Most experts start publishing wherever signing up is easiest, and maybe a blog on your own domain takes longer to set up, but it is the only option on that list that is yours and that you own.
This is step 3 of the content path in Content That Builds Authority for Experts, hub page, and by the end you will know where to put your first articles and what to check before you commit to a place.
The place you publish decides who owns the audience
I recently watched an Instagram creator with more than 2 million followers and no email list beg us to buy her products. Her Amazon book sales went from about 1,000 a day eighteen months ago to zero in the last few months and because all her eggs were on platforms she didn't own she decided to reach out and ask us for help.
That's why this step comes before any posting schedule, because I want you to decide where the content lives first, then decide where to talk about it.
What a blog at your own address gives you
The address stays yours. A post on a platform sits under that platform's name and rules and an article on your domain sits under yours.
Search can find it. A post in a feed moves down the page within days and an article on your own site can be found by someone typing the question into a search box next month or next year.
The signup form sits next to the article. A reader who finishes reading your content can join your list in the same place.
You choose what goes beside it: a worksheet, a booking link, a product.
Of course it's not all sunshine and roses. Your own blog also means you have to make the effort to get readers to it and that is a task that takes regular effort. Making sure your content is unique, that it shows your authority, and that it provides enough of a unique perspective that the Google Gods will choose to index you. Having zero people read your content as opposed to being on a platform where readers are already there and waiting for new content means I totally understand why people rush to a platform.
But there is a bigger picture and it's one that includes having a body of work that people don't have to hunt to find. All in one place, on a domain that is helping me build my personal brand.
I am not anti-platforms or anti-anything. I love platforms because people can find me on them. I just wouldn't hand over my whole business to them because I have seen countless accounts shut down and people lose their hard work.
Where Instagram and other platforms fit
I post on Instagram as me, my own opinions, not necessarily to promote this site but there is a link to it so anyone interested in the content I put on there can come here and visit. Instagram is a road and my site is where the road ends.
I have no audience on this site yet, so the number I watch is signups.
8 signups in a day beats 20 likes and 8 comments with zero list joins.
Diane Corriette
The same goes for video: views are nice, signups from the video are what matter most to me, especially while I am fairly new to YouTube anyway. As I grow on there I hope to grow my own email list as a result.
Four checks I recommend before you choose a place
Before you choose where to publish
- Does the address belong to you?A domain you registered, not a page under someone else's name.
- Can you put a signup form next to every article? Readers who finish should be able to join your list on the same page.
- Can you take your articles with you if you move? Check that you can export them.
- Can you add one line of code to every page? Interactive blocks such as checklists and quizzes need it. On WordPress.com that is only possible on the higher plans, and on Substack or Medium it is not possible at all.
If you want your readers to tick, write or score themselves on the page, see Interactive Content Blocks.
What to do this week
Choose your place
- Which one place will your articles live?Write down the address.
- What is the first article you will put there?Put it there before you post about it anywhere else.
If you are not sure what that first article should say, the free Non-Commodity Content Builder takes you through six stages and gives you four files to guide your writing. Your answers stay in your browser.
Once the article is up, step 4 is Give it a structure. If you are a coach, Content That Builds Authority for Life Coaches shows the same method for coaching.
