Episode Description
One LinkedIn post. Almost 400,000 impressions. Aaron Nichols has earned 1.8 million impressions on LinkedIn in one year, and he did it by breaking every rule the clean energy industry follows. His message is blunt: solar companies insist on being boring, and they are losing the public conversation because of it. In this episode, host Tim Montague sits down with Aaron Nichols to break down four storytelling rules that solar professionals need to win attention, build trust, and drive business on LinkedIn.
Aaron Nichols serves as Research and Policy Specialist at Exact Solar, a regional solar installer based in Pennsylvania. He also hosts This Week in Solar, a news and interview podcast covering the solar industry. His article, "Four Rules of Storytelling That Corporate America Desperately Needs," outlines the framework discussed in this episode.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- Aaron earned 1.8 million LinkedIn impressions in a single year, including one post that reached nearly 400,000 people. His approach: lead with emotion, not data. Personal stories and humor drove the strongest results, outperforming technical content by wide margins.
- Aaron outlines four rules of storytelling for solar and clean energy professionals. Rule one: tell one story at a time. Rule two: make people care before making your case. Rule three: if it's complicated, you haven't finished thinking. Rule four: Put a face on it by using personal LinkedIn pages instead of company pages.
- Solar professionals do not need to wait for conferences to build relationships and generate business. Aaron used LinkedIn to launch a podcast, organize local events with crowds of 40 to 70 people, build industry relationships, and create direct revenue opportunities for a small regional installer.
With rising energy bills putting electricity in the news daily and federal policy headwinds challenging the industry, the ability to tell compelling stories and build trust on platforms like LinkedIn has never mattered more.
Connect with Aaron Nichols
"Making Numbers Count" by Chip Heath and Carla Starr
Connect with Tim
Clean Power Hour
Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
Tim on LinkedIn
Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts
The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/
The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com