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

Marketing looks simple ...

Until you try doing it.

It’s easy to look at marketing and think: 

→ Anyone can post something on social media
→ Anyone can write a few clever words
→ Anyone can make viral content
→ Anyone can ... 

But there’s so much more to good marketing than what people see on the surface.

Marketing (done well) is a careful balance of art and science, being aimed at (and held accountable by) business-oriented goals. 

It requires: 

✅ Deep knowledge and research 
✅ The ability to pivot quickly 
✅ Constant testing and learning 

Not to mention: 

✅ Storytelling 
✅ Trust building 
✅ Customer insights 
✅ Industry knowledge 
✅ Data-driven decision making 
✅ A near obsessive personality 

The list goes on and on.

Point is... 

Marketing is so much more than clever words, clicking post, or looking cool. It’s about driving tangible results. 

It's not 'easy'. 
But done well, it will be the Lifeblood of your business. 

Agreed? Repost to spread the word ♻️
And follow Joseph Rudd for more.

Strategy Director at LeverBrands | We help founders build leverage through personal branding

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

You don't have 100,000+ followers. Stop taking advice from people who do.


The "inbound only" crowd scaled when LinkedIn was a different game. 

Less noise. 
Easier reach.
Less competition. 

Now look at their engagement vs. audience size. It's not great.

Why? They attracted followers who were never their ICP.

I've seen their own coaching clients preach inbound for months. Then suddenly they're all for outbound too.

Lmao, why? Because you can't grow a business relying on inbound alone.

Outbound isn't desperate. It's smart.

Forget the guru nonsense. Do this instead:

Spend 30 mins a day checking profile viewers and who's engaging with your content. If they fit your ICP, send a quick message:

"Hey [name], saw you engage with my post on [topic]. Would be good to compare notes."

Low pressure. Gets the conversation going.

The loudest voices on this platform aren't always the smartest. They're just the ones who got here first.

Matt Wheeler-Barrett 

We turn your story into revenue | Co-founder @ Unyfy

I just hit 20,000 followers.

And honestly?

I almost didn't make it here.

Not because of LinkedIn.

Because of life.

So if you're new here, or you've been following for a while and don't actually know my story – here it is:

2017: Started Rewear – selling high-end pre-loved clothing.

Got the cofounders of a major SA ecommerce site to invest in my company.

I was 24 and thought I'd figured it all out.

Spoiler: I hadn't.

2018: Got into another business – completely separate from Rewear.

Got screwed over. Lost a lot of money.

Between that and trying to keep Rewear going, I learnt more about people, investment, and how brutal building a business really is than anything else has taught me since.

2019: Tried to keep Rewear alive.

Barely holding on.

2020: Finally got a stable job.

Then Covid hit. Got retrenched.

2021: Moved to the UK. Landed a role at an awesome full-house agency.

On paper, things looked great.

2022: Anxiety kicked in hard. Didn't have many friends. Started going out too much to avoid sitting with my thoughts.

Overthinking became my full-time job.

2023: Moved back to Cape Town thinking a change of scenery would fix my mental health.

It didn't.

Kept going out. Kept masking everything.

Then I lost my job.

So I started Unyfy.

2024: Lost clients. Won clients. Rode every up and down like my life depended on it.

Because it kind of did.

2025: Started coaching for Matt Lakajev – a LinkedIn creator in Australia.

We'd jump on calls at midnight my time.

Did that for almost 2 years.

Grew Unyfy to 25+ clients and a team of 8.

2026: Still here. Still building.

Working with international clients. Coaching more people. Growing this thing one post at a time.

Here's what I've realised:

LinkedIn didn't just help me build a business.

It gave me a way to rebuild myself.

A place to be honest about the messy parts.

A place to connect with people who've been through their own version of chaos.

So whether you just followed me today or you've been here since the early days – thank you.

This is what 20K looks like when you zoom out.

Not a straight line up.

More like a drunk walk home at 3am.

But I'm still walking.

12:00 AM to 1:30 AM. Every Monday. For nearly two years.


That was my coaching schedule when I initially started in Matt Lakajev's community.

500+ small business owners on B2B personal branding. All because Matt messaged me and gave me a shot.

You thought you had the Monday blues? Try waking up at midnight every week for 1 year.

But I loved every second of it.

I knew it would help my brand. My community growth. And most importantly, my own learnings.

This Saturday, I coached a creator at my house. At one point, I paused. Cracked a little smile.

I never thought I'd be getting paid to make other people's lives better.

That's the thing about opportunities.

Most people half-ass them. They show up when it's convenient. They disappear when it gets hard.

The ones who win? They go all in. Even at midnight. Even when nobody's watching.

Matt gave me a shot. I showed up for two years straight.

That's how you earn the next level.

---

Who gave you an opportunity that changed your trajectory?

Go all in

The algorithm isn't killing your reach. Your 30-second ChatGPT post is.


LinkedIn's getting proper weird lately.

Everyone's moaning about the algorithm. Meanwhile, they're pumping out AI slop and wondering why nobody engages.

Mate. Come on.

Then you scroll through the comments, and like 60% of them aren't even real people anymore. AI BS everywhere.

And don't get me started on the AI agent bros. "Replace your $15k p/m marketing team with this tool!" 

Zero proof. Just vibes and a Stripe link.

I'm genuinely confused, though.

Because while everyone's crying about how hard LinkedIn is, I'm closing deals every week.

It has become one of my most effective business development tools. And I'm not doing anything fancy. Just not being lazy about it.

The bar is on the floor, and most people still can't clear it.

Wild.

---

What's the weirdest thing you've seen on here lately?

You've got 20-year-olds claiming their AI model can replace a $50k/pm marketing team. Most of them have never even had a client longer than 6 months.

Everyone's making noise. Few are making sense.

And there's a difference between good storytelling and straight-up lying.

Nike promised me I'd play like LeBron. They weren't completely wrong.

I didn't suddenly dunk. But I walked with more confidence. That's brilliant marketing.

It's rooted in something real. LeBron actually wears them. They actually perform.

Good storytellers make you feel something while staying close to the truth. Bad actors just make stuff up and hope you never ask questions.

Here's what people miss:

Selling is easy. Retention is a completely different game.

Anyone can close a deal with a good pitch. But keeping clients month after month?

That takes actual results. Actual delivery. And all the stuff nobody talks about:

- Managing expectations when things go sideways
- Having difficult conversations without burning the relationship
- Reading the room when a client's frustrated but not saying it

That's not something you can fake. Most people making outlandish claims have never had to retain a single customer.

The loudest voices on this platform aren't always the smartest. They're just the ones fighting hardest for your attention.

Before you hand over money to anyone, ask how long their clients actually stick around. That tells you everything.

Anyone can show you a testimonial. Retention rates don't lie.

Bold claims are cheap. Proof is expensive.

That's why most people don't have it.

📌 I’ve started dropping more content here: https://lnkd.in/dRw5pRYG

Co-founder @ Unyfy | We turn your story into revenue.

$200M ARR. 120 employees. And a content machine that made it all possible.
 
Here's how Lovable turned LinkedIn into their #1 growth channel:
 
1. They turned team members into distribution.
 
Every team member posting on LinkedIn. CEO Anton Osika leading from the front. Their reach wasn't the corporate page. It was the combined networks of the entire team. Look at the image. That's not luck. That's strategy.
 
2. They let users do the talking.
 
No flashy campaigns. Just real people sharing what they built. Every shared app URL became a free ad.
 
3. They made speed the flex.
 
Deployment in minutes. While competitors talked features, users were posting “I built this in hours.” That’s what gets shared.
 
4. They turned milestones into content.
 
$10M ARR in ~60 days. Rapid user growth shortly after launch. They didn’t just hit numbers. They broadcast them. Built a hyper-growth narrative people wanted to follow.
 
5. They showed the product everywhere.
 
Finance teams automating workflows. Designers shipping without devs. Real builds shared publicly across different use cases.
 
6. They made users look good.
 
Nobody shares content that makes them look like they needed help. Lovable made people look like builders. That's the bit most companies miss.
 
7. They built employer brand through visibility.
 
They shared their culture, mission, and the intensity of the work. The right people paid attention.
 
Their content distribution became the real moat between their tech and their customers.
 
Most B2B companies pump out product updates and feature announcements. Wondering why nobody cares.
 
Lovable got it. The best marketing doesn't look like marketing. It looks like your customers winning.
 
Give people something worth sharing.

📌 I’ve started dropping more content here: https://lnkd.in/dRw5pRYG

I don't have 100k followers. But I've closed more deals than most people with 10x my audience.

Something I keep hearing through my network is that a lot of these big creators are broke. Seriously. They write for virality, not for business. The numbers look great but the bank account tells a different story.

Here's what actually works:

1. Your hook is doing 70% of the heavy lifting.

I've seen average ideas with killer hooks outperform brilliant posts with boring ones. Every single time.

If people don't stop scrolling, nothing else matters.

2. Formatting isn't optional.

Nobody's reading your wall of text. They're scrolling past it.

But don't over-format either. Over-perfection is becoming imperfection online. Messy and real beats polished and forgettable.

3. Stop chasing vanity metrics.

Going viral means nothing if the wrong people are watching.

Write for the people who will actually pay you. That's it.

4. Define your content enemy.

You need to stand against something.

For me, it's the gurus and 100% AI-generated fluff. Show your audience your offer fits the current climate. Not what worked 5 years ago.

5. Your DMs are where the money is.

Inbound is great. But outbound builds momentum faster.

Check who's viewing your profile. See who's engaging. If they fit your ICP, start a conversation. Be human about it.

And stop listening to the "inbound only" crowd. The platform was different when they grew.

6. No CTA = wasted post.

I used to skip this because I thought it came across as pushy. Turns out people actually need to know what to do next. If you don't tell them, they'll just scroll on.

Especially when you're posting sales content or social proof. That's when a strong CTA matters most. You've got their attention, don't waste it.

7. Consistency compounds. But not daily posting.

2-3 quality posts a week beats 7 mediocre ones. Show up enough to stay top of mind and you're already ahead of most people.

The loudest voices on this platform aren't always the smartest. They're just the ones who got here first.

Stop copying their playbook. Build your own.

---

What's worked for you? Drop it below.

The Instagram version of entrepreneurship is a lie.

What people think running a business is:

- Taking Fridays off because you can
- Working 4 hours a week from Bali
- Freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want

What running a business actually is:

- Not taking a proper holiday in months
- Putting your team above your own needs
- Pain from clients messaging at 11pm expecting instant replies
- Rejection from 20 "we'll think about it" meetings that go nowhere
- Doing the same unsexy tasks every single day until they finally work

Nobody posts about the boring bits. The repetitive bits. The bits that make you question why you started in the first place.

But that's the job.

Master rejection, boredom, and pain.

That's the only way you win this game.

The gurus forgot to mention this part. Probably because it doesn't sell...


Running an agency is hard. I'm not going to lie.

• Managing 25+ clients.
• Finding time to actually level up my own skills.
• Coaching creators around the world in their communities.
• Constantly finding new ideas for clients and getting them bought in.
• Keeping a team of 7 motivated and giving them the best environment possible.

Trying to juggle all of this means you mess things up.

• Like forgetting to double-check if your VAT payment went through.
• Not getting work to where the client wants it and having to start again.
• Getting ghosted after taking someone through a whole sales process.
• Stressing about scaling while chasing invoices and managing cashflow.
• Not having the energy to focus on my own personal brand.
• Losing friends because I simply don't have any free time or much of a social life anymore.

And the best part about all of this?

I freaking love it and wouldn't want it any other way.

When we're younger, life teaches us to avoid failure. What a load of rubbish that is.

No matter what downs I go through, I will never stop pushing. I will never stop working as hard as I can.

When people know you're honest, transparent, and willing not to give up, you keep opening doors for yourself.

The messy bits are the real bits. And if you keep showing up through them, anything is possible.

📌 I’ve started dropping more content here: https://lnkd.in/dRw5pRYG

The gurus lied to you

Ben Affleck just called out the AI industry on Joe Rogan.

And mate, it's what we've all been thinking but were too scared to admit.

"ChatGPT writing is really shitty by its nature because it goes to the mean."

I nearly spat my coffee out because he's absolutely right.

AI averages out everything on the internet, which means it creates mid every single time.

And I see it every day on LinkedIn when someone pumps out three posts in 10 minutes using ChatGPT, and there's no personality, no perspective, no reason for me to actually care what they're saying.

Then they DM me asking why nobody's engaging with their content.

Mate. Come on.

Here's the bit that got me:

Affleck said the AI companies need you to believe the world's ending.

"The reason they're saying AI will replace everything is they need to justify the capex spend on data centers. They argue the next model will be twice as good. Except ChatGPT-5 is only 25% better than ChatGPT-4 and costs four times as much."

OpenAI is worth $500 billion and they're burning $17 billion this year, so the only story that justifies those numbers is mass disruption, and that's exactly the story they tell.

But here's what they're not saying: 73% of ChatGPT usage is non-work related.

People are using it as a companion bot. Not a productivity tool.

So when someone tells you "AI is coming for your job," ask yourself: who's getting rich off you believing that?

I'm not anti-AI.

I use it every day, and it's brilliant for brainstorming, drafting emails, and getting unstuck when I'm staring at a blank page, but it can't write my content for me because AI can't tell my story, share my perspective, or make people think, "Yeah, this bloke gets it."

Affleck nailed it when he compared AI to visual effects.

"It's going to be a tool. It's going to save us money and time. We're going to focus on the performances instead of freezing our asses off at the North Pole."

That's it. That's the framing. AI handles the logistics. You handle the thinking.

Here's what I actually see working on LinkedIn right now:

People who use AI to brainstorm, then write in their own voice.

People who share their actual experience, not regurgitated best practices.

People who make their content recognizable as THEIRS. If I covered your name, I'd still know it was you.

That's the standard.

And honestly? The bar is on the floor.

Everyone's outsourcing their voice to AI, which means showing up as an actual human with actual thoughts is a competitive advantage.

You don't need to be perfect. You need to be you.

Ben Affleck's right. AI writing is shitty because it reverts to the mean, so if you want to stand out on LinkedIn, stop trying to sound like everyone else.

Start sounding like yourself.

Most people on LinkedIn treat it like a broadcasting platform. That's why most people don't make money from it.

They post content, get some likes, then wonder why nobody's actually buying from them.

Here's what they're missing:

LinkedIn isn't a content platform. It's a relationship platform.

The people winning on here aren't the ones with the most followers or the most viral posts. They're the ones having the most conversations.

I've closed multiple 5-figure deals from LinkedIn in the last year. Not one came from someone randomly DMing me after seeing a post.

They all came from relationships I built by actually engaging with people.

Here's what that looks like:

1. Give away your best knowledge for free

The more value you give away, the more people trust you. Serving is selling. Always has been.

2. Comment like you actually mean it

Stop dropping "Great post!" and emoji spam. If you're going to comment, say something that adds to the conversation. Share your perspective. Disagree thoughtfully.

Treat every comment like a mini-post. Because that's how people notice you.

3. Reply to the right DMs strategically

Your DMs are where the real relationships start. If there's strategic potential with that person, have the conversation.
Every conversation gives you insight into how people think about your offer and what your positioning is missing.

4. Don't pitch in the first message

Build the relationship first. Be genuinely curious. Ask questions. Add value.
The business will come if the relationship is real.

5. Show up consistently (but don't spam)

Post when you have something worth saying. Comment on 10-15 posts a day from your ideal clients. Reply to your DMs.

Here's the reality:

Most people on LinkedIn are optimising for vanity metrics. Likes, followers, impressions.
But none of that pays your bills. Relationships, conversations, and trust do.

If you want LinkedIn to actually drive business:

→ Give away your best thinking for free 
→ Comment like you're starting a conversation 
→ Reply to your DMs strategically 
→ Stop pitching. Start building relationships. 
→ Show up consistently

The people with the most loyal followings treat LinkedIn like a community, not a stage.

Serving is selling.

Relationships are revenue.

The rest is just noise.

P.S. If you've ever bought from someone on LinkedIn, I'm curious: what made you trust them enough to buy? Was it their content, or was it something they said in a conversation?

Progress shared publicly compounds faster than progress kept private.


If you want to build a business around your ideas one day, start writing on the internet.

Putting your thoughts out there does two things:

1. It shows people what you're thinking about.
2. It forces you to prove you're making progress.

When you write publicly, you create a quiet kind of pressure.

People start watching.

You start holding yourself to a higher standard.

I actually love that pressure.

It keeps me moving. It stops me hiding behind "thinking" instead of doing.

LinkedIn just became the highest ROI channel for B2B.
So why are you sabotaging yourself with AI-generated garbage?


Most people think they're "scaling" their outreach.

They're not. They're training everyone in their network to ignore them.

Here are 5 things you need to stop doing immediately:

1. Stop pitch-slapping strangers in the DMs

You wouldn't walk up to someone at a networking event and immediately start selling. So why are you doing it here?

Build a relationship first. Engage with their content. Show value before you ever mention what you do.

And when you follow up? Make it human. Reference something specific they posted. Show you actually paid attention.

2. Ditch the AI-generated comments

"Great insights! Thanks for sharing."

These aren't engagement. They're noise.

Add something NEW to the conversation. Share a related experience. Challenge a point. Give people a reason to click your profile.

3. Stop confusing volume with value

Sending 100 automated connection requests won't beat 10 personalised ones.

Quality compounds. Volume just burns your reputation faster.

4. Show your actual personality

LinkedIn isn't a corporate press release.

If every piece of content sounds like it came from ChatGPT, you're invisible.

Contrarian takes. Strong opinions. Real stories. That's what cuts through.

5. Treat your network like humans, not leads

Your DMs shouldn't look like a sales funnel. Your comments shouldn't be copy-pasted. Your follow-ups shouldn't feel automated.

If you're using AI to "scale" your outreach, you're burning bridges at scale.

The harsh truth:

Everyone can spot the automation now. And they're all making the same decision: ignore you.

LinkedIn rewards the people who show up like actual humans. Who take the time. Who give a damn.

If you're not willing to do that, don't be surprised when no one takes you seriously.

The human approach wins

How to fail on LinkedIn and make no money:



- Lead with credentials because some guru told you to.
- Post and ghost without starting any conversations.
- Let AI write everything for you.
- Wait until you feel "ready" to finally hit publish.
- Chase every trend you see.
- Hide your personality behind "professionalism."
- Comment without adding any value or perspective.
- Write about topics that don't match your profile.
- Sell before a single person trusts you.
- Use jargon your audience doesn't understand.
- Teach lessons nobody asked for.
- Post randomly with no strategy.

I see this every day. People following playbooks that stopped working years ago. Wondering why nothing's landing.

LinkedIn has evolved. It's not just about content anymore.

Your posts bring people in. Your profile builds trust. Your conversations convert relationships into deals. 

Inbound, profile, outbound. All three working together.

The people winning right now aren't experts. They're just real humans who stopped hiding behind a script.

The loudest voices on this platform aren't always the smartest. They're just the ones who got here first.

Stop copying their playbook. Build your own.

---

What's the fastest way you've seen someone tank their LinkedIn?

No alternative text description for this image

You don't have 50K people watching you. Stop performing like you do.


Your early engaged audience aren't critics.

They're giving you free feedback on what works.

Every comment. Every like. Every profile view.

That's data showing you what resonates with your ICP.

Most beginners obsess over getting it perfect.

The ones who grow? They use that feedback to make 1% improvements every single day.
The ones who actually grow? They treat every post as a feedback loop.

Here's the harsh truth:

Your content strategy will never be perfect at the start. And if you're actually testing things, it shouldn't be.

So if you're just getting started, here's what actually works:

1. Post 2-3x per week. Consistency beats perfection. Quality over daily mediocrity.

2. Write from your own experience. Not stuff you found on ChatGPT. AI-generated content erodes trust.

3. Comment on 10-15 posts a day from your ICP. Add perspective, not "Love this!" or emoji spam.

4. Check who's viewing your profile. If they fit, start a conversation. Your DMs are where the money is.

5. Ask yourself: What do I want them to do after reading this? Comment? DM? Visit your profile? If you don't know, neither will they.
   
Your first posts will be rough. So were mine (see the image).

But the gap between where you are and where you want to be isn't talent.

It's just being willing to start before you feel ready.

Your personal brand is a business development tool. Treat it like one.

----

P.S. Every single person started somewhere. This is me from 3 years go in the image below.

The big LinkedIn gurus aren't solving your problems. They're selling to them.


Coffee with Daniel Stott this morning.

We got into LinkedIn. The courses. The gurus. All the advice floating around.

And we kept coming back to the same thing:

Most of it doesn't actually help.

Not because it's bad advice. It's just built for scale.

When someone has 100,000 followers, their courses need to work for thousands of people. That's the business model.

They need a marketing consultant to get the same value as a coach. And a SaaS founder to nod along with the same framework a freelance designer is using.

Same course. Same advice.

"Post valuable content. Be consistent. Engage daily."

But here's what they're not addressing:

The messy, unsexy problems small business owners are actually dealing with.

How do I productise this thing I do?

What's my positioning when 500 people claim to do the same thing?

What's a foot-in-the-door offer that doesn't cheapen my main service?

The big inbound gurus aren't in those weeds anymore. They can't be. Their business is selling courses to thousands.

Which means the advice has to be generic enough to apply to everyone.

And advice for everyone is advice for no one.

If you're still figuring it out, you need specifics. Not platitudes from someone who hasn't thought about your problems in years.

You're going to make people uncomfortable.


Because when you start moving different…

…they'll think you're crazy.
…they'll say you're doing too much.
…they'll ask why you don't just "chill a bit."

Most people are terrified of someone who chooses ambition over average.

They don't get it:

- You're not chasing weekends. You're chasing freedom.
- You're not avoiding fun. You're building something that lasts.
- You're not addicted to work. You're addicted to purpose.

And that's the difference between people who talk and people who actually execute.

I've been called "too intense" more times than I can count. I've lost friends who didn't understand why I couldn't just switch off.

But we've also built an agency with 25+ clients, a team of 8, and a product from scratch. While the people telling me to "relax" are still exactly where they were 3 years ago.

Ideas are cheap. Everyone's got them.

Execution is expensive. That's why most people don't have it.

Stay misunderstood. Keep building.

The people who get it will find you.

---

Who else has been told they're "doing too much"? Drop it below 👇

Copying content is fine at first. Copying forever is how you stay stuck.


When I started creating content, I studied creators I admired. Picked apart their hooks. Analysed their structures. Tried to replicate what worked.

And it helped. For a bit.

But here's what most people miss:

The goal isn't to copy forever. It's to copy long enough to understand the mechanics, then iterate into something that's actually yours.

Most creators never make that transition. They stay stuck in "inspired by" mode. 

• The same hooks. 
• Recycling the same formats. 
• The same structures everyone else is using.

That's why they blend in.

The move that actually works?

Stop looking at what's working in your niche. Start looking at what's working outside it.

Find a format crushing it in fitness content. Adapt it to B2B. Find a storytelling style working in tech. Bring it to your industry.

That's how you create something people haven't seen before.

Your niche is already saturated with people copying each other. The differentiation comes from pulling inspiration from places your competitors aren't looking.

Copy to learn. Iterate to stand out.

---

What's one format you've adapted from outside your niche? Drop it below.

Strategic authenticity isn't being yourself.

It's being the version of yourself people actually want to talk to.

Most people treat LinkedIn like a personal diary or a corporate press release.

Neither gets you conversations.

And if you're not having conversations, you're not winning on LinkedIn.

I don't care how many likes your post got.

Here's what I mean by strategic authenticity:

1. You share the messy bits, but with purpose.

Nobody connects with perfect. They connect with "I've been there too."

But you're not trauma dumping. You're showing the struggle in a way that makes people think, "This person gets it."

That's the difference between venting and positioning.

2. You have opinions people can actually respond to.

"Be authentic!" is the laziest advice on LinkedIn.

Authenticity without a point of view is just background noise.

Take a stance. Stand for something. Against something.

Give people a reason to agree, disagree, or slide into your DMs with their own take.

3. You make it easy to start a conversation.

Most people's content is a monologue.

Then they wonder why nobody replies.

Your posts should feel like the opening line of a conversation, not the final word.

Ask questions. Leave gaps. Make people want to chime in.

Here's the bit nobody talks about:

The "inbound only" gurus are lying to you.

"Just post valuable content and clients will come!"

Mate. Come on.

I've closed multiple 5-figure deals from LinkedIn. Not one came from someone randomly DMing me after seeing a post.

They came from me starting the conversation.

Here's what actually works:

→ Post something that shows you understand their world

→ Comment on 10-15 posts from your ICP every day (actual thoughts, not emoji spam)

→ Check who's viewing your profile

→ If they fit, DM them

→ Have an actual conversation

The content gets you noticed. The conversations get you paid.

Stop waiting for inbound. Start being strategic about outbound.

Position yourself as approachable, not untouchable.

Share your thinking, not just your wins.

And for the love of god, stop outsourcing your voice to ChatGPT.

People don't connect with polish. They connect with people.

Your personal brand is a business development tool.

Treat it like one.

taplio

The Battle

Joseph Rudd

Matt Wheeler-Barrett

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance ScoreJoseph Rudd's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMatt Wheeler-Barrett's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

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);}Joseph Rudd's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMatt Wheeler-Barrett's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJoseph Rudd's LinkedIn Performance