I talk about digital writing & personal progress

Here's a quick rundown of how I've spent my last 5 years:

1. Studied math and played football at Princeton. I graduated in 2018 with a degree in financial engineering and played center for the Tigers. In college, I was a 280-pound offensive lineman, so for the last 5 years, I've had to completely rewrite my personal operating system on the health & fitness front. I currently weigh 185 pounds and have learned a lot along the way!

2. Graduated and immediately started working for BlackRock in New York City. I worked as a junior hedge fund trader for 4 years, focusing on global macro markets. This was my dream job and the only corporate job I've ever had. In fact, it's the only job *interview* I've ever had (since I interned there as a junior in college).

3. Realized working for someone else was not going to be the long-term path for me. 12 months into working on Wall Street, I saw someone in their mid-40s ask their boss for permission to go to their son's Little League game. At that moment I realized I wasn't cut out to take directions or instructions from other people for very long.

4. Started to write on my old blog, then on Twitter. Rather than quit immediately, I started to passively explore other opportunities by writing online, starting out on my old blog (which no one knew existed), then transitioning to Twitter in July of 2020.

5. Changed my trajectory with a 30-day writing challenge, which led me to start Ship 30 for 30. In September 2020 I was ready to give up writing entirely. But I gave it one more shot, this time moving from a weekly blog post to a daily Twitter thread. The challenge was a huge success. It took me 9 months to reach 100 followers and 1 month to go from 100 to 2,000. And that personal writing challenge turned into the foundation of Ship 30 for 30, which started as nothing but a Slack accountability group to help people publish consistently.

6. Scaled Ship 30 while working remotely for all of 2021. I built and scaled Ship 30 with Nicolas Cole to over 2,000 students in 2021—all while continuing to work full-time (remotely) for BlackRock. But towards the end of 2021, Ship 30 hit an inflection point and it no longer made financial sense for me to continue working on Wall Street.

7. Left BlackRock in March of 2022 to write and build on my own. After weeks of weighing the pros and cons and trying to project my path forward, I made the decision to leave BlackRock and chart my own path. 15 months into making that decision and I'm confident it's the best one I've ever made.

Dickie Bush 🚢

I used to have one severe addiction:

Planning.

My brain loved the cheap dopamine of gathering:

• Books to read
• Tasks to complete
• And videos to watch

But when it came to taking action, the euphoric rush faded.

What ended my addiction?

This story of two men learning to fish:

The first fisherman heads straight to the marina to buy the best fishing boat money can buy.

He specs out a custom, carbon fiber rod.

And he spends time reading up on everything there is to know about fishing:

• Casting techniques
• Baiting techniques
• Reeling techniques

You name it, he's bought the book on it.

And of course, he's watching the fishing channel every night for hours, learning from the best of the best.

A few months later, he finally feels ready to fish.

The next day, he heads out on the lake in his new boat with his fancy rod and wealth of fishing "experience" built up over the last few months.

But six hours in, nothing. Not even a nibble.

What happened?

Turns out, the second fisherman had already sucked the lake dry.

On day one, the second fisherman grabbed a shitty rod, sliced up a hot dog, and went out to the lake.

• The first day, nothing
• Second day, nothing
• Third day, nothing
• One week, nothing

But on the eighth day? His first nibble.

And every day after, he honed his technique.

He found a baiting technique that worked a bit better. Or a new spot with a few more fish.

And after three weeks of iteration, he found the winning combination.

Before long, he was hauling in hundreds of fish every day. To keep up with his daily haul, he hired a small team to help him. And from there, he opened a restaurant with fat margins to sell his fresh fish.

And after that, he opened a fishing school to teach others his craft.

He did all of this while the first fisherman sat around gathering gear.

Sure, the first fisherman felt productive. He was "learning" after all, right?

But there was one difference: feedback.

Every day the second fisherman had an idea of something that might work better. And he went right to the market to validate his assumption. If it worked, his strategy improved. And if it failed, he learned something new.

The moral of this story?

Get to action as quickly as possible.

When you find yourself gathering gear, grab a shitty rod and start fishing.

Bad way to learn copywriting:

1. Bookmark dozens of posts
2. Read all the books
3. Apply none of them

Instead, just read The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman.

It taught me more about copywriting than dozens of books combined.

And you can steal Sugarman's 7-step process to write high-converting copy (that helped me generate $15,000,000):

—
📌 Copywriting helped me build a 7-figure writing business.

(While working 12-hour days at my Wall Street job)

But I made my first $10,000 on the internet as a ghostwriter.

And right now, becoming a LinkedIn Ghostwriter is the easiest way to land high-paying clients.

Want to know how to land LinkedIn writing clients in 2025?

Here's a free, 5-day email course on how to get started: https://lnkd.in/eCFfC5cX

7 Steps To Write High-Converting Copy (From Joe Sugarman)

At 24, a stranger on the internet paid me $5,000.

The crazy part?

I thought they'd sent it by mistake!

But I'd actually just stumbled across an insanely lucrative business anyone can start:

Ghostwriting.

Everyone should have writing clients who pay $5,000+ for a project.

(This is ultimately how I quit my job on Wall Street so I could travel and work from anywhere in the world.)

But most people are stuck figuring out:

• What service to sell
• Which clients to target
• How to charge premium rates

So, last month, Nicolas Cole 🚢👻 and I put together the Writer Positioning Playbook to help you:

• Escape the freelancer rat race
• Confidently charge high-ticket prices
• Land ideal clients who value your expertise

Inside, you'll find:

• The 1 simple shift to 10x your rates overnight
• A 3-step framework to upgrade your Positioning
• An AI prompt to find 5 high-paying clients for YOUR specific background

Plus, you'll see real examples from a $3M ghostwriting agency.

Want access?

Comment "playbook" and I'll send it across (for free).

And if we're not connected, send me a connection request with the word "playbook" and I'll DM it to you.

How To Land $5,000 Writing Clients

A daily habit I wish I'd started earlier in my 20s:

(It's not investing)

Writing & publishing online every single day.

In the beginning, I tried everything:

• Every app
• Every "simple hack"
• Every piece of writing advice

And I still struggled to build a daily writing habit.

But then I studied the routines of legendary writers.

And their secrets have helped me write every day for 5+ years.
 
These are the 10 tiny habits that make writing every day effortless:

—
📌 Writing online completely changed my life:

• Helped me quit my corporate job
• Made my first $10,000 online as a ghostwriter
• Built my $19,000,000 digital writing business

And it also taught me ONE thing for certain:

The easiest way to make money online is to become a ghostwriter.

Want to land high-paying ghostwriting clients?

I wrote a FREE 5-step blueprint with everything you need to make money ghostwriting on LinkedIn.

Click here to get (free!) instant access: https://lnkd.in/eQW3B7Y4

10 Tiny Habits To Make Writing Every Day Effortless 

Demand for ghostwriters is exploding on LinkedIn.

But the problem?

Landing high-paying clients is difficult.

Especially if you suck at sales (like I did).

So, I wrote a MASSIVE 3,580-word AI Mega-prompt to script all my sales calls.

I trained it on the 9-step sales framework I've already shared with 1,500+ Premium Ghostwriters.

Here's my LinkedIn Sales Script Prompt:

—
📌 Want a free copy you can use in the next 60 seconds?

I bundled this Mega-prompt inside my LinkedIn Ghostwriter OS.

Inside, you'll get:

• 20+ AI prompts to help you build a business
• My "Leaks & Faucets" strategy for finding leads
• Viral content LI templates (that anyone can use)
• My $3M Sales Call script that closes high-ticket deals
• Voice matching prompt to write in any client's style
• A step-by-step, 30-day implementation roadmap

And tons more!

Comment "ghost" and I'll send you a free copy.

(And if we're not connected, send me a connection request with the word "ghost" and I'll send it over.)

Land High-Paying LinkedIn Clients With AI

This French teacher had one goal in mind:

To 4x her income.

Why?

Because Laura B. wanted to fund the work she's most passionate about—teaching her students how to become fluent in French.

So she took the plunge and joined our Premium Ghostwriting Academy.

And as a ghostwriter, she scaled quickly.

She sold:

• 5 Email Courses
• 8 Consulting Packages
• Dozens of Thought Leadership Packs

And now she's using this extra income to build her tutoring business.

Laura's example goes to show that anyone can become a ghostwriter and use this in-demand (and lucrative) service to either:

1. Create a new income stream
2. Or scale their existing income

Because executives, founders, and creators around the world are realizing how much they need a personal brand to scale their businesses.

And the salaries I've seen them pay are wild:

• Content Strategist at OpenAI ($319K - $393K/yr)

• Thought Leadership & Narrative Manager at Google ($211K - $297K/yr)

• Head of CEO Content at PayPal ($137.5K - $236K/yr)

And the best place to start right now is LinkedIn.

Want to start making money as a LinkedIn Ghostwriter?

I put together a free, 5-day email course to help you land high-paying writing clients.

Click "Visit my website" at the top of this post to get instant access.

Dennis Geelen

Coaching and mentoring to help you start and scale your one-person business.

Founder

Zero In

The mission of Zero In is to help as many businesses and leaders build a brand customers love and a company people are passionate to work for.  

So where do you need to focus (or Zero In)?
Solve the problem of INDIFFERENCE!

Indifferent customers have no compelling reason to purchase your product or service rather than your competitors' product or service. 

Indifferent employees are complacent because they are not passionate about coming to work each day.

Utilize the resources, books, and courses from Zero In to increase your customer retention, improve your customer experience, and build a passionate culture of innovation giving your team the ability to find new and better ways to serve your customers.

"Customers DO NOT buy your product or service, they buy what it can DO FOR THEM"
Customer-centricity means knowing your customers and giving them what they crave.  This helps you to build trust and loyalty, but also a solid reputation.  Loyal customers become fans of your brand and refer other customers to you.

"If you don't find new and better ways to serve your customers, SOMEONE ELSE WILL!"
Being Innovative brings new ideas, which is crucial to a business being able to find new and better ways to add value for your customers.  With innovation comes creative new products and services, increases in efficiency and, as a result, improved profitability.

BE THE BRAND CUSTOMERS LOVE AND THE COMPANY PEOPLE ARE PASSIONATE TO WORK FOR

Founder and Chief Difference Maker

The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

About the Commonwell
We are committed to profitable growth, team development, ingenuity, while having fun at work.  We offer a complete range of insurance products including residential, automobile, commercial, farm and watercraft. We encourage a work-life balance and we are serious about what we do!

About my Role
As Manager of the PMO, I lead a group project managers and business analysts to implement the project management office from the ground up.

About the PMO
Projects at the Commonwell are measured against timelines, budget, delivery of scope, but most importantly the realization of the intended benefits of each project.  Over 85% of projects at the Commonwell were consistantly green throughout 2018.

Manager, Project and Portfolio Management Office

As Manager of Application Services, I am responsible for planning, coordinating and managing the activities of the Application Services team within the Information Systems (IS) Department. This includes leadership and development of the IS team members, as well as providing direction and support for IS solutions to meet the present and future needs of the organization.

Manager of Application Services

Kawartha Lakes Food Source

Kawartha Lakes Food Source is a community effort to reduce hunger in the City of Kawartha Lakes by:

1. Maintaining a central warehouse to supply food to organizations that provide food to individuals in need,
2. Raising public awareness, and
3. Working in concert with other local not-for-profit organizations.

Board Of Directors

Operitel Corporation (An OpenText Company) 

ABout OpenText
OpenText, The Information Company™, a market leader in Enterprise Information Management software and solutions, enables intelligent and connected enterprises by managing, leveraging, securing and gaining insight into enterprise information, on-premises or in the cloud. 

About my Role
Directed a team of PS and R&D resources to develop and implement the LearnFlex LMS platform for over 40 clients.

Director of R&D and Professional Services

TELUS

Manager - Payment Solutions Development and Support

Emergis - A Telus Company

Manager

Emergis Inc

Business Coach | Keynote Speaker | Author of The Happy Accidents newsletter and The Accidental Solopreneur book

What I Do
I help teams, organizations, and solopreneurs flourish by focusing on what really matters: people.

As a speaker, author, and consultant, I equip audiences with practical, human-centered strategies to thrive in uncertain times, build meaningful businesses, and create lasting impact.

Who I Work With
• Event organizers seeking keynote speakers on serendipity, growth, and personal transformation
• Businesses and nonprofits looking to create stronger cultures, customer experiences, and leadership teams
• Solopreneurs who want to design businesses that give them both income and freedom


What I’ve Created
• Author of The Zero In Formula and The Accidental Solopreneur (bestseller)
• Creator of top-rated online courses for solopreneurs and authors
• Host of the Happy Accidents podcast and newsletter
• Keynote talks including 'The Power of Serendipity', 'Start Before You’re Ready', and 'Rooted in Humans'


Want to Work Together?
Let’s talk if you’re looking for:
✅ A keynote speaker for your next event
✅ A workshop or webinar for your team
✅ A course to help you grow as a solopreneur or author


DM me if you’d like to connect about speaking, workshops, or collaborations.

taplio

The Battle

Dickie Bush 🚢

Dennis Geelen

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taplio

The Battle

Dickie Bush 🚢

Dennis Geelen

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);}Dickie Bush 🚢's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDickie Bush 🚢's LinkedIn Performance