Turning Connections Into Clients on LinkedIn Without Feeling Salesy
In this episode of The Profitable Creative, host Christian Brim sits down with Liam Darmody, a personal brand strategist and business innovation coach, to unpack what it actually takes to build a business through LinkedIn without turning into the kind of salesperson everyone avoids.
Liam spent two decades in sales operations and revenue operations inside startups before making a major pivot into brand and marketing, largely because of the personal brand he built on LinkedIn. After helping grow an employer brand and talent marketing function at a company that later sold for over a billion dollars, he found himself at a crossroads: go back to corporate, or build something of his own.
He chose the entrepreneurial path, and the conversation is an honest look at what that shift demands.
The myth of the “instant client flood”
Liam launched his business with a sizable LinkedIn following. Like many founders, he assumed that having an audience would immediately translate into revenue. It did not.
One of the biggest early challenges was resetting expectations and understanding that people often need time to reclassify you in their minds. If they have known you as “the person who posts interesting ideas,” they may not automatically see you as “the person who sells a service.” That mental shift can take months, even when your content is strong.
The takeaway for creatives: attention is not the same thing as demand. An audience is powerful, but converting it requires clarity, consistency, and repetition.
The real challenges of being a business of one
Christian and Liam also dig into the day to day realities of entrepreneurship that catch many people off guard:
- You are no longer part of a team, which can be surprisingly hard if you thrive on collaboration.
- Everything is your responsibility, including the parts you never had to touch before.
- When technology breaks, when systems fail, when money questions come up, there is no internal department to call.
This is where mindset becomes the differentiator. Entrepreneurship is not just doing your craft. It is holding the full weight of the business and making decisions with imperfect information.
How to sell without being “salesy”
Liam reframes social selling in a way that resonates with creatives. Instead of thinking of it as selling, think of it as socializing.
He addresses the biggest fear people have about DMs: nobody wants to get pitched. So he names it upfront. When he connects with someone who fits his ideal client profile, he will plainly say he is not going to pitch them. He will simply share useful ideas, stay present, and be available when the timing is right.
That approach does two things:
- It lowers defenses and builds trust.
- It allows sales conversations to happen naturally on the prospect’s timeline, not yours.
The best sales conversations often feel like problem solving, not persuasion.
Want versus need and how to meet people where they are
Christian raises a point that applies across every creative service: clients often want one thing but need another.
Liam’s answer is practical. He offers multiple pathways, including smaller ways to start, like an hour session, before asking for a deeper commitment. That reduces pressure and helps the client experience value before investing further.
For creatives, this is a strong model: create entry points that allow someone to build confidence in working with you, then expand the relationship after trust is established.
What creatives can post on LinkedIn to attract clients
A big question Christian asks is how this approach translates to creatives like videographers, cinematographers, and content creators.
Liam’s recommendation is clear: show your skill publicly and teach just enough that your audience understands both the process and the value of hiring a professional.
Examples include:
- Posting your work consistently on LinkedIn
- Sharing simple “how to” content that helps people understand the basics
- Demonstrating the difference between DIY output and professional output
- Reworking or redesigning examples from brands in a constructive way to show your creative thinking
When you teach and demonstrate, you build trust and authority. People learn from you, and they also learn why your expertise is worth paying for.
AI is not the enemy. It is the lever
A key part of the conversation is AI and the fear many creatives feel about being replaced.
Both Christian and Liam land on the same conclusion: AI changes the process, not the need for judgment, taste, story, strategy, and understanding people. Creatives who learn to use AI well can become significantly more productive and expand what they can deliver without sacrificing quality.
Liam explains it simply: if you do the upfront work to train AI to reflect your voice and standards, you are effectively promoting yourself from creator to editor. You still own the thinking and the final output, but you move faster.
Christian adds context from his own industry, pointing out that “job killing” technology predictions have been wrong before. Tools may shift the workflow, but they rarely eliminate the underlying need. The winners adapt by focusing on solving real problems, not defending a single method of doing the work.
Relationship driven sales is still the game
If there is a theme running through the full episode, it is this: people do business with people they know, like, and trust. LinkedIn can accelerate that, but only if you approach it with patience, generosity, and consistency.
The goal is not to pressure. The goal is to stay present, add value, and be the obvious choice when the timing is right.
Now, do this!
Want more conversations like this one that help you turn your creative skill into real profit? Listen to The Profitable Creative here: https://www.coregroupus.com/the-profitable-creative
