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

This year I’ll be turning 28.

And for the next 12 months, I have only 4 priorities.

(I’ve learned that trying to balance 30 different ideas/goals is far too complicated for my brain)

Here’s where I’m focused for this year:

_

1/ Wedding

In September, I’ll be marrying my fiance. And I can’t wait. But I want us to start married life in the best way possible. To me, that means being financially comfortable, being present, and working towards our dream home.

(As well as trying to get everything sorted before September lol)

_

2/ Health

For years I've been hunched over a computer screen. Didn't do me much good. 2026 I'm getting back into shape: gym 6x a week, walking more, and taking care of the mental health too.

You're only as good as you're able to execute.

_

3/ Business

I help founders make more money with a model that attracts and keeps clients happy long-term. My goal: have the right 10-20 clients onboard at one time. People I’m excited about working with.

No huge empire or big office. Just a small corner of the world that sets me and my fiance up for life.

(Which is also SO much fun to run)

_

4/ Friends

Nothing is lonelier than being a solopreneur sometimes. But there are a ton of amazing people on here who have become great friends over the years. So I’mvputting more effort into those friendships, whilst making new ones.

We’re all on this journey together. Might as well make it more fun.

_

Every single day I’m contributing to at least one of these 4 things. Every day.

They're not there to set the world on fire. 

But it’s exactly the life I want to work towards.

My advice: Find what you want in 12 months, and go for it relentlessly. 

P.S - If you want to see the strategy behind the business + content and how they blend together, I wrote a playbook on it packed with useful insights. You can grab it (free) here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

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

I’m 27. Run a 1-person business. And in 8 months time, I’m marrying my fiance.

So I’ve got a plan.

The next 8 months = all-in on business to set us up for the best start to married life.

My plan is to help 100+ founders and solopreneurs build a stable business in 2026.

(Then invest as much money as I can into our future)

These are the steps I’m taking:

1/ Use content to attract + build trust with the people I can help
2/ Every post will have a CTA of some sort (to drive conversation)
3/ Spend more time creating videos + articles to share deeper thinking
4/ Share regular insights and behind-the-scenes to my newsletter (you can get it here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)
5/ Run regular lead magnets to give away help + show people how I can help them
6/ Invite people who’d like to go a step further into working with me privately

And these are the rules that I’m following to get there:

1/ Friday’s are planning days. I’ll be using them to review the week gone by and see how things have gone, rather than just working harder.
2/ Limit calls during the week. I’d rather have space to think and deep-dive than be back-to-back every day.
3/ Limit client spots. I only take a small number of clients on at a time so we can work closely instead of me being busy with lots of clients.
4/ Make time for health. I’ll be in the gym 6x per week and doing more walking. Helps the brain as well as the body.
5/ No working weekends or evenings. That’s time where I’m with my fiance, and that’s uninterrupted time.

It’s going to be a good year. I’m excited for it.

I’ll keep you posted how it goes.

P.S - I’m documenting a lot of the journey in my newsletter. If you want to see more unfiltered insights and lessons, check it out here (and get my playbook for free): https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

I spent the last few months of 2025 getting everything ready to hit January running.

And then spent all of last week in bed with the flu.

(What a great way to start 2026)

Instead of a great first week to the year, I got this:

→ Slept about 16 hours a day
→ Worked maybe 30 minutes max per day
→ Could barely look at my laptop

Still though:

→ 7 new calls booked with leads
→ Clients were still taken care of
→ Business didn't fall to pieces

A year ago, last week would've sent me into a panic where I freak out about the business.

"What if leads go cold?"
“What if clients think I've ghosted them?"
"What if I lose momentum and fall behind?"

But that's the point of building a business that doesn't rely on you being “on" 24/7.

→ Content can be created easily when you have the right system
→ Systems that run without me needing to be there
→ Clients who trust the process (and tell you to rest)

I'm not saying this to brag.

I'm saying it because if your business falls apart the moment you take a sick day, that's not a business. That's a trap.

Build something that gives you room to breathe.

Even when you can barely breathe.

P.S - If you want to see the sick-proof structure I used to build my business, it's all in my playbook here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

My favourite client wins often have nothing to do with revenue.

One of the BEST things about what I do:

Seeing people’s lives change.

At heart, I help people build stable businesses. That’s my whole mission.

We structure their content strategy to get clients and make sure the business is steady month on month. 

But it’s not just about helping them make more money.

It’s for the clients who have goals like these:

→ To be able to take their girlfriend on a fancy date every week
→ To go and play golf on Wednesdays guilt free
→ To log off at 2pm to be with their husband
→ To be free to explore the world, not be stuck behind a desk
→ To raise their newborn (and work around them)

(All things clients have said/done in 2025)

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make more money. It’s essential if you want to live well. And we all do.

But chase it for the doors it unlocks.

I’m just grateful to be able to help others unlock them.

I’m seeing 2 types of people entering 2026:

Take person A:

→ Constantly checking the metrics
→ Chasing the next best trend to stand out
→ Desperate to keep the numbers in the green
→ Looking at what everyone else is doing
→ Buying every analytics/AI tool they can find

And person B:

→ Accepts that the reach game has changed
→ Focuses on resonating with the right people
→ Writes from their own experiences (not trends)
→ Stays true to what they say, even if it doesn’t “perform”
→ Laser focused on reaching 1,000 people who they can help

There’s no right or wrong way to build a brand.

But if I had to bet on one person winning, it would be person B.

(By “winning” I mean growing business, not burning out, enjoying the process, still around 12+ months later)

Because they’re the person who’s going to resonate.

And that’s what 2026 should be about.
Resonating with the right people.

Remember, you don’t need 100s of leads every single month to build a successful business.

Just the right people who see where you’re taking them, and like you as a person.

Focus on them = everything becomes easier.

P.S - I wrote a playbook that covers my Narrator’s Truth content strategy. It shows you how to become person B with your content (free): https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

2026 is the year to go deep.

(Read this if you want to win this year)

One of my clients and I started working together in December.

Since then:

→ 4 clients onboarded
→ All good-fit clients (aligned with values)
→ Found their confidence with their business again
→ Felt happier than ever working in their business
→ Found their voice and enjoying creating content again

All because they stopped worrying about the reach game and went all-in on resonating with the right people.

I’m telling you.

Resonance is the word of 2026.

Proof in 1 simple message:

“I didn't have to convince her of anything. She already knew what I did, what she needed help with and so it was like an onboarding call.”

THAT is the magic of resonating with the right people.

Make 2026 the year you go deep for those that count.

It'll be worth it. 

P.S - Next week I’m launching a 30-min training to show you how to do this. The full model, end-to-end. Stay tuned.

1,092 hours. 45.5 days. 6.5 weeks.

That's roughly how much time I've spent on LinkedIn in my life so far.

Some people would argue that time could have been better spent.

I disagree.

Sure, I could've spent that time on long walks or out with friends. Maybe even more fun.

But that time has turned into:

→ 1,000,000s of people seeing my content
→ Meeting some incredible entrepreneurs
→ Working with 40+ 1:1 clients

And building a business that I used to dream of having, but never knew how.

Most founders think short-term with their content.

They think in weeks, not months. 

But if you’re prepared to play the long-term game, you can open some serious doors.

I wrote a playbook that breaks down the system I use now to build my brand and sign clients from content.

It’s built from everything I’ve learned across those 1,092 hours.

If you want to grab it, it's free: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

“I hate the idea of being salesy. It puts me off conversations with people”.

That was a conversation I had with someone last week.

Yet 3 hours after our call, she had her first lead.

Here's what happened:

We jumped on a call. Talked through how she could structure her business so conversations feel natural, not forced.

3 hours later, she messages me:

"Just had a call with someone. I followed the approach you gave me."

→ She listened to what he was struggling with
→ She shared her solution to the problem
→ He asked about her services
→ She told him

Then he said he wasn't ready for someone to take over his posts.

(For context, she’s a ghostwriter)

Instead of pushing, she offered a tiny next step:

"Send me 1 post tomorrow. I'll optimise it for LinkedIn. Let me show you what a difference structure makes".

He agreed.

And now she gets to show him how good her work actually is.
(Without feeling awkward or weird)

Which is how it should be in my opinion. 

Your posts are there to build trust with the right people.
↓
You're just having conversations with people who want what you offer.
↓
You get to work with some of the best aligned-clients you’ll ever find.

That's the goal.

P.S - I wrote the process into my playbook here. Check it out for free: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky

One of my newest clients made me smile on our first call together.

Because they’re not chasing:

→ $100k/year
→ 100,000 followers
→ Endless approval from strangers

The first call I have with any new client is to fully understand where they want to be, so we can create their brand/business around that.

And on this call, they said they’re looking for these:

→ To be able to finish at 2pm every day to spend time with her husband
→ To be comfortable with money, not stressing every month
→ To have fun in their business and with clients

We reverse engineered that, and turns out she only needs a 5-7 good-fit clients onboard at any one time.

So we made a plan to find them, and then we’re making sure they’re never short for new ones if they naturally leave in the future.

(P.S - We used the same structure for their business that I wrote about in my playbook. Get it free here: https://lnkd.in/eNBJy5Ky)

The best bit:

It’s built around their values and the things they’re passionate about.

It’s rewarding getting client results.

It’s even more rewarding when you know it goes deeper than just nice numbers on a page, and you see the impact it has for people.

I love this.

Chances are, at some point in 2026, you’ll mess up.

And it’ll likely be a good thing.

(Because that’s how you improve)

It’s been 2 years since my biggest mess-up:

It was December, and I had too many post ideas flowing to keep track of.

My genius solution → Schedule them all for next year and worry about them then.

Except in my infinite wisdom I scheduled them all for Jan 1st (and accidentally clicked “schedule” rather than “draft”).

And then forgot they were there.

→ Ideas chucked in as notes
→ Unfinished sentences
→ Reminders to myself

And they all went live at 08:00 on New Years day.

Then I woke up at 10:30 to a ton of notifications and panic.

The year started with me thinking I’d ruined my brand on day 1.

But what actually happened:

→ Some people actually liked some of the ideas
→ People laughed about it
→ Nobody really remembers it now
→ Jan 2nd I overhauled my content strategy (no more live scheduling)

And that mistake never happened again. Nor will it ever happen for any of my clients. Because now they get my fool-proof strategy to prevent anything like that happening for them.

That’s one of the best things you can offer clients in 2026.

They don’t want perfection.

They want to learn from your experiences, because you’ve walked the path already.

That’s what people buy into.

Information is everywhere.
But people with experience are rare.

So write about the stuff you’ve seen, things you’ve done, and show how your readers how you can help them from that.
You’ll stand out well.

P.S - If you remember that happening please don’t remind me lol

In 2023, I got laid off with 0 warning. And thought my world was crumbling.

Didn’t know how we’d pay the bills. Scared it would all fall apart.

Turns out, it's not usually the end of the road. 

2 years of going all-in on my little business on here and these moments happened:

1/ Took Sian to New York → It was our bucket list trip and something that we always talked about doing “when we were doing OK”. Well in 2025, we finally were.

2/ Bought my dream motorbike → Something I never thought would happen because I was in survival mode for too long, became real.

3/ Paid all the wedding deposits → Since 2023 it was a bit of a “how will we afford this?”. Now we can.

4/ Stopped working Fridays → Always dreamed of having time in the week for errands, the gym, just life as a whole. And now it’s possible.

Plenty more I could share here.

But the moral to this story is, whatever happens in life: It’s not always the end of the road.

It feels like it at the time. You might not see the next step.

But surround yourself with loved ones who want you to succeed.

And go for it.

P.S - Next WEEK I'm launching a 30-minute training on the exact model that I've used. It'll show you the content strategy, the funnel, and everything you need to see to make this possible. Check the comments for more details.

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

I help agencies, and consultants B2B service providers scale their revenue & profitability. 

My track record speaks for itself:

- I've helped 250+ agencies scale in the last 36 months. 
- Personally built 3 businesses to multiple millions in annual revenue. 
- 1 successful exit of my own, and 3 among our advisory team. 

How I can help you scale your business: 

1. Our D.N.A. Days

Where you come in person to Nashville, TN and sit alongside myself and our team, where we’ll complete a full audit of your business, establish your goals, and design a clear roadmap to solve what’s holding you back from scaling. 

Then, we give you our exact systems & processes to make it reality. 

2. Our Mastermind Program, the Hydra Growth Collective. 

This is our flagship offering that bundles all our proven systems, lead-gen, ops, and AI frameworks into weekly group calls, a private community, a full curriculum library, and two live, in-person growth intensives each year.

3. The Hydra Portfolio 

An invite-only offer for a minority stake of your business where we invest capital and work hands-on as part of your management team until we both win.

If you’re running a service business in the $500k–$10M range and want predictable scale, not more theory, fluff, or advice that keeps you spinning your wheels…

DM me “grow” to learn more. 

Also founder at HOWL Campfires, a DTC brand. We're a 100% Made In The USA, patented, portable propane fire pit line. 

Learn more about how we keep the forest & fire alive for generations to come at www.howlcampfires.com

Nicholas Kirchner

Agencies charging under $10K have a leverage problem.

At $3K/month:

->You need 34 clients to hit $100K/month
->34 clients need ~3 account managers
->3 account managers = $15-20K/month overhead

Gross margin: ~50%

At $10K/month:

->You need 10 clients to hit $100K/month
->10 clients need 1 account manager
->1 account manager = ~$10K/month overhead

Gross margin: 65-75%

Same revenue.

Wildly different business.

The $10K barrier isn't about confidence.

It's about building a business that doesn't require 3x the headcount to scale.

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

Lead Magnets are the 80/20 of generating new business on LinkedIn. 

But there’s one major problem: Managing follow up to turn those opt-ins into real sales opportunities. 

Working with 250+ agencies, consultants & B2B service providers, I see the same problem everywhere. 

You post a lead magnet on LinkedIn, get engagement, then I get asked the same question... 

“Do I really have to hunt down every commenter, open their profile, and manually add them to my CRM?”

Until recently, the answer was… yes.

Until I found out about Copper. 

I'll be honest, I was skeptical. 

Another CRM claiming "LinkedIn integration"?

But then I tested their Chrome extension.

You know when you post content and get 47 comments? 

Instead of opening 47 tabs to stalk profiles and copy contact info...

One click imports everything: 

→ Full LinkedIn profile data 
→ Email addresses
→ Phone numbers and company details 
→ Job change notifications when they move

But here's the interesting part: it works while you're already on LinkedIn. 

No platform switching.

Other solutions cost thousands of dollars a month or are far too complex that it becomes clunky. 

Copper? 

My new workflow:

→ Post lead magnet 
→ See who engages 
→ Open the Copper Chrome Extension sidebar
→ Click import 
→ They're in my CRM with full contact data
→ I can send automated emails & progress them through my pipeline

Look, I've seen companies post great content then lose 90% of leads because getting the follow-up infrastructure in place takes forever.

Worth giving this tool a shot though if you're serious about LinkedIn prospecting.

And reminder, your lead magnets are only as good as your follow-up speed and ability to convert them into sales opportunities. 

P.S. If you want this capability, snag a 14 day free trial in the comments

This post is sponsored by Copper CRM.

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

Competitors have tried copying Hydra more times than I can count.

They copy our positioning. 
Our messaging. 
Our offers.

Then they pivot. 
To AI. 
To a different model. 
To something else entirely.

Here's why the copies don't stick:

They copy the surface, not the substance.

You can screenshot our website. 

You can't screenshot years of pattern recognition from advising 250+ agencies.

They're not invested in the outcome.

We know every teammate on our clients' teams. 

We're embedded in their businesses. 

That level of investment isn't something you can fake or fast-track.

They don't have the reps.

I've had multiple clients 3x their businesses. 

I've helped oversee agency exits. 

I sold my own agency at 21. 

That context shows up in the advice. 

You can't copy experience.

They chase trends. 

We solve problems.

When something shiny appears, they pivot. 

We stay focused on what actually moves the needle for agency owners. 

Boring wins.

TAKEAWAY:

For years I worried about competitors. 

After watching them come and go while we kept growing, I realized the best defense isn't secrecy, it's depth. 

Go so deep that copying the surface is useless.

I'd rather be hard to copy than hard to find. 

That's why we invest in relationships, not flashy marketing. 

P.S. Competition is a compliment. 

Keep building.

The middle market kills agencies

I watched my margins collapse trying to serve the middle market.

Here's the trap nobody warns you about.

When you're starting out, mid-market clients feel like a win. 

They have real budgets. 

They're not as demanding as enterprise. 

They're not as price-sensitive as small businesses.

It feels like the sweet spot.

It's actually quicksand.

The middle gets squeezed from both sides.

They have enterprise expectations without enterprise budgets. 

They want the polish of a big agency and the prices of a small one.

Your talent doesn't fit.

Junior people can't handle their complexity. 

Senior people are too expensive for what they'll pay. 

You end up with a mismatched team doing mediocre work.

Your ops get complicated.

Too custom for templates. 

Not profitable enough for white-glove. 

Every project is a one-off that eats your time.

You can't differentiate.

A thousand agencies serve the middle. 

You're competing on nothing but relationships and luck.

I had to pick a lane. 

High volume, low ticket. 

Or low volume, high ticket. 

The middle was killing me.

My .02 is to pick an extreme & own it.

I'd rather be too expensive for some than affordable for everyone. 

That's why I went high-ticket. 

And I never looked back.

- N

5 goals every 7-figure agency owner should have for 2026:

(#3 might surprise you) 

1. Build a leadership team that can run without you for 30 days

→ Your agency shouldn't need you to survive

2. Create one irresistible offer that sells itself

→ Stop competing on price. Start competing on value/

3. Fire 20% of your clients

→ The wrong clients cost more than they pay

4. Document every system in your business

→ If it's in your head, it's holding you hostage

5. Take 4 weeks off without checking Slack

→ Freedom isn't optional. It's the point.

The agency owners who win in 2026 won't be the ones who work the hardest...

They'll be the ones who built something that works without them.

Agency owners love to blame their niche.

"Gyms don't have budget." 
"Roofers are flaky." 
"E-com is too competitive."

Your problem isn't your niche.

It's that you're selling to the smallest companies charging $2-3K/month.

The result is always:

-> High churn (they go out of business)
-> Annoying clients (they micromanage because $2K is a lot to them)
-> Slim margins (no room for error)

Same niche. 

Different segment.

Go from "gym owners" to "gym owners with 3+ locations." 

Go from "e-com brands" to "e-com brands doing $3M+."

Same service. 

5x the price. 

Better clients.

The niche isn't the problem. 

The market segment is.

Everyone asks "how do I get to $10M?"

Better question: why?

After helping 250+ agencies scale, and watching some blow past $10M while being miserable, here's what I've come to believe:

In my opinion, agency nirvana is $3M in revenue with $1M+ in profit.

Here's why:

1. It's real.

$3M isn't a lifestyle business. It's substantial. You have a real team, real clients, real infrastructure. 

2. It's systemized.

At this level, with the right structure, the business can run without you in the day-to-day. You're not the bottleneck on every decision.

3. You can remove yourself.

With a few key hires, you can step back. Work on the business instead of in it. Travel. Start something else. 

4. You have options.

Hold it as a cash-flow vehicle. Use the profits to fund other ventures. Or sell it. At $3M with strong margins, you have a real asset.

5. Beyond this, the game changes.

Past $3-5M, you're committing to something different. More people. More complexity. More problems. Some want that. But know it's a different game with different tradeoffs.

TAKEAWAY:

For years I thought bigger was better. 

After seeing what "success" actually looks like at different levels, I realized the goal isn't maximum revenue. 

It's maximum freedom at sustainable profit.

I'd rather own a $3M agency that prints cash than a $10M agency that owns me. That's why I help people build for freedom, not just scale. And I always will.

P.S. What's your number? Curious to hear

I just crunched some numbers on Hydra client growth in 2025...

Here's 5 of my favorites: 

$1.19M ➝ $3.78M ARR (218% growth) 
$3.95M ➝ $5.05M ARR (28% growth) 
$852k ➝ $1.92M ARR (125% growth) 
$276k ➝ $1.16M ARR (320% growth) 
$492k ➝ $1.34M ARR (172% growth) 
$804k ➝ $1.25M ARR (55% growth)

😮‍💨

Your agency's offer doesn't need to be unique.

There are 50+ agencies selling the exact same thing as you.

The difference is execution.

If you're an agency that:

->Spends $1K/day on ads
->Closes at 25-35%
->Has a $50K+ LTV

You'll beat every competitor with a "better" offer who can't acquire clients.

Unique mechanism matters for conversion.

But distribution beats differentiation every time.

The agency spending $30K/month on ads will outgrow the agency with the "perfect" offer spending $0.

Execution > Innovation.

Here's the actual math on acquiring agency clients through paid ads:

→$3,500/month ad spend 
→$350 cost per booked call 
→10 calls booked 
→75% show rate
→8 live calls 
→20% close rate 
→1.5 new clients

Example average contract: $4K/month × 12 months = $48K LTV

CAC: $2,333 

LTV:CAC = 20:1

One new client per month pays for your ads 14x over.

The problem isn't the math. 

The math is incredible.

The problem is most agencies can't get these numbers because:

→Their funnel speaks to Level 3 buyers (not Level 5)
→Their VSL follows templates their prospects have seen 100x
→Their ads look like every other agency's ads

We fix all three.

Want to see the full model on how it works? 

DM me "MATH".

Most founders don't have a time problem.

They have a trust problem.

→ They don't trust their team to handle client calls
→ They don't trust the process to work without them
→ They don't trust that "good enough" can still be great

I spent 2 years being the bottleneck in my own business.

Every decision ran through me. Every client issue landed on my desk.

I thought I was being responsible.

I was actually being controlling.

The shift happened when I asked myself:

"Am I building a company or feeding my ego?"

Harsh question. But necessary.

Here's what I learned:

→ Your team will make mistakes. Let them.
→ Some clients will leave. That's okay.
→ The business needs to survive without you. That's the goal.

The moment I started trusting others, the business grew faster than when I was "in control."

- N

3 shifts that can actually move the needle in 2026: 

1. Chasing revenue is a trap.

I've watched agency owners hit their "number" and feel nothing. 

Because they were playing someone else's game. 

2. Revenue is a byproduct. 

Clarity on why you're building comes first.

More leads won't save a broken model.

The agencies I've seen struggle hardest are the ones obsessed with top-of-funnel. 

Meanwhile their fulfillment is bleeding, margins are thin, and they're one client departure from chaos. 

Fix the engine before you floor the gas.

3. Sustainable output requires intentional recovery.

This one took me longer to learn. 

You can white-knuckle it for a while. 

But it catches up. 

The owners running the most efficient operations I know are deliberate about stepping away.

If you're still grinding, that's a signal worth examining.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is...

Go touch some grass.

7 signs you're finally ready to scale your agency:

1. You've stopped saying yes to every client

→ Desperation is gone. 

Standards are in.

2. Your team solves problems without asking you.

→ You've hired thinkers, not task-takers.

3. You know your numbers cold.

→ Revenue, profit margins, CAC, LTV. 

No guessing.

4. You've fired a client in the last 90 days

→ You value your sanity over their check.

5. You have 3+ months of runway

→ You can invest in growth without panic.

6. Your best clients came from referrals

→ You've earned trust. 

Now you're reaping it.

7. You're bored with where you are

→ Comfort became uncomfortable. 

That's the signal.

Scaling isn't about doing more.

It's about having the foundation to do bigger.

Stop comparing your year 2 to someone else's year 7.

I see it all the time.

Founders beating themselves up because they haven't hit some arbitrary milestone.

→ "I should have more clients by now"
→ "I should be more profitable"
→ "I should have figured this out already"

Here's the truth:

You're not behind. 

You're just on a different timeline.

I bootstrapped my first agency from $150 to a sale in 24 months.

But for the first 12 months? I was grinding, doubting, and questioning everything.

What I know now:

→ Every "overnight success" has years of invisible work behind it
→ Comparison is the fastest way to kill your momentum
→ Your only competition is who you were yesterday

The founders who win aren't the ones who started first.

They're the ones who didn't quit.

6 habits that quietly kill agency growth:

1. Saying "I'll just do it myself"

→ You're not saving time. You're stealing it from strategy.

2. Checking email before 10am

→ You start the day reacting instead of creating.

3. Hiring for skill instead of culture

→ Skills can be taught. 

Attitude can't.

4. Avoiding hard conversations

→ That thing you're not saying? 

Everyone already knows it.

5. Working IN the business instead of ON it

→ Busy isn't the same as building.

6. Celebrating revenue instead of profit

→ Top line feeds ego. 

Bottom line feeds freedom.

Growth doesn't die from big mistakes.

It dies from small habits repeated daily.

Tough advice I give agency owners:

You must fire yourself from client work.

This is hard because…you started your agency because you were good at something. 

Creative.

Ads.

Email. 

But here's why staying in delivery is killing your business:

1. You become the bottleneck.

When every deliverable needs your hands on it, growth stops at your personal capacity. You're not running a business, you're running a job with employees.

2. Your best hours go to the wrong work.

Strategy, sales, systems, leadership, that's CEO work. When you're deep in client deliverables, that work gets scraps. Or nothing.

3. You can't see the business clearly.

When you're inside the work, you lose perspective. 

You miss patterns. 

You react instead of anticipate. 

Distance creates clarity.

4. Your team never levels up.

If you're always the backstop, they never have to get better. 

Your presence stunts their growth. 

Sometimes stepping back is the best training you can give.

5. You're building something unsellable.

If the business needs you in delivery to function, it's not an asset. 

It's a liability with your face on it. 

Buyers pay for systems, not founders.

TAKEAWAY:

For years I told myself clients needed me. 

After forcing myself out of delivery, uncomfortably, before I felt ready, everything improved. 

Better work from the team. 

Better thinking from me. 

Better business overall.

I'd rather build something that runs without me than be indispensable to something that can't grow. 

That's why I fire myself from roles. 

And I always will.

P.S. If you disappeared for 30 days, would client work still ship? If not, that's your constraint.

There's 2 camps of agencies right now: 

1. Breakout growth, setting new records month after month. 

2. Struggling (in decline) or flat. 

What's the difference? 

1. Has fully committed to retaining clients long term WHILE having strong, non-negotiable focus on business development. 

2. Has not figured out retention and has half in half out commitment on new client acquisition. 

You can survive with 1 piece (acquisition or retention) not figured out, but not with both.

For the past few years, I've helped dozens of agency owners scale past 7 figures in ARR. 

The pattern I keep seeing?

Most agencies don't have a client acquisition problem.

They have a systems problem.

→ No video sales letter that pre-sells before the call 
→ No funnel that books qualified leads automatically 
→ No email sequences that nurture and convert 
→ No tracking to know what's actually working

So we built something to fix all of it.

Introducing the Done-For-You VSL Sprint:

We'll build your entire client acquisition machine in 30-45 days.

What you get: 

→ Custom VSL script + full post-production editing 
→ High-converting landing page with calendar integration 
→ Complete email nurture system (follow-up, pre-call, no-show recovery) 
→ Ad creatives ready to run
→ Full tracking & attribution setup 

All you do is record the video. 

We handle everything else.

→This isn't a course. 
→This isn't consulting. 
→This isn't a template. 
→This is us building your funnel FOR you.

If you're an agency owner ready to stop chasing leads and start attracting them systematically....

DM me "VSL" and I'll send the details.

Only taking on two builds of these per month for the time being.

After advising 250+ agency owners, here's advice that always gets pushback:

Stop sending proposals.

Only present on a call. 

Why? 

1. Sent proposals invite comparison shopping. 

The moment you send a PDF, you become a commodity. 

Prospects print it out next to three others and compare line items. 

You're not selling transformation anymore. 

You're selling tasks.

2. They delay decisions. 

"Let me review the proposal and get back to you." 

That's the death sentence. 

Momentum dies in inboxes. 

The longer they sit with a document, the colder they get.

3. They answer questions nobody asked. 

Most proposals are 80% filler. 

Scope breakdowns. 

Team bios. 

Case studies they won't read. 

You're padding because you're insecure about the price.

4. They remove you from the conversation. 

A proposal gets forwarded to people who weren't in the room. 

Now someone who doesn't know you is making judgments about your value based on a document.

For years I thought proposals showed professionalism. 

After watching close rates climb when we walked prospects through our process exclusively on calls, everything changed. 

Now I tell clients: 

If you can't close it in the room, your odds of success drop dramatically.

Unpopular opinion: agency "networking" is a waste of time.

Here's why I stopped going to industry events:

You're in a room full of sellers.

Agency conferences are agencies selling to agencies. 

Everyone's hunting. 

Nobody's buying. 

You spend 3 days collecting business cards from people who want your business, not the other way around.

Surface relationships don't convert.

"Great connecting!" messages go nowhere. 

The follow-up fizzles. 

You connected on nothing real. 

The relationship has no foundation.

Time is better spent on clients or finding new ones. 

Every hour at a conference is an hour not serving existing clients. 

Those clients refer. 

Those clients expand. 

Strangers in a ballroom don't.

Content scales. 

Handshakes don't.

Are there exceptions, OF COURSE. 

But one good LinkedIn post reaches more of your ideal audience than a week of conferences. 

And it keeps working while you sleep.

For years I thought I needed to "be seen" at events. 

After tracking where actual revenue came from, almost none traced back to conferences. 

It all came from ads, referrals, content, and existing clients.

I'd rather go deep with a few than shallow with many. 

That's why I skip most events. 

P.S. Track where your last 10 clients came from. If none came from networking events, maybe its time to stop going and re-allocate that budget elsewhere

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The Battle

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