We here at Get Rich Click are thrilled to bring you a series of guest posts from Carol McManus. In less than three years, Carol has leveraged LinkedIn to bring herself over $400,000 in new business! Carol has successfully transitioned from the old world real estate economy to the new world of on-line social media. She found a way to transition her previous success as a Sr. Vice President of Real Estate Operations for Coldwell Banker to Founder and CEO of YWait4Success — a highly successful coaching and consulting firm for entrepreneurs and businesses. While she understands all facets of social media, she has emerged as the leading LinkedIn expert. Get Rich Click is thrilled to share Carol’s thoughts on social media and her invaluable tips and tricks for leveraging dollars through LinkedIn.

From Carol McManus, America’s LinkedIn Lady:

Wondering how social media can benefit your business? If so, then read on.

Social networking is not only here to stay, it is an essential part of the new media mix whether you are a solo-preneur, a local business or a national corporation. Social media vehicles are the new ways to reach existing customers, find new potential customers, and establish your personal brand in the marketplace. There are many choices; the most well-known right now are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

While it is prudent to use more than one option, let’s focus on why LinkedIn should be the foundation of your social media strategy. LinkedIn is the only highly ranked site on the Internet that allows you to have a comprehensive biography about who you are and what you do. You may already have this information on your own website, but chances are you don’t have over 50 million individuals accessing your site on a regular basis.

Let’s put it another way. Your website could be the best website in your industry…great information, attractive design, easy navigation, and more. But without traffic your website is like a train stop in the middle of nowhere. You’re there, ready to receive passengers, but the only thing coming through is tumbleweed and an occasional broken-down pick-up. On the other hand, if you are Grand Central Station, then your passengers have no choice but to find you because you are in the middle of the action.

Simply put, LinkedIn is the Grand Central Station of business relationships on the web and you want to be there. You must be there! If you are in the B2B market (business to business), then this is the place to be. If you are a solo-preneur serving individual consumers, this is the place to be. Very quickly, you will discover that LinkedIn is the best way to position yourself, to be found, and to attract new connections.

If you’re still not sure, here are some specifics that may convince you to give LinkedIn a try. The average age of LinkedIn users is 41 – certainly not the teens and tweens you will find on MySpace. The average household income of LinkedIn users is $109,703 – respectable by any national standard. Looking for an educated audience? 80% of LinkedIn users are college graduates with a high percentage holding graduate degrees. One quarter of the users have a portfolio value of over $250,000. And most important, over 50% are senior level decision-makers in their businesses – hence the reason LinkedIn is ideal for you.

Okay, enough statistics. So what are the keys to make Linkedin work? The answer is to focus on the following:

• Maintain an attractive profile with all sections completed
• Use a high quality and current headshot as your photo
• Strive for a network consisting of a minimum of 250 connections as your goal
• Join a minimum of 10 groups and get actively involved in the discussions
• Open access to your profile so that people can find you and find out about you even before they are connections (biggest benefit over Facebook)

Of course, LinkedIn is not the only site you should use as part of your online media strategy. Any single strategy will have limited success. But this one is an arrow in your quiver that needs to be straight and sharp at all times. In my coming guest posts, you will learn more secrets about how to use LinkedIn effectively to build your business.

In the meantime, please send me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Please mention Get Rich Click. Linkedin.com/in/carolmcmanus