Believe it or not, it has been five years since the attorneys of Samuel, Sayward & Baler started making short videos on estate planning, elder law and probate topics to educate our clients, our professional colleagues, and anyone else who cared to watch. And we are here to confirm that time flies when you are having fun!
In the late 2010’s, our firm’s marketing person loved to compliment us by telling us that we were funny and engaging and easy to talk to, and we should think about making some videos for our website. We dismissed his remarks as empty flattery. We met with clients on a daily basis and did quarterly in-person Smart Counsel seminars at our office on topics of interest for a loyal group of attendees. We were convinced that people saw enough of us in person and did not need or want to see us on video too.
Then, in March of 2020, COVID hit, and we were faced with the prospect of not seeing our clients in person for many months. We thought our clients might like to hear from us once a week with a short video about a timely topic – and to confirm we were still alive and well – and so our Smart Counsel for Lunch video series was born.
And here we are – 5 years later – still doing our Wednesday lunchtime videos. And what a success they have been!
What we lack in production value we hope to make up for in the quality of the information provided. Our attorneys record a video once a week on a rotating basis, thinking of timely, amusing, niche or general topics to discuss as the mood strikes us, based on what we are working on or what our clients are asking about, or relevant issued raised by the news cycle that week.
We continue to be amazed by the feedback we receive on our weekly videos. Our clients comment on them frequently. Our professional colleagues comment on them as well and send them along to their clients. Even new clients who meet us in person for the first time tell us they feel like they know us already because they have watched our videos. We are thrilled that so many people watch and enjoy our videos and learn something from them – and it even makes us feel a bit like celebrities – which is about as far as you can get from an estate planning attorney!
Here are some fun facts: Since March of 2020:
- We currently have 263 videos on our YouTube channel which hosts our videos
- Our YouTube channel has 1,090+ subscribers who receive notice each time we post content to our channel
- Our videos have been viewed over 118,000 times
- Viewers have spent over 4,300 hours watching our videos
- In the last 48 hours 130 people have watched our videos
We hope that you have enjoyed our videos over the last five years, and that you are one of our 1,090+ YouTube subscribers. If not, you can visit our YouTube channel and subscribe here. If so, thanks for watching!
Maria C. Baler, Esq. is an estate planning and elder law attorney and partner at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, a law firm based in Dedham. She is also a former director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (MassNAELA), and the former President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys. For more information, visit www.ssbllc.com or call (781) 461-1020. This article is not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney.
April 2025
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