Social Media
A LinkedIn content strategy for founders that brings in clients
For service businesses, a founder posting what they have learned often beats any company page. How to choose topics, find your voice and turn posts into conversations with buyers.
If you sell a service, people are buying you as much as the service. That is why, on LinkedIn, a founder sharing what they have learned usually reaches more of the right people than a company page posting announcements. It works the same whether your buyers are in New York, London, Toronto or Sydney.
Start with who you want to reach
Write down the three job titles you most want reading your posts, and what keeps each of them up at night. Every post should be useful to at least one of them. If a post would interest your peers but not your buyers, it can still be worth writing, but it should not be most of what you publish.
Choose three content pillars
Pillars are the subjects you return to again and again, so people learn what you are known for. For a marketing consultant they might be:
- Lessons from client work: what you tried, what happened, what you would do differently
- How-to: a specific process explained step by step
- Point of view: where you disagree with common advice, and why
Three is enough. More than five and nobody remembers what you stand for.
Formats that work
- Short stories with a lesson. A problem, what you did, the result, the takeaway.
- Document carousels for step-by-step processes and checklists.
- Before-and-after posts with real numbers, shared with the client’s permission.
- Short videos answering one question you get asked often.
Write the first two lines as if they were the only lines anyone will read, because on most feeds they are.
A weekly rhythm you can keep
Most founders do not have time to write every day. A sustainable rhythm is one 30-minute session a week: list the questions clients asked, the problems you solved and anything that surprised you, then turn the best two or three into posts. I often run this as a short interview with founders and draft the posts from the recording, which keeps their voice intact. AI tools can help with structure and repurposing, as long as the stories and opinions stay yours; more on that in how to use AI for content without losing trust.
Turn attention into conversations
Posts build familiarity; conversations bring clients. Reply to every thoughtful comment, follow up with people who engage repeatedly, and make it easy to take the next step with a clear line in your profile headline and a link to a page that explains how you work. Track profile views, connection requests from buyers and enquiries that mention LinkedIn, not just likes.
Give it three months
The first few weeks are quiet for almost everyone. The founders who see results are the ones who keep going long enough for people to recognise their name. If you would like help with strategy or writing, see social media marketing.