Thought Leadership Branding For SAAS Founders Who Want To Explore International Markets l Thought Leadership Branding Strategist | LinkedIn Branding Expert | Social Selling Specialist

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞 

Linkedin is not for you if you want to spend millions on Ads.

If you don't want to generate leads and build a brand organically.

Remember people trust people and do business with people, not brands.

Hi! I'm Shiva Dudigama, a LinkedIn Consultant and Founder of BDM Ads, a Branding and Marketing Agency. I specialize in helping Founders and service providers build their personal brands, generate organic leads, and increase revenue. 

With my 3-month 1-1 LinkedIn Acceleration Program, you'll gain valuable insights and actionable strategies to optimize your profile, grow relevant connections, create compelling content, automate processes, onboard clients, and maximize lead generation. 

Let's position you as an industry expert and elevate your global personal brand together!

Shiva kumar

Most people do not fail on LinkedIn because they cannot write.


They fail because they are writing for the algorithm instead of for people.

Here is the reality of LinkedIn content today.

The algorithm follows attention.
Attention follows clarity.
Clarity follows thinking.

Not hooks.
Not gimmicks.
Not engagement bait.

High-performing content consistently does three things.

First, it is specific.
Vague ideas produce vague results.
“Here is how I grew” says nothing.
“Here is how one post generated 12 inbound leads” creates interest.

Second, it has a point of view.
Content without a perspective is invisible.
If everyone agrees with you, no one remembers you.

Third, it delivers immediate value.
The first two lines decide whether someone keeps reading.
Your audience must feel understood or learn something instantly.

The most common mistake is trying to sound professional.

Effective LinkedIn creators sound clear, human, and decisive.
Not polished.
Not corporate.
Not forgettable.

If you want better results, do not write more.

Think better.
Edit harder.
Post with intention.

LinkedIn rewards creators who respect their audience’s time.

Do that, and reach becomes a byproduct.

Thoughts ?

#Linkedin #Thoughtleader #Founderledbranding

Shiva Dudigama

Over 6 months, we build the content + positioning system that gets you relevant followers who actually convert into conversations.

Most B2B founders are sleeping on LinkedIn.


And it’s costing them deals.

Not because LinkedIn is “nice to have.”

But because LinkedIn is where modern B2B trust is built.

Here’s the truth most founders don’t want to hear

If you’re not visible on LinkedIn,

your prospects are forming opinions about competitors instead.

Why LinkedIn matters specifically for B2B founders 

Your buyers are already there

Decision-makers don’t Google first anymore.
They check you.
Your profile.
Your posts.
Your thinking.
No presence = no confidence.

Trust beats ads in B2B
B2B buying cycles are long.
Risk is high.
Budgets are scrutinized.

Founders who share real insights, lessons, and opinions shortcut trust before the sales call even happens.

 Your content works while you don’t
One post can:
Warm up leads
Pre-handle objections
Attract inbound conversations
That’s leverage most founders never build.

 You don’t need to go viral to win
You need to be relevant to the right 200–2,000 people.
Consistency > popularity.

Your story is your unfair advantage
No sales deck can compete with:
Your failures
Your lessons
Your point of view

People buy from people who sound human, not companies that sound polished.

The biggest mistake B2B founders make?

Outsourcing their voice before they’ve ever used it.

If you’re building a serious B2B company in 2026,

LinkedIn isn’t optional.

It’s your credibility engine.

Thoughts ?

#B2B #Linkedin #Founders

Most deals are lost because people follow up at the wrong time.


Not because your offer is bad.

 Not because they’re not interested.

But because you waited too long…

 Or followed up with just checking in.

Here’s the follow-up timing I’ve seen work over and over:

• 24 hours after a sales or discovery call

 • 48–72 hours after sending a proposal

 • 3–5 days after sharing value (audit, resource, free doc)

 • 30–60 days for warm leads who said “not right now”

And here’s the real rule most people miss 

Every follow-up must add clarity, context, or value.
If it’s just

 Hey, any thoughts?

Don’t send it.

Follow-ups aren’t about chasing.

 They’re about guiding decisions.

Timing + relevance = replies.

Thoughts ?

#Leadgeneration #Followup #Founderledbranding

Your prospect says

“We can get this cheaper somewhere else.”

That’s normal.

 And that’s where many expensive mistakes begin.

Multiple industry studies show that over 30% of business projects fail or require major rework because of poor execution and bad early decisions.

PMI reports that nearly 12% of project investment is wasted due to lack of expertise, weak planning, and avoidable errors.

Cheap almost never fails on day one.

 It fails later.

When timelines slip.

 When quality drops.

 When the same work needs fixing twice.

 When internal teams spend weeks cleaning up someone else’s mess.

Experts don’t charge more for effort.

 They charge for judgment.

Knowing what to do.

 Knowing what not to do.

 Knowing how to spot risks before they turn into costs.

Cost is what you pay today.

 Risk is what you carry forward.

I’m not trying to win on price.

 I’m trying to protect outcomes.

If doing it right the first time matters,

 that’s where experts earn their fee.

#Linkedin #Clients #Planning

The biggest lie in B2B sales


We just need better closers

As a CEO, that belief is expensive.

Because by the time a deal reaches your sales team, most of the decision is already made.

Over half of the B2B buying journey is completed before a buyer ever speaks to a vendor

6 to 10 stakeholders influence the outcome

Most buyers describe their last purchase as complex and risky

This is not a closing problem
It is a leadership problem
Your buyers are not looking for persuasion at the end
They are looking for certainty

They are asking
Will this decision survive internal scrutiny
Will this implementation fail quietly or publicly

Will this choice reflect well on me six months from now
No closer can answer that with a pitch
At the bottom of the funnel, the role of the business shifts

From selling
To de risking the decision
This is where CEO presence matters

For high value accounts, senior buyers expect senior intent

A short, direct note from the CEO changes the entire frame of the deal
It signals
This matters to us

We stand behind the outcome
This is a partnership, not a transaction
Instead of pushing for another sales call

Reduce friction
A brief personal video walking through a relevant case
A no obligation audit that surfaces real risks

A clear executive point of view on trade offs and priorities
This is not sales theatre
This is decision leadership

Automation creates efficiency
It does not create trust
The companies that win consistently do not rely on better closers

They build buying journeys that make the decision feel safe
Enable the buyer at the executive level
And revenue becomes predictable

Thoughts ?

#CEO #B2B #Leadership #SalesStrategy #Revenue

Most B2B deals are decided before the first sales call even happens.

Multiple studies show that over 70 percent of the buyer’s journey is completed before a prospect ever talks to sales.

During that 70 percent, buyers are not researching your product.

They are researching you.

Founders who actively build a personal brand create familiarity, trust, and authority long before a sales conversation starts. 

And that changes everything.

Data from large-scale LinkedIn content analysis shows that posts written in a personal, founder voice outperform brand content by a wide margin on reach, engagement, and comments

That matters because engagement is not vanity.

It is pre-conditioning.

When a buyer has already consumed your thinking, your opinions, and your lessons in public, sales conversations shift from persuasion to confirmation.

Founder-led branding does three things traditional sales cannot do at scale.
It builds trust before intent exists.

It compresses sales cycles by removing skepticism.

It creates differentiation in markets where products look increasingly similar.

The biggest mistake founders make is treating branding as optional until revenue feels stable.

By the time you need demand, it is already too late to build it.

The strongest companies today do not separate sales and brand.

They use founder-led content as the top of the funnel.

Not polished company posts.

Not outsourced thought leadership.

Not generic expertise.

Real perspective. Real conviction. Real experience.

That is what people follow.

That is what people remember.

That is what people buy from.

Thoughts ?

#Founderledbranding #Sales #Leads

Most agencies do not fail on LinkedIn because they lack talent. 

They fail because no one notices them.

LinkedIn now has over 1.2 billion members worldwide, and users view more than 1.3 million feed updates every minute. 

Yet only a small percentage of people post content consistently and strategically.

Over 80 percent of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is their most effective platform for lead generation, and nearly 90 percent use it to find quality business opportunities. 

Twenty-five percent of users interact with brand content daily, and engagement continues to rise year over year. 

I have seen founders, coaches, and consultants show up consistently and still get no leads, no messages, and no real opportunities.

It is not because LinkedIn does not work.

It is because they are posting without a system.

There is no clear positioning.

No defined content strategy.

No process to turn views into conversations.

At the same time, professionals with an intentional personal brand and a clear operating process are closing clients every week without paid ads.

The difference is not luck.
It is clarity, consistency, and execution.

Thoughts ?

#Personalbranding #Leadgen #Founderledbranding

Mansell Real Estate

+ Realtor®️ | Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®️)
+ Residential | Commercial | Land
+ 2021 Top Producer
+ 2022 Top Producer 
+ Covering Real Estate for the entire State of Utah
+ Providing guidance, information, insight, and knowledge about Utah Real Estate

Realtor®️

Broadway Media

+ Directed branding guidelines for multiple radio stations including logo design, colors, format
+ Managed brand staff for content creation across all platforms 
+ Created content opportunities with National Partners resulting in several Instagram Live’s with 10k views per instance
+ Identified opportunities with National Partners to create and maximize opportunities for the sales department
+ Instrumental in creating a Salt Lake City tour stop in 2019 for Ice Cube’s Big 3 (pro 3-on-3 national basketball tournament) - televised on CBS
+ Created promotional opportunities for Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC MLS teams 
+ Business Development 
       + Identified and sold outdoor, online, and traditional advertising to National Partners resulting in over $40k in new revenue in first two quarters of 2020
+ Led implementation of new software for managers and all brand staff working directly with the engineering team to install and train all staff
+ Responsible for creating and meeting all brand KPI’s including digital analytics

Brand Operations Director

CUMULUS MEDIA

+ Delivered entertainment, content, and PPM friendly personality to Salt Lake City's newest Top 40 radio station, Power 94.9 (KENZ-FM)
+ Ratings increase in key brand demographic, Women 18-49, increasing each month since starting the position

On Air Peronsality (AM Drive)

Utah Media Group

+ Increased Year-over-Year revenue pacing by over 50% - exceeding goals and using Salesforce
+ Committee member of the 2017 Utah Global Forum presented by Utah's Governor Gary Herbert; Utah's premier international event focused on businesses looking to expand internationally
+  Strengthening the brand identity and strategy of the owned and operated events
+ Eliminated $5K from owned and operated event budget by using media contacts to develop advertising partnerships
+ Developed relationships with C-Level Utah executives across several industries including: Finance, Law, Energy, Technology, and Government
+ Managed corporate partnership, sponsorship, and development for events including Utah Governor's Energy Summit, Utah Governor's Economic Summit, Utah STEM Action Center's STEM Fest, Utah Outdoor Summit, and Utah Global Forum
+ Worked cross-functionally with marketing department to re-design sponsorship marketing materials - including input in the direction of sizzle reels, photographs, and company marketing needs
+ Account management/relations with: Key Bank, Wells Fargo, Rocky Mountain Power, Dominon Questar, Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, EDCUtah, Salt Lake County, and others
+ Media Consultant for Utah State run conferences - planning media campaigns to raise awareness and attendance of Utah Outdoor Summit, OPS Conference, and Utah Global Forum
+ Approved and at times created email blasts for clients using SendinBlue email, marketing, and automation software
+ Project management cloud-based software, ASANA, to track progress and create organization
+ Used online messaging software, SLACK, to communicate cross-departmentally

Corporate Event Sponsorship Sales

TuneIn

+ Directing music content and content ideation for the following owned and operated channels: Music Pulse (Top 40), Hot Adult Contemporary Hits, Pop Hits, Alternative Hits and Classic Alternative channels for TuneIn digital app - with over 50 million monthly active users
+ Developing and maintaining relationships/partnerships with music influencers, major label recording artists, and record labels

Content Management Consultant

Impact Radio Group

+ Impact Radio Group is a 7-station radio broadcast company serving the Boise, Idaho Designated Market Area. 
+ Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Programming, Promotion, Marketing, Production, and Digital departments and managing the staffs associated with each department
+ Developed and created relationships with Fortune 500 clients, major record labels, and recording artists to enhance the brand, and partner with existing and new clients
+ Led the growth of the company by launching new brands and enhancing the overall ratings to become the #1 radio broadcast group in the metro area 
+ Worked collaboratively with the Director of Sales to increase sales and obtain the first profitable year in the company history
+ Spearheaded the development of the digital department increasing website page-views, social media reach, and implemented email marketing campaigns
+ Creative Director overseeing all marketing materials, implementation, development,  and creation of all digital campaigns, outdoor billboards, television commercials, and printed materials

Brand Operations Manager

iHeartMedia

Responsible for executing overall programming, marketing, and digital strategies of a Top 40 Rhythm and Alternative radio brands 

+ Designed and executed promotions increasing brand usage and recognition as proven by a month over month increase in ratings
+ Utilized corporate and national data to shape brand identity and meet monthly goals
+ Tracked KPIs and delivered reports to the Brand Director  
+ Enhanced social media presence by developing original content working with brand partners
+ Created content and promotions to achieve monthly corporate digital goals 
+ Assisted in the brand launch of Alternative radio format 
+ Position eliminated due to company-wide reduction in force

Assistant Brand Director

Millcreek Broadcasting

While holding Brand Director title: Created, developed, and grew events and entertainment division. Project manager responsible for strategic planning of all events including P&L and budget creation, operations, decision making, contract negotiation, crisis management, marketing and advertising.

+ Developed event marketing plans, budgets, deadlines, and materials for traditional and digital media
+ Coordinated with sales to secure sponsorship revenue and facilitate sponsor contracts
 + Achieved ticket sales goals and tracked KPIs to increase performance 
+ Collaborated with key partners to execute brand awareness and marketing efforts 
 + Produced press releases and created television marketing campaigns 
+ Executed contracts, talent booking, travel, and hotel 
+ Managed relationships with the city of Salt Lake City and accountable for city permitting
+ Hired, managed, and negotiated contracts of vendors for sound, lights, staging, and security 
+ Directed and mentored event coordinators, assistants, and supervised volunteer recruitment

Director of Live Events & Entertainment

Developed and executed the brand, marketing, and promotion strategy of Rhythm Top 40 station format

+ Analyzed KPIs which led to consistently being the #1 brand in target demographic
+ Coordinated with sales manager to develop key marketing campaigns achieving monthly sales goals
+ Produced press releases and directed media relations to increase brand awareness 
+ Wrote copy for brand and client marketing campaigns
+ Directed the marketing and promotion departments improving overall brand 
+ Boosted brand website traffic and social media presence  
+ Achieved highest online user traffic in brand and company history
+ Hired, trained, and mentored marketing and promotion staff 
+ Named National Brand Director of the Year in 2010 by industry trade publication FMQB

Brand Director

Gain wealth through Real Estate in Utah. Over 20 years of Marketing and Advertising experience to Sell your home fast 🏡Realtor®️| Seniors Real Estate Specialist®️ | Chief Executive Millcreek Business Council

Looking to gain wealth by buying and selling Real Estate in Utah? I am here to be your resource for understanding Real Estate and the current housing market. From investors to the first-time homebuyer, I provide the information you need to make the smartest decision with your money. 

Your Utah designated Seniors Real Estate Specialist, I have specialized knowledge in how to help those 50+ buy and sell their homes; adjust your home so you can age in place; work with your heirs on how to manage your estate; and provide valuable real estate insight as you age. 

Over 20 years of broadcast radio, marketing, advertising, and concert production using the stage name “Kevin Cruise”, has given me the skills to be an expert negotiator for my clients. When it comes to Selling a home, you receive an A-list experience. My background of moving across the U.S. multiple times has allowed me to know first-hand the difficulties facing Sellers, whether moving down the street or to another State.

Let's connect today so you have a trusted advisor when it comes to buying a house or selling your house.

taplio

The Battle

Shiva kumar

Michael Gura

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taplio

The Battle

Shiva kumar

Michael Gura

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Engagements

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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);}Shiva kumar's LinkedIn Performance

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