Three Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Presence

By Janet Falk, Chief Strategist, Falk Communications and Research

As you know, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional database, with nearly 700 million members. Surely some of them are looking for an attorney with your experience in intellectual property law, personal injury or bankruptcy law. How can you make sure you are found there?

There are three components to your LinkedIn presence, all designed to confirm you are the attorney they heard about and need to speak with:

  • Headline and Profile
  • Connections
  • Activity

Let’s quickly improve each one.

Headline and Profile

LinkedIn automatically places your title from your current position in your headline. That text appears with your photo anytime you participate on the platform or whenever the algorithm cites your name.

People search on LinkedIn by name, profession and key words.

How many people do you think are looking for a Partner, Owner or Shareholder?

Exactly. No one.

Instead, potential clients with an urgent problem, as well as contacts looking to refer you business, are searching for an attorney who clearly states:

  • What is their area of focus
  • Whom they serve
  • And even what results might be anticipated

Here are some examples:

  • Clearing, Dodd-Frank, ISDA & Special Situations Attorney
  • Commercial & Residential Real Estate Attorney for Standard & Unusual Sales, Purchases & Leases
  • Advocate of equal rights in the workplace for women

You have 120 characters to raise the flag of your headline; all of these are far shorter than that limit. If you enter the characters on your phone or tablet, you have 220 characters.

Make the most of this space to be found by keyword search. Do not simply state your title and the name of your firm.

Connections

Confess. When you first joined LinkedIn, you probably, like me, were somewhat promiscuous. You accepted random connection requests. Looking back, you no longer remember who some of these people are, where you met and why you accepted their invitation to join their network.

Annually, before you send your holiday greeting card, export the list of your LinkedIn connections and review the names.

When was the last time you communicated with each of them? Are you still inclined to keep in touch?

If your last contact was more than a year ago, and if you do not see them actively participating on LinkedIn by posting insights, sharing articles and commenting on the posts and activities of others, ask yourself: is it worth continuing this connection?

You can remove a limp connection without the other person being notified that you have done so.

Or, you may take the opportunity to re-connect with the individual and re-start the conversation.

Complete instructions on exporting the names of people in your network and how to delete them are here: Keep, Delete or Re-Connect on LinkedIn.

Activity

The essence of LinkedIn is the sharing of information. Whenever you write a post/update, publish an article or comment on what others have shared, you are attracting the attention of those in your network.

Note that what you write on LinkedIn will be seen by only 9% of your contacts. When you cite a name (@Lara Brown) or when, say Lara likes or comments, that post will be seen by 9% of her contacts. And so on.

As a busy attorney, you take precious time out of your jam-packed day to notice what is in your feed or you search for content using hashtags, e.g. #employment.

When you find something of interest, don’t simply like the post or article; comment in a meaningful way to start a conversation.

Imagine your colleague Tara sees that same post pop up in her feed.

She will think, “Sara liked that post. Should I take five minutes away from writing this motion to read it? How do I know it is worth my time?”

Instead, comment substantively on the post, saying “I agree; moreover my experience shows that ___.” Or “I disagree, because you have overlooked the possibility that ___.”

Now there is a dialogue underway, something that will catch Tara’s eye and make her want to read and learn the value of the discussion. See As You Like It, Please Say WHY

Resources

There’s much more that can be discussed about LinkedIn; here are other ideas and resources to Refresh Your LinkedIn Profile and Activity.

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About the Author:

Janet Falk is a Public Relations and Marketing Communications professional at Falk Communications and Research. She offers members of WOL a review of their LinkedIn profile and activity in a FREE 30-minute consultation and guarantees TWO Ideas.

 

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