Nick Broekema

I ran a design agency for 6 years and almost killed it.

(Like literally)

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

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

We took what we could get.

Sometimes we skyrocketed. Often we struggled.

The feast and famine cycle was real.

And it was painfully frustrating.

As a business owner, I didn't have:

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

I was consistently hustling and putting out fires.

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

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

At least, that was the plan.

I learned it takes months to do it:

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

This led me to craft a new solution:

Content Design.

There are 3 ways I help agency founders doing over $500k ARR attract leads through LinkedIn:

1. Coaching (1:1)
2. Creating content together
3. I create content for you

Send me a DM if this sounds like a win to you.

Lead Generation through LinkedIn Content Design

Branding & Design agency building brands and high-end websites for unicorns, scale-ups, and SaaS brands.

Brand & Website Builder

FintechOS

As Head of Design, I built a creative team and was responsible for the new brand identity and creating hundreds of brand assets for internal and external stakeholders. Within a year, we (re)created the corporate website, our career website, the marketplace, and more web applications. 

Along with our marketing team, I established the infrastructure, processes, and practices for realizing a new brand strategy to meet our business KPIs.

Head of Design (Interim)

Bloomreach

Over the course of 9 months I have been working as an Interim Art Director with Bloomreach to take its brand identity to the next level. We completely redesigned the Bloomreach websites (www.bloomreach.com & developers.bloomreach.com) and organised Bloomreach Connect 2019, a tech event attended by over 700 people at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam.

Creative Director (Interim)

Brandijzers

Over the course of six years, my co-founder and I grew Brandijzers from a one-man business to a team of 10 employees generating a 6-figure ARR. We created identities and websites for 75+ SME and startup customers. Late 2018, we sold the company.

Owner

Fingerspitzengefühl

As Visual Designer at FSG, my responsibilities were SEO/SEA, text editing, graphic design, writing online articles, newsletters, blog posts, WordPress web development, and social media management. Furthermore, I was responsible for customer relationships with Dutch clients.

Visual Designer

KnowHowww

As a Visual Designer and communication specialist for KnowHowww, I was responsible for creating brand assets for customers, writing (online) articles, social media management, SEO and web development with Wordpress.

Reggs

As a Visual Designer, I was responsible for designing packaging for clients such as Andrélon, Dirk van de Broek and Kruidvat.

Amsterdams Uitburo

As a Visual Designer, I was co-responsible for designing the monthly edition of the Amsterdam Uitkrant (magazine) and a major contribution to the design of the annual edition of Uitgids 2010 (magazine).

Hospitality Industry

For a great part of my life I have been working part time for multiple bars, restaurants and hotels as a bartender and shift leader.

Bartender, shift leader

Getting you inbound leads through Content Design

I ran a design agency for 6 years and almost killed it.

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

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

We took on what we could get.

Sometimes we skyrocketed. Often we struggled.

The feast and famine cycle was real.

And it was painfully frustrating.

As a business owner, I didn't have:

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

I was consistently hustling and putting out fires.

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

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

At least, that was the plan.

It took me months to do it:

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

This led me to craft a new solution:

Content Design for LinkedIn. 

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

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

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

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

If that sounds good, there 3 ways I help founders, CEOs, and creators attract leads on LinkedIn: 

1. LinkedIn Rebrand PRO: on-brand content and profile design templates

2. LinkedIn Rebrand ELITE: everything in PRO + 1:1 coaching and resources [COACHING BOOKED OUT]

3. 1:1 coaching to create LinkedIn content that attracts, nurtures, and sells [BOOKED OUT]

Send me a DM if you want more details.

Brand Scaling Consultant

The perks of running a solo business ↓

 1. No layoffs.
 2. No dress code.
 3. Zero commute.
 4. No toxic culture. 
 5. Stable leadership. 
 6. No bad managers. 
 7. 100% retention rate.
 8. Flexible office hours.
 9. No surprise meetings.
10. No micromanagement.
11. Great work-life balance.
12. Unlimited coffee breaks.
13. Unlimited vacation days.
14. Perfect attendance rate.
15. Nobody steals your lunch.
16. Excellent bonus structure.
17. Competitive compensation.
18. Limitless growth opportunities. 
19. Change and innovation culture. 
20. Employee of the Month awards. 
    
What's your favorite solo business perk?

How you can optimize your LinkedIn profile today ↓

50k followers. 

Consecutive Employee of the Month awards. 

It’s been a crazy month.

Jokes aside, 50k is a big personal milestone. 

25 months and 474 posts ago, I counted every new follower daily (ngl, I still do this).

50,000 followers seemed impossible.

My goal and ‘strategy’:

→ Learn from those ahead of me.
→ Help the ones just behind me.

And just keep going. 

Huge thanks for your support 🙏

All right, back to work.

Gotta order some pizza and play pong with the team.

According to 90% of LinkedIn's standards, I'm failing. 

I don't do video.
I don't do cohorts.
I don't do live events.
I don't batch my content.
I don't have a community.
I don't do group coaching.
I don't do give-away posts.
I don't schedule my content.
I don't like to be the loudest.
I don't earn the most money. 
I don't post outside LinkedIn.
I don't have a digital product.
I don't post content every day. 
I don't have the most followers. 
I don't argue with people online. 
I don't spend hours commenting. 

I might give one of these a try someday. 

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

And according to MY standards, I'm winning there. 

You see: 

Every time you add something new, you sacrifice something old.

"Attention is the new currency," they say.

I think it's not about getting attention.

It's about keeping it.

How I create carousels that attract clients and followers ↓

Create carousels that attract clients and followers

How I use sub-hooks to make people hit 'see more'.

... and attract peers and clients on LinkedIn. 

It takes me two scrolls on my feed and see: 

- Hooks without context 
- Hooks that look templatized
- Hooks about stuff I can find online

If you want your content to sell, add: 

→ Authenticity through real evidence
→ Numbers that show tangibility 
→ Context to resonate 

Through this visual, I show you how to: 

1. Add sub-hooks and sneak in more information
2. Improve your sales hooks so they resonate 

Dropping a version without the legend in the comments ↓

I still get ghosted. 

I still get rejected. 

I still have unhappy clients.

I still have clients I don't enjoy working with. 

But here's what changed over the past 2 years:

→ I stopped following up with people who ghost
→ I use rejections to improve my content & offer
→ I learn from unhappy clients to improve my stuff
→ I drop clients like a hot potato when they drain me

Why? Because there's no scarcity. No desperation. 

I've built a network of peers, friends, and buyers. 

I get to share new ideas and offers every day. 

I get to choose the people I want to work with. 

Because I started sharing my stuff 2 years ago. 

So if you're still dealing with bad clients, lousy pay, and feast and famine...

Start building ↓

- Evidence through experiences
- Credibility through client results
- Relationships through interactions 
- Freedom through tons of discipline 
- New business through social selling

Let's effin get it 💪

Content marketing doesn't work. 

Not if you give it just a few weeks.

Plot twist:

I help clients get leads through content.

I didn't learn this in school or by doing courses.

It emerged out of necessity.

Back in July 2022, I was fed up with relying on referrals. 

So I started sharing content on LinkedIn to get new biz.

But reality hit me like a truck: 

I knew absolutely NOTHING about content creation.

My posts would get 1-5 likes. I had to do cold outreach. People ignored or ghosted me for months on end.

I knew it was part of the process.

Sure, it frustrated me. But it was nothing new:

- Dating sucks if you just start out
- The gym sucks if you just start out
- Entrepreneurship sucks if you just start out

But there's always a bigger picture ↓

- Finding a partner to be happy with
- Feeling confident, strong, and healthy
- Creating your own income and freedom

There's a bigger picture on LinkedIn than just getting likes.

It's about building an online presence: 

A presence that connects. That helps others. One that relates and attracts. A presence that sells. A presence that compounds over time.

Things will get easier, better, and more fun if you stick to it. 

Remember: 

Act > Document > Share > Analyze > Improve > Repeat

So the next time you think "It doesn't work":

1. Question your discipline
2. Remind yourself what you're doing it for
3. Stop making excuses for yourself and keep going

The best rewards are often one step beyond giving up.

90% of founder and executive profiles look like this: 

- You have a default profile banner (or just a logo)
- Your profile doesn't say what you do for whom
- Your About section is written in the 3rd person
- Your Featured items are posts (or missing)
- Your About section only talks about YOU

And is this your content: 

- Posts that lack brand recognition
- Missing or KIA as of 3+ months ago
- Reshared blog articles of thought leaders

Here's the reality: 

You can get much more ROI from LinkedIn.

If you want to attract industry peers and new customers:

"Mirror" their appearance. Mirror what they say. 

In other words: 

→ Attracting tech companies = look and talk like them
→ Attracting SaaS brands = look and talk like them
→ Attracting consultants = look and talk like them 

... with YOUR brand DNA. 

Make them think:

"Hey, this looks and sounds like our go-to person". 

But here's the problem. If branding isn't your thing: 

... no Canva template will come to save you. 

You'll just keep attracting the wrong people (or none). 

My LinkedIn Rebrand solves that: 

1. Redesign of your LinkedIn visual brand 
2. Redesign of your LinkedIn banner 
3. Single post graphics templates
4. Featured section templates
5. Carousel design templates 
6. All in editable Canva files

... tactically customized to WHOM you want to attract. 

A few Rebrand client results: 

→ Djoea got 2 inbound leads after his 1st Rebrand post
→ Reinier booked 20 ICP calls + 200% follower growth
→ Matt 2X'd his product sales + 2X content views

It's a premium outcome through a frictionless process: 

→ 1 email with 6 questions to collect your input
→ 0 meetings / 0 Slack / 0 VAs, and 0 hassle
→ 1 feedback round (which is rarely used)
→ 3-4 weeks turnaround for delivery 

I'm opening 4 LinkedIn Rebrand spots for September. 

(2 spots have already been confirmed)

If you're a founder, C-suite, or creator and want to fortify your LinkedIn brand to attract more peers and opportunities: 

Within the next 48 hours, I select people based on whom I can provide the highest ROI. Then the offer will be closed. 

Here's how to get more details: 

DM me "REBRAND". 

(Premium investment)

PS. Here's a recently approved V1 for a Rebrand client ↓

I've never been employed. But it felt like I was.

I started my first business at 23. 

I was still in college. Had no idea what I was doing. But somehow my biz grew into an agency of 10 people.

After an exit in 2018, I took a break and traveled through France in a camper van.

My phone rang.

If I was interested in acquiring an agency.

They had clients. They had good MRR. They were solid.

Those 6 agency years were amazing but taxing. I turned them down. 

Once I got back I started doing freelance design gigs for tech companies. 

It was supposed to be a short-term thing.

A $400m scale-up found my work and asked if I'd be interested in an interim position as an Art Director. I said yes. 

In 9 months, I built a creative team, revamped the brand, redesigned digital platforms, co-hosted a major real-life event, and created 100s of brand assets.

It was a great experience but also super stressful. 

When I was offered an FT position, I decided to leave. 

Then I got an offer to become interim Head of Design at another scale-up. An exciting opportunity.  

I took the job and worked with amazing people. My work appeared on Times Square billboards. The pay was great.

But something was off. Again, the pressure and hours were intense. 

I had never been employed. But it felt like I was.

After 20 months, I left.

11 years had passed since I started my business in college.

I worked my ass off. I needed change.

I pulled myself out of a rat race that I had created. 

I started working with a coach. I turned down opportunities. No income for months. But I didn't care because I was on a mission.

In 2022, I made the best decision in my professional life.

Something I had been putting off for over a decade:

I started sharing my experiences on LinkedIn. 

I wrote about all the stuff in this post. 

Finally, after 4 months, I started to get clients. 

People who needed help with coaching and content design on LinkedIn. 

I had never been employed. And it started to feel that way.

Today, 24 months later, I feel like I'm in control. 

I had created my own 'security'. No more stressful jobs. An income I'm very happy with. No more feast and famine cycles. 

And I can work from anywhere with my family always around me. 

Opportunities come and go. But you create the best ones yourself. 

Now, I'm defying all LinkedIn algo rules here. Long-form. No text formatting. No tips and tricks. 

It’s just a story that hopefully encourages people to escape their own rat race. 

Experiment, share, iterate, and surprise yourself and others. 

I've never been employed. And today it finally feels that way.

Creating content that sells is hard AF. 

I speak to creators and founders every day. 

"How long will it take to get leads?"

That's the wrong question.

Ask yourself: 

"What do I have to do consistently to get leads?"

Anybody who knows Paula Scher heard this story:

→ In 1998 Paula met with Citi Bank to create their logo
→ She drew today's logo on a napkin in 5 minutes
→ They charged $1.5m for the brand identity

Citi Bank: "You drew it on a napkin in 5 minutes"

Paula: "It took me 34 years to draw this in 5 minutes"

(This story has many variations)

My point is:

Just because some folks make it look easy, it's not. 

... and content creation is more than one skill or trade:

→ Content creation = writing
→ Content creation = routines
→ Content creation = strategy
→ Content creation = discipline
→ Content creation = interaction
→ Content creation = storytelling
→ Content creation = psychology
→ Content creation = relationships
→ Content creation = content design

... 5-7 days a week. Months on end.

Content marketing can be slow and boring. 

But once the compound effect kicks in it pays dividends.

My top 3 financial goals before my daughter: 

1. Hustle and maximize my income 
2. Invest in real estate and other assets 
3. Live frugally, avoid splurging, retire early

My top 3 financial goals since I have a daughter: 

1. Earn enough to live our ideal family life
2. Invest in things that give me back my time
3. Part-time retirement by remote working (less) 

You see, I thought being a dad wasn't for me: 

"I want to travel the world"
"I want freedom and comfort"  
"I want enough space to grow"

I can still do all these things now that I have a kid.

They just have much more meaning now.

13 years ago, I started a design agency and invisibility nearly killed us. 

I was 23, still in college, and met my then-co-founder. 

He created WordPress websites, so we joined forces. 

It felt like we hit the jackpot: 

Turned out there was a great demand for brand identity and websites as a package deal. 

We told everyone we knew about our offer and signed clients. 

We felt invicible. But we were wrong. 

We 100% relied on word-of-mouth. 

And soon, the number of leads from our warm network dried up. 

We had a website, but there was no organic traffic. 

So every 3 months, after delivering projects, we'd go back out there and hustle and beg for clients. 

It was unsustainable. We weren't growing, we were just surviving. 

After 6 stressful years we sold the agency. 

2 years ago, I decided to take a different approach: 

I started sharing my expertise and stories on LinkedIn. 

First I only did copy. Then I started sharing design in my content. 

Honestly, things weren't amazing right out of the gate. 

But after a few months, I started getting inbound leads. 

And after a while, my pipeline has been full ever since. 

In hindsight, it just made so much sense: 

"Why didn't we share our stuff publicly?" I thought many times. 

We were an agency and had so much to share:

Client stories, our work, strategies, you name it. 

It's so easy because you already have access to it all. 

I recently helped another agency founder through a LinkedIn Rebrand. 

He got 10 inbound leads in the first month without even asking for them. 

Just branded content and good writing that attracted the right people. 

Apparently, still only 1-2% of all LinkedIn users post weekly. 

Don't avoid it like I did for years. 

PS. I have 2x September Rebrand spots left for your marketing agency. DM me "REBRAND" for more details (premium investment).

I've been ranked as the #3 LinkedIn creator worldwide in Online Business & Solopreneurship. 

... and #8 in the top 200 leaderboard of the Netherlands. 

This has a special meaning for me. 

6 years ago, I revived my tiny solo business after exiting my agency. 

It became a bumpy road of freelancing, feast-and-famine cycles and taxing interim roles.

For a long time, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. 

Then in July 2022, I shared my first real post on LinkedIn. 

I just thought "I'll try this creator thing and I'm not gonna stop". 

Honestly, a lot of times it just sucked. 

There were tons of crickets, rejection, low morale, and many months of low or zero income. 

But writing/creating stuff turned out to be very therapeutic: 

The more I wrote, the better I uncovered what I wanted. And what I excelled at. 

You see, growth just happens dreadfully slow. 

But if you lower your expectations and just think like "screw it, I'll take a slow pace, keep improving, and believe in a good outcome", it will inevitably come. 

Today, solopreneurship is more than making a living for me. 

It's the people I work with, where and when I work, and being able to spend more time with my family and friends. 

And that's why I think this Online Business & Solopreneurship ranking is really cool. 

Cheers Favikon.

Taplio

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