LinkedIn can be a great resource for attorneys. Make sure you know the benefits, drawbacks and how to effectively edit your profile. Utilization of groups is also extremely important.. Learn all of this in 12 minutes!
2. • Social Media Networking Platform
• 74+ million members in the US (January 2013)
• 200+ million members worldwide
• Became publically traded in 2011
• Acquired SlideShare
3. • “Active” members are eager to help
• Adaptable to current employment situation
• Considered the “Professional” Social Media Platform
• Groups can be a GREAT resource
• Best Quick Prospecting Tool
• Turn cold lead into warm lead
• Resource for job seekers
4. • Low percentage of “Active” members
• LinkedIn discourages networking with non-personal contacts
• Potentially slow communication/networking
• Inefficient method of monitoring groups
• Mobile App can be frustrating to use
• Unreliable “Endorsements”
Hey everyone. My name is Chris Vaughan and I am going to talk with you today about LinkedIn. Through this presentation, you will learn more about LinkedIn, how to edit your profile, and how to utilize the LinkedIn Groups
If you are watching this presentation on YouTubeor through our website, then SlideShare is the slide show equivalent to YouTube.
With respect to editing you profile, it is important to note that I believe there are 2 different ways LinkedIn can be used. If you are searching for a job, it should resemble your résumé so you have digital copy wherever you go. If you have a job and are not searching, then your LinkedIn profile should complement your firm profile. In the event you do not have one, it should be created more as a profile/bio as opposed to a résumé. In order to edit your profile….
The summary section should really be able to tell your story within 2-3 paragrahs. It should not just replicate your firm bio. It should be an extension of it. If your firm bio goes into great detail regarding the qualifications you bring to the table, then your LinkedIn profile should humanize you so that it can aid in building a relationship with current and potential clients.
You should have 1-3 sentences summarizing each of your work experiences. Explain what your roles were so that people can get a more complete picture of who you are and what strengths you bring to the table.
This is a very touchy subject, especially in the legal community. Many states are really beginning to look closely at how you are presented on various social media platforms. One thing I do not like about LinkedIn is their use of the word “Expertise”. As an attorney, you are not allowed to state you are an expert at anything. Accordingly, if I was a practicing attorney, I would remove this section completely from my LinkedIn profile. It’s better to be safe than to get in trouble because you wanted to keep up some potentially questionable endorsements. I say potentially questionable, because in many cases, you might be getting endorsements from people you do not even know.
With respect to education, the further removed, the less you have to put. I think it is important to at least mention where you attended for networking purposes, but in reality, very few people select an attorney because they excelled in law school or college. It might help in getting a job, but will most likely not play any role in landing a client.
As an attorney, if you removed the Skills and Expertise section as mentioned before, then you might want to put your practice areas into your “Interests” section so they have a better chance of getting noticed during the search process.
Groups are where the real love/hate relationship with LinkedIn can occur. They are a phenominal way to network and learn what others are doing. The problem is that LinkedIn has not found a way to streamline their accessibility. This means that most people use the groups by just waiting till their email summary comes through and then clicking on a topic that looks interesting. When using LinkedIn, there are too many click that need to be made to move from one group to the next which is why some people do not use them at all. When time is money, the more time wasted clicking, the less time spent generating revenue. The mobile app is even worse when it comes to keeping up with groups. The best ways to keep up with a number of groups is either through the email feeds or some distributor tool, but that is another topic.
When searching for groups, you will be presented with some that LinkedIn things you will be most interested, but you can also search for groups based on interests your connections have or through a general key word search.
Through LinkedIn, this is the page where you can move from 1 group to the next. Note that you can reorder your groups so that your favorite groups are at the top of the page. However, if you are in a lot of groups, like me, then the reorder is only slightly beneficial since there is no way to avoid scrolling up and down the page.
Once you are in your group, make sure you utilize the various tabs. Discussions is different than Promotions for example. If you have a topic of interest, use the discussions tab. If you want to pitch your product/service, use the promotions tab. The Jobs tab is also a great way to find out who is searching for new employees.
If you have any questions about LinkedIn, would like myself or Firm Transitions to consult you and/or your firm with how to better utilize LinkedIn, or just have some questions about all social media platforms and distributor tools, please contact me via the email address or phone number listed on this slide.