Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Social Media Scene: Free LinkedIn Publicity for Your Firm

By Spencer X. Smith
January 31, 2016

Most firm attorneys have a LinkedIn account, and most know it's a productive tool for growing their network and practice. They may not, however, know how to invest their time best on LinkedIn activities. There's a little-known way for leveraging LinkedIn to inform their entire network of what they are doing, and, as a result, garner free publicity for your firm. The secret? Writing LinkedIn posts. Could what you are sharing be considered news or are you attempting to educate your readers? Free publicity may be yours if you concentrate on the latter.

'Updates' and 'Posts'

LinkedIn has two very different options for sharing information with your network. One is named “Share an Update,” while the other is named “Publish a Post.” These may sound very similar, but each has a very distinct purpose.

LinkedIn Updates should be used to discuss your latest professional activities and thoughts. Are you attending a networking event or trade show? That's a great time to post an update. Did your firm recently hire a new employee? That's a great update, too. Heck, even use updates as a way to promote newsworthy items about your firm.

LinkedIn Posts, on the other hand, since they are LinkedIn's native article publishing platform, should be used for educational content. Consider: “If someone reads this article, will he or she feel smarter afterward?” Why is this critical distinction important? Whenever you publish LinkedIn Posts (as opposed to LinkedIn Updates), your entire network is given a notification of what you've published.

LinkedIn Updates are only served up to certain people who have shown an interest in what you've shared before. Think of it as a Facebook News Feed ' yours will be different than everyone else's, based on your interests and past behavior.

Could you envision your LinkedIn colleagues sharing your post because it would help them look good or smart to their peers? If not, just post a LinkedIn Update and save your LinkedIn Posts for when you have something valuable and educational to share that will benefit your target audience.

Here are the three steps you can use to educate your attorneys on how to most effectively target their ideal clients on LinkedIn:

1. Understanding Updates vs Posts

Access your LinkedIn homepage and look at the horizontal bar just under your name. There are three publishing options:

  • “Share an update” or “Upload a photo” are really the same function, just in reverse order.
  • “Share an update” will prompt you for the text first, then give you the option to add an image.
  • “Upload a photo” will prompt you to upload a photo first, then add the verbiage afterward.

Click on “Publish a post” and LinkedIn will open the article-writing tool.

2. Bring Your Post to Life: Image and Title

Spend enough time on both the image and the title to ensure they are both compelling. Our objective, at this point, is to entice someone to scroll beyond the “top of the fold” at the beginning of the article. This is our opportunity to earn their attention. Hint: adding the title of the article to the image increases the likelihood of your article being read. Instead of merely inserting a stock image, add a text title to give more meaning to the graphic.

3. Publish Your Post

Immediately after you publish your post, everyone in your network will see a notification on their LinkedIn homepage alerting them to it. As of this moment, this is the only way to inform your entire social network on any social media platform (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest) about something at no cost.

Here's what especially effective about this strategy: Even if someone does not take the time to read what you've written, they will be reminded of you! Take advantage of this great benefit to increase your social media footprint.

What Should Your Attorneys Publish?

If your attorneys have published a legal alert or some other content for the firm website or other outlet, re-work it to be original (so as not to violate copyright laws) and post it on their Linkedin Post section.

Depending on the original publication outlet, you may need to include an attribution line, “this article initially appeared in “InsertPublicationNameorWebsiteLinkHere.” If the article your lawyer has already written is too technical or lengthy, simply summarize it on LinkedIn, and include a link to the original posting.

Growing a Robust LinkedIn Network?

Go to “Profile” and “Who's viewed your profile” to see who has been researching you. If you're connected to that person already, the blue text below her picture will say “Message.” If not, it will say “Connect.” Click the connect button to ask them to join your network.

Use LinkedIn's very robust search tool to target prospective clients. Next to the blue magnifying glass tool at the top of the LinkedIn page is a button that says “Advanced.” Search for the people in your ideal client segment by keyword, geography, other interests, and the like.

When sending connection requests to those whom you don't already know, take time to personalize the message. Your attorney (or whoever has access to their LinkedIn account) can easily do this in less than a minute. LinkedIn, by default, will create your request to connect with “I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

Instead of using the default connection invitation language, do this first:

Google the person with whom you're requesting to connect, and look for things he or she has published on the Web. This could take the form of an article, video, Tweet, or LinkedIn share. Replace the default LinkedIn request with this one, “Hi, [first name] ' I really enjoyed the article you recently shared on your [blog/website/Twitter/LinkedIn]. Specifically, you did a great job explaining [idea/complex topic]. Could you keep me up-to-date on what else you're working on? Please add me to your professional network on LinkedIn.”

The more quickly your attorneys grow their network, the larger the targeted audience will be updated when they publish posts. By both adding connections and sharing their knowledge, your attorneys will be much more influential within their target market.


Spencer X. Smith, the founder of Spencer X. Smith Consulting, is an instructor at the University of Wisconsin and a faculty member of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Business School for Lawyers. He may be reached at'spencerXsmith.com.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
How Secure Is the AI System Your Law Firm Is Using? Image

What Law Firms Need to Know Before Trusting AI Systems with Confidential Information In a profession where confidentiality is paramount, failing to address AI security concerns could have disastrous consequences. It is vital that law firms and those in related industries ask the right questions about AI security to protect their clients and their reputation.

Generative AI and the 2024 Elections: Risks, Realities, and Lessons for Businesses Image

GenAI's ability to produce highly sophisticated and convincing content at a fraction of the previous cost has raised fears that it could amplify misinformation. The dissemination of fake audio, images and text could reshape how voters perceive candidates and parties. Businesses, too, face challenges in managing their reputations and navigating this new terrain of manipulated content.

COVID-19 and Lease Negotiations: Early Termination Provisions Image

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some tenants were able to negotiate termination agreements with their landlords. But even though a landlord may agree to terminate a lease to regain control of a defaulting tenant's space without costly and lengthy litigation, typically a defaulting tenant that otherwise has no contractual right to terminate its lease will be in a much weaker bargaining position with respect to the conditions for termination.

Authentic Communications Today Increase Success for Value-Driven Clients Image

As the relationship between in-house and outside counsel continues to evolve, lawyers must continue to foster a client-first mindset, offer business-focused solutions, and embrace technology that helps deliver work faster and more efficiently.

Pleading Importation: ITC Decisions Highlight Need for Adequate Evidentiary Support Image

The International Trade Commission is empowered to block the importation into the United States of products that infringe U.S. intellectual property rights, In the past, the ITC generally instituted investigations without questioning the importation allegations in the complaint, however in several recent cases, the ITC declined to institute an investigation as to certain proposed respondents due to inadequate pleading of importation.