I'm moving!

I'm moving!

Last week, I made an announcement about what might look like a rash decision—but, in fact, has been the subject of 18 months of deliberation.

I'm moving to Substack.

I have a feeling my thought process on this might be of interest. So I'm going to share that today in what will likely be my final newsletter broadcast from LinkedIn.

I'll caveat this whole post by saying that any plan I make is a learning process and, therefore, subject to change. I wrote a whole chapter in my book on this!

"What exactly does moving to Substack mean?" you might be wondering.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be moving the vast majority of my publishing activities to Substack.

I believe in consolidating activities to achieve the greatest impact. I could keep publishing this LinkedIn newsletter, my traditional newsletter, and articles on my website. But frankly, that takes time. And I'd prefer to spend my time on other things.

What prompted this move?

There are a number of factors that contributed to this decision. All of them have been growing more forceful since I first started to consider them.

1. My favorite writers are, by and large, on Substack.

In my experience, it's not hard to connect with people you admire—as long as you're hanging out at the same place they are. This was the first factor that sparked the question of whether or not to move to Substack for me. Last week, after Substack sent out an email announcing their forthcoming Notes feature—which essentially doubles down on the social components of the platform—I realized it was exactly the kind of place I wanted to hang out.

2. Social media sucks. And it's getting suckier.

My style and goals simply aren't a good match for what social media platforms want from users today. That means my capacity for growth and discovery via social media is severely limited. Further, it seems we're entering a period where companies are questioning whether their ad-supported business models are compatible with user engagement. What's more, that ad-supported business model is at odds with the kind of content I create and the kind of work I do.

What's more, I often spend 3 hours or more on an Instagram or LinkedIn post. In that same amount of time, I can research and write a short-form article and control its distribution.

In another hour or so, I can edit it into a short podcast episode. Again, distribution is in my control.

Relying on only owned media is tricky because growth depends on organic sharing and word of mouth. And so I've kept up with social media... but even with the quality of my posts, the returns have slowed to a trickle.

I fear that the chaos at Twitter is not simply a factor of Elon Musk's self-interested whims but is actually a harbinger of what's to come in the system at large .

For now, I've decided to continue to post to Instagram and LinkedIn. But I won't be devoting creative energy to those posts. Rather than simply announcing new articles or episodes (blah...), I've developed templates to use so I can quickly republish "valuable" pieces of content without sinking hours into making them totally new.

As Substack rolls out Notes, I'll likely be spending most of my "social media" time there. This brings me to...

3. I've been looking for a more reliable growth engine.

Audience growth just doesn't happen with any reliability on social media anymore because we all have so little control over who sees our content.

Last month, I started experimenting with video to see if I wanted to build out a YouTube channel. YouTube may not have hockey-stick growth potential it once did for new channels. But it still has discovery features that other platforms can't match.

While I enjoyed my initial tests immensely, the potential workload of releasing even a couple of videos per month was insurmountable. Could I do it? Sure, but I'd have to stop my long-form writing and close up the podcast. And yeah, that's not happening.

Substack has a growth engine built into it. Some months back, they rolled out tagging and cross-posting. Recommendations allow you to showcase other writers and have writers showcase you back. Plus, there is an editorial component to Substack's own user communication and marketing. That's certainly no sure thing—but it exists and that's more other platforms have.

4. I really do just want to write and podcast. And I don't want to have to sell you stuff to do it.

Unlike social media platforms that are ad-supported, Substack makes money when its writers make money. As far as Silicon Valley goes, that's a risky strategy (and there is reason to believe Substack is still trying to figure it out). But what that means for writers is that Substack's goals and its writers' goals are aligned.

Substack wants its writers to make money because that's how it makes money. Instagram and TikTok don't care whether its users make money, they care about views and user engagement because that's how they make money.

And truly, all I want to do is write and podcast. I think my work fills a gaping hole among independent workers and small business owners who are regularly bombarded by contentless content marketing. Obviously, I don't know how the money situation will play out yet—but I have some confidence that it's going to pay off.

Relatedly, I'm 99% sure that I'm going to apply to PhD programs in the fall (to start in the 2024-5 academic year). And so making a living writing and podcasting would make that move all the more doable.

Should you move to Substack?

I have no idea! None of this is advice (which is a surreptitious preview of a perk of becoming a paid subscriber —my "This is Not Advice" column). Most of the time, the move that's right for me isn't right for someone else who is running a service or digital products business. (Would I use Substack to market YellowHouse.Media? Absolutely not!)

And finally, a note on the politics of Substack...

My initial thoughts about moving to Substack were put on ice because of some of the writers they chose to platform and a lack of diversity in early writer recruitment. Substack isn't perfect. Shocker.

But every time they announce a new feature, I'm impressed by how writer-centric their development has been. And that says quite a lot to me.

Every social media platform has drawbacks and involves political compromise. Substack's commitment to writers says a lot about the little-p politics driving the business. And I feel (mostly) comfortable moving forward with them.

Want to see what all the fuss is about?

Join me on Substack.