/linkedin

LinkedIn Post Creator

name: linkedin-writer
description: >
  Creates LinkedIn posts across all formats - event announcements, product launches,
  thought leadership, and community engagement. Handles the full lifecycle from
  sourcing context through drafting, review, and self-improvement.
triggers:
  - linkedin post
  - LN post
  - write a post about

---

MCP connectors

| Connector | Purpose | |-----------|---------| | LinkedIn | Publish posts, check engagement metrics |

When to Use

Use this skill whenever a LinkedIn post is needed:

• Sharing an article, video, or piece of content
• Announcing an event, launch, milestone, or hire
• Sharing a contrarian take or industry observation
• Community engagement (calls for help, celebrations, vulnerability posts)
• Repurposing content from other channels (blog, Substack, talks)

---

Quick Start

Every LinkedIn post falls into one of four categories. Route to the right sub-file:

| Category | Sub-file | When | |----------|----------|------| | Events | `events.md` | Announcing, recapping, or clustering around events | | Launches | `launches.md` | Product features, milestones, version releases | | Ideas | `ideas.md` | Contrarian takes, benchmarks, article shares, thought leadership | | Community | `community.md` | Mobilization, vulnerability, team celebrations |

Read the relevant sub-file for format-specific templates and patterns.

---

Core Writing Principles

Tone

• Direct and conversational, never corporate
• First person singular ("I") unless it is a team moment ("we")
• Confident but not arrogant - share what you learned, not what you know
• Short sentences. Fragments are fine.

Opening Patterns

The first line is the post. If it does not stop the scroll, nothing else matters.

Strong openers:

• **Contrarian hook**: "Most [X] advice is wrong. Here's what actually works."
• **Specific number**: "We went from 0 to 500 users in 3 weeks. No ads."
• **Question**: "Why do analytics teams still spend 80% of their time on data prep?"
• **Confession**: "I almost shut down the company last month."
• **Bold claim**: "[Thing everyone assumes] is dead."

Weak openers (never use):

• "Excited to announce..."
• "Thrilled to share..."
• "I'm delighted to..."
• "Big news!"

Generic Post Structure

[Hook - 1-2 lines that stop the scroll]

[Context - why this matters, what prompted it]

[Substance - the insight, story, data, or takeaway]

[Landing - CTA, question, or forward-looking statement]

Keep posts between 150-300 words. LinkedIn truncates after ~210 characters, so the hook must land before the "see more" fold.

---

Voice Calibration

Structural Preferences

• Use line breaks liberally - one thought per line
• Bullet points for lists of 3+ items
• No walls of text
• Emojis: sparingly, max 1-2 per post, never as bullet markers
• Hashtags: 3-5 max, at the bottom, relevant to the topic

Punctuation Rules

• Never use em dashes (--) or en dashes (-) as punctuation. Use a hyphen (-) or colon (:) instead.
• Periods over exclamation marks. One exclamation mark per post maximum.
• No ellipsis (...) for dramatic effect

Voice Tells to Match

• Short declarative sentences
• "Here's the thing:" as a pivot phrase
• "Turns out" to introduce a surprising finding
• Direct address to the reader ("If you're a [role]...")
• Specific numbers over vague claims

---

Vocabulary to AVOID

These words and phrases are ghostwriter cliches. Never use them:

| Banned | Why | Use Instead | |--------|-----|-------------| | "banger" | Cringe | "strong post", "it performed well" | | "game-changer" | Overused | Be specific about what changed | | "nails it" | Vague | Explain what specifically is good | | "had a blast" | Generic | Describe the actual experience | | "incredibly" | Filler | Cut it or use a specific adjective | | "leverage" | Corporate | "use" | | "synergy" | Corporate | Describe the actual benefit | | "ecosystem" | Overused | Be specific | | "thought leader" | Self-aggrandizing | Never self-apply this label | | "deep dive" | Cliche | "breakdown", "analysis", "walkthrough" | | "unpack" | Cliche | "explain", "break down" | | "landscape" | Vague | Name the specific market or space | | "at the end of the day" | Filler | Cut entirely |

---

Sourcing Context Before You Write

**Never write a post from thin air.** Always fetch the source material first.

| Source Type | How to Fetch | |-------------|-------------| | Article/blog post | Use `WebFetch` to get the full text | | YouTube video | Use `WebFetch` on the video URL to get metadata; fetch transcript if available | | GitHub repo/release | Use `gh` CLI to read release notes, README, or issue | | Internal doc | Read the file from the repo | | Event page | Use `WebFetch` on the event URL | | CRM context | Use CRM tools to pull customer/deal context |

Read the source fully before drafting. Extract: 1. The single most interesting claim or data point 2. Why it matters to the target audience 3. What is non-obvious or counterintuitive about it

---

Full Workflow

Step 1: Understand the Request

• What is the core message?
• Who is the audience? (founders, data teams, engineers, general tech)
• What is the goal? (awareness, engagement, traffic, hiring)
• Is there source material to fetch?

Step 2: Pick the Post Type

Route to the appropriate sub-file (events, launches, ideas, community) and select a template.

Step 3: Draft

• Read `content/linkedin/_insights.md` for channel learnings
• Read `content/linkedin/_examples/` for high-performing references
• Write the draft following the template and voice rules
• Save to `content/linkedin/_drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_slug.md` with frontmatter:

---
date: YYYY-MM-DD
channel: linkedin
topic: short-topic
format: post
status: draft
type: event | launch | idea | community
performance:
notes:
---

Step 4: Review Checklist

Before presenting the draft, verify:

• [ ] Hook lands before the "see more" fold (~