Consultant Fills Calendar Year-Round
How an independent operations consultant went from empty calendar and constant hustle to a steady stream of speaking gigs and retainer clients — all through LinkedIn.
The Challenge
Sarah (name changed) is a fractional COO with 15 years of experience scaling operations at tech companies. Despite strong credentials and a solid reputation, she struggled with the classic consultant problem: feast or famine.
Her situation:
- • Expertise wasn't translating to visibility — only 2K LinkedIn followers
- • Revenue came in waves — busy for 3 months, then scrambling
- • Wanted speaking gigs but didn't know how to find event organizers
- • Spending 15+ hours/week on business development that rarely converted
She needed a systematic way to build pipeline while delivering client work.
The Solution
Sarah implemented LeadHunter with a dual-track approach:
Track 1: Speaking Opportunities
AI identified event organizers, podcast hosts, and conference coordinators. Outreach positioned her as a thought leader with a specific talk topic: "Scaling Ops Without Scaling Headcount."
Track 2: Consulting Clients
Targeted CEOs and VPs at Series A-B startups showing scaling signals — rapid hiring, new funding, or recent acquisitions. Messages referenced their specific situation.
Content Engagement
LeadHunter engaged thoughtfully with prospects' posts before direct outreach. This warmed up conversations and built visibility simultaneously.
Relationship Nurturing
For contacts who weren't ready to engage, AI maintained light-touch follow-ups — congratulating promotions, commenting on posts, staying top of mind.
The Journey
Positioning & Targeting
Defined two outreach tracks: Event organizers for speaking gigs, and VP/C-level executives for consulting engagements. Created distinct messaging for each.
Building Visibility
LeadHunter engaged with target audience's content while sending personalized connection requests. LinkedIn following grew from 2K to 6K.
Conversations Convert
First 4 consulting clients closed ($60K total). Booked 5 paid speaking gigs. AI handled initial outreach and qualification.
Calendar Filled
8 retainer clients, 12 speaking engagements. Inbound leads started arriving — 60% mentioned seeing LinkedIn content.
The Results
Conferences, podcasts, and workshops
Average contract: $15K
7X growth in 6 months
"Saw you on LinkedIn"
"I went from constantly hustling for the next client to having a waitlist. The speaking gigs alone have generated more inbound leads than anything I've ever done. LeadHunter didn't just find clients — it built my personal brand."
Key Takeaways
Speaking gigs drive inbound. Each speaking engagement generated 2-3 inbound leads on average.
LinkedIn is built for solo consultants. Direct access to decision-makers without gatekeepers.
Content engagement warms conversations. Prospects who saw engagement first responded 3X more often.
Dual-track approach works. Speaking gigs + direct consulting outreach created compounding effects.
See how other professionals use LeadHunter: SaaS Startup · Recruiting Agency · All Use Cases
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