Hi. Richard here.
Connecting and introducing people to other people has been my passion ever since I was a child.
Connecting people
Whether I was organizing events on the schoolyard, making new friends, or learning new languages, networking and establishing relationships has always been core to who I am. It’s no wonder that I ended up in this field!
Many people ask me how I ended up doing what I do today as an entrepreneur, a business owner, and a LinkedIn consultant. So — here’s a bit about my story, what motivates me, and what sets me and my incredible team apart from the competition.
Helping You Create
a Life You Love!
I went to school to study Commercial Economics and then spent a year studying International Business before I stumbled upon a temporary sales opportunity (just a holiday gig) at Adecco. Little did I know that I’d spend the next six years of my life — and first six of my career — moving up the corporate ladder, where I eventually led two offices and was selected to partake in their “high potential management” trainee program. Despite my successes, I respectfully declined the opportunity to continue working in that corporate environment because it just didn’t feel like the right career path for me. I’m not a suit and tie kind of guy, and the majority of my clients were blue-collar workers who I wanted to build authentic relationships with. It didn’t feel right, so I moved on.
My next opportunity was at an Agency where I immediately knew I wasn’t meant to be long-term. Their sales culture and style felt forced, disingenuous, and the opposite of who I wanted to be as a salesperson. Ultimately I departed to take some much needed time away from the hustle and bustle of sales to focus on myself. I took six months to do volunteer work in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, where I immersed myself in a completely new and exciting culture (and learned Swahili in 2 months). In this time I was able to refresh my mind and clarify my path forward.
Upon my return to the Netherlands, I joined a professional training agency where I locked in on what I wanted to do with my life. I transformed their way of doing business, established an effective sales department, and educated their trainers on how to sell their services from the heart. With passion, purpose, and determination, I left the agency in 2009 to found my own business, Just Connecting.
Why LinkedIn™️ Training and Consulting?
As someone who genuinely loves connecting people with other people, LinkedIn™️ has become my go-to resource for professional networking. I’ve been an active user on the platform since 2005 so I’ve watched LinkedIn™️ evolve from just a basic networking platform into the massive powerhouse that it’s become today. Over time, I noticed that so many of my connections (who are excellent at their respective jobs) weren’t representing themselves as well as they could online, and somebody needed to step up to help them make necessary improvements.
LinkedIn™️ , with the right positioning, branding, timing, etc., has become the ideal social network to leverage for marketing reps, salespeople, and others. It’s the perfect place to schedule more meetings with leads, convert more leads into customers, etc., and I know how to leverage it as a powerful tool and teach people how to use it.
I’ve spent years learning the ins and outs of LinkedIn™️’s algorithm, how to develop a social selling content strategy that generates authentic and meaningful conversations, and what it takes to build personal and company brand awareness on the platform. I teach people to bring a certain value-first attitude towards their content creation to ensure their social selling style is rooted in the fundamentals of listening, identifying and discovering pain, and engaging with the right people at the right time.
Because of my deep experience on the platform, I’ve always remained a step ahead when there are new developments, feature or product updates (introduction of Sales Navigator, for example), or upcoming changes that could impact the performance and engagement of content published to someone’s feed. No matter the challenge, I’m ready to provide my clients with guidance, training, and support to ensure their success.
That’s why, since founding my business in 2009:
- 250,000 people globally have participated in my training sessions (both online and offline)
- The HUB team has trained over 800,000 customers worldwide in 7 different languages
- We’ve worked with over 900 companies ranging from small businesses to global enterprises such as Capgemini, Nestle, InterSystems, Siemens, PwC and many others.
- I’ve served clients in almost 30 countries around the world (including the US, Canada, South Africa, UAE, Australia, India, and most of Europe)
- Have been recognized by LinkedIn™️ as a featured live event speaker and published author
- I’ve become one of the most read LinkedIn™️ experts on the platform with over 10MM views in 2022
Looking back on it, getting into the training and consulting business made perfect sense. I spend my days connecting people with others, growing my own business through social selling and interacting with incredible professionals from around the world, and I’ve made a big difference at both the individual and corporate level.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to see my business grow outside of just training and consulting. With the creation of THE TRIBE — A LinkedIn™️ Community and my Keynote Speaking opportunities, I’m able to introduce the concepts of social selling in new and exciting ways.
Regardless of how you ended up on this site or envision us collaborating, I’m genuinely excited to get the conversation started. Reach out today or continue reading to learn more about how we can work together.