
It has been nearly precisely two years since I launched my weekly Advanced Geekery email newsletter on Substack. Every week, I listing my newest ZDNET articles, showcase any new movies I put out, generally highlight tasks I am engaged on (and people of readers), and share just a few nice YouTube videos and articles value studying.
The publication is a good way for individuals who like my work to maintain up with what I produce.
Just lately, I’ve began getting requests for a publication on LinkedIn from members who’re rather more LinkedIn-centric. Ever since Twitter took its wacky dive off the credibility cliff, LinkedIn has been selecting up the slack when it comes to skilled and work-related social networking.
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Because it seems, beginning a LinkedIn publication is each simple and free. You do not want a LinkedIn Premium account. LinkedIn will notify your community whenever you publish the primary version of your publication, and it’ll additionally invite new followers to subscribe. Every difficulty you set out will likely be shared to your feed. Plus, anybody who indicators up as a subscriber will get an e mail notification of their inbox.
I went forward and arrange Superior Geekery on LinkedIn. The 2 editions (Substack and LinkedIn) are principally an identical. I now write and edit every difficulty on Substack, then selectively copy and paste the content material over to a brand new LinkedIn publication article.
The publication on LinkedIn has rather less formatting management than the one on Substack, but it surely nonetheless appears fairly good. I can copy the textual content (with included hyperlinks) from the Substack editor, however I’ve so as to add any footage to the LinkedIn model manually. It appears so as to add about quarter-hour to my workflow, which is a small quantity of effort to achieve a distinct viewers.
How you can create a LinkedIn publication
On this article, I will take you thru the step-by-step course of I used to arrange my LinkedIn publication. If you wish to set one up for Substack, I documented that as effectively.
It goes with out saying (however look, right here I’m saying it) that it’s essential to log in to your LinkedIn account earlier than doing anything. As soon as logged in, click on Write Article within the Begin a Put up space.
It is bizarre that you need to click on Write Article to create a publication, however that is the way in which it really works.
When you’re within the article enhancing interface, go to the Handle dropdown (indicated at 1), after which click on Create Publication (indicated at 2).
Right here, you may enter all the essential details about your publication. Enter the title of the publication, decide a frequency (I do mine weekly), after which enter an outline. You do not have a lot area for an outline, solely just a little over 100 characters, so that you would possibly need to put together that forward of time.
You additionally would possibly need to put together a publication emblem. I exploit my little 3D printer robotic head emblem for all of the Superior Geekery tasks. Make the emblem 300×300 pixels and add it to the shape.
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When you click on Finished, you formally have a LinkedIn publication. The remainder is about the right way to put together and ship out a difficulty. Don’t fret. Nothing will submit or mail out till you inform LinkedIn to ship it out, so take your time getting ready.
Now that you have created a publication, you possibly can put out your first difficulty. Guests to your profile web page will see a Publication button, which permits them to learn or subscribe to your publication.
Observe the X over Create a Put up. If you wish to create a brand new publication version, that button is not what you need to click on. That is high-quality for an everyday submit, but it surely would not get you into the publication enhancing interface.
There is perhaps a greater approach, however I’ve discovered that the quickest method to get to the publication enhancing interface is to click on the LinkedIn emblem on the prime of the web page, then click on Newsletters within the aspect menu.
It will take you to your Newsletters display, which exhibits your newsletters, in addition to these you subscribe to.
Whereas we’re on this display, let me level out just a few key gadgets. Your publication will likely be on the prime (proven at 1). Up to now, after two days, I’ve 91 subscribers. Clicking that may take you into one other display, the place you may start enhancing your first version.
There is a three-dot menu on the proper (proven at 3). Clicking it will provide you with a share possibility, which is the place you get a hyperlink if you wish to share your publication. This is the link to mine.
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Different newsletters you subscribe to will likely be under that. Of specific word is the publication (at 3) by Larry Dignan, who introduced me into ZDNET and was ZDNET’s editor in chief for a dozen years. This is a link to his newsletter as effectively.
Lastly, word the X. For those who click on Create a Publication, you may create a brand new publication. Do not click on it.
OK, let’s transfer on. When you click on your publication’s identify, you may be taken to the display the place you possibly can create a brand new version, which will likely be your publication’s precise mailing. As you possibly can see, proper after I created the publication, I did not have any subscribers.
Now, lastly, you may be on the publication enhancing display. The picture that you simply add will likely be proven in your feed. It needs to be 1920×1080 pixels.
You should utilize a brand new picture for every difficulty, or a picture that serves because the nameplate on your publication.
My strategy is to chop and paste the textual content from my Substack version. It is a pretty easy course of, as a result of the wealthy textual content is preserved, together with the hyperlinks.
Photos do not reduce and paste from the Substack. Additionally, whenever you paste in a YouTube URL, it would not robotically increase to a pleasant thumbnail of the video, because it does in Substack.
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Including YouTube movies into the LinkedIn publication is a bit clunky. LinkedIn does have an possibility so as to add a picture or video, however you need to add the picture or the video for it to work. So what I did was add my YouTube thumbnail after which embrace a hyperlink to the YouTube video itself.
Simply hold working your approach by way of the interface till your publication is completed. You needn’t ship it out immediately. I selected to attend till Monday morning. The way in which to keep away from rapid sending is to keep away from urgent the Subsequent button. As an alternative, from the Handle menu, select Drafts.
It will present you the out there drafts, which is able to most likely be the publication you simply created. Go forward and click on Shut, and your publication is all able to go, however not despatched.
If you wish to find your draft publication, click on the Write Article button on the prime of your feed, then click on Handle, and choose Drafts. This is similar menu you used to create the publication itself, besides you are choosing Drafts as a substitute of Create Publication.
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At this level, you may see a listing of your drafts. Most probably, you may have only one — the publication you are about to publish. Click on the three-dot icon, watch out to keep away from the prominently positioned Delete possibility, and select Edit.
This is what the highest of my first LinkedIn difficulty regarded like within the editor. I at all times use a title, after which a subhead, which is proven within the inexperienced field. You may have the chance to place a remark earlier than the publication nameplate, which is then adopted by the title. So, for me, I chosen the subhead (at 1) after which clicked Subsequent (at 2).
I pasted that subhead into the realm that LinkedIn prompts with “Inform your community what this version of your publication is about…”
For those who scroll down in that posting window interface, you may see the Schedule and Publish buttons.
I clicked the little clock icon, which introduced me to the schedule interface. Right here, I chosen Monday morning at 6 AM PT, 9 AM ET, and clicked Subsequent.
The posting interface modified to point out the scheduled time of publication, in addition to a Schedule button as a substitute of a Publish button.
I pressed the Schedule button and was offered with the next display.
This confirmed the publication difficulty was able to go. Then I simply completed my night time, went to sleep, and just a little after I bought up on Monday morning, the publication was robotically posted. In future weeks, it can even be despatched to all who subscribe.
There you go. The method is a bit convoluted, however after one time by way of, it will likely be simple sufficient. Every week, I will publish my weekly replace to Substack subscribers and followers, and to LinkedIn subscribers and followers.
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Good luck. Remark right here or on LinkedIn in the event you create a publication. I would like to know.
What about you? Have you ever thought of beginning a publication on LinkedIn? For those who already publish one elsewhere, are you eager about repurposing it like I did? What options or limitations have you ever run into on LinkedIn versus different platforms like Substack? Do you see LinkedIn as a viable long-term area on your publication content material? Tell us within the feedback under.
You may observe my day-to-day undertaking updates on social media. You should definitely subscribe to my weekly update newsletter, and observe me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtz, on Fb at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, on Bluesky at @DavidGewirtz.com, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
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