Eric Gall, Founder
Companies: Edison Business Advisors
Websites: edisonba.com
Industry: Capital Markets
Stage: Established
Founded: 2014
Eric Gall has been buying and selling businesses for over twenty years. He started his career in process re-engineering at Ford Motor Company, spent years working with automotive groups, and eventually transitioned into mergers and acquisitions. When he moved to Florida, he began working with a large business brokerage firm, where he ran their Southwest Florida Office. But he found himself creating more content for their brand than he was learning from them. So in 2014, he went out on his own.
What to Expect
This is a story about a founder who started using content before he fully understood what it could do for his business. It is a reflection on how one person’s thinking about content evolved over time and what that shift meant for his company.
When you read this story, you will learn:
- When content became a priority for Eric Gall and why it happened at that particular moment.
- What friction founders typically experience when they try to create content for their businesses.
- How content affects brand perception and credibility when it is consistent and authentic.
- How the lessons Eric learned can apply to other founders who are still figuring out their own approach.
The Early View on Content
When Eric launched his company, he viewed content primarily as a lead-generation tool. He was posting on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (now X) three times a day, every day, alongside writing blog posts and sharing them across platforms. Everything was designed to drive traffic back to his website. He measured success by website hits and URL clicks. He saw content as a way to fill the pipeline with potential clients.
At that stage, he wasn’t thinking about founder brand content or long-term credibility. Content was simply another marketing activity that, if done consistently enough, would hopefully generate more leads.
The Friction Founders Face with Content
Then he ran into a problem that will sound familiar to many founders.
He knew he should create content, but he just wasn’t sure what was worth saying. He tried to “do content,” but it felt forced.
Like many owners, he experimented with outsourcing his marketing to people who claimed they could generate leads. None of it worked. The time and money he spent on those efforts could have been better spent networking and meeting people in person.
He also tried drafting content with AI. However, he realized he had to rewrite about 70% of the material to make it sound like himself. AI could help him organize his ideas, but it couldn’t replace the perspective and personality that readers connected with.
For him, content was becoming a chore instead of something that reflected who he was.
When Content Started to Matter
Then something shifted.
He posted a personal story about his early days in the industry, about struggling with cash flow and eating mac and cheese and hot dogs because he did not know when the next deal would come.
The post generated over forty thousand views. It resulted in dozens of connection requests and emails from business owners who related to his experience. Some wanted advice. Others wanted help buying or selling a business. He was surprised by the volume of responses.
He had not expected a story to generate that much engagement.
The Turning Point
That moment changed how he thought about content.
He realized that content was more than a marketing channel. It was also a way to show people who he was before they ever met with him.
When a potential client read his story or saw his posts, they already understood where he came from and what he stood for. The first conversation was not about building trust from scratch. It was about deepening a relationship that had already started.
Content was no longer just about traffic. It became part of how people decided whether they trusted him.
How Content Changed the Business
That realization influenced more than Eric’s online presence.
Centers of influence (CPAs, financial planners, wealth managers, bankers, and business attorneys) became his primary referral source. He invested time in building relationships with professionals who worked with business owners. He sat down with them, talked about his firm, listened to their concerns, and showed them how they could work together.
Content supported those conversations and made them easier. When a CPA introduced Eric to a client, that client had already seen his posts, read his articles, and developed a sense of who he was before the meeting even started.
One deal reinforced how credibility and content work together.
A seller came to him with a partner. They had received an unsolicited offer of $4.7 million for their business. One partner wanted to accept, but the other wanted a second opinion. Their CPA, who had a referral relationship with Eric, suggested they talk to him before making a decision.
Eric reviewed the numbers, evaluated the business, and told them he thought the offer was too low. He prepared the business for sale and positioned it to attract stronger offers. Two months later, he had an offer in hand for $7.4 million.
Stories like that became part of his narrative. They weren’t sales pitches. They helped other prospects understand the value of hiring an experienced advisor who understands the market, valuations, and deal structure.
Eric’s perspective on content has continued to evolve. He still posts regularly, but he is more intentional about what he shares. He focuses on business-related stories that provide value to other owners. He writes about deals he has done, lessons learned, and advice he would give to someone considering selling or buying a business. Over time, he learned that great content isn’t about sounding polished. It’s about sharing your experience in a way that helps people and gives them confidence in who you are.
The Lesson for Other Founders
For other founders, the lesson is simple.
Stop thinking about content as a marketing task. Start thinking of it as a way to show people who you are before the first conversation.
If Eric could go back and give his younger self one piece of advice, it wouldn’t be to post more often.
It would be: “Stop hiding behind the business and tell people who you are. Let them hear your voice”.
Closing
Looking back, Eric believes the biggest change wasn’t learning how to create better content. It was realizing what content was actually meant to do.
People build relationships with people they trust, not logos.
For Eric, content became the bridge between the work he had already done and the relationships he wanted to build. Once he stopped trying to sound like a brand and started sounding like himself, everything else became easier.