Law360 recently published an article of mine, “Don’t Be Social Media Distancing: LinkedIn Tips For Lawyers” that I wanted to highlight on the blog. These tips can be used by lawyers and other professionals for appropriate brand building and marketing during the coronavirus outbreak. I live in NYC, which has seen the most cases of COVID-19 in our country, and it is a very strange and sad place to be right now.

Here’s an excerpt of the article:

Law firm and other businesses are in uncharted waters right now with the outbreak of COVID-19. Law firms and other businesses are trying to function in a volatile and rapidly changing environment, including adapting to its employees working remotely for the first time. Most of our contact both professionally and personally will be done online for the foreseeable future. So how do you market your firm and lawyers during this time? The answer is online.

As so many of us have been forced to isolate and much of the world is on a temporary shutdown, we will be depending on social media more than ever to connect with others, and using online resources to conduct business and network.

Pandemic or not, LinkedIn is the most important social media channel for professionals in any field. While we need to be physically apart at this time, we should not be social media distancing. In fact, we should be leaning into social media and using it to enhance our relationships both personally and professionally. It’s exactly the social glue we need right now.

Content marketing and sharing content via email and social media has never been a more important way to communicate with clients, colleagues, referral sources, recruits and alumni while we are unable to see each other in person. Your goal should be to build stronger relationships and help others through value-added content during this stressful time.

While you should be completely sensitive to current market conditions and create content relevant to what’s happening in the world right now (such as creating coronavirus-related thought leadership and webinars), this is not the time to disappear from your clients — or to suspend your marketing activities. In fact, this is the time to lean in and position yourself as a leader and authority in your respective area of the law.

There are so many things you can do right now to help guide your clients through the coronavirus outbreak using social media and content. Here are some ideas.