Many are afraid of sharing their ideas publicly and at no charge for fear that they are “giving away free advice” or allowing access to “the secret sauce.” But here’s the deal: If you’re not sharing your expertise with the world, no one will believe that you have it. The individual that does more showing than telling is much more readily trusted as the true thought leader. And the returns that come from earning such a reputation make all the “free” sharing of “secrets” worth your time, effort and openness.

Register for a complimentary workshop where Jay Harrington and Tom Nixon, co-founders of the Thought Leader Collaborative, will teach you how to plan and write posts that generate results. From topics to format to structure, you'll learn the essentials that will help you become a thought leader on LinkedIn.

Lawyers and legal marketers seem to form a pretty tight-knit group on LinkedIn. Yet most of the attorneys who I know personally are nowhere to be found on the platform. So what's keeping my attorney friends on the sidelines?

The content you create and publish has a half-life, too. And it seems as though that half-life gets shorter and shorter with each passing day. We keep increasing the pace at which we consume—or ignore—content, to the point nowadays that your content’s half-life can be fleeting. So is it worth the time we put into perfecting this polished content? No. And Yes.

What type of content can I create and share that will generate the most engagement? This is a natural question, and I’ve asked it of myself many times. But it’s not the only question. Or, put another way, there’s more than one way to get engagement on LinkedIn...and perhaps a better way is giving engagement on LinkedIn.

I don’t think LinkedIn should be used as a glorified version of Salesforce. Instead, I think there’s a more genuine, human approach you can take to the world’s largest business-to-business social network in a way that will almost assuredly result in business-development wins.

A combination of current events, long-developing trends, and a move towards modernization has ushered in a new environment of business development that favors those who are considered introverts. From furthering education to adapting your skillset, Tom Nixon presents a roadmap of success for both introverts and extroverts to follow in order to help grow your practice.

People looking to buy any product or service—and certainly a sophisticated, high-stakes professional service such as legal services—almost always are thinking about themselves when they go looking for a solution and service provider. But yet, too many marketers (lawyers among them) are also thinking of themselves first when they sit down to write marketing copy or bullet points for a sales pitch. The wise marketer or sales agent (a business development professional) will take that mirror that stands between herself and a prospect, and turn it into a window.

Many attorneys, whether past or present, have suffered from “imposter syndrome,” where they feel less confident in their own abilities compared to those who are consuming their content. In the following article, Tom Nixon shares his own experiences with imposter syndrome and how he was able to come to understand what is meant by “Zone of Genius” to overcome his own affliction in order to, once and for all, embrace the stature of “thought leader.”

Many attorneys struggle to get ahead, and with the new year quickly approaching, it’s vital to get started on planning now so you don’t lose valuable time in the first quarter of the new year. In the following article, Tom Nixon discusses the importance of taking the first step in carving out your own plan for success now instead of waiting until January.