I only have one case study and mostly connections with other automation builders on LinkedIn — what advice would you give for approaching LinkedIn from zero: what should I post, what themes/content, and how do I successfully interact with leads?

#79 · AI automation for young people (highschool, college, etc)

I only have one case study and mostly connections with other automation builders on LinkedIn — what advice would you give for approaching LinkedIn from zero: what should I post, what themes/content, and how do I successfully interact with leads?

I treat a LinkedIn profile just like an Upwork profile — it's your own personal website, and there are a bunch of levers you can optimize like doing CRO on a landing page. Fill everything out, that's the lowest-hanging fruit: cover photo (something well-designed, even just from Canva, so it looks like you put in effort), profile picture (face clearly visible, I crop the background to white, add a little shadow, and smile at the camera), headline (a specific pitch — mine leads with being the founder of Maker School), location (I keep mine listed as San Francisco even though I'm in Calgary, just to pattern-match with people who have money), profile language set to English, a clean public profile URL, the About section, top skills, and the Featured section (that's basically the LinkedIn equivalent of an Upwork portfolio). For experience, associate yourself with something recognizable if you can — I don't technically have a company called Maker School so I've affiliated myself with 'school' to get the perceived association with a big logo people know. Then fill out every remaining field: licenses, skills, recommendations (like reviews), honors and awards, languages, interests, causes. For activity, don't make it the be-all-end-all — I'd post about once a week, but make it high-quality and specific to AI and automation, aiming for some engagement. As long as you're consistently active at some baseline level, you're probably fine.

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Related answers

youtube ↗Lead Generation

Should I use LinkedIn manual search or Upwork to target recruitment agencies in English‑speaking countries, and what technical credentials should I highlight in onboarding videos?

You already have enough knowledge; the problem is execution, not lack of knowledge. More knowledge won’t help—you’re just mentally masturbating listening to my voice. Thanks for the feedback, Taha. To improve execution, I focus on increasing the value I deliver and showing that value more often. My plan is to upgrade the resource library (better organization, more Claude code/skills, niche packs, open‑model templates), make sure modules reference those resources, mention the resources in posts and on weekly calls, and add them to the default welcome message for new members. I’m also pushing annual subscriptions to lower churn. The math shows that dropping churn from 20 % to around 13 % could raise monthly revenue from $220 k to over $330 k, so I’ll implement these changes to hit that target.

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youtube ↗Client Acquisition

I've been on LinkedIn for months trying to get clients and failed — a mix of inconsistency and not knowing what to sell or how to do outreach properly. I've been considering starting on Upwork instead. Is that a good idea, or am I just coping? How much would it cost monthly to land a client within 3 months? I always thought I should stick to LinkedIn since I know the platform, but the deeper I get, the more I realize I don't know what I'm doing.

You won't know what you're doing until you've actually done it — it's unreasonable to expect polished outreach skills as an absolute beginner. Your results right now will be the worst they'll ever be; don't judge your future potential by your current 'chapter one' results, judge by 'chapter 100.' Yes, you should be doing more outreach broadly, including Upwork and other freelance platforms — ideally simultaneously. In Maker School, people spend 70-80% of their computer time on sales, marketing, and outreach, because that's what actually gets clients; without clients, you have a hobby, not a business. On cost: plenty of people land their first client within 10-20 Upwork applications, though the median is more like 40-50. If your average cost per application is $5-6, 40 applications is roughly $200 — which against a $500 first client is a high ~40% marketing cost, but your first deal is always your worst deal financially. As you build a track record and start upselling, your marketing cost as a percentage of revenue drops significantly — most people settle around 10-15% of gross spent on marketing via Upwork over time. Don't plan to stay on Upwork forever though — treat it as a crutch to get you to something more scalable, like cold email.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

I’ve been doing cold outreach via email and LinkedIn but still can’t land my first meeting. What strategies do you suggest for improving my outreach and what advice do you have for bootstrapping solo founders?

When a campaign isn’t working, pretend you are a prospect on LinkedIn (or the platform you’re using) and walk through every element you control: profile picture, title, how recent your post is, and the actual message text. Optimize each piece—use a clear, professional photo that shows you as young, motivated, ambitious, and intelligent; craft a title that conveys credibility; consider posting timing (you may prefer to engage bottom‑to‑top); keep your message concise (around four lines before it cuts off) and experiment with capitals and emojis to grab attention. Treat the video or content you’re responding to as another input you can adjust. By enumerating all possible inputs and independently optimizing each, you compound small improvements (5 % here, 5 % there) into a large advantage. Apply the same logic on Upwork: use bright profile pictures, keep profiles to six lines or fewer because Upwork truncates after that, and write a tight, high‑quality CV (about 150 characters) with a strong, face‑focused image. These micro‑optimizations add up to an unstoppable edge in outreach.

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youtube ↗Client Acquisition

What step‑by‑step process should I follow to start getting responses to my Upwork applications?

First, make sure your Upwork profile is fully optimized. Start with a clean, well‑framed profile picture – avoid cutting off half the face or having a badge that obscures it. Zoom out a bit when you upload so the whole head is visible. Next, set your status to "online for messages" so clients see you’re available; this can boost response rates by 30‑50%. Your title is the first piece of text a client sees, so craft it to match what they’re searching for. If you’re an AI automation specialist, include that, and also list the platforms you’re proficient with (e.g., Make.com, Figma). Add as many relevant skills as possible – aim for around 15 – and make sure they overlap with the keywords in the job description; this improves your SEO within Upwork’s search. If you’re new and have no completed jobs, focus on getting your first couple of contracts quickly. Those early wins will make your profile stand out against other zero‑job freelancers. Another quick hack is to create a mock job post as a client, watch how other freelancers pitch, and use that insight to shape your own proposals. Overall, treat your profile like a landing page: professional photo, clear title, comprehensive skill list, and early completed jobs to build credibility. Follow these steps and you’ll start seeing more replies to your applications.

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