How To Pick A LinkedIn Post Topic

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.

It’s Sunday morning as I draft this. Coming off a pretty crazy week at the agency—our team is now bigger than ever, I have two full-time offers out to existing contractors, and our pipeline is growing fast. What a time to be alive.

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

Winning Hook Template

Clémence goes on to list 7 actionable bullet points as to why this is the case. This is crucial if you’re going to use a hook like this. We don’t do clickbait hooks in these parts—our hooks have payoffs.

Why Does This Hook Work?

1/ It’s something uber-relatable to her ICP. You can adapt this to what you sell, but you want to pick something your ICP thinks they’re doing right (or are), yet are still having issues with something. This hook SCREAMS “read more” to the right person.

2/ It lets her position herself as an expert. I can’t write the post she wrote. I’m not a landing page or CRO expert. She is. And that’s the point. Writing this hook and promising the listicle (more on that below) positions her as an expert on the topic so long as she delivers on the hook’s promise.

3/ It creates a strong curiosity gap. If I had good traffic but wasn’t getting leads, of course I’d click “see more” on this post. Wouldn’t you? The “7 things you can

do about it” part implies immediate, actionable tips/strategies you can employ asap.

If You Want To Steal This

Think of something your ICP does right, or thinks they’re doing right, but aren’t seeing results from.

For example, I sell social content services to B2B founders and marketing teams. For me, this might look like:

You’re posting 5x/week, but you’re not getting any inbound leads. Here are 7 things you can do about it:

IMPORTANT: Like I said, you must pay off the hook with 7 actionable points. Otherwise you’re telling a hook hoax.

Post Breakdown

Today’s winning post is by Darren McKee.

If you write one post this week, make it this one. It’s that good. I can tell you, because it ripped for me, too.

Why Did This Post Work So Well?

1/ Strong Hook

“If my boss asked me” = relatable

“To book a meeting with the Walt Disney Company” = ambitious, huge goal.

“this is how I would get it done by 5pm tomorrow” = quick deadline / fast payoff.

“Step by step process” = strong creation of curiosity gap.

This hook is damn-near perfect. There’s a reason myself and anyone keeping up with winning posts on LinkedIn used it.

If you want to steal the hook, the template is:

For example, for me, this hook was:

If a CEO needed a LinkedIn presence generating awareness and leads starting from 0, here's how I'd make it happen by the end of March:

2/ Full, nothing-held-back process

The reader can take what Darren says in this post, with no further instruction, and get a quantifiable result (in this case, a meeting with an ICP prospect).

Rarely do people go this in-depth in a process for a LinkedIn post—and that’s the point. It’s so practical, so actionable, and so valuable, that it’s bound to land up in company Slack channels and user saved folders.

3/ Hyper-Niche Knowledge

Read this post and you’ll realize Darren is dropping knowledge only he would know as a result of deep industry experience. Almost none of it is obvious or widely-accepted as the best practice.

It’s a level of knowledge deeper—and it makes the reader feel like they’re getting the inside scoop on anything. It’s that valuable.

His 2nd point in the listicle is the perfect response. How many sellers do you think are keyword searching sustainability reports and earnings call transcripts outside of super high end ENT sales? I’d bet very few on LinkedIn.

Yet, Darren shows exactly how to use the method to generate pipeline—exactly what his ICP cares for.

If You Want To Steal This

1/ Think of a process you know how to run that your prospects would find extremely valuable.

As an example, for me, this was how to generate leads from LinkedIn, starting from zero, in 8 weeks.

2/ Start with the hook template above, and write down every step. Leave nothing out. Imagine your post is the only resource they’ll ever be able to use on the matter.

3/ Have a friend or colleague with less knowledge on the topic read your post before you ship it. Ask them if anything is unclear or if you need more on the topic. It must be a full solution.

BONUS: If you get close to or go over the 3,000 character limit, finish the post in the comments. This increases retention and dwell time on the post, making it get pushed out further.

Do not tell anyone I told you.

Content Tip - How To Pick A Winning Post Topic

We ship 75+ posts per week for B2B founders and marketing teams. Each one goes through the framework I’m about to share.

It’s the key to having a balanced content funnel—and making content your prospects actually care about.

The Know, Like, Trust Framework

Basically: Each post must make your prospect know, like, or trust you more than they did before.

If it does none of those things, don’t ship it.

If it does one of those things, you’re good to go.

If it does multiple, draft it ASAP.

So, when you have an idea for a post, ask yourself the question: Does it make my prospect know, like, or trust me more? Again, you must satisfy 1 of the 3 at least.

Each of those options loosely map to an area of the funnel:

Know you more → Top of funnel (stories, opinions, etc.)

Like you more → Middle of funnel (industry-specific resources, thought leadership, etc.)

Trust you more → Bottom of funnel (case studies, testimonials, FAQs, etc.)

So, next time you sit down with a post topic, ask yourself the following questions (examples included):

1. Will this topic make the your audience know you better?

Typically, these will be stories and posts about personal experiences.

1. Example 1 - Personal story that led to great outcome

2. Example 2 - Company origin story (also led to great outcome)

3. Example 3 - Hyper-relatable listicle to ICP

4. Example 4 - Actionable tips for ICP beginner

5. Example 5 - Strong metric in hook + behind the scenes view

2. Will this topic make the your audience like you better?

Typically, these will be opinions, pro-tips, and how-to’s.

1. Example 1 - Valuable resource for ICP

2. Example 2 - Authority + opinion (picture helps here)

3. Example 3 - Big promise + authority from stats + tactical takeaway

4. Example 4 - Valuable resource for ICP

5. Example 5 - Interesting use case for ICP (and veiled demo!)

3. Will this topic make your audience trust you more?

Typically, these will be case study or social-proof-heavy posts, as well as posts where you get extra vulnerable/transparent.

1. Example 1 - Lots of authority in hook + tactical help after

2. Example 2 - Case study reformatted as post

3. Example 3 - Extreme transparency

4. Example 4 - Authority take on hot topic at the time

5. Example 5 - Pure value his audience can implement right away.

That was a lot—I hope you found it valuable!

Social Stuff I Found For You

📌 Great social selling tip everyone should read (Darren McKee)

📌 The man who quit his job to make memes (Aidan Brannigan)

📌 A public founder war taking place right on LinkedIn (Adam Robinson / Larry Kim)

Decide On Next Week’s Issue

This newsletter, truly is, for you. Vote on the issue you want in your inbox next Tuesday morning.

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