In an era where LinkedIn reigns as a premier platform for professional networking, the notion of instant results and effortless connections can be misleading. Dispelling the myth of a magic formula, this post dives into the core of effective LinkedIn engagement for modern professionals. Brace yourself for a reality check – there’s no shortcut, just strategic diligence, and genuine effort.Continue Reading LinkedIn Strategy Unveiled: Elevate Your Professional Networking Game
In a digital age teeming with advice on LinkedIn utilization, it’s crucial to cut through the noise and focus on strategies that resonate with the demands of today’s professional landscape. Let’s rewind a bit and revisit the early days of LinkedIn, about 15 years ago. Back then, the platform was a fledgling concept, and its potential was not universally recognized, especially among legal circles. Fast forward to the present, and LinkedIn has evolved into one of the most esteemed social media platforms, not just for networking, but also for strategic business development.Continue Reading Mastering Modern LinkedIn: Strategies for Professional Success
When I wrote my first blog post on February 26, 2009, I could hardly have imagined where we’d be 14 years later. It would be fun to try to predict, and maybe I’d have gotten some of it right, but I try not to guess at the future.
One of the things I suspect we’d all have gotten right in some form is ChatGPT. I have been loathe to try it for many reasons – I’m not a technophobe, as you can all imagine, nor am I someone who advocates for lawyers to run and try the next big thing. Though, for those of you who have clients who may be using it or dipping their toe in the water, you know I will suggest you get to know it intimately for the usual legal reasons.Continue Reading Happy 14th Anniversary to Zen & The Art of Legal Networking!
Bad news everyone.
There’s no magic bullet when it comes to LinkedIn. Or, for that matter, any business development or marketing tool.
There’s only strategy and hard work.
Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.
Are there instances where you’ll connect with someone and they’ll immediately buy your services or you’ll write a post and it will go viral? Absolutely! That’s down to luck (and sometimes, strategy and hard work behind the scenes). But it’s not because there’s some trick to it all. You’re not going to suddenly “figure it all out” and have one tool be doing all the work for you and bringing you lots and lots of clients. It doesn’t work like that.
Continue Reading LinkedIn for Lawyers: There’s no Magic Bullet
There is a lot of advice out there on how to use LinkedIn and why you should use LinkedIn and what’s useful about LinkedIn – have I used “LinkedIn” enough in this sentence yet?
I’ll begin at the beginning with a little story and without naming any names. About 15 years ago, when I was a wee baby and before LinkedIn was at all popular with lawyers, I gave a presentation to about 200 of my clients, extolling the benefits of the platform and why it was going to be the “next big thing.” At that time, it was nowhere near as useful as it is today because it lacked engagement, but I could really see the benefits. One of our very senior attorneys tapped me on the shoulder in the middle of my speech and in a stage whisper, told me that no one cared about what I was saying, and I needed to cut the rest of the LinkedIn stuff out because I was running too long. It was by far one of the most mortifying moments of my career.
Continue Reading LinkedIn: Three Actually Helpful Tips
Last week, I mentioned that I’d had the chance to sit down with LexBlog’s Bob Ambrogi to discuss all things ILN, podcasting, blogging and more. I wanted to share the full interview with you this week. You can check out a written digest of some of the highlights of the interview here, or watch
Last week, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with LexBlog’s Bob Ambrogi on “This Week in Legal Blogging,” their new Facebook Live interview series. Bob and I discussed the ILN, running a legal network during a pandemic, and the eleven years that I’ve spent blogging here on Zen (how did that happen??). Two of his questions touched on tips for bloggers who were either getting started in legal blogging, or looking to focus or amplify their efforts, so I wanted to share them here with you! These are my six tips for legal bloggers:
Continue Reading Six Tips for Legal Bloggers
Among my most popular posts last year were those dedicated to talking about LinkedIn, which tells me that it continues to be the tool that resonates most in the legal industry. I know that it’s in part because it’s become such a robust and useful platform, but I also suspect that it’s in part because some of us are still hoping that there’s a silver bullet out there when it comes to networking and relationship building. I hate to tell you – there isn’t. Even when you’re using social media, which can supersize your efforts, you still need to have goals, develop a plan, and invest time and effort in order for it to pay off for you.
Continue Reading 5 Quick Tips to Leverage Your Use of LinkedIn in the New Year
Daily, we interact with lots of people – this happens in person, at our offices, in the coffee shop, at our kids’ sporting events or art classes. It happens online, through our group chats, text messages with friends, Facebook shares, LinkedIn comments, etc. We interact so much and so frequently, that we’ve reached a real saturation point with these interactions, and even with our professional messages, we can see a lack of care that a lot of us are giving to the details over the tools and the shiny new thing. Instead, we’re just blindly producing more and more and more and more, adding more noise (as Adrian Lurssen would say).
If you’re sure that YOU are producing things of value, and not just more noise, ask someone in your circle if they can remember the last thing you shared on LinkedIn, or the last article you wrote. If they can’t, chances are, you’re not producing anything memorable. You’re not creating connection in your relationships.
Continue Reading Building Relationships: Connection Through Storytelling
Content marketing is a tool in your arsenal for building effective business relationships.
But like any tool, it’s not going to be useful to you if you don’t use it efficiently. In the past, you could get away with producing *something* and getting the attention of a client or potential client, because you were the only one writing or talking about it. But today, content is so ubiquitous, that if you’re not standing out, you risk being relegates to background noise.
Continue Reading Better Business Relationships Start with Better Content Marketing