Matt Barker

The difference between LinkedIn and X is hilarious everyone’s posting about the Louis Theroux manosphere documentary like it’s new news but the manosphere was literally created by those weirdos ON X

and you’re struggling to find a niche to write about?

answer to this is write from your lived experience only: > sit down every Monday for 1 hour > dump every outcome you generated last week into notes app > write about why those outcomes happened > finish with an actionable step for reader no one can copy what you actually live

Things people think are dumb: - posting content Things people are dumb for thinking it’s dumb: - posting content

I didn’t grow my first 10k followers online writing about my private life. I grew it by writing about: 1. What I was learning (copywriting) 2. What I was building (a business) 3. What I was shifting (growth, beliefs) No one’s forcing you to overshare.

Your whole world will blow wide open when you realise you don’t need to be an expert to write your first post online. You just need to be one step ahead of someone. Anyone. That is it.

Most people are invisible. Every day feels like a struggle. That’s why everyone should learn how to attract attention writing online. Because with the right attention, you can go far in life. Start and grow businesses, get paid to follow passion projects, level up your salary rapidly. I’ve used writing on LinkedIn to start my own copywriting business, grow it to multiple 6 figures per year and attract 159k followers in just 3 years. Here’s exactly how I would start becoming visible writing online (if I had to start all over again): 1. Look back at my career → I spent 10 years B2C & B2B marketing 2. Find ONE skill I’m above average at → marketing things online 3. If it’s too general, narrow down → copywriting 4. Ask myself → am I actually interested in this? 5. If yes, then continue → I’ve loved writing since I was a kid 6. If no, then stop → pick something you actually enjoy 7. Make your LinkedIn profile all about that one thing → copywriting 8. Change your headline, profile banner, about section 9. Go to ChatGPT → ask for top 20 struggles people have 10. List all 20 struggles → in a Notion database / Google Sheet 11. Research solutions → frameworks experts have proven 12. And solutions from your experience → projects, clients etc 13. Now you have the basis of 20 actionable, educational content topics 14. Find 10-20 LinkedIn creators who’s posts constantly pop off 15. Not posts with whiteboards, billboards or stupid inspirational quotes 16. Those posts get fake engagement, they won’t work for you (yet) 17. From those 10-20 creators, take their 5 best posts → save them 18. Keep a Swipe File with all these posts → use Notion to embed 19. Now, you have 50-100 great posts saved to study/reference 20. Next, look at the first 3 lines of their posts → the Hook 21. The Hook → single most important line of copy you’ll ever write 22. Hooks are formulaic → what worked once works over and over 23. Copy and paste the Hooks → create a seperate Notion page 24. Templatise each one → build a list of proven Hook formulas 25. To create a good template → remove niche specific words only By now, you have: - 20 content topics you can educate an audience on - A Swipe File of 100 great posts to model your writing on - A Hook Database of 100 proven Hooks to use 26. Write posts 3 x per week → increase to 5 x per week slowly 27. Use every post as training → train yourself using the Swipe File 28. Write posts modelled around the 5-10 creators you saved 29. Your writing will sound like them to start, but… 30. Over time, you’ll find your voice → intersection of all 5-10 This is basically how I became visible writing online. But you must not forget this, it’s important: Reach out to strangers. Connect with strangers. DM strangers. Your content will remain invisible if you don’t put yourself out there and BUILD YOUR OWN NETWORK. Hope this helps anyone who wants to take their business, career or life in a new direction. Go get it! Follow me - @mattbarkercopy - if you wanna grow faster with social copywriting.

A dangerous LinkedIn habit: Writing about 1,000 different things. Do this and nobody knows what you do, why and who for. Instead, try this: 1. Pick 2/3 topics → mine = copywriting, solopreneurship 2. Write about them daily → create a list of subtopics for each 3. Never deviate → write about 1 thing 1,000s of ways This is so boring for you. I can say first hand, I have gotten bored of writing my LinkedIn content A LOT. But it doesn’t matter because you gain brand recognition. Write about 1 thing in 1,000 ways → not 1,000 things in 1 way. What now? 1. Follow me @mattbarkercopy to grow writing on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. Join 5,000+ readers of my (free) Social Copywriting book here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

If you’re a solopreneur writing on LinkedIn to get more eyeballs: don’t worry if your copywriting isn’t great. Write first drafts. Then focus on editing. Here’s 7 copy editing tips to make your LinkedIn posts more concise (and cover up your dodgy copywriting skills): 1. Make it skimmable Make the meat of your post more skimmable by separating the sentences into individual bullet points. 2. Write direct Don’t approach your audience with “my friends”. It’s more powerful to talk straight to them without it. 3. Repeat yourself Repetition from the first line into the last line is a powerful technique. People remember the last line better than the first. You almost have to leave breadcrumbs and reminders all throughout to remind them what the post is about. 4. Be sure of it Speak in absolutes, much more powerful. In this case they ‘will’ do those things, not ‘can’. 5. Put a number on it Use numbered lists to create an easier more structured reading experience for the reader. 6. Create "turning points" Use 'but' to create turning points when you're telling stories. Super powerful and signals to the reader that there’s a shift happening. Keeps them on their toes and engaged. 7. Write in specifics Don’t vaguely reference a point in time, be specific. What year was it? Try ‘In {year}, I’. This creates a stronger sense of timeline and story for the reader to follow along with. Don’t throw a badly written first draft in the bin. Edit it, make it sharper, post it. What now? 1. Follow me @mattbarkercopy to grow writing on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. Join 5,000+ readers of my (free) Social Copywriting book here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

This is how I choose ONE specific subtopic to write ONE LinkedIn post in less than 3 seconds. 1. Open Notion 2. Go to my Content Generator 3. Click to open my list of Topics 4. Click the next list to choose a Subtopic That’s it. This post is an example: Topic: Social Copywriting Subtopic: Choosing a topic Hook: This is how I {outcome} in {timeframe} All my topics and subtopics are pre-defined. Then I let my fingers write away and do fun stuff. What now? 1. Follow me @mattbarkercopy to grow writing on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. Join 5,000+ readers of my (free) Social Copywriting book here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

I’m not a concise writer. I actually waffle a lot. So I cheat writing concisely (3 tools): Write a post and throw it into Hemmingway App for a free teardown of my writing. Highlights what sentences don’t make sense and what sentences are too long. Use Wordtune to go back over my scrappy write ups and shorten sentences. Life saver when my brain power is running low. Great for editing client’s work too. Ask ChatGPT to make my writing more direct and concise. Sounds weirdly simple but it works. Probably single handedly put’s Copy Editors out of business. It’s 2025. There’s 1,000s of tools that will make your writing more concise for you. I use these 3 to help me. What now? Follow me @mattbarkercopy to grow writing on LinkedIn. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. Join 5,000+ readers of my (free) Social Copywriting book here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

My back up plan for writing when I’m low energy: Write my own, new version of existing content. - No ChatGPT - No ice baths - No 10k walks Just scrolling the feed, reading and writing. After about 60 minutes I have 5-10 posts written. And I haven’t had to think too much. Here’s a bunch more writing back up plans: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

The simplest way to view social copywriting: Show your point of view. Examples: “They do X. But I do Y.” “When you do X, this happens. But when I do Y, this happens.” “Good {topic} vs bad {topic}.” Sell people on your point of view. Once someone buys in, they’re all yours. Read the full Social Copywriting Bible here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

January 2022: 800 LinkedIn connections. Today: 157,092 LinkedIn followers. Here's how it went down: January 1st 2022. I’d just decided to start freelance copywriting. I knew I needed a place to promote myself and get clients. So LinkedIn seemed like a good place to start. I had no idea: - What to write about - Who to engage with - Why I needed to engage - Whether it was even going to be worth the time I was investing I struggled. 2 months later I only: - Gained 485 new followers - Got 3 clients (one off, low value projects) - Had 2 inbound leads come my way I made £1,000 in 2 months. Living in London, that's a disaster. I couldn’t pay rent. It was very demoralising. I could’ve easily given up. Gone back to the 9-5. But then something changed... I grew from 1,285 to 4,069 followers in 8 weeks. - Better engagement - More inbound leads - Belief in myself Then, I was set. Everything I needed to give me the validation to keep on putting my time into LinkedIn. 3 years later I have: - 157,000 followers - Multiple 6 figures generated for my biz - Peace of mind to live my life how I want to Don’t give up on something just because the start is hard. You might be on the cusp of something great. P.S. this was me on 13th January 2022, 9 days into posting on LinkedIn with just 1 comment and 23 likes on my posts. What now? 1. Follow me @mattbarkercopy to grow writing on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. Join 5,000+ readers of my (free) Social Copywriting book here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

The ONLY way to become rich: - Meditate every morning at 4am - Become a digital nomad - Never drink a drop of alcohol - Take ONLY cold showers - Hire 1,000 VAs to delegate work to - Read 12 books per week - Block out every friend from your life - Never talk to your family ever again - Get 14 hours sleep every single day - Listen to Brain FM or Hans Zimmer - Ignore ALL social media apps - Use AI to automate EVERYTHING - Get sunlight IMMEDIATELY when you wake up - NEVER use phone within 1 hour of sleeping - Don’t watch porn - Don’t even look at a Nuts magazine, don’t you DARE - MUST do 70 minutes stretching - 6 hours of DEEP, FOCUSSED work daily And whatever you do: Don’t have kids. They’re a waste of money and time! The ultimate productivity NO NO. Think of all the sales calls, outbound messages and pitch decks you could be sending instead of building a family that support you and love you forever. You’re welcome. P.S. happy weekend 🍻 What now? 1. Follow me @mattbarkercopy to grow writing on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. Join 5,000+ readers of my (free) Social Copywriting book here: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

Just because you CAN charge more doesn’t mean you SHOULD. I’m chatting to people every day lately saying they’ve paid for a mastermind or community and when they’ve been granted access, felt incredibly underwhelmed. It’s not surprising. Because the internet is filled with 3 types of people: 1. People who have loads of experience 2. People who have some experience 3. People who have no experience Unfortunately it’s often the people who have no or some experience who are better at marketing themselves than the ones with loads of experience. And those are the ones that mop up. The ones with loads of experience SHOULD mop up at high prices because it’s a vastly greater product. But again, they often don’t, because their marketing isn’t good. Then the market are left being suckered into crappy products by people with crappy solutions, AND paying through their nose for it. It’s not all bad - there’s some brilliant products out there at way lower prices than they should be. And that’s a great thing because it makes great solutions more accessible to all. Just don’t go slapping a £10k price on a crappy product “because you can”. How is that possibly going to end well for anyone? Start low, prove it works, then put your prices up ya snake.

Noah Little didn’t have time to chase new business every day. He said he wanted his leads to come to him because: - “I don’t have time to reach out” - “I have a full time job” - “I have a family” This is the reality of running a business. So me and Noah worked together for 10 months to: 1. Write LinkedIn posts faster 2. Attract his ICP and get new enquiries in his DMs 3. Free up time for his FT job and family Now, Noah: → Writes copy super fast → Knows exactly what to write and how → Attracts new business, doesn’t chase Noah crushed it for 10 months and he’ll keep on crushin’ because he has mastered the skill of Social Copywriting. Want a taste of the techniques and strategies I taught Noah? It’s all here in my free Social Copywriting Bible: socialcopywritingbible.carrd…

I never had a “dream job”. But eventually I figured it out. I’m 31 now. But no “dream job” as a 16 year old basically meant I was a loser. Because everyone else around me at school seemed to know exactly what they wanted to go to uni and study with the aim of getting their dream job. (or at least that’s what it felt like, maybe not) And I always felt like teachers looked down on that. It was mad to me that we were expected to: - Choose university or work - If you choose university, pick one subject - That, basically, is your life But this didn’t just create pressure. It created a fear of what was ahead: - Lose friends going to university in different places - Confusion if I’d pick the right path - uni or work - Worry about if I’d be smart enough to succeed in life Not really what a 16 year old who just wants to play Xbox, go drinking over the park and kiss some girls wants to worry about tbh. Luckily, I had sensible parents to guide me: I chose work. But it wasn’t all plain sailing: - Didn’t find a job for 9 months - More pressure built - Low on confidence I felt distant from my friends too. Eventually I found work. Not my “dream job”, but it was work. And slowly over time as I: - Started earning money - Socialising with adults - Treating work as a university of my own My confidence grew and I started to realise my “dream job” involved marketing products and selling things. I loved it. It’s what brought me to now, running my own writing business, combining writing x marketing. But I didn’t know this was my “dream job” until I was about 22. 6 years after I was expected to choose. You don’t need to know your “dream job”. But you do need to make choices, try stuff, figure it out. Your “dream job” is out there → go find it.

If you have 5 minutes every day: 1. Put a timer for 5 minutes 2. Randomly type whatever comes to mind 3. Stop when the timer hits 5 minutes I’m always surprised what comes out. This works great to: - Process my thoughts - Create unexpected content ideas - Find out what’s really top of my mind This isn’t easy, but if you can remove that mental blockage from your writing it becomes a lot easier than you think. Write to clarify your thinking.