Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melissa Zehner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Starting my business was by far the biggest risk I’ve ever taken.

I’d love to tell you that it was calculated and thoughtful, that I spent months planning and preparing — but I didn’t. I leaped, without any kind of plan or net.

My last employed job was the most toxic employment situation I’ve ever been in. I knew inside of two months that every minute of every workday was going to be a miserable, painstaking grind. By the four-month mark, the overwhelming stress and bullying was making me physically ill, and I kept telling myself to just stick with it until I’d been there for a year. At six months, I reached a point where I just couldn’t do it another day.

I quit on a Thursday, spent the weekend creating a rough business plan and a landing page, and announced my new business to my network on the following Monday.

While I would never recommend such a haphazard approach, taking the risk was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I replaced my full-time salary inside of a five months, and I was able to do it on my own terms and timeline. For the first time in several years, I found myself enjoying the work again. I was energized, brimming with ideas, and optimistic about the future.

Flash forward 3 1/2 years and I’m still growing the business. I’m fully committed to sustaining it for the duration of my career, no matter how scary it seems at times. The benefits will always outweigh the fears.

I often think about how I probably never would have started this business if I’d felt like I had another option at that moment in time — I’m risk-averse by nature. But then I think about the fact that, when faced with one of the most unhealthy environments I’ve ever been exposed to, I chose my own health and happiness. I did the hard work of speaking up, advocating for myself, and making a drastic change. Taking the leap was a worthwhile risk.

(And, of course, here’s the thing we all tend to overlook about taking leaps: Yes, we may fall — but if we don’t, we’re creating the opportunity to prove to ourselves just how well we’re able to fly.)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I’ve been helping B2B startups grow revenue through digital marketing for 15+ years now. I specialize in organic marketing, which is essentially content that attracts our ideal customers to us (think: social media posts, thought leadership articles, email nurture series, etc.) so we can avoid the dreaded outbound cold pitch gauntlet.

Many B2B service providers struggle with standing out in a crowded marketplace. I help them fine-tune the value-adds that differentiate them from the competition so they can create distinct, memorable brands and position themselves as the no-brainer choice in the minds of their customers. Once we have this nailed down, their whole marketing program performs better because we know what systems and conversations will capture attention, engage those ideal clients, and close them effectively.

Before focusing on B2B service providers exclusively, I worked with SaaS startups for several years. One of the things that SaaS does incredibly well is building buzz for a new way of thinking about and solving a problem. I often take this same framework and apply it to my clients’ businesses: What makes their approaches truly unique? Why should someone choose them over the popular (but perhaps dated) solution? How can we prompt people to be curious about the real-world outcomes my clients create? Oftentimes, focusing on that “intellectual property” is the missing piece that service providers haven’t been tapping into. People care less about our backgrounds and more about how we apply our expertise to help them win.

After 3 1/2 years in business, my ability to retain clients is one of the things I’m proudest of: I have a 96% client return rate, meaning a full 96% of my clients renew after our initial agreement or expand into other services. I want people to genuinely enjoy working with me and feel like they’re getting a premium service every step of the way, and I think this number really shows that I’m creating that experience for my clients.

My flagship service is a full-funnel package designed to help B2B service providers implement simple, sustainable marketing without adding to their to-do list. Essentially, I build out their custom ICP playbook and systems for marketing, screening leads, and closing ideal clients. It’s all completed within 4 weeks and it’s completely human-centric and unique to each client so it serves their business well.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I get most of my leads from LinkedIn. About 80% of all my new lead volume came directly through LinkedIn the first 2 years I was growing my business. I estimate that LinkedIn leads are now closer to 60% of my pipeline, primarily because I’ve gotten substantially more word-of-mouth referrals this past year.

There are all kinds of people who will hate on LinkedIn but the reality is that it’s a smart place to build if you’re a B2B founder whose buyers spend time there — don’t let the haters deter you from a channel that may be right for your business.

I believe you can absolutely succeed on LinkedIn without being “cringey” or overly self-promotional. You just need to show up consistently, clearly, and authentically. A few notes on this:

Consistency – Randomly posting a few times a month isn’t going to get you leads. Like anything else in life and business, gains come from consistency. If you decide LinkedIn is a viable pipeline for your business, commit to showing up 3-5 times a week. Calendar it and treat it like any other necessary business activity. Remember, marketing is literally part of growing your business — it’s not optional.

Clarity – A lot of B2B founders make the mistake of creating content for their colleagues and peers rather than their clients. Yes, it’s great to connect with our existing network. But if we want leads, we need to have conversations our ideal clients care about. That means creating content that speaks to their mindsets, pain points, daily routines, and outcomes. The clearer we are about what we do and who we do it for, the easier it is to find and engage our ideal clients.

Authenticity – In the age of AI, the importance of authenticity can’t be overstated. Resist the urge to put on a persona and just show up as yourself, quirks and all. As online spaces continuously become more oversaturated with generic content, your best chance of standing out is leaning into what makes you human and unique. You don’t need to be perfectly poised or laser-focused on only the most “professional” topics. Remember, likability is a huge factor in decision-making processes — if you can create a little joy for your network, have some interesting conversations, and become someone people remember, you’ll be far ahead of most people on LinkedIn.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Long before I started my business, I was often known as the person in the room who would speak up and say what everyone else was thinking. I embrace transparency and accountability, and I believe in advocating for what I care about. That same tendency to call it like it is has served me well as I’ve built my business. I try not to share generic “hot takes” but I do call out the pervasive BS that’s so common in the marketing industry, and I encourage everyone to follow practices that respect the craft, our clients, and our brands. I believe my openness helps people trust me.

I’m also not afraid to have fun along the way. My brand is intentionally different than a lot of B2B brands — I use bright colors, emotional language, and a lot of pop art. I used to worry that it may lead people to think I’m somehow not “professional” — but as time has gone on, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that it’s refreshing to get something a little more lighthearted or bold in their feeds (and it doesn’t hurt that the visual distinction also helps me create a little more memorability). There’s simply no reason why we can’t do great work and also enjoy the process. And this is yet another reminder to be authentic and lean into out personalities so “our” people can find us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://organicgtm.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissazehner/

Image Credits

Images owned by my business