Our Story · Since 2012
From a Pretzel Box to a $10M Agency.
How a folding card table, one client, and a theory about LinkedIn turned into a Done For You lead generation agency that's helped thousands of consultants, business owners, and franchise professionals fill their pipeline.
Chapter one
It Started With a Pretzel Box.
Back in November 2012, I (John Nemo) quit a safe, six-figure day job to go out on my own and start Nemo Media Group.
I had no savings to speak of, one client, and enough money for 30 days. I also had my wife and our three boys under the age of 10 at home to support.
My first "office" was in the corner of our bedroom - a wobbly folding card table and an empty box of Super Pretzels to perch my computer on.
(Important note: The power of Soft Pretzels remains undefeated.)
The Riches Are in the Niches.
I was out on my own, but I had a plan - leveraging LinkedIn to generate leads for my new business.
Since my one (and only!) client at the time was a debt collector, I decided to test a long-time marketing axiom: The riches are in the niches.
I changed my LinkedIn profile headline from "CEO | Nemo Media Group" to "Debt Collection Agency Marketing Services." I rewrote my profile to be 100% client-facing. Then I used LinkedIn's built-in search filters to make lists of debt collection agency owners I could reach out to.
I reached out with 1-on-1 LinkedIn messages that were niched to the key pain points debt collection agency owners face - and offered to help solve them.
The Result?
The lesson? LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for lead generation when used correctly. It's all about niching down, creating a client-facing profile, and reaching out with personalized, value-driven messages that demonstrate your expertise.
I had a business model. I bought more soft pretzels to celebrate.
Built Around My Life. Not the Other Way Around.
Along the way, I built my work around my life - not the other way around. My boys are grown now, and I wouldn't trade the years I had being home with them for anything.
Bottom line: If a lifelong hockey fanatic who dresses like this on client Zoom calls can close more than $10M in new business from the world's most "professional" social network, imagine what we can do for you.
And when I show up as myself - hockey gear, horn hat and all - I'm demonstrating the product. Because your marketing should give you permission to be yourself on LinkedIn.
The Method Worked. Then It Worked Too Well.
Turns out, when you prove you can generate 6 figures in new business from LinkedIn in 90 days, people want you to do it for them.
Consultants, franchise professionals, business owners - they all had the same problem. LinkedIn had massive potential, but they didn't have the time, the system, or the desire to figure it out themselves.
So I started doing it for them. One client at a time, I ran the exact same playbook: Niche the profile, build targeted prospect lists, write personalized outreach that speaks to real pain points, and follow up with content that earns trust before ever asking for a meeting.
It worked. Over and over.
And then I hit a wall.
There are only so many hours in a day. I was writing every message, managing every campaign, closing every deal, and handling every client relationship. The methodology was proven. But one person couldn't scale it without cutting corners - and cutting corners is how agencies turn LinkedIn into spam.
So instead of growing by doing less for each client, I built a team that could do more.
Then I Tore It Down and Rebuilt It.
For years the only way to scale this was headcount. More clients meant more project managers, more copywriters, more designers, more meetings, more layers.
In 2026 I rebuilt the whole thing. Every framework I've developed since 2012 now lives inside a system I built myself - a brain trained on fifteen years of doing this, then trained again on you specifically. The production work that used to take a room full of specialists runs through that system now.
What's left is a small, senior, U.S.-based team whose entire job is judgment: A Client Success Manager who knows your accounts and lives in your inbox, a VP of Client Success who runs delivery end to end, and me. Nobody junior is learning your industry on your dime.
I still talk to every prospect personally before they come on. Fit still matters more than revenue.
Ready To Fill Your Pipeline?
John Nemo · Founder, LinkedIn Riches