If you’re an immigration lawyer and you want to become the go-to person on LinkedIn for your specialty but you’re not sure where to start, hear me out… I think you actually have all the answers already.

The biggest thing holding most immigration professionals back from building a brand on LinkedIn is the fear of not being able to "come up with" good, fresh content to write about on a regular basis.

But here’s the thing - if you’re practicing, you are BY DEFAULT a walking content library! You probably already have a lot to say, you're just not exactly sure how to approach turning those ideas and thoughts into content.

This might sound obvious, but the easiest and most straightforward way is to just start putting stuff out there to see what resonates with people. What I always tell my clients is that if a post doesn’t do well or you hate it after you post it, you can always delete it!

So here are my general guidelines for putting out content, regardless of what format and on what platform (though I favor LinkedIn, and so this is geared toward LinkedIn) that I've gathered from doing research and most importantly that has worked for me:

(1) Always make sure that whatever you put out has inherent added value in and of itself.

I.e. don't just put out "teaser" posts that say "want to learn more about Canadian immigration? Click the link to read my article!" because that's essentially an ad and people won't engage with it AND will start to associate you with spammy posts.

Instead, write "here's something my clients are always confused about moving to Canada, and I thought I'd share it here..." and then actually share the thing! You can then ask for engagement with a Call-To-Action (CTA) such as "what do you find challenging about Canadian immigration? Let me know in the comments!" or something even broader but "Have you ever visited Canada?" etc.

(2) Be consistent.

Daily “mediocre” posts are MUCH better for you in terms of growing your audience and brand than a “brilliant” post once a month. (I use quotes there because we judge our content harshly - if what you put out is valuable, it’s already brilliant!). That's because social media platforms want engagement since they generate money through ads and ads require eyeballs. It’s that simple!

So if you can show the platform's algorithm that you're on there constantly AND that your content keeps people on there too (which is why value + engaging CTA is important) you'll be rewarded, essentially, with your content getting in front of more people.

And of course on a more human scale, if you share something helpful each day, your existing network will actually LEARN from you, share your content with their friends and colleagues, and eventually start to associate you with good consistent content. This will brand you as the “Canadian immigration expert,” or whatever your specialty is, in their mind.

(3) Don’t forget to engage too.

Don't just ask people to tell you in the comments if they've ever dreamed of moving to Canada and then not reply.

First, people will remember your silence and the next time you have a CTA they won't bite since they know you won't respond. And Second, it's actually interesting to converse with people via your content and you can establish a relationship with folks right IN the comments and let that relationship flourish!

There's no one way to become "the go-to person for Canadian immigration," but by getting to know one person at a time and helping them bit by bit, it happens naturally. That's how I become the "immigration tech" guy - by writing about immigration tech startups, news, my own experiences with my immigration tech startup, and then eventually as I got to know more people by making introductions that hopefully helped others! And now that I write a lot of detailed posts about how I’ve built my brand within the immigration space on LinkedIn, I’ve also become the go-to guy for "immigration marketing.”

How? I spent a ton of time just sharing my knowledge for free - not a watered down version (though sometimes it has to be shorter due to character limitations on posts, etc.) - on LinkedIn and other places, and eventually it catches on.

(4) Don't stress about creating something new every single day.

In real life, more often than not, you have to repeat things to people multiple times for them to really get or remember what you’re saying. It’s no different online.

So repurpose old posts, recycle informative emails you've sent (of course stripping away any confidential info), chop up long interviews you've given into bite-sized video or audio chunks and share them one by one, etc.

You likely already make "content" all the time, you just don't realize it!

(5) Finally, don't give up!

If you don’t have a large / established LinkedIn network already, your content at first likely won't do so well, or you might post something super engaging and the next 4 posts flop. Don't be discouraged!

If you think that what you're putting out is truly valuable and interesting, and if you’re passionate about it, just keep at it. It may take a few months, but eventually if you're consistent and follow steps 1-4, you'll get more people engaging with more of your stuff more often and all of a sudden you'll be that go-to person you set out to be in the beginning! :)

Some general LinkedIn tips.

Since I’m a huge proponent of LinkedIn, here are some general tips about LinkedIn content:

Short-form posts could be videos, photos, links or just text, but should always provide some kind of value. Short posts tend to do better in terms of reach and engagement.

Long-form articles tend to do less well engagement-wise in that inherently fewer people read them and I suppose LinkedIn wants bite-sized content. BUT they give you the space to explore a topic in depth which helps establish thought leadership AND they get indexed on google so become searchable online.

Twitter is a good place for lawyers/professionals too, though I don't use it heavily so I’m not the best to talk about specific Twitter tactics. But overall, a lot of the best practices are very much the same.

And if you want to get more creative, start putting out visual content on Instagram or TikTok (which is still blowing up), etc. to get your message out there.

I hope this helps!

And speaking of recycling content, this entire article came from a LinkedIn DM from a friend who asked me about how they can start to establish their brand on LinkedIn. I just started typing, breaking it up into sections, etc., and in the end I stopped back and was like, “hmm, this looks like it could be an article!” Well, here we are.

If you’re a founder of an immigration law firm, tech company or global mobility business, and you need help with your personal brand or broader content marketing, hit me up!