Clubhouse for lawyers: How the new social network works

The app has gained worldwide popularity in recent weeks, mainly due to influencers who have joined the social network, such as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Some lawyers are already part of the new network, which still needs to be studied for optimization, as it could potentially become a new channel for exposure and sharing of content with stakeholders.

Clubhouse is an audio-only social network, available only for iPhone devices on the iOS operating system. To create a Clubhouse account, it is necessary to receive an invitation from a contact who already uses the social network, which makes the app more exclusive, since the number of invitations is limited per user.

The network provides a platform to create groups and events to promote discussions on specific topics. In general, it works through rooms, called ‘clubs’, where participants communicate live. Each room has two types of participants – ‘speakers’, users who speak during the conference, and ‘listeners’, who enter as listeners.

For lawyers, the novelty of this app is quite interesting, not only because it represents another gateway for potential clients, but also because of the possibility of getting closer to peers and those interested in their areas of expertise.

In any case, it is necessary to pay attention to the premises of the Code of Ethics and avoid interactions that are characterized as ‘attracting customers’ (which is not allowed in some countries), focusing on the informative display of content.

Outside the professional scope, the app is a new entertainment formula, with rooms of the most varied themes, combining features of a podcast with an interactive social network.

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LinkedIn for Business

About LinkedIn

Never before have people been more connected to social networks. The exponential increase in internet access and Google searches reveals the great demand for information that helps people and organizations to make decisions.

Previously recognized as a platform for career development, LinkedIn has become the main business hub on the internet, with more than 600 million corporate users worldwide. Most interestingly, through artificial intelligence, the social network seeks to bring together people with common interests, facilitating the formation of new businesses.

Firms can establish ‘Company Pages’ on this network with the intention of speaking directly to their clients and the interested public. The engagement of the audience/ followers, and mainly the interaction with firm’s posts, are of extreme importance to efficiently market the Company Page and expand connections.

Below we have listed some steps to help professionals position themselves as references in their areas of expertise/ interests, maintain relationships with customers, and develop new business opportunities.

HAVE AN ‘ALL-STAR PROFILE’

The biggest asset of social networks is the database, and it is the interest of the networks to enhance this feature every day.

To encourage users to provide data, LinkedIn awards the ‘ALL-STAR Profile’ badge to those who respond to all data fields on their own personal profile. The advantage of obtaining this badge is that the user can be more easily found by people looking for a particular specialty when using the LinkedIn Search Feature.

Example: A civil litigation lawyer who has the ‘ALL-STAR Profile’ seal can be more easily found by a legal director who searches for the term ‘litigation lawyer’.

It is quite easy to achieve ‘ALL-STAR Profile’ status. Just click on ‘View profile’ to arrive at your personal profile, fill in the missing fields, and follow the recommendations that LinkedIn itself will indicate.

In the top bar, click on “Me” (where your current photo appears)> View profile> and edit the information by clicking on the icons represented by a pencil.

TIPS TO UPDATE YOUR PROFILE

Use more formal profile pictures
Link your personal profile with your company page (in the experience field)
Describe your position correctly
Summarize your resume and tell your story in the ‘About’ section
Fill in your academic information
Describe your main skills and achievements
Request recommendations and endorsements from colleagues

FEATURE WORDS YOUR CUSTOMER WOULD LOOK FOR ON GOOGLE

When filling out your profile or writing posts and articles online, think about what terms your customer will search for in the search engines. A tip is to reflect on all the solutions that you can offer to the client and write them, with subject lines and in first person, in the ‘About’ section.

Another tip is to use as many synonyms as possible. A profile that displays the words ‘litigation’ and ‘dispute resolution’ will not necessarily be found by those looking for a ‘mediation’ specialist, or even more specifically, ‘public sector arbitration’. When making the profile, it is important to feature all of the relevant words you wish to be attributed to.

A practical exercise for you to consider the effectiveness of this technique is to write a term on Google that interests you, and observe which firms, organizations and people are listed on the first page of results. This ‘ranking’ of searches can be changed daily through new online publications, using text optimization techniques, called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

ABOUT THE LANGUAGE OF THE PROFILE

Which language is most often spoken by your clients? A common mistake when creating one’s profile is to write it only in English and expect it to be found by all international users. For example, if you are based in Brazil it is essential that the text be in Portuguese, and if possible, to also publish an English version that will be automatically accessed by native speakers of the English language, through the geolocation or main language selection resources. This example can be used for whichever language you are looking to reach new clients in.

To change or add new languages, access your profile and select languages in the upper right corner of the screen.

FOLLOW YOUR CUSTOMERS, COLLEAGUES AND STRATEGIC PARTNERS

The moment you connect to your client’s LinkedIn profile, they will have access to articles you publish on the platform. It is essential, then, even before planning an agenda of content to be published, to ensure that you follow your clients (individuals and institutional page), partner lawyers in other countries, business entities, companies and well-ranked offices in the main legal rankings (ie. Chambers and Partners Guides) from other jurisdictions, within your area of expertise.

It is also very important to positively engage with the publications of your customers and business partners, through comments and likes of their posts. In addition, the social network can help you to better understand your client’s wishes and desires, or even provide information for you to prepare for a meeting with a prospect with whom you have not yet had contact.

GROW YOUR PERSONAL AND FIRM NETWORKS

Like, share and comment on the office publications
Interact with publications from friends, colleagues and, those who produce content relevant to the work of your firm
Follow your client firms’ company page, as well as their staff
In the top bar, use the search field to find a company or person page. Then, click on the “Connect” button to proceed to the next page and view their publications

CUSTOMIZE YOUR URL

When you create your profile, LinkedIn establishes a URL with random characters. You can turn this address into a customized name in order to transmit a more professional image to your contacts.

To change your URL, just click on ‘View Profile’ and then on the pencil closest to your initial information, as shown in the image to the side, to open the ‘Edit Introduction’ box. The last item on the list refers to the URL change.

Attention: be careful not to change the URL of your profile without updating materials or channels that contain the link (website, folders, business cards, etc.).

POST REGULARLY

It is very important to establish a weekly publication routine. They can occur two, three or five times a week. The important thing is to maintain regularity and share relevant content.

One can publish ‘short posts, such as the brief sharing of one’s professional experience or a brief comment on a news article of interest to themselves and their network. One can also share ‘long posts which are articles published using the ‘Write Article’ tool, which can be easily accessed for longer periods of time as articles written through this tool become featured on one’s profile page.

The more you post, the more LinkedIn will understand you as a relevant influencer and, eventually, may elect some of your publications as ‘Editor’s choice’, expanding your reach to a prominent position.

EXAMPLES OF CONTENT THAT MAY BE SHARED

Events| Events in which members of the office participated | Live streams, webinars, internal events, sponsored events, events with speakers or participants, etc.

Articles / ‘long post’ | Texts authored by a professional published on the office website, in information vehicles or on the LinkedIn | Technical articles about our areas or sectors.

Opinions / ‘short posts’| Quotes or texts expressing the office’s opinion on some other relevant content or fact | Comments on third party articles, opinions on market news, inspiring phrases with technical content.

Awards | Acknowledgments won by professionals or by the office | Awards given by publications that evaluate the legal sector such as Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, Analysis 500, etc.

News from the office: Relevant movements within the office | Creation of new areas, new members in society, institutional support, etc.

BE OPEN TO NEW CONNECTIONS

Be open to accepting invitations to connect from professionals in your field who you are unfamiliar with, even if they do not hold leadership positions. In the future, they may be people who join your team, suppliers or even customers.

Interact with publications that interest you, but be careful, however, not to generate perception of relationships with companies that have conflicts of interest with customers.

GENERATE LEADS

LinkedIn easily helps you find contacts who can become business prospects. Your publications can attract professional contacts you don’t know yet. Observe who are the people who interact with your publications and check your LinkedIn mailbox regularly. Send In-Mails to people of interest who engage with your posts and articles, and request to connect with them. From these practices it is possible to create connections with new companies, people and opportunities.

CREATE YOUR THOUGHT LEADER IDENTITY

Although more than 600 million users are on LinkedIn, the vast majority of them only read and watch the content that a small portion of professionals intends to produce.

A common argument for not publishing content onto the platform is the high complexity of subjects that experts deal with. However, this should not prevent lawyers from producing content on LinkedIn. A tax lawyer, for example, does not need to publish only posts on Tax Law and tax issues. It is essential that each lawyer creates a digital identity about the topics on which they can share their knowledge with contacts.

There are people recognized for their skills in people management, leadership, entrepreneurship, social responsibility actions, innovation, ethics in law, creativity, among other relevant issues in corporate life that transcend the execution of technical work. These people are called ‘thought leaders’ because they are remembered for specific issues, not necessarily technical specialties, and respond to the great desire of users of the corporate social network: inspiration.

Finding a thought leader identity is an important way to be remembered by your contacts, and to establish new points of connection with your customers.