Nick Broekema

Getting you inbound leads through Content Design

I ran an agency for 6 years and invisibility nearly killed it (twice).  

We 100% relied on word-of-mouth marketing:

- Leads from friends and family (not even kidding)
- Leads from former and current clients
- Leads through competitors

We took on what we could get.

Sometimes we skyrocketed. Often we struggled.

The feast and famine cycle was real.

And it was painfully frustrating.

As a business owner, I didn't have:

- Time and focus on growth
- Time to take care of my team
- Time to generate leads myself

I was consistently hustling and putting out fires.

When I pivoted in 2022, I chose a different strategy:

→ Creating content to build a reputation and presence
→ Creating content to show the world my offering
→ Creating content to generate leads every week

At least, that was the plan.

It took me months to do it:

I started with text posts. Then I added visuals. Then I added carousels. Then I 'designed' my content. Every upgrade increased my growth and revenue.

This led me to craft a new solution:

Content Design for LinkedIn. 

Since then, I've helped clients build recognizable brands that attract and sell: 

- Matt Barker 2X’d his post views, attracted higher paying clients, and 2X’d product sales within 2 months of working together.

- Mollie Cox made $16k (next to her full-time job) within 2 months of working together.

- Pascalle Bergman's revenue went up by 73% after working together.

If that sounds good, there 2 ways I help founders, coaches, and creators attract leads on LinkedIn: 

1. Content Design 1:1 coaching to attract your ideal audience
2. My Content Design cohort (see Featured for waitlist)

Check out my Featured section 💪

Brand Scaling Consultant

"People who obsess about work life balance are typically mediocre at both". 

Alex Hormozi said that in a post recently. 

I read it and thought: damn, am I that mediocre?"  

I'm a rational thinker so I put it in perspective. 

I hit the gym and play padel several times per week. 
But I don’t have a six pack. 

My income allows us to do everything we need. 
But I'm not a millionaire. 

I spend a lot of time with my family.  
But I could probably make more money if I didn’t.

We moved to a small town in Spain to escape city life.
But there are arguably fewer opportunities around us. 

Yet I still believe I’m winning at life.
 
I'm not obsessed with my private life or my business. 
I just enjoy both. 

But that's irrelevant for you. 

Because my situation doesn't reflect yours. 

Just like Alex's situation doesn't reflect yours or mine.

Winning in life depends on how you define winning.  
And parenthood has a way of redefining it.

So the next time you read something that makes you feel bad about your situation, zoom out. 

Look at what you DO have. 

Perspective matters.

Learn how to attract your ideal audience in my Content Design Cohort | Waitlist on my profile | Kick-off January 27th

"I don't know who my ideal customer is".

You might be overthinking it.

Most problems I hear from clients: 

1. I don't know what to write about
2. I don't know what my offer should be
3. I don't know who my ideal audience is

If this is you, great. These are the right questions.

Now, you can solve all 3 of them in 3 steps.

---

1. Create an "I am 60% happy" Ideal Customer profile ↓

- Get something to write on
- Describe your best past collaboration
- Extract their pains + goals and divide over 2 lists

→ Tip: use ChatGPT to expand/refine the list

2. Create an "I am 60% happy" offer ↓

- Take your Pains + Goals list
- Take the highest impact + ROI + fulfillment ones
- Define a clear and direct proposition (like a headline)

→ Mine = "Content Design that attracts your ideal audience"

3. Create content using ICP doc + offer

- Use your Pains + Goals list
- Create hooks for all of them (or combined)
- Solve problems in your posts (breakdowns like these)

→ Tip: look into PAS, AIDA, Future-pacing copywriting

---

Now you've got:

→ One specific ICP
→ One clear and simple offer
→ One clear and simple message to share

Why aiming for "60% happy" with your ICP and offer?

Because you get to "100%" through validation.

Every post, DM, sales call, rejection/win = data points.

Perfectionism is your enemy.

Continuous iteration is your ally.

PS. ICP creation is one of the things we'll cover in cohort starting next Tuesday. Get on the waitlist for updates and details.

https://lnkd.in/e33NDZ-3

Content design to attract your ideal audience on LinkedIn

I grew up thinking I had to become a specialist.  

Pick one skill, improve, and ignore the rest.
 
That’s what I was taught.
 
When I went to art school in 2008, the focus was simple: 

Creating logos and brand collateral.
 
I enjoyed it but something didn’t sit right.
 
The market was clearly moving online. Yet web design wasn’t even part of the curriculum.
 
So I started teaching myself.
 
Books. Countless of YouTube and Lynda videos. Late nights in Dreamweaver (who remembers this one?), Sketch, and eventually Figma.
 
Later, I co-founded a branding & design agency.  
 
Brand + website wasn’t “doing too much”. It was the sweet spot (fun times). 
 
After my agency years, I moved into interim roles at Series A-C tech companies. Suddenly design wasn’t enough anymore. 
 
I had to learn leadership. Corporate politics. Building products at scale. Reading people instead of pixels.
 
Then in 2022, I started posting on LinkedIn to get more clients.
 
That was a whole new skill set again.
 
I had to learn how to:  

- Attract the right people with content  
- Turn attention into business opportunities 
- Sell in the DMs, through docs, and sales calls
 
It was the hardest learning curve of my career. But also the most rewarding one.

My content has now been viewed over 25+ million times. 86,000 people decided to follow along. 

I can run my tiny business from anywhere in the world. And it’s more profitable than ever.
  
My "broad" skillset became my edge.
 
Design. Writing. Psychology. Business. Sales. Branding. Marketing. 

(Up next: email and video)

It all just connected. 
 
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned: 
 
The people who win don’t just learn new skills.
 
They know how to showcase them publicly. 
 
PS. Next Tuesday I’m breaking down exactly how I did this inside my new cohort. Waitlist is open below.

https://lnkd.in/e33NDZ-3

I've been sharing content for 3+ years and thought about quitting every month. 

But not because things weren't working. 

You see, there's a cycle everyone goes through when they build something.

At first, everything feels new. You're learning. You're growing. It's exciting.

Then you hit a point where it starts working. 

And that's when something weird happens: you begin to see the mechanics. You understand why things work. You can almost predict what will land.

And suddenly, the thing that made you excited now feels boring.

You think: "This is repetitive. I'm saying the same thing over and over. People must be sick of me."

So you panic. You want to rebrand. Try something new. Chase the shiny object.

That's where good things come to die. 

In my agency era, marketing teams would see their brand every single day.

"We need a rebrand", they'd say in meetings. 

Meanwhile, their actual customers saw it once a week (if lucky). And it was still working.

Result: brand recognition + loyalty down the drain. 

The cycle looks like this:

- "This is growing" 
- "This is boring" 
- "This is repetitive"  
- "This is successful" 
- "This is hard" 
- "Ah, a shiny object" 
- "I'm gonna try this" 

→ repeat

If things go well, boredom is usually a signal that you've actually figured it out.

And the work that feels repetitive is the work that's working.

Continuous iteration: hell yes.

A full 180? Probably not the best call. 

Consistency is often just managing boredom.

According to 90% of LinkedIn’s "standards" I’m failing: 

I’ve built offers that sold $0.
I frequently sell in my content.
I don't have a passive income.
I don't comment for reciprocity.
I don't "grind" 80 hrs per week.
I don’t beg people to comment.
I don’t have the most followers.
I don't batch or schedule content.
I skip posting when I don’t feel like it.
I avoid arguing with strangers online.
I've seen my reach go down by 50%.
I’ve spent 10 hours on carousels that flopped.

But after 3.5 years creating content... 

I’m still here.

My tiny empire is steadily growing.

I like my life simple.
I like my content simple.

Simple scales. It's sustainable.

Because every time you add something new…

You sacrifice momentum you’ve already built.
  
"It doesn't work" 

Until it does. 

Stay in the game. 

PS. In 2 days, my next Content Design Cohort kicks off. Join the waitlist below if you want to visualize and simplify your expertise to attract the right people on LinkedIn.
 
https://lnkd.in/e33NDZ-3

In 2023, I cashed out my S&P 500 funds to invest in coaching.

Back then I was all over the place. 

Sharing content on LinkedIn about 10+ topics. Obsessively commenting on influencer posts. Spending 6-8 hrs per day on the platform like a maniac. 

Sure, I made some money.

But I felt I could do a lot better.

"We need to invent a category for you", coach Ken said.

"And I have a perfect one: Content Design".

I wasn't sold on it. Also knew it was some kind of UX term.

But I thought, screw it and rolled with it:

- Changed my profile headline
- Changed my Featured Section
- Did an announcement post about it

Post got over 800 likes, 150k views (the good old days), and it literally rained inbound leads.

In hindsight, it wasn't a lucky shot.

I had been sharing content designs for over a year.

I just labeled it and packaged it as a clear offer.

Soon my tiny business was doing better than ever. 

Since then, I've been helping my clients do the same:

- Trim down their offer (it's always more than necessary)
- Help them simplify their positioning and packaging
- Create content (designs) that attract real ICPs
- Interact with the right people to sell 

Here's what always strikes me.

The most skilled people have no clue:

No clue how to write. How to visualize what they do. How to sell.

I love working with them because it makes winning easy.

A few months ago, I started working with a client like that. 

Consultant. Had around 9k followers. Been posting for 3 months.

Did okay but wanted more. More revenue. More confidence.

In one call, we redefined their ICP and shaved off 80% of their offering.

We created a crystal clear "Content Design-like" category.

We made a sales deck so simple they could pitch it by heart.

“I just sold €6K!” they said in week 1. 

Then another one. And another one.

Fast forward 7 weeks: €50k in new revenue. Podcast invites. Private masterclasses. All organic.

And here's the best part:

They're now creating their OWN content designs.

Using proven frameworks - reframed in their brand and voice.

I'm sharing everything we did (and more) in a private group starting the end of this month. 

4 weeks. Weekly calls. Reviews and support by me. Community access included (might be the last group I do this with). 

If this sounds interesting, get on the waitlist for more details soon. 

https://lnkd.in/eGyW_iD3

My new Content Design Cohort starts next week. 

Here's why I built it. 

4 years ago I started copying influencer accounts and hoped my content would sell like crazy. 

It took 4 months to sign even 1 client. 

That frustrated the hell out of me because I thought I did everything right: 

- Posting and commenting like a madman
- Creating educational content to build authority
- Writing about dozens of topics I thought would hit  

But I forgot about my "unfair advantage": 

My branding and design experience. 

I'd been working with startups and scale-ups for 10+ years. 

And their biggest struggle was always to visualize what they offered. 

In most cases, their messaging and brand was confusing and complex. Just like mine back then. 

And confused people don't buy. 

So I started simplifying and visualizing MY brand and offer. In a way that would finally attract the right people. 

This resulted in a fully LinkedIn inbound business, 86k followers, and enough income to work from Bali, Cape Town, and eventually move to Spain with my family. 

It became a Content Design System for me and my clients to sell out offers, attract clients in every segment (even with today's algo), and build big audiences. 

Members in my 1st cohort got inbound leads, signed clients in the DMs, and had their first viral posts. 

I’m keeping it private for now with 6 seats. 

Kick-off is next week.

Join the waitlist for daily updates and first dibs ↓

(167 people already signed up)

https://lnkd.in/e33NDZ-3

I'm sharing my DM Sales Playbook for free. 

(no comment needed)

What it is: 

1. 2x LinkedIn DM conversations
2. A breakdown how they lead to conversion
3. A proven sales call outline (when needed)

What it isn't: 

- DM automation
- Cookie cutter scripts 
- Pitch-slapping tactics 

Just a breakdown of what worked for me and my clients. 

You see, most people avoid the DMs: 

- They hate rejection  
- They don't know what to say 
- They prefer content (feels safe)
- They don't know how to do selling
- They are afraid people are tired of pitch-slapping 

(I know because I was one of them)

But I tell you this: 

If I had to start over on LinkedIn, I'd start with DMs: 

- It converts better than content 
- I've sold offers up to $30k without meetings
- Offers between $1k-$8k convert best in the DMs

So far, I've only shared this playbook with clients. 

Today I'm sharing it for free. 

No comment needed - just an email (giving it to you straight). 

Happy selling ↓

https://lnkd.in/e9Yg5Fts

Tomorrow at 3 pm CET, my Content Design Cohort kicks off.

Here's an honest post about it. 

1. "I don't need no stinkin' cohort. Why is this different?"

Most cohorts are around 1 thing (e.g. writing or sales), which is probably the best ngl. I'm ignoring this by squeezing positioning, writing, design, and sales in 4-5 weeks (+ tons of resources). 

2. "Isn't this some kind of coaching pyramid scheme?"

No, but coaches are welcome. I just share best practices and proven frameworks that helped me, consultants, founders, and solopreneurs make money on LinkedIn, and grow along the way.

3. "Sounds fishy. Does this really work?"

Cohort members got inbounds, booked calls with ICPs, went viral. Haven't done the math but 1:1 clients made a couple of hundreds of thousands together (more in my doc). What worked I shall share in the cohort. 

4. "Can I buy a Lambo after this?" 

If financed, absolutely. But for real: you have to put in the work. This isn't DFY. It isn't a get-rich-quick hack. We'll implement DWY-style. Some never show up. Some never post. Then it'll all just collect dust. 

5. "Must be expensive. What's the cost?" 

Early Birds are gone. Full rate: €2k. I'd like to be mysterious and ask you to DM me "INFO". Then I'll share a doc to challenge objections and show proof. Then you can determine if this a good investment or money wasted. 

6. "Will we use AI? "

AI does 2 things: it amplifies mediocrity or skill. We'll go through the latter (while leaving your writing and creativity muscle intact). 

7. "Will you teach me how to create these funky animations?" 

Yes. 

Sounds good? DM "INFO" for the details. 

→ Adding FOMO: Today's the last day for enrollment. 
→ Adding urgency: 4 spots left. Doors close today. 

See you inside.

Positioning the Exceptional. Build your post-exit venture in public ✍🏼 Ghostwriter + Strategist.

If you want to :

- Sell your B2B services through Linkedin that CFOs beg to buy
- Close $1M in deals (minimum) without building a personal brand
- Cash in on sales through LinkedIn everytime you post  
- Outsmart every competitor in your market

DM me "window" for early access to my private program



Stéphanie Lauer

I hate sales calls, so I stopped doing them. And it’s how I’m going to make 7 figures. 

Instead, I mastered inbound, writing with enough sauce that buyers show up ready to buy, and I close deals in messages without having to persuade them.

I’ve noticed most of my sales come through emails anyway.

Mostly because I usually already know why someone is here before they even open their mouth.

Like, you come in and tell me you crossed $10M. I believe that.

What I’m actually listening for is:

The demand you’re currently generating through ads is slowly eating at you, micromanaging your team, you’re clearly fed up managing shitty buyers and spending way too much time dealing with people who question everything in your process.  

Because that’s the problem.

UR GETTING DEMAND BUT IT SUCKS.

And you don’t fix that on sales calls.

You don’t fix that by explaining more.

You fix it by writing to people who are already in crisis, loaded pockets who already know something’s off and are actively looking for someone who can handle it for them. 

Those people want your rules.

They want someone to say:

this is how it works

this is the plan

this is the price

And they relax when they hear that.

They bend because they’re relieved someone finally has structure.

This is why vague content kills sales.

You can shock people with your hooks and have DMs full of “this is so true.”

And still sell nothing.

Because none of that answers the only thing that matters at this level:

Can you actually deal with my problem?

Your writing has to do one thing.

It has to make it obvious that you know exactly what’s happening in their business - and that you know what to do about it.

When that’s clear, you assume the money is already in your account. That’s it.

That’s how inbound works.

A lot of people don’t have their best year yet because they keep doing shit they hate. 

People say “just do it consistently.”

But if you hate it - like really hate it - you’re already losing.

And that’s why you continue to attract buyers you hate -  and continue to choose them.

A lot of ceos tell me they hate them too, but its whats “required of them“ - thats to vet their buyers. My thought is this: You have sales people to take care of it. If you‘re still doing them U NEED TO UNDERSTAND your buyers better. And to climb to $30M you need to attract better buyers. 

I‘ll leave you with that.

I partner with founders (at $5M–$30M) so their buyers say yes to 1M+ deals. Subscribe below:

No alternative text description for this image

I’m going to tell you a slightly evil plan for getting a manufacturing group $1M+ clients/ per quarter on LinkedIn. An honest breakdown:

In the beginning, we pulled in the WRONG clients. Pre-seed inventors with no VC money. We were talking about products and it attracted people who had no funding behind their name.

So we stopped talking about products and started talking about the moment where everything can go wrong in hardware.
Pre-production. The moment of hell.

The moment where money has already been committed, timelines are fragile, one mistake can cost six figures, and nobody inside the company wants to be the person responsible if it fails.

Almost no business actually knows their buyer’s crisis moment.

They’ll say shit like:
“We help companies build products”
“We do end-to-end manufacturing”
“We scale businesses”

That’s really useless.

This is the question I use to vet every inbound in 2025:

“What is the exact moment your buyer panics internally?”

Why i’m punitively precise on that angle:

Every deal has multiple trust battles:

- Do they trust you
- Do they trust your mechanism / method
- Do they believe the mechanism works for their situation
- Do they trust you to execute it 
- Do they believe it delivers the result

We rode that angle relentlessly. Even if it got boring.

Now that manufacturer is closing $1.2M clients/ per quarter on Linkedin. 

This is where a real positioning strategist matters.
Someone who understands LinkedIn well enough to wear the angle out properly.

And moving into 2026 I’m adding a new layer to our strategy:

We’re launching our own products as a group and showing every real manufacturing decision in public, so when buyers hit the moment they’re scared to decide, the trust is already pre-sold.

That is doing two things:

1. Pulling in bigger buyers
2. It opens doors to media that has nothing to do with LinkedIn.

You could absolutely run this yourself if you’re a manufacturer.

Or you partner with someone who’s already burned the cycles figuring it out.

That’s what we do here.

I control demand for a few manufactuers and across all of them, I’ve noticed the same thing: TAKE NOTES. 

The moment they own a mechanism - and we push that mechanism everywhere - buyers handle their own objections at every stage of the sale.

We’ve done this through lead magnets and through long-form breakdowns.

But the real shift happened when we pushed the mechanism hard on LinkedIn and made all of their marketing about how the work actually gets done.

There’s this idea floating around that “buyers don’t care about your method.”

That’s bullshit - at least for this class of buyer.

There is a massive difference between:

- someone buying a $3K SaaS tool
- and a buyer about to risk six or seven figures on a manufacturing decision

Those buyers want to see how the machine works.

Here’s what’s actually happening under the hood with every serious prospect:

You have multiple battles to win - in order.

1. Do they trust you?
2. Do they trust your mechanism?
3. Do they believe the mechanism works for their situation?
4. Do they trust you to execute it under pressure?
5. Do they believe it reliably delivers the result?

We let assets do the heavy lifting before the conversation even starts.

This is how.

We take their real process and put it under a microscope.

1. We break the process into distinct stages
2. We give each stage a specific name
3. We wrap it in technology or systems that are built in-house 
4. We explain exactly how each stage works
5. We show how each stage connects to the next
6. We lead everything to a clear end result

Now something important happens.

Instead of being skeptical of the entire process, prospects can be skeptical about one stage at a time.

That’s good.

Because each stage now has its own focused asset that goes deep on that specific risk, that specific decision, that specific concern.

So objections stop being emotional and vague:

“I’m not sure this will work…”

And become precise and solvable:

“What happens at Stage 3 when copycat manufacturers in China replicate your design at half the price - and how do you prevent it?"

That’s when deals move.

Prospects want to see the machinery exposed.

Prospects want to see you naked - operationally.

And 2026 is going to reward exactly that.

Hyper-specific mechanisms.

Because it removes uncertainty before they ever have to ask for reassurance.

CLOCKED IT????

That’s how manufacturers sell faster, with less convincing, and bigger mandates.

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Stéphanie Lauer

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taplio

The Battle

Nick Broekema

Stéphanie Lauer

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);}Nick Broekema's LinkedIn Performance

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

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