alt Hacker NewsI have friends dealing with this very problem. They strongly believe in and agree that they should build in their own kingdom. They hate the platforms and all the ways in which they are bad.
But they are small business owners. They make their living entirely based on digital visibility. They need to get their message out to where the eyeballs are. They may try to get people to subscribed directly to their e-mail newsletter, but that's not enough. Most people find them on Instagram, Twitter, etc. If they delete those accounts, as they would like to, their business will be in deep trouble almost immediately.
Web discoverability has had the same dilemma since its inception. People only remember and actively engage with a few things. A search engine, some media platforms, some communities they are involved in, etc. If a link appears in one of those places it's extremely visible. If a web page does not show up in one of those places, discovering it is next to impossible. What are they going to do, guess the URL?
How can someone get some amount of visibility on the web without putting anything in anyone else's kingdom? Even someone following the POSSE model (post on own site, syndicate elsewhere) is extremely dependent on the elsewhere if they want to be visibility. Without the elsewheres to syndicate to, they will build an empty and isolated kingdom.
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Well, there's always good old fashioned off-line visibility, if your small business friends want to experience real worthless crap.
If you do your work, it's not hard to get good visibility on Google and other search engines. The key is this: If you're selling product X or service Y, you need to make your website the very best resource imaginable for information about it and with an as easy purchase process as possible – with good terms to boot.
But most small business owners are completely uninterested in that, and instead spend their days spamming social media and paying for ads to bring visitors to their website that turns potential customers away instantly.
The article didn’t say you should delete all your social media accounts or never post content there…
Build your castle in the kingdom that gives you the best game-theoretic outcome, but always keep in mind that it's not your kingdom.
Advertising on multiple platforms is a little less risky than building the entire business on, being able to publish to the App Store.