Four ways to grow on LinkedIn, compared.
We help owners weighing automation tools, pay-per-meeting vendors and an SDR compare cost, risk and effort side by side, so they choose the route that protects their name.
Each one is the right answer for somebody.
Hand-sent outreach, automation tools, pay-per-appointment vendors and an in-house SDR. Here is how they differ, including where we are not the best choice.
Four ways to find clients, compared honestly
| Compared on | Hand-sent (TDC) | Automation tools | Pay-per-appointment | In-house SDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who sends the messages | A trained person on our team, by hand | Software, on a schedule | The vendor's team or software | Your own employee |
| Risk to your account | Low. No automation, nothing unapproved | High. LinkedIn restricts accounts that use it | Depends on the vendor's methods | Low, if they work by hand |
| What you pay for | A steady pace of the right connections and conversations | Volume of messages sent | Booked appointments, whoever they are with | A salary, tools and management time |
| Typical cost | From $550 a month, plus Sales Navigator Core at $119.99 a month | About $15 to $99 a month for the tool (Salesforge, May 2026) | About $150 to $600 per booked appointment (Cleverly, June 2026) | About £29,462 a year UK base salary (PayScale, August 2026) |
| Contract | None. Stop any month | Usually monthly | Often a minimum term | Employment contract |
| Best when | You want a network that keeps sending referrals | You only care about volume and accept the risk | You have a sales team waiting for calendars to fill | You have enough volume to keep a full-time person busy |
Sources: Sales Navigator from LinkedIn's compare plans page, October 2026. Tool prices from Salesforge, May 2026. Appointment prices from Cleverly, June 2026. SDR salary from PayScale UK, August 2026. Prices change, so check before you buy.
Questions owners ask when they compare
Why not pay someone per appointment?
Anyone guaranteeing appointments is selling volume, not fit. They fill your diary with people who were never going to buy and burn your name doing it. No contract means each month has to earn the next.
Couldn't I hire an SDR instead?
An in-house SDR costs a salary, a tool stack and months of ramp before the first conversation. Bronze starts in 14 days, with no hiring and no contract.
Is my account safe?
A real person sends every request from your own Sales Navigator, at a human pace. Nothing goes out that you haven't approved, and we never sell in your name. Since we went fully hand-sent in November 2024, we haven't lost a single client profile.
Will it pay for itself?
One new client usually covers a year of Bronze. And there's no contract, so every month has to earn the next.
Go deeper on each one
Seen enough? See our prices, or book a free Sales Navigator review and we will tell you honestly which option fits.
One useful idea, every Sunday.
One email every Sunday. What we saw across live LinkedIn accounts this week, one thing to try, and one thing to stop doing.
How visible are you on LinkedIn, really?
Offline, you are the expert in the room. Online, a buyer looks you up before they reply to anything. What do they find? 20 questions, about 3 minutes. Free. No card. No call.