Jake Summerhayes

Working with founders and business Leaders to craft powerful and authentic personal brands. 

Why? Because reputation matters. 

- 82% of customers trust a company when their senior management members are active on social media

- Brand messages are shared 24x more on personal accounts compared to company accounts

- Customers are willing to pay 13.5x more for elite industry experts

Yet only 1% of LinkedIn's 700 million users share weekly content. 

Our mission at Kurogo is to solve that.

Kurogo is derived from the Japanese ‘Kuroko’ referring to the black clad stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre.

The convention of wearing black implying the invisibility of the wearer on stage. 

We are your Kurogo. 

Directing, driving and delivering your personal brand from the background. 

Giving you the spotlight to excel in what you do best.

Head Of Client Services

Client: “Content approved, no changes”
Me (a nearly 30-year-old man ):

Client Services Director @ Kurogo | We create thought leaders through Personal Branding

“Who the fuck is Steven Bartlett?”

That was the response my Mrs had a few years ago when I said I wanted to watch Dragon's Den, because it was his first season.

This marketing bubble is much smaller than you think.

Go and touch some grass.

Just admit it, you’re never going to look at that saved post again…

I’m 29. I lead client services at a remote agency. 

My day: 

7:00am-1:00pm Work
1:00pm-3:00pm Break
3:00pm-4:30pm Work

Honestly any structure other than this would be bullshit, because it changes everyday.

My metrics for success are:
- Client Retention
- Team Happiness
- Team Performance

And whilst there is a list of tasks and responsibilities that fall under the pursuit of those, every day, week or month ends up being different. 

Things come up, priorities shift and I’m given the freedom to be flexible.

As long as we’re growing the business, and making progress towards those metrics, nothing else matters.

I am really not looking forward to 2026 

It's going to be an incredibly tough year for myself and Kurogo.

We're going to be dealing with a lot of consequences of 2025.

- Hitting Record MMR multiple times
- Crossing the £1,000,000 ARR mark
- Having our largest team yet 
- Having our biggest social ever
- Signing a record number of clients 
- Records across all client delivery metrics
- Record campaign performance metrics 

These are all huge problems because now we have to beat them again this year.

AND I need to hire a bunch of people to help us do it.

My steak is too juicy and my lobster is too buttery.

If you can be arsed being a part of it, keep an eye out on all personal and company socials.

We'll be releasing some roles soon...

I once fired a client during their onboarding call. 

They spent less than 15 minutes on the books.

What did the job was they were throwing around phrases like:
”What guarantees do I have after the contract ends?”
”This other agency offered me x, y and z”
”Can we add a refund if I’m not happy?”

(Bearing in mind they had already been back and forth with the sales team for over a month)

But these things weren’t the issue; they never are. 

Just symptoms of someone who’s jumped into something before they were ready. The reasons for which ultimately don’t matter. 

As soon as it becomes obvious we’re starting off on that foot, it’s best we end it before we both have a shit time and the regret spirals into resentment.

Like my first relationship
- I didn’t actually fire them, it was ‘mutual’ of course
- They went with someone else and came back a few months later
- We had a great time for 6-months and parted ways amicably 

Alls well that ends well.

When people say social media is cyclical this is what they mean…

4 years ago, I joined Kurogo as their 4th hire.

We’re now up to 20 of us with over £100k MRR.

In honour of that anniversary here’s my 4 biggest lessons beginning with f….

- Fucking focus: 1 thing done well is better than 10 things done poorly.
- Fuck Hustle Culture: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast, stop rushing
- Fucking Plan: It will never go the way you think, but it gives perspective.
- Fuck being scared of feedback: It’s never personal, but it is necessary.

4 years, 4 f’s, very fucking worth it. 

Here’s to another year of doing what we do. Sometimes wrong, mostly right, never boring.

Bonus For 2026: Fuck your shit AI content (still)

I check one number every week: client churn. If it's high, nothing else matters.

Most agency owners obsess over new leads.

But if your clients keep leaving, you’re running on a treadmill.

Acquisition feeds your ego. Retention feeds your bank balance.

Every Monday, I review churn with my senior team. If that number’s not low, nothing else in the business works. You can pile on as many new clients as you want-it’s like running a bath with the plug out.

Here’s what moved our retention from “average” to “best-in-class” in the last 6 months:

1. Set real expectations.
Tempting to promise the world in sales calls. But if you do, you’ll deal with unhappy clients and refunds. Be clear about what they get and what they don’t.

2. Nail the first 30 days.
Onboarding sets the tone. Give them a win in the first 48 hours. Show progress, no matter how small. Always tell them what’s next. Uncertainty kills trust.

3. Over-communicate.
We send weekly roundups: what we did, results, stats, next steps. Monthly reports give the big picture. Never let a client wonder if you’re working for them.

4. Do what you say, when you say.
Missed deadlines are worse than missed features. I left an agency once, not because they failed to deliver, but because they never did it on time. Consistency > fireworks.

5. Incentivise your team on retention.
Forget fancy bonus schemes. Reward your team for keeping clients. Simple target, simple reward.

Retention is not just about service. It’s about trust, clarity, and doing the basics right every time.

Want to scale? Obsess over churn.

ps. Save this post for the week you feel like you’re losing clients faster than you gain them.

Every business has three core systems:

1️⃣ Acquisition (get attention and leads)
2️⃣ Value Delivery (give clients what you promised)
3️⃣ Infrastructure (everything behind the scenes)

Most people scale the first one too early. 
They pour fuel on the fire before fixing leaks.

Here’s my rule: Don’t scale until less than 10% of your clients have problems. 

If you ignore this, you only scale the headaches.

Client experience is the same. 

Call clients at key points. 
Ask where the process broke. 
Use their feedback to smooth the journey.

Acquisition feeds your ego. Retention feeds your bank balance.

Everyone loves chasing new clients. Feels good. Makes you look busy. But if you can’t keep them, you’re running a business with the plug out.

Here’s what I see all the time:

- People refuse to work for free, saying they’re “worth more.” They spend 6 months searching for that first paid client.
- Meanwhile, the ones willing to work for free land their first client in 30 days, get proof, and start charging real money within 60.
- The ego crowd is still arguing about their value. The others are building a real business.

You don’t need to quit your day job to start. Validate your offer. Get a few case studies. Then focus on what actually matters: keeping those clients.

Retaining clients is where the real game starts. Most people obsess over acquisition. But acquisition is vanity. Retention is sanity.

Here are 5 things that have doubled our retention rate in the last 6 months:

1️⃣ Set real expectations. Overpromise in sales and you’ll create unhappy clients who leave fast. Be honest about what you deliver.

2️⃣ Nail the first 30 days. Give your client a clear win within 48 hours. Remove uncertainty. Let them know what happens next. First impressions stick.

3️⃣ Weekly communication. Every Friday, we send clients a roundup: what we did, what worked, and what’s next. If you don’t remind clients of your value, they’ll forget it.

4️⃣ Do what you say, when you say it. I’ve left agencies-not because the work was bad, but because promises weren’t kept. Reliability beats over-delivery every time.

5️⃣ Incentivise your team for retention. Tie bonuses to client stickiness, not just acquisition. The team cares about what you measure.

If you can’t retain clients, you’ll never scale. It’s that simple.

Acquisition is loud. Retention is quiet-but it’s where the money is.

Save this for the days you’re tempted to chase shiny new leads.

✍🏻Crying over copy so you don’t have to | Freelance Copywriter & Content Writer | ☕️ Drowning in coffee

Well smack the humour out of me and call me James Corden, because there’s nothing funny about bad copy and content.

If I got £1 for every time I saw a poorly written website I knew I could fix, I’d have the equivalent of one takeaway and a bottle of (regular) Coca-Cola – we are in a cost of living crisis, after all.

I get it.

For a lot of my clients, the same barriers to focusing on their website copy and wider content tend to come down to:

👉 Lack of time or inclination (writing, unsurprisingly, isn’t a joy for everyone)

👉 Being too close to the business and not knowing where to focus

👉 Their business changing over time but the copy/content no longer matching


These realisations will usually occur when you notice:

😭 Nobody is booking calls or filling out forms on your website

😭 You might get compliments on your website, but not in the form of leads

😭 The copy and content you currently have seems outdated for your current business

😭 Writing your own copy makes you want to cry


Not to be a Gordon Ramsay about it, but I’ve encountered too many idiot sandwiches who are experiencing all of the above but are still convinced their copy has NOTHING to do with it.

Hey, panini head, are you listening? 🥪

It’s time to stop feeling as though your website copy is about as relevant and engaging as a life insurance advert that tries to convince you to choose them because you’ll get a free pen.

Because nobody is going to tell you that your website, blogs, social media content and other marketing collateral is bad… they’re just not going to engage with you or your business.

If you’ve read my headline, you’ll see the words ‘crying over copy so you don’t have to’… and that’s exactly what I’m here to do ✅

I work primarily with business owners, SMEs and marketing agencies to provide website copy, blog posts, and wider content strategy that takes the pain out of the process.

I specialise in website copy, copy audits, tone of voice guides, and blog content and strategy, so I can help you with anything related to these areas.

"I would (and will) encourage anyone who needs copywriting to contact Grace – she has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Best of all though, is that chatting to Grace was like reading one of her many posts on LinkedIn, except I could interact, so I guess I am saying that her online presence is authentic to her actual presence – you get what you see." 

You can DM me here or email me at grace.hall@cryingovercopy.com to get the ball rolling so that you can dry your eyes and flood your inbox with leads instead of tears.

Grace Hall

Well smack my ass and call me Midas, because every website I write copy for turns to gold 🏆

(Don’t smack ANYTHING you absolute FLANNEL, it’s rhetorical and I’m an independent woman who can smack her own 🍑)

One of my favourite things about writing website copy for clients is knowing that they’re excited about people being on their website.

Whether they land organically or are sent a link, there’s none of that “Oh sh*t, this isn’t at ALL relevant to me or my business”, or “this sounds nothing like me”, or the usual worrying.

And I get it! 🤝

When I put up my first website, I wrote the copy in a hurry because I ‘just wanted something up there’.

(Sound familiar?)

And though the copy did, admittedly, get good feedback, it wasn’t the best representation of me or my services.

There’s a whole spiel here about the fact that I recognised this when I was continually being asked whether I wrote copy in areas I never have which helped me recognise that my copy wasn’t specific enough buttt…

This post is about how great I am, and obviously humble. But mostly how great I am 👹

Messages like these make me happy because it means that a client has confidence in their website’s ability to convey them, their service/offering, and their values accurately.

It’s a compliment to them (and me, obvs, but back to them) because it wouldn’t work without their insights on their business or their input.

So it’s a win for us both, even if I am the only King Midas in this scenario.

But also, why are there so many people called Chris in marketing? Shall we call it the Chris-ening? 🤔


#IfYoureAChrisHavingACrisis #IllFixYourCopy #YouMidasWell

Grace Hall 🥬

✍🏻Crying over copy so you don’t have to | Freelance Copywriter & Content Writer | Website copy, branding copy & tone of voice support for business owners 💻| #TeamAntiWetLettuceCopy

I just need you to know that if you find my email here and sign me up to your newsletter, send me spammy sh*te, then tell me I have to reply a random word to unsubscribe, you’re a TOERAG.

And yes you’ll be reported, sent to the junk folder and permanently added to my list of people who deserve to have every tin they open be full of sewing items rather than biscuits 👹


#IsThisEvenLegal #MakeItStop

Your brand’s tone of voice isn’t just ‘conversational’, you belligerent bratwurst — we’ve gotta dig DEEPER ⛏️

I’m talking “you ARE right, I do apologise for things that don’t require me to because I’m worried my existence is an inconvenience!” level of deep.

Girl’s toilets on a night out deep, actually 🤌🏻

Your tone of voice isn’t about being the next Duolingo. 

It’s about establishing:

- How you want people to feel
- What you want to be known for
- What you want people to describe you as

It’s not what you say, it’s the way you say it 💬

Part of the reason so many businesses can seem so beige or same-y is because they’ll adopt the ‘standard’ tone of voice for their industry.

That’s usually some variation of:

- Professional
- Conversational
- Friendly/warm (shudder) 

Or some such related synonyms (warm just makes me think ‘warm regards’ which is the corporate equivalent of the word ‘moist’). 

And I get it — it’s an easy starting base and something you and your team can easily implement.

But if you want someone to immediately recognise you, even if your profile name and picture were removed, it’s tone of voice that’ll save you 🫡

It’s your competitive differentiator, core branding element, and makes your copy less crappy and more CRISP.

Not a LETTUCE in sight 🥬

If you want to dig deeper on your tone of voice with a full guide, or chat it over on a copy consultation 1:1, drop me a DM and we can get you as crisp and cool as an ice cold can of coke 🥤


#WatchYourTone #PaniniHead #ReadTheCarouselOrYouCarouSMELL

Tone of Voice 

2025 LinkedIn was a Sugababe because she was PUSHING MY BUTTONS.

(And NOT in a good way 😡)

Much like Sugababes I tried a few switch ups to get myself back to posting regularly but, let’s face it…

When you’re not properly into it, posting here is like putting your hand in a sink of dirty dishes.

You’ve gotta pull the plug and wash your hands of it before someone witnesses a category 5 menty-b of the mentiest variety 😤

The TL;DR here is that not posting is better than posting for the sake of it and finding yourself annoyed at your content, and then annoyed by the subsequent crickets resulting from it.

Expect to see the same variety of tomfoolery and tips here I’d like to think you all anticipate now 🫡

We’re back to baguette-headed business as usual.

Now… what were we all eating before the picky bits and cheese boards? I can’t remember what day it is, which meal I’m on, or why we take the pretty lights down during the world’s most dull and penniless month 👀


#LettuceRejoice #BackstreetsBack

If you want a freelance copywriter who writes exactly what you tell them to, I’m not for you 🚫

If you wanted your thoughts put to paper (or keyboard), you’d write them yourself.

You don’t want a glorified parrot, even if I do love a pop of colour 🦜

You’re working with a copywriter to write you great copy, sure…

But you’re also going to need:

> Insights into your tone of voice and how it aligns with your audience

> Guidance on the pain points/aspirations you’re targeting and how to address them

> Adjustments on your USP, tone of voice, personas, and wider marketing collateral to function together

You can’t get any of that without collaborating WITH your freelance copywriter.

(If you want a mindless drone to write your copy, then ShatGPT is available and ready — just don’t be surprised when it sounds as good as a wet sock feels 🫠)

Yep, I write great website copy 🫡

But I also give plenty of my clients peace of mind around their messaging, ability to write future copy, and confidence that they’re on the right track.

If you want your copy done right, then you collaborate with your copywriter.

If you want your copy done wrong, get a parrot. Or use AI. Or get a parrot to repeat whatever bollocks your AI software of choice has spat out 🥹

Either way, I’m not going to stop giving my expert opinion anytime soon.

(This also includes my expert opinion on food and drink choices. It’s an added bonus!)


#IllParrotOnAboutCopy #ButImNotAParrot #Soz #NoShAIteHere 

——
Desperate for some website copy, branding copy, or blog posts that don’t leave you feeling like you’re reading a terms & conditions PDF? 

Drop me a DM 💌

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When do emails stop having obligatory small talk about the new year and Christmas period? Asking for a mate x

Another reason why freelancing is the best rollercoaster to be on: Stroopwafel tower delivered to your door.

Could life get any better? 

Don’t mind me, I’ll be in a stroopwafel coma for the foreseeable x


(On my Dutch favourites list, Rik Schraag and stroopwafels are now tied 🥇)

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The Battle

Jake Summerhayes

Grace Hall

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Performance ScoreJake Summerhayes's LinkedIn Performance

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The Battle

Jake Summerhayes

Grace Hall

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);}Jake Summerhayes's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGrace Hall's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJake Summerhayes's LinkedIn Performance