Hey Reader, A few weeks ago, I wrote a LinkedIn post with the help of AI. But nobody knew I used AI, because it looks, sounds, and smells like me. Yes, my content smells delicious. Doesn't yours? So I figured, what the hell, let's go behind the scenes. Today I'm gonna show you: The prompt I started with The exact back and forth I had with AI The final manual edits I made Alright, let's go. First, read the post Here's the post in its final form. Give it a quick skim. Doesn't read at all like...
10 days ago • 13 min read
Hey Reader, The "AI involved in writing" discourse has gotten insufferably binary. Today, I want to share my nuanced perspective on why I believe the binary conversation is woefully unhelpful and hurting all of us. The AI binary is a witch hunt When I was 17, my high school offered a program where seniors could intern at a real workplace for a few months to gain "life experience." I chose to write a biography of my life with my two best friends, whom I met in Kindergarten. Life experience?...
23 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Look, today's newsletter isn't about whether we should or shouldn't be using AI in our writing. I have thoughts on that. [You can read them here.] I'm on the side where AI isn't going anywhere, and I absolutely love using it as a creative thought partner. I think it's great for creativity and your thought sparring process, but I also understand the arguments against it. That debate? We could have it all day. That's not what this is about. Today's newsletter assumes AI is here to...
about 1 month ago • 10 min read
Hey Reader, I've reached my "alright, F this, I gotta say something" moment. I've had enough of holier-than-thou writers claiming a monopoly on thinking. Yes, writing is a form of thinking. But you know what else is? Voice note rambling about something I’ve been thinking about in my head for long enough that I’m ready to write about it, but don’t feel like spending 3 hours grinding through the writing process.I felt like this BEFORE AI. I mean, you know editors existed before AI, right?!Trust...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, If you've been spiraling about "doing content right" on LinkedIn, you're playing the wrong game entirely. (It's a game, by the way.) Some people are optimizing for reach, impressions, and audience growth. Others are optimizing for inbound, starting conversations with the right people, and reputation growth. These people should not be creating the same types of content because they have wildly different goals. Different game. Different rules. Different outcomes. (Aside: Follower...
2 months ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader, I record all my calls. Client calls, sales calls, coaching calls, random catch-ups with other solos. Everything. Why? Because the best content comes from real conversations. Not from sitting at your computer trying to reverse-engineer wisdom. And what I say when I'm not trying to say anything is always better than trying to force expertise all over the place. When you force it, we can feel it When you try to manufacture an insight or force an idea, it comes across as blahhhhhh. We...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Sorry to email you twice in one day, but I've gone down an AI analysis hole and this is too cool not to share. My hypothesis: I shift my strategy based on what I see/feel working NOW, now what used to work.My process: This morning, I was like why don't I export all my LinkedIn posts, pop them into Claude, and run a massive analysis. (Had a no-call day. Figured what the hell.) Then I had Claude write me a full report of my activity. IT'S SO COOL. (I'll drop the full report in the...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, I'm slightly obsessed with my friend Jen Allen Knuth's content. Jen posts almost daily on LinkedIn, and every single time I see her name in my feed, I stop scrolling. Not just because she's an awesome human (HI JEN IF YOU'RE READING), but because her hooks are absolutely magnetic. So I decided to analyze a bunch of her recent hooks to figure out what makes them work so damn well. Also, this feels like a good way to show you the hook principles from our course in action with real...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Rob built a new post-writing tool, and I can't stop playing with it. I took the hook "Solo doesn't mean alone: how top creators actually work" and told Rob's new Autowriter tool exactly what I wanted to say in the post: "I want to dig into the fact that even though we're 'alone' we all have to find people to support us, to learn from, to grow with, and also like VAs or freelancers if we need. The point is that the word is an oxymoron." In 3 minutes, I had a complete post that...
3 months ago • 2 min read