Stefan Hull

If I wanted 10 discovery calls this week I’d do this: 1. Find my top 2 x ICP segments Example: Startup Online Accountants, Freelance Wealth Management CEO’s 2. Decide which Sales Nav filters, or awareness signals your ICP should have (i.e. UK based, 1st year in company, posts regularly but doesn’t get engagement, has invested in branding) 3. Spend 30 mins each day adding 10 people in each segment to a CRM (I use folk, you can use notion etc) 4. A/B test outreach with each segment. A = warm outreach immediately. B = warm outreach on 3rd touchpoint. 5. On top of the 20-lists, set up an automation to cold outreach to each segment (I use dripify) 6. If you find A or B is significantly better, switch to that the following week This technique doesn’t just get you calls each week. It gives you data to make the system repeatable, or refine. — Sure, I’ve distilled this into some post bullets, But I can teach you the expanded version of this, and do it with you.

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🎬 Ep 2: What Infact IS, A Poopy Pipeline? A poopy pipeline is a pipeline filled with unicorns, butterflies, hopes & dreams. Aka lacking in qualification, honesty & information. There’s sort of 3 buckets I’ve created that define your pipeline to in fact, be, poopy: 1. You MAKE your pipeline poopy when you add poop to it! This means you’re creating & adding a deal that has zero qualifications (No sorry Kyle, an inbound lead you haven’t spoken with yet should not be a deal created/discovery scheduled) There should be basic minimum requirements like are they a fit & are they actively looking at a solving their problem 2. You KEEP your pipeline poopy by keeping deals in there that.. Never complete a full discovery Have past close dates or next steps Include useless next steps like.. f/u with Bob Are missing basic but crucial info like deal amount, deal type (like new or upgrade) which plan is being evaluated, term or being in the WRONG DEAL STAGE Missing or inaccurate data here makes the forecasting be…not forecast-y.. 3. Then you really poop it up when you keep deals in there that need to go… Zero idea of next steps Deals that already told you to be gone Ghosts A few ways to audit yourself of a poopy pipeline? Well there’s reports that can be made Automations to let you know Pipeline reviews you should do on your own & then there’s something new….my girl Sybill Remember my girl?, well now there’s a NO POOPY PIPELINES PROMPT right in there so that you can ask Sybill to tell you if your pipeline is poopy, why it’s poopy & what to do about it. Yea..I know… #nopoopypipelines is really taking over Check out the prompt for yourself https://lnkd.in/gwqmQrvD ❤️ #brandpartner

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I watched a founder sign a great price. Then spend 36 months working under someone else's playbook. Half the pay. Double the stress. Little control. → "Stay on for 90 days to transition." → "Help with key hires and a product launch." → "Be available as needed." As needed turned into every day. Ninety days turned into fourteen months. The title said advisor. The job felt like employee. Lesson 1: Scope is everything. If the role is not written, the role will expand. Write the job in plain language. What you will do. What you will not do. Hours per week. Lesson 2: Time limits protect you. Without a hard stop, transition work never ends. Cap the duration. Set a clear end date. Lesson 3: Authority must match responsibility. If they want you to own outcomes, you need budget and people. If they do not grant that, the role becomes support. Price it as such. Lesson 4: Compensation should follow the work. Flat salary for advisory role. Project fees for defined deliverables. Bonus for milestones you control. Lesson 5: Exit language keeps it fair. Include a simple off ramp for both sides. The fix - Use this checklist: ■ Role in one paragraph ■ Hours per week. Meeting count ■ Decision rights. Budget. People ■ End date. Extension terms ■ Pay tied to work you can control ■ Written change order process Post sale commitments can be a bridge or a trap. Write them like you respect your time. Want to see what else buyers scrutinize beyond headline price? Check the Sellability Checklist in the comments.

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Welcome to the new era of Lifestyle pictures OUTPERFORMING Carousels on LinkedIn 🤳 Or is that just my personal observation? Chris Donnelly & Will McTighe analysed thoooousands of LinkedIn posts and found that: 1. Carousels - BEST 2. Infographics 3. Quote 4. Image 5. Video 6. Text only - WORST I’m a true data geek and I love that these two are providing us with those data points within their quarterly State of the Algorithm report. Free of charge. (Muchas gracias 😚) HOWEVER ☝🏻 I’ve tried all these different types of media. Maybe I’m just rubbish at creating Carousels, Infographics and Quotes. But personal images always drove my highest engagement AND business (Looms & sign-ups to my The Hype Department 📣 community) 💸 IMO 🤓 Carousels/Infographics: ✅ Longer dwell time (we know the algorithm likes that) ✅ Great to position yourself as an expert as they’re highly educational ❌ High effort / money (if the creation is outsourced) ❌ Builds low trust and loyalty because you’re hiding your face Lifestyle pictures/Selfies: ✅ Quick to add ✅ Builds trust and personal brand awareness (We're humans. People buy from people 🤷🏼‍♀️) ❌ Might look less professional ❌ Might prevent people from reposting BORING CONCLUSION 🥱 💡 It’s probably best to do a mix. (Sorry for this blatantly obvious advice) 💡 If you’re new to posting, start with text only and/or pictures. 💡 The more advanced you get, throw in the odd carousel/infographic but don’t force yourself if you don’t have the time or design skills. 💡 Because poor execution = low engagement (I learnt this the hard way) 💡 Big creators have money and teams that help them create outstanding supporting media. 💡 Don’t try to compare your journey with the stage they’re at. Take baby steps - we don’t want you to throw the LinkedIn towel. CONTROVERSIAL QUESTION 🧐 Big creators rarely hang out on LinkedIn anymore as they’ve got businesses to run. Most of their content is outsourced, pre-scheduled, and detached from their real lives. So if the algorithm reports ranks media types by engagement… isn’t the data skewed? Carousels, etc. might seem to perform best, but maybe that’s just because the big names use them? I might be wrong in how Chris & Will analyse the data so please keep me honest. TL;DR You can provide A TON of value and position yourself as an expert with a decent, high-quality, educational post, alongside a picture of you and your boyfriend at a Beyoncé show.. 👀 BUT To get people to repost your content and push it further, you probably need to move beyond using just images. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m open to having a full-blown discussion as I don't want to miss a trick. What are your thoughts - which media is winning the algorithm-fight? 🥊💥

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An agency operating at 100% capacity isn’t effective. It’s fragile. Most agency founders don’t realise it, which is why I have the 80% capacity rule. The workload of your team stacks up fast. Back-to-back projects. No breathing room. People are stretched thin, juggling deadlines, burning out quietly. And then people leave unexpectedly, causing chaos. As an agency growth coach, I’ve seen this pattern repeat across agencies of all sizes. At first, it looks like peak performance: - Packed schedules - Rapid turnarounds - And constant activity But beneath the surface? - Missed details - Declining creativity - Reactive decisions (and high employee turnover) A team operating at 100% capacity isn’t effective. It’s fragile. One sick day creates bottlenecks. One unexpected task leads to delays. One high-pressure client causes stress to spiral. That’s why I advise agencies to keep their teams at 80% capacity. It’s not about working less. It’s about creating space to work better. At 80%, there’s room to: - Think strategically instead of reacting to every task - Handle surprises without derailing the week - Improve processes proactively, not fix them in crisis - Develop new skills because there’s time to learn - Innovate instead of sticking with what’s familiar Projects run smoother. Clients get better service. Retention improves for both clients and employees - and the business grows sustainably. PS: How do you manage capacity in your team? --- 👋 Hey, I’m Wasif An agency coach who helps agencies of all sizes. Quick stats: → $100M revenue & 50k leads generated for agencies → 63 five-star Google reviews & 87 LinkedIn recommendations → 15+ years experience running & scaling AU’s best agencies Bigger agencies I've helped: → StudioHawk, Defiant Digital, Neil Patel Digital, Online Marketing Gurus, Advisible, farsiight, Q Agency, True Sydney, BFJ Digital, WP Creative, Red Pandas & many more. Smaller agencies I've helped scale: → Umped, Karma Media, Superbrick, Avoca Digital, FoxGiven, Bluefire, Vero Digital, GHS Studios, XO Digital, Uprise Digital, Outsource2Us, Nodd Solutions & many more Ps: Are you next? If you're a bigger agency (>$100k MRR) → DM me for a free 1:1 If you're a smaller agency ($20–$100k MRR) → Ask me about 3x Scaler

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In the last week week, I’ve spoken with 4 founders and marketers who all want to convert more business without growing their in-house team. They’ve got budget to spend. But not enough to hire a full team of designers and developers. They genuinely want to push their brand forward. But there's a few challenges: 1. Hiring in-house: Most think they need to hire to scale output. But bringing on designers and developers full-time eats budget fast. It also locks them into overhead they don’t actually need. What works better is access on demand. Support when you need it, without the cost when you don’t. 2. Traditional retainers: Retainers sound safe until you’re paying for hours you never use. Or worse, you’re struggling to see where they've even been spent. It creates un-needed tension and you're constantly trying to justify the spend. A rolling plan flips that - no hourly cap, no guessing with spend, just consistent creative support. 3. Value of a monthly plan: When you’re quoted per brief, the cost can stack up fast. One website page here, a brochure there, social assets on top. On our monthly plan, that same spend covers a high volume of assets across design, development, and motion, all delivered in one month. It’s not just better value. It’s a compound effect. Here’s the reality: You don’t need a bigger team. You need a better system. A 30-day rolling plan gives you unlimited design, development, and motion support without the baggage. We use Trello and Slack to keep comms simple. And you get unlimited access to all our services, with briefs delivered in days. “Yeah, but what if I don’t need much one month?” You can pause, there's no contract. But we're always putting forward creative suggestions of what we've seen work well to help you drive more business. In short? Scaling your brand doesn’t have to mean scaling your headcount.

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If you're doing this to get clients something is VERY wrong Here's my checklist for better DMs 1. Opening (Hook) Am I starting with a question or observation that makes them think? Did I cut out any “hope you’re well” or generic filler? Would this first line make me stop and read? 2. Problem (Make it Real) Is the problem specific and relatable (not vague)? Can they see themselves in the scenario I described? Did I use concrete language? 3. Tone (Collaborative) Am I talking with them or at them? Does this sound like a conversation I’d have over coffee? Did I strip out any lecturing, over-explaining, or buzzwords? 4. Offer (Outcome-Driven) Can they clearly picture what they’ll walk away with? Did I highlight quick wins or a fast result? Is it unique enough to stand out? 5. Call to Action (CTA) Does my CTA feel like the natural next step in the conversation? Did I add urgency or a reason to act now? Did I tie the CTA to the benefit? 6. Brevity (Trim the Fat) Can I cut 20% of the words without losing meaning? Would this make sense if I said it out loud? Does it fit easily into a LinkedIn DM without feeling like an essay? Golden Rule: If it feels like marketing copy, rewrite it until it feels like a conversation.

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Does your business have its own special language ... a whole alphabet of metrics LTV, CAC, ROAS etc. Experience has taught me that most of those are lag indicators... they tell you what's already happened. The most important KPI... (okay so that was a punn) the one that gives you an indicator into your future success... is almost never on the main dashboard. It has nothing to do with finance and everything to do with feeling. I break down what it is, and why it matters so much, in my new blog post. https://lnkd.in/ggkdsCtX #Leadership #KPIs #CompanyCulture #EmployeeEngagement #BusinessStrategy #DataDriven #FounderStory

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