How Founder Alex Boyd's LinkedIn Musing Turned Into $4.5M

Every sales team knows the struggle — your cold emails get ignored, your LinkedIn messages go unread, and traditional outreach feels like shouting into the void. But what if you could flip the script and have prospects come to you instead?

That's exactly what Alex Boyd did. By mastering social selling on LinkedIn, he built a revenue engine that generates over $4.5 million dollars — just from posting a few times a week. No cold calls, no aggressive pitching, just authentic engagement that turns connections into customers.

I'm Karli Stone, and this week's issue of Meet the World's Best Sellers reveals how a philosophy major turned his LinkedIn presence into a predictable pipeline machine. You'll learn what social selling really means, why it's becoming essential for modern sales teams, and the exact principles Alex uses to make $13,000 every time he hits "Post".

What is social selling?

Social selling isn't about sliding into DMs with a hard pitch. It's the modern way to build real relationships with potential customers on social media platforms like LinkedIn. Instead of cold calling, you're sharing valuable insights, engaging in relevant conversations, and establishing yourself as a credible expert. Think of it as warming up your prospects by building trust long before you ever ask for a meeting. It's a shift from broadcasting a sales message to starting a genuine dialogue.

Why social selling matters for revenue generation

So, why should you care? Because traditional outreach is getting noisier and less effective. Social selling cuts through that noise. By consistently showing up where your buyers are, you build brand awareness and establish the trust needed to turn followers into leads. It's not just about getting likes; it's about creating a predictable pipeline of prospects who already know, like, and trust you. When done right, like Alex's story shows, it becomes a powerful and reliable revenue engine for your business.

Philosophy major turned account executive

Alex is a self-proclaimed "weirdo poet who belongs in the forest".

In college, he envisioned himself becoming a philosophy professor, hedge fund manager, or symphony musician.

But a salesman? Never.

Freshly graduated, he unknowingly conducted his first cold-calling campaign, when he used the alumni database to search for people with 'finance' in their title. He compiled them into an Excel spreadsheet and picked up the phone in search of a job.

It landed him a single interview that catapulted him into sales.

In his first role at FXCM, he discovered a cornerstone of his social selling method — using his knowledge to establish credibility with buyers.

"I didn't really sell, I just talked about the subject matter," Alex says, "And people reasoned that the product must be pretty good because I knew what I was talking about and I was a representative of the product."

He engaged them in real discussions about what was going on in financial markets, sharing his views and expert opinion.

"I'd spend 5 to 10 minutes doing what I realize now is establishing credibility. I thought, if I'm going to ask people for money, I should at least engage them in a substantive discussion. And I still do it to this day."

He was building the foundations for what would become his multi-million dollar social selling playbook — and doing it almost by accident.

Alex notched Rep of the Month for six of the first 12 months he was at FXCM and eventually moved to inDinero, where his success snowballed.

He focused on the principles of selling, listening intently to customer problems and utilizing subject matter experts to get the specific information he needed.

"I learned it's important to know where the knowledge comes from and continually bug the people who do know what they're talking about."

He was selling a huge volume of mid-sized deals — $12k average contract value, and over 13 closed every month. A year and some change in, Alex had single-handedly closed an astonishing 183 deals.

He was honing in on a method for achieving repeated success, and he was hungry to share it.

Building something new with social selling

Alex left inDinero and started his B2B organic growth agency, RevenueZen, and suddenly became a sales leader, hiring manager, trainer, onboarder, and client manager.

"How does the science and art of communication lead to people making more enjoyable and larger purchasing decisions? That's how I got started with this," he says.

It was early on, but he was already creating buzz.

One of his bosses and mentors told him, "I love what you've been doing — they're talking about it in some of the boardrooms around Portland."

"Really? Me?," he thought.

"And there was this kernel of like, maybe I do know something worth sharing," he told Josh.

So, he started posting regularly in LinkedIn and Modern Sales Pros, one of the world's largest communities for go-to-market insights.

He didn't call it social selling at the time — but he quickly realized that if he shared his knowledge in his customers' communities, he would generate awareness.

One day he got an email: "I saw your post on LinkedIn. We should talk."

Something clicked in him.

Posting could make real money.

So he kept posting, and it kept working. RevenueZen grew and grew some more.

Over the last few years, Alex built a social selling empire that consistently brings in 34% of his business' revenue, totaling over $4.5M and $13,000 per post.

Using his core principles of selling, he's distilled his success into a social selling method that anyone can deploy to build pipeline.

And, according to Alex, you don't need viral posts, hundreds of thousands of followers, or a big fancy brand.

Here are the social selling principles Alex uses to make $13,000 a post.

Principle #1: Demonstrate credibility

Demonstrating credibility is more than a pompous show of knowledge.

Alex uses his LinkedIn as a sort of journal, documenting what he's learned from his company, his prospects, his mentors, his failures and triumphs. He uses Sarah Brazier, a Gong AE and social-selling expert, as an example of someone who's a seasoned pro at publicly documenting her process.

"When you learn new things, talk about them. Don't discount the value of what you know from your company and customers."

— Alex Boyd, Founder of RevenueZen

He adds, "And someone in your company is going to have the knowledge you want. It's your job to verbally beat it out of them until they can produce it for you — then grab those and run with them for dear life."

Principle #2: Highlight customer results

Social selling works when you're able to help people publicly, showing readers who you are and what you offer.

This sounds easier than it is.

Taking a generic case study, posting it to your LinkedIn account without any context, and expecting people to think anything better of you for it won't get you far.

"You need to learn to write a real story," Alex says.

The first way to do this is by providing specific, crispy numbers.

Increased SQLs by 25%. Slashed costs by 70%. Skyrocketed ARR by 65%. These are attention-grabbing numbers that actively prove your value.

Even better, try to include them with an image.

Every business has a way to show a customer result chart going up and to the right. Alex says, "Find it and publish it."

His second secret to highlight customer results? Leave something out.

Give them a blurry part of the photograph, a cliffhanger, a gap. Make readers have a burning question that they need answered from you.

"It creates this beautiful emotional reaction in them. Make them ask you for more details, then you get more conversations."

Here's an example of a recent post from Alex that peaked people's curiosity and generated over 51 comments and questions.

Principle #3: Slow down interactions

Social selling is not the equivalent of an email blast.

Rushing into the DMs of everyone who comments on your post and pitching to them without having any context doesn't create opportunities. Instead, it breaks their sense of psychological safety.

"It creates a moat around you as a seller that nobody wants to cross."

Instead, Alex social sells in no rush. He notices opportunities, carefully reads into interactions, and finds common interests.

He tells Josh, "I just sort of waft the food in front of them. I don't try to spear them."

If someone leaves a comment on a LinkedIn post, he'll leave a good impression with a simple response (he adds engagement is very undervalued in social selling). If someone likes three of his posts, he might go to their site, make notes about their SEO, and engage them with information that's relevant to them.

"Listen to your gut and when you get to that balance, you just sort of feel it."

Alex's patience, his utter commitment to the long game, brings new opportunities right to his door. Check out this interaction he had with a prospect who responded to a message from over 3 years ago:

If this all sounds good to you, but you'd like more information on how to put these principles in action, Alex has thought of that — in The Social Selling Course, he dives into these principles in depth.

Turn social selling into your revenue engine

Alex's story proves that social selling isn't about luck or going viral — it's a repeatable system for building trust and generating revenue. To build your own social selling engine, you need the right data to find your audience and the right tools to engage them effectively.

That's where Apollo comes in. Our platform gives you access to a massive B2B database so you can find your ideal customers, and our engagement suite helps you build the relationships that turn into deals. Start building your own pipeline today. Get Started.

Frequently asked questions about social selling

How do I start social selling as a beginner?

Start small and be consistent. Pick one social media platform where your customers are active, like LinkedIn. Optimize your profile to speak directly to your ideal buyer, then focus on sharing valuable content and engaging in relevant conversations. Don't try to be everywhere at once.

What are the three main components of social selling?

The three pillars are personal branding, strategic prospecting, and content sharing. A strong personal brand establishes your credibility. Strategic prospecting helps you find the right people to connect with. And consistent content sharing keeps you top-of-mind and demonstrates your expertise.

How much does social selling cost to implement?

The biggest investment is your time and consistency. You can start for free using the native features of platforms like LinkedIn. Paid tools can help you find prospects and manage outreach more efficiently, but they aren't required to get started.

How long does it take to see results from social selling?

Social selling is a long game. You might see increased engagement within a few weeks, but building a reliable pipeline of inbound leads can take several months of consistent effort. The goal is to build relationships, which don't happen overnight.

What's the biggest mistake people make with social selling?

Pitching too early. The most common mistake is treating social media like another cold email channel. You have to earn the right to sell by providing value first. Focus on helping and educating your audience, and the sales conversations will follow naturally.