Buyer Led Growth | Go-to-Market Acceleration for companies with $5mm - $50mm in revenue

The Internet is flooded with advice on how to scale from $0 to $100MM, which is a dangerous trap.

The "hyperscale" advice may be entertaining and aspirational, but it is not very applicable to companies that need to drive growth with capital efficiency.

I help B2B companies with $5MM - $50MM in revenue create value by demystifying Go-to-Market with a simple framework called #BuyerLedGrowth.

In the last 15 years, I've created 3 companies, sold two of them and advised nearly 50. The common theme?

Companies get "stuck" at $10MM / $20MM / $30MM in revenue. They are likely still growing, but that growth is HARD and getting harder. 

The leadership roles in marketing, sales and even customer success have become revolving doors. Two steps forward, 1.5 steps back.

These headwinds have become even more challenging as the shift in B2B buyer expectations accelerate, requiring a comprehensive, integrated revenue engine.

I help companies break through these growth barriers in a variety of roles;
- Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Yield Group
- Operating Partner at Boathouse Capital
- Limited Partner in and advisor to Stage 2 Capital

gtmPRO.co is the place that my team and I "open source" our frameworks, templates and learnings (coming soon!)

We are driven to help take the friction out of growth and help functional revenue leaders expand into well-rounded business leaders.

Most importantly, I am blessed to be a husband to my wife and a father to our 4 children. 🙏

Gary Schwake

Struggling to get clients from your content?

You've invested a lot of time, effort, and resources into publishing content, but it hasn't led to the leads, clients, or sales you expected.

You're frustrated.

(And you should be!)

Your content is like a wind-up toy that keeps bumping into a wall. 

Don't wind it up more - turn it in the right direction so it finally moves forward.

That's what I help you do.

You don't need to create more content, go "viral," or do things that don't feel authentic to who you are.

You just need to be more strategic.

Most people fail to get clients from their content because: 

• Their content attracts people who will never buy.

• They chase engagement and vanity metrics that don’t translate into sales.

• They post in ways that limit reach - weak hooks, external links, and no engagement strategy.

• They don’t leverage newsletters and email marketing, overlooking the strongest connection they can have to their ideal buyers.

The strategies I teach aren't theoretical - they're based on real-world results.

I’ve built a multi-six-figure business as a consultant, newsletter creator, and podcast producer by using content to attract 500+ paying clients, 33,000+ newsletter subscribers, and 32,000+ Twitter followers.

Inside the Clients From Content Program, I show you exactly how I’ve done it - so you can turn your content into clients too.

Join today to get immediate access to:

✅ 20+ Skill Sessions (1-hour video trainings) on writing, newsletters, social content, and client attraction.

✅ Monthly Office Hours where I give one-on-one help and answer your questions.

Want more clients from your content?

📩 Step 1: Subscribe to my newsletter (32,000+ readers) here: www.fortheinterested.com/subscribe-linkedin/

🎙 Step 2: Listen to my podcast for actionable strategies here: www.joshspector.com/podcast/

🚀 Step 3: Join the Clients From Content Program here: www.joshspector.com/program/

Josh Spector

The next time you’re waiting for something, try this:

Instead of opening a social app on your phone, open your notes app and write something. 

An idea. 

A question. 

A story. 

A list of dreams. 

An enemies list. 

Anything. 

Turn a consumption moment into a creation moment. 

(This post was conceived while waiting to pick up some takeout food.)

Want more clients from your content? I'll show you how.

If you’re struggling to grow your audience, it’s not because you suck.

(Probably.)

It’s more likely because you misunderstand how audiences work.

Here are five concepts to help you attract the audience you need:

1. Host a party, not a concert

2. You are (or were) your audience

3. Your audience and your ideal audience are not the same thing

4. If you can't reliably reach someone, they're not actually in your audience

5. Your audience isn't YOUR audience

A special thanks to the talented Emanuel Bagerakis for creating these images.

Hit him up if you'd like him to create some for your posts too!

5 Ways To Grow Your Audience

I spent $95 to boost a LinkedIn post last week.

The most important thing I got from that investment:

It's directly led to 5 DM conversations with people who followed me after discovering me through the boosted post.

They're all a good fit for what I offer.

None have paid me for anything (yet), but we're getting to know each other and having good conversations.

If ONE of those people buys ONE thing from me at some point down the road, the ads will have been profitable.

To me, this makes it clearly worth the investment and I'm going to invest more in boosting posts.

I'm experimenting this week with boosting a different post to see how the results compare.

The conversations the boosts are leading to are the most valuable thing I'm getting, but they're not the only one.

Here's what else I got for my $95 investment:

• 5,436 impressions from 4,334 members

• 9 profile views

• 6 followers

• 16 reactions

• 2 comments

• 18 saves

• 4 clicks on the link to my newsletter subscribe page

I've also noticed an uptick in followers and newsletter subscribers that can't be directly attributed to the ads, but I'm sure are a result of them.

(When someone engages with an ad, their followers are also exposed to it but that's not reflected in the ad stats.)

Long story short?

You should give boosting posts a try.

Happy to answer any questions you have about it in the comments.

•••

Get my LinkedIn Experts' Playbook: https://lnkd.in/gbv2QS5F

It doesn’t matter how many subscribers you have on your email list. 

Unless you’re selling ads based on impressions, your subscriber number is one of your least important email list metrics. 

Because your goal isn’t reach. 

If your goal is to get clients…

Then what matters is how many of those you get from your list. 

If your goal is sales…

Then what matters is how many of those you get from your list. 

If your goal is to clarify your thinking by writing…

Then what matters is if that’s happening regardless of how many people read what you write. 

What gets lost in all the newsletter hype and growth strategy content is that for MOST people, subscriber number really isn’t that important. 

Optimize for what matters to YOU. 

Not just what others try to convince you matters. 

•••

This has helped 500+ people get clients from their content: JoshSpector.com/program

It's insane to send emails that only include your own content.

I'm a HUGE believer in a hybrid model where your newsletter includes your own original content and links to valuable content created by others.

This is true even if you write longform articles.

Simply adding a single, relevant, valuable link to your next newsletter can DOUBLE the value of your email for readers.

Plus...

It doesn't take long to do.

It builds relationships with other creators.

It forces you to learn more about your industry.

Seems like such a no-brainer to me.

And yet...

Lots of newsletter creators are so in love with their own words they don't bother to do it.

What a missed opportunity.

•••

Want to see the must-read content strategy articles I curate? 

Get my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/g5uJ9dY9

A client told me they feel “icky” sharing other people’s content in their newsletter. 

Here’s what I said to her:

I don't think you should feel icky about it as long as you're not pretending you created it (which obviously you'd never do).

Curation is SUPER valuable for your audience and part of being seen as an expert is having people see that you're aware of things in your industry that they may not be - not only things you create.

For example, more than 50% of what I share in my newsletter is curated content from others.

That doesn't make people trust me less - it makes them trust me more. 

And makes my newsletter more valuable to them.

The only thing people care about is if whatever you send is helpful to them.

So not only do I think you shouldn't feel icky about it, I think you should actually feel proud to do it.

•••

How do you feel when someone shares other people’s content in their newsletter?

Every week I help my writing partnership clients improve their content and marketing materials.

That often involves rewriting their opening lines to make them more attention-grabbing.

Here are some examples of opening lines I wrote for clients:

1. An opening line for a newsletter welcome email I wrote for a CPA:

"Ever make a tiny decision that winds up having a HUGE impact on your business? You just made one."

2. An opening line for a course promotion email I wrote for someone who sells a course to healthcare professionals:

"Let’s be honest: You don’t need another course."

3. An opening line for an email from a nonprofit messaging consultant who sells a service:

"If you ask three people what your organization does, how many different answers will you get? Too many."

4. An opening line for an email promoting a workshop on organizational culture:

"Are you a nonprofit executive director dealing with culture problems, rising turnover, or stalled decision-making?

Are staff conflicts and confusion holding your organization back?

Then I’ve got an opportunity for you."

5. An opening line for the home page of a family addiction coach:

"Loving someone with addiction is like walking on eggshells.

It’s exhausting, scary and frustrating to feel every conversation can blow up.

I’ve been there."

•••

Want to know how I can improve your content or marketing materials as your writing partner?

Let's chat.

What’s something “everyone” in your industry does that you don’t do? 

Whatever it is can be the foundation of a powerful piece of content. 

Simply explain why you don’t do it. 

Doing so will:

• Differentiate you
• Attract your ideal audience 
• Spark conversation

And those things will lead to more reach and impact for the content. 

Check out what I posted yesterday for an example of how this works. 😉

So…

What’s something you don’t do that most of your peers do?

Most newsletters are bloated.

How to trim the fat in your newsletter:

1. Lose the parts of your intro no one cares about — like how many new subscribers you got this week. Get to the valuable stuff.

2. Ease up on the emojis. It’s a newsletter, not a MySpace page.

3. When you’re done writing your newsletter, do a word count and then force yourself to delete 20% of the words.

4. Not every sentence needs to have an accompanying image with it — it’s a newsletter, not a scrapbook.

5. That paragraph you have at the top saying who you are and what the newsletter is? The one that’s the same every week? No one’s reading that.

6. I’d rather get a weekly short story from you than a monthly novel. (This isn’t about books.)

7. Do sponsors really need a giant image of their logo that looks like an ad and therefore is ignored by your readers? There are better ways to deliver attention to sponsors.

8. You found 20 links worth sharing? Good for you. Now cut 10 of them and save them for the next issue.

9. People are more likely to read (and share) your article if your newsletter contains a short summary and link to it on your site than the full text in the email.

10. The more actions you ask readers to take, the less likely they are to take one.

•••

Get more newsletter strategy tips here: https://lnkd.in/g5uJ9dY9

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I’ve yet to come across anyone who can give me good answers to these questions about welcome email sequences:

1. Why does your sequence need to be 7 emails instead of 5? Or 5 instead of 3? 

2. Why would a subscriber who signs up for your weekly newsletter want a daily email for the first week? 

3. If a person wants a daily email because they want the value as quickly as possible, why wouldn' they want it in a single email instead of multiple daily emails? 

4. Why is it better for your subscriber to get information in drips as opposed to getting access to all of it at once and being able to use it at their own pace? 

5. Have you ever been the recipient of an email sequence that you said to yourself, "I’m really glad they gave me this info one day at a time instead of all at once?"

There's a reason I've never seen anyone be able to answer all these questions well:

Because most welcome email sequences aren't in the best interest of your subscribers.

They're selfish - even if they're intended to be helpful.

You're doing it because:

• Some "expert" told you to
• You want multiple touchpoints with your subscriber (even if it annoys them)
• You're impatient

Those aren't great reasons to do it.

I'm not against welcome emails - I have one and you should have one.

And I'm not against automated sequences - I have one and there's nothing wrong with having one.

But I am against doing things to subscribers that aren't in their best interest.

What's your take on welcome sequences?

•••

By the way, here's what I send to new subscribers:

A welcome email with a surprise gift.

That's it.

Other than my actual newsletter they asked for which is itself incredibly valuable and gives me all the "touchpoints" I need with them.

Find out for yourself here: https://lnkd.in/g5uJ9dY9

“Do you think it can work?”

I just figured out a better way to answer that. 

The next time someone asks me if I think their business, marketing, or content idea can work I’m going to say a version of what Maria Popova said on a podcast. 

If you’re not familiar with her, Maria runs the popular blog The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) and has for about 20 years. 

It’s fully supported by reader donations and so she’s often asked if others can succeed with a similar model. 

Her answer? 

“Does it work is a binary question. 

What’s your time scale?

How willing are you for it to not work for a long time until it starts naturally working? 

If you show up every single day for 6 or 7 years expecting nothing…

Maybe you’ll reach enough people that it’ll ‘work.’

But you never know.”

I’m sure that’s not the answer most people want to hear. 

But that doesn’t mean it’s not true. 

And it’s why the next time someone asks me if I think their idea can work, I’m going to start my reply with a simple question:

How long are you willing for it to not work before it starts working? 

The answer to that reveals a lot. 

Don’t you think?

I did something I've never done before in my new podcast episode.

And the feedback I'm getting on it is great.

I read every post I had published on LinkedIn during January.

It was eye-opening how different they felt when I spoke them (or listened to them) compared to writing/reading them.

The resulting episode is a TON of valuable content strategy advice in one 28-minute listen.

Here's the rundown so you can jump to whatever interests you:

3:00 - New Year, New You (or maybe not?)

3:38 - How I Edit A Client's Writing

4:53 - The 7 Words That Defined My Year

9:03 - How To Overcome Your 11 Excuses

11:48 - How I Write 5 Newsletter Issues In An Hour

13:09 - 10 One-Sentence Principles To Keep In Mind

14:14 - Always Assume Success

16:14 - A Lesson From My Favorite David Letterman Photo

17:15 - Overrated/Underrated: LinkedIn Edition

18:38 - The Post Boosting Scorecard

20:05 - What To Send To A New Follower

21:15 - A Different Way To Approach Marketing

22:23 - 10 Opening Lines For Your Content

23:43 - Is Social Media Already Dead?

24:25 - A Crazy Newsletter Experiment 

26:09 - 13 Things I Believe About You
​
Listen here​: https://lnkd.in/g-DDFBCC

PS - Once you listen to the episode I'd love to hear what you think of the format and you think I should do it again?

taplio

The Battle

Gary Schwake

Josh Spector

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taplio

The Battle

Gary Schwake

Josh Spector

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Josh Spector's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJosh Spector's LinkedIn Performance