Can You Outsource Your LinkedIn Activity?

A question I often get is: “Can you successfully outsource your LinkedIn activity and engagement?” Is it cost-effective? Does it even work?

I’m going to be a tad controversial today and say … NO, it does not!

Any attempt another person makes to manage your engagement can never replace you – the real you.

LinkedIn is about building genuine, authentic relationships that turn into opportunities for the future. In my past 15 years on LinkedIn, I can’t think of a single instance when someone attempted to engage with me through a third party and anything good came of it.

“But how can you tell, Nigel?

Believe me, I just can. And so can you.

Why outsourcing LinkedIn activity is not the best solution:

• My own comments: When I engage with other people’s content, I bring my own experience and personality to the comments I make.
• Other people’s comments: Only I can tell whether someone’s comment, Reaction or Connection request has any real meaning for me.
• My connections: Only I know the people I have met in my life and in what circumstances they resonated with me.
• My experiences: Only I can make the connection between events I experienced, people I’ve met, and opportunities that are important to me, based on my own life experiences.

If you outsource your engagement, the person might be good, they might be well-briefed … but they’ll never be you.

In the world of business-to-business relationships, you only need a few key relationships to change the course of your life, both business and personal. So, isn’t it worth it to invest your time in those few relationships yourself?

And it doesn’t have to be a lot of time either. I believe you can be hugely successful on LinkedIn by spending just:

• 15–20 minutes a day engaging, Monday to Friday
• An hour a week writing and planning your content

For more on this, check out my video:

How Much Time Should I Spend on LinkedIn to Be Successful

And don’t you think spending that time is worth it for building your pipeline of opportunity?

At the end of the day, just be yourself – everyone else has been taken.

Now, what do you think? Do you prefer to outsource LinkedIn activity or not? Let me know over on LinkedIn.

For more advice on how to use LinkedIn the right way, check out my LinkedIn Training Course.