Daily Content & LinkedIn Insights • Founder at I.Am.U Media • Content and LinkedIn Consulting for Founders & CEOs

Before joining The 216, most of our clients were struggling with:

→ No clear offer (or an offer nobody understood)
→ An inconsistent way to generate qualified leads 
→ No process to have sales conversations with confidence

Many felt like impostors when talking about their business.
Others seriously considered going back to their 9-5 jobs.

And in general, they were constantly worried about when they would sign their next client.

After joining The 216, they all walked out with clear frameworks around:

1️⃣ Niching and Positioning: Explaining their business in a way that people instantly “get”.
2️⃣ Offer Creation: Building a premium, outcome-driven offer built around real client pain.
3️⃣ Repeatable Outreach System: Having a simple process anyone can follow to start conversations every week using only LinkedIn.
4️⃣ Natural Sales Process: A sales process that feels natural, easy, and with improving close rates. 

It’s the same system that helped:

📌 Adina Samuels (Manuscript Ghostwriter): From corporate job → $200k solo business
📌 Christian Mather (Wealth & Exit Planner): 4× monthly income to $23k in under 10 weeks
📌 Matthew Mercer (Recruitment Coach): Consistent £10k–£15k months
📌 Allison Paley (CS Consultant): From self-doubt → landed a $36,000 client
📌 Efe Buyuk (Data Systems Designer): Made 6× the program fee in under 12 weeks
📌 Priscilla Leigh (Psychoaudiologist): First high-ticket client in 21 days
📌 Chris Corridore (Brand Strategist): First $15k month and best year ever

These are all real people. You can find their profiles in my Featured Section. 

I invite you to message them and ask what their experience was like. 

And if you're ready, and you want a business that runs with clarity, control, and clients you can count on, send me a DM and I’ll share how The 216 works.

—

Mat Lehnhoff

If you're sending connection requests and getting less than 20% acceptance rate, something's broken. Here's what to check:

1. Your profile picture is doing you dirty.

Make sure you're showing your face. Zoom in. And smile.

It sounds wild, but people will literally judge if you're worth connecting with based on this.


2. You're connecting with the wrong people.

The secret is to be as specific as possible. "Coaches & consultants" doesn't cut it.

Use specific job titles. Use specific locations. Pay for LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Some audiences simply aren't active on LinkedIn. 
But you have to test it.


3. Your headline shows zero value.

The first 10 words of your headline are what matter most.

They need to show how you can help your ideal client.

Or at minimum, create some intrigue.

Don't waste that precious real estate writing something like "Loving father". 

Show what's in it for THEM.


Here's what nobody tells you:

Having less than 20% acceptance rate means you'll be able to send fewer connection requests.

Because it signals to LinkedIn that people don't want to connect with you.

Which means fewer opportunities to grow your network and generate leads.

No bueno.

But it's easily fixed if you pay attention to these 3.


PS: If you consistently have 20-30% acceptance rate, you should be able to send 200 requests/week.

—

Grow to $15,000 months with LinkedIn alone • Learn how at The 216

A client was overthinking their LinkedIn outreach, so I reminded them:

LinkedIn has 1.2 billion users 

And you don't need to reach ALL of them.

Not even close.
You just need to reach a handful.

For example:

You could have 10 clients at $1500/month to create a $180k/year business.

That's it. Ten people.

You can run that solo, keep 95% profit margins, and design the lifestyle you actually want.

So you basically can get ignored by a billion people on this platform and STILL WIN.

You can fail 99% of the time, and STILL WIN.

How cool is that?

Here's the punchline:

Stop worrying about reaching everyone.

Start focusing on finding those "ten" clients who need what you offer.

That's all you need.

(And you can always grow from there).

Luke Shalom

CEO @ Grow Solo I help the C-suite turn industry expertise into predictable pipeline

There are two ways agency founders try to turn LinkedIn into a reliable source of clients.

One is by guessing. Posting when there is time. Relying on referrals and hoping the next month is a good one.

The other is by building a system that creates steady conversations, even when client work gets busy.

Our clients choose the second.

→ Joya Dass (Founder, Women’s Leadership Lab)

The problem:

- She spent hours in the DMs to book a few calls.
- Content happened on weekends.
- When delivery picked up, sales stopped.

Some months were strong. Others were quiet.

Even in good months, there was stress about where the next client would come from.

What we did:

We built a simple LinkedIn content system she could run in house. No ghostwriter or agency retainer dependency.

We shifted her content from generic how to posts to insight driven thinking.

That changed the conversations. People in her network showed up aligned and ready to buy.

We added a content led outbound system powered by a setter we hited and trained. The system kept working while she focused on delivery.

Results:

- Revenue grew from $150k to $300k.
- Sales became predictable.
- The pressure eased.

→ Jonathan Crowder (Founder, Founders Ally)

The problem:

- No time for content.
- Unpredictable sales calls.
- Leads with no budget.
- No sales background. A 10 percent close rate.

What we did:

We removed Jonathan as the bottleneck. 

We built a content system using AI supported by his real thinking. It sounded like him, not software.

Trust was built before the call. Outbound went from 10% to 40% response rates.

We focused prospecting on real buying moments, like recent funding to catch buyers at the right time.

We simplified his sales process. Clear outcomes. Clear cost of inaction was communicated to his buyers.

Results:

- Meetings went from 3-5 a month to 10-15 sales qualifed leads a month.
- A visible pipeline. Increase to a 25 percent close rate.
- $300k in pipeline in 60 days.
- $30k in new revenue closed.

→ Brian Dukes (COO, Exit Wise)

The problem

- Ovelry dependent on referrals.
- No LinkedIn playbook.
- No time to write.

What we did

- We clarified positioning.
- Simplified the offer.
- Built a content engine.

Then we added outbound from the founder profile.

Everything was owned and run internally.

Results:

- Consistent posting machine.
- 500 to 6500 ICP followers.
- $740,000 in LinkedIn-driven revenue over two years.

We have helped 100+ founder led agencies replace unpredictable growth with systems they understand and control.

If this feels familiar, we should talk.

Founder

We help executives to build and monetize their brand on linkedin by scaling your content and turning it into leads, authority and thought leadership.

How?

Engagement + DM flows = Qualified meetings. 

Done with you. Done for you.

2022: I wanted 100,000 LinkedIn followers.

2026: Now I want 10 people who trust me enough to wire me $100,000.

This shift didn’t happen because I stopped wanting influence.

It happened because after 4 years on LinkedIn, I learned one simple truth.

It’s the difference between creators with under 5,000 followers making 7 figures a year from agencies or coaching…

And creators with 100,000 followers who struggle to break $100k.

I call it being "Known Well".

On LinkedIn, there are two paths.

First, the "Well Known" crowd.

Think Justin Welsh.
Broad content.
Viral posts.
Big complex funnels.

Courses for everyone.

Nothing wrong with that.

They are playing their game.

But that game only works with massive distribution.
Most creators chase this path.

They chase 100,000 followers.
They think it will change everything.

It won’t.

The real leverage is being "Known Well" by the right people.

You become niche-famous.

A small group knows you for one thing.
They trust you deeply.
Even 10-30 people like that will pay you well.

That’s how small accounts make $100k a month on LinkedIn.

They play the Known Well Game.

And it’s simpler than you think:


1) Comments

They build a list of the right accounts... people they want to be known well to (ICPs, influencers with their buyers).

They show up every day, pay attention to posting times, and leave insightful comments.

These look like mini-posts, because their aim is to make impact and become known to the right people.

2) They have an indoctrination content ladder

They don’t create for mass appeal.

They understand what’s required to take their specific ICP from skeptic to ready-to-buy ... and they focus on that ruthlessly.

These posts might get less than 10 likes… but the DMs are on fire.

3) They have an outbound motion that feels like inbound

They may not get the turbo reach of big accounts, but dialled-in content lets LinkedIn bring the right people to them.

They leverage profile views, engagement, and followers to start conversations with members of their small but mighty Known Well audience.

Using AI tools, they automate the top of this conversation and only jump in when people are interested and responding.

That’s how you get 10 people to wire you $100k.

That’s the game I want to play.

Build deep trust with people you can truly help.

Everything else on LinkedIn is noise.

Remember that.

I share weekly strategies on how to become known well in your niche and get clients from LinkedIn for your agency. Go read it here: https://lnkd.in/ezZpkchD

CEO @ Atticus | AI sales systems for founders | 5–10 deals/month from LinkedIn in <​ 30 mins/day I $125M+ pipeline generated for 100+ clients

There’s a new breed of agency founder emerging in 2026.

They don’t chase likes.
They don’t live in the DMs.
They don’t grind comments.

They’re called Leveraged Operators.

I’ve spent the last 4 years building LinkedIn sales systems for 100+ lean founders, and the pattern is clear: most are stuck in the activity trap.

AI didn’t just “help.”
It rewired the entire game.

That same ChatGPT agent everyone’s playing with can now map a full demand gen strategy in minutes. 

Meanwhile, founders still hope referrals and a “good name in the space” will carry them.

It won’t.

LinkedIn reach is down ~70%.
Referrals are lumpy.
Cold outbound without trust feels pointless and never leads to clients.

The symptoms are familiar:

- No time to sell
- Prospects treat you like a vendor
- Pipeline dies when you stop posting

I’ve lived it. It’s exhausting.

The founders pulling ahead are doing something different.

Leveraged Operators use AI, assets, and workflows so effort compounds.
They build 80–90% margin consulting layers on top of services using:

- Founder-led demand gen on LinkedIn
- AI agents that create and distribute content
- Content-led outbound that feels like inbound

Two years ago, I hit $60k in revenue in a month.

Profit? $4k.

More revenue. Less freedom.

Thats what building your business the old way gets you. 
Bigger numbers and little take home.

I burned that model down.

In 2025:

$250k profit
21,000 new LinkedIn followers
30–50 leads a month with AI doing the heavy lifting

Founder results mirrored it:

- Joya (Women’s Leadership Lab) doubled ARR to $350k and generates ~$540k in pipeline monthly.

- Jonathan (Founders Ally) went from 5–6 meetings a month to one a day in 60 days.

- Brian (M&A firm) closed $750k in pipeline with inbound-driven positioning.
That’s the Leveraged Operator model.

Not more content.
Not more DMs.
Not more headcount.

System > activity.

Want the exact strategy I’m using in 2026 to add 5–10 deals a month from LinkedIn in under 30 minutes a day?

DM me “Leverage.”

(Or you know you could spend another year on the struggle bus and watch your competitors apply the above model and eat your lunch...)

P.S I took these photos on my 4th holiday of last year with my Colombiana. It was the 3rd time I went to the Carribean. And it was only made possible by having a agency with the right systems to replace me as the bottle neck. You can do it too.

My client Joya Dass fired us after we doubled her business.

Then rehired us to build her in-house Atticus Predictable LinkedIn Sales system.

Phase 1 - October 2024 - August 2025

When we started with Joya Dass, Women’s Leadership Lab sat at 5 sales calls a week.

We took her to 10-20 qualified calls a week.

All from people who had already seen or engaged with her content.

Over that year:

→ Her rates went up by $10,000 from better fit prospects
→ She closed $130,000 from the Atticus Done-for-you system
→ ROI was 4.5x on what she paid us

We did not flood her calendar.

We filtered hard so she only spoke with senior women leaders from places like Harvard, Berkeley, high level firms.

Then we paused the done-for-you work after we sunsetted the done for you SDR service.

I counted that as fired.

Phase 2 - September 2025 - December 2025)

On a later call, I was about to refer her to another vendor.

Then I walked her through our new Atticus Predictable LinkedIn Sales system.

How she could bring all her client acquisition in-house in under 30 minutes a day...

We started again.

Different model. 

First 10 days:

→ Built a content bank in her exact voice with our content engineer 
→ Structured posts to shift beliefs and drive demand
→ Trained an agent in ChatGPT so she could write expert content herself
→ Mapped a 6 month content calendar tied to real sales conversations

Next 20 days, we built outbound:

→ Deep GTM research on her ideal client
→ Lead list playbook so she could find the right people on demand
→ AI sales rep trained on her offer, her tone, her dos and donts
→ Workflows triggered by real intent signals like job changes and thought leadership pushes
→ A/B tests on talk tracks until we hit message market fit (what she needed to send to get responses)
→ Plugged in and trained a setter once the machine booked meetings on repeat

Result in the last 2 months of the year:

→ $70,000 closed
→ Women’s Leadership Lab went from $150,000 to $300,000
→ Agency spend dropped from $4,000 a month to $400 a month
→ Her LinkedIn system now drives $510,000 in qualified pipeline every month

What you do not see:

We blew up campaigns that stopped working.
We rebuilt whole flows from scratch.
We had dead weeks where nothing landed.

Joya did not blame the system.
She co-created the result.

That is what my best clients understand.

You are not buying magic.

You are building a machine together. 

I recorded a step by step video on Joya’s whole strategy that doubled her business using LinkedIn, showing:

→ Why we did not fix her problem with content or outbound first
→ Why her content never generated inbound before, but did in 10 days with the new system
→ How we took her from 2–6 hours in the DMs a day to 30 minutes then to zero
→ Why she now only talks to people who already like, know and trust her

Comment "System" below and DM me “System” if you want the video.

P.S Proud of you Joya Dass and can't wait to see your growth this year.

taplio

The Battle

Mat Lehnhoff

Luke Shalom

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Performance ScoreLuke Shalom's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Mat Lehnhoff

Luke Shalom

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);}Mat Lehnhoff's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Shalom's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMat Lehnhoff's LinkedIn Performance