Ghalib Hassam

Account Manager @ Kurogo | We create thought leaders through personal branding

I’m the Head of Content at Darkroom.

My job is helping the people inside the company share what they already know without turning it into performative content or forcing anyone into a creator box.

I’m building an internal thought-leadership motion across LinkedIn, X, Substack, and TikTok by putting structure around good thinking and making it easier to create content consistently.

Before this role, I spent a few years deep in LinkedIn, working closely with founders and operators, asking a lot of questions, and turning long conversations into clear, useful content.

What I noticed pretty quickly was that the people with the most insight are usually the least interested in posting. They don’t lack ideas. They lack time, systems, and a clean way to translate what’s already in their heads.

I come from an engineering background (master’s in engineering), which probably explains how I think about content.

At Darkroom, that shows up as helping leaders find their real point of view and designing content systems that work across platforms.

I’m especially interested in founder-led and expert-led content, and in building internal content engines that feel sustainable.

Always up for a coffee chat. Feel free to hit me up.

Personal Brand Manager.

Today is my birthday. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this… LinkedIn DMs turn into a sociology experiment on this day.

There are levels to the birthday DMs.

Level 1: The Annual Visitor.

One message every year, like clockwork.

No conversation before or after... you've got to admire the consistency.

Level 2: The Wired-to-Sell Professional.

“Happy Birthday!” and somehow their website, their services, and maybe a Calendly link makes its way into the DM.

I don't think it's intentional, it’s just instinct at this point.

Level 3: The Long-Lost Friend.

Haven’t spoken in years, but the message reads like we built a startup together.

And then…

The small percentage of people you’ve actually had conversations with.

I’ve probably been Level 1 in someone else’s inbox too.

LinkedIn birthdays are funny.

Since joining Darkroom, one thing I didn’t expect to enjoy this much is how often marketing talks to sales.

We’re in touch almost every single day.

Marketing only exists for one reason: revenue.

You can call it brand or storytelling, but at the end of the day, the job is to create enough attention and clarity that sales has an easier time closing.

Being this close to revenue conversations makes the work better and far more enjoyable.

The only right answer to OpenAI’s $110bn funding round

Get More Bu$ine$$, Authority and Engagement on your $ales & News letters as an Expert. Direct Response Marketer & Copywriter

You know your expertise could transform your clients' lives.But LinkedIn feels like shouting into a void.You post. You get 12 likes — half from family. Meanwhile, coaches with half your experience are building audiences, getting inbound leads, and landing speaking gigs.You've tried fixing it:→ Hired a VA who made you sound like a 22-year-old marketing intern→ Bought courses that sit unopened in your inbox→ Posted "authentically" only to hear crickets→ Spent hours writing posts that took 3 minutes to ignoreThe problem isn't your expertise. It's that no one's built a system to translate YOUR voice into content that actually converts.That's what I do.I'm a creative strategist who built something different: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹.Before I write a single word, I build three things:𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 — First, I decode your voice across 30+ dimensions (sentence structure, emotional tone, authority positioning, signature patterns). Then I build a custom AI writing system trained specifically on YOUR voice—with precision controls to fine-tune warmth, energy, humor, directness, and more.Not templates. Not approximation. Your voice, engineered.𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽 — I build the complete psychological architecture of your ideal client. Their fears. Their midnight thoughts. The exact moment they're ready to buy.So every post speaks directly to what's already running through their head.𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Every hook is engineered to hit the exact believability level that stops the scroll and drives action. Not too safe. Not too wild.The precise point where curiosity becomes "I need to reach out."Then — and only then — do I write.𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁?I helped Robb Fahrion (CEO, Flying V Group) grow from 15K to 21K followers with millions of impressions. His CMO Michelle Williams said: "Victor captures not just WHAT we want to say, but HOW we naturally say it."𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿:Business and executive coaches doing $15K+/month who know LinkedIn works but hate creating content.𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁:→ Complete Voice Clone Engine build→ Full Buyer Psychology Map→ 12-16 posts monthly in YOUR voice→ Strategic commenting system → Monthly optimization based on performanceYour time investment: 60 minutes per month. That's it.You coach. I handle visibility.𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽: DM me "PROTOCOL" and I'll run a free Voice Analysis on your content—so you can see how this works before we talk.

Victor Odey

You're not overthinking LinkedIn

You're underthinking how to capture the way you already communicate.

"My Brain Just Isn't Wired for LinkedIn"

The excuse you tell yourself while watching less qualified coaches build their businesses. 

You're a deep thinker.

You analyze. You strategize. You solve complex problems for clients.

But LinkedIn feels like a different language.

All those quick posts... snappy one-liners... bite-sized insights...

That's not how your brain works.

So you convince yourself it's a binary choice:

Either be a "real" expert... or be a content creator.

You can't be both.

Except... that's complete made-up.

The coaches dominating LinkedIn aren't choosing between depth and social media.

They figured out how to translate their deep thinking into digestible content.

But here's where you've been going wrong:

You try to "dumb down" your expertise for social media.

You attempt to compress years of experience into trendy formats.

You force your complex insights into templates designed for surface-level content.

Of course it feels unnatural.

You're trying to become someone you're not.

What if the problem isn't your brain...

But your approach?

What if instead of changing HOW you think...

You learned to capture how you naturally communicate your thinking?

The way you break down complex concepts for clients already works.

Your 1-on-1 conversations convert because you naturally make the complicated feel simple.

Your expertise shines when you explain things in your natural rhythm.

But the moment you try to "create content..." you throw all that away.

There's actually a way to reverse-engineer your natural communication patterns.

The specific ways you build understanding.

How you transition between ideas.

The rhythm you use to make complex topics accessible.

Then systematically apply those patterns to every piece of content.

You're not learning to think differently.

You're learning to capture how you already think... in a way that translates online.

Your deep thinking becomes your competitive advantage.

Not something you have to hide or water down.

The best content creators aren't surface-level thinkers.

They're deep thinkers who figured out how to make their depth accessible.

Happy Friday :)


P.S. What would change if your natural way of explaining things could work as well online as it does in person?

P.P.S. How much of your best expertise stays locked in 1-on-1 conversations because you think it's "too complex" for social media?

I map the entire emotional universe of your buyer — then build cold traffic campaigns around the angles your competitors can’t see | DTC Creative Strategist | Health/Wellness & Supplements Brands.

You feel like an imposter because you ARE improvising.

Once you see the mechanics of your own voice, that feeling evaporates.

Have you ever told yourself this?

If my content just blew up…

If one post went viral…

If the numbers finally proved I'm good enough…

Then this imposter syndrome would disappear.

I get it.

Those little red hearts would finally prove you're not a fraud. Comments flooding in would validate that your expertise is real.

All that self-doubt would evaporate with enough external applause.

But here's what nobody talks about...

The coaches with millions of followers still wake up some mornings feeling like imposters.

The viral posts that took off? Half the time they have no idea WHY they worked.

So when they try to recreate that magic...

Crickets.

And the impostor syndrome comes roaring back. Even louder than before.

Because now you've tasted validation... and lost it.

Here's the real problem...

You're trying to cure an internal issue with external metrics.

But what if the real solution isn't getting more eyeballs on your content?

What if it's understanding exactly WHY your content works when it works?

Most coaches write by instinct.

They throw words at the wall and hope something sticks.

When it hits... they celebrate but can't explain it. When it flops... they spiral and blame the algorithm.

No wonder you feel like an impostor.

You're operating without a roadmap.

But what if you could see exactly what makes your voice work?

Not just "I write how I write..."

But the precise elements that create connection.

How your authority stance shifts between peer and expert. Why certain psychological triggers land with your audience.

The way your vulnerability creates trust without undermining credibility.

Your natural rhythm patterns that keep people reading.

When you can see those mechanics...

When you understand your own instrument...

The impostor syndrome starts to fade.

Not because strangers validated you online.

But because you KNOW what you're doing.

You're not hoping your next post hits. You're engineering it to connect.

That's what happens when you stop writing blindly and start writing consciously.

When you understand the 25+ elements that make your voice actually work.

Suddenly you're not an impostor anymore.

You're a craftsman who knows their tools.

Happy Monday :)


P.S. What would change for you if you could replicate your best content on command instead of hoping lightning strikes twice?

P.P.S. Is the fear of being found out worse than the fear of never being seen at all?

Your best client conversations don't follow a script.

Why are you forcing your content into one?

3:47 AM Google Search: "LinkedIn viral post templates copy paste"

That midnight desperation hits different, doesn't it?

You're exhausted from trying to "crack the code" of LinkedIn. Scrolling through endless "viral" posts... wondering what the hell everyone else knows that you don't.

So you search for shortcuts.

Templates that promise to make content creation "easy." Copy-paste formulas that supposedly guarantee engagement.

And deep down... you know this isn't sustainable.

Because here's what those 3:47 AM searches really reveal:

You're tired of pretending to be someone else online.

You're burned out from manufacturing a "LinkedIn voice" that feels nothing like how you actually communicate with clients.

You're frustrated because your real expertise - the stuff that transforms lives in your coaching sessions - gets lost in generic templates.

Those "viral post formulas" aren't helping you.

They're making you invisible.

Every template you copy makes you sound like every other coach using the same template. Every "proven structure" you follow moves you further from what makes you unique.

The coaches who actually stand out on LinkedIn?

They're not using templates.

They captured what makes their communication distinctive. Then they figured out how to replicate that across every piece of content.

No more guessing what "works."

No more late-night searches for magic formulas. No more copy-pasting other people's personalities.

The Voice Clone Protocol reverse-engineers YOUR natural communication patterns.

How you build trust. How you share insights. How you connect without being salesy.

It maps the way YOU actually talk to clients... then gives you a systematic way to bring that voice online.

You're not learning someone else's system.

You're uncovering patterns you already use... just in a way that can be replicated.

Your expertise stays intact. Your insights don't change.

But now you can communicate consistently without borrowing someone else's playbook.

Those 3:47 AM template searches become unnecessary.

Because you finally have your own system.

Happy Tuesday :) 


P.S. What would change if you never had to search for "viral templates" again because you understood your own communication patterns?

P.P.S. How much of your real expertise gets buried when you're trying to sound like everyone else on LinkedIn?

What I have been up to lately...

Two words.

"Creative strategy"

There is huge demand for this right now and just went through a 4 day INTENSIVE workshop by two 9-figure copywriters/marketers on how to dive into this path.

Think everything from ads, advertorials, upsells, listicles, static and video ads, caveman pages, top 5 pages, PDPs, checkout pages and everything funnel.

As you can imagine...

All this takes work and I'm glad I can think more now with these projects.

We get paid to FEEL and use our judgement to the letter now. 

The voice clone protocol will just be a side thing I'll probably show to my potential clients if they want systems for content but creative strategy will be my main focus.

It's a tough challenge.

Markets are shifting.

Compliance is not a joke.

Pressing pain points in a generic level won't cut it anymore. Market segments is a REAL thing.

Concepts are huge.

Angles are non-negotiable.

Styles are imperative.

Hooks make or break the ad.

From now on I'll always think C.A.S.H.

I will target the Health and Wellness niche.

It's very saturated but I was taught the KEY to beating SATURATION is DIFFERENTIATION.

I'm about to go on an adventure of a lifetime.

Oh and btw, I learnt how to USE AI to speed up the whole process too.

AI is the internet of 1994. To ignore it in ANY area is ignorance on steroids.

So that's the latest on my end.

Working on my new banner and the likes. Plus I will be breaking down my thought processes of some ads I feel strike a cord.

Happy Thursday everyone :)

P.S. Why is almost everyone here on LinkedIn using AI and bashing it at the same? time?

𝟗𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭…

Here's what usually happens

A coach will jump on a call with a prospect.

Opening line: "Tell me about your biggest business challenges..."

MISTAKE. Massive one.

Because this prospect? They've been through 4 other coaching programs. They've read 26 business books. They know more industry jargon than most coaches.

But a LOT of coaches are treating them like a Stage 1 beginner...

While pitching basic solutions to someone with Stage 4 sophistication.

Game over before it started.

Here's the uncomfortable truth...

Most coaches lose sales because they can't read prospect psychology.

They pitch time management to someone whose real problem is decision paralysis.

They offer accountability to someone who needs strategy. They create urgency with prospects who are naturally slow processors.

It's like speaking Spanish to someone who only understands Mandarin...

And wondering why they're not buying.

The coaches who consistently convert 70%+ of their calls?

They read psychology like most people read text messages.

Before they say ANYTHING...

They know exactly where their prospect sits on the sophistication spectrum. What their resistance patterns are. Which psychological buttons to push (and which ones to avoid). How their brain processes decisions.

That's why I built something different...

The Voice Clone Protocol doesn't just capture your communication style.

It comes loaded with 30 custom AI systems as BONUSES that read prospect psychology better than most coaches read demographics.

Systems that predict objections 3 conversations before they happen. That identify trust-building psychology and accelerate it from months to weeks. That find authentic urgency hiding in every prospect's situation.

Because here's what nobody talks about...

Psychology beats technique every damn time.

You can have the perfect script, the ideal pricing, the best case studies...

But if you're speaking to the wrong psychological layer...

You're just noise.

The Voice Clone Protocol changes that.

If you're ready to stop guessing what your prospects need to hear, DM "Protocol" let's chat.

Happy Wednesday :) 


P.S. What's the most frustrating part about sales calls for you - the uncertainty before they start or watching them fall apart in real time?

P.P.S. How many prospects have you lost because you couldn't figure out what was really going on in their head?

10 things I am learning now to understand a buyer at a deeper level

5 is my favorite


- Core wound
- Pain Matrix
- Resonance hierarchy 
- Rhetorical frames (for hooks)
- Epiphany threshold
- Resonance hierarchy constraints
- Copy blocks
- PIG stories (Punch in the Gut)
- Benefit matrix
- Market resonance

I like Epiphany Threshold because it gives me touch points on things to say that will push my buyer towards the edge of believability. 

You can take shortcut here.

It's either you know WHO you're talking to or NOT.

No guessing work here.

It's been fun this past weeks.

Happy Monday.

When people scroll past your ad in 0.2 seconds

Meta notices

I scrolled through Meta ads yesterday...

And counted the EXACT same hooks 17 times.

No joke.

Here's the 7 overused supplement hooks killing your conversions:

1) "Sick and tired of being sick and tired?"

Translation: "We have zero creativity."

2) "Doctors don't want you to know this..."

Because apparently all doctors are part of some conspiracy.

3) "If you're over 40, read this immediately"

Age-gating worked in 2019. Now it's white noise.

4) "This weird trick melts belly fat"

Weird how it's always a "trick" and never just... good marketing.

5) "Big Pharma doesn't want you to see this"

Same energy as "one weird trick" but with more paranoia.

6) "Harvard study reveals..."

Plot twist: It's usually a study on 12 people. From 1987.

7) "What if I told you..."

What if I told you this hook died with Matrix memes?

Here's why these don't work anymore:

Your audience has hook fatigue. They've seen these 1,000 times. Their brains literally filter them out now.

It's like banner blindness... but for your entire ad.

The algorithms notice this too.

When people scroll past your ad in 0.2 seconds... Facebook thinks your ad sucks. So it shows it to fewer people.

Which means you pay MORE for each click. And get worse results.

It's a death spiral that starts with a boring hook.

Meanwhile...

The brands actually making money right now? They're talking about sleep quality instead of "energy." Joint comfort instead of "pain relief." Mental clarity instead of "brain fog."

Same benefits. Different language.

Language that doesn't trigger the "ad filter" in people's brains.

Your prospects aren't stupid. They know when you're recycling the same garbage everyone else uses.

Treat them like humans having real problems. Not walking wallets who respond to psychological triggers.

P.S. The brands winning right now? They sound nothing like supplement brands. They sound like friends giving advice.

P.P.S. What's the most overused hook you've seen lately that makes you instantly scroll past?

The "Scroll-Stopping Thought Test" I use for every ad I write

It's subtle but powerful 

Last week I'm mindlessly scrolling Facebook…

(Like you're doing right now on LinkedIn...)

When this ad made me literally SAY OUT LOUD:

"Wait... how the HELL do they know that about me?"

And that's when it hit me.

Most ads suck because they're talking to EVERYONE.

Instead of talking to the ONE person who needs to hear it most.

Here's my test:

If your ad doesn't make your ideal prospect think "Holy shit, they're reading my mind..."

You haven't mapped the buyer deeply enough.

Most marketers think they know their audience because they can rattle off demographics.

"35-year-old entrepreneurs making 6 figures..."

Cool story, bro.

That's not buyer mapping. Think of it as census data.

Real buyer mapping sounds like this:

"You wake up at 3:15 AM thinking about payroll... again. The money's there, but it feels like you're one bad month away from having to lay people off. Your business partner keeps talking about 'scaling' but you're secretly wondering if you bit off more than you can chew."

See the difference?

One makes them nod along.

The other makes them lean in and whisper "How did you get inside my head?"

Here's the thing most copywriters and creative strategists miss...

The best ads don't just describe what someone DOES.

They describe what someone THINKS about at 2 AM when they can't sleep.

The conversation they had with their spouse last Tuesday.

The lie they tell themselves every morning in the mirror.

That requires you to go DEEP.

Not just "what do they want?"

But "what are they afraid to admit they want?"

"What would they be embarrassed if their friends found out?"

"What excuse do they make to justify NOT taking action?"

When you nail THAT level of specificity...

Your ads stop being ads.

They become mirror reflections.

And nobody can scroll past their own reflection.

So next time you write copy, ask yourself:

"Would my ideal prospect screenshot this and send it to their friend saying 'This is literally me?'"

If the answer is no...

Keep digging.

Because generic gets ignored.

But specific gets NOTICED.

And noticed gets PAID.

P.S. What's the most "mind-reading" ad you've ever seen? Drop it in the comments.

What I discovered after dissecting this supplement ad

This is a thorough ad breakdown in supplement advertising for women over 40. Not because it's perfect. Because it demonstrates how to navigate one of 

Open article: Full Breakdown of BB Company's Radiancy Meta Ad. What Actually Worked and How I'd Improve it. by Victor Odey • 15 min read

Full Breakdown of BB Company's Radiancy Meta Ad. What Actually Worked and How I'd Improve it.

The awareness levels a lot of DTC brands completely ignore

Most DTC founders are throwing money at Facebook...

Complaining about rising ad costs...

While completely missing 80% of their market.

Here's the thing...

Almost every brand I see is ONLY targeting two types of people:

Problem Aware (people who know they have the issue)

Solution Aware (people actively shopping for fixes)

Which means they're fighting over the SAME tiny slice of prospects...

With every other brand in their space.

No wonder CPMs are through the roof.

But here's what's wild...

They're completely ignoring the BIGGEST opportunities:

The Unaware Audience

These people don't even know they have the problem yet.

They're just scrolling through their feeds...

Living their lives...

Totally clueless that your product could change everything.

Most marketers think these folks are "impossible" to convert.

That's uhmmmm, not TRUE. 

They're the CHEAPEST to reach...

And often convert better than anyone else.

Because when you show someone a problem they never noticed...

Then immediately offer the solution...

That's not marketing. Think of it as REVELATION. 

The Identity-Aware Audience

Even more overlooked.

These are people who already see themselves as "your type of customer."

The dude who considers himself a "biohacker" but hasn't bought your sleep device yet.

The woman who calls herself a "wellness queen" but hasn't tried your supplements.

They're already mentally aligned with your brand...

They just haven't made the purchase yet.

But instead of nurturing these people...

Most brands skip straight to "BUY NOW" messaging.

Missing the easiest conversions of their lives.

Look...

When you ONLY go after problem/solution aware prospects...

You're swimming in a red ocean.

Expensive. Competitive. Brutal.

But when you expand into unaware and identity-aware audiences...

Suddenly you've got access to MASSIVE pools of people...

That your competitors don't even know exist.

Cheaper traffic. Higher LTV. Creative angles that actually work.

It's not complicated.

Some brands would just rather keep doing the obvious thing...

Fighting over scraps...

Then wonder why their unit economics are fucked.

Your call.

But don't blame iOS updates when you're ignoring 4X your addressable market.


P.S. Which awareness level does your brand focus on? Curious how many are stuck targeting the "obvious" prospects...

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