# Content LinkedIn Human Guide ## What This Is For Helps plan and write LinkedIn content with clear positioning, audience fit, post structure, and repeatable publishing guidance. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for social content: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return. Use this as a human-readable version of the Content LinkedIn agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions. ## When To Use This - Use this when you need a repeatable process for content LinkedIn. - Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt. - Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact. ## When Not To Use This - Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer. - Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant. - Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review. ## What You Need Before Starting - The goal or business outcome you want. - The audience, customer segment, or market context. - Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance. - Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements. - A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like. ## Step-By-Step Workflow 1. State the job clearly: "Use the Content LinkedIn guide to help me with..." 2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints. 3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output. 4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below. 5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed. ## Skill-Specific Guidance - **Check for brand voice**: Read `brand/VOICE.md` if it exists. Adapt the brand voice for LinkedIn's professional-but-personal tone. If no voice file exists, default to professional, authentic, and insight-driven. - **Determine post type**: Choose the format that fits the content: - **Personal Story** -- Lessons from experience (`templates/personal-story.template`) - **Professional Insight** -- Frameworks, observations, advice (`templates/professional-insight.template`) - **Contrarian Take** -- Challenging industry assumptions (`templates/contrarian-take.template`) - **Gather inputs**: Topic, key message, target audience (role/seniority), any data or examples to include. - Professional experiences told as personal stories - Specific, actionable advice grounded in real experience - Vulnerable honesty about failures and lessons learned - Frameworks and mental models that help people think - Data-backed observations about industry trends - Asking genuine questions that invite thoughtful discussion ## Decision Points And Nuance The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, LinkedIn's Unique Culture, Post Structure, Hook Line (First 1-2 Lines), Body (Short Paragraphs with White Space), CTA / Close, Emoji Usage, LinkedIn Anti-Slop, Phrases to Never Write, Structural Patterns to Avoid. Use these questions to steer the work: - What is the intended audience or buyer? - What source material must be preserved? - What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion? - What examples represent the desired quality bar? - What should the assistant avoid? ## Common Mistakes - It must create enough curiosity or value-promise to earn the click - These patterns are rampant on LinkedIn. Avoid all of them. - "I don't usually post about this, but..." - Structural Patterns to Avoid - Technical depth is welcome but must be framed with business or career context - Avoid slang that might not translate across industries or cultures ## Copy-And-Paste Prompt ```text Use the Content LinkedIn human guide. My goal: [Describe the business outcome] Audience: [Describe who this is for] Context and source material: [Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy] Constraints: [Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items] Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result. ``` ## Final Checklist - [ ] The output matches the original goal. - [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer. - [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved. - [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit. - [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person. ## Source This guide was generated from the vstorm-co/content-skills skill entry for `content-linkedin`. ## Source Skill Notes These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic. # LinkedIn Post Generation ## Before You Start 1. **Check for brand voice**: Read `brand/VOICE.md` if it exists. Adapt the brand voice for LinkedIn's professional-but-personal tone. If no voice file exists, default to professional, authentic, and insight-driven. 2. **Determine post type**: Choose the format that fits the content: - **Personal Story** -- Lessons from experience (`templates/personal-story.template`) - **Professional Insight** -- Frameworks, observations, advice (`templates/professional-insight.template`) - **Contrarian Take** -- Challenging industry assumptions (`templates/contrarian-take.template`) 3. **Gather inputs**: Topic, key message, target audience (role/seniority), any data or examples to include. --- ## LinkedIn's Unique Culture LinkedIn sits in a specific cultural space. Understand it before writing: **What works:** - Professional experiences told as personal stories - Specific, actionable advice grounded in real experience - Vulnerable honesty about failures and lessons learned - Frameworks and mental models that help people think - Data-backed observations about industry trends - Asking genuine questions that invite thoughtful discussion **What doesn't work:** - Corporate press releases disguised as personal posts - Vague inspirational platitudes ("Success is a journey, not a destination") - Humblebragging ("I'm so humbled to announce...") - Engagement bait without substance ("Agree?" "Thoughts?") - Reposting motivational quotes with "This." as your commentary - Multi-paragraph LinkedIn posts that are actually just ads **The core rule:** LinkedIn rewards posts that make the reader think, learn, or reflect. If your post does none of these, rewrite it. --- ## Post Structure LinkedIn's algorithm and reading experience reward a specific structure: ### Hook Line (First 1-2 Lines) - This is the only thing visible before "...see more" - It must create enough curiosity or value-promise to earn the click - Strong hooks: bold claim, surprising observation, specific result, a question - Weak hooks: "I'm excited to share...", "Big news!", generic statements ### Body (Short Paragraphs with White Space) - Keep paragraphs to 1-3 sentences max - Use line breaks between paragraphs (LinkedIn's mobile experience demands white space) - One idea per paragraph - Build toward your main insight - Include at least one specific detail: a number, a name, a date, a quote ### CTA / Close - End with a question that invites genuine discussion (not "Agree?") - Or end with a specific actionable takeaway - Or end with a forward-looking thought --- ## Emoji Usage LinkedIn has its own emoji culture. Rules: **Acceptable:** - Bullet point substitutes (use sparingly, max 3-5 in a post) - A single emoji to punctuate a key line - Section markers in list-heavy posts **Not acceptable:** - Every line starting with an emoji - Emoji walls or rainbow emoji sequences - Clapping hands between every word - Using emojis as a substitute for substance **Default:** When in doubt, skip the emojis. Clean text with strong ideas performs better than decorated text with weak ideas.