Advanced Client

Founder

Instantly.ai

Certified Expert

StratumFive Ltd

Global Client Relations Manager

Global Client Relations Team Leader

Hi, I’m Tom — CEO & Co-founder of AdvancedClient.io

We’re a full-service GTM Studio that builds outbound systems designed to generate qualified pipeline across every relevant channel — email, cold calling, paid ads, LinkedIn, and content.

We’ve partnered with 40+ B2B companies — from consultancies and tech firms to manufacturers — to architect multichannel outbound programs using tools like Clay, Instantly, Findymail, Hypertide, and Trigify.

We typically work with:

- B2B companies doing $100k+ in monthly revenue
- Offers with $10k+ LTV and high consideration
- Founders or GTM teams who want a reliable outbound engine without hiring a team of SDRs

Why clients work with us:

1. They’re too focused on product or delivery to execute outbound properly

2. They’ve tried outbound but never got past low reply rates or spam filters

3. They’re overwhelmed by tools and want a proven system, not another experiment

4. They want to scale pipeline without bloated headcount

What we do:
- Define your ICP, segment your TAM, and structure your offer for cold traffic
- Build inbox-safe cold email infrastructure that guarantees high deliverability
- Source and enrich high-quality leads using AI and advanced workflows
- Craft messaging for email, LinkedIn, and calling — optimized for replies
- Launch and manage multichannel outbound (email, calling, paid, social)
- Handle reply management, follow-ups, and booking — we own results
- Provide content advisory to align thought leadership with GTM execution

If you're serious about pipeline growth and want outbound that performs like your best rep — across every channel — let's talk.

📥 DM me
🌐 advancedclient.io
📧 tom@advancedclient.io

Tom Grainger

I'm English. Live in Brighton. I run a 2-man business with Louis Young.
We both work from home but meet in london every 2/3 weeks. 
We help a handful of clients at a time. 
I like collecting vintage suits (unrelated)

This year we'll hit $300k+ in revenue. 

Here is a very quick breakdown of what I sell, how I market + sell it and how we deliver our service without a huge team. 

1. What I sell: 

We work with SaaS companies with an ACV over $50k generate more qualified pipeline (that closes at a higher rate) without increasing their headcount. 

2. How do we do it?: 

We build out elite fractional SDR teams who's only job is to call. We handle the TAM, enrichment, qualification, signals, hiring, training, ramping, QA, tech and everything else involved allowing our clients to launch in 10 days instead of 10 months. 

3. Why do our clients love us?: 

- We solve a huge headache for them while delivering excellent results by implementing the cutting edge in outbound sales. 

4. Why do SDR's want to work with us? 

- We pay extremely competitively, handle all the headaches usually involved in being an SDR (they only need to call) and we are very flexible. (Shoot me a DM if you are an SDR looking for fractional work, we have lot's of opps for you to work on). 

5. How do we make sales?: 

a. Cold calling: We employ the same system's for our clients for ourselves. 
b. Cold email: We hit up our TAM every 3 months with simple hand raising messages. 
c. Linkedin content: Me and Louis Young have around 20k followers between us and generate millions of impressions with our content - this brings a lot of inbound. 
d. Referrals: Our clients love us so we get lots of referrals. 

Tools we use: 

Cold calling: Trellus (YC W22)
Cold email: Hypertide.io (infrastructure), Instantly.ai (sending) 
Data: Clay, Prospeo.io, Findymail, LeadMagic, FullEnrich
Signals: BirdDog, Trigify.io, Vector 👻
Cleaning: SureConnect

We use a bunch more tools for comms etc but this is the core stack for delivering our service.

More Pipeline W/O Scaling Headcount Using AI GTM Workflows | Founder @ advancedclient.io

I'm Tom, I listen to every call our SDR's make. It takes bloody ages.

but

it's the single most important thing I do in my day, here's why: 

Speaking to hundreds of sales leaders this year has made something really really clear. 

there is not enough time being spent coaching and training SDR's - which to me seems insane. 

why would you spend money hiring, training, ramping and maintaining a sales team if you aren't going to actively coach them? 

I get that it's time consuming but... everything worth doing in life is hard.

now that most people work remote, coaching time is more valuable that ever. 

like the gym, your reps and their form (pardon the pun) need to be tweaked consistently in the first few weeks. 

tonality, objection handling, breathing, elevator pitches, closes - all need to be consitently refined. 

and this can only be done if someone who knows is actively listening to their calls and providing feedback. 

so when our reps ping me to say they're starting a call block. 

I just on Trellus (YC W22) and live listen in the background while I'm doing other work.

when I hear something that needs changing I shoot them a message in slack with advice for the next call. 

these micro tweaks compound over a single call block and as the days and weeks go by, our reps get better and better. 

somethings can't be 100% operationalised with SOP's - you've got to roll up your sleeves and jump in the trenches. 

P.s. we are always hiring talented, smart SDR's who want to 10x their development through a high intensity, phone first program. You'll be working directly with us and our clients with the best tools, tech and data on the market. Shoot me a DM if you're interested :)

If I were a Founder or a C-suite exec at a software company…

I’d send this message to my GTM team today:

“This workflow doesn’t just blast emails. It gives us full visibility across the entire buyer journey from first signal to booked sales conversation.”

Here’s what we track:

- Off-site intent signals
- Website visitor identification
- LinkedIn engagement
- Lookalike audience targeting

To do it, we plug in:

Vector 👻 → Ad click tracking
RB2B → Identify visitors on key web pages
Trigify.io → Track LinkedIn post engagement

Then we go deeper with:

Ocean.io + Clay → Build lookalikes of our best customers

All that data flows into Clay, where it’s enriched and qualified in real-time:

- Lead filters
- MX record checks
- Company-level enrichment
- Signal validation

For email verification, we use a waterfall of LeadMagic, Findymail & Prospeo.io to handle the heavy lifting:

- Finding and verifying emails
- Flaging catch-alls

For phone data: FullEnrich, Prospeo.io + SureConnect

- Sources valid direct dials
- Ranks the lists

Once leads are validated, we activate them:

- Drop into email sequences
- Push to SDR call lists
- Trigger LinkedIn workflows

This is when calendars start filling up.

Then:
- Calendly handles scheduling
- Automated reminders go out
Zapier syncs data to CRM

And when deals close?

We loop it back:

- Build lookalike audiences around closed-won accounts
- Run paid campaigns to repeat the cycle

I think the sales org of 2026 will look nothing like what you’re running today.

Right now? Most companies are still stuck in 2018.

They’ve got SDRs hammering phones, sending templated cold emails from their main domain (lol), and hiding behind “marketing-approved” messaging that sounds like it was written by ChatGPT v0.5.

Here’s what that looks like in reality:

 • Reps aren’t getting enough connects, so their confidence tanks.
 • When they do get someone on the phone, they freeze — they haven’t had enough real reps.
 • Cold emails go straight to spam because the main domain’s reputation is torched.
 • Leadership doesn’t have visibility, coaching is reactive, and morale is in the gutter.

Quota attainment? In the bin.

But here’s how it’s going to work by 2026 👇

→ Reps will be phone-first.

 Every call will be supported by an elite backend team — building signal-led lead lists, enriching valid numbers, ranking them by intent (TitanX style), and feeding reps high-confidence dials.

They’ll get live and post-call coaching daily.

They’ll have better data → more conversations → more confidence → more pipeline.

→ Cold email won’t sit with SDRs.

It’ll sit inside marketing - centralised, infrastructure-led, and quality-controlled.

Built on secondary domains, warmed up. Reliable. Infra from: Hypertide.io, spun with deliverable copy, and operated like a performance channel - not an afterthought.

Every positive reply will be routed straight to the phone team.

→ ABM outreach becomes the rep’s playground.

Warm inboxes, hyper-personalized messages, natural DMs - no corporate BS.

Everything feels conversational and human again.

And here’s what that means 👇

Instead of 15 burnt-out SDRs chasing activity metrics…

You’ll have a handful of elite operators running optimized dials, handling real conversations, and converting at 3–5x the rate - backed by a marketing-driven outbound (and paid ads) engine.

Less headcount. Higher output. Cleaner data.

Outbound that finally compounds.

The best orgs will start fractional.

They’ll bring in partners who already have the infrastructure, training, and ramp-up systems in place - so they can prove the motion fast.

The backend gets built.
The reps get trained.
The motion gets validated.

Then, once they’re confident and the pipeline’s flowing, they’ll bring it internal with reps who already know how to run it.

That’s how smart orgs will move: speed first, ownership second.

The future isn’t “sales-led” or “marketing-led.”

It’s ops-led.

Where infrastructure, data, and enablement sit at the center - powering every rep and every channel.

That’s the 2026 sales org.

Phone-led. Data-fed. Marketing-integrated. Ops-powered.

I’m Tom. I’m 28. I live in England. My cofounder Louis Young and I run a GTM agency on track for $300k this year.

Last week, while my US friends were knee deep in turkey and leftovers, Louis asked me what we were doing for BFCM.

I told him the truth: “We’re an agency. We don’t sell consumable products we can discount.”

He looked at me and said, “Fine, but what if we just create the best offer on the market?”

So after about 35 Guinness in central London, we did exactly that.

We built a DFY outbound calling engine that runs end to end.

You don’t lift a finger.

+ we’re adding a FREE week of dialing so you can test our execution and we can test your offer before any long term commitment.

Here’s what’s inside:

1. ICP Definition and TAM Mapping
- We’ll break down your ICP based on won deals or market theories.
- Then map your entire TAM to completion: every company, every prospect, every buyer you want to reach.

2. Signals and intent
- Using BirdDog, we layer custom signals across your TAM. And yes, truly custom. If you want to track whether a founder is into... snails..., we’ll track it.
- This lets us prioritise the most in-market companies and personas.

3. Infrastructure
- We run everything through Trellus (YC W22).
- It plugs into Clay or your CRM.
- We connect directly to your sales team’s calendars so calls appear automatically with contextual handover in Slack.

4. SDRs
-You get one of our in-house SDRs calling 3-5 hours per day on your account.
- We build every script, objection matrix, and enablement path.
- We listen live to calls and coach in real time so performance improves fast.

5. Reporting
- You’ll get a private Slack channel with direct access to me, Louis Young, and your SDR(s).
- Weekly KPI reports, full transparency, plus a written breakdown from Louis on what happened and what’s next.
- Optional CRM sync.

Now the part everyone asks about: the free week.

Not every offer or market fits calling. That’s fine.

Instead of locking you into a contract and hoping it works, we run a full proof-of-concept week at no cost.

We build the list, enrich numbers, create scripts, run the objections, and call.

You see the results with zero commitment.

We see if you’re a good partner for a longer engagement.

If the proof of concept lands and you’re happy, we sign a 6-month contract and scale.

Your pipeline grows without operational lift or distraction from mission-critical deals.

The alternative is hiring a team yourself and managing recruiting, training, enablement, QA, coaching, tech, holidays, sick days, motivation, and everything else that slows down growth.

This offer is best for companies with real PMF, aggressive growth plans, and no desire to spend 6-12 months building a sales team from scratch.

They need pipeline. They need it soon. And they want it without taking focus away from customers already on their plate.

If you want the full breakdown, tell me and I’ll send it over.

I’m 28 today so here is 28 lesso… nah I’ll save you the waffle. 

Instead I’m making 28 million cold calls. 

Booking 280,000 meetings 

And generating £2.8T (not $) in profit for myself and clients. 

See you next year ✌️

P.s. Here is a live pic of my current calling set up, does anyone have a new dialer recommendation? My fingers hurt

No alternative text description for this image

I'm Tom. My Co-founder is Louis Young. 
We run a GTM agency with 3 employees. 
That makes us tiny.

But... 

imo that's our strength. 

Story + explanation: 

My first job was an SDR for a shipping tech company. 

We called landed captains, engineers etc to sell them tracking and security software for their fleets. 

It was cool tech but we were running a 90's style bullpen salesroom. 

Our 'list' was a spreadsheet with company names and office phone numbers. 

We had to dial the list 1 by 1 trying to break through gatekeepers to get to decision makers. 

My go to was "I need to be put through to the security officer." 

Maybe a bit unethical but it got my foot in the door most of the time. 

Anyway... 1 day I came across a tool (can't remember which - it was 6 years ago) that helped with list building - getting the relevant person + their mobile number...

To me this seemed like microchip type technology (funny thinking back on it) 

I spoke to my manager about getting it and 3 months later I hadn't heard a thing back. 

Nothing changed. 

---

Fast forward to today. 

As my own boss at a lean machine. 

I see a tool, tech, development that I want to try out. 

I try it out. 

It's incredibly freeing.

And... ultimately, means we stay at the forefront of the cutting edge of GTM. 

The systems we are currently building (signals, tooling, coaching etc) might have killed off an earlier me. 

But it's probably been one of the funnest parts of running my own shop. 

Louis Young might disagree when I send him 10 tools a week we have to try out.

But when we find the 1/10 diamond in the rough that 10x's our outputs...

I think it's worth it. 

---

Speaking with 100's of revenue leaders this year, it blows my mind how slow most companies move. 

I'm speaking to people who are still umming and ahhhing about trying out Clay...

TLDR: Being small, lean and profitable let's us move fast and stay riding the front of the wave in GTM.

We are Hiring: Full Time Remote SDR (Contractor)

We’re looking for a full time SDR to work across multiple client accounts. This is a high intensity, phone heavy role for someone who wants to build world class outbound skills fast.

You’ll spend most of your day on the phone.

Up to six hours of live calls across three calling blocks, every day.

If that excites you, keep reading.

You’ll speak with decision makers, qualify leads, book meetings, and create pipeline for several clients at once. 

You’ll develop range and adaptability fast because you’ll work across different industries, offers, and GTM setups.

We’re a hands on team. You won’t be handed a script and forgotten about. 

You’ll get coaching, feedback, and direct access to leadership. One year here will feel like ten years of development in a traditional company.

Your job is outreach. Nothing else.

- No list building.
- No enrichment.
- Minimal admin.
 
We handle all of that.

You get elite tooling, elite data, elite systems, and a clear path to becoming exceptional.

Compensation:

Full time contractor role

$54,000 to $78,000 per year (base to OTE)

What You’ll Be Doing:

- High volume outbound calling across multiple client accounts
- Speaking with decision makers and qualifying opportunities
- Booking meetings that create real pipeline
- Following proven workflows and keeping tight notes
- Developing through weekly coaching and feedback

What You Get: 

- Fully remote contractor role
- World class outbound tooling and data
- Exposure to multiple industries and GTM engines
- Minimal admin, zero list building, zero enrichment
- Fast personal development with hands on leadership support

Our Culture:

We value speed, honesty, hunger, accountability and high performance.

And because we’re fully remote, we value clear, fast and frequent communication.

Clarity and frequency matter here.

Requirements: 

- Minimum 1 year of SDR or outbound calling experience
- Comfortable with long calling blocks
- Confident communicator with resilience
- Coachable and driven
- Can work UK or US time zone hours
- Comfortable being a full time contractor

If you want to become elite at outbound and grow your sales career faster than anywhere else, you’ll fit here.

Apply Here: 

https://lnkd.in/e4CmpEX8

a $250,000 sales team won't fix it. 
the latest 'gtm' tool won't fix it. 
AI won't fix it. 

to me it's crazy how much: 

- budget teams spend
- time teams waste
- energy teams exert 

just to avoid the thing that will FIX it: 

1. Automating bullsh*t tasks your reps either hate doing or use as an excuse not to do stuff. 
2. Creating a phone first sales motion (with the best tools) 
3. Talking to their ICP (every day) 

I think teams want it to be complicated. 

and maybe there is a shadow industry that perpetuates it, in order to; 

do less, spend more, be more comfy. 

well, we are solving for that atm by building the best outbound sales team on the market. 

killers who want to be on the phone, 

love talking to people, 

are responsible for revenue, 

+ we give them the best backend and tools on the market...

honestly, if I was 20 again, i'd bite my own nose off for this opportunity. 

unfortunately it didn't exist, so young Tom; 

get back to dialing that crappy list you have. 

p.s. live images of me training up the next elite member of our team (my mrs, she has no idea) to take out the competition (for legal purposes this is a joke).

It took me 3 years to realise that automation ≠ success, then; 

I had a bit of an existential crisis. 

In my head, automation was the key. 

Scale infinitely, without increasing headcount. 

Who wouldn't take that offer. 

But then results started to drop, 

client's started churning, 

and 'systems' that I was relying on to pay my bills... stopped working. 

everything I thought was 'true' turned out to be false. 

it sucked but honestly, I needed the reality check. 

you cannot remove the human element from a sales led growth model. 

it is required and it is necessary. 

so, what did I decide to do instead? 

take everything I knew about automation, AI and systems and apply it to a broken human led model. 

the revenue leaders I was speaking to all told me the same things: 

1. their reps aren't producing results. 
2. the phone is dead. 
2. cold email doesn't work. 
4. pipeline is shrinking. 

so I dug deeper; 

and identified the issue. 

human reps being held back by bullsh*t admin tasks that stop them (or give them an excuse) from executing revenue producing activities. 

In my business, we were mapping TAM's, producing lead lists, qualifying, researching & enriching leads in minutes when other teams were either NOT doing it or taking months...

it seemed obvious; 

arm the best reps in the world with the best automations, AI and tooling and let them focus on revenue driving activity. 

and this is exactly what we've done. 

we work with killer reps, handle all the crap, give them the best toolings and let them fire away into the market and do what they do best. 

produce revenue. 

and now we do :) 

p.s if you're 1. a killer rep looking for opportunities to work on the best offers in the market with the best tech and tooling or; 2. a b2b business looking to scale their outbound operations without the headache of building it themselves. Shoot me a dm

p.p.s tried the 'best' guinness in brighton this weekend... result: 10/10 absolute creamer.

Helping visionary founders & execs be radically original on LinkedIn using The Creative Catalyst Method | Building $1M+ pipeline strategies | Founder @ Kennedy Creative

Most executives treat LinkedIn like a resume.

I treat it like a revenue engine.

I work with enterprise B2B executives and founders in the 7–9 figure range to turn authority into measurable growth.

Through The Creative Catalyst Method — a system built on content + outbound — my clients transform visibility into deal flow, building 7+ figure pipelines in as little as 6 months.

And the results speak for themselves:
	
• 30+ MQLs generated in less than 60 days
• Clients getting 3+ leads every week with content + outbound
• A 5-figure deal closed by an agency in under 60 days
• $100K pipeline built in less than 90 days for a SaaS company

What makes this possible isn’t just content.

It’s the combination of strategic positioning, executive voice, and consistent outbound touchpoints that makes your brand unforgettable — and turns authority into revenue.

If you’re an executive ready to move from authority → pipeline → growth, let’s talk.

👉 Book a call or connect with me here on LinkedIn.

Doug Kennedy

10 things I’m thankful for…

1. My wife, who holds everything together
2. My kids, who remind me what joy looks like
3. My clients who trust me
4. The opportunity to build something from nothing
5. The ability to provide for my family
6. Early mornings with coffee and quiet
7. The people who sharpen me and push me forward
8. The hard seasons that taught me more than the easy ones
9. The friendships that feel like family
10. The grace of God over my life, which is more than I deserve

Happy Thanksgiving! 

What are you thankful for?

Helping B2B executives turn authority into revenue on LinkedIn | Building 6+ figure pipeline strategies with content + outbound using The Creative Catalyst Method | Founder @ Kennedy Creative

You’re an 8- or 9-figure founder. You’ve got traditional lead channels dialed in.

• SEO brings in steady traffic.
• Paid ads keep the pipeline full.
• Maybe you even run some TV spots.

You might even post on LinkedIn here and there.

But organic LinkedIn?

That’s for smaller founders. For personal brands. Not for serious companies.

Right?

Wrong.

Here’s why organic LinkedIn isn’t beneath you, it’s your biggest missed opportunity.

1. Your buyers are here. Every day.
	
• LinkedIn isn’t just for job seekers—it’s where decision-makers spend their time.
• The same C-suite execs you’re trying to reach through ads and outbound? They’re scrolling LinkedIn between meetings.
	
2. People buy from people, not just companies.
	
• A great company page is nice. A founder-led brand builds trust faster.
• Look at the biggest B2B companies crushing LinkedIn…their leadership is front and center.
	
3. Your competitors aren’t doing it (yet).
	
• Most 8-9 figure founders ignore organic LinkedIn, which means the ones who show up consistently win big.
• If your competitor’s CEO is in the feed every day, and you’re nowhere to be found… guess who has the advantage when buyers start paying attention?

Organic LinkedIn isn’t beneath you.

It’s your unfair advantage if you take it seriously.

Ready to get started? Send me a DM!

So many people post on LinkedIn without understanding why people engage.

But attention isn’t random, but it’s psychological.

Here are 10 growth tips backed by psychology and neuroscience to help you grow your audience and keep their attention 👇

1. Start with emotion: people decide emotionally and justify logically.
2. Mirror their language: we trust people who sound like us.
3. Use the Zeigarnik Effect: open loops keep readers hooked.
4. The “You” ratio: talk to one person, not a crowd.
5. Tell micro-stories: emotion makes content memorable.
6. Repetition builds familiarity: familiarity builds trust.
7. Use social proof: proof creates belief.
8. Create pattern breaks: variation resets attention.
9. Follow the rule of 3: our brains love rhythm and structure.
10. Stay consistent: credibility comes from showing up.

Each one of these principles taps into how the brain actually works and when you use them, your content connects deeper, faster, and longer.

If you want a library of ideas to put these tips into action:

👉 Comment “101” and I’ll send you my free guide: 101 LinkedIn Post Ideas

It’s the fastest way to stop guessing what to post and start growing with purpose.

10 LinkedIn Growth TIps

It’s almost 2026 and I still need to say this:

LinkedIn has changed since 2016. 

Far too many founders and CEOs don’t even have a banner on their profile. 

Here’s the change and why it’s important 👇 

LinkedIn 10 years ago: 

➔ Digital resume, listing work experience and education
➔ Networking was mostly connections, not conversations
➔ Primarily a job-hunting tool
➔ Company pages: basic info and job listings
➔ Content: text-only, low engagement

LinkedIn TODAY: 

➔ Hub for articles, videos, and thought leadership
➔ Used for recruitment AND sales 
➔ Engagement drives everything—comments, insights, discussions
➔ Personal branding takes the lead
➔ Multimedia: videos, polls, live streams, and more
➔ Two-way conversations that spark real connections

The companies that are going to dominate the market are already taking advantage of the platform to:

- build founder-led and executive brands
- establish authority in their niche
- fill their pipeline and drive sales

Those who don’t will lose opportunities. 

Are you still living in the past on LinkedIn, or are you building something to own the future?

I used to think I was a good writer.

I didn’t have the training.

I just enjoyed writing, so in my head…that meant I was good at it.

Then I joined this tiny chat group with a few guys who wrote online. 

Nothing fancy. Just a handful of people trying to get better and calling each other out.

And the rule was simple:

→ Drop your draft
→ Take the feedback
→ No hurt feelings

The first time they went through one of my posts, I felt it.

I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought.

I realized I had a few habits that were holding me back:

→ I wrote sentences that sounded great in my head but didn’t land
→ I rambled when I wasn’t sure what my point was
→ I relied on passion instead of clarity
→ I used extra words to make weak ideas feel stronger
→ I had a “voice,” but no real structure behind it

That group changed everything for me.

They gave me something I didn’t have before: a standard.

And once you see that higher bar, you can’t unsee it.

- You start noticing what makes writing sharp.
- You start tightening your ideas.
- You stop hiding behind fluff.

Here’s the part that stuck with me:

Most people aren’t bad writers.

They’ve just never had their writing pushed.

You don’t get better by writing alone in your corner. You get better when you let people tell you the truth about your work.

That’s when the real growth happens.

If you want that same push for your content and your brand, send me a DM and I’ll send you the one-pager for my Growth Partner Catalyst Program.

“Good news….your personal brand is gonna make it.

But you need to strengthen your message a bit.”

- Dr. Doug 

Most leaders don’t catch clarity erosion early because they’re so close to their own expertise.

Everything sounds great until you realize…”oh my audience isn’t interested in what I have to say.”

Here’s the checkup I give when I’m assessing a CEO’s messaging clarity:

1. The Identity Check

Can you explain who you are professionally in one clean sentence?

If it takes a paragraph, your authority is scattered.

2. The Expertise Line

What are the 1–2 things you want to be known for?

Executives who pick two lanes build influence.

Executives who pick ten build confusion.

3. The Stakes Analysis

Why does your work matter?

Leaders lose attention because they talk about tasks, not impact.

Stakes = what changes because of you.

4. The Repeatability Test

Could your ideal buyer repeat your message after reading two posts?

If not, it isn’t sharp enough.

Repeatability is the real KPI of positioning.

5. The Resonance Review

Are you speaking to the right people or the loudest people?

Executives who write for “everyone” get engagement.

Executives who write for someone get opportunities.

Your message is the foundation.

When it’s clear, everything else (trust, visibility, inbound) becomes inevitable.

If you want me to run this same checkup on your profile and content, DM me “AUDIT.” I’ll tell you exactly where your message needs to be strengthened.

The other day, I shared the last 10 years of my life with someone I had just met.

•  My relationship with God.
•  How I met my wife.
•  Why I moved to Delaware County, PA.
•  How I started writing on LinkedIn and X.

It’s a crazy story and I didn’t expect him to be all that interested. 

But to my surprise, he was locked in, listening to every word.

That moment reminded me:

→ Someone out there needs your story. People are drawn to real, authentic journeys.

→ Gratitude shifts everything. Telling my story reminded me of how good God has been.

I’m stepping into 2025 with excitement and gratitude, ready to build relationships that matter.

Your story matters too. 

Who’s someone you could share it with this week?

I posted something yesterday and my first thought was: This is horrible.

Not because the idea was bad…but because it didn’t sound like me at all.

Here’s what my post was missing (and why it matters):
	
1. Personality

My post had zero flavor. No beard jokes. No Star Wars references. Nothing that sounded like Doug.

And here’s the truth: personality is what makes writing memorable. It’s the quirks, tone, and edges that make a post feel alive.

When you strip that out, your content becomes generic, technically correct, and emotionally empty.
	
2. Deeper insight

I shared a point, but none of the meaning behind it. It was shallow, like a headline without an article.

Great content doesn’t stop at “what.” It digs into the “why,” the “how,” and the lived experience behind the idea.

Insight is the difference between a post people skim… and a post people save.
	
3. A unique angle

My post could’ve been written by anyone. 

No twist. 
No tension. 
No reason to stop scrolling.

Your angle (your worldview, your story, your interpretation) is the differentiator.

It’s what turns common ideas into uncommon content.

4. A strong hook

My hook didn’t hook ME… so it wasn’t going to hook anyone.

The first line is the gatekeeper. It creates curiosity, contrast, or a moment that forces someone to keep reading.

If the hook is weak, the rest of the post never stood a chance.

These 4 ingredients are what take a post from “fine” to “worth reading.”

Miss one and the post suffers.

Miss all 4 and…well, you get yesterday.

(I deleted the post so don’t even try to go back and read it lol) 

It happens.

• Sometimes we drift from our own voice.
• Sometimes we write fast instead of honest.
• Sometimes we forget what makes us us.

The fix is simple:

Re-center.
Reconnect.
And write from who you actually are.

That’s where the best content lives.

Have you ever lost your voice in your content?

The fastest way to lose sales on LinkedIn is weak positioning.

You can be great at what you do.
You can post consistently.
You can share valuable insights.

But if your positioning is unclear, broad, or generic…buyers won’t see you as the person to hire.

After writing for founders, CEOs, and operators across multiple industries,

I’ve noticed the same positioning gaps show up over and over and they quietly destroys trust, authority, and inbound

So I broke down the 7 biggest positioning mistakes and how to fix each one

👉 Swipe through the carousel

7 Positioning Mistakes That Destroy Your LinkedIn Sales

It didn’t click right away…

If I’m honest, it took closer to 6–8 months before anything meaningful happened.

In the beginning, it felt like I was talking into the void:

→ Posting late at night after work
→ Getting a handful of likes
→ Wondering if anyone was actually reading
→ Fighting the quiet urge to stop because “maybe this isn’t working”

But I showed up anyway…not because of motivation, but because I understood one thing:

Brands are built on repetition, not reactions.

And then the shift started…slowly, then suddenly:

→ Someone messaged, “I’ve been following your content for months.”
→ Someone else booked a call because “your posts changed how I think about this.”
→ People recognized my name before I even introduced myself.
→ Prospects showed up warm, already trusting me without a single sales pitch.

That’s when it clicked:

Personal branding works, but it works on compound interest, not instant gratification.

• Every post is a deposit.
• Every story is a seed.
• Every insight is one more brick in a relationship you don’t even know you’re building.

Most people quit right before it compounds. 

Right before the trust, the visibility, and the opportunities start stacking!

If you stick with it for 90 days with:

→ a clear message
→ a repeatable content rhythm
→ and consistency that outlasts the noise

…everything changes.

If you’re serious about building that kind of momentum, you don’t need more hacks….

you need a plan, accountability, and a system that removes the guesswork.

If you want a structured 90-day plan and someone in your corner each week, my Growth Partner program is built for that. DM me “GROWTH.”

A CRE leader didn’t say it directly, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced LinkedIn could work for him. 

But he heard it worked for other people and wanted to take the risk.

A fair place to start.

He didn’t want engagement. He wanted pipeline.

So we focused on the fundamentals:

→ Tightened his positioning
→ Clarified his message
→ Built content around the real problems his CRE buyers face
→ Paired it with a targeted DM strategy designed to start real conversations

By the end of our first week together: 

8 leads.

Here’s why this worked:

1. He got specific.

We stopped writing broad “real estate” content and shifted to content that spoke directly to decision-makers:
	
• buyer frustrations
• deal blockers
• investor mistakes 
• CRE challenges he sees every day

When your content speaks to the right people, the right people respond.

2. He wrote from real experience.

No generic market updates.

No surface-level industry takes.

We used:
	
• deals he’s worked
• objections he hears
• patterns he sees weekly
• insights only a practitioner would know

This builds trust faster than anything else.

3. His message and his outreach worked together.

Most people post and pray. We built a system.

His content attracted attention.

His DMs converted it.
	
• DM people who engaged with posts
• DM people who viewed his profile
• Open conversations with his ICP
• Outreach that matched his positioning

Content creates interest. DMs create opportunities.

He came in a tad bit skeptical.

He became a believer by the end of Week 1.

If you want your profile, content, and DM strategy reviewed and a plan to turn visibility into booked calls, book a call or DM me “AUDIT.”

taplio

The Battle

Tom Grainger

Doug Kennedy

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance ScoreTom Grainger's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDoug Kennedy's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Tom Grainger

Doug Kennedy

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);}Tom Grainger's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDoug Kennedy's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTom Grainger's LinkedIn Performance