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Q&A: One Post Produces a $1 Million ClientQ&A: One Post Produces a $1 Million Client

Lauren Barack

June 12, 2012

1 Min Read
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Think a $1 million lead from LinkedIn is impossible? Not to Mary Strickland, a financial advisor and vice president with Robert W. Baird in Madison, WI.

Strickland closed a $1 million account from a LinkedIn post, and has two $1 million-dollar clients following her on Twitter. Here's Strickland's take on how to tweet, post and comment to build an online presence — at any point in your career.

“I think the base line is that [social media] raises awareness of your personal brand and gets you out there very visibly. And second? You get clients calling you. Oh yes 'I've seen her on Twitter or LinkedIn and seen her posts.' It's another way of knowing you.

The $1 million dollar account came from a tweet that went on to LinkedIn. I use both and set it up so posts get approved automatically, and then go to each at the same time. I try to post more out of the box information and not what just happened on the Dow. 

I do a lot of retweeting on articles such as women wanting equal career paths. I just tweeted about my presenting a seminar on socially responsibly investors. Because my target areas are women and socially responsible investing and so I try to post material relevant to those two markets. There’s a ton that’s out there, but I think you have to post something that's unique and valuable to get noticed.

Obviously a financial advisor starting out in the 30s will embrace this. But I’m 57, and embracing it because I understand the importance of maintaining my visibility.”

About the Author

Lauren Barack

Lauren Barack is a journalist, editor and photographer who has written about flea markets in Kiev, protests in New York, fishermen in St. Petersburg, and new media launches in London.  Also trained as a filmmaker, Lauren has produced, edited, appeared on camera, and written for networks including VH1, Comedy Central, TNT and MTV. 

A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and the University of California at Berkeley, Lauren won the Loeb Award in 2009 for her MSN Money series, "Middle Class Crunch," earned a Pace Foundation Fellowship in robotics, and an Associated Press Television and Radio Association scholarship while in graduate school. Meeting Milton Berle remains a career highlight. She failed to light his cigar before an interview. He forgave her and taught her his secrets for on-camera makeup. She'll never appear pale again.