Luke Shalom

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

There are two ways agency founders try to turn LinkedIn into a reliable source of clients.

One is by guessing. Posting when there is time. Relying on referrals and hoping the next month is a good one.

The other is by building a system that creates steady conversations, even when client work gets busy.

Our clients choose the second.

→ Joya Dass (Founder, Women’s Leadership Lab)

The problem:

- She spent hours in the DMs to book a few calls.
- Content happened on weekends.
- When delivery picked up, sales stopped.

Some months were strong. Others were quiet.

Even in good months, there was stress about where the next client would come from.

What we did:

We built a simple LinkedIn content system she could run in house. No ghostwriter or agency retainer dependency.

We shifted her content from generic how to posts to insight driven thinking.

That changed the conversations. People in her network showed up aligned and ready to buy.

We added a content led outbound system powered by a setter we hited and trained. The system kept working while she focused on delivery.

Results:

- Revenue grew from $150k to $300k.
- Sales became predictable.
- The pressure eased.

→ Jonathan Crowder (Founder, Founders Ally)

The problem:

- No time for content.
- Unpredictable sales calls.
- Leads with no budget.
- No sales background. A 10 percent close rate.

What we did:

We removed Jonathan as the bottleneck. 

We built a content system using AI supported by his real thinking. It sounded like him, not software.

Trust was built before the call. Outbound went from 10% to 40% response rates.

We focused prospecting on real buying moments, like recent funding to catch buyers at the right time.

We simplified his sales process. Clear outcomes. Clear cost of inaction was communicated to his buyers.

Results:

- Meetings went from 3-5 a month to 10-15 sales qualifed leads a month.
- A visible pipeline. Increase to a 25 percent close rate.
- $300k in pipeline in 60 days.
- $30k in new revenue closed.

→ Brian Dukes (COO, Exit Wise)

The problem

- Ovelry dependent on referrals.
- No LinkedIn playbook.
- No time to write.

What we did

- We clarified positioning.
- Simplified the offer.
- Built a content engine.

Then we added outbound from the founder profile.

Everything was owned and run internally.

Results:

- Consistent posting machine.
- 500 to 6500 ICP followers.
- $740,000 in LinkedIn-driven revenue over two years.

We have helped 100+ founder led agencies replace unpredictable growth with systems they understand and control.

If this feels familiar, we should talk.

Founder

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.

2022: I wanted 100,000 LinkedIn followers.

2026: Now I want 10 people who trust me enough to wire me $100,000.

This shift didn’t happen because I stopped wanting influence.

It happened because after 4 years on LinkedIn, I learned one simple truth.

It’s the difference between creators with under 5,000 followers making 7 figures a year from agencies or coaching…

And creators with 100,000 followers who struggle to break $100k.

I call it being "Known Well".

On LinkedIn, there are two paths.

First, the "Well Known" crowd.

Think Justin Welsh.
Broad content.
Viral posts.
Big complex funnels.

Courses for everyone.

Nothing wrong with that.

They are playing their game.

But that game only works with massive distribution.
Most creators chase this path.

They chase 100,000 followers.
They think it will change everything.

It won’t.

The real leverage is being "Known Well" by the right people.

You become niche-famous.

A small group knows you for one thing.
They trust you deeply.
Even 10-30 people like that will pay you well.

That’s how small accounts make $100k a month on LinkedIn.

They play the Known Well Game.

And it’s simpler than you think:


1) Comments

They build a list of the right accounts... people they want to be known well to (ICPs, influencers with their buyers).

They show up every day, pay attention to posting times, and leave insightful comments.

These look like mini-posts, because their aim is to make impact and become known to the right people.

2) They have an indoctrination content ladder

They don’t create for mass appeal.

They understand what’s required to take their specific ICP from skeptic to ready-to-buy ... and they focus on that ruthlessly.

These posts might get less than 10 likes… but the DMs are on fire.

3) They have an outbound motion that feels like inbound

They may not get the turbo reach of big accounts, but dialled-in content lets LinkedIn bring the right people to them.

They leverage profile views, engagement, and followers to start conversations with members of their small but mighty Known Well audience.

Using AI tools, they automate the top of this conversation and only jump in when people are interested and responding.

That’s how you get 10 people to wire you $100k.

That’s the game I want to play.

Build deep trust with people you can truly help.

Everything else on LinkedIn is noise.

Remember that.

I share weekly strategies on how to become known well in your niche and get clients from LinkedIn for your agency. Go read it here: https://lnkd.in/ezZpkchD

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

There’s a new breed of agency founder emerging in 2026.

They don’t chase likes.
They don’t live in the DMs.
They don’t grind comments.

They’re called Leveraged Operators.

I’ve spent the last 4 years building LinkedIn sales systems for 100+ lean founders, and the pattern is clear: most are stuck in the activity trap.

AI didn’t just “help.”
It rewired the entire game.

That same ChatGPT agent everyone’s playing with can now map a full demand gen strategy in minutes. 

Meanwhile, founders still hope referrals and a “good name in the space” will carry them.

It won’t.

LinkedIn reach is down ~70%.
Referrals are lumpy.
Cold outbound without trust feels pointless and never leads to clients.

The symptoms are familiar:

- No time to sell
- Prospects treat you like a vendor
- Pipeline dies when you stop posting

I’ve lived it. It’s exhausting.

The founders pulling ahead are doing something different.

Leveraged Operators use AI, assets, and workflows so effort compounds.
They build 80–90% margin consulting layers on top of services using:

- Founder-led demand gen on LinkedIn
- AI agents that create and distribute content
- Content-led outbound that feels like inbound

Two years ago, I hit $60k in revenue in a month.

Profit? $4k.

More revenue. Less freedom.

Thats what building your business the old way gets you. 
Bigger numbers and little take home.

I burned that model down.

In 2025:

$250k profit
21,000 new LinkedIn followers
30–50 leads a month with AI doing the heavy lifting

Founder results mirrored it:

- Joya (Women’s Leadership Lab) doubled ARR to $350k and generates ~$540k in pipeline monthly.

- Jonathan (Founders Ally) went from 5–6 meetings a month to one a day in 60 days.

- Brian (M&A firm) closed $750k in pipeline with inbound-driven positioning.
That’s the Leveraged Operator model.

Not more content.
Not more DMs.
Not more headcount.

System > activity.

Want the exact strategy I’m using in 2026 to add 5–10 deals a month from LinkedIn in under 30 minutes a day?

DM me “Leverage.”

(Or you know you could spend another year on the struggle bus and watch your competitors apply the above model and eat your lunch...)

P.S I took these photos on my 4th holiday of last year with my Colombiana. It was the 3rd time I went to the Carribean. And it was only made possible by having a agency with the right systems to replace me as the bottle neck. You can do it too.

Yesterday I had a call with two guys who’ve built outbound DM workflows for some of the biggest 7-figure agencies and 7-figure creators.

What they said to me made my blood go cold about client acquisition on LinkedIn.

Here’s what happened:

Me: “What have your other clients been seeing on LinkedIn? I’ve seen a drop-off in inbound leads. If we didn’t do warm outbound, we would be broke tomorrow.”

Consultant: “We’ve definitely seen clients getting less engagement across the board, and that’s meant less intent to contact from posts.”

Me: “**** I know it feels tough out there right now. We’re booking calls, but it really feels like the bar has gone way up… In your opinion, do you think it’s all going to ZERO?!”

Consultant: “Not at all. We’ve seen teams equipped with the right processes and systems booking 1–2 meetings every day.”

He paused for a moment and followed up with:

“The bar is set so low on how to progress prospect conversations, it’s never been easier to stand out.”

Here’s what I took from that convo:

There is one hell of an opportunity right now on LinkedIn for agencies who approach and invest real time and focus into their LinkedIn warm outbound.

If you’re willing to figure it out yourself or leverage an expert backed by the right technology, you can gain an insane advantage.

Because here’s the truth…

Your competition still thinks a no-context “pitch slap” message on connect is lead gen.

My advice?

Go deep on creating your founder-led brand with actual insight that’s unique to you. 

Don’t rip your posts straight from AI. 

Use it to scale your ideas and edit the output. Don’t lose the human.

The inevitable outcome of becoming an actual creator is that it’s going to bring you niche authority over time so the algorithm puts your content in front of buyers.

Truly understand the talk tracks that lead to buyers responding, answering, and moving to calls from your LinkedIn profile.

Have a human element responding in your DMs. Founder preferred, but once the process is dialled, a setter can handle it.

You just ned to have meaningful conversations with your customers.

PS… This is your competition... the bar is LOW.

Founder at Atticus | Predictable LinkedIn pipeline using a founder-led sales system I 100+ clients scaled | Be the next 👉 atticusagency.com

My client Joya Dass fired us after we doubled her business.

Then rehired us to build her in-house Atticus Predictable LinkedIn Sales system.

Phase 1 - October 2024 - August 2025

When we started with Joya Dass, Women’s Leadership Lab sat at 5 sales calls a week.

We took her to 10-20 qualified calls a week.

All from people who had already seen or engaged with her content.

Over that year:

→ Her rates went up by $10,000 from better fit prospects
→ She closed $130,000 from the Atticus Done-for-you system
→ ROI was 4.5x on what she paid us

We did not flood her calendar.

We filtered hard so she only spoke with senior women leaders from places like Harvard, Berkeley, high level firms.

Then we paused the done-for-you work after we sunsetted the done for you SDR service.

I counted that as fired.

Phase 2 - September 2025 - December 2025)

On a later call, I was about to refer her to another vendor.

Then I walked her through our new Atticus Predictable LinkedIn Sales system.

How she could bring all her client acquisition in-house in under 30 minutes a day...

We started again.

Different model. 

First 10 days:

→ Built a content bank in her exact voice with our content engineer 
→ Structured posts to shift beliefs and drive demand
→ Trained an agent in ChatGPT so she could write expert content herself
→ Mapped a 6 month content calendar tied to real sales conversations

Next 20 days, we built outbound:

→ Deep GTM research on her ideal client
→ Lead list playbook so she could find the right people on demand
→ AI sales rep trained on her offer, her tone, her dos and donts
→ Workflows triggered by real intent signals like job changes and thought leadership pushes
→ A/B tests on talk tracks until we hit message market fit (what she needed to send to get responses)
→ Plugged in and trained a setter once the machine booked meetings on repeat

Result in the last 2 months of the year:

→ $70,000 closed
→ Women’s Leadership Lab went from $150,000 to $300,000
→ Agency spend dropped from $4,000 a month to $400 a month
→ Her LinkedIn system now drives $510,000 in qualified pipeline every month

What you do not see:

We blew up campaigns that stopped working.
We rebuilt whole flows from scratch.
We had dead weeks where nothing landed.

Joya did not blame the system.
She co-created the result.

That is what my best clients understand.

You are not buying magic.

You are building a machine together. 

I recorded a step by step video on Joya’s whole strategy that doubled her business using LinkedIn, showing:

→ Why we did not fix her problem with content or outbound first
→ Why her content never generated inbound before, but did in 10 days with the new system
→ How we took her from 2–6 hours in the DMs a day to 30 minutes then to zero
→ Why she now only talks to people who already like, know and trust her

Comment "System" below and DM me “System” if you want the video.

P.S Proud of you Joya Dass and can't wait to see your growth this year.

Matthew Lakajev ☎️

Get 5+ more warm leads/wk from LinkedIn with our 3Cs system | Work with me and 435 creators in the program link below | DM me CREATOR SYSTEM and let’s chat

Founder & CEO

Matt Lakajev 🚀

Here's the FREE link to my new book: https://lnkd.in/gVWyyztD

I just spent 90 hrs writing my new book

- Comment NICHE and I'll send it to you -

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗼 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲
And Make F*ck You Money Online

It's 23,943 words that don't exist on the internet.

Taken directly from

• My 500 ChatGPT conversations
• And my AI second brain I've built

Inside you'll find

• 1 MEGA Prompt to help you niche
• 21 chapters you CANNOT find online
• Learning from my clients making $200M/yr

My client got 52 inbound leads from 1 post

After applying just this book.

- Comment NICHE and I'll send it to you -


PS - Legit copy and paste the entire book into ChatGPT and ask it where it ranks in ALL niching books online.

Wait till you see what it says :)

Matt Lakajev

Here's the FREE link to The LinkedIn Bible legends: https://lnkd.in/ghnnGKDD

After 3 yrs, I finished - The LinkedIn Bible

14,475 words. You can have for FREE.

- Comment "TRUST" and I'll send it to you -

It's the exact system I've used

→ To close $5,000,000 on LinkedIn
→ Help 1,500+ small business owners
→ Book 5,000+ meetings with $0 on ads
→ Become the No.1 lead gen expert in Australia
→ Influence $172,000,000 of clients annual revenue

I share insights I've NEVER shared before like

→ How I reverse engineered 54,187 viral posts
→ The AI analysis I did on 275,305 DMs
→ The Recursive Trust OS System I built

It teaches you EXACTLY

How to sell online - without feeling like a weirdo.

This is the only thing you need to make money on LinkedIn.

And I promise: it’ll blow your mind.

Comment "TRUST" and I'll send it to you


PS - ⚠️WARNING: this is the red pill 🔴.

Once you understand trust physics, you'll never look at selling online the same way again.

Making Clients $1,000,000,000 - On the journey now. You have 2 options: 1) Watch along 2) Join the LinkedIn Gym to work with us. You decide...

I just got off a call with LinkedIn’s internal team.

What they told me explains why so many LinkedIn accounts are getting fewer views.

The issue is not the algorithm update or the time you post.

The real reason is the huge rise in AI-made content on the platform.

They said there has been a 5,670% jump in AI slop in the last few months.

This wave is pushing their systems too hard.

Most people now open ChatGPT, grab a post in under 30 seconds, and hit publish.

LinkedIn was not built for this much low-effort content.

Their servers, review tools, and ranking system are all feeling the strain.

They told me there is one top secret method that still gets strong reach.

And very few people are using it.

Here is what they said:

𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻.

Their team of 1,000 data scientists said human-written posts now get pushed higher in the feed.

So normal AI-made posts will keep getting weak reach.

If you want the full breakdown and the simple steps they shared to write posts using your own brain?

— Comment BRAIN and I’ll send it —

I was shocked to hear this, to be honest.

What do you think?

The worst LinkedIn trend right now?

I'll go first:

AI comments

You look like an idiot, it destroys your reputation and it doesn’t do anything.

Please stop.

Your turn:

The worst LinkedIn trend is…

I was a loser for 27 years.

In 2018, I had a mental breakdown.

3:53AM in my parents’ spare bedroom
Heart pounding, chest tight
I realised one thing.

No one is coming to save me.
So I’m going to save myself.

That moment rebuilt my entire life.

Not because I got lucky.
But because I stopped outsourcing who I was.

Most people don’t have a business problem.
They have a self-authorship problem.

Fix that, and everything changes.

Agree?

How to send 10 LinkedIn DMs a day

And book 20 meetings a month.

Step 1: Document your top 3 clients wins

In a Google Doc write

1 - All the issues they had before working with you
2 - All the impacts it had on the business due to them
3 - What specifc results they got after working with you


Step 2: Create their "twins" in Sales Navigator

1 - Screenshot the Leads List filters
2 - Paste them into ChatGPT
3 - Paste your clients profile

Then ask it to create the filters of their twins.


Step 3: Send 10 DMs before 10am saying

"𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘟 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘠 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘡 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 3 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"


→ My client did this with my FREE content
→ Before we started working together
→ And closed a $6,000 a mth retainer.

This is how you get client on LinkedIn

Not that "commenting for 2 hours a day" garbage.

What do you think?

My 1st client was my mum's friend

I thought I "made it". It cost me $180k.
 
Biz start Nov 2022
First $8k/mth retainer Mar 2023.

Confirmation Bias on my sh*tty offer

I then spent like I’d won even though I sucked.

4 mths went by, bank balance dangerously low.

I could barely sell anything.

Finally dropped my ego

1 - Made a 3.5k one off offer
2 - DM'd 100's of peeps
3 - Closed 25 deals.

Same ICP. Smaller promise.
 
The lesson?

You're not as good as you think you are.

Make an offer that is smaller and lower risk

People don't buy promises
They buy something believable.

Agree?

Anyone who says "Don't cold DM" is an idiot

Last year I Cold DMd Ali Abdaal and booked a call

I then helped him for FREE for 60 mins on LinkedIn
I then coached his program for 90 mins for FREE also.

I asked for nothing in return.

Then I saw him on the The 505 Podcast

I then asked Ali if I could get an intro.

He said "Yeah send me the message and I'll forward it"

So, I cold DMd Brayden Figueroa

And guess what?

We recorded the pod this morining.

Cold DMs work. Your just suck.

And if you want to get better at them?

I just recorded a 30 FREE training

Where I show the EXACT DMs I sent to Ali and Brayden.

Go to my YouTube and under LIVE and check it out.

But what do you think?

Cold DMs? Yay or Nay?

How to make $30k/mth on LinkedIn

1) Start talking to people
2) Ask what they need help with
3) Offer to start helping them for free
4) Start helping them to see what you like
5) Ask what they found most valuable together
6) Find other people like them in Sales Navigator
7) Say you just helped this person and offer to help them
8) Keep helping more people to become the most useful
9) Use that real life data to create your offer doc to sell

That's it. You need nothing else. Just starting helping.

You can't "ChatGPT" your way into making an offer

The offer is created through you having conversations with actual human being, being useful and solving their real world problems.

No made up "AI" ones.

Agree?

I just hosted a 11 hr 35 min  LinkedIn Workshop

386 people joined. It was wild.

What a day.

But honestly, it was so much fun.

Can't wait to do it again.

Now I'm gonna peace out

And order Uber Eats.

Catcha Legend


PS - It was actually 2 workshops in 1 day. Forgot to mention. Peace out.

For 27 years I was a loser

Because I believed this lie

“If I understand it… that means I’ll do it.”

What a load of bs.

I binged YouTube videos — but never focussed.
I read dozens of self help book — but did nothing
I constantly compared myself to others — and it infected my brain.

I did all the “things” you’re meant to do

Until one day when I was staring at the bedroom ceiling after I’d had to move home to my parents house after having a breakdown.

I thought — “F*ck it. I’m going to start trusting my gut. I don’t care what society says. I’m going to be me”

And since that day—I built a life most people only dream of.

Ideas means nothing
The only thing that matters

Is taking uncomfortable action while other people call you a weirdo.

Agree?

3 ways to trash

Your personal brand on LinkedIn

1) Comment mindlessly for 2 hours a day on 50 "creators" posts saying "OMG this is so correct! You are the greatest human of all time!"

2) Use AI to only agree with what someone said. Ffs please stop. You look like a robot with no soul.

3) Ask for a 15 min catchup in every single DM you send. Just stop. You look like a desperate weirdo.

What would you add?


PS - I've added some more in the comments

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Luke Shalom

Matt Lakajev 🚀

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The Battle

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