notus

Grow your business with personal branding.

At notus, we help founders and executives to build an audience and generate demand through content & community.

You talk. We listen, strategize and create content for your personal brand.

With as little as 1-hour per week, you can start building your content empire.

Your story is your competitive advantage.

Don't let it go to waste.

Apply to work with us here: 

www.notus.xyz

Notable Clients: Alan Frei, Cognizant, Noah Kagan, Ryan Serhant, Hubert Rhomberg, Swisscom, CYBERA, w3.fund, Junto, Instaffo, Decommerce, Hype Partners, Frederik Fleck, Feliks Eyser, Vicktoria Klich, Jim Kwik, AppSumo, turn.energy, Catherine Alonzo, Irene Lyon

Founder & CEO

Sigma Squared Society

Empowering The World's Most Ambitious Founders Under 26.

Sigma Squared is a global community of 1000+ entrepreneurs who are on a mission to transform broken industries and create positive impact.

Sigma Squared was previously known as the Kairos Society which started in the United States more than 13 years ago in 2008.

Fellow 

building a web3 media brand
- podcast
- newsletter
- linkedin 
- tiktok
& other stuff

media advisor & podcast host

DGMG

Because no one goes to school for B2B Marketing.

Member

Backpacker Trail

🗺️ Simplifying travel through community, nft-gamification, and a seamless web app.

I'm advising BPT around the topics: 
- Marketing (Personal Branding & Content Marketing)
- Web3 & NFTs

Advisor

Insight Consulting GmbH

In January 2021 I joined forces with Insight Consulting taking on a CMO & Partner position.

I helped launch the PB Accelerator and built the customer success infrastructure, onboarding and consulting our first 30 Coaching Clients. 

Ramping up the marketing efforts, I scaled our monthly Ad Spend to 5 figures, built out the content engine (internal personal brands and company accounts), and launched the B2B Personal Branding Podcast (Hosted ~44 Episodes.)

During my time at Insight we tripled our ARR and grew from 4 to 12 Full-Time Employees.

It was a great learning experience as I got to combine my self-taught experience with the "classic" consulting knowledge of Insight.

After 12 months it was time for me to bring my own vision to life, re-launching notus.xyz.

CMO & Partner

Iris Rose & Co.

I got the opportunity to work with former GaryVee Employees Iris Chen & Calvin Hamilton, both of whom I first met while traveling across the US.

At Iris Rose & Co. I managed two Personal Branding Projects as well as one E-Commerce Brand.

I was responsible for the content creation, content distribution and community management on Instagram and LinkedIn as well as running Facebook/Instagram Ads.

Two months into working as an independent consultant, I founded notus and continued providing personal branding and paid media services to Iris Rose & Co. and its clients.

Marketing Consultant

Sabbatical

After finishing an internship at PostFinance AG, a bank in Switzerland, I took some time to travel throughout the U.S & Canada.

I started documenting my journey on Instagram and LinkedIn and connected with people who did what I aspired to do (Creators and Entrepreneurs.)

Just a few months into this adventure, because I had been posting content and doing free marketing consultations with local businesses, I landed a job in New York, working as a marketing consultant.

Gap Year & Self-Education

Shopify

Embarked on my first e-commerce ventures by creating online stores in the following niches: Soccer World Cup 2018, Fashion Accessories, and Pet Gadgets.

Through that process, I learned how to leverage Social Media as a branding tool, and I was able to make my first sales via Facebook Ads.

E-Commerce / Dropshipping Stores

PostFinance AG

After graduating from high-school I started an internship at the Swiss Bank PostFinance. I advice and supported SMB as their internal contact.

This experience taught me how to communicate confidently with business customers, while building relationships and working customer-oriented. I was also able to get a feel for the corporate working environment.

Praktikum als Geschäftskundenbetreuer

Growing Personal Brands for Founders & Executives | Aspiring Coffee-Influencer & Founder at notus

Turn your story into your competitive advantage.

I decided to take a gap year in 2018 to follow my entrepreneurial dream, left my hometown in Switzerland, and traveled to the US.

The goal was to figure out things as I went, learn by doing, document my journey, and connect with inspiring people.

Just a few months into this adventure, because I had been posting content and doing free marketing consultations with local businesses, I co-founded notus in the heart of New York City alongside a former employee of GaryVee.

THIS was when I realized how powerful personal branding is.

Since then, we've had the privilege to work with 150+ founders & executives across DACH and the US, helping them strategize, launch and grow their personal brands on LinkedIn and beyond.

At notus, our core offering is the content engine:.

A seamless process that helps you:

- build an audience
- save time
- attract talent
- make more sales.

We capture your authentic voice through podcasts and voice memos...

...turning your raw expertise and unique story into content that builds brand equity and attracts the right people.

Want to talk personal branding?

Just drop me a LinkedIn message, and let's connect!

Outside of work, you’ll find me strolling through the streets of Berlin (probably with a cup of coffee), filming & editing videos, listening to music & podcasts, and drinking a whole lot of water.

Today, I turn 28. Here are 28 lessons I’ve learned about life & business:

 1. How you do one thing is how you do everything
 2. Life is too short to work with people you don’t like
 3. Go to the sauna and do cold plunges
 4. Every bull run is followed by a bear run (and vice versa)
 5. Optimize for sunlight and get your steps in
 6. Positive sum interactions compound exponentially
 7. Great entrepreneurs can live with great uncertainty
 8. Most challenges make sense in retrospect - they're rarely as devastating as they first appear
 9. It’s ok not to be liked (tough one, but part of the game)
10. If you’re winning the day, you’re winning life
11. Protect family time like gold, schedule it like work, show up fully
12. The sooner you lean into your zone of genius, the faster you can get the right people to support you
13. With good habits, time is your friend; with bad habits, time is your enemy
14. For acute problems, pay for expertise; for long-term partners, hire for talent and values
15. Few efforts drive most growth (but you only find them by being willing to try many)
16. Treat life like a videogame; you’re the character you can grow and modify
17. You have the ability to figure anything out
18. The easiest way to create content is through reflection
19. When it comes to hiring, clear contracts from day 1
20. Life is fragile - savor the moment, collect the memories
21. No one has it figured out, everyone’s just dribbling
22. In relationships, choose depth over width any day
23. People project their situation onto you - take every piece of advice with a grain of salt
24. A good 1on1 can solve almost any problem
25. Run for clarity, lift for confidence, stretch for longevity
26. Focus on inputs over outputs, but keep a north star in sight
27. Always be life-maxing: enjoy your rituals, stand in the sun for that coffee
28. Keep climbing the mountain you're on - you have to stay in the arena long enough to reap the fruits

Here's to another year of learning fast, breathing deeply, and savoring the ride.

Day by day 💆🏽

Marvin Sanginés

Building Effective Personal Brands for Founders & Executives with Purpose | B2B Content Engines & Founder-Led Marketing | Coffee Connoisseur & Founder at notus 💆🏽

As of last week, this guy closed $1M in contract value, 13 months after taking over as Head of Partnerships at notus. Funnily enough, back in 2024, he was just my gym buddy.

Back then, Selim Burcu was consulting other companies on operations and at capacity. He was debating whether to make his offer more scalable or double down on 1-2 clients.

The more we talked about notus, the more he saw potential in what we were building. 

So in May 2024, he joined as a fractional COO on a project basis.

2 months in, we hit a crossroads.

While making progress on operations, Selim hadn't fully found his place. At the same time, I had one critical gap - I needed someone to take sales calls off my plate.

So we pivoted his role to head of partnerships/sales.

I won't sugarcoat it - the first 3 months were rocky. My sales call reviews highlighted plenty of issues:

• He talked 80% of the time
• He wasn't asking enough questions
• Some people found him "too salesy"

But Selim stuck with it. 

He ate the dirt, received feedback, and iterated on it. With coaching from Levin and consistent feedback loops, his call performance steadily got better.

It clicked in February of this year.

Suddenly, he was closing deals consistently and receiving great feedback from clients. He helped double our MRR over the next 6 months.

In the process, he also found his style:

Calm, laid-back and supportive. He speaks from a place of abundance, consulting people on what makes sense for them. Exactly the way I want notus to be represented.

Selim Burcu, thanks for pushing through. I’m grateful to be able to call you a friend and partner.

$1M - check
Next up, $10M.

My COO ended his biggest year yet with a move to Rome. He spent 8 months in overdrive, helped double our revenue, and finally got a vacation.

Three years ago, Luca Wetzel was managing Erchys (a cafe in Berlin). That's where we became friends.

We'd catch up regularly about business - his ideas, what I was building with notus, and a café concept (still pending). 

During one of our catch ups, the conversation shifted to joining notus. We agreed on a 3 month trial and he joined as a content strategist in November 2023.

The first few months were rough. He was figuring out how LinkedIn works, writing his first posts, getting roasted by me on content quality, but also picking off his first projects and leading calls by himself.

Luca was tested early on when a client almost fired him.

He told me on a call: "Hey, I really like Luca, but maybe we should find a different content strategist. We're just not finding our rhythm properly."

I shared the feedback with Luca. He convinced the client to give it one last chance - then worked his ass off to turn it around.

Since then, this client has become one of our most successful cases.

Before long, Luca was managing clients independently, then took over Slack support overall. 

Within a year, he was managing the whole content team. 

Now he's the company COO.

This year, we more than doubled our MRR. Luca (supported by Max Radman) took on more projects to stress test the system, and hit his limit.

He moved to Rome end of August and we set a new north star: if Luca could take a 2-week vacation in September without anything breaking.

So Luca took 2 weeks off. And nothing broke. The rest of the team held it together (so huge props to everyone)

Luca is now back at it and working on new ways to improve our service.

To do that, he’s developing a second layer of leadership in the company: A-players who are stepping up just like he once did.

Recently, he told me the stress that used to drive him isn’t as present anymore.

Instead, he’s feeling pure joy and excitement about work.

I’m happy for him - and for notus.

Let's see where we can go from here :)

Sales Navigator

li_at

We ended October with $180k MRR and a YouTube video that passed 250k views. Some more notus behind-the-scenes updates:

𝟭. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺

We added 2 people to my personal brand team and now cover 4 channels:

-LinkedIn
-YouTube
-Instagram
-Newsletter

This caused a few hiccups, but we still managed to increase my LinkedIn post frequency to 6/week. Impressions and bookings remained steady.

We’ll be making a few more changes in November to add extra rocket fuel.

We also saw a huge bump on YouTube thanks to our collab with Hubert Rhomberg. His first vlog got 250k views and cross-pollinated with our content, helping us surpass 7k subscribers.

YouTube also drove an additional 5 sales call bookings and got us a new team member.

All channels combined, we filled our sales call pipeline for the month.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

We parted ways with 2 team members. At the same time, 3 of our existing team members stepped up to create a new leadership layer in the company.

I’ve realized this is just part of the game. People come and go. It’s worth hiring 5 new people even if only 2 of them stick around long-term. 

You’re grateful for what the others contributed, and then you keep going.

In the long run, I do think we can set clearer career trajectories and really lay out who this job is for. 

We do a decent job iterating as we go, but we could be more intentional with questions like:

• what are your individual career goals?
• how can we help you develop over the next 2-3 years?
• where do you need coaching?
• what’s your monetary upside?
• how do we ensure this work fulfills your sense of purpose?

𝟯. 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵’𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆

We started the Hannah Schuler Legacy Project to support cancer prevention in Austria, starting with the €5,000+ in donations we collected through the fundraiser at her funeral.

Hannah was a cancer survivor herself, and I believe her story and her approach to life can inspire many more people. She may not be here with us physically anymore, but her mark on the world will continue to grow.

We’re collecting voice notes from people that knew her to create a biography. 

We want people to recognize her incredible work, including her bachelor’s thesis, which was nominated for the prestigious Cologne Design Prize.

The final result will become part of a website we’re building in her memory. More on that when it launches.

_____

For now, full steam ahead into November. 

Our singular focus lies in improving our service across the board. 

To remain the #1 personal branding partner for B2B Founders & Executives.

Day by day.

With 35+ years of experience, this doctor was ready to become a thought leader in Swiss healthcare. He just didn’t know how to get his voice out there. We helped him secure 2 strategic board mandates through LinkedIn:

Joerg Leuppi has worn many hats during his long career:

Medical resident. Senior physician. President of an extra-parliamentary commission of the Swiss government.

The same vision has driven him throughout his career:

That every person in Switzerland should have access to world-class healthcare.

Reality doesn’t always measure up. Digitalization and structural changes have strained the Swiss system. Jörg believed he could help overcome these challenges - but he needed his voice to reach farther.

He asked us if we could help him connect with key decisionmakers on LinkedIn. He wanted to start posting, but was worried about balancing authenticity and professionalism online.  

With notus roots being in Switzerland, we were passionate about the cause and excited to help. So we took him through our signature Personal Brand Takeover process:

1. ) Strategic Foundations

We began with a Deep Dive interview to discuss Jörg’s background, goals & expertise. 

From there, we revamped his profile into a landing page for health policymakers & hospital leadership.

We created a Content Archetype with 4 pillars drawn from Jörg’s own experience:

• Tactical: advice on healthcare digitization and strategic leadership
• Aspirational: case studies for digitized care, research successes
• Insightful: sharing new health proposals/laws, innovative tech
• Personal: moments from across his extensive medical career

These pillars were the starting point for the next step:

2. ) Content Engine

We hosted regularly Content Calls to:

• get his latest updates on healthcare trends and policy
• hear stories from his decades in the industry
• turn this raw material into posts in his authentic voice

Jörg reviewed, edited and published these posts on his LinkedIn profile.

The first one we did went viral and we’ve been stacking impressions ever since.

3. ) The results

In 2.5 years, Jörg has transformed himself into one of LinkedIn’s authoritative voices on Swiss healthcare.

He had under 900 followers when he started with us. Today, that number sits at 9.9k and growing. 465,000+ people read his posts every year.

But those aren’t the most important metrics.

What we’re most excited about: since working with us, Jörg has secured 2 strategic board mandates. He says his LinkedIn presence played a key role in landing those seats.

He was also featured on SRF as a leading voice in Swiss healthcare.

This is why we’re on LinkedIn: it’s one of the best places on the internet for professionals to meet and connect.

These connections are the real value we pursue for our partners. 

It just takes the right strategy.

A huge thank you to Jörg for this amazing and ongoing collaboration.

LinkedIn will literally find your ICP for you but almost no one does it right. We’ve used these lead lists to book hundreds of qualified sales calls - here’s how it works:

–

LinkedIn is one of the biggest repositories of (mostly accurate) company information on the internet:

• ARR
• Company Headcount
• Company Growth
• Industry
• Funding Events (great for finding Series A/B/C companies)
• Location

As a B2B founder, I can define my ICP based on those demographics. LinkedIn will give me a list of every company whose profile fits.

From there, I can target the right people from said companies, send connection requests to them, start commenting on their posts - even run highly targeted ads to them.

Those are all new touch points with our ICP, and we don’t have to pray to the LinkedIn algorithm to get them.

Here’s how:

1. Go into Sales Navigator or Advanced Search
2. Build an account list first (very important)
3. Play with the filters & save a version I’m happy with

After I’ve done that, it’s time to extract the ICP from said companies:

1. Go To Lead 
2. Apply the filters of the persona I’m after
3. Make sure to select the account list I just created (it’s under Workflow)
4. Once I’m happy with the outcome, copy the URL and upload it to a tool like HeyReach.io 

Now I have ICP connection requests flying out every day. 

Next, I engage with their posts, start commenting, and eventually run Thought Leadership ads to them.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀

This is a powerful addition to an existing organic content engine. It fixes some of the limitations that come from a purely organic approach.

For example:

A while ago, I did a post about what I’d do as CMO at a B2B company doing $10M ARR. If an intern sees that post, it’s not super helpful to me. What I’m really hoping is to reach CMOs or CEOs of $10M+ ARR companies.

With the organic post, I’m just hoping the algorithm gets it right. With a targeted list, I increase the likelihood that my ICP sees what I wrote.

BONUS: I can then target the same list (needs workarounds) with LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads. 

This way I guarantee the distribution of my best organic content directly to the ICP List I’ve created before.

TLDR: 

1. Define ICP
2. Create LinkedIn Lead List
3. Engage with Lead List
4. Run TL Ads to Lead List
5. Convert signals into meetings

The power of a good list :)

I run a fully remote agency. When a partner wants to meet face-to-face, I catch a plane (or train :D). These meetings are invaluable - here’s my approach:

I started notus 4 years ago with the intention of being remote first. We didn’t have an office - which meant no fixed place to meet clients.

From the get-go, I made an effort to visit our partners myself. I’m a people person who runs a personal branding agency. Relationships create leverage, for us and our partners. 

Here’s how these meetings usually go:

1. Mini-strategy reviews

We already do quarterly reviews with all the metrics and insights, but it’s much easier to toss ideas back and forth in-person. We often uncover cracks in the system the client hasn’t articulated yet.

2. Photo shoots and video content

Getting visuals for LinkedIn is always a challenge. These meetings are a chance for us to fill our folder with material. Doesn’t have to be professional, iPhone can be enough.

3. Just regular conversations

This is one of the few chances I get to just jam with a partner. Entrepreneurial challenges. Hobbies. Whatever.

Sometimes it’s hard to fit that into a 30-minute video call.

4. Sometimes surprising things happen

I was recently competing with another agency to close a partner. Because the customer was in Switzerland, I was able to visit in-person. I believe that helped us win the deal.

That’s a pretty rare circumstance, but it shows why visits like these are important.

Relationships are the most important thing in B2B. Competing on features doesn’t close deals. Trust does. I need to show our partners we’re the right people to solve their problems.

The more senses engaged, the more trust built:

• a text post is level 1
• text + image is level 2
• text + video is level 3
• in-person is level 4

Also big shoutout to all the partners I met up with during my last visit in Switzerland.

I appreciate your trust. Wish we could see one another more often :)

I started documenting my life on YouTube 5 years ago. The results so far: 2,260,618 impressions, +7,436 subscribers, 8 new team members, and +4 bookings/month. Here’s exactly how I make each video:

–

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲

I would NOT invest in a fancy setup or 10-step production workflow. I stick to simple hardware:

𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮: DJI Osmo Pocket 3. It’s compact, portable, records in 4k, and has a built-in wireless mic for clear audio.

𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲 (if I want even higher-quality audio): Osmo Mini Mic.

𝗦𝗗 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱: SanDisk Extreme microSDXC 256GB for reliable, high-speed recording.

𝗦𝗦𝗗: SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD for durability. Samsung T7 1TB SSD for fast, sleek storage.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁

A vlog should be raw and authentic, not highly polished. That honesty is what builds trust and relatability.

My approach:

• Imagine I’m speaking to a younger version of myself or a trusted peer
• Share my real thoughts, challenges, and insights
• Focus on progress, not perfection

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴

Each vlog covers 1-7 days. For each day, I break the recording into 3 parts:

𝟭. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗜𝗻: introduce the day, set the stage

Here I’m telling my audience what my goals are for today. This is our first check-in, I haven’t done them yet.

𝟮. 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: reflect on the day’s progress so far

This might actually be several small clips I record at different moments - preparing for/wrapping up meetings, brainstorming, even just walking into the office.

𝟯. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝗽-𝗨𝗽: recap the day

Here I’m talking about what went well, what challenges I faced, and what I’m focusing on tomorrow.

On top of this, I base each day of the week around a certain theme:

• Day 1: Personal Introduction
• Day 2: Planning & Routines
• Day 3: Industry Insights
• Day 4-6: Real-Time Updates
• Day 7: Weekly Wrap-Up
  
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

The goal is polished, not perfect. I follow this workflow:

𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Use CapCut, iMovie, or Adobe Premiere Pro.
𝟮. 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: Remove pauses or repetitive points.
𝟯. 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Use B-roll (shots of your workspace, team, or environment) to smoothen transitions.
𝟰. 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀: Add captions for accessibility and clarity.

BONUS: I have a full-time editor helping me.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟱: 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲

This is how I multiply the impact of each vlog.

I put full-length (20min+) videos on YouTube with custom thumbnails and casual titles.

I repurpose short clips for LinkedIn & Instagram posts, focusing on professional insights.

And I make 30-60 second highlights with engaging captions for Insta/TikTok.

Give it a go and let me know how it works out :)

Greg Isenberg has used the same "ACP framework" to grow 8 separate ventures to a combined yearly revenue of $15M+. I just binged his podcast episode on it. Here are my 3 biggest learnings:

For context, ACP stands for:

• 𝗔udience (underserved people in your niche)
• 𝗖ommunity (your hardcore followers)
• 𝗣roduct (what you actually sell)

It's brilliantly simple, yet most founders get it backward.

They build a product first, then desperately search for people to sell it to. Greg's approach flips this completely:

Start with the audience, then build for them.

He mentions 3 things to look out for in the process:

𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝟭: 𝗚𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲

If you're not getting engagement, your niche might be too narrow. Cast a wider net first to build momentum.

Jonathan Courtney (Greg’s podcast guest) gave a perfect example of this.

Back in 2016, he wanted to sell design sprints, but nobody knew what they were. His solution - create a content funnel:

• 𝗧𝗼𝗽: UX design (trending topic with broad appeal)
• 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲: Design Systems (more specialized)
• 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺: Design sprints (his product)

By starting with broader UX content, he attracted people into his ecosystem, then educated them down the funnel toward his specialized product.
____

𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝟮: 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 “𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘂𝗰𝗲”

Greg stands out by open-sourcing his knowledge and sharing tactical breakdowns that others could literally copy.

The genius thing about this - instead of losing business, this approach:

• builds massive trust
• demonstrates expertise
• creates a loyal audience

This is the exact playbook we’ve been running at notus for the past 5 years.

And it’s worked well enough to build a 7-figure business.
____

𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝟯: 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘀

As Greg says, not everyone can be like Naval Ravikant, throwing out one-liners off the cuff that make you think for hours.

Most of us need some repeatable format:

Greg tests different content formats relentlessly until finding what works - his approach:

• borrow formats from outside your niche
• focus on what feels natural to you
• test 1 format each business day
• stay aware of platform trends

Big takeaway: Always be testing.
____

Watching this video made me think of my own journey.

When I started notus, I had a hypothesis about my services, but I committed to:

• building an audience first
• turn that audience into a community
• then find business opportunities from there

The same principles that got me, my first clients, are also the ones that got us to 7-figures.

And I believe this approach will help us grow to the next stage too.

TL;DR:

Audience → Community → Product

This year, I talked to a legendary Swiss investor who’d made a 9-figure exit. When I suggested he build a personal brand he asked: "Why the f**k would I do that?" Here’s what I told him:

For context, this investor had reached out to me on LinkedIn to see if I could help some of his portfolio companies.

Before our call, I checked out his profile and saw his incredible track record. I thought:

“Holy cow - absolute dream client!”

He will FOR SURE blow up on LinkedIn with his expertise and stories. No LinkedIn presence yet - guaranteed results + perfect case study.

When we hopped on the call, the first thing he said was:

"To be clear, I don't want to build my personal brand. I have enough inbound. I can reach any entrepreneur in Switzerland, and they'll answer. I don't need more demand - it would just create stress."

Despite being a little bummed out, my first reaction was: “Yeah, I kind of get it.”

I told him: "I hear you. You’ve made your money, you have your network. Nobody is going to force you to create content - least of all me.”

But I also shared a different perspective.

What if he didn’t do it for himself, but for others? He could use his content to:

• fuel his portfolio companies' growth
• share his expertise with millions of people
• provide value to entrepreneurs in Switzerland

He still wasn't convinced, and I also didn’t push him further.

Instead, he suggested I work with his portfolio company CEOs. Fair enough - I’ll take it :)

But, to this day, I think back to our conversation and what an impact such an awesome human being could have at scale.

How many founders’ lives he could change just by sharing what he learned along the way.

Takeaway for me: You can’t force people to build their personal brand.

But you can try to show them that it's about more than fame or money.

It can be a source of purpose (and leverage is a byproduct)

I told my girlfriend I’d spend all of September with her in Copenhagen. No traveling. For 30 days, I’d be a normal person who lives in one place.

Of course, I set some goals:

• have a clean routine
• prepare for my first half marathon
• detox after everything that happened this summer

And most importantly, spend time with my partner. We’ve been in a long distance relationship for 2 years. In all that time, we’d never spent more than 2 weeks together.

This time we really had space to check in regularly and talk about our future. It was great, and long overdue. We could even spontaneously plan things 2 weeks ahead - would you believe it…

Some other highlights:

𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗕𝗠𝗢𝘀

a.k.a cheese buns. Literally unfair. I don’t know what they put in them, but I had a daily existential crisis about whether to get one. Absolute madness.

𝗦𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗴𝘂𝘀

A group sauna session with an instructor, music, breath work, and cold plunges in between. I did it at least 1x/week. Every week I didn’t, I wished I had. Instant dopamine detox and grounding.

𝗖𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

Coffee Collective might be the No. 1 cafe for a remote worker. It has the friendliness of a coworking space and the coffee quality of a prime cafe. And they have BMOs. Again, unfair.

And a learning (it’s a LinkedIn post, after all):

I’m starting to value depth over width as it relates to my friendships. I’d rather meet 3 times with 1 person and build a deeper connection with them than 1 time with 5 people.

Same applies to clients… though that’s a conversation for another post :)

Now I’m back to traveling, and I already have a full schedule:

• Mortens Aften with my girlfriend’s family
• shoot with Hubert Rhomberg in Vienna
• birthdays in Switzerland

I love the freedom my work gives me to move around, but I do love me a consistent routine too.

Excited to lock-in for the rest of the year in Switzerland :)

3 months ago, we launched a done-for-you appointment setting service to 8 new clients. It was an immediate success - we booked dozens of qualified calls. But now we're shutting it down. Here's why:

Back in Q2, we realized content alone wasn't enough for our clients.

Sure, posting on LinkedIn was driving demand. But our clients weren't capitalizing on all the signals our content was generating them - profile views, interactions, connection requests. We needed a way to turn those signals & interest into actual conversations.

So we did what we always do - experimented on my own profile first.

I started doing signal-based outreach myself. Messaging people who viewed my profile, engaged with my content, or sent connection requests. The results were strong, but I didn’t have time to do it properly. 

That’s when I brought on barash D. and joel buklewski (two absolute beasts by the way). With their help, we nailed our internal appointment setting process and managed to double our weekly booking rate via LinkedIn.

We then decided to test it for some of our clients.

Our very first win was a two-week free trial with an existing client. They closed $10k in new business before it even ended. The value was clearly there & we ended up rolling it out to 7 more clients.

But just because something works doesn't mean you should scale it.

We realized two things:

First, we could only do this effectively for clients who already had product-market fit. 

Clients who knew exactly who they were selling to and had proven their offer. We don't have the capacity to help founders figure out their business case - only to scale it once it's validated.

Second, we didn't want to build a lead gen agency. Those businesses typically have high client churn (unrealistic expectations) and high employee turnover (setters burn out fast). That's just not us.

So instead of scaling done-for-you appointment setting, we're doing something different.

We're taking everything we learned:

• ICP definition
• DM setting skills
• LinkedIn Tools (HeyReach.io & Teamfluence™)
• List building
• Offer clarity
• Thought leadership ads (shoutout Justin Rowe)
  
and rather than launching a new standalone offering, we’re strengthening our existing one.

Now our fulfillment team ships service improvements every week. We’ve updated the entire client journey from sales to onboarding to ongoing management. (more on that soon)

We’re not just a content agency anymore. 

We’re a full-funnel GTM partner for founders & execs who want to scale through their personal brand.

(quick ps - if you want to learn the exact signal-based outreach process we used to book calls, let me know in the comments or DM me. we might put something together and post it)

Big news: I am done with personal branding. I am a DJ now.


Well… I was. For one night. Let me tell you about it:

Way before notus, I was organizing trap parties in my hometown Aarau. I'd book DJs, throw events, and try to make a name for myself.

One of the DJs I booked back in 2018 was Thierry Kissling. After his set, I asked if we could grab coffee to talk about future parties.

I showed up the next day with a notebook and pen, taking notes the whole time like some wannabe entrepreneur.

Pretty performative, but it worked. We hit it off and ended up organizing more parties together under "wavytingstudios" - a music collective and artist label. One of the first brands I ever built.

The whole time, I wanted to be an artist myself. I just didn't have the courage or skill to actually do it. So I stayed in the manager/brand builder role - curating, connecting, organizing.

Then Thierry visited me in Berlin two years ago. He knew I'd played around with the idea of DJing myself, so he bought me a professional DJ set and gave me a workshop.

That became one of my few hobbies outside of work. I loved it because I could actually get into a flow state. No thinking about LinkedIn or growth strategies. Just music.

But then I started traveling more and fell out of practice.

Fast forward to a few months ago - my friend Julien Schaftter (another former wavytingstudios partner and rapper) was throwing a party in Switzerland and asked me to play.

I hadn't touched the decks in forever, but I said yes.

Two months to prepare. I practiced. Got back into it. The gig was small, which was perfect for a first time.

Not everyone loved it. Some old school bar visitors told me to turn off "this trash." 

When I finished, someone said "finally." Luckily they were the exception :D

Humbling, but still fun as hell.

Now I’m thinking - my agency differentiates thru vibes, the team has good taste in music… maybe we’ll throw some notus parties at some point.

I know Max Radman is waiting for it…

This 21-year-old attended my 2023 workshop in Zürich about the power of LinkedIn. He used the learnings to create a 7-figure AI consulting firm advising giants like Siemens, Continental and BMW - all with a team of just 4 people. 

Here’s his crazy story:

–

First, a bit about the workshop.

I was presenting about my own personal branding journey:

• how I discovered Gary Vee and started documenting my experiences
• establishing the value of consistency and authenticity on LinkedIn
• turning notus into a 7-figure business

Andrin Knoll was super engaged the whole time I presented. He took a lot of notes, and afterward, he came up and said how inspired he was.

He told me he was going to start posting on LinkedIn right away.

For context:

Andrin had just finished his apprenticeship when he took my workshop. Until that point, his plan was to get more involved in innovation topics at the company he worked for.

At the same time, he was experimenting privately with AI and had recently discovered AI consulting.

After the workshop, he decided to launch his own business - using LinkedIn.

→ He completely redid his LinkedIn headline, about section, and featured section to make his profile a landing page for his business 

→ And he started posting - at first 1-2x per week, then every day for 100 days straight

His first posts were awkward (his words, not mine) and the idea he was pitching was “awful.” But he used the feedback he got to revise his position. He realized there was high demand for AI training and he had the expertise to deliver.

He kept posting and landed his first client within 1 month. Within 8 months, he was earning 6-figure revenue - 80% of it from LinkedIn. 

His follower count also exploded - from 200 in summer 2023 to 3200 today.

He brought on a partner in 2024. By 2025, they’d pivoted from trainings and presentations to full-on consultation and development.

They’ve added 2 new team members this year and are already looking at a 7-figure run rate for 2026.

Andrin recently told me flat out:

“If it wasn’t for that workshop, I wouldn't be where I am today.”

This for me is a full-circle moment.

When I started out, all I wanted was to learn from people who were just a few steps ahead of me. 

There weren’t many, so I started documenting my own journey, hoping to become that person for someone else.

And now that’s happening.

Andrin never paid me a dime. He just took a workshop and used the learnings to launch a 7-figure business.

His drive and execution are the reason he got where he is. I’m just glad I could contribute a small piece.

Very excited to see where he goes from here.

After helping 150+ founders and executives grow their personal brands, I realized getting attention is simply not enough. Hear me out:

99% of the people I reach with this post aren’t ready to buy.

Some just aren’t my ICP, and that’s fine. 

Many could be great clients/partners - but not right now. Maybe they:

• are still weighing their options
• don’t trust me enough yet
• aren’t even aware of their problem yet

If they just keep scrolling, it’ll be up to the LinkedIn algorithm whether they ever see me again.

That’s what the retention engine is for.

It’s a direct distribution channel with no algorithm and no text limits. Once someone signs up, I can stay connected and continue providing value, regardless of any social media channel.

It’s easy to ignore (I did for too long), but it’s essential to a content founder. And it’s not complicated to build.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁

Moving your audience from a social platform like LinkedIn to your own email list is called going from a “rented” audience to an “owned” audience.

It’s “owned” because I control distribution and I can engage on my terms. I’m not held hostage by someone else’s rules, algorithms, or admins.

In the past, I’ve used lead magnets to grow my email list.

Lead magnets are free resources that are valuable to my ICP. It should be a complete package - not an unsatisfying teaser for something bigger.

Some examples:

• In-depth breakdowns of successful content founder playbooks
• Education email courses sharing the theory behind our service
• Notion templates to solve smaller sub-problems

The goal is never to promote a product. It’s to educate potential customers.

Also, the lead magnet can’t suck. If it does, and my ICP feels like I’ve tricked them into giving over their email, I’ve lost them.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁

From here on out, my goal is to send my audience great content that:

• Interests them
• Solves their problems
• Entertains them
• Educates them

Don’t buy the hype from gurus who claim you need a complex retention engine with 1,000 moving parts. In my experience, the best way to do it is with a simple newsletter.

Don’t overdo it. We started out with 1 issue/month. We now do 2.

If it adds value, people won’t get annoyed no matter the frequency.

This week’s topic is… Retention engines!

I give an in-depth breakdown of how to set one up, take a look at the Buyer Readiness Breakdown, and even share my latest playlist for deep work on Spotify.

Find it here: https://lnkd.in/e6W-Mm2K

Today, I’m breaking down my personal LinkedIn strategy that has helped me gain 18,349 followers and push notus' MRR to $180k in 2025: 

The Content Archetype is the starting point for every notus client - myself included.

We use it to:

• create content that is relevant to the client’s target audience
• align their content with their business objectives
• make sure their content is authentic to them

In short, the Content Archetype is a blueprint. It starts with a purpose statement - something that concisely sums up what the client’s product/service is all about.

Mine is, ​“I build people-led B2B content ecosystems.”

From there, we define 4 content pillars:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹

Actionable advice and tips the client’s audience can implement immediately. What you’re reading right now is an example of a tactical post.

Example of one of my tactical posts: How I turned LinkedIn into a revenue channel

𝟮. 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹

Stories of growth, transformation, and specific outcomes related to our client’s product or service. They paint a picture of what success looks like and inspire their audience to reach for it.

Example for me: How we helped Vicktoria Klich go from 400 followers to LinkedIn Top Voice

𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹

Analyses of industry trends, insights, and thought-provoking discussions. This pillar is great for helping clients position themselves as industry experts and establish thought leadership.

Example for me: Why the founder of a $100k MRR business is going all in on content

𝟰. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹

Anecdotes, experiences, and lessons learned. This humanizes the brand and builds trust on a deeper level with the client’s audience.

Example for me: What happened when I stopped traveling and spent 30 days in Copenhagen
_____

We create a Content Archetype whenever we start working with a client. 

For each pillar, we define 3 topics they can create content around. We go back and forth with feedback until the client is satisfied.

A few topics we find work for almost everyone:

• case studies
• social proof
• build in public
• personal background

One last thing:

I see the Content Archetype as a working document. We don’t want to change it every day - that defeats the point - but we’ll revisit 1-3x per quarter to ensure it’s up-to-date.

Times change. People change. Sometimes content needs to change, too.

I struggled to put this idea into words even after closing 150+ B2B clients. Our sales coach just summed it up perfectly: The first purchase is never the product. It’s the argument. Here’s what it means:

B2B prospects won’t buy our product if they don’t buy our thesis. 

We’re talking about the underlying argument for why our product/service should exist.

If a prospect doesn’t find the thesis convincing, they’re out.

I’ve seen this play out over countless sales calls - and I’ve experienced it on the other end as a B2B buyer myself.

Our thesis at notus:

The decisions we make are influenced by the people we trust and the content we consume.

Every piece of organic content is a touchpoint that creates a reaction. Over time, reactions build trust. Content lets us build trust and relationships at scale.

If a prospect agrees with that, they’ve already accepted the premise for our 3-engine playbook:

1. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲: Post content to create touchpoints with your ICP
2. 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲: Build owned channels (e.g. email lists) independent of algorithms
3. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲: Convert signals into meetings with a sales process

Before this year, we relied too much on my organic content to explain all this.

People booked calls knowing only parts of our thesis. They didn’t always understand exactly what we did, and we weren’t systematically filling in the blanks.

Now we have an actual plan for how to present our thesis in the first sales call:

1. talk about how we’re our own success story
2. lay out the entire 3-engine playbook
3. ask if they’re ready to play the long game

A lot of new B2B sellers get this wrong. They skip straight to the features and ignore the underlying argument.

Don’t. Make the case. See what happens.

We did that and doubled our revenue.

My 1-hour weekly podcast only has 1 listener. This year alone, it’s added $100,000 to our monthly revenue.

–

For clarification - we never published this podcast.

Yet it:

• attracted 343 potential customers
• got me 3,582,383+ impressions
• more than doubled our monthly revenue

What is this magic podcast?

I’m talking about the content calls for my personal brand.

I hop on a podcast-like interview with my Content Strategist 1x per week.

We recorded the conversations and turned them into LinkedIn posts using our Content Engine process.

90%+ of my LinkedIn content comes from calls like these.

Including the piece you’re reading now.

I said these exact words on a Content Call.

Then, my Content Strategist:

• Turned my monologue into a post-draft
• Sent it back to me
• Revised it with my feedback

It’s not rocket science.

And the most efficient way to produce original content that grows my business (with less than 2 hours/week.)

If you want to steal our process, here’s our Content Call agenda:

• Discussion/recap of the previous 2 weeks
• Subject-matter questions relevant for our ideal customer
• Review comments from previous posts
• Comment on successful posts from similar creators

Not only does this help me generate fresh content ideas, but it also forces me to regularly reflect on what's happening.

It’s the same process we’ve used for every one of our 150+ personal branding clients.

And now you can too.

Give it a shot :)
 
P.S If you read this far, I want to give you our operating system for free. Just comment “content engine” I’ll send it out to you

I recently led a workshop for 25 design and fashion students in Paris. I talked for 3 hours about the power personal branding for achieving your professional goals - only for a student to then ask:

“What if I don’t know what I want to do?”

I answered with my own experience:

When I was 19, I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I wasn’t even sure if I should go to university, travel, or start working.

I wanted to find someone a couple steps ahead I could look to for inspiration, but I couldn’t. So I started documenting my journey, hoping maybe I could be that model for someone else.

That uncertainty became my early positioning: I was a guy just trying to figure out life.

It was authentic. It showed that I was curious. And by actually taking the time to document and post, I was showing that I was proactive and hardworking.

After a while, I started making connections. Some of them became my earliest clients at notus. To this day, I’ll get random opportunities from people who followed 10 years ago.

Content is a long game, but the compound interest it generates in relationships is incredible.

So it doesn’t matter if you don’t know what you want to do. If that’s your truth, then that’s your positioning.

By the way:

The same can be true at any stage of life. 

Maybe you’re 50 and just hit the reset button on your career. You don’t know what you’re going to do next. 

Having the courage to share that experience could turn you into a role model for everyone dealing with something similar. 

It increases your surface area of opportunities.

The bottom line is: personal branding is about speaking your truth. And if your truth is you’re unsure, then say so.

I hope I managed to get the concept across. For my part, I ended the workshop energized. I honestly felt like I could have gone another 5 hours.

It made me realize I should do this more - including with my own team.

Maybe it’s because of those years not knowing what I was doing, but I love being able to help people find their way forward.

Big thanks to Michael TURRI & Johannes Wilbrenninck for the chance to talk with their class. Hope we get the chance to do it again soon 🙌

My COO Luca Wetzel and I have a 90 minute c-level meeting every week. Even if it’s just the 2 of us. Even if “nothing happened.” Even if we’re busy. It HAS to happen - here’s why:

For context, this is basically the L10 meeting from EOS.

The idea is to start at 50,000 ft and slowly zoom in:

• share headlines + updates
• go through KPIs/scorecards
• track rocks (big initiatives)
• issues to discuss/solve

Some weeks it doesn’t feel like going through all this will provide much value.

If there are 100 small fires burning, the motivation is to put those out first. We can save the big questions for later…

The problem is, “later” can become another week, another month… suddenly it’s the end of the quarter and we haven’t met any of our goals.

Just this 1 meeting per week stops that from happening.

How we run ours:

1. Go through the company scorecard

We got the template from Ryan Deiss and adjusted it to meet our needs. It covers all company metrics - financials, forecasts, etc. - and shows us how we’re actually doing beyond day-to-day deliverables.
___

2. Discuss initiatives/bottlenecks

Our main initiative right now is improving our service standards across all projects.

We’ve added full funnel support to help our clients execute our entire GTM playbook. Now we’re updating our fulfillment structure, bringing in new leadership positions, and making sure we provide an even better service to all of our clients.
___

3. Go over the issues list

Each, Luca and I, have our own document that we prepare beforehand, in which we write down every detail that needs discussion. 

The goal here is to address potential friction points or elephants in the room.

Identify. Define. Resolve. Follow up with people where needed.

This is how we prevent disagreements and ensure internal politics don’t take over the business.

—

Without a weekly check-in, I can easily convince myself nothing is wrong.

This meeting is what keeps us aligned. If everything is fine, then great. If not, we’ll catch it, and we’ll talk it through.

Looking forward to the next one, Luca Wetzel 💆🏽

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