Chapter 1: The Role of Interviews in Professional and Personal Life

Interviews have become a transformative tool in both my professional and personal spheres, allowing me to connect with a wide array of individuals, including numerous writers. By leveraging my expansive network, I've enhanced their visibility and content across various platforms. This narrative stems from my secondary account, designed to foster community building and provide essential resources that are often hard to come by. My primary Medium account, under Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, boasts a larger audience, and I encourage readers to bookmark it for future reference.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels.

In the early 1990s, during my first year in a doctoral program, I undertook a thorough literature review that culminated in a 385-page manuscript. This research aimed to validate or refute three hypotheses concerning the metacognitive patterns of influential experts in their fields. The objective was to establish a sound theoretical framework that would assist in decision-making processes.

This extensive review was pivotal in securing a $36,000 scholarship from the Australian Federal Government, enabling me to pursue doctoral and postdoctoral studies in a burgeoning field. The intention was to position me as a thought leader in shaping government and corporate policies.

Initially, I thought this literature review would serve as the cornerstone for my six-year dissertation, supplemented by numerous academic papers and corporate reports. However, my main supervisor, a prominent neuroscience professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, advised that my literature review would only represent one facet of a metaphorical table.

He stressed the necessity for two additional components to create a robust and socially beneficial original research project, which was essential for obtaining my doctoral degree and fulfilling the conditions of my federally funded scholarship.

When I asked about these additional components, he clarified that the second element involved ethnographic observation. This entailed meticulously documenting my perceptions in a journal, complete with timestamps and accompanying photographs or artifacts.

The third component required conducting interviews with a diverse range of participants to corroborate my observations, capturing their voices as evidence to ensure the credibility of my findings.

Observations were second nature to me, as I always carried a notebook to record interactions, later digitizing them for quantitative and qualitative analysis using IBM® SPSS® Statistics software.

However, conducting interviews presented a significant hurdle. Each session required at least an hour of the participant's time, and I lacked the funds to offer compensation. Fortunately, I garnered the support of numerous volunteers.

Nonetheless, the emotional weight of these interviews was considerable. Some participants became deeply moved, requiring me to pause recordings to provide comfort, which was challenging for me to navigate and document in my thesis.

When I shared my concerns about the emotional intensity of the interviews with my mentor, he reassured me that these emotions were the most valuable aspect of my data, adding depth and originality to my research. He emphasized that interviews are fundamental to ethnographic case studies, significantly enriching the body of knowledge.

I dedicated countless hours to conducting, transcribing, and analyzing these interviews, integrating the insights into my conclusions as validation points. Far from being mere data, these interviews revealed the internal landscapes of the participants, showcasing their thoughts and feelings, thus enhancing my research's richness.

In the mid-2000s, during my postdoctoral research as an adjunct professor in Australian universities and as an executive consultant, I continued to conduct interviews with senior leaders and entrepreneurs. These discussions provided profound insights into their thought processes and learning patterns, which I later validated through medical imaging techniques. I shared these insights with the younger generation as a valuable resource for growth and development.

Fast forward to 2019, I decided to conduct interviews with writers, adopting a less rigorous approach focused on public engagement while ensuring the protection of personally identifiable information to address privacy concerns.

Engaging in writing and content curation has allowed me to connect with authentic and influential writers and leaders from various cultural backgrounds. A passion of mine is to introduce these individuals to my audience.

When I became a Friend of Medium last year, early adopters expressed interest in curated content that would enhance the visibility of significant writers capable of providing valuable insights. In response, I continued to introduce writers I admire, taking joy in publishing and curating their impactful stories.

Unfortunately, as I noted in a previous story titled "Why Does Medium Block My Interviews for Influential Writers," Medium does not curate interview stories, limiting their distribution. They are accessible only through direct links I share with subscribers.

Even attempts to reach new audiences through network distribution from both my accounts—one with 101K followers and another with 4.7K—yielded disappointing results, as did publishing in ILLUMINATION, which has 96K followers, and smaller publications.

Despite these challenges, I refuse to let restrictions hinder my success. I now share interviews on Substack, reaching thousands through email distribution, Substack’s advanced algorithm, and the social media tool Notes.

Since childhood, I have learned that when one opportunity closes, another opens. I remain optimistic and grateful for my journey. I will continue conducting these interviews independently of Medium and express my appreciation for the serendipitous encounters I’ve experienced over the past five years. It’s unfortunate that Medium’s algorithmic restrictions prevent readers from discovering these influential writers.

As I built a robust community on Medium, my next goal is to create an equally expansive community on Substack, bridging the two platforms to provide diverse opportunities for both writers and readers. I view these platforms not as competitors but as collaborators.

Having stepped back from my role in the boost nomination program, I will dedicate more time to interviews on both Medium and Substack.

Chapter 2: The Impact of Interview Stories on Audience Engagement

The first video titled "22 STAR METHOD Interview Questions and Answers" offers valuable insights into preparing for interviews, focusing on the STAR method to effectively showcase experiences and skills.

Continuing with my experiences, I planned to share a sample interview story to illustrate the disparity between performance metrics on Medium and Substack.

The Medium version of Wendi’s interview garnered only 55 reads, with 67 views from non-members who could access it through the friend link I provided. However, due to Medium's algorithm, no new readers could discover it unless I shared the direct link on social media.

Source from my Medium story.

Conversely, an identical post on Substack reached 22,774 subscribers, with 16,387 readers in just a few days. This number could grow as more people check their emails, aided by Substack's algorithm promoting it through various channels, including the mobile app.

An example of a successful interview includes my recent conversation with Tim Denning, a prominent writer known for his viral content on Medium, who now enjoys 50 times more views on Substack.

The same trend was evident in Tim’s interview, which received only 26 views on Medium but over 12,000 on Substack. Here are a few testimonials from readers that illustrate the impact of this interview.

A popular writer, Jerry Keszka, remarked:

Another new writer, Brother Bhunru, shared:

Retired cardiologist David Mokotoff, MD, stated:

A seasoned writer and avid reader, Mike Broadly, DHSc, commented:

Gill McCulloch, another established writer, noted:

Aiden, a media expert and friend of Medium, expressed:

Lanu Pitan, a dedicated reader, shared:

Lastly, author Waleed Mahmud Tariq commented:

Even an 80+ year old writer, Patrick O'Connell, remarked:

These testimonials highlight the positive impact of the interviews. I hope Medium staff will reconsider their stance on blocking interview stories, which can greatly inspire readers, similar to the engagement seen on Substack.

Tim Denning, a highly-followed Medium writer, summarizes his experience with Substack as follows:

"Everything about Substack is better than any other platform. We own our audience, and Substack doesn’t dictate our content. We can promote our Substack through social media, build a community with chat features, and communicate directly with readers. The platform supports native videos, podcasts, and audio narration of content. Most importantly, we control what gets paywalled, with Substack taking only 10%."

I do not compare platforms, as each has its unique strengths and weaknesses. My strategy is to bridge the two platforms, empowering writers through mentorship and community support.

Chapter 3: Creating a Supportive Community for Writers

I aim to foster a vibrant, interconnected network of writers across both platforms. I will empower this new community through a publication established by our editorial team.

In conclusion, writers and publication editors form the backbone of any content platform. They are as crucial as readers, creating compelling content that draws audiences. Medium is not merely a content hosting site; it is a global community, making it distinctive and competitive.

As the owner of multiple publications on Medium, my editorial team and I have dedicated substantial efforts to enhance visibility for writers over the past five years. I will continue to support writers through new initiatives on Substack and maintain a bridge between both platforms.

Thank you for reading and for your continued support in connecting with these writers and editors. Every share can lead to serendipitous discoveries.