My marketing career in 28 sentences:

1. Quit job at Sam's Club to start an eComm business

2. Borrow $40k from my dad

3. Lose $35k in the first four months

4. Realize you suck at marketing

5. Spend $4k+ on useless marketing courses and masterminds

6. Use your last $300 to buy Breakthrough Advertising (yes, it cost $300 in 2013)

7. Read the book three times in 2 weeks

8. Make $200k in 6 months

9. PayPal shuts down your account and keeps half the money for another six months

10. Quit eCommerce and spend a year reading, thinking, and writing

11. Start freelancing and get fired from your first client

12. Double down on consulting and double your rates

13. Get three retainers and feel on top of the world

14. Blow up your retainers by taking on too much work

15. Get so stressed you get shingles at 26 years old

16. Take a month off to heal

17. Get hired as a full-time content marketer at an agency

18. Spend a year and a half learning the ropes of content marketing

19. Start a content marketing consulting business on the side

20. Get so busy you have to quit your agency job

21. Marketing starts to make sense

22. Close a 6-figure content marketing deal with a big brand

23. Rethink everything you knew about marketing

24. Design a "unified theory" of marketing and put it together into a 20,000-word PDF

25. Get better results for clients and yourself

26. Post about your experiences on Twitter and LinkedIn

27. Build a following of people who are interested in what you're doing

28. Learn to deal with haters and trolls

---

Want a content engine that converts right off the bat and positions your brand for the long term?

Shoot me a DM.

Josue Valles

Curationlabs

We partner with VC-backed founders to turn their voice, vision, and experience into a high-trust LinkedIn presence that accelerates hiring, sales, and fundraising. This isn’t ghostwriting. It’s strategic amplification. We make sure the right people believe in what you’re building.

Founder

Marketing(Curated)

Learn marketing from the world's best marketers

tulkit. inc

Partner

Founder at The-Flyer-1™

I build curated assets that last.

If you're a founder or C-level exec looking to build your personal brand, I can help you build a curated library of assets that'll help you grow fast without sacrificing quality.

If you're a consultant or agency who wants to incorporate curation into their marketing arsenal, I offer a 12-week workshop where I guide you through my entire process.

Want to learn more?

Send me a DM.

In 1984, J. Walter Thompson ran this copy test once. Thousands took it. Only 10 people landed jobs. Those 10 people went on to become the brightest creative stars in the business. 

Here is the exact test they had to pass:

1. The Poppy Putrid Song 

"You are the songwriter for hitmaker Poppy Putrid. She's just had three recent No. 1 hits. All love songs. For her next hit, Poppy wants a song about moldy pizza, rancid butter, and flat beer. Her agent is convinced it should be another love song. Make it both."

This tests your ability to handle Cognitive Dissonance. Can you marry two conflicting concepts to create something memorable. Does your brain break when the pattern is disrupted?

2. Dialogue in a Dark Alley

"Write a Dialogue in a Dark Alley. (Not more than 200 words.)"

This tests your ear for dialogue. Great copy doesn't sound like writing; it sounds like speaking. 

3. The Taxi Strike 

"The Transit Authority has denied a request by the city's taxi drivers to increase fares... The cabbies have gone on strike... As a rookie reporter, it's your opportunity to shine. Write the banner headline and a story not to exceed 500 words."

This tests Persona Adoption. They want to see if you can inhabit the mindset of a hungry, ambitious rookie.

4. The Martian Speech 

"A delegation of Martians has just landed in Central Park... Prepare a short speech (comprised of pictures and symbols) to welcome them..."

This tests Simplification. Do you actually understand the core concept well enough to draw it?

5. Walletsize Books 

"You are a writer for Walletsize Books. Describe the history of the United States in 100 words or less."

This tests Editorial Judgment. Anyone can write a 10-page essay. It takes a master to decide what to cut. 

6. The Trappist Monk 

"You've heard the story about the man who made a fortune selling refrigerators to Eskimos... how would you sell a telephone to a Trappist monk who is observing the strict Rule of Silence?"

This tests Benefit vs. Feature. You must sell the benefit relative to the specific user's worldview.

7. Gun Control vs. NRA 

"Design/draw two posters. One is for legislating strict gun-control laws. The other is in support of the NRA."

This tests Radical Empathy. To be a great copywriter, you must be able to detach from your own ego and advocate effectively for the client, regardless of your personal beliefs.

8. The Dime Campaign 

"Develop a script for a popular network television program that will convince the show's millions of viewers to each send in a dime. (You have 30 seconds to be convincing.)"

In a 30-second script, you need urgency and a psychological hook immediately. You must trigger an emotional response in seconds.

---

We have become obsessed with tools, hacks, and algorithms.

But the fundamentals of persuasion haven't changed in 40 years.

- Simplification
- Empathy
- Brevity
- Psychology

Which of these prompts would be the hardest for you to answer?👇

Founder of Markmind.co | Follow me for content on writing, thinking, and personal communication as a meta-skill

When Alan Mulally took over as Ford's CEO in 2006, the company was bleeding $12.7 billion a year. So he made one simple rule: 

Everyone HAD to attend his weekly meetings. No exceptions.

Every leader had to report their progress.

When a prominent executive skipped the first meeting, Mulally confronted him.

"That's okay. We can still be friends. But you can't work here," he said.

The results were staggering:

1. Ford went from a $12.7B loss in 2006 to a $6.3B profit in 2014.

2. The stock price soared 1,640% from its crisis low.

3. Ford became the only Detroit automaker that didn't need a government bailout.

Mulally's weekly meetings created what he called a "One Team" culture.

He forced executives to stop playing politics and start solving problems together. He built accountability through radical transparency and relentless implementation.

Most CEOs avoid confrontation.

Mulally made it the cornerstone of his turnaround.

Founder of markmind.co | Follow me for content on writing, thinking, and personal communication as a meta-skill

When Cheryl Bachelder took over as CEO of Popeyes in 2007, the company was a dumpster fire. The stock had crashed from $34 to $13. Four CEOs in seven years.

Your average CEO would've come in swinging.

You know...firing people, slashing costs, and demanding results.

Bachelder did the opposite.

She chose to SERVE her franchisees.

"How can we help you raise your bottom line?" became her standard question.

She traveled city to city, meeting one-on-one with franchise owners.

Not to lecture them.

To listen.

She treated them like partners.

And they were floored.

Here’s what happened over the next decade:

* Restaurant sales shot up 45%.
* Restaurant profits more than doubled.
* The stock price soared from $15 to $79.

Bachelder's philosophy was "serving the people and the enterprise is by far the best path to superior financial performance."

She built a culture where leaders served, instead of waiting to be served.

Most companies demand loyalty from the bottom up.

Cheryl earned it from the top down.

In 2011, this article was published to celebrate David Ogilvy's 100th birthday. It asks: 

"What can a man who never heard of the internet teach us about advertising?"

Well, IMO, quite a few things:

1. Deep research is still the only competitive advantage left in the AI era

In 1951, a small shirt manufacturer called Hathaway was on the brink of obscurity. They couldn't afford a celebrity. 

Ogilvy didn't just "get creative." He went to the library and researched for WEEKS until he found a photo of Baron Wrangel wearing an eye patch. He realized the patch added "story appeal."

He put an eye patch on the model for the shirt ad.

This campaign ran for 21 YEARS and made Hathaway famous.

I see so many copywriters using ChatGPT to "speed up" their process. Meanwhile, Ogilvy claimed to "pursue knowledge the way a pig pursues truffles." He studied EVERY SINGLE variable before writing a word. 

2. Spend 80% of your energy on the headline

This one is a bit cliché, but still worth repeating.

For his famous Rolls-Royce ad, Ogilvy wrote 104 headlines. He threw away 103. He finally came up with: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock."

If you haven't written at least 20 variations of your hook, headline or whatever, you haven't started working yet.

3. Replace "fluffy" adjectives with concrete facts

Ogilvy despised adjectives. He believed words like "good," "best," and "innovative" were signs of a lazy mind.

Notice the Rolls-Royce headline above.

He didn't write: "This car is very quiet."

He gave you a concrete fact about an electric clock.

If you can't back your claim up with a number or a noun, delete it.

4. Stop making ads that look like ads

Ogilvy noticed people read editorial content 6x more than they read ads.

So he stopped making ads that looked like ads.

He used the same fonts as the newspaper. He used drop-caps. He organized the text into columns.

He tricked the eye into reading.

This is the principle of "camouflage."

And the reason organic posts coming from a personal profile are so powerful.

5. Write like your dinner depends on the click

Before Madison Avenue, Ogilvy sold stoves door-to-door in Scotland. He learned that if the pitch wasn't perfect, he starved. You need to write as if you're standing on a doorstep in the rain, trying to feed yourself.

6. Long copy still sells (if you solve a painful problem)

People say, "In 2025, attention spans are too short for long copy."

That's just lazy.

People binge 12-hour Netflix series in one sitting.

They don't have short attention spans. They just have ZERO tolerance for boredom.

If you solve a bleeding neck problem, they will read every word.

---

Ogilvy didn't have ChatGPT.

BUT he had "ungovernable curiosity" and a deep respect for the wallet of his client.

Today, we have 100x the data but 1/10th of the empathy.

Maybe there's a lesson there.

If you work in a creative role (writing, design, marketing, etc.) and you don't spend AT LEAST 20% of your time wandering, playing, or just doing absolutely nothing…

IMO, you're on the fast track to slop.

And yes, for a 40-hour work week, that'd be 8 hours of absolute "unproductivity."

If you're spending 100% of your time "working," you're spending 0% of your time thinking.

And if you're not thinking, you're not creating.

Which is fine if you want to be a production machine.

But if you want to produce quality work, you MUST allocate time for rest and recovery.

Real creativity requires INPUT.

New experiences. New perspectives. New stimuli.

And it requires PROCESSING TIME.

Your subconscious needs space to connect dots that your conscious mind can't see.

The best ideas I've ever had didn't come from sitting at my desk, grinding away for 8 hours straight.

They came from:

* Staring out the window for 20 minutes
* Taking a walk without my phone
* Reading something completely unrelated to my work
* Having a random conversation at a coffee shop
* Literally doing nothing and letting my brain wander

Here's what that looks like in practice:

(1) Block off time in your calendar for "thinking time" and protect it like a client meeting
(2) Take walks without your phone (seriously, leave it at your desk)
(3) Read things outside your industry…fiction, history, science, whatever
(4) Have conversations with people who do completely different work than you
(5) Stare out the window and let your mind wander 
(6) Take a real lunch break away from your desk
(7) Stop checking Slack/email every 5 minutes
(8) Say no to meetings that don't absolutely require you

Your boss/client might not understand this.

But I’d bet my life savings on this:

The person who spends 32 focused hours creating + 8 hours wandering will produce WAY BETTER work than the person who grinds for 40 hours straight.

That’s just how it works.

Because creative work isn't about time spent.

It's about the quality of thinking that goes into it.

And quality thinking requires space.

Fin.

After nearly 4 years of writing LinkedIn content, I've boiled my philosophy down to 8 core principles:

1. The best content comes from people who've done something specific that most people haven't. If you haven't lived it, researched it deeply, or failed at it spectacularly, you probably shouldn't be teaching it.

2. There's only 2 ways to write damn good content: a) Personal experience  (you tried something, it worked/failed, now you share the lesson and b) information arbitrage (you found insights in one industry/medium and translated them to another). Everything else is just commentary on commentary.

3. Your audience size doesn't matter.  I know creators with 100K followers who can't sell a $50 product. And creators with 2K followers who do $500K years. The difference is just the "audience intent." 1000 people who found you because they have the exact problem you solve or believe what you believe beats 100K randoms.

4. Everyone wants to learn from your disasters. The campaign that lost $50K. The hire that almost killed your company. The strategy that backfired. Mistakes just feel a bit more honest and authentic. 

5. Great content makes people feel like they're in the room when the thing happened. Use sensory details, share the exact words people said, and describe how you felt in your stomach. People will always remember how you made them feel.

6. You need an enemy more than you need an audience. The most memorable brands are AGAINST something. Apple vs. boring computers. Tesla vs. gas guzzlers. Your content should have a clear villain. Outdated thinking, bad advice, lazy competitors, whatever. People don't rally around neutral positions. That's just how it works.

7. Your personality is your distribution strategy. Don't get too caught up in algorithms, hooks, templates, and all that stuff. Yes, it matters. But it's just table stakes. It's your personality - your beliefs, stories, and opinions - that will truly make a difference.

8. Don't apologize for having bold opinions. If you believe something works, say it works.  If you think something is stupid, call it stupid. Conviction creates conviction in your audience.

---

In a nutshell, everything boils down to "doing cool stuff" and documenting it. 

The real problem isn't that you can't write. It's really not that hard. The problem is that you haven't anything to said yet.

Read books, fail big, start a company, meet interesting people.

Then worry about the writing.

🫡

What is your worst nightmare?

For most people, it’s public failure. It’s bankruptcy. It’s being laughed at.

But there is a fate much worse than failure.

It is to rank among those "cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

These are the gray people. 

The ones who never bet on themselves. 

They didn't lose. But they didn't live.

The world is filled with gray people - the critics.

They sit in the cheap seats. They watch the game. They keep the score. They point out the stumble. They sneer when the quarterback throws an interception. They write the think piece on why the startup failed. They laugh at your LinkedIn posts.

It feels like power. It feels like intelligence.

But it is actually cowardice.

Roosevelt called it out 100 years ago: "It is not the critic who counts."

The critic is safe. The critic is clean. The critic has ZERO skin in the game.

The only person who matters is the one whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. 

The one who is actually in the fight.

If you are building something...a company, a movement, a family...you are going to look stupid. You are going to trip. You are going to err.

Good.

That means you aren't observing life. You’re creating it.

Stop listening to the people in the stands. 

They aren't playing the game.

I hate the word "viral." I can't stand it anymore. It makes you think you're winning because the numbers are going up to the right. But virality creates ZERO defensibility. Anyone can go viral tomorrow. Literally anyone.

Fidget spinners went viral. Bird Scooters went viral. HQ Trivia went viral. Even Tiger King went viral.

None of those are still relevant in 2025.

Compare that to the most boring stuff you can think of:

Telephones are still here.

Email is still around.

Millions still use Microsoft Excel even though it looks like it belongs in a museum.

Heck, Craigslist hasn't updated its UI since 1999 and it's worth $3 billion.

Study network effects a bit and you'll realize how misleading "speed" really is.

Great things take time. They are slow. They are often incredibly unsexy.

If you're building in the dark right now, remember that the "overnight success" you are jealous of was likely 10 years in the making.

Don't believe everything you see on LinkedIn.

2025 is basically over. 

If you're a copywriter, designer, or any type of creative...

...and you're not a little nervous about 2026. 

IMO, you're not paying attention.

The industry is going through a massive correction.

People losing jobs, companies reducing budgets, and the definition of "quality" becoming blurrier by the day.

It's not just AI (though it plays a role). It’s the economy forcing many companies to choose "fast and cheap" over "great."

I hate to say it, but junior creatives are the most vulnerable because they are now competing against tools that are faster, cheaper, and "good enough" for the bottom line.

So, let's do something about it...

1. Hiring Managers: If you are hiring skilled creatives (or know of an open role), drop the link or details below.

2. Juniors: Introduce yourself. Tell us your role and the one specific skill you bring to the table that AI can't replace.

3. Seniors/Vets: Drop the ONE piece of advice you’d give your 20-year-old self to thrive as a creative. 

In times of uncertainty, the best thing we can do is lift each other up. Go. 👇

1. Liquid Death is valued at $1.4B. It's literally just water. In a can. A commodity in a market that couldn't be more saturated. Their innovation? They branded it like a heavy metal concert.

2. IKEA makes well over $5 BILLION/year. Their genius innovation? They tricked you into doing the assembly line's job for free.

3. A24, an indie film company up against giants, is valued at $2.5B. Their innovation? They found all the "weirdo" directors Hollywood was too scared to bet on and gave them creative freedom.

4. MSCHF has hit a $200M valuation. Their innovation? They built a whole business model around selling completely impractical prank products that go viral.

Not a single one of these companies was built on a line of code.

They were built by avoiding "Groupthink."

Real innovation doesn't come from a committee. 

Committees are designed to find consensus. 

And consensus is where weird, billion-dollar ideas go to die.

Innovation Has Nothing to Do With Tech

Note to self: Be careful with your words.

Luke Shalom

CEO @ Grow Solo I help the C-suite turn industry expertise into predictable pipeline

Most founders are stuck in what I call "The Activity Trap".

They’re on LinkedIn every day:

DMing.
Posting.
Commenting.

Trying to be everywhere, still not getting consistent clients.

They’ve been told “show up and it’ll work.” But they’re doing everything and nothing’s compounding.

Instead of building leverage, they’re trapped in a cycle of rented results, ghostwritten content, and cold DMs that never convert.

Eventually they burn out:

- No time to sell
- No energy to market
- No leverage to scale unless they outsource again and hope it works

When you stop feeding the machine, the pipeline dies.

There’s a better way.

We install your Leverage Engine — a Trust-Led Outbound system powered by AI that turns LinkedIn into a client acquisition channel you own.

Everything runs in under 30 minutes a day.

With Atticus, we’ve helped 75+ B2B founders, consultants and experts:

→ Escape the Activity Trap
→ Scale without headcount
→ Drive 5–10 new deals per month from LinkedIn

Over $120M in pipeline booked without ghostwriters, appointment setters, or agency retainers.

Here’s how it works:

1. Attract

We install an AI content agent trained on your voice and expertise, built from 70+ top performers.
No ghostwriters. You own the engine.

2. Convert

A behind-the-scenes system moves prospects from cold to calendar.
By the time they book, they already trust you.

3. Activate

We build and install the full system in 60 days, fully trained, operational, and ready to scale inside your business.

Real wins from the system:

V, agency owner → 5–8 qualified opportunities/month + Forbes feature + six figures closed

B, M&A founder → $750K in sales-qualified pipeline

J, executive coach → 62 calls + $144K pipeline + price increase from $33K to $44K

J, startup consultant → 20 qualified calls in 20 days + $150K pipeline

B, career coach → 12 qualified leads in 8 days post-activation

This is for founders ready to shift from activity-trapped operators to leveraged dealmakers — where every post and DM builds trust, not just traffic.

Want your own AI Demand Engine installed?

Send me a message with “AI” and I’ll walk you through how it works and exactly what it would look like inside your business.

We help executives to build and monetize their brand on linkedin by scaling your content and turning it into leads, authority and thought leadership.

How?

Engagement + DM flows = Qualified meetings. 

Done with you. Done for you.

Austin Huges, CEO of Unify, is generating multi–8-figure pipeline every month using just three content styles, not an army of sales reps. And those 3 same posts are the reason he has book $120M+ in pipeline in 2025. Here's how: 👇

Most founders think they need a big SDR team to grow.

That’s the old playbook.

But Austin just did something wild:

$120M+ in pipeline in 2025
With a lean team.
With zero SDR bloat
And it’s not a one-off.

Unify has powered $81M+ in pipeline for companies like OpenPhone, Flock Safety, and Justworks.

Here’s what most founders miss:

Austin isn’t scaling headcount.
He’s scaling signal from his content on LinkedIn.

No spam.
No generic templates.
No blasting thousands of emails.

He uses:

• A founder personal brand to drive followers, likes, comments and profile views
• AI agents running SDR workflows towards the intent from content in seconds
• Perfectly timed outbound when the prospect cares

The engine behind it: 

Austin’s LinkedIn personal brand.

I read every post he’s put out. Every teardown and behind-the-scenes thread.

His content is the GTM system.

Here are the 3 content types that power everything:

1️⃣ Challenges outdated beliefs (“SDRs aren’t broken. The playbook is.”)

 Part of the funnel: TOFU or MOFU

Why it works:

He positions Unify in the buyer’s journey long before they’re solution-aware. They feel the pain, even if they don’t know the cause.

How you can use this:

- Take a classic problem.
- Take a strong stance.
- Present the new way.
- Explain how your solution fits as the new way.

2️⃣ Shows the real system (templates, workflows, AI agent use cases)
 
Part of the funnel: MOFU and BOFU

Why it works:

Everyone has similar tools, especially in outreach. The differentiator is your mechanism. Once you sell them on the problem, they look for a system.

This content is simple:

 - Outline a pain of your ICP.
 - Show your solution.
 - Add a CTA.

3️⃣ Makes himself the case study

Part of the funnel: TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU

7-8 figures in pipeline generated per month.
150+ meetings generated a month.
Growth up and to the right.

Why it works:

No pitching.
No hard CTAs.
Simply proof in public.

People buy from those they like, know, and trust. By making himself the case study and showing how he scales Unify with Unify, Austin builds real proof that the tool works. This is the glue that holds the LinkedIn demand engine together.

The result:

Founder-led GTM is outperforming outbound teams because buyers trust founders, not reps.

Timing beats volume.
Every. Single. Time.

Austin isn’t just building Unify.

He’s rewriting modern GTM.

He’s just getting started.

Want to build your own predictable Sales System on LinkedIn? Grab a ticket to my "Leveraged Operator" LinkedIn masterclass from the link in the comments. 

I will be helping 100 founders to scale the NEW WAY on LinkedIn using AI. 

Only 50 tickets left. 

Once they are gone they are gone. 

Grab one here - https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

CEO @ Atticus | AI sales systems for founders | I $125M+ pipeline generated for 100+ founders - Want to add $100k a month with LinkedIn + AI - DM me “AI” and I’ll send you a FREE training.

A few crazy things breaking past $50k profit months as a leveraged operator allowed me to do:

- Drive my entire client acquisition funnel on LinkedIn in less than 30 mins a day

- Take afternoons slow again. I finish most days at 3pm because our offers are mostly async delivery (we get paid for our minds and not our time).

- Worked from Colombia for 2 years without the business collapsing every time I travelled.

- Take 4 weeks of holidays this year fully offline (with only a little guilt).

- Be more present with my girl and pup instead of scrolling LinkedIn on the sofa.

- Generate a living income from just my investments > firmly on route to financial freedom.

- Reinvest heavily back into my own skills — I spent $30,000 in my training across mindset + sales this year.

- Perhaps my favorite of all… I finally flew my girl from Colombia to London last year. And this year we will go again to enjoy Christmas with my family (peep the picture of her smile man!).

I built this thing with just my laptop, LinkedIn and AI.

Now it’s put me in a position where I can support myself and the lives of those I love.

That’s what being a leveraged operator is all about.

Get leverage in the places that matter less.

And get more time with the people who matter most.

If you’re still deep in the grind of trying to hit above the $20k profit plateau…
Keep going.

A few simple changes could get you everything you’ve ever wanted.

PS: If you want to add $50k–$100k profit months with 90%+ margins using just LinkedIn, I’m hosting a LinkedIn client acquisition masterclass on the 12th. Smash this link to join biz owners gaining an unfair advantage in 2026 with AI: https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

CEO @ Atticus | AI sales systems for founders | 5–10 deals/month from LinkedIn in <​30 mins/day I $125M+ pipeline generated for 100+ founders

One founder cut LinkedIn from 6 hours a week to 1. His pipeline still grew to multi 6 figures... 90 days.

He runs a GTM consultancy.
Around 10k followers.
No team. No ghostwriter.

Before we worked together he was:

→ Pulling 2–5 inbounds a month
→ Creating all his content himself
→ Posting randomly, so leads came in lumpy

90 days later:

→ 10–20 sales qualified leads a month across content + outbound
→ Close rate up by 10%
→ New service launched, $30,000 closed in 60 days
→ Multi 6 figures in pipeline
→ Time on LinkedIn down to 1 hour a week

Here is how we did it using our Position → Attract → Convert model.

1) Position

Foundation of everything.

We:

→ Defined his WHO, WHAT and HOW he was serving to make him stand out 
→ Found his Rainmaker ICP (the client he loved who closed fastest)
→ Mapped his Atticus language matrix so posts used words his buyers already say to attract them with content
→ Installed an indoctrination ladder so content moved people from:

 cold → trust → paid

Once he stood out, we moved to:

2) Attract

Goal over 3 months: build brand and demand.

We:

→ Built an AI content agent in his own voice
→ Posted consistent content that built brand and proof
→ Connected with the right buyers daily
→ Used content that earned trust and inbound, not vanity

Now his audience was warm, we could:

3) Convert

We:

→ Ran a Revenue Speed Run on closed-lost, no-shows and ghosted deals, then built lookalike lists
→ Installed Trust-Led Outbound with an AI sales rep trained on his tone, offer and case studies
→ Turned every like, view and comment into a chance for a real, personal DM

On top of that, I worked with him 1:1 on his sales process.

We used NEPQ to pre-handle objections in his sales cycle so closing felt easy.

When we hit 20 deals in 20 days, we gave him the keys.

Full handoff.

System installed.

Now his LinkedIn works even when he does not.

If you want the same Trust-Led Engine in your business, make sure you are attending my LinkedIn Masterclass this Friday 12th December at 11am EST! 

I'm going to be pulling back the curtain on EVERYTHING. 

(I would usually charge $14,000 for a system set up like this)

Lock in your place here (last few going here): https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

Founders: Add $100K/Month Using LinkedIn + AI - Free Masterclass Dec 12. Get Your Ticket from “Visit My Website” →

March 2022: I hit 600,000 impressions in 60 days. Guess how much that added to my revenue?...

Exactly $0.

I posted daily.
DM’d like crazy.
My calendar stayed empty.

Back in March 2022, when I went all-in on my business, I had the metrics… not the money:

• 60 posts in 60 days
• 600,000 impressions
• 40 cold DMs per week

And still? Maybe 1 call a week.

That’s when I stopped chasing activity and started building leverage.

Here’s the truth most founders stuck at $20k per month profit don’t want to admit:

Consistency without leverage does not scale growth. It scales exhaustion.

I was doing everything LinkedIn “experts” said to do.

But nothing was translating into predictable deal flow.

So I audited a week of work and realized about 70 percent of my time was non-revenue.

Every morning felt like Day 1.
Staring at LinkedIn.
Anxiety bubbling up.

 “Why is everyone else winning but me?”

 “Another competitor posts a $50k month. Must be nice.”

I didn’t have a content problem.
I had a leverage problem.

Over the next 3 years, I rebuilt my entire client acquisition system around infrastructure, not effort:

- Identified the Rainmaker client persona (the one person I knew who was willing and able to afford me).

- Built an indoctrination strategy for my content—I identified the key ideas my audience needed to believe to buy from me.

- Created an AI content agent in my voice and trained on my brain. I was no longer spending an hour a day writing posts. I could create a week of content in 30 minutes. No AI slop because it’s trained on my library of content.

- Built a team of AI outbound agents that allowed us to scale our outreach to people in our sphere of influence from content and profile views.

Before → After:

- 4 to 8 calls per month → 35 to 50 a month
- $10k profit → $20k to $50k per month
- $270k closed in last 4 months

Try this for 7 days:

 Run an Activity Audit and highlight your activity traps.

- Log everything in 15‑minute blocks
- Tag each block R (revenue‑producing) or NR (non‑revenue)
- Circle your top 3 NR time sinks
- Kill / Automate / Batch anything NR
- Block 1 hour in your calendar for December 12 to join 100 founders building their own AI Demand Engine with LinkedIn on my webinar.

If you’re stuck in the trap, it might be time for a change.

Grab your FREE ticket to my LinkedIn masterclass here: leveragedoperators.com

I thought LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads were “just brand.” I was wrong. They’re a sales-meeting machine if you structure them right. I spent $3,000 on ads, $1,000 on consulting, and 100 hours of study so you don’t have to. Here are 3 things we did to get our ads delivering leads in 60 days:

BACKGROUND

I sat in a café in Medellín with my father.

Me: “My LinkedIn reach is down 80%, feels like the end of the party.”

Him: “You always knew it wouldn’t last forever.”

Me: “I’m going to need an ad budget to fill the gap.”

Up to that point, I’d only dabbled with LinkedIn TLAs. Decent brand lift, but no leads. So over the last 60 days, I worked with Tom Casoo and learned a killer approach.

5 things that helped me drive meetings from TLAs

1) Having a founder-led brand helps.

Our content already hits the right eyes 300k–500k monthly reach so any spend pours gasoline on what’s circulating. Higher like counts also improve CTR and trust.

2) Tight targeting = better results.

I used to target every startup in the U.S. But our offer is specific: service business owners under $5M with a tech or service arm. Focusing on this ~2M TAM finally brought the right people in.

3) Having the right strategy.

 I stopped boosting random posts and split ads into:
 • Top + middle of funnel
 • Bottom of funnel

Every 2 weeks, I added top-performing posts to TOF/MOF and ran until we hit 1,000+ accounts reached. That became our retargeting pool. CPM was ~$30.

Then I fed that audience into BOF ads... our highest-converting client wins and framework posts. I track which posts cause Calendly bookings and spend more on those.

Pro tip: Add a direct CTA with your Calendly link or tell people to comment “GROW.” It meaningfully increased attribution.

Fitting engagements into our Atticus AI sales system.

We scrape likes, comments, and profile views, score them, and have our AI agent DM high-fit prospects with personalized context.

Adding ads multiplies your organic footprint. It’s just another way to show up in front of buyers... paid or not.

Stuck at $20K/month? I’m hosting a FREE LinkedIn Client Aquisition Masterclass on the 12th of December (usually $1,000 in consulting fees). 

I’ll show you how to build your own AI sales system to add another $50k a month using LinkedIn.

👉 Smash your revenue ceiling: https://lnkd.in/gkishZ_v

(40% gone. Don’t sleep on it.)

How I use AI to plan 30 days of LinkedIn lead-gen content in under 2 minutes: (this power prompt helped drive $120,000,000+ in pipeline - Steal it!)

---

1. Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT (or your AI of choice) and fill in the parts in [].

I use this custom prompt as the base for my own content planning each month:

“My business and personal info:

[Who you are, what you sell, price point, who you serve]

My core offer:

[Describe your main offer and the main problem it solves]

My content pillars:

[3–5 pillars, e.g. “AI outbound, LinkedIn content, founder mindset, client wins”]

My target audience:

[Describe your dream client: revenue, role, niche, main pains, buying triggers]

My goal for this 30-day plan:

[Examples:

- 30–50 qualified sales calls from LinkedIn
- More DM conversations with warm leads
- Test a new offer
- Warm up my audience before a launch]

Using this info, create a 30-day LinkedIn content and outbound calendar.

For each day, create:

1) One content idea + hook

Cycle through these content types for variety:

TOP OF FUNNEL (Trust + Attention):

Personal stories
Opinions
Observations
Contrarian views
How-to guides
Old way vs new way

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL (Insight + Belief Shift):

“How I” posts
Frameworks
Breakdowns of client wins
Behind-the-scenes of my system

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL (Proof + Hand-raiser):

Testimonials
Results
Case studies
Direct hand raisers
Lead magnets

For each day:

1. Give a short content idea (1–2 sentences) that speaks to a specific pain or desire of my target audience.

2. Write a strong hook (1–2 sentences) that would stop my dream client in the LinkedIn feed.

3. Label:

- Content type (e.g. Personal story, Framework, Case study)
- Funnel stage (TOFU/MOFU/BOFU)
- Content pillar

Output format:

Day 1:

Content type: [type]
Funnel stage: [TOFU/MOFU/BOFU]
Content pillar: [pillar]

Idea: [1–2 sentence post idea]

Hook: “[hook here]”

Repeat this for 30 days.

Make sure:
- At least 40% of ideas are MOFU/BOFU
- At least 30% of ideas reference real proof, systems, or specific outcomes
- All ideas align with my offer and dream client”

2. Hit enter.

In under 5 minutes, you’ll have 30 days of:

- Lead-gen content ideas
- Hooks that speak to real pain
- Content that starts real conversations

No more guessing.

No more “what do I post today?”

Just a clear engine you can run in under 30 minutes a day.

–

Want to learn how to leverage AI to drive 5-10 qualified meetings a week from your founder brand? Grab a ticket to my FREE masterclass this Friday: https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

Handful of spots left. First-come first first-served.

POV: thanksgiving after starting a business 😭 


P.S - Stay delusional, my entrepreneurial friends, and keep your cool as you eat turkey today. Happy thanksgiving!
-

Repost from @jimpapi

Every B2B founder wants to generate qualified sales calls on LinkedIn. 

But 95% have no idea where to start. Here are 5 outbound strategies that helped me generate over $125,000,000 in pipeline across 100+ companies (steal them):

1) Content-led outbound

This is where 99% of your hottest leads hide. If someone engages with your content, they already know who you are. Your cover photo acts as a sales billboard when done right.

Start conversations with this flow: 

Open-ended question > What they have tried > Curiosity gap > Pull to Zoom.

Spend 30 minutes a day on this and you will book an extra 5 to 10 calls a week.

2) Profile views and followers

Check profile views and net new followers (your followers list is arranged by who followed last) daily. When your ICP shows up, reach out and start a conversation using the same framework.

3) Messaging with intent

Cold outbound fails because it is unexpected and unwanted. Use an AI SDR to build lists based on intent events like funding rounds, job changes, new hires or key announcements.

Not all intent works for every industry. Ask what your ICP cares most about. For example, funded companies care more about ramp time than unfunded ones. Context matters.

4) The 800 open InMail hack

Every LinkedIn account has 800 extra free InMails on Sales Navigator. Tools with “open InMail campaigns” help you find these accounts fast. You can also check manually inside Sales Navigator.

5) Scaling outbound with multiple LinkedIn accounts

Get your team on Sales Navigator and use sales automation to multiply outbound across multiple open InMail licences. This loop doubles our monthly LinkedIn meetings.

Only do this once you have message market fit with at least a 20 percent response rate. Otherwise you will burn your total addressable market.
I learned all of this from running outbound for 100+ founders. 

If you want the exact AI outbound flow that books us 30 to 50 sales qualified calls a month in less than 30 minutes a day, join my free LinkedIn masterclass here: https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

taplio

The Battle

Josue Valles

Luke Shalom

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJosue Valles's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Shalom's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Josue Valles

Luke Shalom

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);}Josue Valles's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Shalom's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJosue Valles's LinkedIn Performance