Use your own domain and be in control of your destiny
Using social media or other 3rd-party platforms to increase your reach is a good idea. What's not a good idea is using them as the home for your online presence.
That's why you should own a domain.
In this article, I'll tell you the advantages of buying a domain to create a website.
Yes, you can make a living on other platforms and even earn millions. But you'll never be in control. Instead, you'll be at the mercy of a ban or change in the rules to lose your revenue.
So, you should diversify and control your online destiny.
See why you should start to build a website now.
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links are affiliates. This means that if you buy after clicking on one of those, I get a commission at no additional cost for you.
Tl;dr
Your website should be your home base.
Start on social media to build an audience, then bring your audience to your website.
Having a website and email list is a wise decision.
Building a website with good SEO value is a long-term play.
You don't have to share revenue on your website.
Censorship resistant
On social media and 3rd-party platforms, bans can happen at any time and without warning.
So, avoiding this type of censorship is the most significant benefit of buying a domain.
For example, even when companies don't want to host your website, you can set up a physical server and put the website online again.
Basically, when you buy a domain, you can only be banned by breaking the law. This usually happens with the court demanding internet service providers and other entities block website access.
This leads to the next point.
Better control
On your website, there is no algorithm to chase or satisfy.
Some could argue that we must satisfy the Google algorithm. But Google itself doesn't control your website, only its discoverability in the search results.
So remember, you control 100% of the content allowed on the website.
Also, how to make money with it is under your control. You can choose ads, memberships, affiliate products, digital products, services, or any combination of those.
Your website should be a place for your audience to connect and communicate with you. If you combine a community with email communication, you can achieve deep connections with them.
SEO benefits
Using your domain is an intelligent decision for SEO in the long term.
Each backlink will increase your domain authority. Search engines see this as a trust signal from other websites.
Even if you move from one platform to another. This allows you to can keep the site authority and traffic the same with proper configuration.
Don't underestimate the power of search engines sending traffic to your website. It can reach thousands or even millions!
The total volume of searches is growing every year, and this is a free traffic source.
This person did an experiment by posting the same content on Ghost and Substack. The result was surprising. Ghost brought more traffic with fewer updates and less work.
This shows the power of SEO and why Ghost is better than Substack.
The end of shared revenue
When making money with your website, 100% of the revenue is yours by default. The only fees you have to account for are for payment processors.
These fees will be around 3,5% to 5%, in most cases. This is a massive difference from the 10%, 20%, or 30% practiced on other platforms.
There is membership software that takes a commission even on your website. But that's not always the case, and you can choose not to work with them.
I like Ghost CMS because it takes 0% commission from memberships, and I can send posts by email for members.
I consider it an advantage to use a platform with revenue sharing when they increase your reach.
So, by helping you reach more people, they give you more possibilities that weren't available before.
An example could be a marketplace. If buyers are there, you can sell more, even with a lower cut of the pie. Remember, this is a short-term play.
This is why I'll talk to you know about the short and long-term views.
Short-term vs long-term
As I said before, you can make a lot of money on other platforms. So this gives a good business opportunity with a low barrier to start.
However, you should aim to overtime gain control over your revenue streams.
In the beginning, you should give a 60/40 priority to increase your reach on other platforms. I'm talking about YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, Facebook, or Medium.
These places' discoverability is excellent to show your work and build a relationship with an audience.
After you start building momentum, you should see if the platform you're in is trying to lock you in. How do you know this? See if you can export followers (members or how it's called there), contacts, and billing information. If you can't export this, you're locked in.
To avoid being locked in, you should start with creating a mailing list. This will give a direct communication channel between you and your followers.
As a general rule, you should put around 40% of your efforts into your website from day 1. This is a long-term play. And as you grow your audience and website visitors, focus more and more efforts there.
If you do things right, the content you post there will grow over several months. To do things right, learn about SEO or have someone help you with it.
It will take a lot of time to build momentum, but your website gives you control. Also, it can become a habit for your audience to visit your website.
One tip to attract more visitors to your website and email list is offering exclusive stuff in these channels. For example, exclusive content, promotions, extended support for services, extra features if they buy directly, etc.
Give your best stuff on your website!
Final considerations
Starting on other platforms is easier to start, create a follower base and generate revenue. However, it's a risky decision to focus all attention there.
So, be wise and buy a domain to build your website.
Also, using your domain increases resistance to bans from 3rd-party platforms.
The SEO benefits and controlling the content of the website are vital for a sustainable online presence.
All this combined can help you make more money. Mainly because you don't have to pay hefty commissions.
There are many cases of successful creators making a living on rented platforms. But there are also many stories of people being banned, thus losing their revenue source.
Be aware of the risks involved in using those platforms. Of course, you should leverage them, but always have your website has the north start.
And if you want to create a content membership website, start using Ghost today by clicking on the link below.
