The SweetLife® Company | Business Consulting | Podcast

We help subject matter experts, coaches, consultants, authors and speakers scale their business by creating million dollar programs and offer ecosystems, and then Licensing their content, courses or trainings to corporations, organizations or other entrepreneurs, for high profit, deep impact, exponential reach and lifestyle freedom.

We’re a business consulting firm with over 25 years experience, being pivotal in the foundation of the online coaching and courses industry. We are business architects and offer engineers. 

We are as selective of the clients we choose to work with as you should be with those who consult you.  If you're looking for boutique business consulting with high impact results and you are a driven business entrepreneur, then The SweetLife Company is your ideal partner. 

>>>  www.sweetlifeco.com 

Business Consulting for: 
- How to package, price and sell your Course, Content or Training to Corporations, organizations or other entrepreneurs.
- Development of IP, programs, offers, events curriculum, coaching services, consulting programs or courses that lead industries using Transformational Program Design™
- Strategic Business Design™ for lifestyle freedom

Please contact us to discuss the opportunity to work together.

Founder, CEO | Business Strategist | Content, Course Licensing Consultant | Podcast Host 

SweetLife® Entrepreneur Podcast

Award winning podcast delivering "business trainings and strategies that other coaches charge thousands for".

Podcast Host

Gugu Guru

Development of brand strategies and communications to accurately position Gugu Guru as an immediate-innovative leader in the marketplace.

Board Member

Baby Planner, Inc.

April Beach is the founder and author of the Baby Planning, Maternity Concierge, Parent Coaching Industry. She is the go-to business development strategist for companies who choose to operate in and develop business models or program within this industry. 

April wrote the scope of practice for baby planners in 2006, established the first industry association, and has consulted over 3000 businesses to launch and scale in the maternity services space. 

Baby Planner Inc. provides business to business consulting, maternity benefits programs, content licensing, entrepreneur coaching and corporate program development for companies who choose to operate in or offer baby planning type programs or services. 

Creators of the Maternity Concierge, Parent Coaching Industry.

Founder | Online Business Consulting for Parent Focused Companies | Doulas | Parent Coaches | OBGYNs

HeyMama

Advised on online business scale strategies.

Business Advisor

iSplack

Brand Strategy Consultant

Erie Rising, Nonprofit 

Grassroots Organization concerned about the health and welfare of children and families living within close proximity to mining by the use of fracturing (for oil and gas).

Founder

International Baby Planner Association

Created the baby planning industry | Developed Manufacturer Relations Program | Authored the definition of a Baby Planner, Maternity Concierge | Coached Women in Start Up Business | Created and Hosted Virtual Community  Developed the scope of practice for the maternity concierge industry. Marketing, Branding, business support.

Co-Founder and VP Marketing

Sweet Pea Baby Planners

The Industry's First Comprehensive Parent Consulting Firm.

>>> www.sweetpeababyplanners.com

As the Founder and CEO of The SweetLife Company, I help experts, coaches and consultants, scale their business online through million dollar offer ecosystems and content licensing. My clients are licensing their courses, trainings and methods to other companies for unlimited scalability, profit and thought-leadership reach, as well as building their frameworks/methods, courses, trainings, coaching programs, memberships, masterminds, curriculum, certifications, and/or events. 

I/we predictably help our clients achieve results through our online courses, trainings, mastermind, 1-1, retreats, speaking, mentorship, coaching and consulting, and by giving them access to our proven systems, processes, project plans, tools, templates, unmatched experience, and access to 30+ well-vetted online business experts who make up our advisor dream team. 

I have over 17 years of experience as an online coaching business pioneer, consultant and strategist, and 27 years consulting entrepreneurs. I've  been a lifestyle entrepreneur my whole life, and have complete location freedom. 

I created an international online coaching industry from scratch and therefore understand the history and trends of the online business/courses space, enabling our clients always be ahead of the game and never drowning in the coaching program noise. 

I am the creator of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™, a proven formula to design, launch, and scale online businesses with location freedom for subject matter experts, consultants, coaches, and speakers. 

I'm award winning podcast host of SweetLife™ Entrepreneur Podcast, where we are knowing for delivering "audaciously free online business trainings that other coaches will charge you thousands for"™ 

www.sweetlifeco.com

April Beach

Michelle J Raymond

Business LinkedIn Trainer - B2B Marketers/Business Owners my LinkedIn G.R.O.W.T.H Masterclass & B2B Community Builder are your secret to growth. Company Page Expert. 2XLinkedIn Author.

Are you running your company’s LinkedIn strategy in-house and wondering how to improve your results? You know your audience is here, but the advice available can be confusing or unsuitable for your business.

👉 Why Most LinkedIn Advice Doesn’t Work for B2B
Most LinkedIn advice is too generic or focused on shortcuts that deliver little more than vanity metrics. Hacks and automation will not build trust or meaningful relationships and will not grow your business. 

👉 Build a Strategy That Fits YOUR Business
Whether you’re starting out looking for more engagement or ready to turn followers into business growth, I’ll design a strategy tailored to your goals, resources, and team. 

👉 What You’ll Get When We Work Together:
• Company Page Expertise: Turn your LinkedIn page into a community where your audience engages and your brand thrives.
• Profile Rewrites That Work: Showcase your team’s expertise and attract the right opportunities.
• Social Selling Training (G.R.O.W.T.H. Framework): Equip your team to build relationships, nurture trust, and sell without sounding salesy.

👉 Who I Work With
I partner with businesses globally that are driven to lead their industry. These businesses are open to new ideas, willing to invest time, and not looking for quick fixes. If that sounds like you, we’ll work well together.

👉 The Power of Two: Build Your Brand AND Your People
Your LinkedIn strategy should grow your business and empower your team. I focus on the Power of Two: building a strong company brand while helping your employees grow their personal brands. When these work together, you get exponential results.

👉 Here’s What Makes My Approach Stand Out:
• Tailored Solutions: Every business has different goals, resources, and challenges. I design strategies that fit your unique needs because one size never fits all.
• Ethical Expertise: I don’t rely on hacks, automation tools, or engagement pods. My approach is rooted in trust, relationship-building, and long-term success.
• Proven Results: With over two decades in B2B sales and social selling, I bring practical, actionable insights that drive real growth.

👉 Work With a Recognised LinkedIn Expert
• International LinkedIn speaker.
• 2 x Best Selling Author - Business Gold (Company Pages) and The LinkedIn Branding Book.
• Host of the Social Media for B2B Growth Podcast and cohost of The LinkedIn Branding Show.

Global LinkedIn Pages Expert - LinkedIn Strategist and Trainer - B2B Social Selling Consultant

Have you noticed you're no longer seeing posts from people you actually want to hear from? You're not imagining it, and this post is for you.  

B2B Marketers - LinkedIn changed how your Feed works, and here's what you need to know.

Backstory - LinkedIn Engineering team released a long technical blog about what and why. Because I'm a LinkedIn nerd, I've read it all, so you don't have to. You can thank me later. 

If you have been using LinkedIn for a long time, as I have, you probably viewed it as a professional networking platform. ie the "social" in social media was important to you. 

You connected with someone - you saw their posts. Simple. 

Going forward, things are different. 

The new AI doesn't just look at who you follow anymore.

⚠️ It reads what a post is actually about, then finds the right person to show it to. Whether they follow/connected with you or not.

The new feed learns in real time. 

Make good choices = good outcomes.
Lurk and take no action = LinkedIn controls your destiny. 

Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure book. (I loved those books).

Things to understand - 
1) Clarity and alignment are crucial - Pages, Profiles and Posts all need to be coherent. What topics do you want to be known for? The more specific, the better! 
2) Every action you take eg content, profile update, connection, comment etc creates context for LinkedIn to change your feed within a few minutes. It's up to you to stay on track. 
3) Topics - topics drive everything. Pick 1-3 topics and stick with them. 

The reality is, LinkedIn's new system rewards expertise that is easy to understand and consistently demonstrated.

You don't need to post more.

You need to show up with more clarity.

The algorithm didn't get harder. It got smarter.

And now, so have you. 😀

So this week, no more scattered activity. Get back to your Game Plan and focus. If you don't have one? We need to talk.

Company Page Led Growth ​> Scale with employee advocacy on LinkedIn. Work with me - Company Page Management, Page Admin Training. Employee LinkedIn Training. #Timfluencer

You heard AI cites LinkedIn, so you thought more posting more was the answer...I hate to break it to you, but what might be popular on LinkedIn doesn't make it true. 

I wrote this article to dispel some myths because they have been driving me crazy. 

NB - All my secret SEO how-tos for LinkedIn are reserved for my paying clients. I've had enough of the "inspired by" crew stealing my stuff 😀

Feel free to Book an Intro call b2bgrowthco.com

A recent study by Semrush analysed more than 230,000 AI prompts and looked at which websites are most frequently cited in AI answers. One result immed

Open article: Why LinkedIn Is Being Cited by AI (And What Marketers Are Getting Wrong) by Michelle J Raymond • 4 min read

Why LinkedIn Is Being Cited by AI (And What Marketers Are Getting Wrong)

Unless hell has frozen over, there is zero interest from me. But let me tell you why...

First of all, this tool breaks the rules of the LinkedIn User Agreement - no automation is allowed. (There is a reason they don't have a company page here)

Why would I want to risk my account and that of people who trust me and pay me to manage their LinkedIn presence? 

Secondly, there is no way I could ever partner with clients strategically at the advanced level I do if I were managing 20-50 accounts per client. 

For the record, I would never endorse a tool that provides "content inspiration". 

That's code for stealing other people's ideas and pretending they are your own by changing a few words (or not even changing any). 

So yes, scaling employee advocacy with my clients is on my radar, but it's a HELL NO to do it by cheating the system. 

These tools promise the world and tell you they can work around systems. LinkedIn's Gyanda Sachdeva recently shared how LinkedIn are cracking down even more on this behaviour. 

If you want to build your brand and business on LinkedIn without taking shortcuts, but need help with execution, reach out and ask me about my Done With You Services for Company Page Management or Thought Leadership Content Pro for individuals.

Don't fall for the shiny object that promises the world - you'll learn the hard way. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

The way LinkedIn determines which posts you see in your feed has changed significantly, and I think it's important that marketers understand. 

It's a pretty full-on technical document, which I've done my best to simplify. 

What's most important to understand is that the Feed aims to determine which topics you are most likely to spend time on and engage with. 

Notice I said what TOPICS and not what people?

If you don't feed the beast the right info, you get a feed that is a waste of time and not enjoyable. 

Every action, almost in real time, adjusts what is shown in your personalised feed. 

Good actions > take you closer to where you want to be.
No actions > LinkedIn guesses (good luck with that).

This change explains why you don't see posts from people you like as much anymore - it's all about the topics. 

Do you like the change?

PS I save all the secret how-to stuff for my paying clients so that the "inspired by crew" don't steal it 😀

Big news. LinkedIn’s engineering team just released information on their new Feed system. Consider this your Dorothy moment, where we get to pull back

Open article: LinkedIn’s New Feed Explained: What B2B Marketers Need to Understand by Michelle J Raymond • 4 min read

LinkedIn’s New Feed Explained: What B2B Marketers Need to Understand

Tim Tam Tip - one thing I love as much as Tim Tams, is digging into Company Pages to figure out what’s holding back their success.

You’d be surprised what a fresh set of eyes, that isn’t too close to the action, can discover. 

Your Page should make it obvious -

What you do.

Who you do it for.

What makes you different.

When you eat, sleep and live the brand you make a lot of assumptions about how clear things are to strangers.

If your Page isn’t hitting your KPIs, rather than blame LinkedIn and the algorithm why not take back control send me a DM and we can set up a time to chat?

We can talk about how my Page Audit & Strategy can transform your Page results and free you up to focus on what matters in your business 😃

Happy Friday!

No alternative text description for this image

I can’t do a LinkedIn Audit & Strategy for your B2B in 30 seconds, for free, like an LLM. Nor do I ever want to.

To give you a B2B tailored LinkedIn strategy that will be effective for your business will take me time.

It will also take -

My 20+ years of B2B selling experience in my career.

My 10 years of social selling experience on LinkedIn.

My six years of Company Page focus and employee LinkedIn training.

It takes me time to ask the right questions to get to the right answers.

I takes me time researching what’s working and what’s not on LinkedIn.

I love the time it takes to experiment and do things others aren’t doing so your brand will stand out. 

It will take my experience combined with yours to come up with the solution you can implement sustainably over the long term.

When my clients work with me they go forward with confidence.

Not crossing their fingers and hoping ChatGPT is pointing them in the right direction when their gut tells them otherwise. 

Good things come to those who wait 😃

PS If you want to take time to ensure your business isn’t wasting time and money on an ineffective strategy you know where to find me.

🎉Tim Tam Tip - Company Pages AREN'T a waste of time! 
For years, I've been saying this, and now I have the data to back it up, thanks to the team at Dreamdata.

Turns out their research confirms something I’ve known in my gut for a long time 👉Your LinkedIn Company Page is a buying signal.

Here’s what they found:
• 9.4% of MQL journeys include a Company Page impression
• 15% of SQL stage journeys include a Company Page impression
• 17.9% of closed deals include a Company Page view

That’s nearly 1 in 5 deals where someone checked out the Company Page.

But wait, it gets even better than that (yes, really).

The average time from the first Company Page impression to a won deal is just 90 days.

As I've always shared in Page Admin training with clients, B2B buyers are looking beyond relationships with any one human. Especially on big deals that take time.  

This suggests buyers are visiting your Company Page during the evaluation phase.

They’re checking:
• Credibility
• Expertise
• Whether your company feels like the right partner

Combine this with Semrush research into AI citations, showing that Company Pages are more likely to be cited by Perplexity, and it's been a pretty great week for me on the Company Page front. 

Time to celebrate with a Tim Tam or two. 🎉

2026 - The Year B2B discovered new ways Company Pages contribute beyond the home feed. 

PS This photo was taken in 2024, when Liliane Abboud and I visited the Dreamdata office in Copenhagen, met the team and traded Tim Tams for Danish butter cookies. 😀

If you want access to the full report, head to their company page or website to find the details.

Firstly - this one is a long one. But it's also as long as it needs to be, so you are up to date with the latest research and how to interpret it. 

Secondly - things change quickly. New research will come. Often, research conflicts with each other, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Thirdly - the answer is always to get back to marketing fundamentals. 

Fourthly (is that a word?) - if you want to optimise your B2B's LinkedIn presence for AI citation, I can help. 

Fifthly - I love that the research backs what I've always said - your Company Pages is important for things beyond just impressions. Go the Power of Two.

And then.....and then.... and no and then... (this one's for Susie Steed and anyone else who loves a good dated movie reference. 🤣)

In my previous article, I explored how marketers can increase their chances of being cited in AI answers using LinkedIn. "Why LinkedIn Is Being Cited 

Open article: LinkedIn and AI Citations: What the Latest Research Really Means for B2B Marketers by Michelle J Raymond • 5 min read

LinkedIn and AI Citations: What the Latest Research Really Means for B2B Marketers

Is it time to put some love back into your LinkedIn Company Page? Let's look at the pros and cons of internal management vs outsourcing. 

Working with clients and their Pages over the last 6 years, I've seen both ways be successful. Like everything, there isn't a one-size-fits-all. 

I'm writing this now because there is a lot going on in marketing. 

Headcounts and budgets are being slashed. 
Platforms are delivering less and less organic reach. 
Marketers are being asked to become experts across more and more. 

If you're struggling and your LinkedIn Page growth is on your KPI's but way down your list of fun things to do....this one's for you 😀

If you’re part of a B2B marketing team or business leader responsible for your brand’s LinkedIn Company Page, this question has probably crossed your 

Open article: Outsourcing LinkedIn Company Page Management vs Managing Internally: What’s Right for Your B2B Team? by Michelle J Raymond • 4 min read

Outsourcing LinkedIn Company Page Management vs Managing Internally: What’s Right for Your B2B Team?

⚠️You can't just dump content on your social team at the last minute and expect it to perform. This is one of the great insights from Melissa Dawson, Senior Corporate Social Media at WD, about what it takes for high-performing corporate social.

Melissa has helped transform WD's corporate social presence, growing their audience by 30% and driving 83M+ impressions.

This has been through a combination of organic and paid, company page and employee advocacy.  

Thanks, Melissa Dawson, for sharing your practical hands-on experience with the podcast listeners.
 
If you want more out of LinkedIn for your business, this episode is for you! 

Let's all just agree, no last-minute dumping, you want something posted on the social team going forward 🤣

High-performing corporate social on LinkedIn is not about going viral. It is not about one big post, and it is definitely not about being handed a fin

Open article: Why Most Corporate B2B LinkedIn Strategies Underperform by Michelle J Raymond • 5 min read

Why Most Corporate B2B LinkedIn Strategies Underperform

Enragement gets engagement. But on its own? That’s just performative noise we don’t need.

The LinkedIn posts that really land combine two things:
Enragement + empathy.

✋ Enragement stops the scroll.
 💘 Empathy makes the message feel true for the people you want to reach.

That’s the difference between a post people react to, and a post people recognise themselves in.

I love working with Patricia Romboletti to share her important messages on LinkedIn for those in career transition.

It takes courage to share a strong point of view.
It takes heart to take a stand for others.

700+ likes
  65 comments
  41 reposts
 (and counting).

Because when people feel like someone is speaking up for them…
They don’t just react.
They rally.

So if you want engagement, sure enragement helps.

But if you want real impact, make sure people know exactly who you’re standing up for.

That's the kind of LinkedIn I wish for more of. How about you?

PS Time for a Tim Tam to celebrate this message resonating far and wide.

Michelle J Raymond with a giant Tim Tam box. 

Slack channel. Drop your post. Everyone go like and comment.
Is that employee advocacy? Or just an engagement pod with payroll?

I saw this called out recently as “bad marketing”.

The idea being that your audience should decide if the content is good, not your coworkers. And I get that to a degree. 

If the only people engaging are your team, what does that actually say?

But I think it's more nuanced than this.

Organic reach is getting more difficult. I believe LinkedIn is a team sport and
teams should support each other.

So the issue for me isn’t the coordination.

It's intent.

There’s a difference between amplifying good ideas and ticking a box because you feel like you have to.

One builds credibility, and the other just looks busy.

So a simple test: If your employee advocacy program disappeared tomorrow… would anyone outside your company notice?

This has been fun for me to ponder. Penny for your thoughts.

I saw a LinkedIn post recently that stopped me mid-scroll. It called out a company for asking employees to drop their posts into Slack, so the team co

Open article: Is Employee Advocacy Just an Engagement Pod With a Company Logo? by Michelle J Raymond • 5 min read

Is Employee Advocacy Just an Engagement Pod With a Company Logo?

Fun things you find amongst your 41,000+ photos on your phone. This was used in a LinkedIn post July 2021.

Back then my business had a completely different name.

I hadn’t done the rebrand (or should I say brand) and set up branding guidelines. 

Before I had professional photos (that one I took in the garden and removed the background)

Before I had another 5 years of learning and experience.

But the message is till the same - B2B buyers are online - your teams need to be too.

‼️More important - have fun and just post.

You never know where you’ll be in 5 years if you just get started. 😃

PS It’s more fun to watch if you play with sound. Dare you not to smile.

Is B2B marketing serving customers…or dashboards? 🤔

You know I've been on a mission on the podcast to get us back to marketing fundamentals and focus on customers. 

After reading Moni Oloyede's Substack and enjoying her content I knew she was exactly the right person to help us get back to "good marketing".

Together we challenge the metrics-first mindset that dominates marketing that is causing the drift away from customers. 

From MQL obsession to marketing attribution and misunderstood buyer behaviour, this conversation questions what we’ve prioritised and what it’s costing us.

If you’re responsible for LinkedIn strategy, demand generation, brand or pipeline this episode will make you think differently.

Are you a marketer that's been caught in the tug of war between dashboards and what you know you works?

Marketing was never meant to be a reporting function and yet, for many B2B teams, that is exactly what it has become. If you're measured on followers,

Open article: Has B2B Marketing Lost Its Way? Rethinking MQLs, Attribution and Customer Focus by Michelle J Raymond • 4 min read

Has B2B Marketing Lost Its Way? Rethinking MQLs, Attribution and Customer Focus

If you remember 90s work motivational posters, you’ve probably survived more than a few “this changes everything” moments in marketing.

Websites were the future.
Then SEO.
Then social.
Then inbound.
Then growth hacks.
Now AI.

LinkedIn is no different.

Every year, there’s a new feature, a new format, a new “secret” to visibility.

But here's the thing -

✅Visibility doesn’t replace positioning.
✅Features don’t replace clarity.
✅Activity doesn’t replace strategy.

LinkedIn hasn’t changed the marketing fundamentals.

It still rewards brands that understand:
 • Who they’re for
 • What problem do they solve
 • Why they’re different
 • How they build brand recognition over time

The real advantage on LinkedIn isn’t chasing every update.

It’s knowing which ones support your strategy and ignoring the rest.

Confused which is which? That's what I'm here for. 

I work with marketers to give them confidence in their LinkedIn strategies. 

Question: Which of these images would you put up in your office as a reminder to always stick to marketing fundamentals? 😂

90s Social Media Workplace Inspo

It's a huge ditto from me Moni Oloyede! Know Thy Customer should be the number one commandment of every marketing strategy, which then informs your business's LinkedIn strategy. 

Everything else is a distraction or means you aren't building on a solid foundation. 

I loved recording this podcast episode because it was all about getting back to the fundamentals of good marketing.

I really enjoy Moni's content because she makes me think. Unafraid to go against the popular opinion. (Check her featured section for the YT video on marketing attribution being a scam for some more fun 😀)

Check out the full episode on Social Media for B2B Growth Podcast.

Where is the line between employee advocacy and engagement pod? 
Something I try and answer is this week's podcast, after a post today caught my attention (I'd share it, but I got blocked - yes really)

Blue Corner - A company shares its smart marketing strategy of dropping the link in a Slack channel and encouraging the team to swarm the post. The goal is to increase reach. 

Red Corner - Someone calling this out as practically an engagement pod, and that they should let the real audience determine the quality of the content. This is just artificial inflation. 

I can see both sides to this argument. 

On the one hand, I absolutely encourage teams to work together. Scaling your brand with employee advocacy is literally in my headline. 

On the other hand, I take the point that this actually stops the person from learning what does/doesn't resonate with their audience. 

Penny for your thoughts to help me work through this one...

When a company drops a post link in Slack and asks the whole team to go like it, that's...

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

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The Battle

April Beach

Michelle J Raymond

Followers

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The Battle

April Beach

Michelle J Raymond

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);}Michelle J Raymond's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreMichelle J Raymond's LinkedIn Performance