Jake Summerhayes

Kurogo

Head Of Client Services

We work with CEOs and Founders to build powerful personal brands. 

Why? Because reputation matters. 

- 82% of customers trust a company when their senior management members are active on social media

- Brand messages are shared 24x more on personal accounts compared to company accounts

- Customers are willing to pay 13.5x more for elite industry experts

As your personal brand manager, I oversee the planning and delivery of your personal brand strategy. From initial ideation through to full development in-line with your goals.

If this sounds like something you want to jump on board with, or even just have some general questions and curiosities about personal branding shoot me a DM. I'm always about for a chat 😊.

Personal Brand Manager

ReputationDefender

We believe that everyone has the right to be empowered online—whether that means controlling the spread of your personal information or the way you are portrayed to others. Our aim is to make sure people find quality, truthful information about our clients at the top of their search results.

I oversee the development of the online reputation management campaigns for my client base and as such I am the primary point of contact between themselves and the business. Day-to-day this includes regular reporting, search results monitoring as well as analysis of potential reputational threats and opportunities.

In this digital age the importance of a positive online presence is a necessity across industries and professions as such our client base is incredibly diverse. We work with private individuals, SME's, directors, multinational corporations and everything in between.

Account Manager

Uber

Bicycle Courier

L'Arche Internationale

L'arche supports those with learning disabilities, and their loved ones, to live in ways that allow them to be as independent as possible, while providing high-quality, person-centred, individually tailored care and support.

My primary aim as a Care Support Worker was to create a home for our service user and in doing so enable them to maximise their independence. Specific day to day task included:
• Supporting individuals in their leisure, social, practical, physical and spiritual needs
• Providing personal care with dignity and respect including supporting people with complex health and physical needs both in daily life and end of life care
• Helping people with physical needs including some aspects of moving and handling

Care Support Worker

Working with founders and business Leaders to craft powerful and authentic personal brands. 

Why? Because reputation matters. 

- 82% of customers trust a company when their senior management members are active on social media

- Brand messages are shared 24x more on personal accounts compared to company accounts

- Customers are willing to pay 13.5x more for elite industry experts

Yet only 1% of LinkedIn's 700 million users share weekly content. 

Our mission at Kurogo is to solve that.

Kurogo is derived from the Japanese ‘Kuroko’ referring to the black clad stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre.

The convention of wearing black implying the invisibility of the wearer on stage. 

We are your Kurogo. 

Directing, driving and delivering your personal brand from the background. 

Giving you the spotlight to excel in what you do best.

I’ll save you this morning’s LinkedIn scroll. Here’s what’s happening today:

– AI comment x1,802
– Infographic that is literally impossible to read
– 4 mirror selfies for a post on ‘authentic’ branding
– Personal branding is pretty important, it seems
– Someone’s worried about AI taking their job
– Someone else has automated their entire life with AI
– Hustle culture is… good? Bad? No one really knows
– The algorithm has changed… again, according to one study.
– Another AI comment
– Old man hates Gen Z
– Another company posted a job without a salary
– More culture stuff (A LOT more)
– Someone turned their morning coffee into a 7-step storytelling framework

Oooh another AI comment.

That’s all for now.

Ps. What’s your LinkedIn pet peeve?

Client Services Director @ Kurogo | We create thought leaders through Personal Branding

POV: You spontaneously video call your social media manager

Checking your next post after going 'viral'
109 Impressions
0 Likes
0 Comments
0 Reposts

I once spent 3 years trying to onboard a client who paid £6k but ghosted. 

In that time…

I moved house twice
We hired 3 different salespeople
I onboarded and ran 150+ other client campaigns
The entire company was bought, sold and restructured

I never did manage to get in touch with them.

Sometimes I lay awake at night and wonder where they are.

If there’s a client management lesson here, I don’t know what it is.

I don’t believe in conspiracy theories

Then a friend shows me that their account reach dropped 80% overnight, and then they started getting the option to boost their posts. Makes you wonder…

Genuine career advice:

Be easy to work with.

“You're right — thanks for catching that. Let me correct myself.”
“Thanks — want me to rewrite the whole thing with the right info?”
“Let me give you a corrected version that actually matches what you asked.”
“Good call — let me update my reasoning.”
“You’re absolutely right. I oversimplified that earlier.”
“Here’s the updated version — this is bulletproof”

What a week. 

Items taken offline: 8
Bases: Touched
Ducks: Aligned
Needle: Moved
Loops: Closed
Numbers: Run
Value: Added

Can’t wait to do it all again.

Good morning LinkedIn. 

Logging in for a productive week of touching base, circling back, getting our ducks in a row, blue sky thinking and moving the needle. 

Let’s have a good one 🫡

453 videos. 453 ideas. 453 attempts.

That’s 5 YEARS of constant trial and error.

Most people post 5 times and give up.
Almost nobody lasts until 453.

They think success should come in 30 days.
They tell themselves, “the algorithm is against me.”
They think if they don’t go viral in a month, it’s not meant for them.

If you’re not seeing the results you’d like, here’s my advice:

See every post like a rep in the gym. 

A single rep won’t make you ripped.

But every rep does make you better.

You just only notice it after 6 monts.

Remember:

→ Your first post won’t be your best post.
→ Your first 100 won’t be either.
→ But somewhere between 101 and 453, everything changes.

You’ve got this.

♻️ Like this? Repost it to remind someone to keep going.

--

I'm Jake 👋 I head up client services at Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency

I post about building your reputation and the realities of working in marketing.

LinkedIn ‘Experts’:

- Comment on 20 posts a day.
- Post selfies to “build connection.”
- Spend 3 hours engaging before posting.
- Be chronically on LinkedIn for 8+ hrs per day.
- Use productivity carousels as inspiration (steal them).

Me: 

- Fuck that.

Here’s the 6-step blueprint to follow instead:

1) Position yourself as an expert in your industry.
↳ Define what you want to be known for, the market won’t do it for you.

2) Engage with the right people, not just anyone.
↳ Quality > quantity. Especially when it comes to engaging.

3) Create a repeatable posting cadence.
↳ So you don’t have to spend more than 5 mins for an idea.

4) Post only 3 types of content inside clear pillars.
↳ Growth → To get seen by new people.
↳ Authority → To build trust & authority.
↳ Conversion → To generate opportunities.

5) Turn your lived experience into content.
↳ If anyone else could’ve written it, don’t post it.

6) Make your profile an inbound sales page.
↳ Your profile is your digital real estate.
↳ If optimised, it’ll sell before you even speak.

You don’t have to take every guru’s word as gospel.
Otherwise we’d all be full-time linkedinfluencers.
You just have to do the right things consistently.

Focus on what actually moves the needle.

Everything else is just fluff.

ps. What’s the worst LinkedIn Influencer take you’ve heard?

—

Find this useful?

💾 Save it to come back to later
♻️ Repost it to help your network

People do not buy from strangers. 

They buy from people they trust.

And trust starts (or ends) at your profile.

I have seen world-class founders lose deals because their profile looked like it was built in 2017 and left to rot.

The reality:

→ A blurry photo ruins credibility
→ A cluttered banner confuses your message
→ A headline with no value prop or proof gets ignored
→ A featured section with random links does nothing for you

Your profile is not a CV. 

It is the first “yes” or “no” in your buyer’s head.

Here is my simple framework to audit your profile today:

1️⃣ Promise: Does your headline show what you deliver, for whom, and why you?
2️⃣ Proof: Do you show numbers, case studies, or clear wins? (If not, why should anyone believe you?)
3️⃣ Packaging: Is your story clear, your experience relevant, and your next step obvious?

If your profile fails any of these, you are leaking leads daily.

The best personal brands I’ve built did not start with fancy content. They started with a profile that did the selling for them-before a single DM was sent.

Check your profile right now. If you were a prospect, would you trust you?

If not, fix it before you post again.

ps. Want the exact checklist we use to optimise profiles? 

1600 people already viewed it, but this is your last chance to join them for free. 

https://lnkd.in/eQUeqAc5

Next week, this won’t be free…

Seeing a lot of waffle about this…

So how we ACTUALLY build personal brands for CEOs ↓

(realised I’ve been doing this for 6 years...)

🗓️ Week 1: Kick Off
- Turn sales notes into delivery brief
- Brief all team members involved
- Interview client
- Research competitors
- Set up internal systems

This is all about setting us up for success.
We use G-Suite, Notion and Fathom.

🗓️ Week 2: Positioning Strategy
Take everything in week 1 to create a strategy.
- Build the client's positioning
- Map out their target audience
- Identify key industry & company events
- Define their pitch & promise
- Tone analysis and refinement
- This is the key to true authority

We run the client through this in a deck.

🗓️ Week 3: Content Strategy
- Now we translate Positioning into Content.
- Define content pillars & subtopics
- Agree content cadence and strategy
- Build content calendar and tagging system
- Create 20-30 ideas under each pillar
- Draft 2 weeks of posts to review

Pro tip: Your content should:
A. Reflect your positioning
B. Nurture strangers into opportunities
Stick to that and you’ll win.

🗓️ Week 4: Content Roll Out
- Final feedback and approval
- Explain the content calendar to the client
- Review first 2 weeks of drafts together
- Probe client around remaining ideas
- Book in bi-weekly content calls

Getting feedback on these first 2 weeks is key
Saves us wrifrom ting in the wrong tone later on

🗓️ Week 5-17:
- Amplify their ideas to 100,000s of people
- Usually we start with LinkedIn
- Sometimes we might go cross-channel
- Or even include some PR/podcasting
- But most people should just nail LinkedIn first
- Clients average 130,000 impressions/month (2025 data)

NB: Performance varies depending on a number of factors.

🗓️ Week 18:
- Review the first 3 months.
- Analyse raw data on performance
- Assess performance by topic and type
- Cross-reference against campaign goals
- Also check against platform trends
- Update strategy accordingly

By this point we have enough data to draw conclusions.
We take signals before this point but not big strategy changes.
🔂 Repeat Monthly

🗓️ Quarterly:
Campaign reviews, considering:
- Do we need new conversion systems?
- Is it the right time to launch lead magnets?
- Should we introduce other channels/PR?

About 30 SOPs, a lot of circling back and 6 base-touches in between that.

But I’ve got character limits, and you’ve got stuff to do.

Hope this helps ✌️

Ps. I think waffles are better than pancakes.
--
I'm Jake 👋 I head up client services at Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency

I post about building your reputation and the realities of working in 
marketing.

If you like that stuff, give us a follow. If you don’t, we’ll probably never speak again.

I’m 29. I’ve spent 10 years managing clients.

Here’s what I wish I knew in 2016: 

- happy clients leave all the time
- the customer is not always right
- clients pay you to have an opinion
- traffic light your clients every week
- being a yes-man ruins your authority
- confront any negative sentiment head on
- every great campaign needs uncomfortable convos

Most people spend years chasing client happiness. I chased it too. Then learned that clarity, honesty, and authority are the real keys to retention.

If you build your reputation on being a “yes” person, you become replaceable.

If you build it on clarity and leadership, you become essential.

Ps. I once chased a client for 4 years who paid £6K to start and then ghosted us. Wild.

It’s crazy that you can turn the internet into career insurance… 

How? By using the Personal Brand Advantage:

→ Top talent wants to work for you
→ Opportunities at your fingertips
→ Attracting a high-value network
→ Strangers are receptive to you
→ Ability to charge higher fees
→ Increased conversion rates
→ Events want you to speak
→ Your industry values you
→ Immediate credibility

A strong reputation is an unfair advantage.

Should probably build yours intentionally… Try this:

1. Understand how you need to be positioned
2. Publish content that reflects your expertise
3. Associate with industry leaders
4. Appear in the media
5. Create a digital footprint of ‘proof’

Want 40+ pages of this personal brand sauce? 

We put it all in our ultimate guide to personal branding. 

It’s literally free, like £0…

Hit repost and I'll share it with you ♻️

In light of the UK budget being announced today I will be staying away from LinkedIn for the next 24 hours.

To those that stay, good luck 🙏

Imogen P.

Mentoria Digitals.

Copywriter

WOMEN IN DIGITAL MARKETING & DESIGN NETWORK

Volunteering to create video content that supports and enhances the WIDD Network’s initiatives

Member

Imogen Grace Socials 

I'm passionate about helping brands to excel on social media!

I help founders to build a community around their brand, turning followers into loyal customers & brand advocates🫶
 
To get started send me an email at imogenpickton@outlook.com

Founder

Veritas (Level Up Marketing)

"Brand Community' has become a bit of a buzzword
recently, but at Veritas Digital Marketing we know it as much more than that.

We are an agency that specialise in helping highly
technical and STEM brands build engaged online
communities, that are anything but boring.

By getting to know your audience and supplying
them with a consistent stream of insightful content,
we help them to understand your brand and your
business, align themselves with your purpose and
become a loyal community member. So that when
they need you, they know exactly where to find
you.

So far we've helped brands in engineering,
software development, education, technology and
finance to grow their online presence, increase
inbound leads and land new and exciting projects.

To get started say hello@veritas-marketing.co.uk🚀

Social Media Coordinator

Springpod

I took part in Springpod’s Graphic Design Virtual Work Experience programme. During the programme I gained:
- A sound understanding of the inner-workings and concepts related to Graphic Design, and the ability to identify the skills needed to pursue a career in this sector.
- The ability to successfully apply knowledge of the Graphic Design sector by completing quizzes, interactive exercises and activities.
Meaningful interaction with industry professionals through live webinars. 
- A better understanding of the career pathways within Graphic Design. 
- Knowledge of key employability and transferable skills, as well as a sound awareness of employer expectations.

Graphic Design virtual work experience

CIM | The Chartered Institute of Marketing

This programme from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, powered by Springpod taught me what I need to know about a career in marketing, covering a complete range of skills. 

Things that I learnt about and completed tasks on include: 
Marketing Principles
Strategy and User Personas
Marketing Campaigns
Social Media and Content
Marketing Analysis

Marketing virtual work experience

Hi I’m Imogen, a Social Media Marketer with a love for all things creative 👋

If you’ve scrolled this far here are a few things about me👇

I’m a freelance personal brand & social media manager, passionate about helping founders to build a community around their brand👩🏻‍💻

Outside of my role I’m sharing my journey on here, I hope to help and inspire young marketers who are just getting started (hence the newsletter name 😂).

I am one of Girls in Marketing’s Top 24 Marketers to follow in 2024 so to see more from me let’s connect 💗

Imogen Pickton

Thank you so much to Women Innovators in Digital and Design for inviting me to speak at this year’s Winter Meeting 🩷

It was such an honour to be part of this incredible event and finally meet everyone in person! 

I learnt so much and left feeling truly inspired by all the amazing women I had the chance to speak to.

This was my first in person presentation, so I was definitely a little nervous, but everyone’s support made it an unforgettable experience 🫶

Esther Johnson Samreen McGregor Suzanne Acteson Hannah Tayler Becky Ray

Founder of Imogen Grace Socials👩🏻‍💻Helping individuals to build authority & create a community around their brand | Top 24 Marketer to follow in 2024 🥰 Creator of ‘Diary of a Young Marketer’🫶

No alternative text description for this image

When I started out, I thought my age was a weakness.

→ I didn’t go to uni. 
→ I didn’t take a traditional path. 
→ And I was young. 

For a long time, that made me doubt myself.

I thought experience was something you had to wait for.

But I see it differently now.

Starting early taught me to be curious. 

And to trust my gut when the path wasn’t clear.

This is a strength, not a setback 👏

The truth is, you don’t need permission to chase your goals.

You don’t need a perfect plan to begin.

You just need belief and enough courage to back yourself.

That’s why I care so much about helping other young women go after their dreams too.

Because the moment you stop seeing your age as a weakness, you realise it’s actually your superpower 🫶

Perfect posts.
Zero vulnerability.
Declining engagement.

Sound familiar?👀

Most personal brands make this mistake.

They curate every piece of content to look flawless.

But here’s the truth, perfection doesn’t build connection.

The real growth happens when you share the messy bits.

→ The lesson you learnt the hard way. 
→ The day you questioned everything. 
→ The project that didn’t go to plan.

Because your audience doesn’t need another highlight reel.

They need to see the human behind the brand.

So stop hiding behind perfection and start showing up as yourself.

Because that’s what your audience has been waiting for 🫶

From viral moments to sold out world tours, Dua Lipa has perfected the balance between artistry and influence.

Whether it’s a TikTok trend or a red carpet statement, every move she makes reinforces her distinct identity.

Her personal brand shows how authenticity, confidence and strategic consistency can build a global presence that feels both effortless and intentional 👏

Swipe to uncover the branding lessons behind her success.

Personal branding lessons from Dua ✍️

When I first started trying to sign clients, I felt completely lost 👀

I’d post random content, cross my fingers and hope someone would slide into my DMs.

Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

It took me a while to realise that clients don’t just buy services, they buy solutions.

And this is the secret to conversions! 

Here’s your plan to sign a client on socials this week👇

→ Speak to their pain points. 
→ Show transformations. 
→ Build genuine connections. 

Try this and watch the enquiries roll in!

And if you want extra help putting them into action, drop a 👋 below

Sign a client on socials ✨

Everyone thinks owning a business means:

→ Working from cute cafés 
→ Passive income rolling in 
→ Endless “me time”

Meanwhile, we're saying “it’ll calm down next week”... 

For the 47th week in a row 🫣

It’s not the easy life people think it is. 

But let’s be real, we wouldn’t trade it for anything 🫶

P.S. Which one are you today?

Life as a business owner 🫣

When a new client signs with me, we always start with an audit ✍️

What content are they sharing?
What’s resonating with their audience?

And most importantly… what’s just taking up space?

Instagram is known for being aesthetic. 

But if you’re still focusing on creating a perfectly curated grid then your brand won’t be memorable. 

For this example, I said goodbye to the generic and hello to strategic content👋

 I swapped out the cookie cutter aesthetic photos for:

→ Trendy, seasonal visuals that catch attention.  
→ Scroll stopping graphics that provide something meaningful. 
→ UGC that showcases real people genuinely loving the products. 

The result? 🤷🏻‍♀️

This content is not just pretty, it performs. 

Because aesthetics might grab attention, but strategy is what keeps it. 

You can have the most beautiful feed in the world. 

But if it’s not aligned with your goals, your audience and your message… it’s just noise.

P.S. What do you think about this after?🤩

taplio

The Battle

Jake Summerhayes

Imogen Pickton

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Performance ScoreJake Summerhayes's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Jake Summerhayes

Imogen Pickton

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);}Jake Summerhayes's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreImogen Pickton's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJake Summerhayes's LinkedIn Performance