LinkedIn and the Intellectual Property Professional

My LinkedIn profile used to be like my original Louis Vuitton purse I purchased from the LV store in Paris. I had one. It was amazing. But I never used it. It was tucked away in the original packaging. Protected. Safe. For the longest time, my LinkedIn profile was like that beautiful purse. I had one. I never used it. Now? Now I let it shine. It’s scary to remove the protective packaging and put myself out there. But so much more fulfilling. Are you ready to let your LinkedIn profile shine??

LinkedIn is one of the largest career- oriented social networks around. It's a great platform for Intellectual Property Professionals to connect with one another. Users can also join groups, follow companies, search for jobs, and find new opportunities. Most people know they can use LinkedIn to connect with others, and every now and then, they will log in and browse around. But the true power of the platform comes from being proactive on the platform. That means, not only connecting, but build relationships in this virtual world. It's not much different than developing relationships IRL. Let’s face it – as an IP professional you need to market yourself to grow your practice. LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for this.

Define your goals for using LinkedIn

As a career-oriented social networking site, LinkedIn can be a powerful tool to help you reach your professional goals. To make the most of LinkedIn, you need to have a clear idea of what your goals are.

Some goals you may want to consider for your LinkedIn profile include:

1. Increasing your visibility and online presence

2. Developing and maintaining professional relationships

3. Growing your network

4. Showcasing your expertise and thought leadership

5. Landing a new job or career opportunity

6. Finding new clients or customers

7. Generating leads for your IP practice/firm

8. Keeping up with trends and news - both legal and technical

9. Getting insights from other professionals

10. Sharing your own knowledge and expertise

By creating and maintaining a profile, connecting with other professionals in your field, and actively participating in groups and discussions, you can develop and nurture relationships that can lead to new opportunities.

Start with your profile

If you are going to get active on LinkedIn, you need to ensure your profile is up to snuff. There are number of articles available online to help you optimize your profile. You want to make sure it is reflective of the brand and reputation you want to market.

First, LinkedIn is a site for business networking. Thus, popular consensus is to use a profile picture that is professional. That being said, I know some very successful IP professionals who use an informal photo (read: a more FUN photo, not an improper photo). My opinion? This tactic can successfully be used by established professionals but junior professionals should considering erring on the side of being professional until they build a reputation. Either way, this is essentially your first impression, so make it count.

Next, select a banner image which will appear on your profile page. Using a company brand or logo is a popular option. You could even select an image that is reflective of your field or practice area. Next, craft a headline description to appear below your name. The simple approach is to use your job title. But if you dig a bit deeper, you can use a more creative headline that describe what you do and whom you serve. This is a great place to get creative.

And finally, be sure to complete your profile, including a clear and concise summary of your professional experience and skills. Tell your story and explain your experience. There are various headings available for use so you can highlight key points about your background, education, and experience. Don’t get shy here. This is your chance to shine so shine bright.

If you are looking to level up, you can also seek out recommendations. Recommendations from others can help you stand out from the crowd on LinkedIn. Ask satisfied clients or colleagues to write a quick recommendation for you on LinkedIn.

Connect with people

As the world becomes more inter-connected, it's important to seek out like-minded professionals, and LinkedIn is a great tool for this. To find connections, start by searching for people you know – colleagues, classmates, and friends. Keep building your network over time by connecting with new people as you meet them. For example, after attending a networking event, connect with your new contacts.

Connecting with people on LinkedIn is accomplished by finding them on LinkedIn and sending a request. If the connection is organic (ie: never having met the person but receiving a request), again, making the connection is as easy as accepting the request.

But WARNING: when reaching out to people to connect with on LinkedIn, don't just send the request. Make sure you include a personalized note. If we use a parallel situation from real life, you wouldn’t simply hand your business card to someone and walk away (well, I hope not!). So please don’t send connection requests without a personalized message.

One of the cool features of LinkedIn is that it will show you how you are connected to each person, which can be helpful in determining how best to reach out. Ideally, you can mention something that refers to how you know one another. If the connection request is a cold connection, then at least make the note about them.

(Side bar: I admit to being guilty of sending connection requests without a personalized message. I am not proud of this, but I do have an excuse. I learned that when connecting with someone from the mobile version, the option of sending a personal note does not pop up – now you know!)

Bonus tip: if someone sends you a LinkedIn request without a message, before accepting you can write to them asking when/where you've met - temper it with a "it must have been a while ago, I can't recall".

To kick it up a notch, you can also join LinkedIn groups. Groups are a great way to connect with like-minded professionals on LinkedIn. There are groups for just about every industry and interest, so find ones that fit your needs and get involved in the discussion. For example, most IP organizations will have LinkedIn pages.

After connecting, make sure to really connect.

What’s next? Too many people I have spoken with leave it at that.

If you are at an in person event and receive someone’s business card, you typically engage in a conversation and connect person to person. My advice is to do the same thing on LinkedIn. Don’t simply connect with people on LinkedIn, connect with the people on your LinkedIn profile!

Here’s how to do that. It's time to get interactive.

Once you've connected with someone, take the time to nurture the relationship. Send occasional messages, comment on their posts, and participate in conversations.

A great place to begin is by engaging with other’s posts. Start by liking a post – that lets the author know their content resonated with you. When you’re ready, comment on posts. This accomplished a couple of things. One, commenting gets you in the game by raising your profile. Comments in a post can often lead to an interactive conversation online. Two, it broadens the reach of the content which supports the author. This can be important if, for example, you are a woman wanting to champion other women or if the author is a client you want to endorse.

By taking the time to build relationships, you'll create a strong network of professionals who can offer valuable insights, advice, and opportunities.

The next step is to start posting content. If you are not ready to create your own content yet, a great place is to start is to share other people’s content. This is referred to as curating content. One important tip is to at least add some of your own text to the post to explain why you are sharing this particular content or what it means to you. Why is this content worth sharing with your network? Bonus points for tagging the original author. And don’t forget to use relevant hashtags.

Eventually you will hopefully begin creating your own content. Topics can be anything that reflect who you are, both as a professional and as an individual. This is where you can build your desired brand. Create your brand and write about how you service clients or things that are important to you.

For example, if a potential client has a problem that you have written about and established yourself as an expert in solving, they may remember you and reach out for help. All because of the brand you established.

There are no rules here except to engage and post consistently. It may feel as if these small actions are not amounting to much, but over time there is an overwhelming cumulative effect of building your brand and reputation.

Conclusion

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for the IP professional wanting to build a brand and grow their practice. You just need to embrace a few tips and tricks. By connecting, engaging and posting, you can create a robust network and presence on LinkedIn that will help build your reputation and grow your practice.

When you're ready, here are the different ways I can help you:

• 90 day transformation journey: accepting new clients for April 2023
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