Using LinkedIn without feeling like a sleazeball
There’s a very specific type of LinkedIn post that makes me want to throw my laptop into traffic. You’ve probably seen it too. It usually starts with some dramatic setup:
“I was sitting alone in my car crying after closing a seven-figure deal…”
Or:
“The cashier at Target taught me everything I know about leadership.”
And somehow, by the end, there’s a lesson about entrepreneurship, scaling, mindset, disruption, authenticity, or “crushing it.”
Listen, I’m not against storytelling. Stories are powerful. I use them constantly when I teach, preach, write, or sell. But somewhere along the way, a lot of LinkedIn content drifted from relationship-building into performance art.
People stopped trying to connect and started trying to manipulate engagement. And the problem is, most people can feel the difference immediately.
Being active on LinkedIn does not require becoming a character
This is the biggest misconception I run into with business owners and professionals who know they should be using LinkedIn more consistently.
They think there are only two options:
- Ignore the platform entirely
- Become an unbearable “thought leader”
Neither is true.
You do not have to post manufactured vulnerability every morning at 6 a.m. while pretending every random interaction changed your life forever.
You also do not have to turn every family story into a business metaphor. In fact, forcing personal stories into business lessons is usually where things start feeling weird. Sometimes a story genuinely connects to a business principle. Great. Use it. Sometimes your kid’s baseball game is just your kid’s baseball game. Not every moment needs to become content.
People can feel transactional content faster than ever
One of the biggest shifts on LinkedIn over the past few years is that users have become much better at spotting intention. People can tell when someone is trying to start conversations rather than manufacture visibility. They can tell when a post is meant to educate versus when it’s meant to bait engagement.
And they can absolutely tell when someone’s entire networking strategy is just a disguised sales funnel. That doesn’t mean you should never sell on LinkedIn. It’s a business platform. Business happens there all the time. But there’s a major difference between building professional relationships and treating every interaction like a prospecting shortcut.
Intent matters more than people think.
Real expertise is still the best strategy
This is actually the encouraging part. You do not need to become louder, more emotional, or more dramatic to succeed on LinkedIn. You need to consistently demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about and that you understand the people you want to work with.
That’s it.
Some of the best-performing LinkedIn content I’ve seen is incredibly straightforward. Someone explains a problem clearly, shares a useful insight, tells a real story, or offers a perspective people can apply immediately.
No fake urgency. No “inspirational” manipulation. No pretending to cry in an airport lounge for engagement. Just useful expertise delivered like an actual human being.
Ironically, that now stands out more because so much content feels engineered.
Commenting matters more than most people realize
A lot of people approach LinkedIn like it’s a stage. Post content. Wait for applause.
That’s not really how relationships work. Some of the most valuable networking on LinkedIn happens in the comments, not the posts themselves. Commenting thoughtfully on other people’s content does a few important things at once:
- It keeps you visible
- It strengthens relationships
- It shows expertise naturally
- It creates familiarity over time
And honestly, it often feels more human than posting constantly yourself.
One of the smartest things B2B companies can do is stop treating LinkedIn like a broadcasting platform and start treating it like an actual networking environment. Because that’s what it is.
Consistency matters more than intensity
This applies to almost everything in marketing, but especially LinkedIn. You do not need to post every day for a month and then disappear for a year. That approach burns people out fast, especially if they’re already running a business, managing employees, or trying to maintain a life outside work.
Steady consistency almost always works better. A few thoughtful posts a month. Regular engagement. Staying active in conversations. Showing up often enough that people remember you exist.
That is far more sustainable than trying to “beat the algorithm” for thirty days straight. And frankly, most people trying to beat the algorithm are forgetting something important:
LinkedIn is still full of humans. The tech matters. The platform mechanics matter. But good content for humans tends to outperform “algorithm hacks” over time anyway.
Why we avoid automated LinkedIn outreach
This is one area where I know we differ from some marketers. We do not use automated LinkedIn outreach tools, even though they’re popular and can create quick spikes in activity.
Part of that is practical. Over-automation can absolutely result in accounts being restricted or banned. But honestly, that’s not even the main reason. Our philosophy has always been relationship-first, platform-second, transaction-third.
We care more about long-term trust than short-term volume.
Could we automate more aggressively? Probably. Would it create a bunch of shallow conversations that feel transactional? Also probably. That tradeoff is not worth it to me.
Founder-led brands tend to perform better on LinkedIn
This is another thing I think more companies are realizing. People generally connect more easily with people than with logos.
That does not mean every founder needs to become an influencer. But it does mean businesses benefit when leadership has an actual presence online.
Founder-led content tends to feel more credible, more relational, and more grounded because there’s a real human attached to it.
Especially in B2B industries, buyers are often evaluating trust as much as expertise. Seeing how someone thinks, communicates, teaches, or interacts over time helps build that trust long before a sales conversation ever happens.
You do not need “corporate bro” energy to network well
Many professionals avoid LinkedIn because they assume success on the platform requires becoming someone they dislike. Overly polished. Constantly self-promotional. Weirdly aggressive about networking. But good LinkedIn marketing usually looks a lot more normal than that.
It looks like sharing useful ideas consistently. Supporting other people publicly. Talking about real experiences honestly. Demonstrating expertise without trying to dominate every conversation.
It looks like relationship-building. That’s it.
And the funny thing is, the people who approach LinkedIn that way often end up building stronger networks anyway because people trust them more.
What actually works long term
The businesses and professionals who tend to do well on LinkedIn over time usually have a few things in common:
They show up consistently. They sound like themselves. They share useful expertise. They interact with others rather than just talking about themselves. And they understand that trust compounds slowly.
That’s not the flashiest strategy on the internet, but it works remarkably well over time. Especially if your goal is building real business relationships instead of chasing temporary attention.