This piece first appeared in the new edition of In Treehouses. It’s all about the social web, and you can pick up your own copy for free right here.
A freedom business is all about self-reliance. If you have a big-ticket client calling all the shots, then you’re never truly free.
The same goes for the content you create.
If you’re publishing constantly to Google+ or to Twitter without having your own home base, you become reliant on them.
Look at the SEO-reliant niche site owners who are put into a desperate panic every time Google changes its algorithm. Rather than building their own audience, they’re trying to trick the system and take a shortcut.
Trouble is, a multinational company is in charge of that system, meaning your niche site is Google’s plaything. They can change things whenever and however they want.
But if you instead spend all that ‘shortcut’ time building your own platform, you earn independence.
Build an audience through a blog, a podcast, a forum, or a newsletter, and you can take that audience with you, wherever you go.
One of the great things about building your own business is that you’re not fire-able. Someone can’t come in tomorrow and make you redundant at a moment’s notice. In much the same way, you can’t switch off an audience. Twitter could disappear tomorrow, but if you’ve cultivated your own following on your own platform, you’ll be just fine.
Use the social networks, sure, but don’t become reliant upon them. They’re just tools to help you connect with people.
The real win is when you turn those people into fans, who’ll follow you wherever you go.