In the Times last week, LinkedIn’s chief executive said the formula for useful content is “insight plus personality.” That feels broadly right, but it is not enough for outbound marketing. Good outbound is not simply about producing more posts, increasing reach or making yourself more visible. It is about helping the right people understand:

• what you notice
• how you think
• what problems you can help them solve
• and why your judgement might be useful

That is why I’ve started building outbound activity as a connected system rather than a content schedule.

• The daily blog post I write on Lost and Desperate develops the thinking.
• LinkedIn makes selected ideas visible to the people most likely to find them useful.
• The monthly newsletter connects those ideas and gives them more context.
• Women Talking About Learning brings other perspectives into the themes we are is developing and helps build relationships around them.
• Relationship-building and direct outreach then have something substantive behind them.

None of these initiatives exists simply to generate engagement. The purpose is to make my business position clearer: performance before learning, capability before content, and better evidence before more activity.

Insight and personality matter, but they need to lead somewhere useful.