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Becoming an entrepreneur takes grit.
Deciding to do it solo takes courage.
This is 1,000 Routes, the podcast where we explore the stories of solopreneurs who have made the bet on themselves to build a business that serves their life. Every episode you'll hear about the lessons they've learned and the uncommon routes they've taken to stand out in a world that is purposefully trying to commoditize them.
Tim Davidson [00:00:00]:
I'm going on vacation next week. My family still have to work, you know, and that's part of the lifestyle. Like, that's part of being a solopreneur. That was not surprising, but just now I understand it.
Nick Bennett [00:00:16]:
Hey, it's Nick, and welcome to 1000 Routes, the podcast where I explore the stories of solopreneurs who have made the bet on themselves to build a business that serves their life. Every episode, you'll hear all about the lessons they've learned and the uncommon routes they've taken to stay. They end out in a world that is purposefully trying to commoditize them.
Tim Davidson [00:00:37]:
Tim Davidson, founder of B2B Rizz, which is a LinkedIn ads and ABM consulting for B2B SaaS and I create some funny ish videos on the side.
Nick Bennett [00:00:47]:
The funny ish videos. I mean, I don't think it's like, a surprise that I found you on LinkedIn, like, a couple of years ago. What is always so surprising about your content is how, like, not intense it is. Like, so much content is like, very much like yelling at you, or like, they're like, you need to cut your videos every 3 seconds, or you need to have, like, all these animations and all this shit. And you're just like, you have that chill song, which is like, I've been sonic branded by you. Because every time I hear this song anywhere, even if it's not on your video, I think of you now and it's just like, chill content. And you're just, like, assembling a stroller and you're talking about ads, or you're like, you were cutting fruit for a while. Like, I guess with all the advice that there is in this world about how to do content.
Nick Bennett [00:01:33]:
How'd you get chill content?
Tim Davidson [00:01:36]:
I mean, truthfully, it's partially my personality. Sometimes I do crack jokes when I shouldn't, for one. So it's just kind of my. I've always grown up to, like, just try to make things light, I guess. And sometimes that can get me in trouble when I shouldn't be doing that. So it's kind of stuck with my personality. But one of the reasons I started doing videos that were just a little different was because I just saw all the videos being the same. They were all, like, the talking head, like you said, serious, just talking head.
Tim Davidson [00:02:05]:
Oh, you know, do this or, you know, here's the story about how I got 3 million revenue in two days, or whatever it is. So I just found a lot of the videos being the same, and so I didn't like that. And I just noticed I wouldn't stroll through that, to be honest. A lot of my stuff comes from, like, the TikTok world. Like, there was a point in my life where I was just noticing what I was watching. I just kind of took the, like, TikTok verticals style kind of videos and just tried to test different things over time and just see what works and what doesn't.
Nick Bennett [00:02:36]:
One of the things I noticed about your content, which I think is hilarious, is like, you pick something and you beat it. Like, and you, like, go after it forever. Like, there was a period of time where you were going after teams, like, weeks, and I was just like, how? Like, you just picked something. I think recently it's been, you've gone through this with a few things and I feel like teams is the one that stands out. You decided it was time to, like, take aim at, like, HubSpot, but also at Salesforce, at inbound. I, I don't know. I find that sense of humor absolutely hysterical. It's like, sometimes it falls on deaf ears.
Nick Bennett [00:03:17]:
But I just want you to know that, like, I, no notes. Like, I got, I saw it and I don't know why no one got it.
Tim Davidson [00:03:25]:
It's, yeah, it was kind of, it's probably a little niche.
Nick Bennett [00:03:28]:
No, that's the only way, man. So you came up through directive, which is, I think one of the things we have in common is, like, I came up in the agency world as well, and everyone is out there working in tech companies, marketing tech to other tech companies. And you coming from a service provider marketing a tech company is like, I think one of the things that stood out is that we have this outsider perspective because we're not in tech, but we end up working with or talking to a bunch of people who are in tech or doing things with tech all the time. But then what was the turning point for you to exit directive in January and go on your own versus going and taking another in house role? Because, I mean, arguably, you could just get, you could probably get picked up anywhere you wanted.
Tim Davidson [00:04:17]:
I'm not risk averse, but especially when I was going out on my own, I was very scared. It was very nerve wracking. That was kind of some of my reasoning of like, oh, if I do this, at the very least I could probably get it in house job at some, you know, tech company. But the reason I ended up doing it was, it was just time. I've always had, like, an entrepreneurial type of spirit. In college, I sold stuff on eBay, a bunch of Pokemon cards. I was actually just looking at them recently like, they're worth way more now. So silly.
Tim Davidson [00:04:49]:
But I've always had, like, this kind of side hustle on the side where I would always be doing something. It was never anything that would make enough to go out on my own, but it did help me just. I've always had that kind of spirit. And then just over the years, I learned a lot at directive. I was there for four years, 30 in place, 160. Learned a lot. I worked really close with the CEO, so I learned a lot about, like, the business side of things, too. I knew I was gonna do it at some point.
Tim Davidson [00:05:19]:
It's just when I was gonna do it. And that time felt right just because things were changing, the organization as well, and I just wanted to try it out now. In hindsight, it was probably the riskiest move because my wife and I were pregnant at the time, and I didn't know how it was going to go. I didn't have any clients at the time, even though I had them over the years, it worked out very well. But it was just one of those things where I knew was going to do it. It was just like, I've got to do it, I got to do it, I got to do it. And then one day, you just wake up and you're like, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it.
Tim Davidson [00:05:51]:
And if it fails, then I can. I'll figure it out. I just felt more confident that I could figure it out if it did.
Nick Bennett [00:05:56]:
So you said you were scared. What were some of the things that you were thinking about going into it?
Tim Davidson [00:06:00]:
So my wife's a teacher. If you don't know about teachers, they don't make a lot. So I was making the money for the household for the most part. She has amazing insurance, which I should note, that was a huge part of being able to go out on my own. Yeah. So it's just, am I gonna make enough to. I don't have a rich cat lifestyle or anything like that. I live in a very.
Tim Davidson [00:06:19]:
A humble city. But it's just, what if I don't do anything? If it doesn't go well, I'm gonna have no income for a certain amount of time or a very low income with a kid on the way. That's what scared me the most. And I think there was also the, this is stupid, but, like, the scared of being a failure, just like, oh, I tried it, and then you fail. And then, was that time wasted? In hindsight, it's not going to be wasted, but you learn a lot of stuff. But I, you know, in the back of your mind, you're always scared that you're gonna be a failure. In that sense.
Nick Bennett [00:06:52]:
Yeah, I mean, I can definitely relate. I mean, when I went out on my own, my kid was nine months old, and not soon after that, my wife got pregnant with our second. Yeah, I mean, I saw you wrote, I think you posted something this morning. I work from home, and it's hard having a kid and trying to do all this work. And it's like, yeah, I mean, just add a second one, man. It's like ten x. Like they say, ten x all your stuff. That ten x is the fun.
Nick Bennett [00:07:17]:
But I feel you there, man. It feels risky when you. When you feel like there's a lot online and it's not just like you and your wife anymore. All of a sudden now you're the level of responsibility and, like, the weight on you, like, is something that you can't quite describe until you're there. So how did you end up acquiring your first clients?
Tim Davidson [00:07:36]:
So, the good thing about when I went out is I. I spent, you know, last two or three years before that building a personal brand on LinkedIn. I was putting out a bunch of content. It was helping the agency at the time, directive, but I was also just building my own personal brand. So when I went out, and this is all, like, I was so pumped about this. Cause I didn't think it would be, like, so good out the bat. But when I went out, I created a video saying I was going on my own. It did very well.
Tim Davidson [00:08:02]:
It had like, 600 plus engagements. Was really, really good for me. In LinkedIn Post. I had inbound. I had people saying, oh, shoot, let me come to you. And so the conversations I was having in sales calls were just people that have followed me for a long time, or, like, my first client, they said they remember me because of an ad from directive where I was the face of the ad, and they converted and were like an intro call at the agency, but it just didn't work out. And then the timing was right. Like, I needed some help on LinkedIn ads, and I saw that you went out.
Tim Davidson [00:08:39]:
It was just like a timing thing. But they knew me from LinkedIn, so it was very helpful from that standpoint. But the answer is, I spent two to three years before that building a personal brand. So that helped out a lot because I am not someone to go out and do outbound. Not my thing. I will never dm someone asking to, hey, do you need help. That's just not my thing.
Nick Bennett [00:09:01]:
Yeah, I mean, I think that's the struggle for a lot of people in our position is going out and getting clients going out, like asking for work if they're not coming in. I think a lot of people expect that tap to just kind of like, turn on, like, if they haven't put in the two to three years ahead of time that you put in. And I would say probably at a level of intensity that few people do like to create net new video content. Like, I I don't think, I rarely see you replay old content. I feel like you're constantly creating a ton of news, like net new videos that are probably not super easy to make. Like, you definitely put in a lot of work that I don't think a lot of people are willing to put in, and it shows. And I think that has a lot to do with why, when you said, hey, I'm open for business, that people were like, that equity has been built up over those two years.
Tim Davidson [00:09:52]:
Appreciate you noticing that. I do post some videos that are repurposed. I will say that I like to change things up a little bit. Usually I edit them a little bit, but I have done that videos. I found it to be my thing. So I'm trying to, like, squeeze in on that, especially, like, right now on LinkedIn. I mean, the reach is crazy right now. I'm gonna try to squeeze on that as much as possible.
Tim Davidson [00:10:12]:
I will say, like, so that definitely helped, right? The two to three years on LinkedIn, building my personal brand, all the content, the other things that I feel like were missed opportunities just because I was at the agency at the time was, I'm very active in, like, a lot of slack communities and like, Dave Gerhard's exit five community and stuff like that. You'll see people ask, oh, I need a freelancer, or I need someone to help me with this. There's a lot of opportunities that I've noticed there over the years that could be great places for people that want new business. And they just say, hey, I do this.
Nick Bennett [00:10:46]:
This is why.
Tim Davidson [00:10:46]:
Here's my two to three sentence pitch. And a lot of people get business from that. From what I've seen over time, obviously that gets even better, because then people tag you and then it's kind of a snowball effect from there.
Nick Bennett [00:10:59]:
Yeah, I think there's people trying to leverage community. There's like, the real human way to do it, like you're talking about. And then there's like, the super cringe way where people go, in with that intention. And it's like, I don't know. One of the things I find myself saying over and over and over again is like, just be a human. Like, do human things. Like, you're like, I'm not the type of person do outbounds. Like, one of the things I tell people all the time is like, it's not outbound, it's not cringey, it doesn't suck.
Nick Bennett [00:11:23]:
If you're just doing normal human things. Like when people consume your content, I'm sure people, this happens to you all the time. People consume your content and they send you a DM. Hey, Tim, I enjoyed that thing you made. Or would you do it to other people? Like, that's just building relationships with people. And, like, to me, that's how this business is built. Some people might consider that outbound, I don't know, but I think that's where the rubber meets the road for building this type of business.
Tim Davidson [00:11:48]:
Yeah, 100%. I mean, there's a funny and interesting example. Just this week I put out a video about new feature from LinkedIn ads. I put it out and I got an email the next day. They took a screenshot of it, and it's a past client that I've worked with in the past. Past. It was like, oh, I just saw this video. I think we're getting access in November.
Tim Davidson [00:12:08]:
Can we talk? Like, that type of stuff, there's just like some serendipity or just putting the content out there and that kind of stuff will happen over time.
Nick Bennett [00:12:17]:
Yeah, I get, like, this mixed signal from people that, like, inbound is dead. Not like everything's dead type of thing, but it's like, it's just harder. It's just like, so much harder to break through. And. And if you're not already pandering to the algorithm gods, then you're kind of, then you're kind of screwed. Like, I saw you said you posted something recently that said you got like over 3 million impressions on a video. But, like, what are those 3 million impressions really worth? Like, is that real? Like, you get, I think it was like 275,000 views. And of the views, like, what's the watch? I'm like, I think they're trying to pump up some numbers to get people interested, but, like, the engagement rate is way off.
Nick Bennett [00:12:56]:
And the whole thing seems a little odd to me. Like, it's almost like I would rather do, like, do you get clients off of that stuff, like 3 million views? Like, is it worth it? I don't know.
Tim Davidson [00:13:06]:
I think there's a difference between 3 million impressions. And yes, the engagement rate's gonna be low. Look, I'm not gonna be complaining about 275,000 views, by the way. That's awesome. But my videos are pretty niche overall. I might put out some things, like the one today about the kid and working from home. That's obviously more broad. But a lot of the videos I do put out are very niche.
Tim Davidson [00:13:29]:
And they talk about LinkedIn ads, or they talk about a specific thing within b two b marketing. And so 3 million impressions from that. I'm okay with that. Right. Like, I. That if it's very niche, the people that are resonate with will resonate with it. If people don't understand what LinkedIn ads is, they're not gonna watch it. It doesn't matter.
Tim Davidson [00:13:47]:
I think that is a very specific. There's a specific time period right now with LinkedIn where that's be. You're getting those. I've never had 3 million impressions before that, like, not even close. So I think there's. Right now, LinkedIn's just trying to push things. It's definitely not real impressions. There's definitely some weirdness going on there.
Tim Davidson [00:14:06]:
Cause, like, the view to the impression rates, the engagement rate difference. But look, I'll take it. I mean, I'm gonna. I'm gonna play the algorithm right now. I'm not playing to the algorithm in the sense of hashtags or, like, some sort of, like, thing like that. I'm gonna play the algorithm as in, they're pushing video right now. I'm gonna push out videos right now.
Nick Bennett [00:14:24]:
Yeah. And I didn't wanna, like, suggest this. Like, could you tie back this one video to a client? Like, largely irrelevant. I think the idea is, like, we get convinced, like, people see those numbers and they're like, maybe I, like, should I start trying that thing? Like, why is what I'm doing not doing that? Is it not working? Like, one of my friend, Andrew Kaplan just posted something he did, like, a day in the life of a solo quinter. I got 1.7 million impressions on that video. Yeah. All of a sudden, you see a lot of people, like, just perk up and they're like, should I make a day to live video? Like, I should. I would like 1.7 million impressions.
Nick Bennett [00:14:56]:
But it's like, are we drawn towards kind of, like, the wrong, like, building in the wrong direction? I don't know. These are all, like, rhetorical questions. I don't know the right answer on this stuff. It's just like, I feel like I feel like sometimes we tend to lose the plot on some of these things, but, like, it's still, it's pretty on par for you because you've just been building in this way for a long time now. They just built in this video feed that basically was like, like, all it's going to do is amplify the work that you're doing.
Tim Davidson [00:15:20]:
I mean, and that's the thing, right? Like, the video starts to be pretty good overall. Like, you need to have all the video things down for it to work. You know, the first 2 seconds matter a lot, whether it's adding the subtitles or your thumbnail. Are you switching, you know, screens? Like, is the story good? Is there something that's going on there that's going to have them actually watch it? All those things are still going to matter. You can't just put out videos and assume you get a bunch of impressions and views and business results from it. Obviously there's use cases that are different here, but for the most part, if you're getting a bunch of impressions, you should niche down your content if you want to drive business results. There's a bunch of people on LinkedIn that get crazy amounts of followers and impressions and likes and all that because they post very broad news that speak to literally anyone in business. If your business is consulting for it firms or just making something up, that's not going to help because you're literally just talking to every single person.
Tim Davidson [00:16:18]:
If you actually look through those, it's going to be a lot of open to work people. It's going to be a lot of people that are just, I'm not going to hire an it consulting firm ever, but you'll be getting in front of me in that, that instance. So generally, as like a rule of thumb, if your content's getting a lot of, lot of impressions and it's like broad content, then it's not going to drive the business results you want.
Nick Bennett [00:16:41]:
Yeah, I mean, if you want impressions, all you have to do is talk about LinkedIn.
Tim Davidson [00:16:44]:
Yeah.
Nick Bennett [00:16:45]:
What was the first moment that you felt like, hey, this could actually work? Like, that initial traction, what do you feel like? What led to that? What was that like?
Tim Davidson [00:16:54]:
Probably when I started having like a pretty good schedule of sales calls. But then from there it's like, okay, can I sell?
Nick Bennett [00:17:03]:
Like, can I close them?
Tim Davidson [00:17:04]:
Yeah, I'm a marketer. Like, can I actually close the deal here? Yeah, I think it was like when I put a post out and people booking time in the calendar, I think that was a good, it was a good sign for me. I would say that the sign before that, though, was when people would just come to me and ask if I can help them with something. There's been a number of times where they were looking for that help on consulting or not, and I just do it on the side. That was probably the first little traction, but that never got me to actually do it. It was when I first started seeing people book sometimes, actually. All right, here's a sales call. And, like, seeing the companies on there, like, oh, shoot.
Tim Davidson [00:17:39]:
Like, this is really cool.
Nick Bennett [00:17:41]:
Like, holy shit. Like, they're. It's working.
Tim Davidson [00:17:44]:
Yeah, exactly.
Nick Bennett [00:17:45]:
Everyone's kind of litmus test for, is this going to work for me? Is payback. Like, how long will it take me to make my salary back? You've been at this now almost eleven months. How long did it take you?
Tim Davidson [00:17:58]:
I don't want to sound douchey here, but it took me like two months to make my annual salary. Like, I definitely already made that, but it took me like two months. And again, I want to. It's because I took two to three years to build my personal brand.
Nick Bennett [00:18:12]:
Yeah, that's. That's nothing douchey, dude. That's cashing in on the years of sweat equity put in. Like, like, there are plenty of people. Like, I've talked to people that did it in the first month. I've talked to people that are, you know, six months out still trying to figure it out. And I think, yeah, I mean, there's no right or wrong way to do it, but I think spending, like, it took me probably closer to, like three or four months to do it because I was only publishing content for maybe a year and it was under, it was like supporting another brand's point of view. So it did something, but it definitely didn't do as much as I needed to.
Nick Bennett [00:18:48]:
So I think that is well earned. Did you ever have a problem with people knowing what you did? Like, the. I think one of the things that people tell me a lot is they're like, the content is great and all, but for some reason, people still don't seem to know what I do. Did you ever have that problem?
Tim Davidson [00:19:06]:
I had that problem for years, not specifically for my company. Now I make it a little bit more niche, but when I was at directive, I had a number of DM's that I never talked about the company. That was kind of my thing. I was playing the long game. I wanted to bring the value and just talk about Google Ads, LinkedIn, DB growth, whatever it is. There was a number of DM's that I got were like, I had no idea you worked at an agency. And I watched. I've been watching for a year.
Tim Davidson [00:19:32]:
So I've had that problem for years. It was easier to change when I went out on my own, just because my headline also changed. I literally put ABM, LinkedIn, ads, this whole thing. But also just the content was a lot more niche for the most part.
Nick Bennett [00:19:48]:
Yeah, I think there's, like, this weird barrier where people feel like they're like, how hard you really put on for someone else's company and how much, like, when you're building all this stuff versus, like, the stakes are clearly a lot higher when you're doing this for yourself. And if it's not clear, like, yeah, we don't. We don't eat.
Tim Davidson [00:20:06]:
No, that's true. And again, I wanted to. I am terrible at sale. Like, I mean, I'm okay now, but I am terrible at sell. Like, being promotional and selling. I've never put out something that said, buy my thing after a post. It's not my. What I'm gonna do.
Tim Davidson [00:20:22]:
I'm just really bad at that type of thing. And so I didn't want to be promotional. I didn't want. I just didn't want to, like, pitch the company. Even my company now, I don't want to pitch it in the post. I want to bring the value to it. I also, you know, the underlying thing there is, I have learned that if you just give people the secrets, they'll come and hire you. So I just feel like that would work out if I just kept the way.
Tim Davidson [00:20:45]:
And it has.
Nick Bennett [00:20:46]:
One of the things I've noticed you've been doing a lot lately, and I think you've done this a bit in the past, but more so recently, which is you just answer the question in the comment, like, the content is the answer to the comment or the response to the comment. And it's like, so it's, like, such an obvious content strategy, but it makes so much sense. Like, don't over complicate it.
Tim Davidson [00:21:09]:
I have done in the past. I've really grabbed onto it recently. Cause it's starting to work a little bit better. But, yeah, it's just one of those questions you're getting in sales calls. What? Those questions that you see people are commenting on your posts or other posts that have a similar background and just answering them. Let me be clear. It's stolen from the TikTok world, where that was a huge thing. Cause you can actually respond to comments in TikTok.
Tim Davidson [00:21:33]:
With a video, and I noticed a lot of people don't do it on LinkedIn. So I was like, all right, let me try it out. And it's been working very, very well. And it's easy. I will say it's also easy because you don't have to think too hard about the content. Here's the question. Let me answer it in a different way.
Nick Bennett [00:21:50]:
I think the hardest part about it is probably trying to pay attention to, like, assembling furniture while you're doing it, like, moving the camera. You're just jumping in and out of, like, a trash can. I'd be like, what am I doing again?
Tim Davidson [00:22:02]:
You can't see in the videos, but I do talk to myself, like, rehearse is what I'm going to say. And there's definitely times I will, like, the trash can one. I was trying to narrow it down because that was. I had a. I had to put all this plants and stuff in there and wood, but I had to take the weight out and put it back in because I said the wrong thing. So I had to do it again, which actually helped condense it. So it was a good thing. But there's definitely times where I'll have to redo the video just because it can be hard and I'll say the wrong thing.
Nick Bennett [00:22:32]:
Yeah, I think that's kind of the part of content creation that people don't see is like, is the mess, right? The retakes of you putting the thing in the trashcan over and over again, trying to say it, like, more clearly, that whole process, like, it looks so clean. It looks so. You're just, like, ripping a panel off the wall in your garage, just, like, sweeping stuff up. You're like, did what I say even makes sense there. Like, do I put dirt back on the ground and sweep it up again?
Tim Davidson [00:22:59]:
So here's the funnier thing, is that video, it was two different days. The one you're talking about, because what ends up happening for a lot of my videos is I'll create a bunch of. You can look through my freaking phone, my photos, and there's tons of different videos from the same day, and I'll start editing, and then I'll be like, oh, I could have either said this better, or I missed this part, or I need to condense what I said because the video is just too long. And so in that video specifically, I actually did another day, wore the same clothes, except for the shorts, which I kind of make it a joke. Like, it's not the same. I don't want to like, fool anyone, but like, I kind of make it a joke. And there's a different haircut, by the way. But then I took those things that I missed and then I redid it with a, you know, similar vibe, but the trash was already gone.
Tim Davidson [00:23:50]:
Like, I couldn't do those things again, so it makes it harder that way. So I just had to add in like the, oh, taking off the panel, which similar vibe, but definitely different. That's the other messy part is where. This is why I have a problem actually outsourcing video editing is because a lot of times I have to recreate some things just because I don't know if I'm a perfectionist or like, I just, I wanted to say it a better way, usually. And so I ended up having to recreate it, which can be hard when you're doing things that you don't want to rebuild. Or I just, I simply can't take away a crib again. Like, I need to do something else.
Nick Bennett [00:24:25]:
Can't. You're not going to unassembled crib just to redo this. This one shot. I overcomplicate video content greatly, and it's something that I got to figure out and I know a lot of people do. Like, what is your process? Like, what's your super quick, down and dirty process for getting this type of content out? Like at the rate at which you do too, which is like, it's not like you do one a month, you do a few a week.
Tim Davidson [00:24:51]:
So the process has been refined over years. And videos that used to take me 5 hours, take me an hour and a half. So it's gotten a lot better. But again, I've been doing this for three years, so you get there. But my process, it's very, very simple. If I have an idea, I put it in my apple notes, I just put it there. I mean, I have a great system, but there's emojis and everything, like, oh, serious content, here's funny content, here's questions to answer, all that stuff. So I have them all there.
Tim Davidson [00:25:19]:
A lot of times the topic I choose is based off of something that happened to, saw the question in a LinkedIn comment or had a client call and this scenario came up. So let me just talk about that. And it's like, so it's usually top of mind. Then I'll go into the Apple notes, put that information down. I don't write a script just because I used to and it sounded scripted, so I don't do that anymore. I usually just do like a couple bullet points of things I want to talk about. And then I figure out what the concept of the video is, whether it's like the fruit cutting or answering the question. Or sometimes I'll do scenarios where I'm marketing wearing this shirt and then in sales would be another video.
Tim Davidson [00:25:59]:
I have a vest on with a hat, and it'll be like two people talking to each other, but it's just me with glasses off or whatever. So figuring out the concept, obviously, if it's a question I need to answer, that's an easy one. I'm going to answer the question while doing something and then I go create it all through my phone. I just use an iPhone, like I mentioned earlier, I'll create all the videos. Like, I'll take the make the cuts while I'm doing something and I start editing. Usually, like after that or the next day or whatever it is. Sometimes I don't have to recreate videos, but probably 75% of the time, maybe 60% of the time, I will end up taking some notes down on which places I need to recreate or add a part or say something different. And sometimes I'm lazy and I'll just act like my phone's in my face and I'm walking and I don't actually recreate anything.
Tim Davidson [00:26:49]:
I just talk about it like that. And I'm not like going to recreate a crib or whatever, and then I edit the rest of it together and then put subtitles on. I use capcut for video editing, put the headline on and then post it.
Nick Bennett [00:27:01]:
I bet your wife loves that you're getting some household chores checked off the list during the work day.
Tim Davidson [00:27:08]:
Yeah, that's part of it. Two things at one.
Nick Bennett [00:27:12]:
So what surprises you the most about being a solopreneur?
Tim Davidson [00:27:16]:
I'll give two answers here. The most surprising thing was just how much happier and better it is in my situation. I just work less, make more. It's like the best.
Nick Bennett [00:27:28]:
That's the equation.
Tim Davidson [00:27:29]:
Yeah. Right. And it's just, I feel more passionate about it. It's my own business, right? I can make the decisions. I can say if I wanna do this or not. Don't get me wrong, I had clients, so it's not like I can do everything the way I wanna do it. I still have to cater to someone. But yeah, it's one of those things I wish I did.
Tim Davidson [00:27:48]:
And it was just very surprising how much better it can be on the other side of it. I'm by myself. I mean, I have virtual assistants, I have a freelancer that helps me out, like 5 hours a week. But I went to a few b, two b events last month. I went to the event. I would take breaks to work. I would have to still have meetings. I still have to work at night and morning.
Tim Davidson [00:28:11]:
You can't just give it off to someone. Like I could when I worked at a company, or I can't just take paid time off and go on vacation. Clients are understanding. I can usually say, I'm on vacation, can we cancel this meeting? I still have to do stuff in the background, so I think that was a big, surprising one. I'm going on vacation next week. My family still have to work, you know, and that's part of the lifestyle. Like, that's part of the being a solopreneur. But that was a very not surprising, but just now I understand it.
Nick Bennett [00:28:41]:
Yeah. I was surprised by how much, like, how happy clients are to see you see us take breaks, like, to take time off and do stuff. Like, they love it. But I think in your line of work, it's different in that the ads are still running and you, they still got to be monitored. Like, you still have to do the thing. It's not like you can just, like, let it sit for a while. But you said you're really passionate about this, and I can definitely tell because I've seen comments over the years from people. It'll say something like, Tim, is the LinkedIn ads goat? Like, this is the dude you want on your stuff.
Nick Bennett [00:29:13]:
Like, why is this work so meaningful to you?
Tim Davidson [00:29:16]:
What I've realized over the years is I love making things work that might not be working for people, because part of it is I can create content about it. The other part is just, I love testing and making things work that aren't, like, right now, I'm really going deep into, like, this new feature I mentioned on LinkedIn, like a company feature. It gives you all this information about companies that you're showing your ads in front of. That stuff's super interesting, because now I can figure out, okay, how do I work with my client sales teams closer to figure out what's the best way for them to reach out if they're doing ABM based off of a certain cadence or whatever it is. I love creating these kind of new systems and testing new things just to see what works and doesn't. I just, I love that. And because, you know, part of it's probably because I have so much experience with it, I know what I'm talking about. So I feel confident in it.
Tim Davidson [00:30:06]:
So I feel confident about talking about things that work and don't. It's just one of those things I become passionate about because I kind of learned a lot. Like, I am an expert in it, but I feel like I know it like the back of my hand, so I can feel more passionate about it. That said, I want to be clear, I don't think I want to do it forever.
Nick Bennett [00:30:24]:
The client management side, just like, running ads for people.
Tim Davidson [00:30:28]:
Yeah, I don't think I want to do that forever. I can't see myself doing it. I definitely can't see myself doing it forever. I want to create more content. I think that's awesome. I do love working with the clients I have and all that, but at some point, I'll figure out that good mix of maybe a few clients and I do something else. I'm just not sure what that is. I don't have, like, this five year plan or anything like that.
Nick Bennett [00:30:48]:
I don't think we need the five year plan, but it's like. I think I like the vision, which is what I categorize as paid to create. That's really what I roll it up under. Cause I agree with you. Client services is exhausting for a bunch of reasons. It's really demanding. It's really rewarding in a lot of ways, but it's really demanding in a lot of ways. But being paid to create is absolutely like the.
Nick Bennett [00:31:11]:
I think the destination, or at least like the near term destination generally, I think people in your position would have jumped straight to creating a course. Curious why you didn't immediately just make a course and do and do that like everyone else.
Tim Davidson [00:31:27]:
I've thought about it, and I think I probably will, but I don't think I'll ever, like, sell it. I think it'll just be a free thing. And this is probably an issue, a problem with me. There's so many people selling courses. A lot of them are just crap that I don't want to create one because of that, which is, I know it's not a good thing. Like, I can create a better course and all that stuff, like a valuable course. Or if I did do it, what I would do is I would say, all right, it's this much. If you finish it and you're not happy with it, I'll give you your money back.
Tim Davidson [00:31:58]:
Literally, I won't question it, and we will give you the money back, just so people actually, like, take the course. But the reason is probably because I've been burdened by so many courses. I just think they're all crap for the most part that I don't want to fall into that trap. Cause I make fun of those courses.
Nick Bennett [00:32:17]:
Yeah. I mean, the unconditional guarantee definitely helps. I get what you're saying. I've been on that side. I've purchased plenty of courses. And you're like, wasn't really worth the hype. But I mean, I guess that's kind of, that's kind of the way out of services, right? It's like where it's like the most obvious way out of services.
Tim Davidson [00:32:33]:
I can't see myself selling a $500 course for some reason. I don't, I don't know why. Maybe I'm, I don't know much about courses that for me to understand that much like the pricing. But LinkedIn, it's pretty niche, right? Like, I just want really LinkedIn ads at $100, you know, 3000 people buy it. I mean, it's really good, actually. It's really good. I might be thinking a little bit different here.
Nick Bennett [00:32:54]:
Yeah, I mean, the tighter the niche, the easier it's going to be to sell. You've got a pretty rock solid ability to create content around this thing. Like, there's probably a bunch of people out there who consume a lot, probably all of your content, and don't have the ability to buy anything from you. I mean, everything you do is rather unconventional. Like, if you sold it for $7, I feel like that would be way more Tim Davidson than to sell it for like a $1,000 or $500, even $100, like, sell this crazy thing for $7 and just like, this is my gift to the world for around LinkedIn ads or something. Because like you said, you're like, I'm not going to try. And it's just like out of character.
Tim Davidson [00:33:38]:
It'd be a good way to obviously, you know, get people to share it and stuff and like, obviously build my personal brand more. It also be, you know, someone goes to the course, you know what? Fuck this. I'm not going to do this. Why don't we just hire Tim? Great. Like, that's perfect, too. So the reason I haven't probably done it is because it takes a lot of time to build a course.
Nick Bennett [00:33:57]:
Yeah, it's exhausting. I'm trying to do one now for like, oh, you are? Okay. I'm trying to do it now. It's absolutely exhausting. And it's not. I'm trying to drive it in a separate direction, more like a hybrid product where combine some, like some elements of services and like the. But the self paced nature of a course. So it's.
Nick Bennett [00:34:12]:
It's been exhausting, I will tell you that.
Tim Davidson [00:34:15]:
Yeah, but.
Nick Bennett [00:34:16]:
Sorry. Go on.
Tim Davidson [00:34:17]:
Well, I was just gonna say back to, like, the unconventional part. Maybe I'll make it, like, $7. But if you finish it and you prove that you finished it, I'll give you more money or something like that.
Nick Bennett [00:34:27]:
I'll give you eight back.
Tim Davidson [00:34:28]:
Yeah, like, I'll get.
Nick Bennett [00:34:30]:
Yeah, I'll give you six back if you finish it. So at least. Because you're gonna end up paying strand up paying stripe transaction fees for that one.
Tim Davidson [00:34:38]:
Well, that's. Yeah, that's true.
Nick Bennett [00:34:39]:
Yeah. All right. $7 course. And then if you finish it, I'll give you five back. I just need to cover all the transactions.
Tim Davidson [00:34:44]:
Yeah. And I'll make it weird, like, 535, because the transaction.
Nick Bennett [00:34:48]:
Yeah, that. That is probably the way. That is the way. And if they can prove that they did. Just send the screenshots is 100% complete.
Tim Davidson [00:34:58]:
Yeah. Give the money back minus the fees, you know, I'll give you the fees. I'll take the fee.
Nick Bennett [00:35:03]:
You'll eat the fee.
Tim Davidson [00:35:04]:
I'll eat the fee. That'd be part of the pitch. Eat the fees.
Nick Bennett [00:35:07]:
The business will pay for the fees. Hey, look, you got to reduce your tax liability somehow. You might as well do it there.
Tim Davidson [00:35:12]:
Well, the reason I'd be okay with it, because I can't remember what. There's, like. There's data out there. Like, you give a 100% guarantee. Like, 15% of people do it.
Nick Bennett [00:35:23]:
Yeah.
Tim Davidson [00:35:24]:
So I'd be like, okay, I'll lose, you know, whatever the transaction fee of, you know, 15% people. It's not that bad.
Nick Bennett [00:35:31]:
And there's this idea. I call it, like, the revenue, like, the digital revenue barrier. There's this idea that once someone spends money with you, it's way easier for them to spend more money with you. And so if you cross that chasm at $7, it doesn't really matter how much they spend. They're already willing to spend money with you, and it gets them inside of your head on the services level. Like, they're like, oh, this is what Tim thinks about. This is what Tim really thinks about LinkedIn, as this is, like, way more about his system and how he does this. And then they're gonna go.
Nick Bennett [00:35:58]:
It makes way more sense. It makes. It's way easier to understand what's gonna happen when I give him thousands of dollars.
Tim Davidson [00:36:05]:
That's a good point. So now I'm screwed because I have this in my notes, actually, just from earlier this week. I've had this idea of creating a podcast. The podcast is just me talking about anything and everything about LinkedIn ads, but it'd be like seven minute, eight minute shows. But, like, here's campaign objectives, here's the bidding, here's the ad types you should choose, and here's why. It'd just be like, LinkedIn ads for B two B stats. So it's almost like a course, but just in, like, podcast form, because I don't see one out there except for, like, one that's not really, like, what I'm thinking of, but that's gonna take time. And then I wanna do the course.
Nick Bennett [00:36:38]:
Now, I mean, the way that I take, like, the Jay Kunzo approach to the podcast, which is, like, the podcast explores something. I think this might be an interesting one for you, B. Two b tech companies spend all this money on ads, and there's, like, this huge wall between, like, what everyone thinks is happening and what is really happening. Like, how much money are they actually making? Everyone's like, oh, I got, like, 2000% roas or whatever, and you're like, is that normal? Is that crazy? You're like, $49 a lead. Well, what did that matter? Did anyone become a customer? Like, just exploring the truth behind ad results on LinkedIn is probably. And I just made that up out of nowhere. I'm just, like, just thinking about how you would explore LinkedIn ads in a way that probably nobody else is. In a way that is way real and not just, like, look at this screenshot from one client.
Nick Bennett [00:37:28]:
That is a very highly specific time range, like, date range. That is exactly the thing I want you to see. Cause everything outside of that range is not as good as what I'm about to show you.
Tim Davidson [00:37:38]:
All right. I mean, I just wrote that down. It's a really good idea. I like that. Exploring. I like the idea is exploring things rather than just, like, what my idea was. I'm just telling people what it is, but, like, exploring. Yeah, it's a pretty good idea.
Tim Davidson [00:37:52]:
I'll give you some, you know, kickback.
Nick Bennett [00:37:55]:
All right, cool. I'll take. I'll take $1 of the $7.
Tim Davidson [00:37:58]:
There you go.
Nick Bennett [00:37:59]:
And then I'll have to. I'll have to refund you the dollar if somebody returns the course. I'll have to pay some fees, too, but we'll work it out.
Tim Davidson [00:38:07]:
Stripes gonna make out.
Nick Bennett [00:38:09]:
Stripes make a killing on this. Oh, dude, that's great. I'm excited. You said you don't necessarily have a five year plan. I know. We just talked about this course was there anything on your mind that you want to build that you haven't built yet? What does the future of b two b riz feel like for you right now?
Tim Davidson [00:38:25]:
All right, there's two things I asked right now, I'm trying to figure out how to get again solo. Try to figure out how to get more out of my time. That's where money is, right? Like, if I can save myself x amount of time, I can bring out a new client. That's more money. Like there's just like a revolving thing. So over, you know, over the last nine months or so, I've hired two virtual assistants, and then I have someone help me out as a freelancer. Right now, I'm trying to build that virtual assistant army. I started off with one, we hired another one that was probably like a third of the price of the current one, like the, the first one, but she's training her to.
Tim Davidson [00:38:56]:
And so now the next step is like, how do I figure out all those systems to have this virtual assistant army of taking away all these little tasks that I do every day that I should not be doing? That's from, like, invoicing to just like client email follow ups or like condensing notes or this personal stuff, travel stuff too. Like all that stuff, too. That's one thing I'm trying to currently build is just get most out of my time by, I'm really bad. I've been very bad at delegating, so I'm trying to get better at that. The other part is, so LinkedIn ads is one channel of a b, two b organization. It's just one channel. There's other paid channels. There's organic, there's all the different things that drive revenue for a business.
Tim Davidson [00:39:39]:
The truth about LinkedIn ads is I am also dependent on the other things that the company is doing. There's a big difference. If they don't have brand, if they don't have other channels or organic and all that stuff, the performance is not going to be as good. It's just not. So I'm trying to figure out how I can partner with other companies. That the founders create organic content or help with the messaging on their website or their whole homepage is just, the website's bad, I'm going to send it to them, I'm going to send traffic to there, and then what's going to happen? It's just going to fall off. All that stuff I think is much more important than me just pulling levers on LinkedIn ads. So I'm trying to figure out how to get more results for the clients by the things outside of LinkedIn ads.
Tim Davidson [00:40:26]:
I still want to stay within my, my lane. Like, I'm not going to offer content services. Never. Not my thing. But parting with companies that we can maybe, you know, create a package together or just have them work with them directly so as a referral, just so they can get better results from LinkedIn ads as well. That's another thing I'm trying to figure out.
Nick Bennett [00:40:50]:
It's funny you say you would never offer content services. I don't blame you. But I feel like there's a lot of people that would pay to learn content from you just based on the type of stuff that you create. But all the ads, people that I've ever worked with have said the same thing that you just said, which is like, I'm gonna send you to a shitty homepage. Like, or if the landing page sucks, you're gonna throw away a ton of money. Or if the landing page is fine, but the offer sucks on the landing page, you're still screwed. Like, there's so many downstream things that need to be right in order for the ads to be worth it. I get what you're saying.
Nick Bennett [00:41:21]:
You're like, in order for all that stuff to align for you to do your job at the highest possible level or achieve the highest possible impact, there's a lot of stuff that's outside of your zone or your core offering that you're like, how do I solve for that? How do I get that shit in order so that we can do this job right?
Tim Davidson [00:41:43]:
Exactly. Even, like, creative, like, so, you know, creating the images, the videos, I have to work with whatever the company has typically, or like a freelancer that they work with. So that's even something I've been thinking about a lot. Because being able to offer those services, because sometimes, you know, you have to work with a company's creative team, but they're also doing product marketing, they're doing other things or sales decks. And so, like, there's a timing issue sometimes. So being able to offer those services probably just help from the LinkedIn ad side.
Nick Bennett [00:42:12]:
Is the goal to stay solo forever, or do you want to have a small team of people, like designers and editors and all that stuff?
Tim Davidson [00:42:21]:
When I first started this, I was like, nope, solo forever. I will never hire anyone. I still never want, like, again. I was at the agency from 30 to 116 plays. I saw what was awesome. I saw what was nothing. Scaling that type of stuff is not for me. Not even close.
Tim Davidson [00:42:37]:
I'll never do something like that. But I could see myself hiring people right now. I'm just going freelancer all that stuff right now to get my feet wet with it. And I could see myself hiring someone. Not sure, but I could see it. It used to be a no, but it's a maybe no.
Nick Bennett [00:42:57]:
The hub and spoke model has been like a really popular model with a lot of solos I talk with these days where, like, you or would be considered the hub, and you have access to basically an army of entrepreneurs that can deploy the thing. So, like, you get to do the thing that you do, but you're like, hey, here's this landing page person, here's this designer, here's this person who can help you do your offer, like whatever the thing is. And to the client, it's like they're just paying b two b riz. But to you, you know that you have access to the resources that you need to make this program successful for them. And then they get to charge a little bit more along the way, which is always nice.
Tim Davidson [00:43:31]:
Sure.
Nick Bennett [00:43:32]:
Yeah. So, Tim, this has been fun, man. It's been great chatting with you and I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and everything that you're doing. I know way more people feel seen on their own journey because of it, man.
Tim Davidson [00:43:45]:
Thanks for having me. This was, this was a lot of fun because a lot of podcasts I'm usually on, I talk about like, LinkedIn ads, marketing. Being able to talk about this was a little different and I really liked it.
Nick Bennett [00:44:04]:
Hey, Nick, again, and thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this episode, you can sign up for the 1000 Routes newsletter, where I process the insights and stories you hear on this show into frameworks and lessons to help you build a new and different future for your own business. You can sign up at 1000routes.com or check the link in the show notes. What would be your last meal on earth?
Tim Davidson [00:44:33]:
I'm actually a big fan of chicken wings, so it'd probably be a bunch of chicken wings. I'm very picky, though. The blue cheese, like, if it's a homemade blue cheese, it's really, really good. A lot of the restaurants around me, at least, they call it like their special sauce. It's basically just like buffalo sauce and like a sweet and sour or it's like a sweet and tangy type of mix. Sweet and hot. So, I mean, probably chicken wings if I think about it.
Nick Bennett [00:44:55]:
All right, I'm down on the chicken wings. You do bone in or boneless? Bone in, bone in flats or drums?
Tim Davidson [00:45:02]:
If I had to choose one. It'd probably be flats.
Nick Bennett [00:45:04]:
Yeah. I'm not too picky at it. I think both is like, you get what you get. Some people pay extra just to get one. But if it's your last meal, I guess go all flats, right?
Tim Davidson [00:45:14]:
Yeah, I guess so.
Nick Bennett [00:45:15]:
Would you go extra crispy, though? That's the question.
Tim Davidson [00:45:18]:
I do like it extra crispy. I don't like it burnt, but I like it extra crispy.
Nick Bennett [00:45:21]:
Dude. All right, I'm in. On your last meal. If it ever comes to it, let me know. I'm there.
Tim Davidson [00:45:26]:
Perfect.