More Thoughts on Owning Content & Where It’s Hosted
Countless times I’ve made the point that blogging and content is best done on your own site and domain because you own it. And, unlike posting on a platform or domain that you don’t own, you make the rules and no one can take that content away from you.
Thomas Baekdal recently offered some more detailed and nuanced thoughts on the topic of owning vs. renting content on social channels. He goes into video, blogging, blog comments and more. On the subject of blogging, he makes the same point I’ve made before, when he says this about free services like Blogger or WordPress.com:
It’s the same problem with the free services. While they do technically provide the tools needed, they don’t provide the longevity. When creating long term content, you have to be able to rely on the platform. That means owning the platform (and the domain).
But he goes on to talk about Adidas, the shoe company, which isn’t focused so much on creating long-term content as it is on “quick chunks of ‘inspiration’ about their products.” So the social element is more important and it makes sense for Adidas to use Tumblr (in addition to having its own “owned” blog). The main point he makes is this:
“… your strategy of where you should be depends on what you create, and the purpose of that content.”
As much as I believe in content ownership, I do agree with that point — sometimes the type of content and goal is more appropriate for non-owned channels. But for long-term success, which is the main concern is just about everything I write about, you still need to own the content and platform/channel.
Anyway, Thomas’ article is really good and well worth the time to read: Rented or Owned: Where To Focus Your Brand Content.
Unless I am explicitly giving a site permission to use my content ie. a guest post, I never release my best stuff without my name on it. The idea of hosting my best work on a site like squidoo or something else just rubs me the wrong way. I would never try to promote something in the long term when I do not own the platform its hosted on.
That is an interesting twist on the old adage that you should own all of your content. This is the first good reason I have ever heard for posting content on a site where you loose ownership. Some social sites will give the temporary buzz that certain businesses seek.
You can really benefit from communicating to customers in a familiar way. If they happen to be twitter fans or maybe facebook junkies, then communicating to them via the platform of their choosing dictates the tone of the conversation, or article piece you put out. For instance, facebook might be more warm and fuzzy, whereas Linkedin would be more professional or behance might be more artistic and SEOMOZ would be scientific and industry targeted.