Here at Blacknight we’re advocates of social media. We use it a lot, both for our business as well as personally. We’ve even started offering a suite of tools to help small businesses manage their social media presence. However “social” is NOT the answer to everything. Social media networks rise and fall. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others are all trying to make money. And if you aren’t paying them directly then you are the product.
Why does this matter?
It’s all about control.
If you are a small business starting out we can understand why you might opt to use “social” only, but we’d warn you that it’s not a good idea. Not at all.
What happens when the social network changes their algorithm?
What happens when your posts are removed without warning?
What happens when your images are deemed “unacceptable”? (And they don’t need to be that salacious to be considered problematic by the rather prudish social networks)
What happens when your Facebook page is shutdown without warning?
What about when nobody sees any of your posts?
There are a lot of positives to using social media – we’re not denying that. But unless you have your own website and custom domain name you will never truly be master of your own destiny. You’ll always be at the mercy of someone else.
You can read more in the release we put out this morning here.
Short version:
Get your own domain name and setup your own email and website. It’s not that hard to do these days – the tools are available!
You can choose a domain name extension that suits your business or personality. You don’t need to restrict yourself to .com or .ie domains – there are literally hundreds of great domain name extensions to choose from!