If I had a quarter for every time a lawyer asks me, “How can I hide my contacts on LinkedIn? Won’t everyone steal my contacts if I post them,” I’d be … well, I will save that discussion when ever you ask me out for drinks …
That said, lawyers are TERRIFIED that if they post their contacts on LinkedIn that everyone will swarm their contact list and steal their clients.
Let me assure you, Dear Lawyer, that will only happen if you have a really cruddy relationship with the people on your contact list.
There I said it.
If someone can simply steal your contact by going on LinkedIn, then you, Dear Lawyer, have much bigger worries.
Your contact list is based upon your relationships with the people with whom you do business. Hopefully, over the years, you have developed meaningful relationships with these people. And, I hate to break it to you, but your contacts do have other relationships. Yes, its true. They are not monogamous. Your clients are seeing other people.
If you are that worried about your relationship with your significant other–err, client–then perhaps you should be spending more time alone together.