Well folks! I feel I have enough content on my blog āGardenā and my Portfolio that I can start thinking on ways to better distribute my writing.
There are two main reasons why distribution is a priority right now:
- So that I can build my own network independent of any third party algorithms - which I can leverage for growth of my future products
- To get short term freelance opportunities where I could help people build businesses
Writing Niche and Search Organic Clicks
Based on all the writings I have published till now, I think my niche would be somewhere around these topics: Science and Technology, Building Software Products, Product Management and Engineering, and maybe some sprinkles of Markets, Books and Philosophy.
The topics where I have received organic Search Clicks are: Heart Patterns (Science), Pursuit of Greatness and Misculture (Philosophy), and Garage Website Project Three JS + Dhan Teardown (PM and Engineering).
Well the clicks not as many to make a decision out of it, but maybe they ranked for some reason and I might have a knack for writing on these niches. So thatās the takeaway.
Platforms to Distribute On
I have been thinking: Hacker News, Medium and Substack. Apart from X and Linkedin where I already post.
Hacker News because I think it has got that intellectual audience which might be interested in my style of thinking - which is be curious and explore down the rabbithole with tight definitions and logic it out till the first principles are in sight.
Substack because frankly I already have a publication there named Knowledge Shots which has 42 subscribers - and I feel its algorithm might give me a good discovery. Thatās just the feeling at the moment, wait for me to explore it below.
I am not fully sure about Medium, but I think it might have that cult following - those users who only read Medium and not Substack or anything else. And this requires me to pay 5 dollars a month and be a member so I could post myself, so I think Medium will have that gated āI mean businessā kind of audience who read generously, faithfully and also write themselves.
There are monetisation possibilities on Substack and Medium - but I am not eyeing at earning here, my North Start is that I get a following that is ready to subscribe to my personal email list. Conversions to a verified subscriber.
Not that I would say no to any money that comes in - I would be delighted to have my Medium pay for itself (that could actually be a secondary goal ā¦ same as X). And Substack if I really start getting any money - I would reinvest all of it in subscribing other Substacks. Or I am always happy if something can pay my Cursor bills!
About X and Linkedin
I have been a paying customer of X in two spurts this year, I believe January to July and then from October to December. 6 7! lol (aka 19 20).
Anyway from my experience X is not easy to grow on. I have been there for 10 years - and just being there does not make you grow, X demands real efforts or absolute crazy luck. I believe below 5000 one has to reply to other posts a lot while having your profile making some basic value for people to decide to follow you.
For me, I donāt think that reply guying works, I use X because I like that format of short written posts. That format suits a lot of thinking that goes in my head - X is a better note making app than any other actual note making app perhaps.
And many times X has simply made me think that no other platform has ever done - why a person thinks that way, what is this product about, what will the future be, etc etc. Its raw, unfiltered, perspective dense, lot of bots, and people behaving like bots just to taste some āuncle samās dollarsā. Itās simply mad max.
So yeah, I donāt expect anything from X, other than it making me think and maybe having direct access over DMs with some cool smart people.
How will I grow on X if I do not reply guy? I believe the only other way is to actually build something great that people will discover me in general and follow on X. And I guess that is the best use of my time.
Linkedin on the other hand I believe has much more calm and we mean business audience - they are there to hire talent, look for freelancers, and grow their business. Thereās likely more opportunity conversions happening by posting on Linkedin over X.
I have heard this from people on X who have received freelance opportunities. So I will definitely posting on Linkedin more often - might even worth buying premium if that is gonna get me clients.
How can I forget Youtube
I should have mentioned above itself, I used to once upon a time make videos using OBS and post on Youtube. I got to restart doing some Youtube: shorts or otherwise. I have read some people (again on X) saying they have used certain tools to make an AI avatar of themselves to make youtube videos - I think Varun Mayya does it and there was some another youtuber who posted about it.
Concern about YT is it takes tremendous amount of time effort. If YT is supposed to be distribution for me, I got to use some automations like these folks above are doing.
Yes I am not a person who would write with AI - then why I should be okay with video? I donāt think I would make any AI scripts, the topics would be from what I write over here and hence all writing will be original.
Writing cannot be AI for me because writing helps me think, it helps me get clarity - its an activity that leads to ideation and decision making. If something is that root, automating it would be harmful. Video is different, what would me shooting myself in front of a camera give me? I am not an actor or an anchor - so that experience will not add much value to my career, hence it does seem okay to have AI make videos of me explaining scripts I have written.
So to sum up, hereās the
Channel Matrix
| Channel | Impressions | Engagement Rate | Website Conversions |
|---|---|---|---|
| X | 30k/week | 2% | |
| Youtube | |||
| Substack | |||
| Medium | |||
| Hacker News |