Guest article: Bernard Savage, Size 10½ Boots
When I first started helping lawyers, accountants and advisers grow their practices, LinkedIn was little more than a digital CV. Fast forward to 2025 and it’s become the most powerful business development tool in professional services — and now, AI is reshaping it again.
The question isn’t whether to use LinkedIn and/or AI. It’s how to use AI smartly with LinkedIn — to sharpen your message, strengthen your visibility and stay unmistakably you.
AI: friend, foe or just a very efficient assistant?
Let’s be honest. AI divides opinion. Some whisper about ‘cheating’ or ‘inauthenticity’. Others quietly admit it’s saving them hours a week.
Here’s my take after working with professionals across the UK: AI is neither hero nor villain. It’s a tool — like PowerPoint, Excel or LinkedIn itself. And like any tool, it’s only as good as the person using it.
Used badly, it churns out bland, beige content that sounds like it was written by a committee in another country. Used well, it helps you:
— Overcome blank-page paralysis
— Turn client insights into structured ideas
— Refine your message with clarity and pace
— Save time — turning a 30-minute slog into a 10-minute polish
At Tenandahalf, we show professionals how to use AI as a thinking partner, not a ghostwriter. The magic happens when you feed it context — your sector, your clients, your tone — and then layer in your own stories, judgement and experience.
AI can’t replace your empathy or expertise. But it can help you communicate them faster, more consistently and with more impact.
Visibility beats perfection
Professionals love to perfect things before they post. But on LinkedIn, done beats perfect. Two minutes a day engaging — liking, commenting, sharing — builds visibility faster than agonising over a single masterpiece.
Show up consistently with your name and insight, and you’ll stay top of mind when clients need your expertise.
Authenticity builds trust
The best LinkedIn profiles tell a story, not a job title. Swap ‘Partner, XYZ LLP’ for ‘Helping tech founders protect and commercialise IP’. Use a proper headshot, a clear headline and an ‘About’ section written like you speak. Clients buy people, not CVs.
Measure what matters
Forget vanity metrics like likes or total connections. The real KPIs are profile views from decision-makers, quality conversations and actual client enquiries. That’s where LinkedIn earns its keep.
AI won’t have coffee with your clients — but it can help you get the meeting in the diary.
The bottom line
AI isn’t the enemy of authenticity. It’s the accelerator of it — if you use it right. Combine your human insight with AI’s efficiency and you’ll create content that doesn’t just get seen, but gets remembered.
Bernard Savage is Director of Size 10½ Boots, a specialist business-development agency that helps professional service firms grow fees through client listening, coaching and strategic marketing and BD.
You can download a long-form version of this article here https://tenandahalf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Tenandahalf_LinkedIn_updated-toolkit-PP-EDITED-1.pdf
