September's LMA Midwest luncheon program featured Nancy Myrland of Myrland Marketing discussing effective techniques for turning LinkedIn into a business development tool for attorneys.
Interesting LinkedIn Facts
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There are more than 238 million users on LinkedIn.
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According to a recent American Bar Association report, 56 percent of law firms have Company pages and 98 percent of lawyers claim to have profiles.
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Only 1 in 10 users (primarily sales professionals) opt for the paid version of the product.
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LinkedIn profiles are proven to have a high ranking in Google and Bing results.
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68 percent of users indicate that they use it for connecting with past business associates.
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75 percent of users conduct primary research on people and companies (even prior to running a Google search)
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The average user is a member of seven Groups.
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People who engage in Groups and post Discussion threads have 4x more profile views.
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Nearly 10 million Endorsements are made each day.
New LinkedIn Features
Nancy reviewed several new features on LinkedIn, including a new one in the Contacts area that performs as a customer relationship management system within the site, even allowing you to segment your contacts. Another new feature allows you to upload a professional gallery of images or other works into your profile. This visualization technique can help make your profile more interesting to the reader.
Another recently added feature displays Content Views by people within your full network of contacts. This graphic on the right side of your profile indicates everyone, up to the third level of your network, who has viewed your posts and profile updates. It is a great indicator of engagement by your contacts.
If you are interested in staying on top of business trends or listening to noted industry leaders, Nancy suggested tapping into the new "LinkedIn Today" feature, which allows you to subscribe to news channels and follow pre-selected thought leaders, aka Influencers. A sampling of Influencers includes Richard Branson, Meg Whitman and Jack Welch, among others.
Tips for Perfecting Your Profile
One of the most important elements of being successful in using LinkedIn for building your network and, eventually, your book of business is to follow up with existing contacts and maintain regular communication with new contacts once they find you (or you find them). Equally as important is perfecting your profile so that you leave a solid impression. Nancy offered the following tips:
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Make sure to use a current, professional photo.
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Use the Headline feature to better describe your work and capabilities. Don't just settle for your title, which may not give the reader any clue as to the nature of your skills.
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Use the name you go by, not your formal name. You want people to be able to find you.
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Use the Settings tool to create a friendly URL for your profile instead of the lengthy string of code LinkedIn assigns you upon creation of your page.
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When loading websites to your profile, choose the "Other" field for the link and add a meaningful label to offer the reader better context clues.
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Include links to your published work, such as alerts and newsletters written at your firm.
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Avoid inappropriate personal information, such as the year you were born.
Why Care About LinkedIn?
Nancy believes LinkedIn is a fantastic business development tool that helps close the gap between the people you already know and the people you want to reach to develop new business. In a nutshell, your profile updates and content posts create a set of "digital breadcrumbs" allowing people to find you.
It takes time to build a solid network, but incorporating a few minutes of LinkedIn time into each day will lead to positive business development results.