Hey!

Welcome to Social Files—your no-BS guide to generating demand for your B2B product using social & content.

(Realized I had this drafted but didn't click "schedule" on Monday, so here we are 😂)

Hope you had a great weekend. Back in Austin now after some travel. Spent the weekend catching up on both sleep and reading.

Current read: still reading Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill. Just about 90% of the way through the 1400 pages. Cahill is absolutely cooking the last 500 or so pages of this book, my goodness.

After I’m done with this book, I think I’m going to take a brief break from The Bound and the Broken and read Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Been on my TBR for a while, and need a breather before getting into Of Empires and Dust (another 1400+ page monster).

I also spent some time this weekend chipping away at my own novel. Sitting at just under 90,000 words after this morning’s drafting session.

Now, before I spiral into a tangent on books and writing, let’s get to the content marketing stuff.

Today, I want to give you a simple, proven content calendar you can copy to create better LinkedIn content. All it is: five, simple post types you can cycle through.

I’ve done all the testing for you. These work.

Shall we?

🔎 DEEP DIVE

Brutally honest LinkedIn growth advice

The ONE difference between founders who win and founders who flop on LinkedIn

When I first started Compound, I'd spend a lot of effort "convincing" founders to post on LinkedIn. This was a losing battle. These reluctant prospects calls always turned to total nightmare clients.

Working with founders who refuse to "play the game" on LinkedIn makes me lose my mind. At this point, I won't do it.

Why?

If you resent LinkedIn, or view it as "cringe" and a "necessary evil," you are going to lose to someone who enjoys sharing their thoughts online.

Me: proposes a hook for a post

Founder: rewrites it entirely

....

...

..

Founder: "Why didn't this post do well?"

Me: "Let me hold your hand when I tell you this..."

Almost all the founders you see growing effectively with founder-led content—Adam Robinson, Austin Hughes, etc—have transcended the cringe. They enjoy writing. They lean into the platform best practices. They don't get caught up in the desire for immediate results.

It's kind of similar to someone starting a fitness transformation. They person who enjoys going to the gym is going to outlast the person going because they "have to."

The latter is going to show up every day, independent of outcomes, because they know the outcome they’re after is inevitable, should they stay the course.

And look. I'm not asking you to sacrifice your morals for a drop of LinkedIn clout.

But you gotta be comfortable with posting your REAL, unfiltered takes on the timeline. Take a few photos at team events to use as media. Perhaps even use a popular hook formula once in a while. Gasp!

The key is to play the game tastefully. Use the LinkedIn tactics and best practices in a way that blends in. Done right, nobody can tell. Did you see the negativity bias in this essay? Shh.

But if you refuse to invest time into writing your content AND insist on posting watered-down corporate slop that sounds like it was written by an HR lead…don't complain to me when your pipeline is dry.

By the way, if you are ready to take LinkedIn seriously and excited about growing, I have a bunch of free essays and guides that you can use. Zero gatekeeping. Ever.

🗃 FILE CABINET

Here’s my favorite marketing and business content I bookmarked this week.

• 8 things you MUST do after posting on LinkedIn by Tommy Clark 🎥

• If your LinkedIn posts get under 1000 impressions… do this by Tommy Clark 🎥

• How to Overcome Inner Resistance by Andrew Huberman and Steven Pressfield 🎥

Check these out.

BEFORE YOU GO…

As always, thanks for allowing me into your email inbox every week.

More from Social Files:

• Read the rest of my essays

• Work with my agency in 2025

• Try my LinkedIn content writing SaaS

• Steal my founder-led content templates

Talk soon,

Tommy Clark