Templates by Maxim Poulsen

Every marketer makes this BIG mistake.

(That costs them a LOT of money 💰)

And you probably make it too:

You think people care.

Care about your copy.

Care about your product.

Care about your features.

Care about your blog articles.

Care about your infographics.

Care about your landing page.

Care about your LinkedIn posts.

Care about your website design.

Care about your value proposition.

Spoiler: You care. They don’t.

These are all tools.

Tools to make them care about:

What’s in it for them.

→ What can they learn?

→ How can they save time?

→ How can they look good?

→ How can they make money?

→ How can their life be made easier?

Stop marketing for yourself.

Start marketing for them.

2023 was my best year so far.

But it wasn’t all sunshine & rainbows:

→ Personal

+ I worked on making myself happy.

+ I lived abroad for the first time in 15y.

+ I discovered a beautiful country & culture.

+ I took care of my health. And a better diet.

+ I cut down on drinking (less than once/week).

- I still drink more often than I probably should.

- I didn’t go to the gym as much as I planned.

- More time spent working than w/ friends.

- I struggled to maintain motivation.

- I still overthink way too much.

→ Professional

+ 4x monthly recurring revenue.

+ We closed our first big US deals.

+ First signs of success with our SEO.

+ New successful GTM initiative (Sales).

+ First successful year of making $ online.

- Startup Growth is hard. It made me doubt.

- To be an employee. Or work for myself?

- I lost 4 big deals (that we needed).

- I lacked organization. It hit hard.

- I had doubts about my value.

→ LinkedIn

+ 9 million total views.

+ More writing for “myself”.

+ 3.4x follower growth (+30k).

+ I made some amazing new friends.

+ Confidence in my creator-audience fit.

- Motivation dips with algorithm changes.

- 7 high-effort posts didn’t perform.

- Slower growth induced doubt.

- Not enough “new” content.

- I ignored too many DMs.

We all love to share the good.

Or rather — it’s hard to share the bad.

But without both sunshine and rain there would be no rainbows.

What's 1 good & 1 bad thing about your year?

Ever heard of the PayPal Mafia?

These ex-PayPal employees co-founded:

- Yelp

- Tesla

- LinkedIn

- YouTube

- Palantir Technologies

...and many more!

"Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good"

But more importantly:

This shows the power of a strong network.

Surround yourself with smart people.

Play long-term games with them.

You'll inevitably win.

Have a nice Sunday LinkedIn fam 🫶

Saturday we hit +35,000 followers 🎊

Everyone asks: "Is it worth it?"

+8 000 000 content views

+28 000 comments

+67 000 likes

The "free" exposition itself is worth it.

But you’re not here for the vanity metrics.

Direct impact on my revenue (closed):

— 5.5k views of my LinkedIn guide

— 5-figures automation freelancing

— 5-figures writing courses/teaching

— 5-figures ghostwriting for SaaS Founders

— 4 consulting calls booked (LinkedIn/Automation)

For a total of 6-figures of potential revenue.

Only through creating LinkedIn content.

On top of my full-time job.

How much effort does it take?

+500 posts

+500 hours creating

+1000 hours engaging

+30 networking coffees

+50 new creators friends

I’m not going to lie.

At first it was a bit of a chore.

But I’ve learned to love it over time.

What’s next?

— Not more, but higher quality content

— Launching V2 of my LinkedIn guide

— Creating my automation course

— Launching my first micro-saas

— Booking more consulting calls

Wish you could get similar results?

1. Don't forget: You can't do it alone

— Build a relationship with your followers

— Make friends with your fellow creators

— Help your potential clients, for free

2. Keep your eyes peeled for my guide

— Upgraded V1: 12k-word guide

— +2000 hours of experience condensed

— How to turn your audience → Side hustle

No 6-figure promises.

Just a collection of everything I know.

Thanks to all of you, for everything 💙

Tinder economics.

Or how bad apps can make more $$$.

Imagine you’re building Tinder.

You want to help people meet, right?

Then you optimize for matches.

But if people meet…they uninstall Tinder.

Keep in mind — this is a business.

Some revenue comes from in-app ads.

But a substantial part comes from premium plans.

So the same problem arises.

Paying for a premium plan to get more matches?

More likely to match and…cancel their subscription.

If Tinder was building a product to help people…

They would optimize for people meeting.

But they don’t.

They optimize for the least amount of matches possible while maintaining hope high.

To keep users coming back for more.

Locking users into a desperate search.

Offering validation through paid premium plans.

...only to increase match rates temporarily.

Until they flatline to the minimum, once again.

So is Tinder a bad product?

It depends for whom.

But they made $1.8B in 2022.

I've written 532 posts. It took 200+ to realize:

More writing ≠ Better content*

9 ways to (really) improve your writing:

1. Thinking → to help your clarity

2. Editing → to improve readability

3. Talking → to hear different takes

4. Reading → to sharpen your ideas

5. Engaging → to build your audience

6. Formatting → to refine information flow

7. Experimenting → to broaden your content

8. Repurposing → to improve your efficiency

9. Publishing → to get feedback on your ideas

Everything above follows the 80/20 rule.

It’s less about the time spent.

And more about the intentionality of it.

Use your time wisely.