Organic Social Media Newsletter, Community, Consulting

It was dumb luck honestly...

I was unqualified to even read the job description.

But they rolled the dice and took a chance on me and just like that I was running social media at YouVersion (the Bible app with 1 BILLION downloads).

At YouVersion I saw how legitimately caring about your audience results in insane follower growth and engagement. We increased the following of our Instagram account from 500,000 to 2.6 million followers in two years. We launched multiple accounts that grew from zero to over 100,000. Our TikTok went from zero to over 300,000 in under six months.

I'm currently the Head of Social at Benzinga where I lead the best social media team in the world. So far we've grown our social presence by over 600K followers (50%) and drove 877.74M impressions and 25.97M engagements with a post volume of over 21.7K posts. And we're just getting started.

I started writing on LinkedIn on January 1, 2022 and have written (almost) everyday for 4 years. The account has grown from 0 to 45,000+ followers. 15,000 of those followers have been kind enough to subscribe to my newsletter, Social Studies.

Social Studies is trusted by social media pros at Walmart, Amazon, Beehiiv, TikTok, Nike, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, DoorDash, Shopify, Adobe, Apple, PayPal, Uber, Salesforce, Target, Disney, Nvidia, Canva, John Deere, Accenture, T-Mobile, Marriott, Dell, and Forbes.

Kind words from Ish Verduzco (Founder of Internet Empires, previously at a16z, Snap, and LinkedIn): “There are only a handful of other creators in the social media space who are as sharp and consistent as Jacob has been in recent years. Social Studies is a great addition to your inbox if you work in the social media industry and want to learn from a pro.”

In short... I help brands build audiences, engaged communities, and raving fans.

Jacob Shipley

Ghostwriter for people who hate sounding like everyone else.

You’re not just busy.
You’re buried.

Clients, calls, launches, growth… and somewhere in between, you’re supposed to “just post on LinkedIn” and wait for the leads to roll in.

Here’s the truth nobody tells you:
Inbound works - but it’s not instant.
It takes time, testing, and the right content to attract the right people.

That’s why my clients don’t rely on hope alone.
We run inbound and outbound in parallel.

Inbound: Content + comments that build authority and trust so leads find you.

Outbound: Strategic, non-spammy outreach that starts conversations with your ideal buyers now.

It’s a two-lane system:

Inbound creates long-term demand.
Outbound brings short-term opportunities.
Together, they keep your pipeline moving - now and later.

What this looks like in action:

“Five months ago, I was stuck at 20K. Now we’re almost at 70.
It didn’t happen by magic. It happened in the shadows — your ghost comments, your fingerprints on DMs I didn’t know how to answer.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, my work got sharper. Less about me, more about them.
You don’t say much. But when you do, it’s clean, fast, and brutal in the best way. I trust your eye because you don’t flinch.”

Proof:

11k+ organic followers grown

Clients booking calls within weeks

Leads that multiply with consistent, strategic posting

If you want LinkedIn to bring you leads without becoming a guessing game,
DM me “GROW” and I’ll share the exact strategy I use for my clients.

Nadia Bajwa

Myth #6:

“Content is king.”

No.

Clarity is king.

Content without clarity is just noise with formatting.

Clarity is what makes someone:
 
→ Pause
→ Pay attention
→ Pre-qualify themselves
→ DM you without needing a pitch

People don’t remember the post.
They remember how clear you were.

You can be loud.
Consistent.
Even viral.

And still completely misunderstood.

The real skill?

Writing in a way that makes someone pause and say:
“This is exactly what I’ve been trying to explain.”

That’s when the DMs start.
That’s when referrals click faster.
That’s when your content stops being content and starts being proof.

Not of popularity.
Of precision.

Myth #5:

“Viral posts drive business.”

Sometimes they do.
Mostly they don’t.

What drives business?

Trust.
Specificity.
Quiet confidence.

Most viral posts appeal to everyone which means they convert no one.

The posts that bring in the best clients often:
 
→ Get half the reach
→ Say something only your people will understand
→ Sound like a client call, not a performance

Reach is a metric.
Relevance is a signal.

Only one moves pipeline.

If you hire a ghostwriter just to “save time,” you’ll get filler.

But if you want to scale your signal, here’s what happens instead:

→ Your beliefs get sharper
→ Your story gets tighter
→ Your content finally matches the way you speak on your sharpest day

Most people don’t need help being louder.

They need help being clearer.

That’s what we do.

Quietly. Consistently. In your voice.

You write something honest.
Then you soften it.
Then you tweak the tone.
Then it doesn’t land - because it doesn’t feel like you anymore.

The line you deleted?

That was probably the one worth posting.

Sharp content isn’t risky because it’s bold.
It’s risky because it’s true.

But truth is what cuts through.

Not performance.
Not polish.

Permission.

There’s a version of you that works 60 hours and feels alive.
And a version that works 20 and still feels drained.

Burnout is rarely about volume.

It’s about:

→ Ownership
→ Clarity
→ Resonance

If your work reflects who you are and what you stand for, it feeds you.

If it doesn’t, even a few hours a day feels like a grind.

Before you cut hours, check direction.

I’ve realized something uncomfortable.

My days are full.
I show up.
I get things done.
I stay “on track.”

And yet, there’s this quiet feeling that I’m not actually moving forward.

Not falling apart.
Not failing.
Just… stuck in place.

It’s a strange space to be in.
Nothing hurts enough to force change.
Nothing excites enough to spark growth.

So life keeps moving
and I move with it
without really choosing direction.

From the outside, everything looks fine.
That’s what makes it dangerous.

Because comfort can disguise stagnation.
And being busy can feel like progress.

If this resonates, it’s not negativity.
It’s awareness.

And awareness is usually where real change begins.

Some days I feel behind for no dramatic reason.

Nothing terrible happened.
No big failure.
Just a quiet awareness that I’m capable of more than what I’m currently doing.

That’s the uncomfortable part no one talks about.

When life isn’t falling apart, but it’s also not moving forward.
When you’re functioning, not fulfilled.
Busy, not building.

And you keep wondering if this is patience…
or avoidance dressed as maturity.

I don’t need a miracle.
I need honesty with myself.

Because comfort doesn’t ruin you loudly.
It lets you drift.

And drifting is how years disappear.

Last year, nothing was actually wrong with my life.

And that messed with me.

I was doing what I was supposed to do.
Showing up.
Staying busy.
Finishing things.
Saying “I’m good” when people asked.

But almost every night, when things went quiet,
I’d feel it.

This small, heavy feeling.
Like I was standing still while time kept moving.

I wasn’t failing.
I wasn’t behind.
I just… wasn’t going anywhere.

From the outside, everything looked fine.
From the inside, it felt like I was wasting something I couldn’t get back.

What hurt the most wasn’t messing up.
It was knowing I could do more
and choosing what was easier instead.

I didn’t need motivation.
I didn’t need advice.

I needed to stop lying to myself.

So I stopped waiting to feel ready.
Stopped saying “soon”.
Stopped calling fear “being patient”.

I’m not ahead of anyone.
I’m not done figuring things out.

But I’m moving.
And that matters.

That quiet pressure I used to feel at night?
It’s still there.

It just finally feels like it has a direction!

Everyone has access to the same tools now.

Same AI.
Same prompts.
Same frameworks.

So why does some content stop you mid-scroll
while the rest feels like recycled oatmeal?

Because tools don’t create resonance.
Taste does.

Taste is knowing:

 → What to cut
 → What to keep
 → What lands vs. what performs
 → What actually sounds like you

It’s the difference between content that’s just correct
and content that actually moves people.

AI can write.
But it can’t recognize what’s worth saying.

That’s still on you.
Or someone you trust to see what you can’t.

Some days you’re not lazy.
You’re just tired of pretending you care about things that don’t matter to you.

Tired of chasing goals you didn’t choose.
Tired of proving yourself to rooms that don’t see you.
Tired of shrinking your ambition so it fits your environment.

No one talks about this part.
The quiet grief of knowing you’re capable of more.
And still showing up where that “more” has nowhere to go.

But here’s what I’m learning, slowly.
Feeling stuck doesn’t mean you’re finished.
It means your current place can’t hold who you’re becoming.

So if today all you did was survive with your self respect intact, that counts.
You’re not behind.
You’re just gathering the courage to move differently.

I used to think I was behind.

Behind people with better colleges.
Better connections.
Cleaner timelines.

But then I realized something uncomfortable.

Most people aren’t ahead.
They’re just louder.

They post certainty while privately questioning everything.
They announce wins while quietly avoiding the work that actually scares them.

Progress rarely looks impressive in real time.
It looks boring.
Messy.
Repetitive.

Showing up when no one is clapping.
Fixing one small thing instead of chasing ten shiny ones.
Choosing clarity over noise.

You don’t need to reinvent yourself.
You need to stay long enough to compound.

That’s how real momentum is built.

Quietly.
Patiently.
Honestly.

taplio

The Battle

Jacob Shipley

Nadia Bajwa

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance ScoreNadia Bajwa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Jacob Shipley

Nadia Bajwa

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nadia Bajwa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreNadia Bajwa's LinkedIn Performance