Where to Write
Where should you write - your personal blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, the private pages of Notion, newsletters (Substack, Convertkit, etc.), or elsewhere? This is a question that often arises in our writing club.
My answer has evolved over a period of time. After writing 500,000+ words in the past 6 years and conducting countless experiments, I have a different take on things. Treat it as my point of view.
I have tried writing everywhere. I have a blog. I write on LinkedIn. I have tried writing on Twitter/Instagram. I have tens of thousands of words in my private Notion. I do write publications seasonally. I did try newsletters and here is my take.
Where you should write depends on what you are writing for.
I divide the purpose into two large buckets:
- Some write to build an audience (pursuing the path of creators or having a content business).
- Some write to share perspectives, reflections, and learnings.
Both styles of writing build your personal brand, no doubt.
The former is focused and the latter is diffused. I belong to the latter. If you come from the former world, then take my advice with a pinch of salt.
I write to share perspectives, learning, and connect with my tribe. In my case, writing on a blog made it hard for my tribe to connect. My email has 8000+ unread emails, and most of them are newsletters and blog subscriptions. I realized my blog also goes into this pile. So, writing on a blog and transferring users from public to private was not so useful to me or my readers. It is human nature to hoard, and we miss connecting regularly. I prioritize regular engagement over earning a spot in their mailbox.
I like variety. I have a perspective on multiple topics. It is seasonal and reflective in nature. This makes my audience also seasonal. Some may want to hear from me on product design, some on life design, others on AI, etc. I prioritize variety and fresh perspectives over a stagnant set of audience and a rabbit hole of one topic.
Taking all the above into consideration, I write every morning on LinkedIn. I get comments/feedback/thoughts/perspectives from my tribe almost instantly and everyday, unlike on a blog. I write a publication when I want to talk about a specific topic deeply (now I am writing about well-being and weight loss on Substack).
I use my blog as a storage of all my writings (socials, publications, essays, memos, etc.). I started this literally a couple of months ago. Now I don't send out emails to clog that 8000+ mailbox anymore. I am not a big fan of repurposing content. So, other socials like Twitter and Instagram are not motivating me to share the same content. I leave it to my audience to catch me on LinkedIn or not. If they are highly interested, they will regularly go to my blog to catch up on everything.
I arrived at this writing ecosystem after trying everything everywhere. This works for me. You choose what works for you.
🥂 to writing!