The LinkedIn Mastery Newsletter #2

What Changed Already in 2025

In 2026, LinkedIn will still work brilliantly for client acquisition – but only if you stop chasing feed views and start using it as a RELATIONSHIP ENGINE that feeds your own audience both on an OFF the platform.

LinkedIn is changing - fast! It’s hard to keep up. AI generated content, engagement pods, boosted posts and more creators than ever are making it harder and harder to get eyeballs on your content.

People are freaking out. But I’m not really worried about any of that. Why?

Because I know the true value of LinkedIn isn’t the newsfeed. It’s the ability to network and build relationships with the right people.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you don’t need to create content any more. You absolutely do! How else are you going to express yourself and show that you are a thought leader and an authority in what you do?

But I would advise adapting your strategy to these new times if you haven’t already done so.

So yes – LinkedIn is changing.

The good news? It’s changing in a way that actually rewards people who know how to build real relationships and own their audience.

Here’s what we’re facing right now:

1. AI has flooded the feed
   ​It’s never been easier to churn out “meh” posts. That means there’s more noise than ever. Average content gets buried. The good news is original thinking and lived experience stand out more – but only if people actually see it.
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2. ‘Boost’ is pushing things towards pay-to-play
   ​With the Boost feature, LinkedIn can sell extra reach on posts. That means the algorithm has to choose: show organic content… or content someone is paying to push. Guess which one wins.
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3. There are simply more creators
   ​A few years back, posting anything half-decent could get great reach. Now almost every content creator is “doing LinkedIn”. More supply, same amount of attention. 3 years ago only 1% of users were posting. I’m hearing new stats of anything from 10-50% are now posting regularly (don’t quote me on that).
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4. Trust is down, scepticism is up
   ​DM spam, funnels, fake “personal” messages – your buyers have seen it all. They’ll move towards people they trust, not whoever shouts the loudest.
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5. Engagement pods are out of control​
   I’ve never seen so many awful, bland, meaningless comments on so many posts as I have in 2025. It’s so easy to join an AI pod these days and it seems a lot of folks are doing it. LinkedIn has promised to crack down on this, but I’ve seen no real action to date. Let’s see…

What to Do About It

The biggest shift and one that most people miss, because it sounds like hard work, is just BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS.

Relationships have been the cornerstone of sales for millennia. People buy from people they know, like and trust. It’s that simple. And because content is becoming less and less real, people trust way less.

But if you can find the people who would benefit from your offer and you understand their situation and their needs deeply, you can just start connecting with them.

Then your content will get pushed to them anyway as the algorithm is way more likely to push your content to new connections, especially if you’re already in a DM thread with them. And if it’s authentic, story-based and real it’s more likely to land well.

Then you build authority with your long-form content and high-value lead magnets. Always think - value first.

Here’s how I’m going to be doing it in 2026:

Step 1 – Stop renting. Start owning.

The worst thing you can do in 2026 is rely on the LinkedIn feed alone.

You need at least one place you control where you can keep talking to people, even if your reach drops again:

• An email newsletter (simple, weekly, value-first)
• A web-based version of that newsletter on your site (SEO + authority)
• Optionally, a YouTube channel or podcast for deeper, long-form content

Think of it like this:

• LinkedIn = where you meet people
• Your newsletter / site = where you build authority
• DMs = where you build the relationship
• Calls = where you sell

Your goal on LinkedIn stops being get likes on this post and becomes get the right people off the feed and into the DMs and my owned audience.

Step 2 – Use LinkedIn newsletters as your bridge

If you’re not using a LinkedIn newsletter yet, you’re leaving a lot on the table.

A LinkedIn newsletter lets you:

• Get notifications pushed to subscribers when you publish
• Reach people via email from LinkedIn, which rarely goes to spam
• Repurpose content you’re already writing for your email/web newsletter

You don’t need to create brand-new essays every week. You can:

• Write your main newsletter in a Google Doc
• Use clear [H1] and [H2] headings
• Lightly adapt the copy for LinkedIn (and add a backlink to your website article)
• Paste it into a LinkedIn newsletter edition

Same thinking, two distribution channels, more reach.

Step 3 – Grow your network intentionally

Here’s the part most people miss:

Even if reach is down overall, LinkedIn will still push your content to NEW connections first.

So if your network is full of random people from your corporate career, your content will keep landing in front of the wrong people.

In 2026, you want to:

• Get crystal clear on your ideal client profile (ICP)
• Send daily connection requests to your ICP (and people who influence them)
• Aim for quality over quantity – 10-20 targeted connections per day beats 50 random ones
• Regularly clean out dead weight from your network (optional)

When you do this, the content you do create has a much better chance of landing with the people who may actually buy from you.

At LinkedCoach we take care of this entire process for our clients, mainly because we know it’s one of the most laborious and time-consuming activities you need to do on LinkedIn and therefore, the one that gets done the least. But it’s one of the most important things you can do on LinkedIn, especially moving into 2026.

Step 4 – Make 1:1 conversations your primary strategy

There’s a huge opportunity hiding in plain sight: Most of your competitors are trying to automate relationships. You can win by being the one person who doesn’t. AI and AUTOMATION CANNOT REPLACE HUMAN RELATIONSHIP BUILDING (at least not any time soon!)

That means:

• No bots
• No icky DM scripts
• No 5-message sequences pretending to be personalised

Instead:

1. Start with context - Refer to something specific: a post, their profile, something that resonates
2. Ask a real question - Something they can’t answer with a polite “Thanks, you too”
3. Offer value before asking for anything - A short insight, a resource, or a relevant perspective
4. Let calls happen naturally - When there’s a fit, you suggest jumping on a quick call to go deeper

People are fed up with automation. They are not fed up with being seen, understood and helped. By REAL people. The most important part in all of this is being human.

I see so many people say so many weird things when they’re in the DMs. It’s like they forget they’re actually chatting with another human being. And they become someone else. DON’T DO THAT!

Just write whatever you’d say to them in person. Simple.

Step 5 – Let long-form content do the heavy lifting

Short posts are good for attention. And you should keep posting them, especially the stories and real life experiences. Long-form is where trust builds though.

In 2026, I’m focusing on creating:

• Deep-dive newsletter editions that answer a single, important question related to your offer
• Case-study style pieces breaking down how you think and work
• Optional: YouTube videos or podcasts that mirror your best written content

Then you:

• Point to this content in short LinkedIn posts
• Invite people to subscribe to your newsletter or watch the full breakdown
• Use that content in DMs: “I wrote something about exactly this – shall I send it over?”

One strong piece of long-form content can fuel your posts, your DMs and your emails for weeks.

In fact, I recently created a custom GPT that pulls post ideas out of articles or YouTube video scripts. Reach out to me if you want to get access to that, and maybe we can build a relationship. 😉

Step 6 – Build an actual LinkedIn client acquisition system

Most people on LinkedIn are stuck in random or outdated tactics. What you need in 2026 is a simple, repeatable system that:

• Turns your profile into a clear landing page
• Grows your network with the right people every day
• Uses content (short + long-form) to start conversations
• Turns those conversations into qualified calls in the DMs
• Builds lead magnets that help solve the problems your audience is dealing with
• Moves people into your email + web-based newsletter so you’re not at the mercy of the feed
• Tracks how everything’s working so you can troubleshoot the system and have a predictable flow of leads

That’s basically the work we do with clients inside LinkedCoach – but you can start building the bones of this system yourself with the steps above.

Step 7 - (Optional) Run live events to build even more connection

I’m going to be doing a lot more of this in 2026, because I enjoy it and because I know it helps me build relationships at scale. So if you enjoy it I would strongly recommend doing live events. (It’s also something we help our clients with at LinkedCoach.)

In fact I will be walking through the entire strategy above in my upcoming live events over the next few months. If you want to attend, get on my email list and I’ll send you the details of each one as I plan them.

Want help building the system, not just reacting to the algorithm?

You’ve now got everything you need to start adapting to how LinkedIn is changing in 2026: own your audience, grow the right network, and use real conversations to turn visibility into clients.

If you’d rather skip the trial-and-error and build a simple, repeatable LinkedIn client acquisition system, that’s exactly what we help our clients do at LinkedCoach.

If you’re a coach, consultant or service provider who’s already good at what you do – but you want LinkedIn to bring you consistent, qualified conversations – we can help you:

• Turn your profile and content into a clear, client-attracting funnel
• Use email & web-based newsletters, posts and DMs together (without posting 5x a day)
• Book more quality calls without ads or spammy outreach
• Build lead magnets that deliver value and move people closer to becoming clients
• Have the heavy lifting done for you when it comes to growing your LinkedIn network
• Learn how to create, promote and deliver live events (optional)
• Have every step tracked for you, so you can measure, iterate and improve instead of guessing

If that sounds useful, book a short call with me below and we’ll map out what this could look like for your business:

​[BOOK YOUR CALL]​

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