My personal brand changed my life. Now, let's change yours. | Personal branding + business coach

Your business doesn’t have to look like this:

→ Constantly chasing new clients
→ Revenue up one month, down the next
→ Wondering why things only work when you’re “on”

Truth is, most founders have accepted that as the norm.
But it doesn’t have to be.

“In short, Luke solved a problem I'd been having for months in the first 30 minutes of meeting. As someone who has spent $1000's on coaching and courses, I recommend Luke over anyone I've worked with.” - Steve Swift, Email Marketer

Here’s my backstory: 

I spent 8 years in the corporate world helping companies who made millions.

I did these 2 things to help them scale: 

1/ Keep clients happy (so they stayed)
2/ Streamline how the business ran

Then I spent 3 years learning how to write online, turned it into a repeatable system, and how to turn that attention into sales calls and inbound leads. 

That resulted in 1,000,000s of people reading my content, a LinkedIn Top Voice badge, and 100s of leads along the way. 

“After following his advice, I closed two deals totaling $5k… Now I’m maxed out with side work and can attract more clients anytime.” - JM Domingo, Email & LinkedIn Marketer

Then…
I took all of that knowledge and focused on helping founders build something sustainable. 

And helped 50+ founders to write online, sign clients, and scale their business too. 

I called it the Different Success model.

It works on 3 principles: 

1/ Attract the right-fit people with a clear (and fun) writing system
2/ Positioning your core offer to make it easy for clients to say ‘yes’
3/ Structuring the business so clients WANT to stay (and you get to work around your life)

“We accomplished together: #1 personal growth Linkedin Germany, 10K followers in 6 months, clients, podcast invitations, sponsorships.” - Alexander Plank, Mindset Coach

It's what happens when your business stops relying on constant selling, and starts being built to last.

You’ll attract better clients.
You’ll make consistent sales.

But the best bit: you’ll have the freedom to finish early, take your partner on a date, or travel without guilt, because the business supports your life. Not the other way around. 

If you want to see how I can help, here’s 3 ways: 

1/ Newsletter → Get weekly emails from me to help you grow + win
2/ Power Hour → Get me 1:1 for 60-mins (and ask me anything)
3/ Different Success → My 1:1 coaching programme (DM me)

For any questions, hit DM and I'll get back to you ASAP :-)

Luke Redhead

Your obsession with perfection is what's killing your business. 

Let me show you how: 

Meet Rewrite Rebecca.

(Who I’ve conveniently made up but hear me out)

Who in the past 14 days, has:

→ Designed 4 new banners for her profile
→ Rewritten her about section 5 times
→ Seen 14 posts go viral and questioned her own positioning 14 times

The past 14 days have been filled with work for Rebecca.
But precisely 0 of them have been actually productive.

Rebecca is every founder I've ever met at some point.

(Me included)

It’s so easy to get so caught up in the perfect positioning, the perfect hook, the perfect about section that we forget 1 point:

Nobody cares about anything you do as much as you.
They care about whether you can help them or not.

That's it.

(Btw - Want to see my strategy to simplify your whole business into 1 easy approach? It’s in my playbook here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

Fast forward 2 weeks. Rebecca stopped tweaking everything. 

Instead, she stuck with 1 angle of positioning (clear for her ICP) and decided to leave it alone for 30 days minimum.

And then just wrote posts around that. 

Then this happened:

→ She started writing from an honest place (and enjoyed the process)
→ No second-guessing whether it "fit her positioning"
→ No more comparing herself to every post post she sees
→ No scrolling endlessly to check what went viral yesterday

Just writing what she knew would help her people, and enjoying the process as much as she can.

The result:

→ Content became FUN to write again
→ Posts took 20 minutes instead of 2 hours
→ Her real personality started showing through
→ DMs started coming in (the right kind)
→ Potential clients started taking notice
→ Opportunities opened up she never had before

All because she stopped overediting, and started creating what felt true to her.
Here's what I tell every founder who gets caught overthinking:

Your content doesn’t need to be perfect.
Your positioning doesn't need to be perfect.
And you, as a person, don’t need to be perfect.

It needs to be clear enough that your reader understands it.

Once you've got that, the rest is just showing up and helping people.

Don't be Rewrite Rebecca.

Be Done-is-better-than-perfect Rebecca.

Your business will thank you for it.

P.S - Still stuck on positioning? My rule: If you can explain what you do to your parents in one sentence, it's good enough. Start there and refine as you go.

Helped 50+ founders find & keep clients long-term with my Different Success model (so far). No plans to stop anytime soon.

10 months from now, my fiance and I will be getting married.

(And I’m so excited you wouldn’t BELIEVE)

Which means I've got the next 10 months to get the business right.

Most founders would double down on growth hacks right now. Or slow down.

I’m more thinking about how I can use the next 10 months and set us up for the best start to married life.

Here’s my focus:

→ Focus on 1 type of client (clarity on positioning)
→ Building recurring revenue that runs with little input
→ Creating systems that'll work for 10+ years (not months)
→ Focusing on clients who stay 6+ months (deeper transformation)
→ Invest profit so we’re set for the future (sets us up for the long-term)

And then saying no to anything that gets in the way of that.

That’s it.

Not just chasing more clients. Or scaling without any real plans.

10+ year thinking.

Which is why I’m rarely worried about things that fall outside of that:

I rarely talk about trends (even if they are popular)
I don't chase algorithm changes (even when reach drops)
I ignore what competitors are doing (even if it's working for them)
I’m not fussed about shiny objects (even if they do look exciting sometimes)

Just 1 goal matters at this point. Set us up. And I’m all in on it.

Ultimate vision → We won't have to worry.

There’s a lot of noise on here folks.

Find what matters to you → Keep focused on the goals you have.

You’ll be glad you did.

In my experience, I’ve found that most business advice online looks good.

Until you try it.

(Sorry to be that guy)

It’s on all our feeds:

→ 100 leads in 100 days
→ Viral within 7 days
→ $100k next month

When it doesn’t happen → it hurts.

The worst bit is most of us are so used to seeing these promises of huge results in fast timeframes, that it’s almost become normal.

Let me say that, chances are, that big promise won't happen.

(Yes, some do work well. But not all)

1% get lucky. But the other 99% have to work HARD for it.

Instead of looking for an overnight fix, here's what actually works:

1/ Write about real client problems
2/ Share what's working for you (and what isn't)
3/ Build genuine relationships (not just collect followers)

Then...

4/ Reach out to people and see what they're stuck with
5/ If it's something you can help with, tell them
6/ Make it an easy next step to work together

And when they sign up...

7/ Go above and beyond every time
8/ Be proactive (don't wait for them to ask)
9/ Get them where they want to go, and make it fun

Yes, it might take a bit longer than the overnight promises.

But stick with it, and you'll see results happen slowly but surely. 

And a LOT more sustainably. 

Instead of chasing overnight results, expect that each day:

→ You’ll start to see it working
→ You may find your next client or two
→ You might get lucky with one or two posts

Just don’t expect your world to change overnight.

P.S - Want the complete system? I break it down step-by-step in my playbook: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

The worst thing about running a solo business happened to me last week.

I got ill.

Couldn't work for 2 days straight.

(Blooming cold or flu or whatever it was)

But here's the best bit: Nothing fell apart.

12 months ago it would have:

→ I'd have pushed through (making myself worse)
→ Stressed about emails piling up
→ Apologised to clients 47 times
→ Worked from bed feeling guilty
→ Made myself ill for weeks

Not sustainable (or fun).

But this time:

→ Told my clients I was ill (they said "get better soon")
→ My systems kept running while I was asleep
→ Recurring revenue kept flowing
→ Slept for 2 days, guilt-free (felt like heaven)
→ Came back feeling better instead of just exhausted

And a few days later we’re back in business.

A few of the ways I fixed it from 12 months ago:

→ Switched to 1 clear model with clients (work 1:1 together includes XYZ)
→ Built client success paths (they know exactly what to do between our calls)
→ Set up check-ins (Loom videos + voice notes instead of constant meetings)
→ Automate any manual admin tasks (invoicing etc)
→ Create a content system that makes writing easy (no posts got missed)

Meant every part of my business stayed alive when I felt like death.

Win.

I’m not telling you how to run your biz. If you love the 14+ hour day grind, go for it.

But build something that you can take time off IF you need it.

Call it → The Sickness Test

If you suddenly had to stop working for a week, will it all fall apart?

Because one day, you might need to fall back on that.

And when that happens, you'll wish you'd built something that keeps running.

P.S - I built my business around the same model I teach to clients. It's how the business didn't fall apart. You can learn how it works here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

I reckon that in the next 12 months, there will be 2 core “feeds” on here.

(OK not literally but hear me out here)

The Great LinkedIn Split.

Where you’ll have feed 1, where people are:

→ Using AI to churn out 5+ posts per day
→ Writing whatever worked for someone else
→ Racing to post first about trending topics
→ Chasing impressions over resonance
→ Building "personal brands" (that aren't even THAT personal)

(This is the ‘quantity > quality’ camp)

And feed 2 (where I’ll spend my time), where people are:

→ Writing content that genuinely matters, not just for numbers
→ Focusing on moving 1 person every single day
→ Just being human in this digital world
→ Building proper relationships, not just follower counts
→ Sharing actual experiences, not rehashed stories from others

(This is the ‘quality > quantity’ camp)

(If you want my content strategy, it's in my playbook here. It's helped me write 1,000+ posts that attracted clients and built my business: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

Neither group is wrong per se. I’ve seen both work.

Some will sit somewhere in the middle. Some will make their own approach that's neither of them. 

Whatever happens, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. 

Because humans are different.

And I think that people are going to naturally gravitate and resonate towards one approach or the other.

Trying to do both is where it’ll be complicated.

There’s no right or wrong when it comes to content, as long as it gets you results.

I just know I’d rather have 100 people who genuinely care than 10,000 who scroll past, and not be pulling my hair out every day for post ideas. 

I've got a business to run and clients I want to help. 

So before you write your next post, ask yourself:

Am I writing this because it matters to me and my ICP?
Or because I saw it work for someone else?

Your answer tells you everything about which feed you're building.

"Make sure you aim for £10k months" they said.

I've never done that.

Honestly, I prefer not to set revenue goals.

(At least don’t set them as the ONLY goal)

Let me show you why:

I worked with a founder a few months ago. In 3 months, JM signed 3 clients worth $1,000s each.

And we never set a revenue goal. Ever.

Instead we just focused on implementing a strategy that he enjoyed running.

And it worked.

Most founders focus on a number first. Then wonder why they're miserable hitting them.

Because they don’t realise that when you only chase revenue, you:

→ Take on nightmare clients, just because they who pay well
→ Change strategy every time someone else hits £50k
→ Work yourself into the ground for a number
→ Build a business you'll hate in 12 months
→ Sacrifice everything that matters for the Stripe screenshot

On paper, the numbers look great. But it makes founders burn out faster than a cheap candle.

So here's what JM and I focused on instead (I do this with all clients):

→ Making sure he was excited to sell his offer
→ Making it easy to talk to potential new clients

And then...

→ Client retention rate (his clients can stay for 12+ months)
→ Hours worked per week (down to around 15)
→ How much he & his clients enjoyed working together (a lot)
→ Time spent on sales calls (almost zero now)
→ Days off without checking messages (every weekend)

We never set a revenue goal. But we often talked about “comfort numbers”.

Safe to say we hit those.

But more importantly: He loves his business again.

Because now he’s got time to be with his newborn daughter, and reliable money coming in, doing work he genuinely gets excited about.

Revenue is a byproduct of doing good work for the right people.

Not a target to hit at any cost.

Focus on the inputs. The outputs take care of themselves.

P.S - Want to build like JM? I documented the process into my playbook here (for free): https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

A founder client of mine was spending 3-4 hours a DAY scrolling LinkedIn for inspiration.

A. DAY.

Less than 10 minutes later, she had her first post drafted, ready to write.

With 0 external inspiration needed.

Here’s how:

Susan and I spoke last week. She booked a Make it Make Sense session because she wanted to get off the content hamster wheel, and focus more on growing her business. 

Before we spoke, she was:

→ Constantly trying to think of post ideas 24/7
→ Feeling guilty if she couldn’t think of any
→ Spending 3-4 hours a DAY scrolling for inspo

And, as a result, she was struggling to even think of 1 post idea.

Not because she didn’t have them.
Because her brain was redlining 24 hours a day.

Disaster.

On the call she was even overthinking her best post ideas before they even happened.

Not on my watch.

Here’s what we did:

1/ Took 1 pillar of my Timeless Content (we picked ‘Mission’)
2/ Got her to explain it out loud (took 30 seconds)
3/ Saw how that post could influence her ICP
4/ Took a simple structure to draft that post
5/ Tied that back to a point her ICP needs
6/ Added a hook that’ll grab their attention
7/ Gave her the confidence that she CAN write

5 mins later → great post drafted.

Simple. Almost TOO simple.

Yet it works.

But best bit is it’s not just a “post” to tick the box and it’s done.

It’s a post that her ICP will read and go “I like the sounds of that”.

Every follow → Someone wanting to learn more.
Every profile view → Someone curious about her.
Every DM from that → Someone who might be a good fit.

1 post. Less than 10 minutes.

And hours of overthinking removed from every day going forwards.

I’d call that a win :-)

P.S - A fast way to get writing quickly → change your environment. This is where some of my best posts (and some amazing ideas) came to life.

P.P.S - My content strategy helped me write 1,000+ posts. It's written here inside my playbook (for free): https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

It’s just under 10 months before we get married. 

Which means I have 10 months to get my business positioned so we start married life with a head start (not having money worries, etc). 

Here's exactly how I plan to do it:

—

1/ Write every day

Not for “consistency”. And definitely no chasing trends.

Just sharing thoughts and things happening in my world that the right people will find interesting (to build an audience of my ICP who get it).

—

2/ Focus on relationships > numbers

I’ve been guilty of letting the numbers cloud my vision before. Happens to us all.

But around 80% of my clients come out of nowhere. No likes, no comments. Just DMs/next steps after reading that 1 post that made them move. 

So I’m focusing on writing to build trust and relationships over what “works”.

—

3/ Invite people every day

I’ve never liked the idea of “selling”. I do like talking to founders who I can help. I'll be doing more freebies/mini offers to find them without the awkward sales tactics. 

Inviting them to take the next step > hard sales tactics any day.

—

4/ Share my newsletter more

Every week I write about stuff going on in my business, thoughts I’ve got, observations, and stories, and share it via email. I do it to help founders grow their business and show them my way of doing it.

But there’s no point if I’m not sharing it online.
(P.S - Shameless plug, you can get access here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

—

5/ Sit at my laptop less

“Work” isn’t the amount of time you sit at a desk. It’s the outputs.
At least 90% of my best ideas come in the gym, or when I’m walking. So strategically getting out to think more = better work done when I do sit down.

—

6/ Structuring the business around life

I’ve tried the 12+ hour work days. Didn’t work for me. (See above)
So I'm changing the systems and model to work around living life first. Which includes cutting about 60% of workload out that didn't do much (other than feel good).

—

7/ Focus 60% effort on keeping clients happy

Most founders don’t realise that happy clients stay 12+ months. New clients can leave after 6 weeks.
Focus on keeping clients happy = better results for them and longer-term stay.

—

That's the system I’m using. They all tie together nicely. 

The end result: 

I can run my business working 20 hours a week. Clients stay 12+ months. And I'm not glued to my screen all day hoping for likes.

In 10 months time, I'll either get it right or I'll have a lot of work to do. 

Most founders don't even realise they have the choice. 

Build for the life you want.

I opened 5 spots in my calendar for founders last week.

Some really cool people booked in:

(And the problems we're solving were brilliant)

1/ Social media agency owner drowning in client work
(but wanted to scale)

2/ Systems consultant losing clients after 2-3 months 
(but had more to help)

3/ VA building her entire business on LinkedIn posts
(and worried if LI ever stopped working for her)

Here’s what’s happening for those 3 founders:

Agency owner:

We restructured their day-to-day operations so client work is less intensive for them personally, and made it easier for them to work ON the business (rather than spending 12+ hours a day in it).

Consultant:

Looked at all the bespoke projects they were offering, and aligned it to 1 core offer they could sell on repeat for future clients (and set a long-term vision for clients to invest in, not just one-off outcomes).

VA:

Changing their content funnel to drive leads from multiple platforms and start collecting them into a newsletter (safer for long-term of the business), as well as started sending emails to nurture those leads.

Each session took under 90 minutes. That's it.

But those 90 minutes will change their entire 2026 now.

Everyone's already thinking about "2026 goals" and "new year planning".
Some are winding down already and calling it “next year’s problem”.

But there's still 7 weeks left in 2025.
7 weeks to fix that one thing that's been holding you back all year.

Most founders will coast until January. Then panic. Then struggle through January trying to catch up.

Don't be most founders.

Find what’s holding you back NOW:
↓
Is it your offer? Your retention? Your leads?
↓
Spend time this week to understand it + create a plan to fix it
↓
Enter 2026 with a plan (and ahead of most)

Because the founders who win next year aren't waiting to start in January.

They're fixing things now.

P.S - If you're stuck, start here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

My whole business is stupidly simple:

Help founders build a business with a handful of high-ticket clients + low-ticket sales so they never panic about content or clients again.

(Told you it was simple)

I’m not worrying about virality anymore.
I’m not chasing hype in every post.

I used to, until I learned that it isn’t as fulfilling as it looks.

Just building a business so I can live a life that I’ll be proud to tell the grandkids about one day.

One where:

→ I get to leave work at 2pm without needing a reason
→ I can travel the world with my fiance ANYTIME we want
→ I wake up happy every morning with who I’m working with

Stories > Numbers is my mantra right now.

And the whole goal is to help others do the same for their biz too.

That’s the entire mission this all ties back to.

Every post → Ties back to this goal
Every offer → Ties back to this goal
Every DM → You guessed where this leads

1 simple mission and a ton of energy going into it.

It’s hard to go wrong when you keep it simple.

Lesson for you: What’s YOUR mission? If you can’t write it in 1 sentence, keep refining until you can.

Your audience invest a lot quicker when it’s easy to understand what they're investing in. 

P.S - I've written 40,000 words on this business model. I think you'll enjoy it (especially section 2, Different Success): https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

In 10 months time, my fiance and I will be getting married.

And I won’t lie. I’m NOT in good shape.

(Despite the fact the pictures I post on here make it look like I walk 6 marathons a day)

So I signed up for 12 months at the gym to sort it out.

My plan:

→ 3-4x weights per week
→ 1-2x cardio per week
→ Eat better (not weekends)
→ Do ‘fun’ sports more often (squash, swim, etc)
→ And the key one, avoid giving up 4 weeks in (again)

3 weeks in and we’re sore. But enjoying it.

But one really cool (and unexpected) thing that I’ve experienced:

→ Most of my best content ideas are coming whilst I’m on the treadmill
→ Breakthrough concepts are coming when I’m swimming
→ Things I’ve been stuck on for months are clearer now

It’s annoying having to stop working out just to jot ideas down.

But it’s nice to know that most of those problems I’ve been battling with are solvable.

So much so, that now I’ve decided to allocate “thinking” time away from my laptop. 

Every day = some sort of movement now. 

10 months. Let's get it. 

Will keep you posted how it goes.

P.S - Anybody else use movement as part of their workday? Curious to hear how you find it.

Most founders are working 60-hour weeks chasing “more”.

And they think it’ll solve the problem they’re facing.

Sorry. But no.

Let’s say you’re at £5k months with 5 clients.

Common sense tells you that you need 20 clients to hit £20k months.

So you do more.

And your entire focus goes on finding the next 15 clients.

Every post = a push for clients.
Every DM = a push for clients.
Everything = a push for clients.

More posts for more visibility.
More DMs for more opportunity.
More anything surely makes more results.

Yet 3 months later you’re constantly firefighting, working 12+ hours a day, clients keep churning, and now your content performs way worse than before.

“More” isn’t the right playbook for most founders.

(Btw, if you want a better playbook, I wrote one for you. 40,000+ words on my Different Success process showing you how I do it for me + clients: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

A firm belief of mine: It’s not often that the answer is more.

If your content isn’t working, you don’t need “more”.
If your offers aren’t converting, you don’t need “more”.
If your clients aren’t sticking around, you don’t need “more”.

You need to solve the foundations of why it’s not working as good as it can be first.

Yes, more clients can = more money. But sometimes, less works out better:

→ 8 clients at £1,500/month for 12 months = £144k in a year
→ 30 clients at £1,000/month for 6 weeks = £45k in a year

Pretty much same effort to land the client. Yet completely different outcomes.
All because you’ve got space to really help them (so they want to stick around).
Same goes with your content:

→ 21 posts/week that costs you 25 hours a week + 4 hours in the DMs.
→ 4 posts/week that costs you 1 hour per week + 4 hours in the DMs.

One gives you freedom to work 20/hr weeks and still get clients. The other keeps you chained to your desk 12+ hours a day.

I’m all for more, but only when the foundations first work.

4 years ago, I started a business.

(as a 23-year old for the first time)

But 3 years ago, I thought I’d have to quit.

Because I tried to grow it by:

→ Working 12 hours per day (burned out fast)
→ Building complicated funnels (spent all my time fixing them)
→ Posting 7x per week (exhausting at best)
→ Sending 100 cold DMs daily (felt like a spam bot)
→ Chasing every trend on LinkedIn (algorithm changed, I panicked)
→ Offering 'free value' to everyone (attracted freebie-seekers)
→ Running discovery calls with everyone (90% were time-wasters)

Others told me it would work. Yet none of those seemed to work for me.

What DID work was far more simple.

So I built my own approach. 

Creating 1 path to take dream-fit clients from A (where they are), to B (where they want to be), and everything they need to know to get there. 

I called it The A → B Method.

Everything in my business (and my clients) is rooted in the A → B.

It goes like this:

A: Figure out exactly who you’re trying to help, and what stage they’re at
B: Understanding where they want to be (in their work and in their life)
→: Creating the path to get there, YOUR way

Which simplifies everything.

Here's how: 

All of your content is focused on reaching A, showing them to get to B.
All of your offers are focused on A, helping them get to B.
And your work is just you helping them get there.

Real example:

A founder at A: drowning in client work, can't scale.
B: Wants consistent £10k months working 20-30 hours.
→: We structured their offer so 8 clients stay 12+ months.

That’s all they needed. So that’s all they’re focused on now.

Way easier.

It’s incredibly easy to get caught up with tactics and hacks.

I much prefer to keep it simple and focused.
It’s worked for me. It’s worked for 50+ founders I’ve worked with.

I reckon it’ll work for you too.

Find your path. Focus on it relentlessly. Say no to everything else.

Your future self will thank you.

P.S - Want to see exactly how I restructured everything? I documented the entire process in my playbook (free). 100+ founders have downloaded it and used it to streamline their business: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

Most founders know exactly what to do.

They just don't have a system to do it consistently.

(Sorry to be that guy)

When you strip everything you need to do right down to the basics, it looks a bit like this:

Post for your ICP (bonus points for personal stories)
↓
Build trust with them as much as you can
↓
Make them an offer
↓
Sign new client

(Yes this is very simplified but you get the idea)

That approach works, because it’s fundamental business.

Please don’t try and reinvent the wheel.

But the problem is most founders get stuck between the steps, or they wing it without realising what’s actually working for them vs what isn’t.

Fix those middle bits = build a stable business.

Here’s the 3 tools I use for each arrow (top to bottom):

--

↓ #1/ Timeless Content

Instead of creating anything that “worked well for someone else” or scrolling endlessly for inspiration, create content that stands the test of time. This includes your opinions, experiences that happen.

Tip: Ask yourself “if someone read this post in 6 months, would it still help my business?”

--

↓ #2/ Multi-Level Brand

Most founders write posts and hope they work. Instead of writing with intention + a goal. My goal is to get attention on here → Guide it into my newsletter, where I share deeper stuff that resonates with the right kind of people.

The idea is the right person who reads one email and “gets it” is way more powerful than 100 surface-level posts.

(I talk about this bit quite a lot in my playbook. If you haven’t read it, you can get it (free) here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

--

↓ #3/ Invitation Letters

Forget the awkward sales pitch. I write to people like they're already friends. No fake urgency of “1 space left!” or awkward cold pitches to strangers. I’d rather show them what working together looks like to those who get it, and invite them to join.

E.g - "Hey dude, I think this could help you. Here's how we could work together if you're interested."

Remember: People prefer to be invited to a party than forced to go.

--

The difference:

Most founders → Post, panic when it doesn’t work, then spam DMs
For me → Create value, build multiple touch points, invite the right people in

One feels desperate and uncomfortable. The other feels natural.

And guess which one gets clients who stick around for 12+ months.

Stop following the exact same playbook everyone else is using, and hoping you’ll stand out.

Most founders are putting 100% of their effort into new sales.

Yet it’s not as profitable as they might think. 

(Let me show you why)

I see it everywhere.

Constant DMing. New lead magnets. More discovery calls. Another launch.

Yet any new clients slip away after 6-8 weeks.

And founders are wondering why they’re as tired as if they’re running a marathon every single day.

In my opinion: You can't build a real business on a revolving door of strangers.

I don’t believe that builds a successful business.

Because I tried it.

Spent my first year chasing every lead with a pulse. Signed anybody I could.
Lost most of them within 2 months.

Revenue was all over the place. Some months great. Next month bad.

Constantly starting from scratch.

It wasn’t fun.

The old way: 100% effort on new sales
The new way: 60% on keeping clients happy + 40% for everything else.

This is what I found happens:

→ Clients stay 6-12+ months (not 6 weeks)
→ They refer others without being asked
→ Revenue becomes predictable
→ You stop chasing strangers on LinkedIn
→ Work becomes enjoyable again

I’ve had clients stick around for 2+ years, because we work so well together.

And it’s not because I'm doing anything special. I just stopped overthinking sales all the time, and started focusing on people I actually want to help 
succeed.

When you put clients first:

→ You can charge more (because you deliver more value)
→ You need fewer clients (8 good ones beats 30 random ones)
→ Your calendar opens up (no constant "discovery calls")
→ You have so many better things to post about (and find new clients)
→ You build real relationships (not just invoices)

Most founders won't do this. And it’s not their fault.

They're addicted to chasing. They love the "new client signed!" dopamine hit. 

Because that’s what they've been told is successful.

Don't be most founders.

Stop putting 100% into finding new people.
Start putting 80% into keeping the right ones happy.

Your bank balance (and sanity) will thank you.

P.S - Ready to go from chasing to keeping? I break down the exact model I use for my (and my clients) business in my playbook (it’s free): https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

1,696 days of building a business without following the “rules”.

Which means:

→ No sending 100 cold DMs a day
→ No awkward networking events every week
→ And (my favourite) no working every weekend

And I’ve still managed to replace my old salary and build something I’m pretty happy with.

(P.S - The entire system is in my playbook here. It'll show you how to write, attract, and convert clients: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

I’ve tried nearly every approach. Made a TON of mistakes along the way.

All that helped me figure out this confusing game we call business. 

Here’s some approaches that made that possible (and I’ll be using forever):

Different Success rules

Hydra

Hydra is a consulting firm focused on helping agency owners from 100k to 10MM/yr streamline & accelerate growth, achieve more revenue and profit, and reduce stress by implementing a systems-first approach that unlocks growth.

This leads to higher profits, higher founder satisfaction, better employee retention, and gives founders the opportunity to sell or hold for higher, more predictable cash flow.

Co-Founder

Howl Campfires

We exist to keep the forest and the campfire experience alive. 

At Howl Campfires we love traditional campfires, and know just how much spending time around a campfire has positively shaped our lives. Due to the acceleration of climate issues and the almost guaranteed burn bans in the National Forest, we understand the opportunity to burn wood in the forest is becoming limited. 

So we set out to build a propane fire pit that gives you the best qualities of a wood fire: Actually warm, take it anywhere, but operates legally in a burn ban.

As a company Howl Campfires designs and manufactures technologies that make liquid-fuel firepits as enjoyable to use as wood-burning campfires. 

These pits enable users to have no-compromise campfires in the midst of burn bans, without jeopardizing or degrading the land.

Margle Media

I served as President & Co-Owner of Margle Media, a full-service social media advertising agency servicing DTC brands and Fortune 500 clients. Margle works with brands to improve awareness, conversion, and the bottom line by:

-Producing digital content at scale
-Deploying paid social campaigns that convert users into customers
-Configuring systems to improve customer retention & LTV growth

https://www.marglemedia.com/

President & Co-Owner

Pixsuls

We help business owners leverage a proven, results-driven social media strategy to generate more leads, add more clients and increase revenue.

We believe in helping business owners reach their full potential by optimizing their company's online presence. We do so by transitioning our clients into the world of online advertising and captivating audiences through engaging content. 

We know that a company's most powerful asset is its brand story. In a world where consumers become loyal to stories, not products, we strive to put yours at the forefront of every timeline and newsfeed. 

We help our clients develop these stories through strategic messaging and creative content that gives potential customers a reason to click, read, watch, and devote themselves to the story that represents our clients and their businesses.

Pixsuls was acquired by Margle Media in January of 2019.

Founder

West Corporation

•Presented complex data solutions to businesses and took a consultative, solution-based selling approach to fulfill customer needs
•Managed and continually educated a small group of 4-6 Account Executives to ensure they were meeting or exceeding sales quotas
•Responsible for selling high-ticket offers to new and existing clients with contract values exceeding $500,000+ of revenue

Technical Account Manager

•Sold various technology products to new and existing clients over the phone through cold calls
•Built deep customer relationships resulting in regular repeat business
•Finished each month as an Account Executive at or above 100% to quota in multiple categories, best month finishing 400% to quota
•Promoted to Technical Account Manager within two months of hire, also achieved the Rookie of the Month award for exceeding sales targets

Account Manager

Co-Founder @ Hydra | Co-Founder @ Howl Campfires | I Help Agencies & Professional Service Firms Scale Revenue & Profit

Want to know how we're adding 20-40k in new MRR to agencies in 120 days? Let's talk: 

https://grow.workwithhydra.com/leadgensystems?el=nlinkedin

What I'm currently building: 

-Hydra, our consulting firm for digital marketing agencies to increase revenue, profitability, growth & operational efficiency. 

- CleanBooks, a bookkeeping and fractional CFO firm for digital marketing agencies. 

- HOWL Campfires, a 100% made in the USA, utility & design patented, portable propane fire pit that feels just like a wood fire.

Connect with me on Instagram & Twitter: @kirchnr

Nicholas Kirchner

Agencies leave a lot of money on the table on web projects. 

But it's not from undercharging or scope creep.

Here's how agencies are adding 40-70% more revenue per project without doing more work.

Moving away from Single-language websites.

While you're delivering beautiful sites in English, your clients are missing 65% of their potential customers. 

They don't realize it yet. 

But their competitors do.

Smart agencies recognize the pattern: 

➝ Client launches stunning new site 
➝ Traffic plateaus after 6 months
➝ They blame the design or marketing 
➝ Competitor with multilingual site steals market share 
➝ Client questions your strategic value

The math proves itself: 

➝ Website in 1 language = standard project fee 
➝ Website in 4 languages = 3-5X project value 
➝ Ongoing translation management = predictable monthly revenue 
➝ International SEO optimization = indispensable retainer 
➝ Expansion to new markets = additional project phases

But here's what most agencies get wrong:

They think multilingual means hiring translators, managing complexity, or learning new technical skills.

Modern multilingual solutions work with your existing stack. 

WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, custom builds, doesn't matter. 

No code changes. 

No separate instances. 

No technical debt.

It’s all possible using Weglot. 

You become the agency that says "YES" to: 

➝ "Can you help us expand to Europe?" 
➝ "We need Spanish for our US Hispanic market" 
➝ "Our board wants to see international growth"

While competitors scramble with "let me find a translation partner," you're already closing the deal.

The positioning shift is everything:

OLD: "We build websites" NEW: "We build global digital experiences"
OLD: "Here's your site in English" NEW: "Here's your site ready for 5 markets"
OLD: One-time project fee NEW: Ongoing optimization revenue

Agencies using this approach report:

➝ Average project values up 47%
➝ Client lifetime value increased 3X
➝ Win rates against larger agencies doubled
➝ Recurring revenue streams from maintenance

The brutal truth?

Every monolingual site you deliver is incomplete. 

Your clients just don't know it yet.

But when their competitor launches in multiple languages and steals market share, guess who gets blamed for the "failed" website strategy?

The opportunity is massive. 

Most agencies still treat multilingual as "phase 2 someday."

That's your competitive advantage. Today.

Stop leaving expansion revenue for someone else: 

Check out Weglot in the comments below.

Built 3 Agencies | 1 Exit | Founder @ Hydra Consulting | Founder @ HOWL Campfires

If you disappeared for 2 weeks, would your agency survive?

But let’s be real...

Most wouldn’t make it 2 days without you.

If you’re a founder and your phone is the heartbeat of your business... you’re not running an agency. 

You’re the bottleneck. 

The firefighter. 

The “just send it to me, I’ll fix it” guy.

➝Every proposal. 
➝Every client emergency. 
➝Every piece of strategy.

All roads lead back to you.

And that’s the silent killer of most agencies: the owner becomes the system.

➝You built it. 
➝You love it. 
➝But now it owns you.

Let’s me be brutally honest for a second. 

➝You can’t scale chaos.
➝You can’t sell something that collapses the second you step back.
➝And you definitely can’t enjoy success if you’re too busy holding it together with duct tape.

Here’s how to start breaking free from the “Founder Trap”:

➝ Systemize what you repeat. If you’ve done something twice, it needs a process. Stop relying on memory, and build a machine instead. 

➝ Get out of client work. You’re not the “deliverable.” If clients can’t get results without you in every meeting, your business model is broken.

➝ Delegate outcomes, not tasks.Your team doesn’t need more to-do lists. They need ownership. Hire people you trust, then actually trust them.

➝ Build for freedom, not control. If your goal is to own everything, you’ll end up owning nothing, especially your time.

So, ask yourself, if you took a month off, would your agency grow... or crumble?

Your answer tells you everything you need to fix.

With our first agency incubator deal underway…

Here’s what we’re implementing to get new clients 👇

Mind you, we're starting from nearly complete scratch. 

But I practice what I preach, so here's what me & the team are doing: 

→LinkedIn Outbound (25+ connection requests per day, DM all connections)
→Lead Magnet Giveaways (Case study on how we helped a roofer go from $0-1.1M/month) 
→Cold/Warm Calling (Pick up the phone and dial all opt-ins) 
→Meta Ads (Running ads to a video sales letter funnel) 

Here’s our results so far: 

→ 19 discovery calls
→ 13 showed calls
→ 4 closed deals
→ $9,200 in MRR with performance deals for additional upside 

Everything starts somewhere. 

Excited to watch this grow over time 💪🏼

CC: Adam Artemis

Founders: Focusing on work that doesn’t drive results and takes tons of time are the lowest ROI tasks you could be doing. 

And you might not realize how much revenue is slipping away…

Because your CRM is still doing the bare minimum.

Copper released 5 new features that are saving me tons of time. 

If you want to move faster, close more, and automate the grind out of your sales workflows, this is for you.

Your CRM shouldn’t be a database.

It should be a driver, pushing work forward while your team focuses on conversations, deals, and relationships.

Here are the 5 levers your team will actually feel:

➝ Automations that actually save time.

You know how every CRM touts “automation?” 

Most of the time, it’s form over function. 

With Copper I can create, edit, pause, resume, or draft email sequences right from the Pipeline. 

Even trigger workflows from Company filters or rekindle cold leads with smarter time-band rules.

➝ Task management that matches how humans work.

Drag-and-drop reordering, subtasks, grouping by date or owner, and pipeline record linking so nothing slips through the cracks.

➝ Forms that turn traffic into revenue.

A full-screen builder, spam protection, auto-tagging, and the ability to auto-create tasks or pipeline records.

➝ AI where it counts.

Surface smarter contact suggestions. Use Copper GPT(currently in beta) for instant insights or CRM actions.

➝ Your workflow on LinkedIn, finally unified.

My favorite feature they introduced this year is the Quick Add Contacts feature, profile matching, and Email Finder Beta. 

Puts prospecting here on easy mode. 

The result?

Less clicking.

Less tab chaos.

Less “Where does this live again?”

And more selling, responding, following up, and building relationships, the activities that actually move the needle. 

If you want 2025 to be the year your CRM stops slowing you down and starts accelerating your sales ops…

Copper just removed every excuse.

Check it out in the comments below!

The agency market isn’t saturated. 

Your ads just look like everyone else’s.

If you run an agency, you know the "Cobbler’s Children" syndrome is real. 

We build incredible ads, funnels, creatives, websites, etc. for clients, but our own client acquisition strategy is often just... generic.

If you want to lower your CAC and book more qualified calls, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. 

Here are the 4 ad frameworks every agency who wants more clients should consider rotating into their ad account to get more clients as soon as next week:

1. The Founder Video (The "Who") People buy from people. Founder ads are always top performers within an account, because they buy you before they buy what you do. 

The Creative: A simple face-to-camera video with captions. 

The Goal: Build trust. Explain your agency’s mission, your approach to getting results, and why you’re qualified to serve them. What’s different about you compared to everyone else? 

2. The Static Case Study (The "What") In a world of big claims, receipts are the ultimate currency.

The Creative: A screenshot of a Stripe dashboard, a ranking graph, or a lead inbox.

The Goal: Undeniable proof. Don't tell them you're good; show them the result you got for someone just like them.

Then link to the actual case study/lead magnet and explain HOW you got those results, which proves competence even further. 

3. The Us vs. Them (The "Why Us") Your prospects have been burned by agencies before. 

Validate that fear.

The Creative: A split comparison table. Left side: "Traditional Agencies" (Long contracts, junior staff). Right side: "Your Agency" (Senior talent only, founder-led). Can easily turn this into a solid video script as well. 

The Goal: Differentiation. Position yourself as the antidote to the industry standard.

4. The Unique Mechanism Video The "How". Service businesses often feel like a "black box" to clients. Fix that.

The Creative: A diagram, flowchart, or pyramid visualization of your proprietary 3-step process.

The Goal: Logic. Turn your intangible service into a tangible product.

Which of these 4 is currently missing from your ad account?

Let me know in the comments. 👇

If you fish with too many lines in the water...

None of the bait looks good.

Your cold emails aren’t failing, your infrastructure is.

But most teams don’t realize it’s not the copy… it’s the mailbox behind it.

If you've watched perfectly crafted emails die in spam, you know the pain. 

You rewrite. 

You warm up longer. 

You send less. 

Still… spam. 

Gmail and Outlook weren’t built for outbound at scale. 

They flag you the moment your volume looks “non-human.”

That’s exactly why I switched to Maildoso, an ESP built specifically for cold email sending. 

The difference was instant: 98%+ inbox placement on average, even to Outlook.

Here’s why Maildoso works so well: 

 ➝ In-house SMTP infrastructure: No low-quality reseller servers.
 ➝ IP rotation: Keeps your sending reputation high.
 ➝ Daily reputation monitoring: Spots issues before mailboxes burn.
 ➝ Automated setup: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX handled automatically so you can launch 100+ mailboxes in minutes.
 ➝ Free domains included: No more domain shopping or setup headaches.

And their new Self-Healing Mailboxes automatically rotate and replace any mailbox that gets burned, before you even notice something’s wrong. 

 ➝ Your campaigns keep running. 
 ➝ Zero downtime. 
 ➝ Zero scrambling.

If you’re tired of unpredictable deliverability, Outlook spam traps, or overpaying for mailboxes that can’t handle outbound volume, it might not be your email… 

It might be your infrastructure.

The result? 

With Maildoso, my inbox placement stabilized, replies increased, and outbound finally became predictable instead of chaotic.

You need systems that bring you leads while you sleep. 

Here's that system I've installed in dozens of agencies so you can steal it for yourself 👇

Unpopular opinion: The reason most agencies stay stuck at $1-2M has nothing to do with sales or marketing.

It's because they're using $100K systems to solve $1M problems.

Here's what I mean:

At $500K → You need to be good at delivery 
At $1M → You need to be good at sales 
At $2M → You need to be good at hiring 
At $5M+ → You need systems running everything

Most agencies never make that last jump.

That's why we built the Phoenix Program, the complete operating system for scaling agencies.

For the first time ever for Black Friday, I'm making it available outside our private clients. 

And for Black Friday, I'm offering it at 50% off:

→12 modules covering everything from pricing to team building to owner independence
→50+ templates you can implement immediately
→Systems that have generated millions for agencies
→Everything you need to scale past $5M

As an added bonus, the first 10 people also get a 60-minute 1-on-1 with me to customize this program to your agency. (Clients routinely pay more than the entire cost of the program for this one bonus) 

But here's the thing - this is only available today through next Monday.

After Cyber Monday, it goes back to private clients only.

If you've been stuck at the same revenue for months or even years, this just might be the breakthrough you need. 

Link in the comments.

If you're under 1M/yr. in revenue...

Here's exactly what I'd be doing:

the hard part about being an early stage DTC brand is that unless you have prior experience, it's VERY hard to discern which agencies can actually help you build and those that are training on your dime. 

As someone who's operates a DTC brand and consults dozens of agencies, here's a few universal rules I'd follow when selecting one:

- Understand who you're working with. Not the person selling you on the phone, not the personal brand your following, the execution team. The worst is paying big $ and being passed to someone junior who doesn't know what's going on. 

- Make sure you're aligned on the numbers you define success as. Nothing worse than unmet expectations from your side, and nothing worse as an agency than thinking you're winning when you aren't. 

- Do they/will they understand your P&L at a level similar to you? If not, it's going to be very hard for them to impact growth and think about things the way you are as a founder. Ask how they think about setting targets. 

- Are they proactive communicators or only message when you're the one to initiate? The best agencies are sharp, on top of it, and leading you. Not you leading them. 

- Do they have a team that you can tell is passionate, bought-in, and want to be there? Meet them during the sales process. You can quickly tell the morale & culture of a team. If you want them to care about you, make sure they care about their company + job. 

- Is there a clear owner over your account? Who does the buck stop with? Unless there's a clear leader who can step in and handle things, it's going to be a frustrating experience.

Anyway, there's a million more lines I could write here, but these are a few that are top of mind. 

Brand owners, what would you add? 

Agencies, these are some of the things brands want but don't always know how to ask for.

I’m going back to my roots.

Which is why Hydra Consulting is officially launching its agency holding company. 

We’ll be building & incubating new agencies internally from the ground up.

Using all of our systems frameworks and process to scale new agencies.

Of course, still advising other agencies on how to scale further & faster. 

I’m excited to get back to building high quality, client focused agencies that actually win for people.

Happy to announce we’re backing Adam Artemis in our first deal serving residential roofing contractors as this space is ripe for disruption and better strategy & execution. 

I’ll be documenting the journey here on our learnings 📄

Client Budget:🐴
Client Expectation: 🦄

This is your weekly reminder to simply charge more for the work you do. 

You attract better clients.
You can afford better talent. 
You're motivated to do your best work.

The bar is still so low to be a good agency.

Underrated client retention hack:

Be reliable and do what you actually said you would when you closed them.

Happy Thanksgiving! So much to be thankful for.

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