The pros and cons of LinkedIn vs YouTube...

Let’s make this newsletter a straightforward one, because I can’t think of any kind of heartwarming story about how I was an underdog that overcame adversity…

So I’m just going to lay out exactly what it said in the subject of this email: whether YouTube, LinkedIn or both make sense for you.

LINKEDIN

If you’re in b2b or consulting, LinkedIn is basically mandatory. If you aren’t active there, you’re leaving money on the table.

PROS:

• You can start getting results right away, and you don’t need a big following to get results (because a lot of business happens in DMs).

• I know people with less than 2000 followers who have great businesses that run completely from LinkedIn clients!

• Great for people who enjoy writing— image + a long caption is the best format for LinkedIn.

CONS:

• The half-life of a post is a couple days. So it kind of sucks to put effort into content that basically disappears in a week at most.

• There are some industries/roles that just aren’t as active on LinkedIn, so it won’t work as well for those people (many creative fields for example, lots of engineers also hate LinkedIn).

• Doesn’t make much sense for purely b2c businesses (for example, a lifestyle clothing company) because “civilians” don’t really use LinkedIn

YOUTUBE

In my opinion, YouTube is the single best, most powerful platform for personal brand-building… nothing else can match it, especially for b2c or people in creative fields.

But it’s also not a small investment of your time, so you want to go in with your eyes open.

PROS:

• The money from Adsense can be pretty great! Very roughly speaking, somewhere between $2-15 per 1000 views is a good guesstimate

• Unlike LinkedIn, your content lasts forever and will keep getting views over time

• You can drive lots of traffic to your website and other social platforms via links in the description (yes, people click these)

CONS:

• You probably won’t traction for a few months at best

• It’s a LOT more work than LinkedIn… to script, shoot and edit even a simple video will probably take a few hours

• You can hire an editor, but you’ll need some budget (VERY roughly speaking, around $10-30 per minute of finished video)

• Not directly useful for b2b in most cases. There are some exceptions but it’s really a b2c entertainment app at the end of the day.

There you go… just some straightforward bullet points this week!

I’ll try to come up with a relatable sob story next week to build my parasocial relationship with you.

In the meantime if you’re wondering whether YouTube or LinkedIn make sense for you, just reply to this email or set up a call here!