Can You Really Outsource Your Blog Audience? Why You Need to Take Control of Your Online Platform

[MD.com]

In a new case study published to the MD blog, Jake O'Callaghan shares his experiences with trying to grow an audience on social media platforms like Medium. Is it truly possible to build dedicated fans by trickling in readers from crowded platforms, or is there a better way?

It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” — Invictus

You got in this because you desire freedom.

The freedom to make money on your own terms, the freedom to realize your own vision, and the freedom to build something with impact.

To stay true to these ambitions, you must retain control.

Read the full article on MD.com

 

[Alex]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with writing for Medium. I have talked to many bloggers over the years who use Medium either exclusively or to republish their blog posts, and both sides reasoning is to expose their content to viewers they never would have had otherwise.

As we are all marketers this makes sense, but it comes at the cost of cheapening your own brand in the long run. You are essentially playing "rent an audience" and while you may get genuine converts, you are essentially sending traffic that isn't truly targeted to your site. How is that any different than sending a fleet of bots to your page just to get your analytics up?

When it comes to growing a blog I don't think the fundamentals that have always worked will ever change—write consistent and quality content, build an email list, participate in other sites blog comments and other kinds of networking, and guest posting on relevant sites (exclusively, not republish).

Very thought provoking stuff here as usual Jake, eager to hear from others!

 

[Ray]

Well said, Jake.
Marketers should always view Social Media as a vehicle and not a destination for their audience.

 

[Jake O'Callaghan]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with writing for Medium. I have talked to many bloggers over the years who use Medium either exclusively or to republish their blog posts, and both sides reasoning is to expose their content to viewers they never would have had otherwise.

As we are all marketers this makes sense, but it comes at the cost of cheapening your own brand in the long run. You are essentially playing "rent an audience" and while you may get genuine converts, you are essentially sending traffic that isn't truly targeted to your site. How is that any different than sending a fleet of bots to your page just to get your analytics up?

When it comes to growing a blog I don't think the fundamentals that have always worked will ever change—write consistent and quality content, build an email list, participate in other sites blog comments and other kinds of networking, and guest posting on relevant sites (exclusively, not republish).

Very thought provoking stuff here as usual Jake, eager to hear from others!

It seems like such a good idea on paper, but - as is often the case with social media too - doesn't well work in practice. Or, at the very least, marketing in other ways provides more value to your business.

I really like your 2nd paragraph. I think this is something every entrepreneur should keep in mind. Targeting is everything. Quality over quantity.

I also agree about the fundamentals. It's really easy to get sucked into time-sinks that cause us to stray from what really matters. It's so easy to think "this won't hurt," but our time is previous. We should be ruthless optimizing our marketing.

I love MD because it's all business. There are no gimmicks or a million features that hardly make a difference. It gets the funadamentals down better than any other theme so users get tangible results.