Trust your cheating Ex, but never an online Platform
Let’s say you continuously keep on creating content & publishing it every day for the next year; it’s a total of 366 days, which means 366 content (any format).
It’s a huge number, by the way. If you did this, I am jealous of you and green with envy 😁.
In the end, what would make you happy if you look back?
- That you published your content on Medium, YouTube, LinkedIn or Twitter. Or
- You published your content on your platform.
If you choose the first, I’m afraid I have to disagree with you because instead of building your own house in your backyard, you are building a Palace in someone else’s backyard.
Sure it’s grand but let’s be real is it yours?
Please don’t take me wrong; I believe you need to share your content on these platforms because that’s how you get Discovered. And there is a reason why content distribution plays a huge role in content strategy.
Playing the game of content distribution is not wrong; this is how you get discovered.
But many times, many creators make the mistake of trusting the platform more than their capability and skills. Think about it: you are the reason the audience is there; your effort in creating content makes these platforms interesting.
Think about it: You don’t browse YouTube because it has great ads coming in between, but because of some YouTubers you find worth watching.
Creating your platform becomes a necessity if you are someone who has their voice, style, opinions, or a way that makes you stand out. Because often, these platforms boost content based on their “Marketability” rather than quality.
So, if you are particularly interested in talking about a topic that very minute audiences are interested in, you have to create your hub; there is no other way around.
And it’s not just my random rant; there are countless examples worldwide where platforms start catering only to the needs of investors.
At any point, there comes a stage where it’s time to earn profit. Though it starts working against those companies, they have no choice but to do it.
Perfect Global Example: UPWORK
Skilled & filtered Freelancers, who by the way are the product of Upwork, had made Upwork. Not their management team or marketing team. Though they did play a huge role, at the end Upwork got so huge it’s because they had skilled freelancers delivering cutting-edge services to the clients.
Now I know, that Upwork as a platform is a company to earn profit, and they are honest about it. And already by building a platform (which takes a lot of money to build and resources to get the system oil and running) which gave many freelancers a platform to build the business.
But what happened at the end?
For the last 1 year; they have stopped the earlier strategy where freelancers had the right to write proposals but instead now freelancers have to buy credit to pitch for the jobs. And those credits are so expensive that a person starting their career in Upwork struggles a lot.
And this is not the only problem for newcomers but the ones who are already recognized freelancers are struggling too.
In India, it’s a similar saga where many brands first offered great offerings to newcomers but once they started relying on them and were caught woven in their fake promises, boom now they have started exploiting them.
Brands like Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, etc. They are all the same.
They are exploiting delivery men and cab riders by extensively dropping even fare minimum wages.
Now you don’t have to drop everything and start building your platform from day 0, but you should realize how important it is to start focusing on building it.
If you are dedicating 100% of your time and resources to these platforms, start by building your citadel side by side. Give at least 40% of your effort in making your palace.
In simple words just like these online platforms are greedy, you should be like them and use these platforms to get initial traction and use their wider audience but at the same time start building your own home in your backyard, even all you can do right now is to collect bricks.
P.S: I often change my views & opinions when confronted with the truth. And I am proud of that. So, I am open to constructive criticism & feedback.
