From LinkedIn to Substack, Discover How Redundancy and Fail-Safe Strategies Can Boost Your Online Presence
"A griot is a person in Africa who is charged with keeping the stories of the village... When a griot dies it's like a library was burned down. And my mother used to tell me before I ever thought about doing comedy, she said, "You should be a griot." "
– Dave Chappelle
I am an aerospace engineer and a part-time dad creator. I love transferring ideas from one field to the other.
My writing journey started on LinkedIn. In 2020, I jumped into the Medium wagon. Now, I am expanding my Madception universe with the Substack galaxy.
Do you know what the safest means of transportation on Earth is?
If you said aircraft, you are almost right. Lifts are the safest means of transportation on Earth before aircraft.
Many things make aircraft the second safest means of transportation on Earth. One secret of aircraft safety is the fail-safe philosophy.
1. The Fail-Safe Philosophy In The Aerospace Industry
“In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people.”
Fail-safe. (2024, June 12). In Wikipedia.
Engineers perform investigations to identify root causes each time there is an incident (no victims) or an accident (some casualties).
Then, if relevant, they use the fail-safe philosophy to ensure that the system can function properly in case of failure for its nominal ways of working.
Simply put, fail-safe philosophy is another way of applying the saying:
“Never put all your eggs in the same basket.”
There is more to that rule. Another philosophy that is widely applied in the aerospace industry is redundancy.
“In engineering and systems theory, redundancy is the intentional duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the goal of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the form of a backup or fail-safe, or to improve actual system performance…”
Redundancy (engineering). (2024, June 14). In Wikipedia.
Two pilots, at least two engines, or gliding capabilities with no engines are all applications of redundancy in the aerospace industry.
And if you want to be a safe content creator, you better embrace that philosophy for your digital portfolio.
2. The Linkedin Journey As A Starter
I published my first article on LinkedIn in October 2019. I have been on the platform since 2007.
I was merely consuming content. In January 2019, I was a dad for the first time. And that triggered a question for me:
How can I share my journey with my kid(s) in my words?
That was and still is one of the reasons I started my writing journey on LinkedIn. The other reason is that I am a self-proclaimed griot or storyteller:
As a griot, I published many articles on LinkedIn. Then, in November 2021, LinkedIn introduced the Newsletter feature.
I created my Newsletter, A Griot's Life Advice Stories, in April 2022. I should have done it much earlier.
One of the great advantages of creating your newsletter on LinkedIn is that the platform will share it with all your followers at the beginning.
I recommend waiting until you have a consequent following before creating your newsletter.
In March 2020, I accidentally stumbled upon the next platform, which would serve as my next nest for the eggs of my stories.
3. Embarking On Medium As A Way To Create A Fail-Safe Basket For My Stories
The moment I jumped on Medium, I transferred all my articles at that time manually. It was a monumental task.
As it was COVID-19 lockdown, I had some time to kill before it killed me.
As of April 2023, I had fewer than 50 followers on the platform. Yes, I know, it is not that many. It was my fault, though.
Here are the mistakes that I made:
- Self-publishing at the beginning of my Medium journey
- Not being a paid member of Medium
- Not being part of a community of writers
In April 2023, Oscar Soto invited me to join the Medium Writers Club on Discord. I met many amazing people such as Robin Wilding, Patrick Stewart, and Nanie Hurley. I learned a lot about the importance of interacting with other people’s content on the platform.
I became a paid subscriber of Medium, doubled my subscribers the following month, and entered the Medium Partners Program. I made my first dollar online on Medium.
I also learned the importance of publishing my content as a small writer in publications. I joined the Taoist Online from my friend Patrick Stewart and the Illumination integrated publications.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz launched the Illumination Integrated publications in 2020. I submitted all my self-published articles for publication. Then I met Mike Broadly, Aiden, and Gerald Sturgill, aka The Sturg.
I have had the next platform on my radar for almost one year. Yet I was still hesitating to join.
4. Adding Substack As A Third Leg To My Redundancy Creation Table
I was hesitating between Beehiiv and Substack. I even created a newsletter on Beehiiv, but I was procrastinating starting again on a new platform.
I did not have the mental energy to assess the two platforms and choose one. For example, while I was in front of my screen, Netflix Paralysis hit again.
Fast forward to Aug 2024. I received a message on LinkedIn from Dr Mehmet Yildiz that reads:
The loop is complete. The universe has chosen for me. It will be Substack.
But there is a catch. I have more than 213 articles by now. I want to transfer them to Substack as they are all evergreen content. No, I don’t want to do it manually.
Here is where Medium comes to rescue me with my friend Patrick Stewart and his article How to Export Your Medium Articles to Substack | by Patrick Stewart | How To Increase Your Followers Number
And here is my Substack:
https://madception.substack.com/
I am applying the redundancy and fail-safe philosophy from my 9-to-5 to my side hustle. I am building on a new platform and in public. I intend to build the most precious asset for a content creator on Substack: my mailing list.
Final Thoughts
Your audience on LinkedIn and Medium is rented. The only audience you own is your mailing list.
Build one now, and you will create a fail-safe online empire.
That does not mean you should not be present on LinkedIn or Medium. Those are great platforms when you learn how to leverage them.
In the end, provide value, and you will be rewarded.
Being on a new platform is hard for me. I have to learn things, and starting from scratch can be overwhelming.
Yet this time, I am not doing it alone. Thanks to my communities of writers, I have learned the rules of Substack. I have mentors like Oscar, Patrick, Robin, and Dr. Yildiz.
Together, we go further.
If you find this newsletter valuable, please like it, subscribe, and share it with one person to pay it forward.
#Dare2Care #Dare2Share
#BIOS #BringInyourOwnSoul #LeadHeartship #Leadership
Photo by Moritz Mentges on Unsplash
