Dr. John F. Sase

In this e-paper, we discuss Internet marketing for law firms and other professional practices.

In the first section, we address the recent state of marketing, newer Internet forms of marketing, and market definition to select an optimal mix of tools.

During the second section, we discuss practical multi-modal system structures, the importance of quality content that engages visitors, and newer Google Search Engine Optimization. PDF

In the third section, we explore the basics of video- and text-content production through the “Storyselling” script, discuss the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formulas WIKI—for measuring grade/age levels of our writing, and consider the need for Standard English and Closed Captioning to better reach ESL visitors WIKI.

Part 1

“It’s hard to target a message to a generic 35-year-old middle-class working mother of two. It’s much easier to target a message to Jennifer, who has two children under four, works as a paralegal, and is always looking for quick but healthy dinners and ways to spend more time with her kids and less time on housework.”

-Elizabeth Gardner, Internet writer and editor, on the Internet Retailer Web site WEBSITE

In Part I, we discuss Internet marketing for law firms and other professional practices.

First, we review the state of marketing in the first decade and a half of this new millennium.

We then compare the traditional forms of marketing to the newer ones that rely upon the Internet.

Next, we discuss the need to define ourselves and our marketing efforts in terms of business to business, business to consumer, or some mix of both.

Finally, we address some concepts to define each of our markets with clarity and focus in order to develop our message and to select a mix of optimal Internet-marketing tools.

Survey Says!

Some means of reaching out to potential clients remain the same as with traditional non-Internet media. These include face-time networking, walking our fingers through the Yellow Pages, looking at billboards, and noticing mass-transportation placards.

In addition, public entertainment always has provided a resource for advertising as subsidizing revenue to the media onstage, in motion pictures, and on radio and television. However, the immediacy and swiftness of searching for any kind of information on a desktop computer, on an iPad or a similar device, or on a Web-accessible cellphone no longer can be ignored WIKI.

In fact, most potential clients, who are Baby Boomers and younger, make online devices their avenues of choice.

The Lawyernomics Web site WEBSITE published the results of an online survey of 1183 respondents in November 2012. Conducted by the Florida law firm of Moses and Rooth WEBSITE, this survey asked respondents how they search for a specialized attorney.

To begin, we must note that businesses are more likely to have a regular or retained counsel than are individual consumers. With this in mind, the survey reports that 20% of respondents ask their current general counsel for a referral.

We find interesting information in the survey as we move beyond the circle of professional referrals.

In searching for a specialty attorney, 37% of respondents reported that they seek assistance from a friend, a colleague, or a member of their social network. This percentage underscores the fact that our most traditional method for acquiring information or referral has not faded away.

We prefer to ask someone whom we know, like, and trust. However, the next set of statistics may be more interesting, though financially disturbing to some of us.

A total of 33% of respondents stated that they search on Google, Bing, Yahoo, or elsewhere on the Internet in order to find a specialty attorney. Only 11% of respondents replied that they searched the printed Yellow Pages. (Though not cited in the report, we suspect that this percentage is even lower for Generations X and Y.)

Gyi Tsakalakis, a Web marketer for attorneys, comments in his article “How Do People Find and Hire Attorneys?” for Lawyernomics, ARTICLE

“If you’re a lawyer, this may be difficult to comprehend. A lawyer is extremely unlikely to begin their search for another lawyer at a search engine. Lawyers know lawyers. Lawyers are related to lawyers. They’re married to lawyers (yeesh). Their friends are lawyers. Their acquaintances are lawyers. But even in the country with the most attorneys per capita, many people don’t know a single attorney. And so, you shouldn’t be astonished that many people use search engines to find attorneys.”

We must offer the caveat that the researchers Moses and Rooth conducted their study strictly via online response. Nevertheless, it is revealing that three times as many respondents use the Internet rather than traditional print media to find an attorney.

In total, two-thirds of searchers use their families and social networks for referrals or search the Internet as their path of choice. In respect to this second point, 93% of Internet browsers use Google Chrome (60%), Mozilla Firefox (25%), or Internet Explorer (8%).

These are important statistics to keep in mind as we continue our journey into online marketing.

B2B or B2C?

In any discussion about Internet marketing, we must identify whether firms reach out as Businesses to other Businesses (B2B) or as Businesses to Consumers (B2C).

Forensic economists and other experts hold themselves out as businesses to businesses. Law practices that focus on matters of intellectual property, antitrust, and similar litigation do the same.

However, plaintiff attorneys representing victims of personal injury, wrongful death, and employment law focus their marketing efforts differently as businesses to consumers. In addition, some firms reach out both to businesses and consumers.

These basic distinctions are important, since this level of identification determines the focus of our marketing efforts, the style and content of our messages, and the optimal mix of online marketing elements.

Ever-Decreasing Circles

Our next task is to identify and assess our interests, skills, and knowledge in order to focus our communication efforts optimally toward current and prospective clients. One approach to managing this task for a multi-field firm is to look upon our market as we would a Renaissance genre-painting within the dimensions of height, width, and depth.

Many great paintings include multiple sub-scenes within their composition. However, the viewer is drawn to the most relevant focal point. As an example, let us consider one of our greatest treasures housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Wedding Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1566). WEBSITE

The prurient interest provided by the erect codpieces worn by the three men spread across the foreground of the painting initially draws many spectators to the work. However, the painting contains many other captivating features within it as well a deeper subtext.

Some of the scenes include a group of men in a discussion next to a tree, a mixed group interacting toward the left side of the canvas, two trios in conversation near the entrance of the tent, and a man wearing an orange shirt peering downward toward a pair of pipers.

From this scene, we are drawn in by the male piper and the other two men wearing codpieces forming the base of a triangle. The raised hands of a dancing couple in front of a tree form the peak.

The bride, who wears a dark dress as opposed to modern white, dances with flying hair near the midpoint of the left side of the triangle. Meanwhile, a couple kisses near the midpoint of the right side.

Breugel uses sunlight and color to draw our attention to the main focal point. There, a woman wearing a red dress, a tan blouse, and a white apron and hat, dances with her male companion, who wears a rust-colored jacket and hat and black pants that de-emphasize his codpiece.

Rather than facing full front towards the woman, he faces to the side. Importantly, the man gazes serenely downward at her enlarged belly. Breugel seems to want us to ask, “Is she with child? If so, is it theirs? Is this the true theme of the painting?” WIKI

Through this couple, the painter brings together a complex gathering of elements with a clear and intimate focus.

Good Web-site creators and video/filmmakers learn the rules of composition from great art. Here is the effective use of height, width, and depth. IMDb

A captivating Web page or video production emulates the rules of three-dimensional geometry, layout, contrast, and color, among other elements, that are taught to us by the Masters. As Breugel did in The Wedding Dance, it is important to pay attention to the kinds of details that engage the viewer and make the piece distinctive and memorable.

Target Marketing

An alternate method may serve us better in reaching a wider and more transient audience: We develop market focus by drawing a series of concentric circles that ends up resembling an archery target. WIKI

This approach to market definition may work better when we reach out to a large group of potential clients with whom we have but a few seconds to make the initial connection.

We define our market in this manner and focus on it by drawing a large outer circle representing our widest potential client-base. Then, we work inward toward a small center circle using medium-size circles of ever-decreasing diameters.

As with arrows shot at a target, we may end up with clients who come from market space that sits far away from our tightly focused center. However, given the degree of competition that exists in cyberspace, we want to establish a clear and compact focal point with some expanse radiating outward from it.

In this sense, the middle point represents our ideal client. However, we may venture to guess that most of us cannot be so selective as to serve only a small select group of our most ideal clients.

 Part 2

“Google’s algorithm changes are designed to emphasize quality websites while pushing down, in search results, low-quality sites.”

--Melih Oztalay, “SEO: Understanding Pandas, Penguins, and Pigeons” (webmarketingtoday.com, 22 September 2014) ARTICLE

In Part 2, we discuss a practical multi-modal structure (that is, a system composed of various kinds of media sites) for Internet presence, which any small law firm or professional practice can build.

After that, we delve into the importance of quality content that engages our site visitors and satisfies the hunger of the newer Google Search Engine Optimization algorithms known as Panda, Penguin, and Pigeon. Google uses them to calculate and rank all of the content that appears on its search engine. PDF

In this second decade of the twenty-first century, the need for an Internet presence has moved well beyond the notion of “We should have a Web site for our business.”

A complex of Internet presence now is a cornerstone of a successful business. Though our Web sites remain at the core of our Content Marketing WEBSITE, they serve primarily as destinations for prospective clients to heed the final Call to Action by contacting us and engaging our services.

The tools that we use to encourage those whom we serve form a multi-modal system. This is composed of multiple media sites that connect us with places that our potential clients go.

Importantly, these sites are compatible to the learning styles of our potential clients and are most comfortable for them. Some of us respond best to auditory messages, such as those we hear on the radio. Others prefer to engage and learn through the written word and an occasional picture.

However, more and more individuals have discovered the world of short information videos on YouTube and similar sites. Many searchers use this region of the Internet to gather information and to gain insights that lead them to the necessary conditions of knowing, liking, and trusting those persons with whom they may consider doing business.

As discussed in Part 1 of this series, potential clients searching for a prospective attorney or another professional first may ask relatives and friends for suggestions, which may include an online link. These searchers also may go online directly in order to search. Hopefully, where they go next will be somewhere in the multi-modal systems that we construct.

Making the Monster

As a model, we might envision a typical system as a six-pointed star on which the top point is our destination Web site. This means that there are fifteen possible two-way channels along which visitors can move through the content.

The elements of this system might include YouTube WEBSITE, Vimeo WEBSITE or a similar video site; LinkedIn WEBSITE or a comparable professional networking site; a Blog site, which is either stand-alone or embedded on LinkedIn or elsewhere; Facebook, which is more relevant than LinkedIn as a portal for Business to Consumer (B2C) marketing; and Google Local LINK, which has the potential for focused B2C marketing within a specific geographic area.

Optimally, we wish to interlink all of these cyberspace portals to one another in multiple coherent ways by using the fifteen channels described.

Are we getting overwhelmed yet? If so, we may turn to inexpensive programs such as Lead Octopus WEBSITE, which facilitates the operation and distribution of content throughout our system with one-action entry. This action means that we need only to submit our content once and the program disseminates it to our selected portals throughout the system.

Our goal is four-fold:  First, we want visitors to be able to contact us directly from any of the six portals. Second, we want to engage hesitant visitors in ways that allow them to develop the sense of know, like, and trust through the content of any of our six portals. Third, we want our visitors to find relevant content that leads them to our central Web site so that they will take action, with the goals of having them contact us and retain our services. Fourth, prospective clients rate a person as more important and successful when they have multiple citations on Internet search pages, YouTube, and Blog sites.

Attorneys have been slow to engage in social media because of a risk/benefit analysis. However, the scales have been tipping over the past decade. The potential benefits of engaging in social media—both professional and monetary--outweigh the risks, provided that basic American Bar Association  guidelines are kept in mind. ARTICLES

If we think of this system as an office space that has six doors, we know that many people will be the most comfortable coming through the main entrance to our front desk—our Web-site Home page WIKI. Others may prefer to use a different entrance and to take the opportunity to look around and to collect additional information before making a decision.

Within a closed system as described, our guests can feel free to invest whatever amount of time that they need to acquire information from our content without wandering off into the wilds of cyberspace.

Depending on whether or not we have the necessary in-house talent and ability to make all of this happen, the marginal cost of assembling this monster is relatively inexpensive. A Web site that includes a Domain Name and Hosting package through a reputable company is about $125.00 per year. WEBSITE

The remaining elements, which include a YouTube or basic Vimeo channel, a LinkedIn account, a Facebook page, a Blog area on LinkedIn, a Word Press site hosted on our central Web site, and access to a Google Local Business listing, are free LINK. Let us remember, we have plenty of opportunities to spend money for various services in the cyberspace pond after we get our feet wet.

The Keyword Phrase

“Metro Detroit Attorney”

Produces 3.3 Million Results

on Google

At this point, some of us may be saying “I’m a lawyer” or “I’m a doctor” and “I don’t know how to build a Web site, make videos, and write blogs that anyone will want to view or read.” How does an attorney avoid getting lost in the shuffle of 3.3 million results on Google, as referred to in our heading?

Our response to this statement may be that we can outsource all or some of the necessary functions with a bit of planning and do so frugally. If we don’t have the talent in-house, we often can find the basic help that we need in “How-to” videos on YouTube or by contacting upper-division students with computer and video skills at a local university. They appreciate the work and can help us to get started painlessly.

A sample video is the Atwater Brewery in Detroit that was done by a group of Wayne State University students with my participation. VIDEO

If we choose to outsource the task of developing a Content Marketing system, ARTICLE we should become educated contractors of various services and know where to turn to find a variety of online groups in specific areas of expertise.

From personal experience, I (Dr. Sase) do not advise any of us to jump into the cyber pond of services without acquiring some firsthand knowledge of the tasks that we will be contracting others to perform.  We do not want to be up to our waists in alligators.

Unfortunately, there seem to be more scam artists in cyberspace than there are reputable practitioners. LIST

Consequently, it takes time and experience to learn our way around the landscape in order to avoid their pitfalls.

After extensive searching, I (Dr. Sase) have enjoyed working with a few trustworthy providers who offer a generous bundle of introductory material for free, who avoid high-pressure sales tactics, and who have earned a significant degree of Know, Like, and Trust from me.

I took a gratis introductory online course from each of these providers. They did a great job of teaching video production and placement as well as copywriting to me; Now, I turn to them for specific issues in Content Marketing.

For example, there is much more to making a two-minute video with an iPhone or a compact video camera than pointing, clicking, and uploading. If any of us want to learn the basics of using video for Content Marketing, I suggest making a visit to James Wedmore at Video Traffic Academy WEBSITE and discover the five videos that any small business should have.

Similarly, for effective content copywriting advice and loads of useful information, I suggest a visit to Sonia Simone at Copyblogger WEBSITE. Having built their company upon Content Marketing, Copyblogger shows us that it is not (just) about SEO, social media, and blogging. Rather, it is about giving value through quality content. We may want to go through Copyblogger’s twenty free lessons on Content Marketing before diving into the deep end.

In respect to copywriting, Internet Marketing has moved to Content Marketing. Google has enabled this move to a significant degree through changes to its widely used search engine. ARTICLE

Their little spiders crawl around the Web searching for keywords and evaluating sites for the purpose of ranking those sites on Google. These spiders are dancing to a different tune since Google changed the search algorithms that it uses for Web-site ranking. ARTICLE

For the past three years, the three Google search algorithms that have had the greatest impact are Panda, Penguin, and Pigeon. In effect, these algorithms have been designed to emphasize quality websites while pushing down low-quality sites. For more details, see Understanding Pandas, Penguins, and Pigeons. ARTICLE

One Bear, Two Birds

What are the differences among Panda, Penguin, and Pigeon? Panda aims to make low-quality or thin Web sites less visible in search results, ranking them lower than high-quality sites. Penguin addresses the quality of in-bound links, those links that come from the outside to our pages. WIKI

Google eliminates or lowers the ranking of sites that artificially increase their rankings by manipulating the number of links that point to a Web page. Pigeon concentrates on providing accurate and useful search results on a local level.

Content Is King Once Again

For a number of years, content quality took a back seat to “gaming the system” with keywords and other devices intended to get high rankings. Google is responsible for the return of the importance of high-quality content. Since Google earns 90% of its revenue from Adwords (paid advertisements on search pages), it created a system of checks and balances—the bear and birds—that resulted in higher-quality content that brings more advertising revenue to them.

Now, let us think about what we want our content to accomplish before we plan the creation and distribution of video and text to our Web system. We are competing against a lot of Internet garbage in our attempt to be seen. Therefore, we want our content to stand out due to its quality, relevance, and presentation. ARTICLE

First, we should ask ourselves if our content is educational, practical, entertaining, or a combination of these three.

Second, we are well-advised to outline the types and topics of video and text that we want to create before we implement them. We could begin by discovering the questions that our target audiences are asking and then proceed to answer them with high-quality content.

Third, we want to identify the members of our respective teams who will be responsible for developing the creative concepts, for writing the scripts, WEBSITE for producing the video and text, BOOK and for distributing these works throughout our systems.

Fourth, we need to identify where we want our completed videos and texts to reside on our six-point system. It is desirable to have at least one piece residing on the Home or Landing page of our Web sites. In the case of videos, we may want to embed them from depositories such as YouTube and Vimeo if we do not have a good player or sufficient space on our hosting platform WIKI LIST.

Fifth, how can we measure and monitor the performance of our videos, blogs, and other postings? Our ultimate goal is to serve those visitors who contact and retain us ARTICLE.

Therefore, some important metrics to consider include

1) Attention span and drop-off rate in the case of videos,

2) An estimate of the total amount of online video and text consumed daily or weekly by members of our focal audience along with identifying which days are peak days for viewing, and

3) The percentage of visitors who follow through and retain us.

In summary, establishing an overall strategy for our media content helps to keep this content focused on the purpose that we align to our business goals. Therefore, we have addressed a number of important issues toward this end.

We have considered a practical multi-modal structure for maintaining a quality content presence on the Internet. Then we have delved into the need for quality content that engages our visitors and works well for Google ranking.

In concluding Part 2, we thought that it would be helpful to have me (Dr. Sase) share my own process with the six points of the star as outlined above. I have had a Web site for about fifteen years with Network Solutions hosting. With a variety of cut-and-paste tools, I have been able to build, maintain, and expand my site by myself with a minimum of time and effort.

In 2009, I began to make and post YouTube videos and have created more than 200 videos to date and have received more than 2.6 million views on my assorted channels. Of these, the general economic videos reside on VideoEconomist CHANNEL while those of specific relevance to attorneys are on SaseAssociates CHANNEL.

In addition I have put some videos on Vimeo to facilitate content management. In 2011, I created my LinkedIn account and selectively have built a network of about 800 members to date (of which more than half are attorneys).

Though I have been on Facebook as a personal social site for a number of years, I recently created a separate page called the VideoEconomist that I use for limited business purposes because my market is mostly B2B. For the same reasons, I have used Google Local to a minor extent because the industry organs include legal newspapers--such as this one--to reach out to my client base.

Finally, I have been developing two interconnected Blog spaces. One is a Word Press site that is a free extension of my hosted Web site and the other is the Blog space on LinkedIn for members.

By doing an increased amount of content marketing over the years, I set myself out as an expert and authority in my professional field. The amount of content marketing that I have done has led to a much greater presence among attorneys and others who search for the services of an economist. These efforts have widened and further stabilized my revenue base.

Part 3

“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)

Do It for the Money,

Do It for the Show, but,

If You Do It for the Passion,

You Go, Go, Go

In Part 3, we conclude our sojourn into Internet-Content Marketing as we 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 ARTICLE —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 WEBSITE, 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 WEBSITE and Steven Washer WEBSITE 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 VIDEO 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. ARTICLE

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. VIDEO 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 sub-components 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) ARTICLE and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula (FKGL) ARTICLE, 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 my webpage.)

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 E-BOOK 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 the Saturday Night Live VIDEO.)

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 ARTICLE, 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 run time 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 (or Movie Studio) and Apple Final Cut.

However, 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.” HELP

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 and Steven Washer.

We hope that this three-part presentation 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.

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 B2B and B2C professionals expect by 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. Furthermore, 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.

withWe 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.” VIDEO

**************

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 SaseAssociates CHANNEL and at VideoEconomist CHANNEL.