LinkedIn Isn’t a Marketing Channel. It’s a Relationship System.
How to build a 15-minute daily routine that keeps you in front of the right people until timing aligns.
Most solos treat LinkedIn like a billboard.
Post something thoughtful. Watch the impressions. Wait.
If a lead comes in, great. If not, the post didn’t work. Try again next week.
The problem isn’t the post. It’s the frame.
LinkedIn doesn’t sell like a billboard. Its job is simpler: keep you in mind with the right people until the timing changes.
For consultants, fractionals, and agency owners, demand doesn’t usually break because of tactics. It breaks because people forget you. You don’t need more reach. You need a small group of people who know what you do, trust your judgment, and think of you when a problem you can solve lands on their desk.
This shift of focus reframes the challenge: it’s not about moving leads through a funnel, but about nurturing real professional relationships.
Evan Kubitschek is a 10x Solo member who runs Grow Rogue, a solo marketing ops consultancy. In the early months of his business, he posted consistently and waited for inbound. Revenue trickled in, mostly from early referrals that were tapering.
“The first six to eight months before I started actively having conversations in DMs were wasted time.”
Once he shifted from broadcasting to building relationships by proactively starting conversations with the right people, the business hit consistent $50k months. His posts didn’t get better. His system did. He stopped treating LinkedIn like a channel and started treating it like a relationship system.
With this new perspective, your metrics shift as well. Instead of focusing on impressions, concentrate on the quality and quantity of meaningful conversations with potential clients or referrers.
Start with two lists
The easiest way to start is a spreadsheet with two tabs.
The first is prospects: people who fit your ICP, even if they’re not ready yet. Profile viewers who match your buyer profile, people who comment on or like your posts, people you’ve met in communities or at events, and past prospects where timing wasn’t right. The goal is to keep the relationship warm until timing changes.
The second is referral partners and connectors. These are often more valuable than the prospect list. They serve the same audience, but in different ways. They’re in conversations where your name could come up. They hear about the problems you solve before the person with the problem reaches out.
The minimum your spreadsheet needs: name, LinkedIn URL, prospect or partner, last contact date, and notes. The notes column is where the system lives. Use it to capture what they work on, what they care about, past conversations, and anything personal worth remembering. That’s what lets you reach out like someone who was paying attention, not a stranger running a sequence.
Start with 20 to 50 people on each list.
The 15-minute daily routine
This is the whole system.
Every weekday: open the spreadsheet, pick the next 3 to 5 people from each list, decide how to help them, take the action, update the contact date and notes, then stop.
Some days that’s a DM. Some days it’s a comment on their post or a like on something they shared. All count.
Touch everyone on your list every 30 to 90 days to keep relationships warm without forcing daily contact.
Fifteen to twenty minutes. That’s the commitment.
Starting and continuing conversations
Every interaction on LinkedIn is an opening. A like, a comment, a profile view, a newsletter subscription — each one gives you a low-pressure reason to say hello.
The pattern is the same each time: short, specific to what happened, no pitch.
When someone leaves a thoughtful comment on your post: “Appreciate the comment. Curious what part of that stood out for you?”
When someone likes a post but doesn’t comment: “Saw you liked that post. Was it something you’re dealing with right now or more general interest?”
When someone views your profile: “Saw you checked out my profile. I promise I’m way less interesting than LinkedIn makes it look.”
When someone subscribes to your newsletter: “Thanks for subscribing. Always curious, how’d you find me?”
None of these is a pitch. They’re conversation starters. The goal isn’t to close anything. It’s to see if there’s a conversation worth having.
Most people won’t be ready to hire you when you first reach out. That’s how timing works with high-trust service work.
The job between first contact and a real opportunity is to stay present and valuable without becoming annoying. Two things help you do that well:
Contextual check-ins every 30 to 90 days, tied to something specific — something they mentioned, something they shared, something that changed in their world. “Curious how that initiative you mentioned a while back is going.” “Was thinking about our chat about X. Has anything shifted since then?”
Value drops when you come across something relevant to their situation. An article, a framework, a short observation. Keep it tied to something from a previous conversation. “Saw this and thought of what you mentioned about X. Might be worth a look.”
The goal isn’t to stay top of mind through frequency. It’s to build trust through specificity. Nobody buys because you showed up a lot. They buy because you showed up at the right moment, and they already trusted you.
When conversations turn into calls
Don’t push for a call before the signals are there. The signals are back-and-forth conversation, visible urgency, and questions about how you work or what you charge.
When those show up, keep the ask low-pressure.
“This might be easier to talk through on a quick call. Happy to do that if it’s useful.”
“If X ever becomes a priority, I’m easy to reach.”
“I’ve got one client slot opening up this quarter. Thought of you, does it make sense to chat?”
If they’re not ready, don’t push. Go back to check-ins and value drops. One thing worth keeping in mind: LinkedIn is a bridge, not a destination. In-person beats Zoom. Zoom beats DMs. These messages exist to move relationships forward, not replace the conversations that build trust. If it makes sense to suggest a call or coffee, do that. The DM is just how you get there.
If you’re consistently getting warm conversations that stall before a call, a well-scoped intro offer can lower the barrier. Evan Kubitschek uses a $3,000 paid assessment before any retainer engagement. It’s a clearly defined deliverable: a full inspection of the client’s marketing ops stack, upstream and downstream dependencies mapped, and a rewritten scope of work based on what he finds. If the client moves forward, the fee rolls into the first month.
The reason it works is the specificity. It promises a concrete output, not just a conversation. An intro offer that delivers something the buyer can act on earns trust fast and creates a clear path forward.
What happens when you’re consistent
This approach is slow at first. But after a few months, something shifts. Replies come faster. Intros feel natural. Deals close more quickly because the relationship was already established before the conversation turned serious.
That’s what Evan describes. Consistent $50k months, nearly all from LinkedIn and referrals, driven by real conversations.
The list gives you structure. The daily routine keeps you from disappearing. The conversations do the rest.
LinkedIn stops being something you manage. It becomes a habit of staying connected to the people who matter most to your business.
Best,
Garrett
P.S. This post drew inspiration from a workshop Nick Bennett and Erica Schneider ran for 10x Solo members on turning LinkedIn engagement into client conversations, as well as from Evan’s behind-the-scenes case study shared inside the community.
That’s the kind of thing members get access to — workshops, case studies, and the operators behind them. Want in? Apply to join 10x Solo.
Have questions? Ask me in a comment below.