How Does LinkedIn Content Actually Make You Money?

Hello hello!

Welcome back to, 1, One, 1. This newsletter is the place founders come to learn how to get leads from their social—and I’m so glad you’re a part of it.

Currently writing this from a co-working space I rent once in a while. Vibes are good. Not much of an update this week other than I am neck deep in recruiting and admittedly don’t love doing it.

I was always told it’s hard. I didn’t realize how hard it is. My big finding is that it’s super hard (follow for more insights. Seriously though, it’s way more time-consuming than I thought, but I’ve been told by people I trust that once you crack this, your world changes. I’ll have to see if that’s the case.

Enough rambling. As promised, here’s your 1 winning hook template, 1 post breakdown, and 1 content tip:

A Personal Message From Christian

In the past 24 months, we've helped over 20 founders start and grow their LinkedIn presence.

Results include:

• One founder booking over 75 demos per month from social.

• Generating $65k in attributable LTV in just two months.

• Booking three meetings in the first seven days of posting.

We're looking for one to two more clients to take on and run the exact same process for in the coming weeks.

If you're a SaaS founder or marketer or run an agency, and are interested in generating pipeline from your founder's socials, click here and book a free discovery call.

Best case, we partner and generate pipeline for you. Worst case, you get tactical advice you can use for yourself.

Also, did I just sponsor my own newsletter? Potentially.

Winning Hook Template

Did I really just quote myself? Yes. Do something about it. No, seriously, I really like this hook. It’s simple, has all the elements of a strong hook, and is very easily replicable.

Why Does This Hook Work?

Really, there are two core pillars you can replicate as to why this works very well.

1/ Strong authority + ICP callout

I start off the hook by saying I’ve written 3500+ LinkedIn posts for Seed to Series D founders and $5M+/year agency owners. Guess who I sell to? Seed to Series D founders and $5M+/year agency owners.

The 3,500 LinkedIn posts is a large number that’s unique to me. I haven’t written the most LinkedIn posts in the world…but I’m certainly up there. The point is that it’s both a huge number, AND not many people can say this.

That’s why I used it, and that’s why it works.

2/ Large listicle

I promise 17 mistakes my ICPs often make. Note that 17 points is better than 15, 11, 9, 7, or 5. The fact that I promise 17 makes the reader think, from the hook alone, that the following post is going to be value-dense.

Note that this also could’ve been 17 pro tips or 17 ways to do X – and the effect would’ve been the same.

The point is that you have enough points (mistakes, pro tips, etc.) to ensure the post comes off as hyper-valuable.

How Can You Replicate It?

1/ Identify something unique to you that also demonstrates authority.

If you’re a founder writing about fundraising, reference the amount of capital you’ve raised.

If you’re a GTM tech platform talking about demand gen, reference how much pipeline you’ve generated.

If you’re a web design shop, reference how many ICP landing pages you’ve built.

The point is that someone (your ICP) would read it and say “OK, I trust what they’re about to tell me”.

2/ Craft a list of points, mistakes, or tips your ICP can use in reference to this.

For me, it was 17 mistakes my ICP often makes on LinkedIn.

For you, it can be:

• X pro tips to [get desired benefit]

• Y ways to [get desired benefit]

• Z things I wish I told myself before [starting thing]

This, paired with the authority from the line before, is what drives clicks on the “see more” button.

Post Breakdown

Today’s post breakdown comes from Anthony Pierri, Co-founder at FletchPMM. It’s a bit of a long one, but man, it’s good.

I love this post for three main reasons.

Why Does This Post Work?

1/ Strong hook + re-hook.

This hook induces strong FOMO in the reader, if they fit Anthony’s ICP—which is the point. Notice how his use of “most important parts” with the colon just makes you need to click “see more”? That’s what a great hook is.

He also takes it a step further and introduces what is effectively a second hook, by stating each of the three points up front, and then getting into a breakdown (which, in my opinion, people don’t do enough).

Once he got you to click, he re-captures your attention again by stating what he’s about to talk about in depth, which brings me to my next point…

2/ Thoughtful breakdown of listicle points.

Too many LinkedIn listicles simply don’t go into enough depth. It leaves the reader feeling like their time was wasted and, over time, will erode trust in your content (in my opinion).

Anthony does a great job of breaking down each listicle point (and even adds a bonus one). This depth, combined with the fact that it’s a topic that is rarely referenced on social, makes for an uber-compelling post.

Keep this in mind for the next time you write a listicle.

3/ Unique graphic.

I love this graphic mainly because it’s something you just never see on LinkedIn. I’m guilty of it, too—I get stuck in the same media types and am often scared to experiment as much as I should.

Anthony doesn’t care, and it pays off for him. As he states in the post, it was actually made with ChatGPT’s new image generator. You don’t have to use it (I’m experimenting with it this weekend), but the point is that you get out of your comfort zone with media—more than you think you need to.

This was a big lesson for me, too.

How Can You Replicate It?

1/ Write a strong hook that teases a critical piece of info for your ICP.

This is what creates FOMO. These are hooks like “Never [do thing] if you don’t have these 3 [necessary steps / processes] in place]:

Really, you can take this where you want to take it—the point is that your hook ensures your ICP has a strong reason to click “see more”.

2/ Re-hook

Once you advance past the hook, the next step is listing the points, in order, with no further explanation. You’ll transition into an explanation of each with a transition sentence like Anthony uses: Lets look at each:

3/ Deep point explanation

There’s no getting around this. Anthony does a great job of explaining each point, and if you want this post to work for you as well, you should do the same.

4/ Unique image.

Don’t copy Anthony, but certainly experiment with a visual that nicely demonstrates what you’re trying to convey in a way LinkedIn isn’t accustomed to.

I know those instructions are vague, but the point is that you take this where you want to take it. I can’t speak from authority yet, but I have a sneaky suspicion ChatGPT’s new generator will change the way LinkedIn media is made. There are simply way more opportunities available now that weren’t previously.

TLDR: This post isn’t one you can rip word for word (you should never do that with any post, to be frank), but it certainly has elements that you can and should use for yourself.

I’d go as far as saying you’d be silly not to 🙂 

Content Tip - How Does Social Content Lead To Revenue?

This is far and away the most common question I get asked by prospects. And rightfully so—they run a business, not a charity. My answer:

• Certain data will undoubtedly show it (more below)

• Beyond that, you'll build a general sense for it (also, more below)

A breakdown of each:

1. The Data

Self-reported attribution is kind of obvious here. After 90 days of posting, you should see an uptick in "LinkedIn" or "Social" in your call booking fields.

That will either come from:

a) Pure inbound (prospect sees your content, then books)

b) Social referral (your follower refers you based on content)

c) You outbound via social (primarily LinkedIn DMs)

Yes, you should see an uptick there. Especially if you’re starting from zero…any content that’s remotely good will help.

2. Outbound response rates AND positive reply rate.

The best way I can describe this: Posting on social is like pre-warming-up a prospect before they even know it’s happening.

I won't act like I'm the first person to coin this. I'm not. But it's true, and I know it because I've experienced it.

The more valuable content you post for your ICP, the better time you have outbounding to them.

Myself and almost everyone else posting + outbounding are walking proof.

Also, this extends beyond just social DMs. Your sales / GTM team will undoubtedly have an easier time getting prospects on the phone if you make noise on social.

I actually try to stay away from the term “halo effect” because of the difficulty in measuring it, but I’m not sure of another way to say it in this case: There is undoubtedly a halo effect.

→ You / your team post consistently and reach your ICP

→ You / your team connect with your ICP regularly

→ You / your team engage on ICP/community posts regularly

→ Your sales / GTM team outbounds to people in that community

→ Certain prospects recognize the name and brand from social

→ A portion of those prospects book a call

It’s not like 100% of prospects will book a call because they saw you on social. Many won’t see you at all, to be frank. But I can tell you one thing for sure:

Teams posting on social and doing outbound see better outbound performance than teams that do outbound but don’t.

I don’t make the rules.

3. Signal-based outreach.

This deserves its own point. The best founders at generating leads from social use their ICP profile views, likes, and comments as a signal for outreach.

The play is usually a combination of identifying them with Trigify, enriching data with Clay, and sending with an email sender (with copy referencing the social activity).

If you have this set up, you can see a pipeline generation number directly attributable to social with your own two eyes.

There are ways to get hyper-creative with this. If you’re on this corner of the internet, you’ve probably got a cold email that references a like or comment on one of your prior posts. This is a very similar play.

And I’ve seen, with my own two eyes, the amount of pipeline generation that can occur when you do this at scale with the right content and messaging.

4. Recruiting

Okay, I this is admittedly hard to quantify, but I had to include it. I’ll use myself as an example.

I’ve put out multiple job posts for writers (freelance and FTE). They got a combined 2500 applicants. I’ve hired 1 person from them.

I’ve also posted on social for 18 months. I’ve hired 4 people that simply saw and kept up with my content, and reached out when they found out I was hiring.

More than that, this talent is easily the best we have. When talent knows you and what you’re about, recruiting gets way easier.

As much as your content aims to sell your product/service, there’s something to be said about using it to sell your company as a great place to work. I’m currently hiring again and hoping my content plays another big part!

Just read this back – certainly a long one! I hope you found it valuable.

Social Stuff I Found For You

📌 How to maximize any in-person event you go to with Sales Navigator.

📌 Results from leaving 100 LinkedIn comments in a day.

📌 An important reminder on LinkedIn engagement 😆 

Last Thing

Thank you for reading. Truly, it means a lot to me that you take the time out of your busy week to do this.

Just wanted to say that my agency, Hat Tip, has availability for more founders like yourself if you want support with content.

See if you’re a fit here.

I’ll be back next week,

Christian