Most lawyers are thinking about LinkedIn as a final destination, not a starting point.
I think of LinkedIn as an on-ramp. It is often where a new connection is started or a dormant one is revived. A comment on someone’s post can turn into an invitation for a conversation on Zoom and maybe a real-life conversation. (Human to human, involving coffee and a croissant.)
LinkedIn activity can create momentum in building relationships.
Used well, LinkedIn can also be a great way of staying in touch with people and staying at the front of their minds.
It helps people understand how you think before they ever meet you, and that can build familiarity that opens doors.
But relationships are still built in moments that are harder to scale. They are built through real conversations, shared experiences, and thoughtful follow up.
Building trust, as I discuss in my new book, involves expertise, empathy and authenticity. LinkedIn can be a way of beginning to demonstrate these attributes; but only in real life can they realistically be verified.
The most successful lawyers I’ve interviewed use both methods well.
They may LinkedIn to start conversations and stay in touch with people they’ve met, but they invest in real relationships to sustain them.
If you are only online, you risk being visible but not truly known. If you are only offline, you may miss opportunities to connect in the first place.
The opportunity is in the progression from visibility to conversation to relationship. That is where trust is built.
I’m curious how others are thinking about this balance right now.
