I help you craft your social media strategies | Social Media Strategist & Consultant

I help you:

1. Get attention from your ideal clients
2. Clarity and direction - Have a clear plan to follow rather than feeling uncertain or overwhelmed
3. Consistency - Easy-to-follow plan that helps you without the struggle
4. Go after the quick wins

If this sounds good to you, send me a DM

Frank Velasquez

Finding good ghostwriters is almost impossible. Most have writing skills or LinkedIn knowledge. Rarely both. These are three types:

Writers who know how to write but have no LinkedIn experience. They don't know yet what makes a good post stand out. But they easily could if they know how to hook people.

LinkedIn creators who are good at their own content but can't shed their voice for someone else. Just because things work for them doesn't mean it works when they do it for somebody else. It's hard to find the tone of the client and make it sound like them.

And then there are people who've done this for multiple clients across different agencies. After writing for different clients, taking on someone new is almost straightforward. 

(These have been extremely hard to come across 🥲)

A client I recently took on has a style similar to that of someone I worked with before. I had to experiment on that previous client to nail the tone of voice and writing style. That gave me what I needed for the next one.

That's why hiring is so difficult. It's usually one or the other. It's hard to find the mix. There's always a learning curve, and it can be very long. You might be very good for some types of people and writing styles, and not for others.

I've been able to be adaptable. 

But even for me, it's not always the case.

Consultant and Ghostwriter | Scale LinkedIn presence with strategy & systems. Helping other ghostwriters do the same.

At the end of 2025, I moved to a new place and decided to transform the guest bedroom into a proper home office. Not just a desk pushed against the wall - a full setup fitted to my needs.

I kept thinking about the desk I had back in China. So I went all in. Researched the plank of wood, the color of the paint, bought a bunch of accessories, and a new desktop. As I kept doing research on IG and YouTube for office aesthetics, I caught myself thinking: why am I not doing the same thing for my content and eventually my clients' content?

The research and aesthetics of how I wanted my personal office to be led to a new save list on different storytelling styles, new content pieces, and different ways of sharing content I want to try in 2026. 

Realized I can't find fresh angles by studying the same platform all day. Sometimes you need to step outside your feed. Just because of this, I think the investment in the new office is already paying off.

2 years ago, I left my job in China at 30. I had no backup plan and no idea what I'd do next.

I'd spent seven years building systems for companies and agencies there. Scaling social media departments from scratch. Managing email marketing campaigns that generated millions for clients. But I didn't want to stay there anymore.

So I moved back to Ecuador and figured it out.

Today, I'm growing a LinkedIn ghostwriting agency. We grew from 2 to 8 clients in 2025, and we want to double that number this year. 

In 2025 alone I did: 500+ posts for my clients, 17,060 followers, 5.2M impressions.

That’s two years of trial and error on LinkedIn. Testing what captures voice and what clients actually respond to.

Turns out you don't need a perfect plan. You just need to be willing to figure it out as you go.

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I broke LinkedIn's number one best practice, and engagement actually went up.

I started writing on LinkedIn in 202,3 and there was a particular style that was working. One-liners. Short hooks. Line breaks everywhere. Some people still do it, but it's clear that it has caused some fatigue all across. 

Although big creators who focused on building solid communities still thrive with that. After all, it's not just the formatting.

However, in the niche we are in, we stopped using what we thought were best practices. For some of our clients, one-liners don't work. They think it's cheap. They think you're trying too hard. Big bulk paragraphs actually work very well. But then there's an art to what is a good paragraph.

The hard part is knowing when to break the "rules" versus when to follow them. 

That's where most people get stuck. 

They either follow best practices blindly or reject everything because they want to be different.

I guess the point is that playbooks are starting points, not the gospel.

I came across a clip from Anthony Smith, the editor for The Diary Of A CEO, where he explains how he needs to justify every single edit decision. It hit me immediately.

In my case, when writing for a client, every single line needs a reason to be there. There are many ways to write a hook. I need to justify why I think that hook will perform over others. Could be because others in that niche do it. It could be because it stacks credibility or shows contrast. It could be because it starts with a personal story, and that has worked in the past for that client.

Same with the stories we tell in the post. Does this benefit or entertain our audience? Is there clear value to them? Is there a lesson or advice they can take away from reading this? We try to justify every single line.

What Anthony said about his trailer editing process applies directly to ghostwriting: if someone asks why you chose this approach, you should be able to explain it. Not just "it sounds good" - actual reasoning based on what's worked for this client, what performs in their niche, what their audience responds to.

It holds you accountable. Makes you think harder about every element you're adding. And if you can justify it, it's meant to be there.

Want faster decisions from clients? Do 90% of the thinking first.

I used to send messages asking what we should do about something. Then I’d wait three days for a vague response that created more questions. The content would inevitably be delayed. 

Now, I’d rather present three options, recommend one, and ask for a yes or no.

It’s not that clients don’t want to help. It’s that open questions require way more mental energy than reacting to something concrete. 

When you ask someone to figure out the approach from scratch, you’re asking them to do work. When you present options, you’re making it easy to steer.

My job isn’t to make people do the hard thinking. It’s to do the thinking, then make it easy for them to decide.

So how did you end up writing with Harry Phokou ?

Optum

Detail-oriented Senior Technical Writer with strong experience in writing, reviewing, editing, formatting, revising, and standardizing various types of technical documents possesses strong experience in a regulatory environment, thereby certifying adherence to various compliance standards.
 
Experience in healthcare a must. Microsoft Office Suite 365 (including Microsoft Visio), Adobe Technical Communication Suite (including Adobe FrameMaker, Acrobat Pro, and RoboHelp), Adobe InDesign, Help Authoring using Adobe RoboHelp, Change Control Boards, Agile Software Development, Style Guides, Jira and Confluence, GitHub and ZenHub, Trello and Monday, Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Imaging Technical Writer

JohnTheWordsmith LLC

Storyteller-In-Chief

Merative

Created new documentation suites for cognitive AI solutions: Liver, Prostate, and Breast. Collaborated with leadership and internal and external stakeholders (e.g., development, QA / RA, implementation, support, training) for Merge Imaging division.
• Accountable for Radiology Imaging System (RIS), Merge Unity PACS, and Watson Health Imaging Analytics documentation suites.
• Created and edited user guides, system administration manuals, installation and upgrade instructions, and release notes utilizing Adobe FrameMaker.
• 100% perfect record meeting financial and time budgets throughout entire tenure.

Sr. Technical Writer

Created and edited user guides, system administration guides, installation and upgrade instructions, and release notes utilizing Adobe FrameMaker. Collaborated with interdisciplinary team members within the Merge Imaging division to accomplish project goals and objectives.

Information Developer

Merge Healthcare, an IBM Company

Managed and oversaw the documentation suites for Merge Dashboards, Merge Documents Management (MDM), and Merge Financials.
• Utilized Adobe FrameMaker to generate and refine user guides, system administration guides, installation and upgrade instructions, and release notes.

Senior Technical Writer

October, 2015 - Merge acquired by IBM for its Watson Health division

Responsible for documenting the Merge Cardio, Merge Dashboards, Merge Documents Management (MDM), and Merge Financials product lines.

Technical Writer

Amicas

Provided comprehensive management and oversight of the documentation suites encompassing Merge Hemo, Merge Cardio, Merge Dashboards, Merge Documents Management (MDM), and Merge Financials.
• Employed Adobe FrameMaker to create and enhance user guides, system administration guides, installation and upgrade instructions, and release notes.

Emageon

TEKsystems

Worked on contract at WEA Trust in Madison, WI from Halloween, 2005 - 2008.
Worked on contract at Metavante in Milwaukee, WI.

Contractor at WEA Trust in Madison, Wisconsin. Created documentation and online help topics for QNXT claims system. Developed online help topics and Business Process Re-engineering swim lane flowcharts.

Technical Writer / Help Author / BPR

Camtronics Medical Systems

Created CardioWorks EMR document suite in Adobe FrameMaker and Help topics using WebWorks. Collaborated with Product Development, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs, Implementation and Technical Support, and Marketing departments to guarantee accuracy and comprehensiveness of IFUs. Verified that IFUs underwent review, approval, and release in accordance with quality system. Collaborated with Tech Comm team members to share knowledge and best practices.

Storyteller, wordsmith, pleasant chap

I'm a writer and storyteller for business and pleasure. I help clients learn reverse-engineer their career stories and craft their narratives for maximum impact.* 

A veteran of cohorts from Lara Acosta (Personal Branding), Taylin John Simmonds (Twitter Copywriting), I'm currently in Dakota Robertson's ghost writing cohort, and will join Michael Margolis' Narrative Influence cohort in the summer.

My background is as an experienced Senior Technical Writer working in the hospital & health care industry with a specialization in medical devices for over 20 years as a writer and editor. 

My speciality is working as a liaison between technical / Subject Matter Experts and end-users. (And my ADHD superpower of hyper-focus gives me an extra gear!)

* > I'm not currently offering a storytelling service for Inbound leads (but I'm busy creating one with an Alpha client who tracked me down and got me started thinking about what such a program / service like that might look like).

tl-dr: Stay tuned...

John Cook

This is my 765th consecutive post on the platform.
It wasn't always easy to post every day. 
Now it's harder to stop.
 
The mindset shift that broke this open for me was this—I switched the energy from "have to post" to "get to post."
 
I used to struggle at the end of the day to come up with something new for the following day.
 
I hated it.
 
I felt like I was working at cross purposes to my strengths.
 
So I started working with my brain instead of against it.
 
I'm super ADHD—my radar is always picking up things that interest me. So I just added one step—capturing a link or a snippet of a phrase and saving it as grist for the mill.
 
Now I have a deep pile of things to pull from that already captured my interest.
 
I often write two or three posts at a time now—because I'm on a roll, not because I'm behind.
 
What's one way you've learned to work with your brain instead of against it?

Let me share this out with everyone in my circles—James is the guy you want in your corner.

LinkedIn’s Most Interesting Man in a Wheelchair

View James Wogan ✝️💪🏻’s profile

He can't scale mountains or run Tough Mudders. 
He can't do bench presses or deadlifts. 
He can't operate on Red Bull and 4 hours of sleep. 
He can't buy his wife a house on the beach. 

But. 

He can overcome any obstacle. 
He can lower himself down to lift others up. 
He can operate with confidence and conviction. 
He can make his wife feel cherished above all else. 

He's the guy you want in your corner.

New year, old problem. We're consuming when we should be creating.

It's a sneaky problem—consuming writing advice hits the same dopamine button as doing the thing.
 
Here's how it looked for me. I had:
 
• 17 open browser tabs on plot structure
• a "Writing Tips" folder that contained more words than my manuscript
• a YouTube playlist on character development I was definitely going to get to one of these days
 
Meanwhile, the novel sat there, waiting.
 
I felt like I was working. I wasn't. I was just procrastinating in a way that let me feel virtuous about it.
 
You can't read your way into becoming a better writer any more than you can watch cooking videos and call yourself a chef.

And here's the cruel part—the more you consume, the less ready you feel.

Consuming builds doubt. Making builds confidence. 

So try this instead. Pick one technique you've learned recently—just one—and apply it to your current project this week.
 
Maybe it's writing a clear scene goal before you draft. 
Maybe it's giving a character a contradictory trait. 
Maybe it's writing dialogue without any tags to see if the voices are distinct.
 
Doesn't matter what you choose. 
What matters is doing something instead of bookmarking another article about doing it.

What’s one new technique you can use this week?

How many times have you thought 'I wish I knew then what I know now'?

Everyone's got a 2026 blueprint. Author Janeen Ippolito fits in one sentence—do the obvious thing.

I know. That might sound unhelpful. It did for me.

For my first two years being active on the platform, people told me that somewhere inside me I knew what was obvious, and what I should do about it. They boldly called me out, almost shaming me into action.

They meant well. They thought they were helping.* 

It was agony. What was apparent to everyone else was a complete mystery to me.

Even Linda couldn't understand why I couldn't see what was right in front of my face.

It was only when I became so sick that I could no longer think that I let go of what was working for other people and allowed myself the freedom to approach the platform from my own interests and strengths, even (or especially if those didn't clearly line up with business). 

So when I read her 5 ways to make headway as a writer in 2026, they hit differently:
 
• Do the obvious thing
• Refresh your incentives
• If there's no reason to change something, don't
• Check your milestones, not your worth
• Remember why you're doing this
 
2026 doesn't need to be a grand reinvention. 

It might just need you to finally do what's been obvious all along.

For me, it's finishing my debut novel.

What's your obvious thing for 2026?
---------------
* 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦-𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘦𝘩.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳!
https://lnkd.in/gWkARQYx

Open article: Dear Author, in 2026, Do What's Obvious by authorculture.substack.com

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The Battle

Frank Velasquez

John Cook

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Performance ScoreFrank Velasquez's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJohn Cook's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Frank Velasquez

John Cook

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);}Frank Velasquez's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJohn Cook's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreFrank Velasquez's LinkedIn Performance