Productivity tips to manage LinkedIn in 10 minutes a day or less | Actionable insights to harness your expertise for the recognition you seek | LinkedIn trainer & COO of Narify

Most of the marketing advice you're seeing is complete nonsense.

❌Spend budget on advertising
While your colleagues have 5x more reach.

❌Spend budget on converting leads 
While the network of your sales reps already established a relationship with them.

❌ Spend budget on recruitment 
While your employees have your next talent in their network.

We think the solution is MORE. 
More content, more ads, more tactics.

This approach gets you nowhere.

You can't do everything and expect to excel at anything.

Since 2011, I have helped professionals like you leverage B2B Thought Leadership, Social Selling, and Employee Advocacy primarily through LinkedIn™️. 

Together with Richard van der Blom, I run a  consultancy and training agency called Just Connecting. We have supported over 100.000 professionals and thousands of organizations globally. 

If those topics aren't your thing, I'm also up for long gravelbike trips or teaching my Australian Labradoodle some new tricks—although, I must admit, she only seems to do them when there are cookies involved!

Anyway, my approach to my clients?

✅ Figure out what they’re actually aiming for.

✅ Support, develop and execute the systems that bring them closer to these goals

✅ Unlock the potential of employee-ship so employees want to become brand ambassadors. 
(Instead of being forced...)

I work with:
🔹Mid sized to corporate organizations 

🔹Marketing departments that want to leverage Thought Leadership and Employee Advocacy

🔹Sales teams that build authority and attract leads and costumers via Social Selling strategies via Linkedin™️ and Sales Navigator

Although I do take on other client profiles from time to time when I am 100% sure I can help you.

Follow me for insights on these topics. 

Connect or contact me to find out more about our programs and systems. 

Talk soon
📬 martijnholtes@justconnecting.nl

Martijn Holtes

Some partnerships work. 
Richard van der Blom and I have been proving this for 15 years. 
Now we're making it official.

For 15 years, we've collaborated without formalising anything. 
It worked because our skills fit together naturally. 

Just like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger 
Different strengths, shared vision.

Richard has the market presence and expertise that people know. 
I focus on the strategic frameworks and implementation. 
Different roles, one direction.

Last year showed us that our clients' needs have evolved. 

They're no longer looking for training vendors. 
They need partners who can identify and solve the real issues.
The ones hiding behind the surface request.

We realised that to solve those deeper problems, we need to rely on each other's expertise even more. 

So we're formalising what's always been true.

From now on, we're running Just Connecting - Social Selling, Employee Advocacy and Marketing together. 

Not as vendors selling courses, but as strategic partners solving the problems that matter.

We're taking everything we've learned over 15 years and building something different. 

The next six months will be interesting.

More to come.

B2B Thought Leadership | Social Selling and Employee Advocacy | Most companies contact me for platform training. Often they walk away with something more valuable....

The biggest issue for selling isn't your lead-generation process.

It's how you treat the people running it.

I have trained sales teams for over 15 years, 
And I have found that most companies focus on the obvious stuff.

They optimize every step of the process.
Until there is nothing left to optimize 
Then they complain that it doesn't work.

They overlooked one critical element. 

Selling is emotional work. 

Deals fall through. 
Prospects ghost reps. 
The pressure never stops.
Salespeople face rejection daily. 

And if you don't support them in this.
You and the organization are going to pay a price 

So here's my message to all of you leading sales teams 
Stop talking about the f'n numbers for five minutes. 

Ask the question nobody asks:
"How are you really feeling?"

In the long run, this conversation will be what builds the business.

☝️ Swipe through to see how this actually works
♻️ Repost so others can learn too.

Carousel_Selling is a deeply emotional process.pdf

If your own team won’t like your posts...

Why should any customer trust your brand?

I always look at a straightforward thing before I take on new clients 

Do employees like, share, or comment on their own company posts?

If the answer is no, I know the problem isn't their LinkedIn strategy.

Most of our clients tell me it is about time, skills, or tools.

They ask for more training, better content, or an easy way to share posts.

(P.s. I'm all for that 😁)

But…

When people do not feel proud or safe, no tool can fix that. 

They stay silent….

Employee Advocacy acts like a mirror.

If people feel seen, heard, and trusted, they will show up. 
If they do not, they hide.

So next time when you signal low engagement… 

Do you dare to ask what it says about your culture?

Everyone in my social selling cohorts is panicking about AI
"Adapt or get replaced!"
Let's talk about adapting.

To sell anything, you need three things:
Demand
Supply
Leverage to match them efficiently

AI crushes efficiency. 
It always will.

But here's the thing: 
Efficient doesn't mean effective.

I think you are competing on the wrong battlefield.

What your leads and clients actually want? 
Your Point of View.

Not your branding. 
Not your post volume. 
Not your network size.

Your unique way of seeing their problem.

The experience you've built. 
The knowledge you've earned. The skills you've refined. 
The perspective only you have.

That's what AI can't touch.

That's what makes you irreplaceable.

Stop trying to be more efficient. 
Start being more you.


☝️ Swipe through to see how this actually works
♻️ Repost so others can learn too.

Carousel_Why you need to adapt to the new way of selling (1).pdf

Cold calling worked when people needed information. 
Now they need trusted judgment. 
Different problem. Different solution.

AI can answer your prospect's questions in seconds. 
It can summarize reports, analyze data, and serve up exactly what they're looking for.

But what AI can't do is to make them feel confident about a decision.

That requires a human they trust. 
Someone with real experience and a point of view. 
Someone they've been watching, learning from, and connecting with before they ever need to buy.

This is what I call becoming a "First Choice Authority."
Not the person with the most followers. 
The one they reach out to first when they're ready to move.
The person prospects turn to when they need to make a call. 

If you're in sales, this isn't optional anymore. 
It's how deals get made now.

Here are six reasons why building your authority on LinkedIn is the best investment you can make in your sales career.

P.S. Who's a sales professional on LinkedIn you follow because you actually trust their perspective?

Do you want to share your company's latest press releases?
No? 
Well, guess what - your employees don't want to either.

Only 1 in 10 employees actively participates in advocacy programs. 

Why? 
Because most programs are built on corporate self-interest, not mutual benefit.

Below you find a list of better alternatives. 
Your employees could be your best marketing asset - but only if you treat them like partners, not channels.

Ready to build an advocacy program that actually works? 
DM me to learn how we help companies get this right

The dumbest advice lifestyle guru’s give you is "Just be yourself.”

“Being yourself” can be the exact thing that is holding you back.

Because if “yourself” is telling you that:
❌ Playing big is arrogant
❌ Risks are dangerous
❌ That is “just” who I am….

…then authenticity becomes an obstacle, not an advantage.

We don’t want the watered-down version of you.

We want the version that dares to lead, share, and stand for something.

So don’t just “be yourself.”
Be your best self— the one that we remember, respect, and rally behind.

It improves your business and it improves your career. 
Some won't understand the best version of you. 
Some will 

No matter the outcome, doing the right thing is always the right thing to do. 

What’s one part of your “best self” that we haven't seen yet?

Social selling frameworks promise to make everything easy.
And that's exactly why most people using them aren't seeing real growth.

Don't get me wrong - frameworks and templates have their place.
They give you structure and confidence.

But the people getting real results go way beyond it

✅ They show up consistently.
✅ They ask questions they genuinely want answers to.
✅ They personalise like they actually care.
✅ Their follow-ups add value before asking for anything.

Frameworks can teach you what to do.
They can't teach you how to care.

Use frameworks as starting points.
Then master the parts you can't systemise.

Building trust through genuine human connection.

Do frameworks help or get in the way of your relationship building?

Frameworks  make Social Selling feel easy, but...

Bill “PhoneBill” McClain

You can call Gates, Joel, Murray, or Clinton…but only this Bill has the answer 💪 UCaaS Provider - VoIP- ☎️

Pioneering the intersection of AI and business communications as a 3X founder. 

Currently revolutionizing voice technology through UponAI while leading innovative UCaaS and CCaaS solutions at StratusDial, backed by extensive experience at Networking Solutions.

At StratusDial, I've transformed business communications by:
• Implementing cost-saving solutions that reduce operating expenses by up to $9,000
• Developing seamless Office365 integrations and advanced VoIP systems
• Building a 24/7 technical support infrastructure that maintains 99.9% uptime
• Creating custom UCaaS/CCaaS solutions for diverse enterprise needs

Through UponAI, I'm pushing the boundaries of:
• AI-powered voice recognition and natural language processing
• Intelligent call routing and automated customer service solutions
• Machine learning algorithms for enhanced communication efficiency
• Voice-enabled business intelligence and analytics

My entrepreneurial journey spans:
🔹 Advanced Telecommunications
🔹 Enterprise Network Architecture
🔹 Cloud Communications
🔹 AI/ML Implementation
🔹 Business Process Automation

Proud to be recognized by industry leaders, including Eric Hernaez, Founder & President of SkySwitch, for maintaining exceptional service standards and driving continuous innovation in business communications.

Specialties:
#AIVoice #UCaaS #CCaaS #CloudCommunications #NetworkingSolutions #VoIP #BusinessIntelligence #EnterpriseNetworking #ArtificialIntelligence #DigitalTransformation

Looking to connect with:
• Business leaders seeking communication solutions
• Technology innovators in AI and voice tech
• Enterprise clients exploring digital transformation
• Fellow entrepreneurs in the tech space

Let's discuss how AI-powered voice solutions can transform your business communications. Open to partnerships, collaborations, and innovative ventures.


Founder -

Networking Solutions 29 years
StratusDial 13 years
UponAi 2 years

3X Founder - 0X Exits

Founder President & CEO

Does the idea of switching phone providers for your business sound like a permanent migraine? Here’s what’s worse:

Turning your customers away because you’re unable to provide a good phone customer experience because of lousy support from your business phone provider.

When you entrust ☎️PhoneBill (& the team at StratusDial) with your company’s new voice, here’s what you get:

✔️ Pre-installation audit to locate savings (sometimes $9000!) & lower your operating costs
✔️ Take care of allllllllll the prep, installation, routing, testing… everything done-for-you
✔️ Hold your hand through set-up & advise you on phone experience best practices
✔️ Latest phone features for maximum efficiency (hello, Office365 integration!)
✔️ Custom set-up the big providers won’t do (e.g. overhead paging system)
✔️ 60-day and 90-day check-ins to make sure you love your new system
✔️ Eager-to-help technical support, 24/7

As a smaller (but mightier!) provider, we can deliver the type of boutique service that the large competitors wish they could deliver. 😉

Ready to have your business phone system work for you (not against you) in bringing more clients to your business?

Message ☎️PhoneBill on LinkedIn. I’ll sort you out.

Bill (PhoneBill) McClain

Thank you for registering your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry. 

You successfully registered your phone number ending in 6500 on November 19, 2010. Most telemarketers will be required to stop calling you 31 days from your registration date.  

I remember reading that message and feeling hopeful.  

Peace.  

A quiet phone line.  
Fewer dinnertime interruptions.  

That was the dream.  

Here is the dry truth.  
Registering a phone number with the Do Not Call Registry tells legal telemarketers to remove that number from their call lists.  

It does not stop scammers.  
It does not stop every robocall.  

The Registry gives people a choice.  
People can say no to many sales calls.  
People can gain some control back.  

In my world, voice and AI can help.  

Smarter call routing.  
Better spam detection.  
Clear rules for teams that want to stay trusted.  

Business needs to reach people.  

Respect needs to reach them first.  

Thoughts on how the Registry works for you today?

#PhoneBill ☎️

You can call Gates, Joel, Murray, or Clinton…but only this Bill or AI from UponAi has the answer ☎️🤖

No alternative text description for this image

Last fall, StratusDial brought on two new automotive dealerships running their phone system with another provider.

That sounded like good news we know the NetSapiens system they had inside and out. We’ve been running it for over ten years.

But within minutes on site, we learned how bad things had gotten.

Calls dropping. Delays connecting. Terrible voice quality.

The dealerships had been on the system only about six or seven months and it had been a disaster. 
Multiple tickets opened with the previous provider and their IT support team.
 No resolution.

The buy/sell of those dealerships went through on a Monday. 

My team was onsite immediately to handle the migration and full acquisition of all technology.

As they went desk to desk setting up our complete tech stack, nearly every employee had the same question:

“Can you do something about our phones?”

We were patient and empathetic, but knew the priority 👉 the migration and new tech stack came first. 
My team was absolutely slammed but we were up for the challenge.

I arrived on Tuesday to assist wherever I could. 
Our team leader, Eric asked me to look into the phone issue.

So I called the provider for access to the system. 
And what I found was very disturbing.

Here’s the thing:
 Voice traffic must always come first. 

Browsing, streaming, and file downloads come second.
 That’s called Quality of Service (QoS) - and one of the best ways to achieve it is through a VLAN (Virtual LAN).

Picture your network like a six-lane highway. 
Each type of traffic gets its own lane. 
And guess which one gets the fast lane? 
Voice 👍

Now, remember this is a car dealership. 
A big customer waiting area. 
Customers streaming music, video, and social media on the dealership Guest Wi-Fi.

So what happens when that customer traffic ends up in the same lane as voice traffic? 
Big problems. Dropped calls. 
Bad audio. 
Delayed connections.

Within two hours, I’d confirmed the issue. The network desperately needed a traffic cop.

So I installed one - and called it #PhoneBill 🤣

After implementing QoS, separating traffic with VLANs, and making targeted improvements, voice calls immediately sharpened up.

Dropped calls disappeared. Connections were instant. Quality was crystal clear.

In less than a day, we proved our expertise and earned the client’s trust.

That’s the power of understanding what matters most: 
Voice traffic always gets the fast lane.

Do you need a traffic cop?

#PhoneBill ☎️


Networking Solutions, Inc. 
StratusDial 
UponAI

Most CIOs juggle 3+ phone platforms.

I run them all through one brain…UponAI.

In my world, single-platform purity is rare.  

Real companies grow by merger, region, and vendor.  

Result:  
One team on UCaaS A.  
Another on UCaaS B.  
A contact center on a third CCaaS stack.  

As founder of StratusDial, I learned early that forcing everyone onto one phone system creates risk.  

Vendor outage.  
Contract fight.  
Feature gap.
Buy / Sells.
Equity Investors.  

When all calls live on one platform, one bad day can shut a business down.  

So we built StratusDial around a different model:  

Risk mitigation!

No emotion, just strategy.

Multi-platform UCaaS and CCaaS for resilience and choice.  


Then I added one simple rule from UponAI:  

Many phone systems, one AI brain.  

Here is how it works in practice:  

1. StratusDial supports multiple call platforms for one client  
→ UCaaS from multiple suppliers  
→ CCaaS in a remote center  
→ A legacy PBX still in place in one branch  

2. UponAI connects to all of them through flexible SIP  
→ SIP trunk, for whole-system connection
→ SIP endpoint as a dedicated AI extension  
→ SIP URI for routing only certain calls  

3. The AI voice agent handles the heavy lifting  
→ Answers first, in any language the business needs  
→ Understands intent with natural language  
→ Uses sentiment to adapt tone  
→ Passes full context when a human must step in with a WARM transfer

4. The business keeps one AI playbook  
→ One prompt strategy  
→ One routing logic  
→ One integration into CRM, POS, ticketing systems  

The platforms stay diverse for safety.  
The AI stays unified for simplicity.  

That is how we see up to 60% of calls move from human agents to AI  
without ripping out phone systems  
without new chaos for IT  
without customers feeling lost.  

Many platforms for risk management.  
One AI brain for control.  

Thoughts on running many phone systems under one AI brain?

#PhoneBill ☎️

Unfortunately #PhoneBill will not be attending but Jody & Sean will do a great job 🙌

Make sure you stop by to see and support them 👍

See you at ITExpo! 🎤

Jody is joining the CEO Insights Panel: Agentic Voice AI in the Real World to discuss ROI, Trust, and Scaling.

🗓️ Thursday, February 12, 2026
🕐 1:00 – 1:45 PM
🎯 CEO Insights Panel

Sean will also be on-site to answer questions and chat about our AI voice solutions.

UponAi is at the cutting edge of AI, and we're excited to be back again this year to share what we're building.

Stop by and say hi! 👋

Jody Gonzales Sean Henning Bill (PhoneBill) McClain

#ITExpo #ITExpo2026 #UponAi #VoiceAI #AgenticAI #CEO #AIPanel #ArtificialIntelligence #TechConference

Businesses today don’t just need to communicate-they need to connect smarter.

I see the same pattern in companies of every size.

Teams feel busy.
Phones ring all day.
Costs keep going up.

Yet customers still wait on hold.
Messages still fall through the cracks.
Leaders still lack clear insight.

AI in business communications changes that.

Here is how we set it up at UponAI:

→ Improve communication  
AI voice agents listen, understand, and respond in real time.  
They speak in natural language, stay calm with every caller, and never forget key details from past interactions.

→ Boost efficiency  
AI handles the routine work:  
- Simple questions  
- Balance checks  
- Password resets  
- Status updates  

Your people focus on complex cases and human moments where empathy matters most.

→ Scale without new headcount  
Call volume grows?  
AI does not need more desks or parking spaces.  
You add capacity in the cloud, not on the org chart, while service stays fast and steady.

Under the hood we use:

- AI voice agents  
- Intelligent call routing  
- Analytics that show trends, sentiment, and gaps in your customer experience  

The result is a system that works 24/7, keeps quality consistent, and gives leaders clear data instead of guesswork.

I have spent my career at the crossroads of phones, networks, and now AI. I believe the next big gains for business come from how we connect, not how loud we shout. 

Actually delivering today what others promise in the future.

What is your take on using AI to handle the front line of customer communication?

#PhineBill ☎️

Yes 🙌 another AI post from #PhoneBill ☎️

Is it just me, or did every phone platform suddenly launch their own “AI voice agent”?

Here’s the thing… 
We’ve been building our ecosystem for 3 years - not weeks.

Yes, we can spin up an AI receptionist in 5 minutes. 
But then what?

💡 What if your business needs something more complex? 💡 What if you need a real solution that goes beyond just a “hello”?

Most platforms stop at simple use cases. 
We built one platform that lets you: ✅ Launch simple AI voice agents instantly ✅ Scale seamlessly to advanced, fully customized agents ✅ Integrate with any voice platform

And here’s what we’ve learned from experience -
 The second you deploy a simple solution, your customers will want more.
 We’ve seen it firsthand. We’ve built for it.

That’s why UponAI isn’t just another AI tool -
 It’s the ecosystem that grows with your business into the future.

#PhoneBill ☎️

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