Writing

january: less than 200 connections

september: we just hit 11k followers!! (now here's how you're gonna do the same)

because we still have three months until the end of the year so i challenge all of you to linkedin-max until the new year

because you would be surprised at just how much you can achieve on this platform in 3 months

…

i spelled my famous guest's name wrong

and he called me out on it

this happened a while ago (in fact if you were paying hyper-attention you mayyy know who this is)

so for some context- i interviewed someone who was on the founding team of one of the most famous companies in the world (not sharing which one but just trust me on this)

…

add these 2 words in your hook

(it tripled my followers)

after analysing my past 272 posts, i've found the easiest addition to your posts to boost your growth

and okay, the hook was slightlyyy misleading here because one of them is a word... but the other is actually a piece of grammar

…

make your hooks this exact word count

(scientifically it'll get you the most growth)

after analysing 271 of my past posts now, i've found the exact length you want to make your opening line

and that's 5-7 words

…

post on this one day

(mathematically you're more likely to go viral)

i've written exactly 270 linkedin posts so far and, after analysing all of them, i found something pretty interesting

sundays are, by far, the best day to post

…

post more photos of yourself

(these are the numbers of what it actually does)

for context, i analysed over 260 of my past posts, looking at ones with photos of myself vs with photos of something else (landscape, screenshot etc)

and when you add a photo of yourself it boosts basically all of your stats-

…

i make most of my money through linkedin

it's super simple

first, you find a partner (ideally a company whose product you're already using and like)

(for me, i got lucky here and got a direct recommendation from my boss to the head of partnerships- but usually you can just reach out to these people directly)

…

make your posts this exact word count

to go viral

now i've actually done this analysis before but, now that i have over 267 posts, i had a sneaking suspicion that it may have actually changed

and i was right-

…

this one metric (that no one checks)

predicts virality better than anything else

and that's 'sends'

i almost never check how many people are sending my posts to others, but after analysing over 260 of my past posts, what i found out about this was insane-

…

get more comments

(it does crazy things to this one analytic)

i've analysed over 266 posts i've written on here and found that the amount of comments you get on your posts actually has a big impact

at least on one metric in particular-

…

i've written 264 posts on here

and you should always have 1 of these 5 outcomes in mind

1. follower growth

some posts will be purely with the intent of account growth. and for these posts, double down on it- know EXACTLY what works for you (whether it's a format, a specific story, etc and really lean into it)

…

I'VE MADE IT

LINKEDIN LUNATICS HAVE FINALLY GIVEN ME A POST

(and for anyone who doesn't know linkedin lunatics it's this massive subreddit with the sole purpose of hating on linkedin posts)

and okay this sounds like such a weird thing to be excited for

…

add more brainrot to ur posts

(it's the highest iq thing u can do)

every time i add brainrot to my posts (things like anything with -maxxing or aura or mogging or 67), they always go viral

and there's actually a really clever reason behind it though-

…

found a whole group of my haters

in a gc i didn't even know about 😂

and i've had my fair share of hate comments in the past (although somehow THEY always end up blocking ME) but this one did make me laugh

because if you can get random strangers talking about you, and passionately enough that other people start joining in, then i think you've done your job as a creator

…

start comment-maxxing

(it's how i get famous people to notice me)

i've said it before and i'll say it again- commenting is one of the best things you can do to not only grow on here, but actually network

there's a couple ways to do this-

…

stop trying to get more profile views

(it doesn't help your growth)

i've analysed over 250 of my past posts on here, and started to find a pattern of what posts actually lead to more profile views

(and if you're curious it was the milestone posts and the personal story posts)

…

i want to invite you to the linkedin headquarters in london

to pitch our ideas to the team

a few weeks ago, Lixu Chen, Henry Li, Lenon Muma, Nana Agyapong and i got an invite to go give a presentation to the linkedin team down in london

we're showing them all the data of how gen z ACTUALLY uses this platform, and what they want to see change on here

…

expect this if you start posting on linkedin daily

(timeline version)

first day: it's exciting- you'll reread and reread that first post before hitting publish. and then (if you're like me at least) you'll check your notifications like every five seconds, waiting for it to suddenly go viral

first week: you start to get into the flow of it, writing posts becomes somewhat a part of your schedule

…

i tricked a ton of people into listening to my podcast

(and i might have tricked you too)

when i was designing my linkedin profile, i came up with this idea that i wanted it to be as 'sticky' as possible

(and if you've ever attended a talk of mine, this will probably be familiar, but i've realised i've never really posted about it)

…

it has never been easier to find a job

(i'll give you a recording of the exact conversation that got me mine)

there's a lot of negative sentiment today about the job market. i hear it from my own friends, parents, feed etc- "it's very hard to find a job these days, you know"

(and i do not in any way mean to take away from those struggling right now)

…

Kaia Tham18 · Building The Seen4w

this is how i'm maxxing my linkedin growth with <30 mins/day

(freshers week uni edition)

i know a lot of people are starting uni and freshers week right now, so here is exactly how you can still keep growing your account (while enjoying everything else)

1. write your posts in the morning (that way you keep the consistency alive and then don't have to even open the app the rest of the day)

…

this week i somehow became a trend

let me explain the lore

so last week-ish i put up a post about how i'd analysed all of my past posts (over 240 now), and noticed that whenever i tagged a friend, it always did better

then Romeo Hazel put up a parody post of it tagging me a bunch of times (so thank you romeo i guess i owe you this one time)

…

Kaia Tham18 · Building The Seen4w

i podcast-maxxed last week

but for everyone else's shows

i always love being a guest on other podcasts because it gives me such a good look into how other shows work

and there's something so fun about changing it up from being the one asking the questions, to the one getting to answer them

…

do this one thing if you want a job

(so many multi-millionaires told me they did this when they were younger)

i get to talk to a lot of pretty insane entrepreneurs on The Seen, most of whom sold or run companies valued at 7, 8, even 10 figures

but there's one really interesting thing i noticed-

…

i moved countries this morning

(actually writing this from the plane right now)

four years ago, i moved from australia to portugal. and it was amazing. there's some things that you'll only ever learn by leaving (and i know anyone else who's moved before will know this)-

because there's the big things, like speaking a new language or meeting new people or all the new places you start travelling to

…

go see if others can stalk you

(i literally found my own email listed on here)

and okay, stalking is a strong word. i mean that you can check just how easy it is for someone to find your email and reach you

now i end up doing a lot of cold emails myself for The Seen, so i'm usually on the other side of this 'stalking'

…

found Jia Ming Huang his mango

(ifykyk)

jokes aside though, it's always the best to meet linkedin friends irl (hint hint, more people come to portugal or scotland please)

it's still pretty crazy to me that you can meet people on here from literally all over the world and then meet up across layovers, holidays, visa trips-

…

8th june: <6k followers and i told everyone i would hit 10k before summer ends

31st august: we just hit 10k!!!

when i started posting on here 248 days ago, i always had this number of 10k in my head

for whatever reason, i thought that that would mean i'd made it on here-

…

mention this one person in your post

(it boosts my growth by 80% every time)

i'm back to analysing all my past posts (over 240 now) and i noticed a new trend in the data

for the past 3 months, every time i mention a linkedin friend of mine, my growth (in terms of follows per post) goes up by about 80%

…

add this one word to your hooks

(it's gotten me almost 3000 reactions)

i've analysed over 230 of my past linkedin posts now, and doing this one thing ALWAYS outperforms

it's just starting my hook with a verb

…

stop skipping weekend posts

in fact, you should start focusing on them more than weekdays

i analysed over 230 of my linkedin posts (oh yes we're bringing this series back) and surprisingly, my best day (by far) was sunday

and yet ALL THE TIME i see posts telling you not to even bother posting on the weekend

…

7th august: i publish a post saying "i'm going to break into linkedin london hq"

27th august: our team meets with a manager there... and we get an invite to go pitch our ideas and data in person

but let me take you back a little further (just before that original post)

my friend Lixu Chen and i are talking, and she asks me something- how come we never see linkedin creators outside of the US/Canada get invited to visit the linkedin hq?

…

if you're non-technical building your own website

you NEED to run this test

(it's free and takes like fifteen seconds)

and just to start, i feel like all my technical readers are going to hate me for this one (because maybe this is super obvious), but bear with me-

…

after over a year of interviewing some of the greatest founders, CEOs, and creators

i'm so excited to announce that the website for The Seen is finally live!!!

i know that some of you did already find it, so thank you for staying quiet until today's big reveal

this has been something i've been building on the side for a little while now, so i'm so excited for you guys to finally see it

…

i met someone who sold $10k in 3 weeks

with NO product

... and now that startup is making 6 figures (and growing!)

so excited to finally share the next episode of The Seen with Brian Hamor

…

stop putting links in the comments

everyone thinks that it boosts your reach

but it actually hurts it

now just like most people, i've always been told that putting links in the body of your post will kill your reach

…

over 3M impressions and (almosttt) 10k followers later

i realised there's one thing that i changed to get here

and you can literally see the day it happened on that graph

(and for anyone keeping track, that day was december 27th- exactly 239 days, or posts, ago)

…

a few weeks ago i said we were going to break into linkedin london hq

... and now we're about to have a meeting with a manager at linkedin

and now i need your help with something first

first off, for those who didn't see the original post, me, Lixu Chen, Henry Li, Lenon Muma and Nana Agyapong are trying to meet with the staff at linkedin london

…

i'm about to publicly fail

because about 3 months ago, i made you all a promise

and i don't know whether i'm going to be able to keep it

back sometime in june, i put up a post saying that i was going to reach 10k followers by the end of the summer. and i explained my exact plan to do so

…

i put up two posts about the same thing

one performed over 18x better

(36k impressions vs 2k impressions, and 177 likes vs 15 likes)

(and those numbers are still climbing, because that higher-performing post is only a day or two old)

…

when i was in igcses, all my classmates used something called SaveMyExams

so i interviewed the founder

and found out how it actually got started (then got to 2.5 million monthly users now)

so Jamie Undrell started as a tutor

…

i asked Dan Martell to come on my podcast

and he said yes BUT

on one condition-

that he be the 100th episode.

…

this year i grew this account to over 9k followers and 3M impressions

but it all came from one group i started

that i'm now officially shutting down

the ogs will remember this story, but when i started out on here, i started by creating a group called UPNEXT

…

i called the former head of GTM at OpenAI

and he told me that the way he actually got that job

was by betting it on a poker game

so in 2009, Zack Kass graduated from berkeley and was struggling to find a job. one night, he met the ceo of a startup called CrowdFlower (one of the first machine learning companies) at a poker game

…

'being authentic' is such a lie

and it is going to destroy your reach and profile

(this is coming from someone who built their entire brand off of 'authenticity')

everyone i see giving advice on personal brands always says to just 'be authentic'. that if you do that, you're going to make it on here

…

today my mom asked me if my younger brother should start posting on here

(she doesn't quite understand it, but had just seen a paycheck i'd gotten)

and... i didn't say yes

because although i really try to encourage everyone i can to start posting on here, i also think that it's a decision you have to come to entirely on your own

…

i've interviewed tons of millionaires, serial founders, CEOs of the year etc

and the hardest part is just finding WHO to reach out to

so this is what i'm doing now:

i have a pretty good idea of the people i like talking to on The Seen- usually exited/serial founders who've built a well-known company (like pictionary), or something unique and unassuming (like that AI newsletter that made $1M ARR)

…

just passed over 3M impressions on here

(in the past 228 days)

but it's all because of a couple good posts

that's what i said when i hit 2M- that most of the impressions came down to just a handful of breakout posts

…

go stalk this one person

(feel free to be as judgy as you want too)

but it's going to help you become a way better creator

and that person is... you

…

i gave a talk today as part of the beyondsf event

all because i'm really really bad at responding to my dms

and obviously i wasn't invited because of being terrible at responding, but it is a big reason behind why i choose to do talks like these

because getting to help teach others everything i've learned about linkedin and personal branding is genuinely one of my favourite things in the world

…

i hit 9k followers today

so this is a (realistic) timeline of how long it would take you

(based on my own growth)

and just for some quick context, the reason i'm posting this is because it's exactly what i wanted to see when i was starting out- a framework of (roughly) what i could aim for/expect

…

we are breaking into linkedin london's hq

(jk... sort of)

we're 5 teenagers with over 56000 linkedin followers between us. let me introduce you to the crew:

Lixu Chen (exited fintech startup, global NGO)

…

im leaving Converg3nce

(for real this time)

when i first came on, the idea was always to just stay and help the founding team with the sprint to yc (which we got straighttt into)

and for me especially it was amazing to be able to take all i've learned from doing this, and apply it to help shape such a new startup

…

i've never met her in person before

but she just shipped me this massive bouquet for my 18th

thank you to the gorgeous Lixu Chen, so grateful to have u as my friend 🫶🫶

and not to get all emotional here but it really is moments and people like this who make me so grateful for everything that's happened this past year on here

…

just booked a new speaking gig!!

super stoked to announce that i'll be one of the speakers at BeyondSF this weekend

and as someone who literally has the biggest SF fomo, i'm so happy to be a part of an event bringing that same energy to everyone else who can't be there in person yet

it's all free, and over two days- one day with speakers on how to build, and one day with speakers on how to grow (ft yours truly)

…

i interviewed the guy who built the #1 app in the world

and then sold it for $200M

(just 6 weeks after launching)

a few months ago, i had the absolute honour of recording an episode with Dan Porter and it is (finally) live!!

…

linkedin updated again

and it should completely change how you think about writing posts

(especially because almost no one's noticed it yet)

because now, the first 5 lines of your post get displayed as your hook (compared to the previous 3)

…

i've just deleted google chrome

(i promise i have a good reason for it though)

because a good friend of mine built something so much better (and this isn't sponsored or anything like that, i just really really love this product)

Theodore Grether-Murray showed it to me a couple weeks ago and genuinely it blew my mind. it was one of those things that you try once, and then spend the rest of the night (and all your claude credits) on, just getting so excited about all the things you can build

…

linkedin is for failures

or posting on here is at least.

and i mean that in the best possible way.

because this is one of the only platforms you can't hide on

…

i almost lost 214 days of work on here

(spoiler: this does have a happy ending, my dad saved me)

for the past 214 days, i’ve posted daily on here. and there have definitely been times where that's been hard-where i've been really sick, or in IB exams, or (and my OGs will know this one) running late to prom trying to write a post

and a lot of people probably don't understand why i take daily posting so seriously. but the thing is, if i didn't take it so seriously, i would have let any one of those earlier excuses give me permission to skip a day

…

this is me at 7 years old

speaking to a crowd of >1000

i only actually said 3 words but, to me, just standing in front of a crowd like that was everything

to this day, i can recall those 5 minutes so clearly (backstage getting passes, hearing the crowd, getting nudged up, then my famous 3 word debut)

…

speedrun embarrassment

(and i mean RIGHT NOW)

the start of anything great will feel embarrassing. because you have no proof, no audience, no guarantee that any of this will work

and while you can delay that feeling, you'll never be able to truly avoid it (not if you want what's on the other side)

…

nobody cares what time you post

it’s really not that deep

you all know i’m the first to obsess over the smallest details that can change a post’s trajectory

but never if that stops you from creating in the first place

…

i have a secret

(and it almost ruined all of this)

i used to meticulously plan out all of my posts.

in fact, i had thought about posting daily on linkedin a long time before december 27

…

start checking this one analytic

(because it's about to predict how many followers you get)

after analysing over 170 of my past posts, this was one of the most interesting stats i found

impressions and reactions are the strongest predictors for follower growth per post

…

you'll never crack the algo

if you post "top-voice content"

when i first started writing on here, a lot of my feed was full of the toppest of top voices on linkedin

and most of their content was the typical linkedin posts you're told to write: the tweet screenshots, big quotes, large infographics, long carousels

…

i became the nerdiest linkedin numbers nerd

and now i have infinite content

a little while ago, i started getting really obsessed with the data behind my posts- how many words should a post be? what's the best word for a hook? do photos really matter?

and, as you know, i analysed all my past posts (almost 200 now) and have been sharing what i found here

…

i always do one thing when i’m interviewing a famous founder

and it surprises them every time

it’s something that actually started by accident, on the first episode i did. i’d done a fair amount of research beforehand and, during the recording, happened to mention a small detail from his past

and i’ll never forget his reaction, because he was so taken aback that i knew this specific story. in fact, so much so that he brought it up later in the episode about how impressed he was, and how that one detail set the tone for the rest of the episode for him

…

i’ve spent hours interviewing some of the most successful founders out there

and i noticed one thing they all say-

that they have a delusional level of self-belief

and i say delusional not because i think that it is, but because that’s how it always seems from the outside, back before they had the company or exit or round to prove that they were right

…

every job i’ve ever had

has come from the weirdest most unconventional stories

and now that i think about it, i’ve only ever had one “job” (it was a summer internship) that came from actually sending in an application

every other position i’ve had has been from putting myself out there enough times that someone simply noticed. i’ll give some examples:

…

i met the guy who made this game

and got to interview him for an hour

pictionary was one of the classic games i grew up playing as a kid. and now, whenever i see it in the wild, its such a strong reminder of just what you can accomplish as an entrepreneur

because when i was little, i didn’t know the name “rob angel”. i just knew and loved his game. it was “late” nights, deep laughter, and some terribly untalented drawings (at least on my part)

…

i've recorded podcasts with so many millionaires, top ceos, exited serial founders-

and i have barely over 100 followers on spotify

on paper, that really makes no sense. because there's this myth that you need to have built something massive in order to earn attention from people like that

and sometimes, you do. i've been turned down plenty a time

…

i'm leaving Converg3nce

with 3 more days left to yc

sort of... i'd of course never leave everyone this close to the deadline. but i'm headed away on a trip, and am about to have no wifi or, at best, really really bad wifi

(and i'd told the team this back when i joined)

…

i think this might bankrupt me (because of how much i'll have to pay you)

but i'm going to show you anyways

if you haven't already seen, Converg3nce is applying to yc in 4 days. and we're trying to sign as many clients as possible by that time

for every lead that results in a signed client, we pay you $100. and once you bring in 3 clients, that rate doubles

…

we just got our first lead

from a campaign i created

as you all know, last week i launched a campaign for Converg3nce to actively involve our audience in this journey to get into yc

we gave you guys our brief, let you design and handle the outreach strategy yourself, and said we'd pay $100 for every lead that led to a signed client

…

we have 6 days left to get into yc

and one of the co-founders is literally having to flee malaysia right now

i honestly couldn't make this up if i tried. we had a team call earlier today, and at one point we all just started laughing, because of how chaotic this really is behind the scenes

and i'm not even talking about Converg3nce itself- we've started booking client calls, the product is getting stronger day by day, interest is building. that side of things is great.

…

and just like that im back to being a linkedin peasant

oh free golden badge u will be missed 💔💔

we have 8 more days to get into yc

but what is the actual product??

i realised that i've been posting all about Converg3nce, but i've never really fully explained what it is

but first, to understand the vision, you have to understand what we're banking on: the rise of a machine-centric economy

…

i got this dm last week...

it's been a little while since i've published an episode for The Seen

i have been recording some new ones, but not at the pace i used to. and it was something that i just kept telling myself i didn't have time for

because there was always something- exams or work or a new opportunity...

…

this is how i designed our big campaign yesterday

to get Converg3nce into yc in the next 10 days

in case you missed it, the campaign is us paying you $100 for every lead you find that results in a signed client (and the rate doubles once you bring in 3 clients)

the idea actually came from seeing a typical referral campaign on my feed (you know the type where you tag someone in the comments, and if they get hired, you get a payout)

…

we have 11 days to get into yc

and i want to PAY YOU to help

you don't need to have any experience or resume or even a ton of time. it's simple- you prove yourself with the actual results you bring in

and the better you are at selling, the more we'll pay

…

we have 12 days to get into yc

this is what being the cmo actually looks like:

(for context, i'm writing this because i've always wondered what it actually means to have a position like this. and maybe i'm doing this all wrong, but i still want to share my process so you can see what this actually looks like)

the best place to start is my first day- i was sent the concept for Converg3nce in the morning

…

this is even possible???

i literally woke up to 8k followers AND THIS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE APP

2 days ago i put out a post announcing that i was joining Converg3nce as their cmo to help them get into yc in the next 14 days

i posted it at night. went to sleep. and then woke up to THIS

…

we have 13 days to get into yc

this is our plan:

we have our product: helping brands become visible to AI, as we begin to transition to a world where AI not only helps make purchasing decisions for us, but actively MAKE purchases too

we have our team: Reeti Maniar, Jan Sing, and Lucas Krawczak, (and me of course, our cmo)

…

i can officially say im an abg cmo

and we're applying to yc in 14 days

that was about every startup buzzword in the first 2 sentences of this post but it's all true

because today i have some very very exciting news

…

linkedin is the worst platform ever

scientifically.

literally less than 1% of users on here manage to get to 10k followers. (compare that to instagram where 1 in 5 accounts have over 10k)

50% of posts on here get less than 3 likes. less than 4% get over 100

…

when i was 14

i got named "the travel photographer of the year"

granted, it was for the 14 & under category, but still it was one of my biggest personal achievements back then

and it changed a lot about how i see things today

…

i made the biggest mistake

but we are so back

when IB exam season started, i told you all that i was taking a break from The Seen to focus on studies

and yes, i suppose that wasn't necessarily a mistake

…

i love to make linkedin as stressful as possible

(i promise i'm not a complete psycho 😭)

and before you judge, just hear me out for a second

i love leaving posting to the last second. as in i never ever schedule posts (unless i know i'm going to be away for multiple days)

…

my very first linkedin irl meetup

with Jia Ming Huang

after 156 days of posting on here, and countless coffee chats, i finallyyy got to do an in-person meetup

and calls are amazing to get to know people, but there's something so special about actually meeting face to face

…

i'm about to mentor the most ambitious young founders and creators out there

(acceptance rate <5%)

from posting on linkedin to creating The Seen, i have had so many incredible people offer their time to mentor and help me along the way

so whenever i get the opportunity to give back in that same way, i'm incredibly honoured to do so

…

i just hit linkedin flow state

(i was so wrong, it was absolutely awesome)

i usually tell people not to batch write posts because they can feel dated, or not relevant, when you finally get around to posting them

but i take it all back, that was absolutely awesome

…

i've turned linkedin into a game (that i'm addicted to)

here's how it works:

1. i post once a day. every day. (usually at night)

2. i don't check my post

…

start adding brainrot to ur hooks

(it always gets me insane growth)

i'll give u some of my examples:

- start mogging ppl on linkedin

…

dedicate time to doomscroll

because you're going to do it anyways

yes, it is probably better to cut out doomscrolling entirely. but realistically, you've heard this a million times before and nothing's changed

so just dedicate a specific block of time to do it, until you can stop entirely

…

i did a 67 battle with Henry Li ages ago

and finally got to meet him in person today

(funnily enough it's actually been about 6 or 7 weeks since that battle)

this is the second time i've got to meet a linkedin friend irl (seriously more people please come to portugal)

…

stop going viral

(if you actually want followers)

after analysing almost 160 of my past posts, this was one of the most unexpected things i found

my posts with the most impressions or comments weren't always the ones that converted to followers

…

i hit 2 million impressions

because of 9 good posts (out of 172)

now those top 9 posts didn't generate 2M on their own. but they did account for over one third of those impressions

and you can see that and assume that all of the other posts were failures

…

get off linkedin

and go watch the world cup in your city

i'm not even the biggest football fan, but there's something to be said about being surrounded by complete strangers all cheering together for our country

you walk outside and everyone's dressed in ronaldo jerseys, portuguese flags waving on cars, big screens wheeled out into the streets

…

I ACCEPTED A J*B

(that's right, i'm no longer unemployed)

i know i never do the "typical" linkedin content, but as someone newly hired, i feel it's only fitting to do this the proper way

which means....

…

i almost missed my connection flight today

and yes, i was that mad person sprinting through the airport that you just watch and kind of pity

and the worst thing about the madrid international airport is that you have to take a train for part of the way

which means that there is literally NOTHING you can do to speed up how fast you'll get there for that part of the journey

…

i hit 6700 followers today

and 67 has been a big part of my linkedin journey (so this is the lore)

(and i'll be honest, never in a million years did i think this is what i'd be known for... but here we are)

a few months ago, i cold dmed a famous entrepreneur a 67 joke and got him on my podcast

…

i gave a talk to a room of young students and founders today

from the middle of the ocean

about a month ago, i got asked to be a speaker for Elevana to give a talk on personal branding, and how to build a linkedin profile that actually works for you (rather than the other way around)

i said yes right away of course

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i got a job because of linkedin

(but not by using the apply feature)

178 days ago, i started posting on here. over 2M impressions and almost 7k of you later, that one decision has completely changed my life

but here's the (slightly unconventional) story of how it led to where i'm working now:

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i found the exact word count that makes posts explode

(and it's weirdly specific)

after analysing >160 of my posts, i found that anything between 101-150 words outperformed everything else

by a lot.

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i just hit 7k followers

in my first 7 days of my new job

(which is weirdly poetic in a way)

because today (while on holiday i might add) i was dreadfully sick in bed, waiting for my fever to break, while writing content

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ending your post with this one punctuation mark

kills your entire reach

after analysing over 160 of my past posts, the ones that ended with a direction question performed worse than literally everything else i tested

worse even than no cta at all

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we need to boredom-max more often

it's so underrated

think about it- we are literally never bored anymore. because the moment we are, our phones are there to kill the feeling for us

and we have engineered it perfectly so that we NEVER have to feel that way

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stop making posting hard for yourself

and make a content bank

this has probably been one of the most helpful things i've done since i've started posting on here

because there are always going to be days where you get home late, or you're feeling uninspired, or you have literally 10 minutes to put out a post

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you are so behind right now

and you should feel that way.

and i know everyone likes to remind you that the people building and posting here are just the top 1%. that simply by being on here, you're already ahead

and yes, maybe that is true

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i need one favour from you guys

pretty please could you go blow Parb Sandu's most recent post up for me??

let me explain

last year, i started an MBA program at Augment.org (which i've just realised i've barely posted about, so more on that later)

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everyone says to 'comment more'

this is how much that actually means:

when i was starting out, i would comment 400-500+ times every week

there's two main reasons why commenting that much is actually important (especially for a new account):

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this is what linkedin pays me

(after >1M impressions and 140 straight days of posting)

... yeah absolutely nothing

and while i do hope (really REALLY hope) that one day linkedin will add a creator program like other socials, it has paid me a lot in the knowledge i've gained

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be a nobody

it might even be better for you

one of the most frequent questions i get asked is "what should i post about?"

and, most of the time, people ask this because they feel like they haven't done enough worthy of posting

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a friend on here sent me a whole post idea

and it got over 40k impressions

(which i know isn't ridiculously high, but i'm in a bit of an impression rut lately okay)

for me though this is literally the coolest thing about this platform

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and with this, the great summer grind can commence

(in 15 hours and 4 minutes once everything transfers)

*now everyone cheer since u don't have to see my dirty screen and cracked mousepad ever again*

today's day 67 of my gym streak

(no rest days because had to make it to the holy 67 day)

i am absolutely obsessed with streaks. and we can debate the healthiness of that obsession later, but the point is that it makes me so much more productive

and the more reps i do, the less i have to motivate myself to do something, and the more i just... do it

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it was my last day of high school today

i still have all my IB exams to write, but it was the last day i'll ever spend with this group of people, in this same place

and no matter how long i've been counting down to this day, it really is just as sad as everyone tells you it will be

so there's no fancy takeaway to this point because i really haven't figured that all out yet

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fall in love with linkedin

it's the only way

there will be days when you hate posting. days when you can't think of any new comments. days where you will simply feel like there's no time.

and you will quit.

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over 1 million impressions in <90 days

here's how:

1. post every single day. not only does the algo love consistency, but you start training your brain to see ideas everywhere

2. study the greats. follow the people who create great content. the better you're consuming, the better you'll create.

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im moving to scotland!!!

heading to st andrews!

i applied back in october, and was so lucky to receive an offer barely a week later

(so yes this post is quite late, i'm sorry!)

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today i finally beat my dad Laurence Tham

on linkedin

because i finally have more followers than him!! which means i've officially won this race between us (that he didn't even know he was competing in)

when i first made this account, he was one of the only people i had to compare myself to

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lately my posts have been awful.

then i changed 1 thing:

i made them simpler.

when i first started posting, i was ruthless with removing any unnecessary detail.

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been so long i'd forgotten this colour even existed 🥹🥹

what a beautiful beautiful sight

you'll never see the DMs people send about you

but you shape them every day

you'd be surprised at how fast you build a reputation on here, and just how fast someone will form an opinion about you

based on your posts, comments, messages- even just stories about you from others. every single interaction you have on this platform builds up

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u gotta have more fun on linkedin

because what else is this platform good for if not crazy bets and random lore?

like racing Caden Knebel to 4k followers and getting control of his account for 24 hours... (oh yes it's going to be great 😈)

(side note, the takeover was actually supposed to be today but 2-factor-authentication messed with us. so keep your eye out for it on monday!)

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1. go to the gym

2. write as many comments as you can between sets

3. reach your true linkedin gym warrior potential

seriously though, this has been the best strategy for me

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this is insane

might be one of the best dms i've ever gotten

because my silly little linkedin obsession somehow inspired Ihina Mukherjee to write her first post (and it is seriously awesome so go show some love)

that's the crazy thing about building in public. you think you're just posting for yourself, for your career, your reach

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in 11 hours

i will have FULL CONTROL of Caden Knebel's account 😈😈😈

here's a little sneak peak with his updated banner and profile photo (because come onnn The Seen and a dash of pink makes everything better)

i can't change or post anything just yet... but as soon as 9am lisbon time hits the chaos will begin ;)

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proud to say i've opened a new school in my name

at least according to Caden Knebel

thank u so much caden for attending, it was a true honour schooling you in how to lose bets properly

(oh and check out his account, think u guys will be pretty proud of how much damage i've done 😈)

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this is everything i did when i had control of Caden Knebel's account

(truly tried to make it complete chaos)

- gave him a new pink haircut

- welcomed him to the school of kaia in his education section

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your personal brand is at its worst right now

and that's the best thing ever

think about it- it is almost impossible to be worse off than you are today. to have less followers, less presence, less of a brand

and that means the only possible direction you can go from here is up

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got featured (again) by Tony Robbins, Igor Pogany and Dean Graziosi!!!

>400k live

seriously, i still can't believe this. that a clip of my interview on The Seen could play right next to some of the most inspiring people in the world

and to just think back to the person i was when i started this podcast... she never would've believed it could end up on a stage like this

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this is what racing Caden Knebel to 4k followers got me

(number breakdown)

between the two of us, we got almost 100k impressions on our posts about the challenge

and a ton of dms whether it was ideas from you guys or people just enjoying watching me destroy caden's account (although i stand by the fact that pink is his colour)

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gave my talk at BRIDGED. today!!!

finally able to share all the secrets i've learned from posting here

and funnily enough, tomorrow will be exactly 4 months since this whole linkedin journey began. and yes, it sounds dramatic, but it really has changed my life

so to be able to give back as much of that as possible truly means so much

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call me crazy but i absolutely love sending cold dms

(i'm not a psycho i promise, okay??)

and before you judge me, let me explain my reasoning

if you just send enough good dms, someone will inevitably answer you. it's just math.

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u need to stop thinking so hard

really.

my best posts are always the ones i hesitate to post. is this too silly? too pointless? does anyone really care?

but here’s the thing: if u never post them, you’ll never actually know

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i got a super fun test for u

(to see how famous you are on the deep dark web)

step 1: go onto an incognito browser (must be incognito for this to work)

step 2: pull up chat, claude, grok, gemini. any and all of them. more fun when you use them all

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im about to mentor 6 of u

alongside some of the literal best creators and founders on this platform

(just take a look at that amazing line up in the photo- genuinely im so honoured to even be on this list)

sooo with that, im absolutely thrilled to announce that im officially one of the mentors at BRIDGED.!! run by the INCREDIBLE Reeti Maniar, Mariam S., and Jason He

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i gained 1k followers in 17 days

WE AT 3K NOW BABYYY!!!

and i did some digging back and found out exactly how long it took me to get to each +1k milestone (after posting every single day):

1k: day 19

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i recorded one of my biggest episodes yet last night

and ive been absolutely fangirling about him this past week doing the research

so here's me trying not to show how much i'm internally freaking out while talking to him (yeah... i think i failed at that)

anyways though, the ep will be in your hands in exactly one week... you guys are gonna love this one!!

andddd our company page is live!!!

The Seen finally meets the lovely linkedin world

i've been working on the podcast for about 9 months now, and alongside everything happening on here, it's been one of the most exciting projects i've done

so it is with great pleasure that i announce the official creation of the company page (better late than never)

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i quit linkedin the past three days

(even though you still saw my posts)

this past weekend i was travelling with friends and made a deal to myself that i'd be present and not so caught up in work

but i've also made a deal to myself (and you) that i'll post daily on here, no matter what. and it's a deal i've upheld for the past 71 days.

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i found the most epic linkedin profile ever

(if u can find who it is from this photo you'll be the ultimate linkedin detective)

and what's even cooler about it is that it seems completely normal from the first glance

but it's in the sections that are usually the most boring (we all know those education and experience sections well) that you realise how fun it is

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do comments actually work???

i did a little test so let's see:

friday-sunday i posted daily but wrote no comments. then starting yesterday i wrote my normal amount (usually get to >400 a week)

and okay i finally fully believe the linkedin gurus who say just to focus on commenting

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u can now use claude to get free lovable

(and i pinky promise this isn't clickbait)

1. in claude (free version), prompt the website you want to design

2. keep iterating in claude

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beat zero.

that's all u have to do.

you all know that i post daily on here. and while i absolutely love it, there are definitely days where you get in your own head. you're tired, uninspired, you just feel... stuck

so to anyone feeling that way right now too, this is something that always helps me:

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Caden Knebel AND I ARE RACING TO 4K FOLLOWERS PLS HELP

(sorry for the aggressive all caps but i needed to convey the true urgency of this because I SWEAR I WILL NOT LOSE)

so caden's ideas for what we wager so far include changing the other person's bio or writing their posts for a day (both absolutely terrifying options)

but we need more wager ideas so please share any inspo you have

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who here works at linkedin?? i need u to add something for me

(it's a really good idea, trust)

add a section in the analytics page that lets me see how many people are clicking 'read more'

like impressions are nice and shiny and all but what percentage of them are actually clicking to read more? what percentage are getting hooked by my hooks??

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i'm about to mentor 6 people

and applications are officially open!!!

from growing my linkedin to over 3k in <80 days, to getting the honour to interview some of the most successful entrepreneurs for The Seen, there's so much i hope i can pass on to you guys

which is why i was so excited when Reeti Maniar, Mariam S. and Jason He invited me to join BRIDGED. as a mentor (alongside some INCREDIBLEEE names)

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LINKEDIN ACTUALLY SAW THE POST YESTERDAY?!!

Tahir Ahmed just promised that he might be able to get someone over at linkedin to actually design this for us... IF he has enough evidence that people want it

SO COME ON GUYS, PLEASE VOTE, WE NEED THIS SO BADLY!!!

and for anyone who didn't see yesterday's post, what i'm proposing is that linkedin needs to add an analytic that lets you see the % of people who actually click 'read more' (so that you can test how effective your hooks are)

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im gonna give my account to Caden Knebel

unless i can make it to 4k before him

AND I DON'T WANNA GIVE ANYONE MY ACCOUNT SO I WILL BE ON THE LINKEDIN GRIND TILL THAT 4K HITS

like i said a few days ago, caden and i are racing to see who can get to 4k followers first, and we asked you guys for help deciding what we would bet

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im struggling right now

all because of what i've chosen

lately everything seems to be piling up- IB exams soon, final IAs, podcast recordings, linkedin posts (and don't even get me started on my DMs because they are an absolute mess, so i'm so incredibly sorry to everyone i haven't replied to yet)

but at the end of the day, it's entirely a struggle i've chosen for myself

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i have an evil plan

im gonna steal all of mfm's guests

those who know me know that i absolutely ADORE the my first million podcast (honestly any day they drop a new ep is a good day)

and finding guests for my podcast The Seen is hard. i have to find someone who's built some cool companies, who can tell a good story, and who i can somehow reach

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linkedin finally told me i've made it to the big leagues

it thinks i have a potential lead!!!

bless your little algo heart sales navigator, i wish i was making money off my linkedin

stay strong all my fellow broke linkedin warriors ✊

im giving away $15000 to the most ambitious founder i can find

if you're under 18 and building, your life might just be about to change

and okay, quick disclaimer, the $15k obviously isn't my own (still a broke linkedin warrior 😖)

but i will be on a pretty stacked judging panel as part of Youth Forge helping decide where it goes

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i made €700 off these shoes

all because my friend lent me 10 bucks

for yearsss one of my dream shoes has been the kate louboutins (all my fashion girlies back me up on this)

they also cost €745.

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ok if you've ever posted on linkedin

i have a really really cool test for you to run (< 40 seconds to try)

go to your analytics and have a look at your impressions (for an individual post, this month, or all time, doesn't matter)

then go to chatgpt and ask for some bullet-pointed real world comparisons to that number

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it's giving thought leader

oh who's that? just me, casually thinking my thought leader thoughts

jk but seriously do we like this banner better than the one i have right now??

(and the photo's from the panel i was telling you all about last week!! finally got all the photos, will be sharing some more soon 👀)

i made a horrible horrible mistake 14 hours ago

and can't lie, it was 1000% all my fault

i'm headed to japan next week and there's a michelin-star ramen shop i'm dying to go to

there are only 6 seats and you have to book EXACTLY at 9am the saturday before (or midnight in portugal)

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none of your comment sections are safe

because yesterday i figured out how to comment with gifs 😈

genuinely i think my life has improved so much for the better. no single comment section will be left gif-less on my watch

and i do wish i could just add the gifs directly in linkedin but, for now, this beautiful little folder will be my arsenal

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just booked a new speaking gig

so network get ready for a 'motivational speaker' job update

just joking about the job update, but really i'm pretty honoured about this one (even if it's not a traditional 'speaking gig')

a couple of weeks ago, all of the seniors at my school voted for who we wanted as our spokesperson for graduation. and i just found out that i was the one picked!!!

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