Why You Need Your Own Website
YouTube was in the news again today.
They are under fire for “allowing” the exploitation of minors. While they did a good job addressing the problem last year when it comes to actual videos posted, now there is concern with comments that are being posted on otherwise normal content. But therein lies the issue…
YouTube’s solution has been to put the burden on the channel owner to monitor their own comments section. This can be a challenge because, while you do have the option to disable comments completely, there is no setting for monitoring or moderation prior to posting like there is in WordPress. And with the sometimes hundreds or even thousands of comments freely posted, YouTube’s attempts to limit their liability put an enormous burden on the creators.
Moreover, the problem has become such a concern that even long-time advertisers are pulling their YouTube accounts. So, now you have a situation where even creators doing nothing wrong are potentially losing revenue through no fault of their own.
Now, I am not advocating anyone endorse such exploitation. Far from it. My point is that this is another instance of why you need your own website. A lot of people use platforms such as Facebook or YouTube as their base of operations. And yet, with such platforms you as a user have little to no control.
How many times has Facebook made changes that seriously affect how can use the service? How many such changes have we gone through with YouTube?
With your own website, you have 100% control. You control the content. You control the comments. You control everything. And if for some reason your hosting company changes its policies and you no longer like the service you’re getting, you can simply move your site to another host.
The main reason I bring this up is that I have actually heard the argument inside Wealthy Affiliate that $49 is too much, particularly when a person can just operate from Facebook or YouTube for free. Personally, given the history of both companies (and other social media outlets), I think $49 is a small price to pay to know that I won’t wake up in the morning only to find out my entire business was taken away by someone in Silicon Valley while I slept.
Recent Comments
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If we ply our trade on someone else's platform we are indeed subject to their rules and at times arbitrary regulations and policies.
Being aware of that can be really helpful.
I have to agree with you AJ, owing our own website is like building on bed rock.
A solid foundation,
Alex
It is great to have control over what comes under your website or social media handle. It limits the damage to your business by those with ill motives.
You are right to say that the price we pay is worth it to keep our integrity.
Amen, brother. When it comes right down to it, our integrity is all we have in this business. Thanks for your reply. :-)
Great observation!
That's right! With our own website
we control our business and we are not at the
mercy of a technician who could close our
account because he/she will have decided.
Let's keep control of our life!
Have a nice weekend.
Ingrid
A website is needed to brand yourself and your business. If you are looking for only a piece of product Facebook is okay.
I agree to a point. Social media platforms as well as our own websites are tools to achieve different things.
My YouTube site has over 13K subscribers and almost 8 million views. I totally agree that it is impossible for me to review all the comments made on the videos I post even if I spent all day checking them out.
YouTube does have a feature where comments are somehow checked and a message is sent to me to review these comments to approve or disapprove. I have used this and it works fine for me.
I totally agree we need our own websites. But that should not be to the exclusion of having our FB, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram as long as we are aware of the pitfalls.
Thanks for the tip.
Agreed. I apologize if it appeared that I'm recommending that we not use social media at all. Nothing could be further from the truth. Only that we do just that: USE it as an additional tool.
I am certainly not advocating we abandon it altogether. But it should not be our primary base of operation because, as we are seeing all the time, they hold all the cards. One small change could potentially wipe out years of hard work.
Thanks for clarifying your point. I totally agree with you.
My feel is social media should be used to create interest by responding to like minded posts in a positive way. Once members there see you as a cheerleader they will follow you and comment on your posts, Little by little trust will build. Once that happens any recommendations you make that solves a problem will be given due consideration.
Eventually you will find that the business you have created will solve some members problems. Now when you suggest that as a solution they will know you are genuine and not trying to recruit them.
Rushing this process will be counterproductive. Patience is the key.
Thanks for bringing up this important topic!
$49 is small change compared to the over $20K I lost on being scammed out of products and programs that never worked. I've spent more than that on training alone. Anywhere else and this would cost $500 month and if they want I can point them in this direction. This is a blessing compared to other programs.
Danny
With 25 domains included, the hosting alone is worth the price even without the training and community support. I was spending at least that much just on Hostgator alone for all of my sites. Definitely worth every penny in my book.
I absolutely agree AJ. You never know when another service out of your control will change their rules.
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Hi AJ. You make some very good points. We have yet to get into YouTube (although we have every intention of doing so in a big way) and are currently working on our Facebook page. However, we know the backbone of our online business will always be our website. As you said, it is the one thing we have complete control over and can always rely on.
Colette and Philip
Sounds great. Keep us posted on your progress. :-)