Get Out of a Rut! Five Practices to Start and Stop on LinkedIn for the Rest of 2022

2022 is nearly one-third over, and most attorneys have yet to think about their LinkedIn strategy for this year and beyond. As an 18-year LinkedIn veteran and a LinkedIn trainer for almost a decade, I too have to focus on not simply continuing certain LinkedIn practices. For the remainder of 2022 into 2023, I have resolved to revisit some of my standard advice and create new practices. Here are some NEW ideas to adopt.

START—Five new practices to start going forward are:

1. Leveraging LinkedIn’s Providing Services section—This new Profile section—located near the top and to the left of your Profile, allows you to list key skills and be visible to potential clients. The interface is much better than “ProFinder,” a freelance exchange that LinkedIn introduced in 2016. As LinkedIn now plans to allow members to pay for services through its platform, this section would be a logical place to insert a payment option. In the near future, LinkedIn may allow payment for services on its Company or firm pages.
2. Reach out to 50 valued former work colleagues—Many of us have long careers working for prestigious companies, firms, and clients. While my LinkedIn Network is large (>2,500 Connections), I can still find more past colleagues with whom to connect. That is probably the case with your network too.
3. Reach back to 50 other older Connections—Whether you have 500 or 2,500 Connections, how often have you reviewed even a sampling of your contacts to see who you’d like to reconnect with one-on-one? Download your Connections, so you can sort by date connected, title, company, or geography. I am in the process of recontacting some of the first people I ever Connected with on LinkedIn. So far, my Connections have been impressed with this nostalgic, personal approach.
4. Gain experience with LinkedInLive, LinkedIn Audio, and Events—LinkedIn has offered Livestreaming since 2019 and has seen usage increase dramatically after COVID. LinkedIn has also experimented with Events. Most recently, they are merging the two features, a powerful combination for virtual presence. In addition, LinkedIn is piloting Linked Audio, which allows for live audio-only “chat” sessions among LinkedIn members. In 2022, many of us need to become facile with these new and enhanced offerings.
5. Critique your LinkedIn Profile—Does your current LinkedIn Profile put your best foot forward for your business’ evolution in 2022 and beyond? I provide some tips in this popular recent post. Telling your story with visuals in addition to words is also vital going forward.

STOP (OR REDUCE)—2022 is the year to break some LinkedIn habits.

1. Time spent responding to unsolicited invites—Due to an increase in automated invites, we are all getting more and more invitations from people who have no interest in a relationship. So I am being more selective about the personal notes that I send based on an invite and how many offers I make to speak via phone or Zoom.
2. Time spent in LinkedIn Groups—I was a huge proponent of improving groups (see article). Sad to say, LinkedIn is not making the structural changes that would make Group thrive. So while there is still some benefit to the best groups, these are slowly but surely diminishing. 2022 is a good time to skinny down on your group memberships and time spent reviewing posts. Also, make sure that you control how often you check Group activity (no need to get Group activity notifications from LinkedIn).
3. Becoming a Posting junkie (for those of you who are)—LinkedIn is at its best when members strike the right “professionally personal” tone. Since the pandemic, many have instead taken to regular, purely personal posts. Also, if you post too frequently, you risk annoying valued members of your network.
4. Becoming a Home Page Feed junkie—Like any social media, the LinkedIn Home Page feed can be a distraction. By clicking the three dots to the top right of the post, you can save posts that catch your eye for Commenting later. You can “Unfollow” those who are posting extraneously and often (you will remain Connected).
5. Employing LinkedIn Automation—For those of you who are blessedly unfamiliar, automation refers to a third party sending out invitations and messages en masse on your behalf. This goes against the grain of what LinkedIn should be—a carefully curated business network—and generates unneeded clutter for the receiver.

Considering these suggestions, decide what is on your LinkedIn Start & Stop list. Last, how will hold yourself accountable and “get out of a rut” with LinkedIn?

Bruce Segall is an experienced Marketing professional with 25 years of experience in large financial services companies and smaller firms before becoming President of Marketing Sense in 2010. He recently trained more than 150 clients and 50 professional groups on LinkedIn. He writes frequently on LinkedIn and works with many attorneys and law firms. Bruce has a BA from Yale, an MBA from Stanford Business School.