As a consultant lawyer, using social media probably isn’t top of your priorities list. However, it can still have its place and bring benefits to your working life, especially a professional platform like LinkedIn.
LinkedIn can be a great tool for attracting new clients, connecting with others in your firm and the wider industry, and keeping up to date with the latest news, opinions, and information. This article aims to help you make the most of LinkedIn as a consultant lawyer with some helpful hints and tips.
Why should consultant lawyers be on LinkedIn?
First things first, let’s look at some of the benefits of using LinkedIn as a consultant lawyer:
Connect with others
Many new consultant lawyers worry that they’ll find the experience isolating. After all, you’re working primarily on their own, usually from home, and typically aren’t surrounded by a team. At Setfords, we do what we can to combat this by hosting regular events and encouraging our lawyers to network amongst themselves. However, LinkedIn is also a great place to connect with others and expand your network when working as a consultant. Indeed, it’s primary purpose is to allow you to connect with other professionals in your industry and beyond!
You can use the search function to discover and reach out to other consultant lawyers who work with the same firm as you – they’re likely to appreciate you making an effort to connect and you never know, it may be the start of a professional working relationship or even friendship. LinkedIn is also a great place to connect with those you may have worked with in the past, which can also help combat isolation when you’re working remotely.
Sharing knowledge
Once you’ve built up a solid network, LinkedIn is an ideal place to share knowledge and learn from others. This social network is full of people sharing their ideas, opinions, and news about virtually every industry out there, and law is one of them. You can follow thought leaders from the legal profession and beyond, as well as share your own thoughts to add to the conversation.
Are your prospective clients on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is also a great place to market yourself and your services. You may think that this only applies to corporate lawyers, as LinkedIn is primarily a professional platform. However, it can work for other legal services, too. After all, those in your network may still be moving house, going through divorce and other family issues, or requiring litigation services at some point, to name just a few examples. So, make sure that your LinkedIn profile makes it clear what you do, and don’t be afraid to shout about it. You can use some of the tips below to help with this.
Overall, LinkedIn is all about expanding your professional network. Doing so can benefit you by decreasing feelings of isolation, helping you to generate new work, and even expand your knowledge, so it’s one social network that you don’t want to miss.
Tips for consultant lawyers using LinkedIn
Here are a few helpful hints and tips for consultant lawyers who are looking to make the most of their LinkedIn profile, and the network in general:
Optimising your profile
It’s important to get your profile up to scratch, as this is what most people will use on LinkedIn to get a measure of you and what you do. There are a few key things to consider when it comes to your profile, namely:
- Headline – after your name, this is what people will see first. Ideally, you should include your areas of expertise as well as any unique selling points.
- Summary – the summary is where you should be highlighting your experiences, successes, and value in a bit more detail, allowing people who are visiting your profile to learn more about you.
- Experience – This is the section where you can go into more detail about your specific experience. Keep it brief and focus on the highlights, including quantifiable numbers and figures, if they’re relevant.
- Recommendations – This is a space where you can show off testimonials from clients and colleagues you’ve worked with, helping to win you more clients and expand your network.
- Visuals – It’s important to get your profile looking good. Make sure your profile image is clear and professional, and choose a banner image that reflects you and your work – your firm may have a template you can use.
Target the right connections
LinkedIn is all about the connections. As such, you should think about what you want to get out of your time on the platform, and target the right connections to help you reach your goal. Do you want to connect with others in your firm? Prospective clients? Keep up to date with thought leaders in the industry? Whatever your goal, it’s important to do the research and reach out to those who align with it. When connecting, consider sending a personal message so they are more likely to accept your request. Don’t forget you can follow thought leaders, enabling you to keep up with their posts without having to be connected to them.
Thoughtful posting
If you want to start posting on LinkedIn, it’s important to think before you post to ensure you’re making the most of it. Position yourself as a thought leader by sharing solutions to problems, answering questions, and sharing opinions. Or, post relevant articles, legal updates, and case studies in your niche. Bear in mind that LinkedIn is a professional platform – while the odd personal post can work well, try not to post anything controversial that may not be well received by your network!
Utilise different types of media
LinkedIn allows you to post all kinds of different media, from text only, images, video, and even articles. As such, you can pick and choose what you want to post depending on the topic and your mood. For the best results, experiment with all the different types of posts available and see what sticks best for you and your network.
Join the conversation
While it may have a professional focus, LinkedIn is still a social network at its core. So, don’t be afraid to get involved in the conversation. Post about relevant news and events, comment on others’ posts, and even join groups that cater to your professional interests. This will help to get your name out there and ultimately expand your network so you can reach your LinkedIn goals.
Use it for proof of your abilities
Another thing LinkedIn is good for is ‘social proof,’ the idea that others will follow if there’s proof that they’re onto a good thing. For consultant lawyers, this looks like using your LinkedIn to show off your professional talents, which should help you to gain more clients and connections. For example, you can showcase testimonials from clients, recommendations from colleagues, and highlight any particular stand-out cases you may have been involved in to show the world what you can do.
Stay consistent with regular updates
As with almost anything, staying consistent is key if you really want to make LinkedIn work for you. Regularly posting and engaging with other people’s content will help you to grow your network, as potential connections will appreciate the consistency of updates.
In conclusion, LinkedIn can undeniably be a useful tool for consultant lawyers. Whether you want to grow your professional network, find new clients, or stay up to date with the industry, LinkedIn is a good place to start. Don’t be afraid of using social media to widen your reach and network – it’s all about finding what works best for you.
Is consultancy for me?
If you want to find out more about becoming a consultant with us, get in touch. We are happy to conduct interviews remotely for suitable, UK-qualified candidates with five or more years’ experience. If you’re a good fit, you’ll be joining a team that was created for lawyers to do their best work.
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