A Writer’s 5-Step Blueprint To Dominate 5 Platforms
Because your ideas are too precious to use only once.
It’s 2022. Sticking to just one platform is like career suicide.
- The algorithms can change any day.
- Your profile might be shadow-banned.
- Or worse still, you might get blocked or kicked out due to unforeseen circumstances, and all your hard work amassing followers and gaining traction will be lost in an instant.
The alternative? Be present on multiple platforms. Have as much ownership over your audience as possible.
But as a creator, you’re only one person. How can you create so much content to dominate multiple platforms without spreading yourself thin and burning out?
Fret not, for I have the solution.
I’ve been writing online since 2014 and started treating online writing as a business in 2020. Today, I’m sharing my 5-step framework (with examples) to dominate five platforms. If you’re a creator or small business owner, read on. You can replicate this framework and make it your own.
1. Write unfiltered thoughts in a Tweet
Don’t think too hard. Whenever a cool thought strikes you, write a Tweet and hit “Publish.”
Some perks of writing on Twitter:
- Twitter has 206 million daily users, with a majority of them being in the 25–34 age bracket. The potential of virality there is insane.
- Each Tweet takes about 1–10 minutes to write, but the rewards can be huge, depending on how well you frame your thoughts.
- Condensing your ideas into 280 characters is a challenge. But it presents a unique opportunity to fine-tune your idea and really think it through so you can focus on its core.
- The average half-life of a tweet (its median lifespan) is 24 minutes. This implies two things: people won’t remember your Tweet forever, and it’s pretty easy to garner an amazing response within a few hours of posting.
Here’s an example of a Tweet I wrote a few days ago while building my first info product.
2. Pick high-performing Tweets and flesh them out to LinkedIn posts
If a Tweet gets more than 10 likes, you can say it did reasonably well. The next step is to flesh it out a bit and convert it into a LinkedIn post of ~3000 characters or less.
Some perks of writing on LinkedIn:
- LinkedIn is the social media used by professionals and has 740 million members.
- Almost half of its users earn upwards of $75,000 a year. This translates to double the buying power of a typical web audience, making LinkedIn filled with huge potential, especially for writers and online entrepreneurs.
- You can establish a strong personal brand, grow your audience, and attract potential high-paying customers.
Here’s an example of a LinkedIn post I created from the Tweet in the above example.
If you’re confused about how to get started on the platform, here’s a checklist on how you can dominate LinkedIn.
3. Compile 3–4 posts into a full-length article
When you have 3 or more LinkedIn posts that can be clubbed under the same umbrella, put them all together, throw in a catchy introduction, and put together a full-length article. I publish these articles on Medium, but you can write on any other platform as well, including your personal blog.
Some perks of writing on Medium:
- Medium has 60 million monthly readers, making it one of the best platforms on the internet for writing long-form content.
- If you live in one of the 33 countries currently eligible for the Medium Partner Program, you can earn money based on how many minutes your article has been read.
- Medium has a domain authority of 95. This ensures insane visibility of your blogs on Google and gives you the chance to get global exposure for your work.
Here’s an example of three such LinkedIn posts of the same niche that I compiled to put one full-length Medium article together:
4. Use the article as a script for a YouTube video
Of all the social media platforms I’ve established a presence on, I feel YouTube is the hardest to get started on. But it’s also a platform I’ve consistently worked on since 2020, and I continue to keep channeling my efforts there.
The next step after the Medium article is ready is to turn it into a script, and then record a YouTube video around it.
Some perks on building a presence on YouTube:
- YouTube is the internet’s second-largest search engine with more than two billion logged-in monthly users.
- YouTube is the world’s second-most used social platform right after Facebook.
- The discoverability of content is crazy on YouTube, with 90% of consumers claiming they discover new products and services each day through YouTube.
- Videos appear more often in Google’s search results. Hence, marketing on YouTube will help you get found on Google.
Here’s an example of how I turned one of my high-performing Medium stories into a YouTube video:
5. Send a newsletter to your subscribers
The next step is to send a newsletter to your subscribers with links to your YouTube video. This is yet another way for you to ensure your articles lives on in one more place on the internet, while also intentionally building your personal brand by writing high-quality newsletters.
Some perks of having a newsletter as a creator:
- Emails are much more personalized than articles or social media posts, giving you a better chance to connect more intimately with your reader.
- Your stories are sent directly to the inboxes of the readers, giving you complete control over who gets to see your content without relying on algorithms.
- Even when platforms change, emails don’t. You can finally own your audience.
Here’s an example of how I repurposed one of my high-performing Medium articles as a newsletter issue:
Closing thoughts
Having a presence on multiple platforms can be a massive boost to your personal branding efforts.
As of February 2022, I have a decent following on Quora, Medium, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and write two weekly newsletters.
On all these platforms combined, I have a follower base of 130,000+. The ways this has added credibility is insane, and yet, I still feel my journey is just getting started.
If you’re a creator looking to build a strong personal brand, here’s my 4-step blueprint to dominate 5 platforms:
- Write unfiltered thoughts in a Tweet
- Pick high-performing Tweets & flesh them out to LinkedIn posts
- Compile 3–4 posts into a Medium article
- Use the article as a script for a YouTube video
- Send a newsletter to your subscribers
What else would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments.