Season 7 | Ep29 - Oscar Orellana-Hyder on his journey from a sceptic of LinkedIn personal branding to doubling his billings and building a successful recruitment agency in the UAE.

On this week's show, Oscar Orellana-Hyder, the Founder of Cordell Partners, shares his journey from being a sceptic of personal branding on LinkedIn to building a successful recruitment agency in the UAE.I’ve worked with Oscar since 2021. He was a Hoxo client whilst working for Robert Walters.He went from someone who thought that using LinkedIn was complete nonsense and was billing £350k per year using only traditional methods, to doubling this within 12 months! All through 100% inbound business, generated via his LinkedIn personal brand.In late 2023, he decided that he finally had the skills and the confidence to launch his own agency. And his personal brand is still generating business all over the region.   If you're really interested in finding out how a personal brand on LinkedIn can actually pay dividends in terms of revenue, you've got to listen to this episode.TakeawaysPersonal branding on LinkedIn can have a significant impact on revenue and business growth – when done rightLiving and working in the UAE and how the region values family The value of niche recruitment markets and how to build deeper client relationships with key decision-makersFocusing on quality over quantity in the mission to build a reputable and ethical recruitment agency The realities of building a business from nothing in the UAE, how to navigate administrative challenges, and cultivating a strong network of local partners Finding self-sufficient people to help grow your teamLearning and connecting as part of a communityEmbracing change in dynamic and transient regionsChapters00:00 Introduction to The RAG Podcast and Cordell Partners01:28 Oscar's transformation and launching Cordell Partners02:52 The name and vision of Cordell Partners03:49 The importance of family in the UAE05:41 The influence of family ethics in business07:34 The niche market of investment recruitment09:59 Transitioning from corporate recruitment to niche market11:24 The decision to move to Dubai13:20 The impact of personal branding on revenue16:14 Joining Robert Walters and focusing on Abu Dhabi19:57 The impact of The RAG Podcast and LinkedIn26:14 The catalyst for starting Cordell Partners38:11 Setting up Cordell Partners and the vision for the future45:15 Building businesses from nothing45:42 Growing the team46:41 Finding self-sufficient people47:11 Value of being part of a community48:08 Future plans and retirement49:35 Expanding to other regions50:05 Identity and accents in the region51:01 Embracing change and transient nature51:28 Infrastructure challenges52:25 Living in a transient place53:19 Future business goals54:16 Importance of commitment to the region55:37 Exploring other countries in the region56:04 Openness to answering questions and helping others56:56 Sponsor message: Hoxo__________________________________________Hoxo MessageReady to find 25+ warm leads within 7 days on LinkedIn?As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.This method is super time-consuming and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.But it can be different...If you follow the process in this document you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do