Weekly Newsletter Vol. 93 - June 11, 2025

Generating your Lead Story…

What LinkedIn Just Taught Me — And How You Can Protect Yourself

This week, something happened that I didn’t expect, and it completely changed how I look at the platforms we build on.

I got shadow banned on LinkedIn.

If you're unfamiliar with the term: shadow banning means your content is visible to you, but not to many others. Posts stop reaching your audience. Engagement dies. Visibility vanishes.

And I didn’t do anything shady. In fact, I was trying to clean up the platform. I reported over 1,000 spammy posts — you know the kind — people gaming the system with fake engagement bait, vanity polls, or cringe posts that feel manufactured by AI trying to mimic empathy.

Apparently, LinkedIn didn’t like that. And the irony? I’ve spent years building community, creating original content, helping recruiters land jobs, and trying to make LinkedIn better. All of that can be muted in a single algorithm tweak or moderation decision.

So, am I mad? Nope.

Because what LinkedIn did was give me a massive wake-up call — one that I think everyone building an audience or business online needs to hear:

You don’t own your LinkedIn profile. Or your followers. Or your reach. What happened to me could happen to you. And for a lot of creators, founders, and recruiters — that’s terrifying.

But I didn’t spiral. I built.

Here's what I did instead (and how you can protect yourself):

1. I relaunched our Skool community We now have 500+ recruiters from around the world inside our private community — sharing jobs, referrals, candidate pipelines, questions, and best practices. It’s owned by us. Not rented from a platform that could silence us overnight.

   How you can protect yourself: Create or join communities that live off-platform. Discord, Slack, Skool — these places allow you to own the list and the conversation.

2. I built a fully functioning Outplacement Portal on Lovable — without coding It took me a weekend. I’m not a developer. I just had a pain point I wanted to solve: outplacement platforms are clunky, outdated, and employer-first. I wanted something modern, intuitive, and AI-supported that actually helps people get back on their feet.

   How you can protect yourself: Don’t wait for someone to build what you need. With tools like Lovable, Glide, Softr, or Bubble, you can create your own platform — no tech background required.

3. I’m starting to make videos — outside of LinkedIn For a long time, I avoided video. But now? It feels like the right time to explore both long-form (YouTube) and short-form (Instagram, TikTok). I want to share insights and stories in a way that goes deeper than a text post ever could.

   How you can protect yourself: Repurpose your ideas across formats. A great post can become a reel, a newsletter, a YouTube short, or a podcast clip. Don’t just live in one feed.

4. I stayed consistent with this newsletter — 92 weeks straight This newsletter is mine. My list. My voice. My direct connection to you. LinkedIn can throttle my reach, but they can’t touch this inbox.

   How you can protect yourself: If you don’t already have a newsletter, start one. Even if it’s just monthly. Beehiiv, ConvertKit, and Substack make it easy.

5. I cancelled my LinkedIn Recruiter subscription — Why would I pay over $10,000/year to a platform that can shut me off at will — with no support, no recourse, and no warning?

   How you can protect yourself: Audit your tech stack. Are you investing in platforms that give you control, or ones that leave you vulnerable?

What I learned: For too long, I spent 10+ hours a day on LinkedIn obsessing over engagement. Likes. Reach. Vanity metrics. I was chasing numbers that don’t actually build a business.

This experience reminded me that the real value is in:

• Ownership — of your platform, your list, your content.

• Depth — of your relationships and your community.

• Sustainability — building systems that work even when the algorithm doesn’t.

What you can do right now: Export your LinkedIn contacts – You can do this under Settings > Data Privacy > Get a copy of your data. Save your relationships.

Start building your list – Launch a simple landing page where people can stay in touch with you.

Join an off-platform community – One where the rules aren’t constantly changing.

Diversify your voice – Repurpose your content across at least two other channels.

Create systems, not just posts – Build workflows that bring value to others without depending on daily visibility.

I’m not leaving LinkedIn. I’ve built too many good relationships there. But I am shifting how I show up. Less dependency. More ownership. More strategy.

And if you’ve ever felt like you’re one algorithm change away from disappearing — I want you to know you’re not alone. You can rebuild. You can even come out stronger.

This week, I did.

Let me know how I can help you do the same.

You can’t make this stuff up

_{(*Disclaimer: these are real experiences provided by RME's community of job seekers and hiring managers)}

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