Copywriting For CEO’s

Over the last few years, I've been ghostwriting on and off for a handful of CEO’s on LinkedIn.

I use these content rules, which have generated 15,000+ reactions on a single post and driven thousands of profile visits.

1. Write a killer headline:

LinkedIn gives you 210 characters to grab people's attention.

Your first job on every piece of content you create is to get people to click ‘see more’.

The best headlines follow the structure of "big learning or outcome, small cost."

Most of us are searching for the best returns on our efforts.

When executives share that they've found something that has worked in less than 210 characters, people listen.

Here are some examples:

- This one question has changed how we operate as a company

- Most marketing advice sucks - here are the five tools we've used to generate 10 M+ in direct sales at our (XYZ company)

- We interviewed 1000 customers and found that most didn't care about the features we built. Here is how to avoid the same mistake

- We've just launched (XYZ). Here is how we sold out in (X) amount of time

2. Don't use formal language:

Most people have reading skills equivalent to those of a 14-year-old.

The simpler the language, the easier for people to understand your content.

People read in their heads, and if they don't know a word, the chances of them skipping a sentence increase.

When they skip a sentence, you begin to lose your reader.

3. Talk about the outcome first:

Everyone wants something now.

Talk about the results first, then explain how you got there afterwards.

Sell the dream and educate the customer along the way.

4. Write for one person:

This post is addressed to CEO's and founders.

It makes people feel like you are talking directly to them.

5. Teach, don't sell:

Almost all of our marketing at K&J Growth and Rugby Bricks involves capturing someone's attention and then educating them on why they should work with us.

This applies to the content you write.

6. Organise information:

91% of people consume social media on their phones.

Content like paragraphs that are visibly condensed is intimidating for your reader.

Break content up into a sequential format.

It makes for a better user experience.

-----

Remember, content is a game.

Most people who want to build a profile don't want to be seen as another "XYZ".

So they share content "their way."

Try some of the rules above and see what happens.

Notes: CEOs of bigger businesses already have clout, but you can go from no one to someone by writing content like this.

My friend Rui used to share posts like this:

He followed some of the rules I shared above and in his next post he increased his engagement by over 2000% (post here):

Just the other day, he went viral, and it’s because he just kept testing.

His business has more demand than he can meet.

Keep testing these things, and you’ll find a formula that works

Clear Business Goals

I've done the lean business model canvases, the value chain analysis, etc., many times over. They're useful strategic decision-making tools but terrible communication tools.

Canvass and whatnot don't bring others along for the ride; they only point you to where you need to go. To confidently believe that your team knows what you're trying to achieve and how they can contribute to it, you need something else.

They need to know your business equation. It sounds mathematical and nerdy, but it's actually very simple—all good communications are.

The idea is that each company has an equation describing the relationship between its inputs and outputs and how this combines to help the business achieve its top goal.

I'll use our gym as an example.

Right now our top goal is staying in business. We need more revenue to cover our bills. And in particular, membership revenue. The core driver of this is what we call paying members.

Our business equation looks like this;

Revenue -> Subscription Revenue -> Paying Members = (New Members - Cancelled Members)

So, right now, everyone in our business knows we need to be obsessed with increasing paying members. And they can help by helping us find or keep more members.

This equation cascades down to any level in our business.

Our cleaner knows they can help by keeping our place immaculate, which will help us attract and retain more members.

Our marketers can see that getting more members is the most important thing at the moment, and they can help by focusing on getting us more leads.

Stupidly simple. But not many businesses do this. I've touched many whose staff cannot answer the only question that matters: "What's your business's top goal, and how are you contributing?"

We should constantly ask ourselves: Are we cleanly and clearly articulating our business equation? The measure of success here is how many of your team members can answer the contribution question correctly.