talking Head”/interview video.  A marketing video can take many forms, but the simple interview or talking head format is one of the easiest and cost effective forms available.  From pre to post-production they can be completed in just a matter of days!

So there you have it!  There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration when making a professional corporate video -from the room selection, to the clothes, to the microphone & lighting, to the on-screen mannerisms – it can seem overwhelming to the novice.  But with this kind of preparation, and with the skill and experience of the professionals at Skillman Video Group, it’ll be a breeze!  As a business owner it is in your best interest to look and sound your best in whatever marketing endeavor you pursue,  and we will be there to help you every step of the way.   Feel free to check out our previous work to get some ideas about what Skillman Video Group can do for your business!  Contact us today to set up a free consultation on what our video production and Internet Marketing services can do to help your business grow in 2010!

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