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.

Niall Cleaver

Documenting the journey of crafting a timeless coffee cup brand | CEO & Founder of Cupsly

My story isn’t about a polished entrepreneur. My journey hasn’t been traditional. I left school without an English qualification, uncertain of what the future held. 

That failure shaped me, it forced me to think differently, fall into business, and ultimately embrace creativity, resilience, and the belief that change is possible, even when doubted. Fast forward to today, I’m growing and scaling businesses while sharing the real lessons that come from it.

Founder

Are you struggling to grow an engaging community for your business or personal brand.

Stop right there, I think I have you covered ⬇️

This is me (Niall), I'm a 22-year-old who is fascinated by growing communities in the online space. Actual communities that have meaning and purpose. 

The services we provide at Social Library 

➡️ Personal Branding (LinkedIn)

➡️ Guidance & support consulting


Drop me a message to discuss your social media strategy, review how well your current socials/posts are doing, and research how we can build your community and gain you more followers and leads.

or you can email us @

hello@sociallibrary.co.uk

For years... I thought starting small wasn’t even an option.

This year, I want to start small. You need to read this.

Everyone is so scared to start small and I was one of those people. I used to overthink about creating something big instead of worrying about starting small.

Turns out, starting small is how you build big.

It’s how you take the first step forward.
It’s how you stop overanalysing.
It’s how you actually start.

It almost feels wrong when you say it out loud.

But every successful founder and business you see today didn’t get where they are by massive moves. They got there by starting small and then scaling.

So if you’re starting a business, building a hobby, or whatever it may be… stop worrying about “scaling big” and focus on the small step that gets you going.

Growing @thistlescientific and sharing the lessons while I do

Building vs scaling a business. What's the difference?

A few years ago, I learned one of the most valuable lesson in business. I left school with qualifications that made it hard for me to get any sort of job.

Luckily, my family ran a business. I jumped in and started learning. And here’s what I learned: There’s a huge difference between building and scaling.

Building a business:

Proving the idea
Short-term survival
Doing everything yourself
Energy, speed & scrappiness

Scaling a business:

Letting go of control
Long-term decisions
Patience, systems & people
Making sure it works without you.
Alignment throughout the whole company.

Building feels exciting. Scaling feels uncomfortable. Both are essential. I didn’t realise how different they both were until I lived them.

But the one thing that never changes between both? 
The hard work that comes with it.

I just spent 2 hours yesterday in one of the best meetings of my life!!!

What about? How do we build further on our foundation?

Yesterday was a special day, do you know where you get the team together and you leave feeling excited for what's to come? That's what happened.

It's been a pretty wild couple of months for Thistle, but it always comes back to the same thing. How can we deepen the connection we can have with researchers?

The personal touch.
The real support they deserve.
The professionalism and trust they have in us.

This year, we’re looking at how we double down on that.

We’ve set some big objectives, and the whole team is ready for them. If yesterday was anything to go by, this next phase is going to be an exciting one.

We can't wait to share more on this very soon.

We’re excited to announce our new collaboration.

I'm genuinely proud of the impact we're creating in research at Thistle Scientific. It started with one clear objective to make research the best it can be, not only to impact our lives, but also to impact the lives of generations to come.

Last week was a big reminder of this as we announced our collaboration with arcorisbio AG, which will help accelerate the industrialisation and commercialisation of their breakthrough MUSE® platform.

A collaboration that will help keep the world safe.

One of the best mistakes I learned pretty quickly in business.

Thinking strategy comes first in business. But it doesn’t… 

Understanding who you’re building for is.

I’m nowhere near successful yet. But I’ve been lucky to spend time around people who definitely are. And one topic comes up over and over again: 

Strategy.

How did you come up with your strategy?
Why has your strategy been effective?
When do you adapt your strategy?

The answer usually sounds complicated.
But, it keeps coming back to one word: audience.

Before you can plan anything, you have to understand them. What do they care about? When do they need to hear from you? How do they feel when they see you show up?

This is where a lot of founders go wrong. No strategy is 100% correct. It’s custom‑made based on how well you understand the information your audience is giving you.

So copying what works in another company or industry rarely works. You’re playing a different game, with different people, at a different stage.

Strategy is an understanding game.

I used to panic hearing the word strategy in business.

It sounded complicated... but it wasn’t.

I would hear the word and be like that sounds proper technical. I'd just nod like I understood exactly what it meant, when I didn't but now I get it and it's simple.

It's just a plan.

What are the objectives?
What action will you take to hit them?
Which data tells you it's working or it isn't?

We love to make words sound more complicated than they are. 

It's easy to overcomplicate things when you hear all of the advice online but it's simpler than you think. If something isn't working don't wait, go and find the reason why.

Try something. Learn. Adapt. Evolve. Repeat.
Just enjoy the process of figuring out.

That's what business is!

When I was younger, I hesitated on the idea of working for my family business.

Today, I’m 3 years in, working alongside nearly 50 incredible people.

It’s crazy how life works. Some days you’re completely against something before you’ve even tried it…then you try it and realise it was exactly what you were meant to do.

I always had this doubt in the back of my head:
That I had to prove myself somewhere else first.

That’s why:

- I started posting on LinkedIn.
- I kept looking for “my own thing”.
- I started learning more about business.

Now it feels like all of that happened so I could come back better and help continue to grow a business I genuinely care about. But this growth has hardly been me. It’s been the team I get to work with every single day.

A few things this has taught me:

- Don’t write something off until you’ve actually tried it.
- You can prove yourself elsewhere, but always bring the knowledge back

So don't resist an opportunity just because it didn't fit your picture in that specific moment of your life. It might be worth taking a closer look.

Stop listening to too much advice.

Read that again... throughout my journey, I've fallen for many distractions. Stuff that didn't feel right personally, and so many of us are going through this.

There's advice here, there and everywhere.

And it's very hard to know which is the right or wrong advice, and you know what you'll never really know. The only way to find out is to...

Listen to your gut and try.

In a world full of advice after advice, trust yourself first. 
There's no right or wrong way to do anything.

If it works, it works!

P.S. Have a little day in the life vid

taplio

The Battle

Luke Redhead

Niall Cleaver

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreLuke Redhead's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreNiall Cleaver's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Luke Redhead

Niall Cleaver

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);}Luke Redhead's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreNiall Cleaver's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreLuke Redhead's LinkedIn Performance