We are in uncharted waters right now with the pandemic. Law firms and other businesses are trying to function in a rapidly changing environment, including adapting to its employees working remotely on a large scale 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.

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 this time using social media and content. Here are some ideas.

My guess is that many of you have more free time now due to the pandemic, which had slowed down deal flow and litigation activity.

Plus working from home eliminates

Your professional biography is your opportunity to showcase your work, capabilities and areas of expertise, and what makes you stand out from your competitors.

Many in-house counsel cite lawyer bios as one of THE most important sources of information regarding researching outside lawyers (yes, everyone is Googling you whether you like it or not and your web bio is usually the number one search result of your name). In addition, lawyer bios are among the most visited pages on law firm web sites, further underscoring their importance.

Your bio can serve as an important business development and branding tool if it is well-crafted. Yet within the legal industry, so many bios are still lackluster, outdated, not client-focused or just poorly written.

Given the power of bios, it has always baffled me that many lawyers do not update theirs at least several times a year or write them with a client focus. The new year is a great reason to take a fresh look at your bio and make enhancements to it.

I recently wrote a much longer version of an article on creating a strong, engaging bio for JD Supra, which you can read here. This is an excerpt of that article, which concentrates on the show vs. tell concept, an essential component that many law firm bios are missing. The article also focuses on the idea that all bios should be client-focused and that you should always write for your audience, not your peers. Remember that often, your clients aren’t actually practicing lawyers, and even if they are, the world today isn’t as formal as it used to be (especially as clients are getting younger), so drop the legalese from your vernacular and speak in a more casual tone to your audience. Now let’s get to work!

Michele Bonds is a New York-based Principal at Heidrick & Struggles and a member of the global Legal, Risk, Compliance & Government Affairs practice. Michele’s primary focus is on law firm infrastructure/business professionals, and law firm culture and acceleration advisory work. She has over 20 years of financial services and legal industry experience.

Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Michele was longstanding Chief of Staff to the Senior Chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell. She worked with firm leaders in navigating clients through numerous complex events including the financial crisis.

Michele received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in political science and her Masters of Business Administration at Babson College. I worked with Michele at S&C and always admired her work ethic, poise and creativity.

Learn more about her in this profile.

I am thrilled to be featured in a recent Practising Law Institute (PLI) #inSecuritiesPod podcast along with the brilliant Deborah Farone.

In the podcast, Deborah and I discuss the