Legal Marketing & PR

How To Create a Professional Video Studio for Under $1,500

By Larry Bodine

You can spend multiple thousands of dollars going to a professional video studio to create marketing videos for your law firm website. Or you can create your own studio for less than $1,500. It helps if you have a do-it-yourself attitude and a thrifty for approach to life. Here's how I did it.

Start with an empty office in your firm. Then sit down in it and read the following book: YouTube for Business - Online Video Marketing for Any Business by Michael Miller - used for $10.  Also buy YouTube and Video Marketing - An hour a Day by Greg Jarboe - used for $14 - and start visiting YouTube daily. These books will teach you about the equipment you'll need, lighting and camera techniques like shooting angles and the "rule of thirds." They'll show you how to edit your video and upload it to YouTube.

Then get an HD camcorder. Do not cheap out on the camera. I bought a Sony HRD-CX550V video camera on sale at Best Buy. It sells online for $640. The key features are an input jack for a microphone, a high-speed USB port to transfer the video to your computer and a wireless remote. It also has neat swing-out viewer to see yourself while you're recording. The Panasonic HDC-TM700 is also a good choice. Check Cnet for reviews. Do not get a Flip camera because it has no mic jack.

Also pick up a 72" tripod (tall enough for stand-up videos) - $40 - and a wireless lavaliere mic - I got a Sony WCS999 for $90. Do not rely on the camera's mic which will pick up background noise. For lights, go to Home Depot at get a set of 1200-watt work lights for $45. Finally, visit a good camera store and get a muslin backdrop with a stand - $200.

There are two choices for video editing software. One is Sony Vegas Studio HD 9 for $45 with "show me how" videos.  But the video professionals advised me to go with Adobe Premiere Elements 9 at $120 because it is easier to use.  The software lets you add titles, captions, transitions, trim the video and tweak it.

It helps if you like gadgets and perhaps shot home movies when you were a kid. You don't need to be George Lucas to shoot video.  Also, being a lawyer, you will be good at reading manuals and learning instructions.  Check out my initial work on www.LawMarketing.com.

The hardest part is that you have to be able to talk coherently for three minutes. Being former news reporter, I know how to get the point quickly, but many lawyers have trouble being this concise.  If you have the skills to settle a case, close a deal or ask a girl out on a date, you have the right stuff to be persuasive on camera.

Should you decide to hire a pro, contact Gerry Oginski, Esq., he'll come to your office, train you, buy the equipment, show you how to use it and shoot 50 videos in one day.  Study his work on the Lawyers Video Studio.

If you have a question, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer you. If I missed something, tell me that too.

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on March 08, 2011 (boomark / email).