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Account Manager @ Kurogo | Sharing lessons from a life in Marketing

Hey, I'm Joe 👋

I post about: 

- Careers
- Marketing 
- Leadership 

Sound good?

Hit the follow button and come say hi.

Joseph Rudd

Co-Founder at Unyfy | Use us as your shortcut to success. We focus on optimising your LinkedIn strategy, discovering what sets you apart from your competitors, and converting followers into opportunities. ⚡️

Your next big client just hired your competitor. Not because they're better. Because they showed up and you didn't.

Think about it. While you've been perfecting your service, they've been perfecting their story. Now they own the conversation in your market. Their posts are building relationships with prospects you don't even know exist yet.

By the time someone needs what you offer, your competitor is already the trusted voice in their head. You never even got a chance to compete.


This is the pipeline crisis no one talks about:

Your competitors aren't winning today's deals. They're locking in next year's revenue right now. Every post they write is a relationship you'll never have. Every story they tell is a future client choosing them over you.

The math is brutal: They're building trust with 50+ prospects every week while you're invisible. That's 2,600 warm relationships per year. All yours for the taking. All going to someone else.


We help founders build tomorrow's pipeline through today's stories.

My team and I transform your expertise into narratives that make you the obvious choice before prospects even start looking. No templates. No hacks. Just strategic storytelling that turns LinkedIn into your most powerful sales asset.

The result: You stop chasing deals and start attracting them. Your competitors start copying you instead of the other way around.


Every day you wait, the gap widens. Your future clients are forming relationships right now.

DM me "STORY" to take back your market.

Because your competitors aren't smarter than you.

They just started their story six months sooner.

Matt Wheeler-Barrett

Your circle will either lift you or limit you.

There's no middle ground.

Yesterday's Sunday lunch proved it again.

Four of us around a table. Not complaining about clients or crying about the economy.

We were breaking down real problems. Building real solutions.

One mate's scaling his agency. Another's raising capital. I'm figuring out how to help more founders tell better stories.

Three hours later, we'd made connections that'll turn into deals and solved problems that had been stuck for weeks.

This is what the right people do.

They don't tell you to slow down when you're building momentum.

They don't make you feel guilty for caring about your work.

They don't drain your energy with their own limitations.

I spent years around people who thought ambition was a dirty word.

"Why are you always working?"
"You need better work-life balance."
"Just be happy with what you have."

They meant well. But their ceiling became my ceiling.

Here's what nobody tells you:

The people who say you're "too obsessed" are usually the ones with nothing worth obsessing over.

They're not protecting you. They're protecting themselves from feeling inadequate.

Your growth makes them uncomfortable because it highlights their inaction.

So they try to pull you back down to their level. Make you feel wrong for wanting more.

I'm done with that.

Now I spend Sundays with people who get it. Who push forward instead of pulling back.

The difference is mental.

Old crew: Complained about problems.
New crew: Solves them.

Old crew: "That'll never work."
New crew: "How can we make it work?"

Old crew: Killing time.
New crew: Building futures.

Choose your circle carefully.

Because you'll either rise to their level or sink to it.

Matt Wheeler-Barrett 

Co-founder @ Unyfy | Most people sound like everyone else | We make your story impossible to ignore (and profitable) | DM me “story” to get started.

10 things about LinkedIn that are properly mental.

(And nobody's talking about them)

LinkedIn's turned into a parallel universe where normal rules don't apply.

Like everyone woke up one day and decided "You know what? Let's all be completely unhinged but use corporate language."

Fine. I'll be the tour guide to this madness.

Welcome to the chaos:

1. Sales Navigator through Apple is a bloody nightmare.

Try cancelling it. Go on, I'll wait. Tim Cook's probably laughing at you right now. "You bought a Microsoft product through Apple? That's hilarious, mate. Good luck with that."

2. 1.1 billion members but only 1% actually post.

Which means if you're reading this, you're already ahead of 99% of LinkedIn. Congrats, you absolute legend. Your medal's in the post.

3. There are 41,000 "skills" listed.

Including "Synergy Optimisation." Someone actually put that on their profile. Their parents must be so proud. "My son optimises synergy, Karen."

4. The "I rejected a candidate today" posts.

"Had to reject someone today. Here's what they did wrong..." Imagine being that poor sod scrolling LinkedIn and seeing your rejection turned into content. Absolutely brutal.

5. Everyone's a "CEO" now.

Bought a domain name? CEO. Posted twice this month? CEO of thought leadership. Have a laptop and work from Starbucks? CEO of something, definitely. At this rate, my dog's probably CEO of barking operations.

6. LinkedIn doesn't like skin.

Posted a beach photo once. Algorithm acted like I'd committed a war crime. Sorry for having shoulders, LinkedIn. Won't happen again.

7. AI profile photos are everywhere.

Dave from sales suddenly looks like Tom Cruise's cousin. Nobody's mentioning it. We're all just pretending this is fine.

8. The "Agree?" posts are psychological warfare.

"Success takes dedication. Agree?" "Family is important. Agree?" "Water is wet. Agree?" Next they'll be posting "Murder is bad. Agree?" just to farm those sweet, sweet comments.

9. WTF is up with people not wearing shoes in their shoots?

Do you pitch clients in the boardroom like that? "Here's our Q4 strategy, and yes, these are my toes." Make it make sense.

10. Your actual voice beats everything else.

While everyone's trying to sound professional, I'm out here admitting I googled "what is Web3" last week. Twice.

And it's working.

Look, LinkedIn's mental. Properly bonkers when you think about it.

But here's the thing: The weirder it gets, the more opportunity there is for those of us willing to be real.

Because in a sea of "passionate about excellence" and "results-driven professional," just being a normal human who admits they eat SURREAL for dinner sometimes makes you stand out.

The typos. The rants. The "probably shouldn't post this but..." moments.
That's what actually works now.

⸻

Ready to stop playing by LinkedIn's weird rules and start winning with real? DM me "STORY" and let's sort it out.

Find out more: https://lnkd.in/esgDmaU6.

I was the problem child.

(I know you were too)

In school, my energy was "disruptive."

Couldn't sit still. Questioned everything. Made trouble because I was bored out of my mind.

But one teacher saw it differently.

He pulled me aside and said: "Use that fire to build something."

For me, that became start-ups.

Finally found a place where my restlessness was an asset.

Start-ups gave me permission to break things. To challenge the status quo. To channel all that chaos into creation.

Each failure taught me what school never could.

The rush of building something from nothing? Absolutely mental.

But here's what I learned:

It was never about the money.

It's about solving problems that matter. Creating real impact.

That rebellious energy everyone tried to suppress? It's the exact fuel you need to build something new.

Look:

Don't hide what makes you different.

That "too much" energy? That's your advantage.

Whether it's a start-up, a project, or a movement - point it at something worth building.

Your restlessness isn't a weakness.

It's your rocket fuel.

⸻

Ready to channel your rebel energy into something real? DM me "STORY" and let's put it to work.

Q4 momentum is mental and we're only getting started.

Lot's been happening at Unyfy lately. We couldn't be happier with how the team's coming together and what we're building for Q1.

A quick breakdown of what's been going on:

1. Someone from TymeBank is joining us.

Can't say who yet, but they did incredible things there. All those learnings about scaling and systems? They're bringing that to our agency. Properly excited about this one.

2. Matt Lakajev gave me my own room. 

After a year of those midnight coaching calls (you know the ones), I've got my own session in his community now. Mad to think I'll be helping small business owners with their content and personal branding. Proper chuffed.

3. Chris Kleyweg's moving to a new division.

We're launching something specifically for younger people who want to kick-start their careers. Because while everyone's selling £5k courses, we figured we'd actually help people who need it most.

4. Matthew Leighton and Nate Levinrad are on fire.

The content game's gone next level. New newsletters dropping. Client stories getting real results. These lads are banging out work that makes other agencies wonder what we're on.

5. Matthew Lee and I are cooking up something special.

We've been working on some awesome outbound strategies and building community. Can't wait to keep building momentum there and working with credible content creators and entrepreneurs. The connections we're making are bloody brilliant.

6. Josh Barrett is sorting our chaos.

With more clients comes more need for actual systems. Joshua's been killing it with templates, communication channels, and making sure we don't implode while scaling. Turns out you need more than WhatsApp voice notes to run a proper business.

7. We've entered private education.

Among other spaces I can't mention yet. But when institutions that have done things the same way for decades want to tell their stories differently, you know something's shifting.

The momentum's real. The team's growing. And we're only just getting warmed up.

Q1's going to be absolutely wild.

⸻

Ready to be part of what we're building? DM me "STORY" and let's chat.

I'm so tired of watching brilliant founders lose deals to inferior competitors.

It's mental, really.

You've got the better service, the better team, the better track record. But they've got something you don't:

They bloody showed up.

Look, here's what's happening while you're optimising your offering:

Your competitor is writing posts that build relationships with prospects you don't even 
know exist yet. 

They're telling stories that position them as the trusted expert in your space.

When someone finally needs what you both offer, guess who they call?

Not you.

The founder who's been in their LinkedIn feed for months. The one whose story they already know. The one who feels familiar.

This isn't about better marketing. It's about mathematical reality:

50 prospects per week seeing their content = 2,600 warm relationships per year.

While you're invisible.

We help founders build tomorrow's pipeline through today's stories. Strategic storytelling that transforms your expertise into narratives people remember and trust.

Because your competitors aren't smarter than you.

They just started their story six months sooner.

DM me 'STORY' to close that gap.

Every sale starts with a story. 

Founders are about to torch their personal brands with ChatGPT.

(Most of them do not even realise they are holding the match.)

Everything is starting to look the same.

Same prompts.
Same frameworks.
Same so-called high-performing hook lists.

LinkedIn is turning into one giant copy-and-paste parade.

But here is the twist:

The founders with messy, imperfect, badly written content are the ones breaking through.

Not because the writing is good.

But because it is theirs.

Meanwhile, the polished AI-crafted posts are disappearing into the background noise.

Why?

We have hit peak polish.

Everyone sounds so professional that professional now means absolutely nothing.

It is like everyone moved into identical glass apartments
and then wondered why nobody stands out.

Here is the uncomfortable truth:

If your content sounds like ChatGPT,
your audience assumes your thinking does too.

Founders cannot afford to look replaceable.

Look:

The posts that are taking off right now are not the perfect ones.

They are the ones with texture.

1. The founder who admits they nearly shut the business down.
2. The founder who talks about losing a client.
3. The founder who confesses they were completely winging it.
4. The founder who shares the part everyone else hides.

Authenticity is not a vague instruction to be real.

Authenticity is this:

Nobody else could have written it.

And here is the part founders do not want to swallow:

AI is not killing originality.
Founders are, because they are trying to sound smarter than they actually are.

Give it ninety days.

Every predictable founder will sound identical:

Same tone.
Same cadence.
Same safe leadership lessons.
Same recycled personality.

But the founder brave enough to post something raw, something slightly chaotic, something a little unhinged, will wipe the floor with everyone who played it safe.

Because perfect content builds attention.

Imperfect content builds allegiance.

I have tested both.

Every time I publish something too polished, too safe, too clever, it dies.

Every time I publish something real, full of stress, panic, mistakes, and the occasional bollocks, the pipeline fills.

Not because it is smart.

But because it is unmistakably human.

Here is the truth:

Your competitive advantage is not better prompts.

It is a stronger pulse.

Your unfair advantage is not polish.

It is personality.

And the irony?

AI has made humanity rare again.

And rare always goes further.

⸻

Ready to turn your messy reality into a founder-led brand people actually feel?
DM me STORY and let us build something real.

The hidden reason your LinkedIn content isn't landing:

(It's not the algorithm, mate)

You're too busy trying to impress.

When you should be trying to help.

Here's why your posts are getting ignored:

1. You're flexing instead of helping.
2. You're posting success when people crave struggle stories.
3. You're building vanity metrics, not real relationships.

The result? You're invisible. Background noise.

Here's the shift:

Stop polishing your image.

Start solving their problems.

What's your audience struggling with RIGHT NOW?

What costly mistake can you help them avoid TODAY?

When you post for them (not your ego), everything changes.

Trust builds. Loyalty follows. Revenue happens.

Because influence isn't about looking successful.

It's about being useful when it counts—and staying human always.

10 reasons why I love AI:

(It's making authentic creators impossible to ignore)

1. While everyone's using AI to write their posts, I'm writing about the time I properly failed and what it taught me.

2. While everyone's commenting "Great post! 💯", I'm actually reading what people write and having real conversations.

3. While everyone's spamming DMs with automation, I'm messaging specific people because their story genuinely moved me.

4. While everyone's posting AI-generated headshots, I'm showing up with bedhead and coffee stains because that's real life.

5. While everyone's copying viral frameworks, I'm sharing client wins that nobody else can claim.

6. While everyone's scheduling posts for "optimal times", I'm posting at 11pm because that's when inspiration hit.

7. While everyone's using ChatGPT prompts, I'm telling stories from my actual experience - the messy ones that hurt to share.

8. While everyone's bio sounds like corporate word soup, mine just says what I actually do in plain English.

9. While everyone's chasing trending topics, I'm writing about the problems my clients told me about yesterday.

10. While everyone's perfecting their "thought leadership", I'm admitting I don't have all the answers.

Look, I'm not anti-AI.

I'm anti-hiding behind it.

Because here's what's properly mental: The more people use AI to sound professional, the more my raw, unfiltered stories stand out.

My competitors are spending hours perfecting their ChatGPT prompts.

I'm spending hours actually talking to clients, failing at things, and learning from the mess.

They're building their "personal brand."

I'm just being a person.

And in a world where everyone sounds like they graduated from the same AI finishing school, being human is the ultimate differentiator.

The typos. The tangents. The "probably shouldn't share this but..." moments.

That's what builds trust now.

Not because it's a strategy.

Because it's real.

⸻

Ready to stop hiding behind perfect and start winning with real? DM me "STORY" and let's make you impossible to ignore.

If you lean too heavily on AI, your content starts looking like wearing Birkenstocks with socks in the middle of summer.

(It just doesn't look right)

No offence. You do you, bro. 😆 

But here's what's properly mental about AI-fed content:

It doesn't sound like you.
It doesn't feel like you.
It doesn't smell like a real human.

Imagine this:

Someone follows you online for months. They love your "voice." Then they meet you in person and... bloody hell, you sound nothing like your posts.

Instant doubt.
Instant disconnect.
Instant "who the hell is this person?"

And trust is the whole point.

Look:

Your posts aren't there to make you look clever.

They're there to build credibility. Create familiarity. Make people think "I get this person. I'd work with them."

But that only happens when you actually show up.

Not your ChatGPT prompt.
Not your AI assistant. 

YOU! 

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

AI can support your writing. Help you think. Give you structure.

But the moment it replaces your voice? Your stories? Your screw-ups? Your opinions? Your messy thoughts? Your humour? Your rough edges?

You're not building a personal brand anymore.

You're building a template.

And templates don't build trust.

Know what does?

1. The story about how you properly failed that pitch.
2. The experience where you made a complete fool of yourself.
3. The personality that admits you googled "what is a funnel" last week.

People follow you because they see themselves in your chaos, not your ChatGPT subscription.

I tested this myself.

Posted something polished last week. Properly professional. Could've been written by anyone.

Dead silence.

Then posted about how I didn't double-check that our VAT payment went through and got slapped with a massive fine.

Pipeline filled.

Why?

Because one was real. The other was just noise.

So yeah, use AI as a tool.

But let your voice do the heavy lifting.

Because if your content doesn't sound like you...

Why should anyone trust you?

⸻

Ready to stop hiding behind templates and build something real? DM me "STORY" and let's make your voice impossible to ignore.

I analysed 100 founder stories - Here's what actually sells.

And it's not what the storytelling gurus are teaching you.

I’ve spent the last 6 months digging through founder stories. The ones that raised millions. The ones that built cult followings. The ones that properly sold.

A mental pattern emerged.

The founders who succeeded weren't the ones with the prettiest pitch decks or the most polished origin stories.

They were the ones who understood this: People don't buy your success. They buy your struggle.

Take the Heaton brothers from Represent . Two lads from Bolton who turned £150 into a £75 million fashion empire.

Know what made them different?

They documented every single disaster. Every embarrassing moment. Every time they nearly went under.

Whilst Nike  was spending millions on polished campaigns, these two were showing their janky shed setup and DIY pattern cutting tables.

Result? 70% direct-to-consumer sales. No middleman needed when people already trust you.

Or Brian Chesky from Airbnb. His most powerful story isn't about their £60 billion valuation.

It's about selling cereal boxes to keep the lights on. Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's. Proper desperate stuff.

That story raised them more money than any pitch deck ever could.

Here's what those 100 founders taught me:

▪ The mess is the message

Your disaster project from 2019? That's content gold. The time you nearly quit? That's a series. The weird thing you do differently? That's your edge.

▪ Vulnerability scales faster than venture capital

Every "embarrassing" post creates another cult fan. Every vulnerable moment builds more trust. Every disaster you document drives more sales.

▪ Perfect is forgettable

Polished stories get scrolled past. Messy stories get shared. Because people see themselves in your chaos, not your success.

Look, your competitors are out here crafting their "personal brand" with AI-generated fluff about synergy.

Meanwhile, you could be sharing the actual human experiences that make people think "bloody hell, they get it."

That's the difference between content that gets likes and content that gets clients.

Stop crafting your story. Start sharing your reality.

Because facts tell. Stories sell.

And the stories that sell best? They're the ones you're probably too embarrassed to share.

⸻

Ready to turn your mess into your message? DM me "STORY" and let's make it real.

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2 clients came back to us recently.

Both said no the first time around.

Most people take that personally. I take it professionally.

Look, when someone says no to your offer, your ego takes a proper hit. You start questioning everything.

But those two clients? They weren't ready before. Timing was off. Budget wasn't there. Priorities were different.

Nothing personal. Just business.

The difference between those who make it and those who don't?

Successful people plant seeds everywhere and let them grow at their own pace.

If I'd taken those rejections personally, burned those bridges... we'd have missed out on two brilliant partnerships.

Instead, I stayed in touch. Kept providing value. Showed up without being pushy.

And when they were ready? We were still there.

While everyone else is out here:

Quitting after the first no. Getting broken by the second. Convinced the universe is against them by the third.

The successful ones?

They're collecting no's like they're going out of fashion. Because they know rejection is just redirection.

Look, I'm not saying it doesn't sting. Course it bloody does.

But business isn't about your feelings. It's about planting more seeds than you think you need.

Because most won't grow. And that's fine.

The ones that do? They make all the difference.

⸻

Ready to turn rejection into relationships? DM me "STORY" and let's build something real.

Everyone trying to sound like a robotic philosopher with their comments is doing my absolute head in on here. Please be more human people…

Perfection is a red flag.


Had an absolute awesome time running a session yesterday for Matt Lakajev's community.

And bloody hell, the penny dropped for everyone in that room.

Had a brilliant conversation with Peter Sorgenfrei during it - he shared something mental. When he's personal, vulnerable and open, his engagement goes through the roof. 

But when he's controversial or playing the good Samaritan? Just impressions, no real connection.

That's when it clicked for everyone: If you want to build a cult community, a group of loyal supporters who'll actually buy from you, you need raw, authentic, personable content. The stuff that makes people go "bloody hell, that's me."

Here's what's properly mental:

While everyone's polishing their LinkedIn presence until it shines like a new Ferrari, the founders actually winning? They're showing up with mud on their boots, brave enough to admit they nearly torched their business last month.

Think about it. When someone only shows you their highlight reel, what's your first thought?

"What are they hiding?"

But when someone shows you the full picture - the pivots, the panic, the proper disasters - something different happens.

Trust.

Real, actual, "I'd work with this person" trust.

Because everyone's failed. Everyone's pivoted. Everyone's had that 3am moment wondering if they've made a massive mistake.

The difference? Most people pretend it never happened.

While the smart ones turn it into their competitive advantage.

Your mess is your message. Your failures are your credibility.

Stop chasing perfection. Start chasing connection.

⸻

P.S. Want to see business owners doing exactly this? I'm absolutely loving the raw, authentic content from Henry Porpora and Amelia Miller.

Follow them to see what real looks like.

Questioning your worth? You're probably just in the wrong room.

Spent years thinking I was the problem. Too ambitious. Too restless. Too much.

Turns out I was just surrounded by people who thought small.

Every idea I had? "Be realistic."
Every risk? "Play it safe."
Working weekends? "You need to chill."

Heard it enough times, started believing it. I was actually apologising for wanting more. Bloody mental when I think about it now.

Then I changed rooms.

Found this group of absolute lunatics. Founders who'd failed at things I hadn't even dreamed of trying.

Told them my "crazy" idea.

They laughed. Said it wasn't crazy enough.

Same person. Different room. Completely different life.

Look, if you're constantly doubting yourself, wondering if your ideas are too big...

You're not broken.

You're just sitting at the wrong bloody table.

Find one person doing what you want to do. Just one.

Watch your "impossible" become their "Tuesday."

Stop trying to fix yourself.

Start finding better rooms.

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

Can't be arsed to write today.

(But bloody hell, my brother Josh Barrett just made my day)

He wrote this brilliant review of the Checkers Sixty60 advert and I'm properly chuffed.

But here's what's mental:

Most company owners panic when their team starts posting on LinkedIn.

"They're looking for a new job!"
"They're building their exit plan!"
"They're going to steal my clients!"

Absolute bollocks.

Your team posting isn't a threat. It's free marketing you couldn't buy if you tried.

Think about it:

When Josh posts about our work, his network sees it. When Sarah shares a client win, her connections notice. When the whole team shows up? Your brand is suddenly everywhere.

But here's the uncomfortable truth:

If you're worried about your team posting, you've already lost.

Because it means you know, deep down, that you haven't built somewhere worth staying.

Look:

Your job as an owner isn't to stop people posting.

It's to build a culture so good they'd be mental to leave.

The work. The team. The growth. The respect.

Get that right, and their posts become your best testimonials.

Get it wrong, and yeah, they probably are looking.

So encourage your team to post. Champion them. Share their stuff.

Because companies that hide their people? They're usually hiding something else too.

Well done, Josh. Absolute legend.

Head of Operations at Unyfy | We make LinkedIn simple

Today I did the unthinkable.

I watched a four and a half minute ad from start to finish. At 6:30.

Like any normal person, I skip ads as fast as humanly possible. 
But this morning, I didn’t. 

What caught my attention was Dan Mace, one of my favourite South African creators. 

He collaborated with Checkers Sixty60 on a Christmas campaign.
I know, a Christmas ad for a grocery store couldn’t sound more skippable. 

But they pulled it off.

Checkers understands something many brands miss.
↳ You cannot manufacture authenticity.

But you can borrow it.

So instead of trying to make Dan fit into a Checkers ad, they let him make a Dan Mace video that happened to be about Checkers. 

His style. His voice. His story. 

That’s why it worked.
It felt human, creative and personal.
Not like a brand trying to sell, but like a creator telling a story.

It also proves that long form marketing isn’t dead.

People aren’t tired of ads.
People are tired of bad ads that don’t connect.

Amazing to see South African brands and creators doing it right.

taplio

The Battle

Joseph Rudd

Matt Wheeler-Barrett

Followers

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Performance ScoreMatt Wheeler-Barrett's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Joseph Rudd

Matt Wheeler-Barrett

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);}Matt Wheeler-Barrett's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreMatt Wheeler-Barrett's LinkedIn Performance