1. LinkedIn
Tips for creating and improving your profile
Why use LinkedIn…?
Your profile is an interactive business card available 24/ 7
You can find out exactly who your contacts know
You can interact with potential clients and referrers
Your profile is ‘searchable’ through Google – so if someone is looking for a legal expert in a certain
area, your LinkedIn profile may appear in their search results. This will also help to boost the firm’s
ranking on Google generally.
Profile Tips
LinkedIn is for making connections with potential clients and referrers, not recruiters. Job titles, main
achievements and company names can help give you credibility, but the most effective profiles focus on who
you help, and what problems you help them solve or results you help them achieve.
Name: Use the name you use in a professional environment
Professional Headline: Have a helpful headline - use words people will search for to describe your
current function (eg Wills and Estate Planning specialist rather than Partner at Napthens)
Summary/specialities – This is the main thing people will look at when they visit your profile, and is more
important than Experience/education section. Try and have a descriptive profile summary that briefly
says what type of clients you work with and how you help them. As your LinkedIn profile can be found
through a Google search, try and get in some key words. 4 or 5 sentences is about right.
Photo – use a professional picture. Your headshot or ‘action shot’ can be found on the J Drive > Photos
> Fee Earners > Your name
Public profile URL: Personalise your profile page by using your name in the URL (eg JohnSmith or if
already taken, JohnSmithSolicitor or JohnSmithNapthens). You can add a link to your LinkedIn profile at
the bottom of your email sign-off and marketing/IT can assist with this.
Experience/education – this is your CV, but try and tailor it to clients/intermediaries. Rather than just a list
of your duties/responsibilities, try and focus on the type of work you do, the sort of clients you act for
etc. Try to use bullet points to break up the information.
Websites – use the ‘other’ option and rename with your own description (eg Napthens Solicitors rather
than ‘My Company’). You can have up to 3 website links on your profile, so if you wish to add more
detail, you can also add a link to your departmental page on the Napthens’ website (rename eg
Napthens Solicitors – Commercial Property) and also a link to your individual profile on the Napthens
website (rename eg ‘Napthens Solicitors – Mike Fetherstone’)
Napthens profile – We also have a Company Profile for the firm, with a brief description of each
service. You can link your profile to the company by searching for Napthens LLP on LinkedIn, finding the
company profile and selecting ‘Follow’ from the right hand menu.
Getting a Complete Profile
The more complete your profile is, the higher it will appear on LinkedIn/Google search results. To have a 100%
complete profile, you need the following:
Current position, Profile summary, Specialities, Photo, two previous positions, Education history
Making Connections
LinkedIn works on connections – and allows you to instantly see who your contacts know (it basically gives you
access to their little black book!) You can build your connections on LinkedIn in various ways:
You can upload your contacts (Via ‘Add Connections’) then invite individuals to be your connections
on LinkedIn.
You can search for an individual using the search function
Add current colleagues and also previous colleagues/classmates
When sending out an invitation request for someone to ‘Link In’ with you, try and personalise the message
before you send it, rather than the standard ‘I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn’.
2. You may find that you get frequent requests to ‘Link In’ with people that you have perhaps never heard of. This
is fine, but do remember, it will instantly allow them to see all the people that you are connected to, so do think
carefully before you accept an invitation from anyone!
Sharing company content
The more people that share the company content, the more people will see it. You can share this content by
copy and pasting the website link into the update box at the top of your home page. You can also find
Napthens by clicking on it on your profile or searching Napthens in the search bar and clicking ‘Like’ or ‘Share’
on any one of our updates.
Getting more out of LinkedIn….
Recommendations / Endorsements
One of the ways to enhance your profile is to get recommendations or endorsements from others. Not only
does this add credibility to your profile, but it is a clear indication of the quality of your work and the strength of
your relationships.
On your profile is an option to add key skills. Add as many as you can that relate to your field (you can add up
to 50). Try to think a bit wider than the immediate skills required for your field (such as legal advice) and extend
your skills to customer service or IT skills. People can then endorse you for these which will show up on your
profile, most popular endorsement first.
However, rather then asking people for them, the best way to get testimonials is to give them first. Use LinkedIn
to give recommendations to certain people you’ve worked with who’ve done a really good job, and hopefully
they will then reciprocate (easier to do this with intermediaries than clients, obviously)
Using your contacts
One of the main benefits of LinkedIn is the ability to see who your contacts know. If you notice that they are
connected to someone you are interested in working with, don’t be afraid to give your mutual connection a
call and ask if they can connect you. Equally, don’t forget that your contacts may ask you to do the same.
Groups
LinkedIn has a vast number of industry and sector groups, which are essentially discussion forums. They allow
you to find out the latest news, and to join in debates on topics of interest - and are a good way to engage
with new people and demonstrate your expertise. Consider joining groups that are relevant to your area of
work and groups where potential clients are likely to be.
Groups (and the LinkedIn Q&A section) are a perfect way of ‘giving something back’. Be helpful and respond
to questions with sensible answers and over time this will help to build your reputation and connections.
However, DON’T use your response as a blatant sales pitch – as this can be very off putting!
A word of warning– think carefully before joining a group. Most groups send out a weekly email notification
with messages from that group and details of who has joined. Whilst these can be useful, only join groups that
are really relevant, or these emails will start to get annoying!
A Final Point….
Remember that as with all networking, the more you put in and the more helpful you can be to others, the
more you are likely to get out. Also remember that LinkedIn is not a substitute for ‘real life’ networking, and
should not take up hours of your day. Be sensible, especially if you are using it in business hours! Consider an
hour to set your profile up, inputting the information, starting making connections and adding skills. Then only
spend 5 – 10 minutes checking regularly, to share updates, check connections and make valuable
contributions. Remember that merely liking or sharing someone’s post (a new job, work anniversary for
example) will keep your profile in the public eye as your action will appear on your connection’s newsfeeds.
DISCLAIMER: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE IS A REFLECTION OF THE FIRM. BE SENSIBLE AND
DO NOT BRING THE NAME OF THE FIRM INTO DISREPUTE. IF YOU ARE IN ANY DOUBT, PLEASE REFER TO THE HR/IT
DEPTS OR THE ‘INTERNET, EMAIL AND DATA PROTECTION POLICY’ WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTRANET.
