At the fair, you might get three balls to knock down six cans. If you’re lucky and the vendor likes you, they may give you another toss for free. Woo! That’s a 33% increase in odds. Naturally, you gladly take it and try again. Will that extra throw get you the big panda? Who knows, but it’s worth the shot!
The internet has brought a lot of struggles to our work, but say what you will: Extra throws are always free. The problem is we don’t see them as such.
Whatever you post on LinkedIn, your blog, or Youtube generally stays there forever. It’s as if the can toss vendor had an eternal leaderboard with everyone’s performances right next to his stall. Would you go for your fourth round if you saw your name at the bottom three times in a row already? Maybe not. After all, “how would that look?” Actually, only slightly worse than before, even if you lose again. But publicity always ups the stakes—at least in our perception.
The internet, however, is not a crowded stall at a country fair. It’s not 17 curious bystanders whose eyes you must escape. In a sea of infinite information and connections, you’re basically invisible. You’re lucky if anyone sees anything that you publish, let alone remembers when you try again.
In ten years of writing online, I can’t remember a single instance of someone criticizing me for reposting the same stuff or putting a new spin on an old piece. If anything, people were grateful. “Oh, I missed this the first time. Thanks for sharing it again!”
Delete things. Rework old articles. Post the same thing again with different timing. Change the intro, the ending, or all of it. You have unlimited throws. Use them.