EXPERT WITNESS - Internet Marketing: An introduction for attorneys and other professional practitioners (part 3)

By John F. Sase, Ph.D. Gerard J. Senick, Senior Editor Julie G. Sase, Copyeditor "Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents; nobody can tax it or take it away from you. They can run up huge deficits and the dollar can become worth far less. You can have all kinds of things happen. But if you've got talent yourself and you've maximized your talent, you've got a tremendous asset that can return ten-fold." -Warren Buffett, Business Magnate, Investor, and Philanthropist (Annual Meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, 2008) In this month's column, we conclude our sojourn into Internet-Content Marketing after a two-month hiatus to address issues related to the Detroit Bankruptcy Case. In Part One of our Internet-Marketing series (saseconomics.com/readingroom/contentmarketing.html), we reviewed the state of marketing throughout the first decade and a half of this millennium and compared traditional forms of marketing, which use print and broadcast media, to newer ones that rely upon the Internet. Then, we discussed marketing efforts in terms of Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), or a mix of both. Finally, we addressed two concepts for defining markets with clarity and focus in order to develop a message and to select an optimal mix of Internet-Marketing tools. In Part Two (saseconomics.com/readingroom/contentmarketing.html), we discussed a practical multi-modal structure for establishing a presence on the Internet that any small law firm or professional practice can build. We delved into the importance of content quality to engage the visitors who come to our sites and to satisfy the ranking variables of the newer Google Search-Engine Optimization Algorithms. Do It for the Money, Do It for the Show, but, If You Do It for the Passion, You Go, Go, Go This month, we will explore the basics of video- and text-content production in greater detail. Our focus will be the creation of a script for video that is known by the industry term "Storyselling." In addition, we will discuss the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formulas-metrics that measure the grade/age levels of our writing-and their application to our video scripts and other content in order to focus our messages on our target audiences. Finally, we will consider the need for Standard English and Closed Captioning in order to benefit the visitors to our sites who speak and write English as a Second Language (ESL). WHY and WHAT Simon Sinek, an English-born American leadership expert, is the author of "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action" (Portfolio, 2009). In his book, Sinek explains that people do not buy WHAT we do; rather, they buy WHY we do it. He adds that until our clients know WHY we do what we do, they really do not care about WHAT we do. Content-Video Marketing Consultants James Wedmore (www.jameswedmore.com) and Steven Washer (www.brainyvideo.com) apply Sinek's "Start-with-Why" philosophy. They champion two-minute introductory videos that use the concept of Visual Storytelling to help small businesses. Creating these short videos for our professional practices is the focus of this article. In these videos, those of us working in the legal field share how we got started in our respective professions, explain why we do what we do, and extend an invitation to potential clients to contact us. Our Storyselling videos offer an easy and cost-effective way for us to build rapport with potential clients. These videos can be used for marketing on YouTube, Vimeo, and our own Web pages. As a result, these types of videos have two major intentions: The first includes telling our story, introducing us to our audiences, bringing our stories to life, defining the uniqueness of our firms, and engaging our potential clients on a deeper human level. The second intention is to encourage our viewers to contact us by phone, to send us an e-mail, or to visit us in person. Though any two Storyselling videos are as different as any two snowflakes, each video should have three components in common. These include a starting image or logo with dialogue voiced over and incidental music underneath, a definition of a common challenge that each of our prospective clients face, and an invitation that encourages them to move to the next level via contact information or hot buttons. We do not need to be professional screenwriters in order to compose sincere, appealing content. However, it is important to form our scripts into ones that relate to our public. In other words, we should resonate with audience members. We do this by developing our own stories, what we do, and what we can do for our prospective clients in a clear and honest manner. Our videos should reflect our personal and professional integrity as well as our levels of expertise. Importantly, these videos should be conversational, foregoing high-level technical terms and jargon as well as condescension. Extracting Our Story With these qualities in mind, let us extract our stories. We may commence with who we are, what qualities make us unique, what we can do for clients, and what qualifies us to serve them professionally. It is preferable to communicate visually rather than verbally. At the very least, we can strive to balance the two. For example, we can enhance our stories visually by using the interview format in order to describe ourselves and our services as well as to include comments by our partners, staff, and satisfied clients. Also, we can insert photos, charts, and relevant video clips. Next, we want to offer a few facts and figures that address the greatest challenges or frustrations experienced by prospective clients. To paraphrase former President Bill Clinton, we feel their pain. Then, we explain how we may relieve it. Most humans prefer to relate to other humans. Therefore, we may wish to devote some of our time to explaining the life experiences that motivated us to develop in our respective professions. This can be a good point to insert some personal photographs. We want prospective clients to know how we are unique by revealing our human interests and passions. Finally, we can inform them of major benefits derived from choosing us over anyone else. By listing these benefits, we motivate our respective clients by giving them a clear invitation to take further action with us. Focus on the Viewer As many of us may know, writing entails editing/editing/editing. Therefore, it is wise to edit our working draft with an overall structure in mind. When reading through this draft, we then can decide on the sequence of internal elements, the one that works best for us. Then, we may rearrange the various subcomponents to fit our needs and style. Before continuing any further, we may find it prudent to apply metrics, such as the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease formula (FKRE) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula (FKGL), to our script. This practice will help us to focus our message toward our optimal viewer/reader. (Downloadable files Flesch-Kincaid.pdf and Flesch-Kincaid examples.xls are posted at the bottom of the left-hand column at www.saseconomics.com/legalnews.html.) The FKRE measures the ratios of total words to total sentences and total syllables to total words. This is done in order to determine a numeric score that indicates whether or not a passage of text read by average 11-year-old students, by 13- to 15-year-old students, or by university graduates can be understood easily. Similarly, the FKGL measures the same two ratios in a different algorithm in order to produce values corresponding to the United States Grade Levels. For example, Harley-Davidson USA broadcasted an award-winning advertisement in 2014. Harley-Davidson's Flesch-Kincaid scores suggest that its focal audience is composed of high-school sophomores, 15 years of age or older. In another example, a sentence written by French author Marcel Proust in his novel "Swann's Way" scored off the chart and far exceeded the reading level of a university graduate. Contrastingly, "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss, in which most of the 50 different words used in short sentences are monosyllabic, approaches the earliest age limit of universal readability. (For the delightful reading of the book by Reverend Jesse Jackson, see: http://youtu.be/A1mqg4C0awA.) Closed Captioning Flesch-Kincaid also addresses issues experienced by those in our audiences for whom English is a Second Language (ESL). Therefore, we may want to speak at a comfortable pace and keep our video to modest length. Walter Cronkite, chief anchorman of the CBS Evening News for two decades, set a standard for pacing. Early in his career, he practiced his oral delivery until it paced at a comfortable 125 words per minute. In terms of length, statistics from YouTube and other online sources suggest that two minutes is a suitable length for a Storyselling video. The first major drop in viewership occurs at thirty seconds, followed by another major drop at three minutes. Therefore, 125 words per minute for a total runtime of two minutes suggest that our script should be about 250 words-one double-spaced typed page. Given this observation, many of us can expect to face the task of editing critically in order to eliminate excessive verbiage. Though challenging, this step is worth the time and effort. By reducing our content to its essence, by keeping our language simple and active, and by focusing our message on the specific needs of our prospective clients, we will create a video that captures the interest of our viewers and makes them want to retain our services. Once we have created a well-honed, typed script, adding Closed-Captions for ESL viewers and the hearing-impaired enhances our viewership. Also, captions capture the attention of viewers who set their volume low or off for the comfort and respect of others or in noisy environments such as restaurants. Captions can be added with stand-alone video-editing software such as Sony Vegas and Apple Final Cut. Let us focus on captioning after uploading to YouTube. To start, we need to go to Video Manager on our YouTube channel and select the Edit feature for our video of choice. On the Edit page at the far right of the top menu bar, click the tab labeled "Subtitles and CC." Next, select the "Add new subtitles or CC" bar at the top right of the video. Then, select a language and choose to "Upload a File." If we load a standard text-file without timing marks, we can let the YouTube program "read" our text, "listen" to our dialogue, and set the timing for us. If we get lost, we can refer to the Help menu at the bottom of the page by searching for "add subtitles." If we are really serious about quality video content, we may want to view the how-to videos created by the aforementioned James Wedmore (youtube.com/jameswedmore) and Steven Washer (youtube.com/swasher1). We hope that this series has been useful for all in the journey toward Content Marketing in this brave new world of cyberspace. As a takeaway, we have a fundamental knowledge base that compares and contrasts traditional forms of marketing, which use print and broadcast media, to newer ones that rely upon the Internet. We invested a fair amount of space to a blueprint for building a multi-modal structure for Internet presence, one that reflects the importance of content quality throughout. Finally, we explored the specifics of video- and text-content production in detail. In so doing, we walked through the step-by-step creation of a Storyselling script for video and discussed metrics to focus our messages toward target audiences. Finally, we addressed the need for Standard English and Closed Captioning to benefit visitors who speak and write English as a Second Language (ESL). What kinds of benefits can attorneys and other professionals expect from instituting an Internet Content Marketing program into their practices? Personally, I (Dr. Sase) have experienced a fivefold increase in the number of visits to my Web site. In addition, I have been receiving phone contacts and e-mails from viewers who are interested in my services. Notably, most of them have become new clients. We hope that this series has inspired you to create a practical multi-modal structure for establishing a better presence on the Internet. We wish you success with your venture. In closing, we quote Mr. Cronkite's famous sign-off line, "And that's the way it is." -------- Dr. John F. Sase has taught Economics for more than three decades and has practiced Forensic and Investigative Economics since the early 1990s. He earned an M.A. in Economics and an MBA at the University of Detroit and a Ph.D. in Economics at Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. Dr. Sase can be reached at 248-569-5228 and at drjohn@saseassociates.com. You can find his educational videos of interest to attorneys at www.youtube.com/saseassociates. Gerard J. Senick is a freelance writer, editor, and musician. He earned his degree in English at the University of Detroit and was a Supervisory Editor at Gale Research Company (now Cengage) for over twenty years. Currently, he edits books for publication and gives seminars on writing and music. Senick can be reached at 313-342-4048 and at www.senick-editing.com. You can find some of his writing tips at www.YouTube.com/SenickEditing. Julie G. Sase is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. She earned her degree in English at Marygrove College and her graduate certificate in Parent Coaching from Seattle Pacific University. As a consultant, Ms. Sase coaches clients, writes articles for publication, and gives interviews to various media. Ms. Sase can be reached at sasej@aol.com and Quill2Keyboard.com. A PDF copy of this series will be posted at www.saseassociates.com. Published: Wed, Jan 21, 2015