We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sadiya Mulla a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sadiya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

I sit there as I hear my client’s story. He spent 5 months posting to gain 3K followers and 1000s of likes, a couple of viral posts, loads of comments and reposts and the best – 0 actual enquiries for his work.

What you see online is fake. More famous does not equal more trusted. Your language determines your growth. The worst lot are those who promise huge “leads” (aka people who don’t even know you exist). The problem with my industry is people are desperate for fame, even though they are starving for business growth.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was to be a psychologist, then I wrote a couple of blogs, posted some on LinkedIn, got my first enquiry in 3 weeks and never looked back. Now, 3 years later, I am using my psychology degree to build brands worth noticing in the crowd.

I solve 3 problems: The type of enquiries businesses get (strong vs weak), the reputation and perception that the brand has in the industry, and the traction that business gets on LinkedIn.

I am not doing anything differently, I am just doing it right. Language x Psychology = Unbeatable positioning.

Built 3EX (trex) with my partner Stella for businesses who want an inbound content conversion system to plug in. It’s not a step-by-step, it’s making people great marketing minds instead. So they don’t have to rely on fake advisors.

The main thing I want everyone to know: What you need to build a solid enquiry flow in B2B is already with you. It’s not more content formats or 7x posts or 100 cold DMs/week. It’s what made your business. It’s what made you. Go deep. Go within. Deep enquiry brings enquiries – as cringe as it may sound.

Look for 2 things:
1) The selling points that make buyers hungry enough to bite.
2) The top 3 ROIs that bridge your service with the bottom line of buyers’ businesses.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

LinkedIn Inbound. No outbound. I have had 99% of clients from inbound. 1% from referrals, although I dont like referrals much. Inbound is a whole other ball game. The prospect has deep respect for your game, knows what you do, trusts it and wants to be an active part in the work you do.

The secret to inbound isn’t 5 posts per week.
It’s: 1) The best profile you can build. Refer to mine or buy 3EX to build your own with a step-by-step guide.
2) The best angles you bet on with content.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Not everything pure is right. I was a vegan for 2 years. I was the activist friend people had to hear speeches from. I stood on the soapbox, cried for the violence and ill-treatment of animals, and protested as much in rallies. I hated seeing animals get killed for our pleasure…

Until I had severe health issues and had to drop out of the routine completely.

Until I realized my body was severely lacking in nutrients. And my system was wrecked.

I was only 20. This wasn’t supposed to happen to a young woman. It did.

I had to go back to eating natural protein sources. Doctor’s orders. I would gag at the thought of eating that though.
Still can’t touch anything besides chicken and eggs. And I don’t need to.

I found a balance between my moral crisis and my body’s needs.

• Linkedin: https://in.linkedin.com/in/sadiyamulla