The Weekly Review
“There is a way of living that has a certain grace and beauty. It is not a constant race for what is next, rather an appreciation of what has come before. There is a depth and quality of experience that is lived and felt, a recognition of what is truly meaningful. These are the feelings I would like my work to inspire. This is the quality of life I believe in” - Ralph Lauren
This week I stopped pitching and started thanking people. My inbox exploded.
Here’s what happened: I sent DMs to creators I admire with zero agenda. Just “I love what you’re building - it really inspired me.” No ask. No offer. Just gratitude.
Result? Multiple conversations turned into genuine relationships. A few wanted to take things further. All because I wasn’t selling anything.
The counterintuitive truth about brand building: When you stop trying to convert, conversions find you.
What Currently Has My Focus
Brand Win: The Gratitude Engine
My positioning clarity came from testing a simple LinkedIn CTA shift. Instead of “Buy my thing” or “Book a call,” I’m just asking people to continue the conversation.
The numbers:
140K LinkedIn followers (crossing the threshold this week)
2,200+ newsletter subscribers (hello all you folks reading this)
Engagement rate up 4% according to Shield Analytics
100M impressions overall on LinkedIn content (still processing that number)
But here’s what matters more than vanity metrics: My Substack email list is now a conversion machine from LinkedIn. Not because I’m hard-selling - because I’m inviting people into dialogue.
Worth copying in your own way: Test removing friction from your CTA. What if you just asked people to respond? To share their story? To continue the conversation?
Trust scales faster than transactions.
Currently Reading: The Ultimate Sales Machine
Chet Holmes - and it’s rewiring how I think about systems.
Rock solid framework for building a sales-driven business, but here’s my brand-building lens: Holmes talks about “Dream 100” - identifying your ideal clients and nurturing them relentlessly.
I’m applying this to Dream 100 Conversations instead. Who are the 100 people I want to build relationships with? Not sell to - build with.
Those gratitude DMs I mentioned? That’s my Dream 100 in action.
The takeaway: Sales systems work for relationships too. You just need to change what you’re optimizing for.
This Week’s System: The Reply Multiplier
Here’s the micro-habit that’s driving conversations:
Every morning, I scan LinkedIn for:
Creators doing work I admire
Posts that made me think differently
Comments that show depth (not just “Great post!”)
Then I send 3-5 DMs with genuine appreciation. No template. No pitch deck waiting in my back pocket.
Why this works for brand-building:
Positions you as generous (rare on LinkedIn)
Creates reciprocity without expectation
Builds your network through genuine interest
Gives you content ideas from real conversations
Time investment: 15 minutes/day
ROI: Immeasurable relationship equity
Recommendation: Test Your CTA Assumptions
If you’re building a personal brand, your current CTA might be killing conversations before they start.
This week, try this:
Remove “Book a call”
Remove “Check out my course”
Replace with: “What’s your biggest challenge with [your topic]? Reply and let’s figure it out.”
You’re not abandoning monetization. You’re building the trust that makes monetization inevitable.
I’m not selling anything through my LinkedIn CTA right now. Just asking people to continue the conversation. It’s turned into my biggest growth lever.
Building in Public
This week’s metrics:
139,847 LinkedIn followers → crossing 140K
2,200+ newsletter subscribers (up 180 this week)
4% engagement rate increase
100M total LinkedIn impressions
What I’m optimizing for: Quality of conversation over quantity of conversion.
PS - I’ve been getting a lot of messages the last couple weeks I’ve been getting a lot of inbounds about my coaching.
It’s a 4-week, Done-With-You where I will help you turn your LinkedIn profile into a lead gen machine using a mix of:
Strategic Content
Customer Journey Mapping
Systems to save you hours, so you can focus on your customers
and Identify and build areas where you maximize your revenue
Actually, I just wrapped up another cohort...
And since it was a great success, I’m going to be running another one in the couple weeks.
So if that sounds interesting at all, you can book a call with me to see if its a fit.
Just one heads up: This is NOT a beginner program where you’ll learn how to go viral on LinkedIn. Instead, I’m going to help you implement more advanced strategies to consistently turn your social traffic into deals or sales. Which is also why you need to have an offer in order to qualify.