LinkedIn for Lawyers

LinkedInforLawyerswhohatenetworking

www.realprac7ce.com

May17,2010

RealPrac7ceisnotaffiliatedinanywaywithLinkedIn.Manystateshaverulesregardingadver7sementbyaEorneys,andtheinforma7onthatmustaccompanytheadver7sements.Theinforma7onandtechniquespresentedinthiswebinarmaynotcomplywithapplicable

federal,stateorlocalrulesofprofessionalconductregardingadver7sing.

WhyAreYouHere?

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•  HeardIcandoalotandhaven’thad7metotryit

•  Ican’tavoidthebuzz&noiseofLinkedIn

•  Ijoinedbutithasn’thelpedmeyet•  I’mnotsureIhavethe7metodothisandprac7celaw

•  Icouldusesomemoreclientsandneedsourcesforthem

•  I’dlikeafewtangiblestepstotaketohavesomesuccessonline

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•  It’seasytogetstarted•  Itdoestakesomediscipline

•  Ittakessomecrea7vity

•  Findyourcomfortzone

•  Berealis7c

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LinkedInMythsvs.Reality

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•  LawyersarenotonLinkedIn

•  Mypoten7alclientsaren’tonline

•  Ishouldn’tsharemybackgroundonline

•  Ican’tmeetpeopleonLinkedIn

•  Wordofmouthdoesn’toccuronline

•  60%+ofaEorneysthere•  Over30MMUSLIusers–

almostallprofessionals

•  MostinfoalreadyavailablethroughGoogle–controlit

•  Peoplejoinbecausetheywanttoconnect

•  Formalorcasual–comments,reviews&ra7ngseverywhereonline

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LinkedInAc7onItem#1

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CompleteYourProfile•  It’sFree•  Uploadapicture•  Thinkofyourbackground&historyasconnec7onpoints

•  Answerques7onsinyourprofile:•  Whoareyou?•  Whatdoyoudo/howdoyouhelp?•  Whatmakesyouuniquelyqualified?

•  Whatarepoten7alclientslookingforandhowwouldtheysearch(keywords)?

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LinkedInAc7onItem#2

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Give,give,give&thenyouget•  Par7cipateinthecommunity

•  Answerques7ons•  Joinrelevantgroups

•  Helpothersmakeconnec7ons

•  Recommendothersyoulike&trust•  Respondquickly

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LinkedInAc7onItem#2

7www.RealPrac7ce.com

LinkedInAc7onItem#3

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Useittomeetpeopleoffline•  Iden7fypoten7alpartners,clients,advisors•  WorksbeEerthanemailorcoldcall

•  Setupphonecalls,etc.•  Invitethemtoevents

•  Pointthemtorelevantinforma7on

•  Findmutualwaystohelpeachother&meetifpossible

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HowtoEngage/GetClients

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Afewthoughts•  You’refortunate–you’rea

creatorofinforma7on•  An7cipatethetopics&needsof

yourclientsandprovideideas&solu7onsas“samples”•  Situa7onalcontent•  Planningguides•  Blogposts/insights

•  Whatisflowofclienttogettoandhireyou?•  Wordofmouth–makeiteasyfor

lawyerstorefertoyou•  Whatissuesareclientspondering?

Takeaposi7ononit!

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YourLinkedInProject–Year1

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Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

PhaseI:WhoamI,WhyUnique,BestClients?

PhaseII:BuildoutLINetwork

andFindTargetClients PhaseIII:

Par7cipateandHelpOthers

“DeveloptheHabit”

Set goals for yourself and make time in your calendar for LinkedIn 30-60 minutes a week to start, and block out the time!

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LegalOpinionsofLinkedIn

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•  Make sure recommendations are accurate •  Ex: "In every case Mark was equal to or significantly

better than the opposing lawyer." •  Is this accurate? •  You can decide whether recommendation goes up – you are

ultimately responsible, whether you write it or not •  Posting might violate ABA Rule 7.1* if it were considered

misleading under the comment to Rule 7.1. (An "unsubstantiated comparison of the lawyer's services … with the services … of other lawyers may be misleading if presented with such specificity as would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the comparison can be substantiated.")

•  Use site’s most restrictive security/privacy settings •  In general good idea to know site’s options, but could make site

much less useful for your goals to network

* http://www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc_toc.html

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FrequentlyAskedQues7ons•  WhocanseemyLinkedInprofile?

–  Youcancontrolwhetheritispublicandwhatisavailable•  Caneveryoneseemyconnec7ons?(Idon’twantcompe7torstopoachmyclients)–  Youcancontrolwhetheryourconnec7onsareavailabletootherstobrowse

•  CanIreachouttopeopleIdon’tknowonLinkedIn–  Youcan,butbecareful.Notrecommendedtoaddthemasconnec7onun7lyouknowthem.BeEertocontactthemfirst,establishvalueandtrustbetweenyou

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ForAdvancedUsers

•  InstalltheLinkedInOutlookToolbar•  UsingLIApplica7onstopostyourpapers,presenta7ons

•  ConnectyourblogtoLinkedIn•  StartaLinkedIngroup•  Upgradeyouraccount

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Summary

1.  Complete your profile 2.  Give, give and give some more 3.  Use it to meet people offline

LinkedIn is a great place to start your networking success, and you can do it from your home and office!

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•  10yearoldlegalsoqwareandwebservicescompany

•  Providessolu7onstosomeofna7on’slargestfirms,aswellasthousandsofsoloandsmallfirms

–  KnowledgeManagement

–  Deal&Li7ga7ondocuments

–  Li7ga7oncomplianceguides

•  HelpingaEorneysbemoreefficientandeffec7veintheprac7ceoflaw

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AboutRealPrac7ce

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