Control Your Content or Go Out of Business

I am convinced that some people have self-destructive personalities. And I don’t mean the individual who overeats or drinks too much, or the person who recklessly races down the freeway.

Rather, this self-destructive personality is the writer who relies exclusively on third parties to host their content, including articles, photos and other user-generated material that can simply go away in just a moment.

Last month, I wrote “Why Giving Up Blogging May Be Your Worst Decision,” to touch on the importance of maintaining your own site(s). Today, I am going to get specific on how your most valuable content can quickly disappear.

Am I being an alarmist? I’ll let you decide. However, the facts are clear that when you post material to a website or service that you do not control, then you risk having that information deleted, changed or used for purposes other than what you intended.

1. Terms of service. I read recently where a controversial website that was dedicated to exposing the lies of another organization was suddenly shut down. That website seemed to be telling the truth, but it was hosted on WordPress.com, a free blog hosting site managed by the makers of that powerful content management system. The blog’s opponents seized upon WordPress’ “terms of service,” which clearly spell out that “hate speech” is not allowed. The term “hate speech” is loosely defined, but if someone does not like what you have to say and complains to the right source, then your material can be removed. Fortunately for the owners, they had a database backup and were able to transfer their blog to a private hosting company. Others are not so lucky.

2. Rules are changed. Again. The popularity of Facebook is evident with more than 800 million global users registered as we begin 2012. Its strength and influence cannot be denied, but Facebook has lulled legions of users into pouring all of their resources into its vast pit of accumulated content, material that becomes the property of Facebook. Contributing to Facebook isn’t wrong, but it should never be your primary way of reaching your customers or the people you influence. Even if you delete your Facebook account, the process is not an easy one and your information may remain on Facebook’s servers.

3. Strong platforms fade. Facebook has supplanted MySpace in social media and Google has conquered Yahoo in web search. As difficult as it is to imagine either of these newer platforms being overtaken by an emerging entity, that possibility always exists. Back in the 1990s, message boards and forums ruled, and were destinations unto themselves. Users freely shared valuable information that took countless hours to write. Many of those sites are now gone and the content its contributors submitted has long disappeared. You may be satisfied with your content’s short term influence, but if you want what you write to last for the long haul, then only the sites you control can ensure its continued visibility.

4. Your shortened links no longer work. Besides the content you write, the links you share via social media should be of critical importance to you. Those links can attract new clients and be useful for years to come. However, if a link shortener’s service shuts down, then your links will go away with it. Use a stable link shortening platform, particularly one that allows you to track analytics. I recently started using Google’s goo.gl shortener and am impressed by what this service has to offer.

Extreme reliance on others to host your content can adversely impact your business, perhaps forcing you to close up shop. Even if the hit is only temporary, you’ll lose valuable time and will need to expend resources to retrieve what you have lost. I dobut that you can afford to take such a hit nor should you.

My Twitter Story: How Tweeting Landed Me a Gig

Twitter is a lot of nonsense, right? A few years ago I would have said yes. I’ve since learned that Twitter has a reason for being, one that has landed me at least one gig and has helped me to connect with people I might otherwise never had met.

I think there are a lot of Twitter users who have had similar experiences to mine.

I wrote the title to this article last March, just days after landing the gig. I put off writing it until now as I’ve been super busy with various projects including the one that brought in new business for me. My last article posted here was two months ago — never before have I gone so long between posts ever since launching this site nearly six years ago.

Twitter Gig

The gig that I got lasted just over four months, shorter than what I had expected. Yet, it was a job that came my way because the woman who hired me saw my automotive tweets via @theautowriter, one of several Twitter handles I manage. This account is linked to my main website at autotrends.org, my flagship car site that showcases my work.

Following being contacted for the gig, I submitted the required paperwork and began to write. I averaged two articles per week at $50 per article. The rate seems low, but the articles took me about one hour to write. When all was said and done, I pulled in $1,700 all because of someone who found my tweets.

More Contacts

I’ve also been found by other people in the automotive industry who were also tracking my tweets. Although those connections haven’t yielded new work, each one has raised my visibility. Importantly, at client expense, I’ve been flown to Detroit, San Francisco and to Ohio for automotive related events.

Those events have allowed me to test drive vehicles or see new products before these hit the market. Moreover, I made additional connections with other journalists including one that I believe will eventually yield fresh work. Again, this is all because of Twitter.

Social Media

These days, I’ve largely abandoned all of my other social media platforms including my long-term favorite, StumbleUpon. SU is still decent, but I need to keep my irons in fires that yield solid results. Sure, a surge of traffic to my websites is always welcome, but more important is the work that I get from my contacts, particularly through tweeting.

LinkedIn is beneficial to me for business, Facebook is ideal for family contacts, but nothing else out there seems to be worth my while.

That’s okay, because when it comes to tweeting, the proof is in the work I’ve gotten, the trips I’ve taken and the new contacts I’ve made.

Does Twitter rock? It certainly does in my world!