zoë hartsfield 🌊

good @ building pipeline | bad at most other things | currently building pipeline + evangelism at Apollo

I've generated over 100MM impressions for brands on social media in the past 24 months. Most coming from LinkedIn. Building world class employee, executive and influencer advocacy programs for B2B software companies. 

I'm a marketer by trade, but sales has my heart. Also passionate about helping younger professional level up in their careers (mostly by charing lessons I learned the hard way).

-------------------------------------------------------------

If you're a brand and want to collab on content, shoot me an email at zoe@zoehart.co

If you're a young professional looking for tips, hacks, and learnings to help you level up, hit the bell & follow me on IG (@zoepatience) and TikTok (@zoeeharttt).

If there are other ways you hope to work together, shoot me a DM- let's chat.

Head of Marketing & Evangelism

Standing up the content, community & demand gen functions at Swantide. 
Q1 & Q2 OKRs + Wins:
- 4x inbound traffic
- organized and generated Sales Collateral Library
- guested on 15 podcast + webinars to evangelize the brand
- onboarded tools: HockeyStack, Warmly, Demandwell
- Stood up content calendar
- Stood up product release marketing with CS
- Trained the GTM team on social selling
- Created Community Driven Pipeline Playbook
- Launched Events marketing program hosting in-person and virtual events
- Stood up partnerships program
- Stood up first-ever referral motion (generating 15% of pipeline after 2 months)
- leveraging my personal brand to generate new business opportunities
- Set up GA4 + marketing attribution model
- Generated 50% of pipeline from inbound, content + community
- Generated 39% closed-won revenue from inbound, content + community
- did all of this without ads^ 😏


We are making implementing and configuring salesforce 10x faster, 10x simpler at 1/5 the cost. It's so easy, I can set up your Salesforce instance. DM me if you're about to or just bought SFDC and need help with configuration & system management. We've got you covered 😎

zoë hartsfield

i posted 289 times in the past year. after analyzing my top 50 most viral posts i noticed something. 88% of them use "i", "me" or "my" in the hook. 

when i work with clients this is actually one of the biggest hurdles we have to overcome.

"i don't want to talk about myself"

unfortunately, people will only follow along if you do. 

otherwise your content may as well have been written by anyone.



when you write in the first person, and share from a more vulnerable perspective it breeds more credibility. it makes people feel like "okay, this guy has DONE it"

writing about YOU makes people relate to you. 

putting it into the context of your life and your experience helps people contextualize information. 


so next time you write a hook, ask yourself "could anyone have written this, or could it have only come from me."

and just rewrite it use i, me, or my in the hook. 



that's what makes a personal brand, personal. 



kloveyoubye

zoë hartsfield 👻

i build executive and employee brands on linkedin that drive audience, authority & inbound | executive brand strategy & ghostwriting | founder @ the little ghost

I just saw Block (CashApp & Square) announced major layoffs.  Approximately 40% of their 10k employees to be replaced by AI. And you know what happened to their stock? 

Fricken jumped. 


I’m not here to debate the ethics of AI or dismiss the heartbreak of major layoffs. 

As someone who’s been thru one once before it absolutely sucks. 


But the biggest thing this signals to me is literally every person, regardless of their role needs to get dangerous with AI yesterday. 

Get comfy with: 
- Chatgpt
- Claude  
- Perplexity AI 
- Gemini

Adapt workflow & productivity tools like: 
- Zapier 
- Wispr Flow 
- Gamma 
- Lovable  
- NotebookLM
- Fathom.ai 


just force yourself to use these. a little each day. try eliminating 1 repetitive task or speed up 1 work ritual each week. 

ai can be an extension of you instead of a replacement, but you’ve gooooottta put in the work now to get comfy with it.

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

i'm gonna be honest. 2 months into going full time on my biz i've never been more stressed out in my life. instead of showing you the sexy numbers, here's the harsh reality of going out on your own:


YES you have more freedom

 → you also are a team of one. It's a little lonely out here. 



the money is already 2X what I made in my day job.

→ but the expenses are insane right now. tools, branding, a website, accounting, taxes, payroll, new equipment. ya'll i have spent nearly $30k in startup costs for this business and we aren't done yet. 



you get to pick the work you do and what you focus on

→ there are soooo many things that need my attention and it's hard to prioritize. build pipeline, make content, client work and deliverables, brand, strategy, partnerships, operations, accounting, automating what i can automate. sometimes i feel a tad overwhelmed. 



sometimes at night i just drive around my neighborhood with music blaring louder that the scary thoughts in my head and i just mutter to myself "im gonna figure this out" over and over again until my playlist ends or i finally get tired enough to turn my brain off.




i've never been more stressed. 

i've also never had more fun. 

this whole thing is insane, but i am committing to the process and believing i will in fact... figure this out. 


i wrote a little more about it PLUS some interesting trends i am seeing on LinkedIn (for personal brand + those trying to social sell on here) in my latest newsletter. 

dropped it below if ya wanna check it out.

the realities of working from home: (a pros and cons list) 

pro: my commute is 14ft 
con: there is almost no separation 

pro: i can easily take a break & run and errand or do laundry
con: so many things to distract me from deep work 

pro: my dog gets to hang with me all day 
con: n/a

pro: my home office is optimized for me & the way i like to work & focus 
con: right now my home is a construction zone and i am banished to the living room 

pro: free coffee and snacks all day 
con: i supply all the coffee and snacks for the team (the team is me) 



i get why people like an office, i really do. but you will not catch me working 5 days a week from an office ever again. the flexibility and freedom are too valuable to me. 


this office set up sucks rn though 


the price we pay i guess 





kloveyoubye

i know people are frustrated by linkedin's algo, but as someone who's made content here for 4+ years... change is the name of the game. here's some shifts i've seen on Linkedin in 2026 (and what to do about it):

- the rise of ai means there is MORE content. 

creating your own style and flare to content is more important than ever


- content that could only come from YOU is the way to stand out/cut thru the noise


- pivot away from "advice" and lean into lessons learned 

how i > how you should


- share proprietary data

"i analyzed my top 50 posts" > "reach in general is down"


- go outbound with your audience. 

you have 100 weekly connection requests, use them


- up your comment game

engage with your ideal audience AND the creators who already have your ideal audience (steal their followers)

- a team of creators > one voice

if you're a founder, exec or marketing leader do whhhhatever you have to to get a handful of team members on linkedin. 5 employees will feel like a brand FORCE more than just one founder posting 3x a month.




i spend too much time here, so steal my nerdy observations

or don't

i'm not your mom




butidoloveyoubye

LinkedIn Algo update 2026

i saw 4 major brands all attempt LinkedIn takeovers on Tuesday. 

the two that dominated my feed?

Nooks​ + Profound​

why did their plays work and the other two kiiiiinda flop?


Nooks leaned HARD into the founder's post. 

they got employees, customers and partners to like, comment, share. I managed to see Dan Lee​'s post 5 times in the same day. 

well produced video.

tons of engagement. 

lot's of "reposts" from their team. 


Profound took a slightly different route. 

i also saw their founder's post CRUSH 

again, highly produced, massive engagement etc.

but they leaned harder into the influencer/brand partnership angle. 

i saw at leeeeast 5 posts from your favorite marketing influencers sharing the announcement from their own unique POV. 


my money is on Profound having garnered more impressions but both companies were unavoidable on Tuesday. 



common denominator? meaningful story post giving context to the announcement from the founder.


if you haven't baked executive brand into your 2026 marketing plan- you may want to revisit that strategy doc. 





if you don't your competitors will, and it's reeeeeally hard to catch up once they get ahead.

5 years ago i had 6 followers on LinkedIn. today i have 73k.

these are my top 4 recommendations to grow on linkedin in 2026:

1. write about the same 4-5 things, over and over

instead of "picking a niche" just pick a few topics you could speak about with a friend for over an hour.

people have to know what you know, and if you talk about everything they'll never be able to nail down what your expertise is actually in.

2. make people better at their life or job

i ask myself two questions before i hit post:
1. will this help someone be better at their job/have a win TODAY?
2. will this make people feel something?

if the answer is no to both, scrap it and start over. 

3. format doesn't matter as much as familiarity does

people talk all the time about which medium is going viral. 
pick 2-3 you like making and stick to them. 
i do static image, video and carousels. 
people expect those from me.
pick yours
do those

the goal is to be familiar and that comes with repetition.

4. just keep going.

pick a timeframe
30 days
90 days 

whatever stick to it. 

i recently did a 100 day posting challenge, grew my following by 7k and garnered 10MM impressions. 

half of "winning" on this platform is just outlasting everyone else in your industry who gives up. 






and if all else fails and you're like- Zoe i do not have time for this... hire a ghostwriter 😎

your success as a content creator hinges directly on your willingness to feel cringe for a few months while getting started. 

most people quit.

and those that don't are all the people you call "lucky" and "a natural."


sharing your story isn't natural. 
talking to a camera isn't natural.
building a following isn't luck.


everyone starts at 0. 
few people push past the uncomfy to get to 1.






ps. i still hate filming myself in public but ya do what ya gotta do eh?


kloveyoubye

i have helped 4 companies do major announcements on linkedin. each more epic than the last. after running this play 4x + generating millions of impressions in a day for each, here's what works:


- you need individual voices (not just 20 reposts of the CEO)

- you need original copy (sorry marketing, you can't just spam LI with 15 of the same thing from different profiles

- you need POV/skin in the game (let each person share why this moment means something to them 

- you need customers (get them under embargo or NDA and have customers join in on the fun!)

- you need a unified theme or story (this is what ties it all together and makes it cohesive)

- you need this play to be rare (you can only run it 2-3x in a year so save it for the big stuff)


and for the love of all that is good-- do NOT repost with thoughts... 

idk why LI even has that feature it is the worst performing post you'll ever publish, just repost without thoughts and move on if you're not going to write something original. 





kloveyoubye

weekends are for renovation updates. If you didn’t know, i’m turning my 4 & 2 into two units. and so far the project is a disaster: 

turned out my plumbing needs to be moved behind the walls, the north side of my house is too close the the property line for a well-window and my electrical panel is too small. 

but don’t worry, for the small price of an additional $29k you too can have a bunch of stuff brought up to code that no one will ever see or notice. 


with more money and a positive attitude, you can solve any problem :) 

kloveyoubye

made ONE change to my linkedin headline that worked so well I had to change it back 😂. 16 inbound leads in 48 hours. steal it (but heads up it can be powerful):



the only update i made to my headline was adding "ask me about building an executive brand that grows audience and inbound on linkedin" as the last line



i just told people super explicitly why they should reach out to me. i even gave them the question to ask



this works in pretty much any space, with any cta. 



"ask me about how to hit 10k followers on titktok in 90 days"



"ask me about a free cybersecurity audit"



"ask me about how to get a 12%+ connect rate on cold calls"



^ the expertise needs to be there. if it's an offer it needs to be genuine. you should have receipts ready to go to prove that you know how to do whatever you're telling them to ask you about...



but sheeeeeeesh 



as soon as i put it there people took me up on it.



there are a lot of folks watching on this platform- invite them to the conversation. 





try it and lemme know how it goes!



or don't... i literally do not care.

here’s more stuff your boss really doesn’t want you to know. anyone on the job market (or up for promotion) this one is important: don’t take the bonus. 

or i mean do it if you want but you should read the fine print 


MOST performance bonus’s baked into comp plans are a way to keep annualized compensation off the company books. 

they’re also almost always tied to company performance (which you have no control over) and your personal performance (which you do control). 


meaning- you could CRUSH, and if the company misses the number you’re likely not getting your bonus (and if you are you’re not getting all of it). 


the company also has discretion if they want to change the bonus plan or structure even after you sign (this happened to me once) 


it’s also *sometimes* taxed differently (but you have to check your specific situation) at a much higher rate. 


instead of taking the performance bonus, i’d try to negotiate more cash comp. 

they offer you a 30k bonus? ask for 20k added to your base, no bonus. 


i’d never take a role with a performance bonus again. 



but i work for myself now so i guess the “bonus” would be me not going out of business 


kloveyoubye

if i had a million dollars to spend on influencer marketing, i'd take $100K of it and throw it back at my own employees.
here's why:

when you pay external influencers (hi, it's me), you're paying for rented audiences. one post. maybe two. then it's gone. and you have zero control over whether they actually give a shit about your product long term.

but your employees? they're already on payroll. they already know the product. 
they already talk to your customers every single day.
they're homegrown influencers waiting to happen.

think about it.

LinkedIn is a virtual highway. your employees are 10 billboards on that highway.
right now? they're all blank.

or worse, they're posting about their weekend hikes and sharing company announcements copy and pasted from marketing that get 4 likes from other employees.

meanwhile you're cutting $50K checks to creators who pronounce your product name wrong and move on to the next sponsor by tuesday.

don’t get me wrong there is absolutely a place for influencer marketing in your stack- you cannot beat that reach BUT, you need to invest in a longer term strategy.

i've seen what happens when you flip the math.

at one company i worked with, 4 employees started posting consistently. app mentions went from 100/month to 300/month in 60 days. 3x. just from internal people actually talking about what they do.

customers started talking. prospects started talking. influencers hit us up to collab. it was mad.

i love getting paid to post for brands. but the smartest companies i work with? they're also investing in the people already inside the building.
homegrown + rented = big brand payoff.

i used to generate 40% of my pipeline as an SDR from my linkedin content. anywhere between 5-8 meetings a month straight off my posts. so this is now a core belief: 


content is a salespersons job. 
content is a salespersons job.
content is a salespersons job.
content is a salespersons job.
content is a salespersons job.


i’ve done this across 5 companies, different industries and selling to different personas. 

i’ve also trained hundreds of reps to do it. 


here’s the basics:


-(OFTEN) write about the problem your prospect faces 
-(SOMETIMES) write about the playbooks you use (or you’ve seen work) to get the results/solutions to that problem 
-(OCASSIONALLY) write & pitch the product you actually sell

sprinkle in your personal passions, and pov on the matter & you’ve got yourself an engine that drives audience, authority & inbound. 


it’s not easy- but it is simple. 




kloveyoubye

No alternative text description for this image

"i know some founders who use ghostwriters + their content is boring" 
yea... their ghostwriter probably sucks + just uses chatGPT. here's how good ghostwriters make sure your content doesn't suck:



1. they need decent source material. 

i do this with weekly sourcing calls, but you could also use books, podcasts, customer call recordings, team meetings, internal slack etc... if they are posting generic content geared toward your niche of course it's bland... its not YOU.



2. they should use AI (but not how you think)

i don't use ai to actually write the final product. i use it for call recordings, note taking, parsing out posts/story segments, post analytics and checking for grammar. 

the writing is the only part i do myself, but i leverage ai in the process surrounding the writing (i write better hooks than chatGPT... what can i say 🤷🏻‍♀️)



3. they're recording the data week over week over week but analyzing month over month

the algo is weird. i don't put too much stock in any one post or trend. you want monthly improvement and to look at outliers to try and replicate success




and if the ghostwriter doesn't start the whole thing with a brand identity framework and content strategy, you're doomed from the start. 





please use this when you're evaluating ghostwriters. ^

i'm not trying to convince you to work with me. tbh, i am not a fit for everyone. 

but nooooobody should have to pay their good $$$$ for someone to just type "give me 10 posts for a CEO of a B2B Saas Company in MarTech for LinkedIn" and just copy and paste the results to you. 

and i know several ghostwriters pulling $20k+/mo just doing this for a bunch of founders and CEOs 


don't make that mistake.


your stories + ghostwriter's packaging. 



that's the magic.

it’s a shame i don’t have a brand deal with my call recorder… this would make a decent ad tbh. 

saved my life today. 


for real, record all your calls guys… you never know when disaster will strike. 

kloveyoubye

you ego makes you a terrible analyst. (myself included). look at these 4 posts from feb and tell me which one was the best.

1. image, 110k impressions 63 comments, 314 likes

2. video post, 40k impressions, 59 comments, 211 likes

3. image post, 50k impressions, 39 comments, 180 likes

4. image post, 9k impressions, 22 comments, 62 likes



off the top you'd think 1 was the standout yea? 

1. was a post about my sister's series and while it had great engagment, that's all it was.

2. was a brand sponsored post, drove a lot of clicks and i made $$$ off that partnership

3. was a post trying to help a friend who was just shy of 3k followers. she's a great writer so i told folks to follower her- she gained 350+ followers that day.

4. was a breakdown of how i think about ghostwriting as someone who's written for dozens of executives. 2 meetings booked- one call close. 




it's easy to get in your head about what's working, but linkedin like any social media can be used as a funnel. some posts grow your audience, some grow your business. you need a mix.


here's the split i try to stick to (and recommend to my clients):

60% Top of Funnel - Problem posts (educate the people about a problem in your niche) this content is lighter, broader and gains eyeballs

30%Middle of Funnel- Playbook posts (give away all your best info for free) break down a process, template or framework for the personas you help. help them solve one specific problem TODAY. make it easy to implement right now

10% Bottom of Funnel - Pitch your sh*t (or POV) tell personal stories, share wins or straight up hit em with a "DM me if you need help with X"




Which bucket do you think this post falls into?^

top tier VCs (any VCs really) should have an in-house team of ghostwriters for all their port-co founders. investors who aren't putting $$$ into founder content are wayyyy behind... it would be so simple:

those founders should be writing newsletters, posting on linkedin, X, maybeeee even IG and youtube.

they need to be telling stories, sharing the behind the scenes of building the company and walking people through the problem their product solves in real time. 

not polished marketing videos- from the desk of the CEO etc.


and i know investors want the founders focused on build the thing, but a founder brand is an essential component of the company brand in 2026. the need to be building the brand if they have a shot at beating out their competition. 

so if they don't have the time, give them a way to do it that doesn't require much of their time. 

have a professional interview them 2x a month (or just listen to call recordings, or drop in on team meetings) and write the dang content for them. 

and if you don't want to hire someone in house then have a handful of partners on deck and connect them with your founders early. 



executive brands can be the difference maker when customers are choosing between two products. 

in a world of AI when products can be spun up in a matter of hours with vibe coding... your TEAM is the moat. 



any VCs out there already doing this? 

if not, why not... what am i missing?

Luke Matthews

Co-Founder | Lifestyle Blogger |  Content Marketer | Storyteller 

I teach you how to write with AI (and win LinkedIn)

You feel it. The "Dead Internet" is real. So much content on LinkedIn is an empty AI echo chamber. 

The gurus post get rich quick schemes, the influencers post "look-at-me" selfies and the AI bros tell you how to fire your team and make 500k MRR in seaconds... 

You can rage against all this chaos and fight the machine OR u can learn to command it.

I teach rebels a two-part strategy:

1.  𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘄: Use your unfiltered human voice to build an audience that converts.

2.  𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲: Use Agentic AI workflows to scale your marketing ops (as securely as possible).

Humanity is your product. 
Privacy is your shield. 
AI is your weapon.

AI isn't your enemy. The gurus and corporate overlords are...Learn to command AI and connect with your target audience and follow an OG who's been doing content marketing since the dawn of time (2016)....

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿?

Follow me and subscribe to my email list. You can subscribe by clicking any link in my profile as they all go to my newsletter on Substack. 

-----

A𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁?

Email me at luke@wizardofoddmarketing.com

Founder - Lead Wizard & Ghostwriter

Linkedin & Twitter Ghostwriting Services for CEOs, Influencers, and Tech companies. 
Reach your audience with a sprinkle of magic, the power of explosive copywriting, and let the WIZARD OF odd MARKETING help make your biz a LOT  less boring.

Alright LinkedIn, let's be real for a second.

I know you're terrified... You see everyone else using AI and you either think:

A) "This is the end of human connection.... Soooo I'm going to write everything by hand in a candle-lit room!"

B) "I must prompt everything! I will become a GPT-powered content machine!"

Black and white thinking is just as lazy as the AI slop ur favorite influencer just posted. 

100% human get's u left behind.
100% AI get's u sounding like a robot.

The winning strategy is to be both human & AI. 

It's not that deep.

Use AI to handle the boring back end stuff.
Use your humanity to connect with your audience.

Easy peasy... 

Personally I've always enjoyed writing unhinged AND automating the back end like a nerd.

No need to pick a side.. 

Use AI AND be so human it stands out.

👊

𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?

Join me on Substack for daily unhinged writing + bi-weekly newsletters for rebels.. https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

I got 99 problems and a LinkedIn ain’t one.

The 2026 LinkedIn algorithm favors written content.

But NOT AI slop... You must write SO human it hurts..... 

These writing staples used to work:

-Short sentences like this.
-Ridiculous post hooks.
-The rule of three.
-[this] vs [that] + [philosophical power statement'
-Open loops.
-Listicles...

But AI is good enough that you can feed it the above principles and it will do a decent job writing words and FEEL LIKE CHATGPT WROTE IT AND YOU WILL GET NO CLIENTS.........

Sorry folks but you got to write for yourself.

Writing in 2026 still requires you to learn techniques. 

But now it demands a secondary layer to feel human.... 

You need to add these to your skillset: 

-Chunky paragraphs. 
-Written technical knowledge of your industry.
-Humorous and cultural pieces. 
-The art of writing to specific pain points.
-Spelling mistakes n choppy sentences..
-The courage to say what others wont with some spice...

You don't need hot selfies.

But look ur words can't be mid any longer....

PS Yes I made this infographic with AI. Did it trigger u?

(I'm all for creating media with AI just no words lol)

How to create an elite infographic with AI.

Step 1: Turn the ON Switch on in your brain...

(yes you still need your wits to create with AI)

Step 2: Use the Artlist All-in-One AI Toolkit.
Step 3: Select Nano-Banana 2 (now on Artlist)
Step 4: Use my prompt.... 

Comment ELITE to get it and you can stop reading.

OR....

Read on and follow my actual 4-step framework for commanding the AI to work some magic because you know that AI s an illiterate artist that struggles with detail UNLESS you tell it exactly what to do and use the right model. 

That's why Nano Banana 2 is elite.

I used it to create this infographic within my work sandbox.

It's an elite text-to-image and image-to-image model where outputs are more accurate, detailed, and repeatable across generations. It keeps the speed the Nano Banana family is known for but improves the quality. Ideal for ad variations, social content, and video frames at scale. 

I mostly use it for infographics and ads. 

Anywhoodles....... here's the real 4 step guide: 

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲.

Don’t say “make an infographic.” Say “make a professional infographic in a clean, magazine editorial style with a warm cream paper background and a sage green color palette.” Define the entire visual language from the start.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Don’t let the AI guess the structure. Tell it exactly what you want. “Create a 4:5 aspect ratio image with a main title at the top, two cards in the middle, and a four-column feature section below.” You are the architect.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗗𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁.

Never let the AI write your copy. It’s an image generator, not a copywriter. Put every single word you want it to render in quotes. Titles. Body text. Labels. Everything.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀.

Be ruthlessly specific. Specify the fonts. List the exact color hex codes. Describe the icon style (“simple, hand-drawn doodle line art”). The more details you lock in, the fewer mistakes the AI can make.

Once again if you want my prompt comment ELITE but don't just copy me. 

Study it. See how it works.
Then, make it your own.

PS Who read the whole post? Your the best if you did.

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁?

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ejKNGHgQ

The gurus took over LinkedIn. 

If you detest “how to get rich” posts.
If you detest “I made 50k MRR” posts..
If you detest “I have 500k followers” posts…

Do what I do...

Be ruthless. Mute, unfollow & block these grifting gurus.

And go where you are treated best...

I've been banned over 10x and have found battling the AI slop, endless grifting and platform indifference tiring..

So I post 1 or 2x a week and run ads.

I speak my mind on Substack and find my tribe of rebels there.

LinkedIn may be 69% dead... 

But the thinkers, builders & genuine souls are still building and fighting for their corner of the internet...

It's just not here.

🤷

3 years ago I booked a one way ticket to Mars.

I’d never been, didn’t speak Martian, didn’t know anyone……………..

Blah blah blah..... BLAH!

Every story like this now follows the same script. 

<Insert hero’s journey back story here>

<Insert relatable sob story struggles here>

<Insert comeback arc here>

<Insert generic encouragement here>

<Insert call to action to my program to teach u too>

Marketers and influencers somehow have ruined good storytelling too and the modern internet really is unbearable.....

But also... I... did... actually do this. 

I eat $500 steak for breakfast.

It changed EVERYTHING SO BUY MY COURSE OK......

<insert pattern interrupt here>

Ha ha ha ha....

I just can’t follow the script… 

Aight im done.

PS Who misses stories with no sell at the end?

--

So.. This is the perfect time to sell!!!

<insert not so surprising double plot twist here>

Yes. You've been had and I know you aren't mad about it.

So look.. Join my free community of rebels over on Substack. I rant about the creator economy and share daily icebreaker questions to help you meet humans....

Join us here: https://lnkd.in/dB96mKfP

I don't write with AI. But I do create media.

With Artlist I get access to the leading models like Kling 2.6 Pro, Sora 2 and new models like Seedance 2.0....

I use an isolated work sandbox when accessing Artlist to create infographics, PDFs and elite videos. 

(to keep my data as secure as possible) 

Cheers to Artlist for sponsoring this post.

They keep adding great AI models to the Artlist all in one AI Toolkit and Seedance 2.0 is coming soon....

You'll get features like:

𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱: Tag anything to build via 1 prompt.

𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄: Generate seamless, one-take sequences with perfect cinematic continuity.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗽: Combine up to 12 assets like text, images, video, and audio all at once.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘁𝘀: Auto-generate sound effects and music that sync perfectly to the on-screen action.

𝗣𝗿𝗼-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹: Swap characters, delete clips, or extend your footage from any frame.

Learn more about Seedance 2.0 here..
↳ https://lnkd.in/d5V-_QmV

Wild what can be done now with AI as a solo creator...

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁?

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eFgDmM6u

PS Is it just me or does anyone feel the struggle to keep up with AI right now..... lol

This video was made using Seedance 2.0, coming soon to Artlist.

Brand partnership • I got 99 problems and a LinkedIn ain’t one.

I am tired of greedy SaaS tools. 

So I use AI to build and exit the subscription economy....

I was fueled (as always) by hate. 

HATRED of these 7 things SaaS tools do.....

1. Requires my payment info for a free trial. 
2. Charges via token based subscriptions. 
3. Sells my data to third-party tools.
4. Has NO option to delete the account in dashboard.
5. Has NO option to request data deletion in dashboard. 
6. Has NO sign of a support email anywhere.
7. The chat support AI is awful & poorly programmed. 

Last summer I cut my $500 tool stack down to $25 and left Google, Meta, OpenAI and quit a billion AI tool subscriptions. 

Data privacy was my driver. 
AI innovation means I can build any tool myself.
Being a nerd makes it all a bit easier.

The process though?

Time consuming, annoying and frustrating. 

Anyone else HATE the data collection, surveillance state we have to deal with?

PS I write about this on Substack.

Join me if you like rants, local AI and data privacy.

Sub here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

I'm a Canadian who grew up playing hockey and I couldn't be more pleased that team USA won the gold........

Hockey players are the toughest of all sports. 

Hockey players fight, throw big hits and take pucks to the teeth, get up keep playing and score the game winning goal like Jack Hughes...

Aaaaand then go celly with the prez & handle the media with class....

But you know behind closed doors they are laughing.

#goats

PS What's your favorite sport? 

Oh and yes... I left Canada ages ago. No regrets... :)

Building in public is cooked. 
Building your personal brand don't matter.
Sorry but nobody cares (here's how to fix that)

The old formula on LinkedIn is dead.

The guru who peaked in 2022 is still selling:

1. Overshare your hero story. 
2. Build fake likability by commenting all day.
3. Share everything for free in ur niche....
4. Monetize "your community" like them. 

But it is NOT working for you. 

So your content gets more desperate. 

Clickbait, hot selfies, "fake kindness posts"... 

And deep down u feel like a loser.

Well the truth is that the old model is for losers because it just simply don't work anymore and it shows u are still listening to an influencer who's so detached from reality they don't realized it....

Time to grow up.

Here's the new way for 2026.

No hero story > Replace w bold takes on ur industry
No safe AI comments > Comment unhinged
No sharing all for free > Gate your best content
Comment all day > Run thought leader ad$ instead

It's pay to play on LinkedIn now folks.

So don't waste all day here.

Sincerely a guy who used to spend 8+ hours a day "building community" and sharing his story.

If it's dead for me and my 189k followers?

It's certainly dead for you.

--

𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟬 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀?

Comment...... 

Lol I ain't doin that. 

But you can sub to my newsletter and find a way out of your digital rat race here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

Vibe coding is great for shipping apps.

But shipping a product people want to buy is the hard part....  

(you need an audience to sell too)

Vibe coding used to be a grifters dream. 

Sell the hope of making a product easy and making money fast BUT that's not the reality. It takes time to build a product and a business. 

The good news is.... AI can now help make technical part easy.

Replit lets me build the tool I wish existed when I was cleaning up my own digital life.

The tool I used to clean my digital footprint was great for a deep clean. But there was no simple, free way to just 𝘴𝘦𝘦 how much of my data I was exposing. I wanted a tool that made people aware of what the current risk was for their social media accounts and let them start cleaning up slowly.

So I built Privacy Guard using Replit which helps make building a mobile app and getting into the App Stores simple.

The traditional barriers of mobile development are handled by the AI.

This is how easy it is:

1. Start with a prompt of your tool/app idea.
2. Describe how the mobile app works.
3. Wait for AI to build a version 1.0.
4. Test and refine with reprompts.
5. Publish to the app store.

Yes, yes this is indeed a sponsored post by Replit.

But I actually did build my own mobile app.

Check out version 1.0 of "Privacy Guard" a social media privacy audit to help you see exactly what sensitive information you're exposing publicly. 

The tool only analyzes publicly visible content.
It processes your data and discards it. 
Nothing is stored on servers. 

Want a free privacy audit of your social media accounts? 

Comment "𝗔𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗧" and I'll send you the link. 

--

Build your own mobile app on Replit here:
>> https://lnkd.in/dATV8HUV

Your AI agent is slow and doesn't do what you want.

You write a prompt.... 
You wait. 
You watch it build one thing at a time while your ideas pile up faster than it can execute.

You blame AI but the issue is selecting the wrong tool...

Most AI agents work sequentially. One task at a time. You can't design while it builds. You can't test while it deploys. 

You just prompt and... wait. And prompt.... and WAIT...

Replit Agent 4 is different.

It's the first agent I've used where you can plan, design, and build at the same time. No waiting on one task to finish before starting the next.

→ Run multiple agents in parallel.
→ Design on an infinite canvas 
→ and apply it directly to your app.

You can ship web apps, mobile apps, slide decks, and dashboards from one project.

It's creativity-first and the AI agent handles execution while you stay in your flow state.  

Try it here: https://lnkd.in/ecZX3z4S

I am learning and testing the new agent in Replit using my public work sandbox setup...

Cheers to Replit for sponsoring this post.

PS Do you think AI agents are a fad or actually useful?

Unhinged comments > value driven posts.

This is the sad reality of LinkedIn in 2026...... 

I regularly get 20k+ impressions on my comments and I struggle to reach 20k impressions on my posts. 

Why is it so easy to get reach on comments?

1. Everyone uses AI bots or virtual assistants. 
2. As a result the comments are safe and boring. 
3. I risk being offensive with my comments. 
4. Most of you don't have any nuts. 

So why is it so hard to get reach on value driven posts?

1. The average user's brain is dead. 
2. LinkedIn wants you to pay for thought leader ads.
3. People consume fear (c)orn.  
4. The demographic of the average user has changed since 2021....

I could go on but I'd risk too much truth telling.

My current blueprint?

Comment unhinged.
Post for my niche. 
Run thought leader ads. 

There's no point obsessing over content any more. Just run ads and comment your actual thoughts.

Agree?

--

𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀?

Join my newsletter and stay ahead of the game... Insights into which AI to use, how to sell and win in the current creator economy.

Sub here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

This weekend I was building a home server.....

But I lost power, my AC unit broke and my neighbor partied until the sun didn't shine...

So I had to bail on my plans... 

I'm switching my windows pc... a GMKtec Evo X2 into a Linux distro to self host my own local AI, a calendar booking system, a book/music library and well I'd go on but I lost all of you. 

I nerd out on local AI and value privacy.

If u made it this far this post has no lesson. No leadership tip.

Just simply a weekend spent sweating my nuts off...

(and laughing at my choice of country)  

I did however decide on a Linux distro and created a step-by-step plan to follow. 

So cheers eh.....

--

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀? 

Join me on Substack for nerdy posts about AI, funny rants + bi-weekly newsletters for rebels..

Join here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

Social media is dying cz u get offended too easily.

The smart marketing play is rage bait OR.... 

Writing vanilla niche content about your business. 

I struggle to simply do this. 

But on LinkedIn?

No big account like mine gets away with real thoughts on trending topics.... You'd have to go to X to speak freely. Soooo that is why LinkedIn is run by robots, virtual assistants and paid ads. 

Sometimes I get sloppy and leak a rant and remember why I got banned 10+ times on this platform.

People love to shoot the messenger here. 

So long live soulless vanilla AI slop!!

Is social media cooked chat?

--

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀? 

Join me on Substack where we can all rant freely and laugh at AI slop....

Join here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

Today I resubscribed to ChatGPT Pro.

Sam Altman's brave vision for a greater future is worth aligning with... and lets be honest... you just have to pay attention to the greatest country on earth choosing OpenAI as it's AI tool of choice.

I can't wait to build more tools with Codex!!

So that's why....

........................................................

Well.... 

So the truth is.... 

I didn't resubscribe today. 

I deleted my ChatGPT a long time ago.

I don't use Claude or Google Gemini either..

All the companies steal your data, sell it to third parties and yes build mass surveillance networks. 

Tℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑥 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡..

Or....

Learn local AI. 

Think Open Claw without the poor security and AI bro hype...

Why local?

Local AI runs on ur device.
It is cheaper and more private. 

ORRRRR you know forget all that.. 

Just cancel ChatGPT... 
Virtue signal. 
Be a hero. 

Use Claude and keep handing over your data and trust that they'll keep it safe for you... 

(oops)

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The Battle

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The Battle

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