Dan Gray

This month marks 1-year for me as an entrepreneur running Vendry full-time. In that time we've had no shortage of challenges but also some exciting milestones like: - Running searches for Microsoft, Spotify, Shopify and countless startups 🤝 - Generating millions of dollars of value to our agency partners 💸 - Maintaining a 5-star rating on G2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Clients churning 27% below industry average 🏃 - Hiring our first employee 👋 - Being able to pay myself a salary 💰 It has been a CRAZY year. And that's without even mentioning we accomplished this fully bootstrapped while also welcoming our first child back in October 👶 So to take a step back and reflect on how far we've come, this week's Case Studied features Vendry and an exclusive look at what we've achieved. I hope you enjoy and thank you to everyone for being a part of this journey: vendry.beehiiv.com/p/vendry

@LoganTGott Leads

500 leads from ONE post. Most executives waste hours creating content NOBODY wants. They guess what their audience needs instead of knowing what sells. The difference between 10 leads and 500 leads on LinkedIn? Creating lead magnets people actually want to consume. I've perfected the system for creating lead magnets that: → Generate dozens of high-quality leads per post → Convert passive followers into paying clients → Scale without constant DMs or cold outreach → Work while you sleep This exact strategy helped me generate $25,000 worth of booked calls (I know I hate when people talk about pipeline too lol but it’s true) from a single lead magnet post. I've documented the entire process in a simple 9-step playbook This is the same system I use for every lead magnet I create. Want the playbook? 1. Connect with me 2. Comment "LEADS" below I'll send it directly to your DMs when I get a chance

@LoganTGott Didn't receive anything

@growinggray Sent

The LinkedIn gold rush is here. It’s the biggest B2B opportunity since 2021 Twitter I know 100s of people that are booking 10+ calls a week and signing $10,000 deals from LinkedIn. It’s literally a hack if you simply know how to generate leads. For the last few months I’ve been trying and testing dozens of strategies. And I finally cracked the code. Our average client is booking 3-5+ calls EVERY week. This is by far the best platform I’ve found for signing whale clients. I’ve documented our entire LinkedIn content AND outbound strategy in a step-by-step guide. This strategy doesn’t just work for my clients or random people. I have: → Booked calls with $10M-$100M companies → Become an authority in the LinkedIn space → Built a nurture and conversion system All you have to do is just comment “GOLD” & I’ll send it your way in a few minutes. We MUST be connected so I can DM it to you!

@maxxmalist Prompt

i just generated this AI UGC ad in under 30 seconds if you’re still paying $300–$800 per video and calling it “marketing” and texting your UGC creator “can you redo this?” when it comes back suboptimal, you’re cooked that era is dead - ai is already coming for the UGC market they're just scared to admit it this isn’t about “authenticity” anymore, but about speed, margin, and output ai is faster, cheaper, and it converts the same (or better) when the structure is right like + rt + reply “prompt” and i’ll send you the prompt that i used to make this (must follow so i can dm)

@recap_david @recap_david are you still sharing the prompt?

I built this AI marketing agent to run my entire $100K media company... (and I’m nuts for open-sourcing it) 4 months of prompting and integrations to create an agent that replaced my entire content team How it works (the magic): → scrapes Reddit, HN, X, Google News → ships a Morning-Brew-style daily AI newsletter (10 k daily readers) → repurposes that content into viral Twitter threads (like this one), viral short form videos (for TikTok / IG), Reddit posts, and hooky LinkedIn updates → prints viral content that has generated millions of impressions → creates custom brand-aligned images for any unique piece of content all this is powered through voice commands with ElevenLabs + n8n integration (see video below) no manual content creation no team management overhead runs while I sleep Want the full system + setup guide? 1. Comment 'AGENT' below 2. Retweet 3. Follow me and I'll send it over (must be following so I can DM)

@CoryDobbin You're a legend

You can do literally anything you want in life. Anything is possible. Here's a long, sentimental, rambling story of my life that probably doesn't need to be shared but I'd like to: When I was a child, I was 'raised' by a single mom with substance abuse issues and multiple children from different fathers. We rarely had food (I'm not exaggerating). We regularly didn't have electricity. I changed school probably 10+ times and never lived in the same house for more than a year. I didn't make a real friend until I was ~12 years old. I spent my entire childhood and adolescence in fight or flight. I was neglected, abused, and had to figure out everything I know by myself. It made me a scared, angry, and anxious person. It also made me who I am today, and gave me perspective, so I am, in some weird way, thankful for it. Somehow, I made it to an old enough age to leave that house and go out on my own. Unfortunately, it didn't get better from there. When I was in my late teens and finally out on my own, my two best friends died in a freak accident. I spiraled. I was angry. I resented everything that happened to me and I turned it around on everyone else. For many, many years my mental health, physical health, and general well-being declined until I was nearly homeless. I was sleeping in a run down basement with a bunch of other people. In a cruel turn of events, despite knowing first hand how destructive it can be, I developed my own substance abuse issues to cope. From there, it just got worse. I couldn't find a job and was living on welfare and food stamps to survive. I was hospitalized at some point for driving myself too far down that road. I considered at a few points ending it all. I am so, so thankful I never did. It wasn't until this point that I decided I needed a change. I knew what I didn't want in life, and that was what life had been for me at this point. On a whim, I applied to marketing school in Toronto, 2 hours from where I was raised, and waited. I did really well in grade school despite rarely being there, so I met the baseline qualification. I was accepted, and I couldn't believe it. I grabbed the very few things I had that meant anything, caught a bus to Toronto, slept on someone's couch for a few months while I got situated, and changed my life. I quit drugs, I quit smoking, I dialed back drinking. I stopped talking to everyone who helped lead me down a dark path. I even cut off my family for a long time. I put my head down, and focused. I won't lie - it was really hard. My old mindset kicked in a few times, and I actually drop out of college twice. But refocusing I was able to get there in the end. I met my wife somewhere around this time and she has been the most significant, beautiful thing that ever happened to me in my life. I'm not kidding when I say that she has saved me multiple times. I never looked back. I loved the new person I was. Someone who wasn't burdened by the life they were born into. I had a say in who I wanted to be and I did it. And all it took was TRYING. It's really, really easy to give up. But if you take the time to try and understand where you want to go, you can envision the steps, and the impossible becomes possible. I fucking love what I do now. I love the people I've met through my career, helping businesses and owner grow, and learning new things every day. Marketing, for me, was my saving grace and I am so blessed and thankful to have found it. It gave me a new perspective, opportunity, and some of my best friends. For me, this is everything. My job, yes, but also my hobby and my passion. I will gladly do this shit until the day I die. So go get your ass out there. Do that thing. Because I know first hand that you can.

@MarketingMax Why aren't you sending them here: search.vendry.io/get-listed

At least 5 to 10 agencies hit me up every day saying they need more leads Having built three 7-figure agencies: I can tell you, you don’t have a lead gen problem… you have an offer & closing problem Getting leads is easy with a great offer

@Tina_Donati @getReactiv @SimpleBundles @Shopify @Tina_Donati - we have a few great brand side clients in MTL, happy to make intros!

Canadian commerce is thriving, and deserves its own spotlight. That's why I’m co-hosting my first dinner with @getReactiv, @SimpleBundles, and @Shopify (three of my favorite Canadian tech ❤️) On August 13 in Montreal, we're bringing folks together at Liverpool House, the iconic Joe Beef spot in Le Sud-Ouest. We’ll be joined by leaders from Browns, Psycho Bunny, Reitmans, Altitude Sports, Felix + Norton, House of Vitae, Hobbiesville, and more. If you’re building in this space and would like to join us at the table, send me a message :)

@kamilrextin Interesting, I shot you an email, would love to pick your brain on the whole intent vendor space as it's top of mind!

@growinggray They haven’t but if you drop your website they’ll pull a list of recommended topics. Seems pretty comprehensive !

⚡️ HubSpot quietly dropped a feature that changes the game for B2B marketers: Research Intent. If you’ve ever used Bombora, 6sense, or ZoomInfo intent, this will sound familiar. But here’s the kicker: HubSpot is now blending first-party and third-party intent into one native platform. Here’s why that’s huge: ✅ Third-party intent (aka off-site behaviour): HubSpot now detects when companies in your CRM are actively researching topics like “CyberSecurity” or “Payroll Software” on external content sites. No need for a separate vendor. ✅ First-party behaviour (aka your website): That intent data is matched to activity on your site. So if a target account is reading about frontline workforce software and just hits your pricing page? That’s a signal. ✅ CRM integration: You can filter intent by open opportunities, target accounts, lifecycle stage—even use it to prioritize outbound or trigger LinkedIn Ads. ✅ No more mystery: Combine with tools like Syft or Vector to get contact-level clarity. Now your reps know who is doing the research. This puts a ton of power into the hands of RevOps and Demand Gen teams: •RevOps → sets up the right triggers, scores, and views •Demand Gen → builds campaigns based on actual buyer interest, not guesswork HubSpot is becoming more than just a CRM,it’s becoming a GTM data platform. We’re already brainstorming how to use this across outbound, paid, and nurture campaigns. If you’re using HubSpot, this feature is worth exploring. Very bullish on this from a GTM Ops & GTM POV

@codyplof This is the biggest difference between B2C and B2B brands I've observed. B2B marketers tend to be much more in tune to customer insights as a result of the face to face interactions that come these products facilitate.

The biggest issue with DTC brands is we don't talk to our customers enough. We think everything can be solve with an AB test or a volume of creative testing. Both are important, but lets actually ask our customers and potential customers first.

@mkobach Would love to chat - we've helped 100's of SaaS brands find top performing agencies. Check out Vendry.io

Who are the good B2B SaaS marketing agencies these days? Primarily looking to uplevel our product marketing and creative design. Tag them below!

@oliviaakory Are you able to share the name of the consultant? Could be a nice partnership with our business Vendry.io

I met a consultant this week who coaches brands on how to be better partners to agencies. Great business. His quote was “if you’ve been divorced 6 times in 8 years, you should probably ask yourself if you’re the problem.” The speed with which brands (especially the big ones) are cycling through agencies is pretty wild. In reality they should treat this process as seriously as they would if they were hiring full time talent. Hard to believe that whatever it is you like about the new capabilities outweighs the wasted time, resources and productivity to ramp up a new agency every 1-2 years and do it effectively in a way where they will get all the context and nuance to be value add to your business.

@AaronJNosbisch @drinkbrez Sounds like you need a new agency -> vendry.io

Do you outsource your PR or have it internal? Have you found it’s actually a growth channel for you or more just validation? 🤔 @drinkbrez we work with an agency atm but haven’t seen a lot of growth from our efforts more so just validation

@kamilrextin You're much better off investing that into growing your own newsletter. That budget would net you 10k subscribers that you could market to with a much higher frequency and impact.

💸 I’ve spent $20–30K on newsletter sponsorships. Here is what I learned: Except for 1–2, it was a total miss. Low open rates. Weak content. And the “logo soup” they flaunt? It turns out most of those folks subscribed four years ago and haven’t opened an email since. It reminds me of Alan’s post about influencer marketing in B2B. Too many brands jump to “influencers” or “newsletter sponsorships” before they’ve mastered the basics—digital, OOH, and paid search/social. We’re chasing reach, not results. If your audience isn’t aware of your brand, borrowing someone else’s doesn’t guarantee they’ll care. And if the channel doesn’t convert, it’s just noise. Before you throw $7K at a creator or $10K at a newsletter: ✅ Ask for recent performance data (not vanity metrics) ✅ Validate whether your ICP is tuned in ✅ Consider if other channels offer more control, targeting, or insight I’m not saying these channels never work. But they should come after you’ve exhausted the ones that do.

@MarketingMax What are some good examples? Been struggling with this too.

IF YOU RUN AN AGENCY You need a reason to get someone on the phone that's not "an intro call" or a "get in touch call" or a "strategy call" ... wtf is that It can't be a "live audit" either YOU GOTTA give people a reason to spend their precious time with you Don't be lazy

@kristhejean Thanks for sharing Krista - I had a blast interviewing you. You are a natural and need to be doing WAY MORE of these :)

I’ve got to get more comfortable with this type of interview. But it just feels weird that it’s about me. vendry.beehiiv.com/p/krista?_bhli…

@kamilrextin Do you have a link to the article/podcast?

Traffic Arbitrage & 3P Intent Will Decline in the LLM Era G2, Capterra, and similar review platforms built their businesses on a powerful flywheel: ranking high in search, distributing badges to vendors, accumulating backlinks, improving rankings further, and driving more traffic. This traffic is then monetized through advertising, intent data (tracking which companies are researching specific categories), and buyer services. However, with the rise of LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, traffic landing on these sites will gradually diminish, putting their intent data business at risk. The "intent data" is collected on the back of traffic resolution. While intent data has always had questionable reliability, a recent conversation with Ross, G2's VP of Product, revealed their adaptation strategies: • Focusing on logged-in user experiences (linking user activity to individuals, similar to Chrome's model) • Generating referral traffic instead of relying on LLM-intercepted searches • Capturing "deeper research" traffic from users who need more detailed information than LLMs provide Much of the B2B conversation has centred on SEO impact, but I believe the fundamental business model of these comparison platforms may be at risk in the evolving landscape. It will be interesting to see how this space evolves with time, even though I've had strong views on the utility of these sites (most reviews are incentivized and not unbiased)

@holmisthename Send

This funnel is doing $70k+/month. Taking cold traffic from Meta ads and generating B2B sales for an agency offer. I recorded a video showing the entire funnel. Want it? Comment «Send» and I’ll DM

@therahulissar @jackie_startok @archittbatlaw You guys are big time!

Reach team got a booth with TikTok 🔥 If you're around at expo west come around and say hi!