Engage like a human, because reach without relationship is just noise

Write down 30 names. Ten are buyers or people close to buying. Ten are peers who serve the same audience and are not competitors. Ten are people with an audience of the kind you want, who are active every week.

Keep the list in a Google Sheets tab or a Notion table. Columns: name, where they are active, what they care about, last time you spoke, and next step. A list of 30 is enough to work through in a week.

Put engagement in the calendar at the same time every day. Twenty minutes is plenty. Open your list, go through five people, leave useful comments and close the tab. Without a time block this work slides to the bottom of the day, and relationships fade.

Use LinkedIn notifications for your list rather than the main feed, because the feed is built to keep you scrolling. A saved list in LinkedIn Sales Navigator can show you only the people you picked, if you already use it.

A good comment does one of three things. It adds a specific example from your own work. It respectfully disagrees with a reason. Or it asks a sharp follow-up question the author would enjoy answering.

Aim for three or four sentences. Never drop a link to your own material, and never write "great post" on its own. If you have nothing to add, skip the post. The reasoning is in Comments are where authority compounds.

Treat each reply under your own post as a small conversation. Reply with more than thanks: answer the point, add a detail or ask a question back. Do it within the first few hours while the thread is active, and again the next morning.

Remember what people tell you. When someone shares a problem in a comment, write it in your sheet. That is how you will recognise them in a message later.

When a thread has a real exchange of two or three turns, you can move it to a private message. Refer to something they said. Offer something useful, such as a template, an introduction or an answer. Do not pitch in the first message.

Once a week, read your last seven days of comments and messages and write down the five questions people asked most. Each one is a post, an email or a part of your offer. This is the most reliable source of ideas I know, and it comes free with the habit.

You can ask Claude to cluster the pasted comments into themes. Keep the writing of your own replies yours, because people can tell. For the content side, see Publish a point of view, not content.

• Commenting only on large accounts, where you disappear in a crowd of replies.
• Using AI to write comments that all sound alike.
• Pitching in the first direct message.
• Skipping the list and engaging only when you feel like it.
• Counting likes instead of conversations.

• You can name ten people from your list and what each one is working on.
• Several people each week reply to your comments or mention them later.
• Direct messages from your list start to arrive without you asking.
• You get at least one content idea a week straight from a reply.
• A few conversations a month lead to a call, a referral or a proper sales conversation.