The best way to dilute your perceived brand authority as a writer is commoditizing your work. AI is tempting everyone writing on Medium to enter the quantity trap. You see some author publishing every day and feel like you’re being left out.
You start thinking maybe you should start publishing more. Please don’t.
I will tell you why
You can never compete in the quantity game. That is turning your work into low-priced fast-moving consumer goods. That’s the worst thing you can do to your brand. Writers ought to have some self-respect.
You can only compete on:
Value and proposition.
Having soul in the game.
Being relevant and relatable.
Like I said in this piece, we are past the time of sharing five tips to do this or five tips not to do that. With AI in the mix, it is no longer about what is posted, But who posted it.
You should worry more about what the writing reflects about you than a 30-article-per-month goal.
Growth doesn’t even work that way. Frequency is one thing. Quality and TIME are other crucial factors. Fast writing your way to success is as rare as a green dog. Resist the urge to break your great idea into three fluff-filled pieces.
Oh, is it the Medium money?
I was initially sad that the Medium Partner program does not apply in my country. But then I realized it was a blessing in disguise. It gives me a reason to focus on why I am here rather than looking at what numbers each post gets. Any platform that introduces a payment model, its users largely become commodities. Few earn actual money. The masses forage on pennies.
If your goal is solely to get Medium money, I understand the pressure to publish more. You write one piece and it flops. You think if I write another it will help. Before you realize it, you have 100 articles on your profile that even you, the author, won’t spend 40 seconds reading. People smell it when you’re writing just for the views.
Joined Medium in 2018 then abandoned it. But this piece I wrote, not proud of it now, gets 250 reads per month. Try having a few pieces like this. Not 100 articles that get 9 reads per month and stop getting any in the future.
Let’s talk business
There are better ways to make money online. Any earning model tied to your activity within a particular platform is unsustainable and not to be relied upon. Unles you’re Mr. Beast, which you are not.
Here is the question; what is your main business? That main business should be your digital home and you use these platforms you have little control over as DISTRIBUTION channels. Whether it is LinkedIn, Medium, or X — they’re at best distribution channels.
Since I write experience-based insights, here is an example; I have a marketing agency that also provides hosting and web design services. I also have an eBook.
I spend ZERO on marketing. No cold DMs, no networking events. My audience of 32,000+ followers on LinkedIn is where I get most of the qualified leads. The combined monthly income is not even close to 10x what most writers earn here per month.
It takes the pressure of speed off if you are not beholden to a platform’s built-in way of earning. I am basically talking about diversification.
The value of trust is raising
The marketplace of ideas has become chaotic. But thanks to one thing. People now come online with an understanding that everyone can easily come up with something. And they also know that the invisible hand of AI is becoming harder to spot. So who did the posting matters more than what was posted. Reputation and provenance will prevail.
Take a look at your articles and ask yourself, “What kind of reputation am I building here?” And when the pressure to publish more comes, ask yourself “To what end?”
LinkedIn saved my career life. Without it, I would be somewhere; possibly unknown, jobless, and broke. This is my story of how LinkedIn helped me escape Tanzania’s endemic unemployment.
Before joining LinkedIn, I was an endangered candidate. Like the Black Rhinos at Ngorongoro, my chances of surviving the job market were about to go extinct. My degree was no longer a big deal.
Coming from overlooked interiors of rural Tanzania, I had zero connections in corporate TZ. Having attended chronically underfunded and overpopulated schools, I stood little chance in the competitive job market. In short, I suffered a severe Network Gap.
Things changed when I turned to this wonderful invention called the Internet. With the internet, a dim light began to materialize inside my career tunnel.
A laptop and the internet provided me with what Jesus would say “Upon these tools, you shall build your career”. Digital skills are the rocks upon which careers are now built.
So I started learning one digital skill after another, mostly in marketing and advertising.
From content writing to copywriting, graphic design (Canva), web design and development (WordPress), Facebook Ads, and more. I was not going to leave any stone unturned. Specializing or niching would come later. But at that moment, I was determined to be someone who covered many angles in digital marketing.
I built (and still building) a skills arsenal that not only made me competitive in the local job market but also the international started to take notice.
Today, things look more promising about my career trajectory than I was in 2020. And the best part? Since 2020, I’ve never had someone to tell me;
When to be at work
What to wear
How to behave
All thanks to LinkedIn. I am now the most followed Tanzanian marketer on the platform. With over 36,200 followers. What this has brought is I haven’t sent a job application since 2020. I get reached out, not me reaching out.
In the system that works by who knows you, I made myself known through the power of writing online, showcasing my skills, and mastering the art of self-promotion.
If your life is anything like mine, coming from a family with limited resources in a third-world country, then what you want in life will not come to you in a linear fashion. And the unemployment rate in your country will only keep going up. The government will do nothing, as usual.
You have to pick your cross and stumble up the career hill. By which I mean take career matters into your own hands. Learning digital skills is a great place to start. And you have everything to start, like the tool you are using to read this message.
Untapped potential
But despite its potential, LinkedIn is the least used social media platform in Tanzania. It is a bit intimidating to many. I bet this is also the case if you come from a developing country. People haven’t woken up to these online opportunities. They are busy finding jobs in the old, super competitive way.
Your social media pages are not just a mere presence for likes and all; they’re a potential paycheck.
Most Tanzanians who would benefit from the platform (students, graduates, professional workers, founders) either don’t know of its existence, don’t believe in its potential, or think it is simply a place to find a job. LinkedIn is more than that.
As of August 2023, there were 1,171,000 LinkedIn users in Tanzania. This accounted for 1.7% of the country’s population.
If you’re into numbers, this may not seem significant from a country of 60+ million people. But this isn’t just any number. It is an exclusive subset of the Tanzanian population.
Your employer on LinkedIn.
Your client is LinkedIn
Insightful conversations happen on LinkedIn
Knowledgeable people to work with on a project are on LinkedIn
On LinkedIn, you will be standing in front of an audience full of potential.
When I launched my book in late 2023, I used the platform to promote presales and made TZS300,000 in two days. After launch, I reached a total of TZS1.4 million in two weeks. We recently expanded to provide domain and hosting services. So far, we copy-pasted some 13 customers who already trust me. Thanks again for actively creating content on LinkedIn.
Imagine if I was a silent scrolling ghost unknown to anyone. Would I have sold?
Getting started on LinkedIn
If I were to start from ZERO on LinkedIn, this is how I would get to 6000 followers in less than a year:
First, you have to do the necessary job of getting your content in front of people. Make sure you post not less than three times per week. You can go on the offense by showing up daily.
Send at least 300 personalized connection requests in four months. An example of a personalized request that gets accepted; 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘬𝘶𝘳𝘶! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰! 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 🙂
Camping on the comment sections of medium size accounts. What you want is ‘association’. If people associate you with one or two established creators then you join their ranks. I would avoid big accounts because the author may not see your comment. You want someone where the chance of getting a reply is high.
Build a platoon of supporters. You need a team of at least five people to fight and bleed with you on the digital frontline. With these people, you support each other’s journey online.
And that’s it. Growing on social media is actually putting yourself in front of people. Be prepared to face criticism here and there.
Ok, before you go, allow me to insist on this; If the system works by ‘Who Knows You, then you have to make yourself KNOWN. This doesn’t mean going out of your way trying to please people so they include you in their circle. No. Let your talent speak volumes.
The people they know don’t have the skills and talent you have. That’s where you come in, my friend. Let the world know you for what you bring to the table (expertise). Don’t be resentful and say “Ah they give it to themselves”
There’s a way you can get in the game. LinkedIn is a good place to do so. You can go from an unknown nobody to someone whose talent people have seen, heard, and know.
Social media has become an important part of our everyday life. Worldwide, there are 3.80 billion social media users.
In Tanzanian, a large number of youths are avid users of these social platforms such Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. We use these tools to stay connected and informed. But most of us tend to be so well informed about issues surrounding our celebrities.
We are active on social media, and that’s not always a bad thing. But are we making the most of it?
You have probably heard about people who have won scholarships, competitions, deals, got job and all these exciting opportunities after seeing them from social media, and you were left asking, ‘which Instagram are these winners using?’ Well, they get information about opportunities the same way you get information about Diamond Platnumz divorcing Tanasha.
If you don’t want to miss out on important opportunities, or want to do more with social media, here is how you can benefit from these platforms, the same ones that winners are using:
Join groups or conversations that resonate with you
Don’t be up to date with everything. That’s draining. Be well informed about issues that really matter to you. Be it social change, world issues, sports or anything else. You need to have an information diet, you can’t take anything in. Focus and engage on content that resonate with you only. Celebrity dramas is entertaining but time wasting.
Find your tribe and connect with them
Follow people who do things you love doing. If you’re a digital marketer, find and connect with people in the digital marketing industry. You can also have virtual mentors on social media who inspire you and give you lessons through their posts. because all these people who live our dream lives, post about it. Why not learn and be mentored?
Endelea kufanya mzaha na mitandao ya kijamii. Fanya tu mzaha. Endelea, na umri unakwenda hivyo. Hii mitandao kuna watu imewasaidia kupata kazi, imewachangia ada, imewasaidia matibabu, misiba, biashara, wapenzi, n.k. Sasa wewe endelea na mzaha kila dakika labda ni fungu lako.
I used to hate this word, because I believe people are not brands. But again, your social media persona should just be you. Don’t fake things because people will notice. Understand who you aspire to become and try your level best to stay out of trouble on social media.
Follow accounts that post opportunities
There are a lot of accounts and blogs that share opportunities and organizations that do things that you like. In 2018, I went to Malawi to work with When the Saints, an organization that works with girls who have been sexually abused. I got into contact with them after just I read about them from my favourite blog. I reached out to the founder and I got the opportunity to work with the organization for for three months.
Use your account to share your passion
I love blogging, and my Instagram is full of pictures and long captions (inspiring people and sharing tips), my Twitter is full of me connecting with other bloggers in the word. You love photography, share what you capture on your account, sell what you make, share your love for things etc. You might gain a following and might as well become an influencer. People pay bills using their social media accounts these days, why not you?
And those are the ways I think we can benefit from these digital platforms.
-Eunice💜
Eunice is a writer at abiblegirl.com, where she shares life tips for millennials. Connect with her on Instagram.
