In this episode, I sit down with Chris Donnelly to break down how he built a $10M-a-year business with no sales team and no paid ads—powered entirely by content and personal brand.
We dive into how Chris grew from 0 to 1M+ LinkedIn followers in two years, his system for publishing high-quality content at scale, and why creating more volume (not perfection) can unlock massive growth.
Chris also shares his approach to building a lean team, running high-ticket cohorts, and leveraging attention into stable, long-term income.
If you’ve been waiting to go all in on your personal brand, this episode shows you what’s possible.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:20 How Chris grew to 1M+ LinkedIn followers in 2 years
06:16 Choosing LinkedIn over Instagram and YouTube
10:35 The early experiments that validated his model
14:45 Selling his first agency and starting again
19:34 Building an audience without spending on ads
24:26 The structure behind his cohort business model
28:07 Why personal brand leads to better business opportunities
33:37 The content formats LinkedIn prioritizes today
38:12 How Chris structures his content team and systems
43:26 Lessons from growing a $10M business with no sales team
50:02 Advice for creators and entrepreneurs going pro
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave a review. I read every single one.
Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show
Follow Nathan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow
Website: https://nathanbarry.com
Follow Chris:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnellychris
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisdonnellyofficial
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisdonnellyofficial
Wake Up With Chris (Podcast): https://open.spotify.com/show/4sFHI1CMPuKWa1brhhY9RB
Featured in this episode:
Wake Up With Chris: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisdonnelly
