Why Diversifying Your Audience is Crucial, According to Former LinkedIn Employee Alicia Teltz

In a recent LinkedIn post, Alicia Teltz, a former employee of the platform, is sounding an alarm about the inherent risks of relying solely on LinkedIn for audience building. Teltz, who boasts over 40,000 followers on the platform, candidly admits that while the follower count is a significant ego boost, it represents a “maaaassive risk” to her business.

Teltz outlines two primary concerns: the unpredictable nature of the LinkedIn algorithm and the potential for account suspension. She elaborates on the algorithm’s power, stating:

“The algorithm decides whether you’ll see my content (this one will surely get buried).”

This lack of control over content visibility is a significant point of contention for Teltz. Furthermore, the threat of account deactivation looms large.

“If my account gets banned, everything I built will be gone (ohhh the agony).”

Highlighting this precarious situation, Teltz humorously summarizes the dynamic as “LinkedIn: 1, Alicia: 0.” This personal experience, stemming from her time at LinkedIn, provides a unique perspective on the platform’s vulnerabilities.

Building a ‘Plan B’ with Email Lists

Recognizing these risks, Teltz reveals her proactive strategy: building an audience off-platform. Since January, she has been cultivating a newsletter on Substack, with the explicit goal of gaining direct access to people’s email addresses.

While acknowledging her current status as a “very small fish” in the Substack pond with 819 subscribers, Teltz emphasizes the strategic importance of this move. She describes the process as “stumbling my way through building an audience from scratch, on a platform I didn’t happen to have a previous employment contract with.” This illustrates her deliberate effort to establish a more stable and controllable audience base.

Leveraging Expertise for Audience Growth

To further refine her off-platform strategy, Teltz is participating in a live session where Sinem and Jari, co-founders of the publication Write • Build • Scale (with over 45,000 subscribers), will critique her Substack efforts. This event, scheduled for Monday at 10:30 am CET, is designed to offer insights into effective audience and content strategies on Substack.

Teltz frames the event as an opportunity for learning, inviting those who:

• Wish to observe her “being put in [her] place.”
• Are considering starting a Substack but are unsure how to begin.
• Seek to understand what makes a profile and content strategy convert effectively.
• Prefer to learn from her potential mistakes.

She notes the value of learning from others’ experiences, stating:

“You’d rather learn from my mistakes than make your own. You’re welcome.”

A Call for Platform Responsibility

In a direct address to LinkedIn, Teltz clarifies her intention is not to advocate for abandoning the platform entirely. Instead, her core message is about the necessity of building a “plan B.” She argues that while the platform is valuable, its current structure makes it increasingly difficult for creators to effectively reach the audiences they have cultivated.

Teltz concludes with a plea for platform improvement:

“Fix that and I’ll never have to post this again.”

Her stance underscores a broader conversation within the creator economy about platform dependency and the importance of owning one’s audience.