Ok, so you have a LinkedIn profile, but how are you using it? So many lawyers and industry leaders understand LinkedIn to be a necessity, but many often wonder: Can I get clients from LinkedIn? Is LinkedIn good for business development? How can I use LinkedIn to make more money? If you’ve found yourself asking those same questions and perhaps putting off being fully engaged in LinkedIn because you don’t know how to get started on using it as a business development tool, you’re in the right place. We’re going to break down 5 surefire tips for using your LinkedIn like a pro.
Tip 1: Your LinkedIn Profile is NOT your resume
It’s a common misconception that your LinkedIn profile should be another iteration of your resume, but think about it.
When you meet someone new or engage with a prospective client, do you run down your resume line by line to give them an idea of who you are and what you do? No!
That would sound disingenuous and impersonal. The same can be said for your LinkedIn profile if you’ve simply copy and pasted your resume there. You engage with others by sharing what’s important to you, offering services, and truly connecting, and you can do just that through LinkedIn.
By viewing LinkedIn as a tool that helps you explain to your target clients what you do, who you help, and what makes you a great attorney, you’re better able to reach your target audience.
One way to do this is by creating a compelling headline, writing it about a statement that resonates with and is specific to your target clients, showcasing your experience in a visual and compelling way. Your headline and summary statement should clearly indicate what you do, who you help, and why you’re so great.
In other words, if your headline is attorney at ABC law firm, your profile is not optimized. Instead, try something more targeted, like immigration attorney who helps busy HR managers navigate tough employee immigration issues or fathers only divorce attorney protecting father’s rights and high stake, divorce, and custody disputes. Can you see the difference? Your audience can.
Tip 2: Write Social Media Posts on LinkedIn that Get Your Noticed
We know, we know: you’re an attorney who went to school for a lengthy amount of time and studied very hard, honing your writing skills to make the most persuasive arguments in court.
Did you catch that last part? In court.
One of the most tragic mistakes I see lawyers make when writing content for LinkedIn is when their content is written as if LinkedIn were an amicus brief or law journal.
You wouldn’t use legal jargon when speaking with a client, right?
You’d simplify and condense complex ideas in a way your client could understand. Use that same methodology to simplify your writing for your LinkedIn audience, as well, and take note of how many folks are able to engage with you. If you’ve had your head in the scholarly journals and case law too long and are unsure how to get started on an approachable LinkedIn post, try using the following format when drafting your content
1) Hook; 2) Story or Statement; 3) Call to Action; 4) Images and Links; 5) Hashtags.
Let’s break down these components in a little more detail.
- The “hook” is used to capture your audience’s attention.
- The story or statement explains the hook and communicates your core message.
- Your images and links stop your audience in their scroll because they’re visual.
- Your call to action entices your audience to learn more, discover something new, or take some action.
- Your hashtags make it easy for your content to be found by others and for you to find your content later.
If you need a few examples of really well-written LinkedIn posts, be sure to download my LinkedIn for Client Development Cheat Sheet which includes a breakdown of all these concepts. Did you notice what I did there? That was a call to action which encourages you to engage with me further.
Tip 3: Use LinkedIn Publisher to Give Your Thoughts Leadership Legs
Most attorneys and industry leaders I know write or publish client alerts, newsletters, blog posts, et cetera, on a regular basis. These publications are ripe with valuable information your clients and prospective clients would love to read, and you can reach more of folks like that if you go beyond your publication/alert subscriber list.
LinkedIn is a great place to share your thought leadership. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing your legal or industry content on LinkedIn’s native publishing platform, LinkedIn Publisher.
When you add content to LinkedIn Publisher, it doesn’t just live in LinkedIn—it can be shared across other platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It also gets indexed by Google, which means it’s searchable in Google. Plus, you can always add those fun and functional hashtags to your content to give it more exposure and reach.
LinkedIn is the most used platform among fortune 500 companies. Despite this many, many people aren’t utilizing LinkedIn Publisher, which means you can stand out from the crowd in a good way, and you can leverage the content you already have written. Just upload it to LinkedIn. Yes, it’s that easy.
Tip 4: How to Use Hashtags for LinkedIn
If you’re unsure how or why to use hashtags, you’re not alone.
So many professionals come to me and ask what the heck a hashtag is and how is it used. Members of certain generations still call these things pound signs, and that’s ok. However, you want to refer to hashtags is fine, so long as you recognize their use and use them correctly and effectively.
Strategically, hashtags were originally created as a way to categorize content on Twitter because of their usefulness.
Hashtags are widely used on various social media platforms, including LinkedIn. It’s easy to use hashtags that relate to your post and link it to a broader community, like #EstatePlanningLaw, but you can also make it more tailored to a trend, like #FunFactFriday. Campaign hashtags are also incredible ways to promote certain seasons or campaigns you are promoting. Just remember to ask yourself how the hashtag relates to your content and how it related to viewers, and you’ll be #GoodToGo.
Tip 5: Create a LinkedIn Content Calendar
You have the profile, and now you have the tips and tools to post, but you have to do it consistently.
When connecting with others on LinkedIn and online, in general, you often wonder how you know this person or what the benefit is to making an online connection. Your followers ask themselves the same thing, and seeing a nearly blank profile or one with sporadic post makes people feel unengaged or forgotten.
Consistency is key, but as Emerson said, “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Emerson, ever the practical fellow, wasn’t belittling the act of staying consistent, but criticizing consistency without originality. We’ve already discussed the ways you shine and the means of sharing your shine with others, so now you have to do it, and do it regularly.
Social media platforms may come and go, but these quick tips for creating genuine and noteworthy content that reaches your audience is perennial and crosses platform boundaries. Use these tricks on your LinkedIn, as well as your Facebook, Instagram, and even that new Clubhouse platform you might’ve heard mentioned amongst your tech-savvy friends. If you’re ready to use LinkedIn as a Client Development tool, then you’ll want to download my LinkedIn for Client Development Cheat Sheet. See examples of effective LinkedIn profiles, access an easy to follow template for asking for recommendations, create a content calendar that gets likes and comments, and access my step-by-step social media post template. Download it now.
