Boost Your Practice for Free:
Seven LinkedIn Secrets Every Attorney Should Know
LinkedIn is the best business promotion you never have to pay for. Attorneys wanting to grow their practice should optimize their profile and use of LinkedIn by doing the following:
1. Greet clients and potential clients with a smile and a warm handshake. How does that translate to your profile? Hire the best headshot photographer in your community. Dress for business in your headshot, look into the camera lens and smile warmly. People are visual and this is an essential part of your personal brand.
2. Develop a marketing tagline for yourself. On your profile this refers to your Headline – the text that appears right under your name. Your tagline might include your areas of expertise and types of clients you serve, the three ways you add value to every client, etc.
3. Be forthcoming and authentic about who you are and WHY you’ve chosen your practice niche. On your profile, this refers to your About section. You have a maximum of 2,600 characters, or about 5 paragraphs – use almost all of them. Tell us your business story in the first person. Share your purpose, business passions, and principles. By doing so, you are sowing the seeds of know, like and trust – and attracting ideal-for-you clients and opportunities.
4. Polish your Skills inventory. Make sure your three most important skills are at the top of the list and that you’ve listed 50 skills. Include your essential skills (aka soft skills) such as communication style, working style, people skills. Delete skills you no longer use.
5. Use your company logo. If you work for a large firm, the chances are good that your logo will appear on your profile without effort. If your firm is small and has not created a LinkedIn company page, take steps to make this happen. It is THE way that your firm’s logo is entered into LinkedIn’s database so that it can appear on your profile in your experience section. The lack of a logo undermines your credibility.
6. Be active on the LinkedIn homepage. This is where your referral partners, clients and potential clients hang out. Nurture those relationships by commenting on their posts (fewer than 5 words doesn’t count), sending them a message or pertinent article via LinkedIn, etc. When you’re ready to be bolder, curate and share an article or write one yourself. Be top of mind by posting often.
7. Access executive branding assistance: https://carolkaemmerer.com. My one-on-one executive services and done-for-you profiles resulted in my recognition in The American Reporter as one of six top personal branding experts to watch in 2022.