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I love creating content. And for the last four years, sharing a daily post on LinkedIn has been central to my content strategy. But, as I recently wrote about on LinkedIn, I decided it was time for a change.
I'm scaling back (not stopping) my content on LinkedIn. That means I’m only posting two or three times per week now on the platform, and may post even less in the future.
However, this doesn't mean I'm slowing down my content creation efforts. In fact, I’m ramping things up, but focusing my energy in different directions.
The primary reason for this change: I want to devote more time to building my own content platform. That means writing more and better books, newsletter content, training programs, long-form content for outside publications, and podcast episodes (which I’ve hit pause on for the moment as well as I consider what I want the podcast to focus on moving forward).
I'm also prioritizing more time to read and think. Reading (books in particular) is how I generate most of my ideas. At times I don't read as much as I should because reading—curling up on the couch for an hour with a book—doesn't feel like "real" work. But, for knowledge work, it's some of the most important work you can do, given that consuming interesting ideas is the lifeblood of creative output (whether that’s writing a legal brief or a thought leadership article).
In short, I'm not abandoning LinkedIn (nor X, which I’m more of a dabbler on). I'm just taking a step back from social media in an effort to explore ideas I'm interested in (and hopefully you are, too, as a member of my audience) in more depth and in longer form.
But this doesn’t mean you should (necessarily) follow my lead.
LinkedIn is Still the Best Place for Most Lawyers to Build an Audience
I’m pulling back on LinkedIn, but only after spending years building an audience of over 42,000 followers in my target market (legal) on the platform—and this investment on LinkedIn has been integral to my ability to build my own platform, not to mention my business.
Instead of “renting” LinkedIn’s audience, I’m now focused on “owning” a direct line of communication to more of my audience.
I believe that every lawyer who is interested in creating content for their clients should have a similar objective in mind—to build a platform (a blog, newsletter, podcast, book) of their own—but the best place to start is still social media, generally, and for most lawyers, LinkedIn, specifically.
You can’t launch a content platform, such as a newsletter on Substack, and expect people to magically find it. You need to start by identifying the places on the Internet where your audience spends most of their time and attention. LinkedIn is like a public square, with hundreds of millions of people, where your voice can be heard.
On LinkedIn, you have a unique ability to create awareness and build trust with your audience.
Connect with people. Comment on posts. Share your insights. Leveraging this opportunity is critical for several reasons:
First, you can’t be everywhere, but your ideas can be. By sharing your ideas on a global platform like LinkedIn, they will spread far and wide—far beyond what you can achieve by relying on your ability to reach people one-to-one through business development alone.
Second, clients increasingly are looking for specific experts to solve specific problems. Through your thought-leadership content on LinkedIn, you can differentiate yourself as a niche expert and distinguish yourself from more commoditized competitors.
Third, narrowly focused experts, who highlight their knowledge through thought-leadership content, are able to charge higher rates, generate more opportunities from ideal-fit clients (and less from poor fit ones) and gain expertise and experience at a rate their generalist counterparts can’t keep up with.
All of these benefits are accessible in an environment (online, and on social media, in particular) in which clients in search of sophisticated services, such as legal services, tell us over and over again that they’re looking to hire thought leaders. The best source of information that buttresses this claim is data from the annual Edelman/LinkedIn Thought Leadership Study.
A recent version of this study highlights that 60% of business decision makers use thought leadership as an important hiring criteria when vetting service providers; not only that, they’re willing to pay higher rates for firms and individuals they perceive as thought leaders and hold them in high regard.
Despite this, would-be thought leaders undervalue the potential benefits of creating and sharing content. While 60% of business decision makers identify thought leadership as a reason they award business, only 25% of professionals believe that’s the case. There’s a mismatch of perceptions between buyers and sellers
And therein lies the opportunity—it’s classic arbitrage. And you can step in, fill the vacuum with your ideas, and reap the benefits.
In short, thought leadership is critically important for generating high-quality new business opportunities, and LinkedIn remains the best place to create and share thought-leadership content for most lawyers.
Building an audience is an effective way to build your practice. The quickest and easiest way to build an audience is on social media—again, it’s where people spend time and attention. Ultimately, you should think about shifting your strategy from “renting” to “owning,” but you need to reach a certain level of visibility before pivoting. Devote time and effort on the most powerful online platforms. Then start pointing people to your own platform.
Jay Harrington is president of our agency, a published author, and nationally-recognized expert in thought-leadership marketing.
From strategic planning to writing, podcasting, video marketing, and design, Jay and his team help lawyers and law firms turn expertise into thought leadership, and thought leadership into new business. Get in touch to learn more about the consulting and coaching services we provide. You can reach Jay at jay@hcommunications.biz.