Hi Reader,

When people think about who "wins" on LinkedIn, they picture coaches, creators, consultants. The usual suspects.

They don't picture a contract manufacturer.

But one of my clients is a manufacturing shop. Think 3D printing, CNC machining, finishing...the kind of business most people assume has no place on LinkedIn. And yet this year, he's on track to grow roughly 50%.

A big part of that? What we built with his presence on LinkedIn.

Here's what changed:

When Jason came to me, his content was what you'd expect from a manufacturing company. Promotional. Salesy. "Look at us, we do this and this." Nothing that sounded like a human, and nothing that made anyone stop scrolling.

So we flipped it. We made his content about the actual story of his business. The wins, yes, but also the hard stuff and the mistakes. Real vulnerability from a guy in an industry where nobody does that.

That was the scariest part for him, opening up about the mistakes. But here's what he told me happened:

"What we got in return was pretty awesome. Turns out it's all the same mistakes. I don't care what business or industry, everyone has pretty much the same problems. It's people. It's navigating people."

We got his newsletter going too, from his personal profile, in his voice, about his journey. It's crushing it. His posts started going viral (in manufacturing!). Conversations started happening all the time.

And the thing he keeps coming back to? Confidence.

"This has been like business therapy. You get so underground with your business, you don't realize the unique stories and things that go on. It gave me confidence to open up about the mistakes we made. And if they help somebody, great."

Even his outside marketing team noticed. When they tried to sell him on thought-leadership services, they stopped and said, "Wait, you don't need our help there, you're already doing it." His own investors didn't believe he was writing it himself. They assumed he'd hired someone.

(He was very proud to tell them it was him. Using AI to help, sure, but the story, the voice, the scrap notes? All Jason.)

Then there's the DMs.

Jason used to pitch-slap. Straight into the ask. When we analyzed his messages and he read one out loud, he stopped himself: "oh man, this is a pitch-slap!"

So I asked him my usual question: if you ran into this person at a coffee shop, would you actually say that?

He started laughing, because the day before, he'd run into someone at the gym. A guy he'd been trying to land. And instead of pitching, he just... talked to him. Human 2 human. "I'm playing the long game," he told me.

The long game paid off three weeks later, when that gym conversation turned into a real opportunity.

And that's what we're recreating on LinkedIn. Not pitching strangers, we’re starting conversations like you would if you bumped into someone in real life.

And it works. Even in contract manufacturing. Especially, maybe, because nobody else in his space is doing it.

Jason put it better than I could:

"It's the best place you can go to sell yourself and market yourself correctly. But I don't know how anyone could do it alone, just cold. If you're looking to get into that world and really show who you are, your true colors, it's a no-brainer."

The lesson? Your industry isn't the reason you're not growing on LinkedIn. Your willingness to be real is.

Oh, and one more thing (because I will admit, I turned purple at first. ) When I asked Jason who he'd recommend me to, he said: "Honestly? Nobody. I don't want anyone else learning what we're doing."

(He was joking... mostly) I'll take it. There's no better compliment than a client who wants to keep you a secret.

Toodles,
Natasha

P.S. Jason's edge came down to telling real stories in his own voice, in a space full of people hiding behind corporate speak. If that's the thing you've been struggling to do, that's exactly what we build inside the REALationship Growth Method. Reply "LFG" and I'll tell you more.

​
​

New here? Hi - I'm Natasha! I go on lots of LinkedIn tangents (and a few motherhood/entrepreneurial ones, too). My goal is to help make your experience on LinkedIn empowering AND profitable. Seriously. It's totally possible. Subscribe below! See you in your inbox! Subscribe! ​