LinkedIn is one of the most significant business development and professional networking tools for lawyers. But many lawyers admit they aren’t using it the way they should. Most lawyers we work with report that their LinkedIn lawyer profile is often a copy-and-paste job from their attorney resume from the firm’s website.

If this is you, it’s okay. (This is a standard error on lawyer LinkedIn profiles.)

It’s essential to understand this is a mistake, and it’s worth your time to do the legwork to build a compelling, brand-building profile on LinkedIn. As we know, LinkedIn is a marketing tool as much as it is a social media platform, and when lawyers take the time to showcase their expertise or demonstrate their legal acumen and experience compellingly, they get noticed in the right ways.

And when it comes down to thinking about marketing efforts that achieve results, LinkedIn is by far one of the most effective. Suppose you’re doing a presentation, speaking at a conference, or working on a client alert. In those cases, you’re investing time, resources, and energy in your marketing to a limited audience. Imagine how much more effective your marketing could be if your entire network had access to it versus just those conferencegoers or those on your email list. This is the power of LinkedIn. It gives you visibility.

If you’re ready to see real results on LinkedIn, the first place to start is your profile.

Step 1: Set up your profile for success

Understand How LinkedIn Search Works

Many lawyers don’t realize that LinkedIn is like the ultimate Rolodex. It’s a database of all the working professionals in any given practice, field, or geolocation and is endlessly searchable.

Yet, so many lawyers fail to take the time to properly update their profiles so they can be found in LinkedIn search.

However, we stumble upon profiles every day where the headline for the attorney reads, “Attorney at ABC Law Firm.”

There’s a big difference between a personal injury lawyer and a patent lawyer. So, having a LinkedIn profile that explicitly explains the type of law you practice is necessary for prospects to find you and discover you via LinkedIn.

When your headline functions as a job title instead of as a branding statement, you lose the opportunity to explain why your contacts should reach out to you.

A non-descriptive headline ensures you won’t be found in search and puts you behind your competitors who are taking the time to update their headlines with a strong branding statement.

Don’t miss the opportunity to get specific in your LinkedIn headline if you want to master LinkedIn for lawyers.

How to get specific in your LinkedIn headline

If you haven’t watched our video or read our article on Personal Branding, now would be a good time to read it or watch it.

The easiest way to get specific in your LinkedIn headline is to think about what you, who you help, and the desired outcome your clients want to achieve.

For example, instead of writing “Trademark Attorney at ABC Law Firm” be more specific and includes a headline like this: “Trademark Attorney who helps e-commerce owners transform their businesses from part-time side hustle to full-time founder.”

See how re-writing our headline to showcase that we understand and can empathize with your ideal client’s desires resulted in a more compelling headline? This is what we want to do when writing our LinkedIn headline.

Step 2: Create a Unique URL that Stands Out to Master LinkedIn for Lawyers

As a final step in setting up your profile for success as a lawyer, we recommend updating your LinkedIn URL to a unique URL that is easy for your potential clients, referral sources, and existing clients to type in and find you.

So, instead of a LinkedIn URL like this: https://www.linkedin.com/in/name-2694a21/

You can have a LinkedIn URL like this: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaaries/

If you go to update your LinkedIn URL and find your name is already taken, then we recommend adding Esq to your name or even specifying the type of law you practice, like jessicaaries-privacylawyer.

Step 3: Upload a professional headshot photo to LinkedIn

Too many lawyers add outdated, unprofessional, or nonexistent headshots to their LinkedIn profiles. Your LinkedIn profile photo is your first impression on LinkedIn – make it a good one.

Building a LinkedIn profile without a profile photo is like buying business cards without your name on them. What’s the point?

Adding a recent, color, professional headshot to your LinkedIn profile will help those who visit your LinkedIn profile confirm your identity and connect with you.

As a lawyer, you meet people daily at conferences, events, and outings. Adding a quality headshot photo that looks like you and is professional makes it easier for your contacts to find you on LinkedIn.

Step 4: Upload a cover photo that promotes how you help your clients achieve their goals.

Your cover photo on LinkedIn is the photo banner right above your headshot. It’s one of the most overlooked and underutilized pieces of real estate on your entire LinkedIn profile, which is a real travesty.

We realize that most lawyers don’t upload a cover photo because they aren’t sure what to upload, so we are going to break down some examples of cover photos that you can create and give you a template for creating one you can use to help build your brand on LinkedIn.

Option 1: The Firm Branded Cover Photo

In the example below, this attorney has done a great job of uploading a cover photo that fits her firm’s overall brand. She’s using her cover photo to showcase her firm and the practice group she works with.

Option 2: The Personal Brand-Focused Background Banner Photo

In the example below, this attorney has aligned her professional brand with a professional cause she aligns with – diversity, equity, and inclusion for women. This cover photo showcases this lawyer as a supporter of women in law and gives her a distinct personal brand.

Option 3: The Authority-Focused Background Photo

In the example below, this attorney has selected to establish credibility and authority by identifying all the places where she’s been featured in the media, including Forbes, New York Magazine, People, The Huffington Post, etc. This type of cover photo showcases this attorney as a credible authority in her field.

Option 4: The Client-Focused Cover Banner

In the example below, this attorney has taken time to make sure she uses her banner to highlight what she does, how she helps her clients, and why they should work with her. This is n extremely compelling cover photo and one that does a great job of showcasing this lawyer’s expertise. It’s clear what type of law she practices, how she helps her clients achieve their goals, and why her clients should work with her – just from her cover photo.

How to make your own LinkedIn Background Banner Photo and/or Cover Photo that Showcases You

Ready to level up your LinkedIn Background Banner Photo or Cover Photo now that you’ve seen what’s possible? Wish you had the graphic design skills to make something like the ones we have shown you above?

We got you covered. We had our graphic design team create a free design for you. All you have to do is click the link below to access the template designed in Google Slides.

Once you’ve gained access to the template, we need you to update it with two critical pieces of information:

1. Highlight one of your client’s deepest desires.
2. Explain how you help your clients succeed in getting those results.

For example, the trademark attorney we mentioned in our earlier example might write: “How awesome would it be if you didn’t have to worry about copycatters?” This type of statement calls out your prospect’s deepest desires.

Similarly, the second line might read: “Secure your business’s most valuable asset – its brand.”

You’ve now shown how this trademark has helped its clients succeed.

Create a better cover photo, and get better results on LinkedIn.

Step 5: Write a Summary section that humanizes and shares your story

When you think about your prospects, referral sources, and clients, do you think they generally want to work with a lawyer who they can trust and feel comfortable with? Although LinkedIn for lawyers, can be a marketing tool, it shouldn’t be all about sales. It should be about building real connections.

Most of the people in your target audience who you connect with on LinkedIn are looking to work with people who are like them. They want to know that if they are called into a sticky situation or have to rely on someone to help them when they are in over their head, that’s it’s someone who they know, like, and trust.

This is where great storytelling can be your magic bullet for aligning who you are with your target audience.

There’s a reason why early humans used story share lessons with each other – stories can be compelling, easy to follow, and provide valuable insights into what it’s like to live, work, and collaborate with others.

Sharing a story in your Summary section (now renamed to About section) about why you became a lawyer, what aspect of the law you find most interesting or are most passionate about, or just a story about yourself can be a great way to connect with those who visit your LinkedIn profile.

Here’s an example of my story in my About section.

Brainstorming Your About Section to Master LinkedIn for Lawyers

When we work with clients on their LinkedIn profiles, we ask them a series of questions to help them uncover their best stories and help them create a compelling LinkedIn About section. You’ll find a few of the questions we ask to help lawyers think about the stories they can share:

1. Why did you decide to become a lawyer?
2. What attracted you to the area of law you practice in currently?
3. What qualities or personality traits from childhood helped prepare you to become a lawyer?
4. What are your proudest accomplishments as a lawyer?
5. What other lawyers have taught you to be a better lawyer and what did they teach you?
6. Tell me about a time when you thought you received bad advice. Why was it wrong?
7. Tell me about at a time when you felt like changing careers, why didn’t you?

When we ask these questions, we uncover stories, experiences, and sometimes even lessons learned that could write entire books. So, we recommend trying to answer some of these questions yourself and uncovering what stories you may have to share that can introduce you to your clients, prospects, and referral sources in a new way.

Re-Introduce Yourself with the Intentionality that Gets Your Remembered

After you’ve written your story introducing yourself to your connections, it’s time to explain what you do as a lawyer and how you help your clients. This is where you can explain the exact services you perform, how you help clients, and why clients seek you out as an attorney.

The final section of your About section should focus on highlighting the key search terms that will help you appear on LinkedIn. For example, an Intellectual Property Attorney focused on soft IP might weave into their profile keywords like trademark law, copyright law, copyrights, trade secrets, etc. and use a call to action to remind potential clients to connect with him or her.

Step 6: Make your LinkedIn profile as visually appealing and scannable as you can

The profiles that get the least attention on LinkedIn are those crowded with information nobody wants to read.

It’s important to remember that when it comes to digital marketing in general – white space is your friend. The same is true for your LinkedIn profile.

Consider adding visual elements to your profile, like featuring visuals from your most recent presentation or a photo of you with your practice group at a conference. Adding visual elements to your profile makes it easy for potential clients to learn more about you quickly and easily.

Your potential clients and referral sources want to be able to send along your LinkedIn profile to others who are vetting you. When you make your profile visually appealing, easy to read, and aligned with what your firm resume states, you make it easy for them to recommend.

Remember, the art of getting referrals is being easy to recommend. So, ensuring you have created a profile that accurately displays your experience, professionalism, and ability to do your job well is vital to attaining referrals.

Recap of how to Master LinkedIn for Lawyers in 6 Easy Steps:

1. Create a specific headline that tells prospects what area of law you practice
2. Create a customized URL, so you can easily share your LinkedIn profile with others
3. Develop a marketable LinkedIn profile with a professional headshot photo
4. Add a cover photo or LinkedIn banner that showcases how you help your clients achieve their goals
5. Write a summary section that shares a story and prompts action
6. Ensure your profile is visually appealing and easy to share