Why I'm publishing every day on my personal website

I’m publishing something new every day, until June 30.

I already have a Substack and a few social networks which begs the question: why am I sharing these posts here?

I’m leaning into a strategy known as POSSE—Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.

The primary reason is that I control the content by sharing it here first. I retain all ownership and I am not subject to the trials and tribulations of other websites closing down or minor algorithmic changes wiping out segments of my audience.

I registered this domain in 2006! I’ve had various spin-off websites, but I’ve always kept it alive. That means Google trusts me. A lot of people find me (as a coach) through Google—it’s where my business arrives. 75% of my visitors come through organic search. Sharing more posts here will help grow my presence, increasing the number of ways people can find me and get some value.

It’s also fun to have executive control over your own website: typography, design and platform. I use a static-site generator called Hugo and host the website on GitHub Pages. It costs nothing except the domain renewals. And all I have to do to publish is commit and push to GitHub. This is a joyful publishing experience. I feel close to the ground.

POSSE is not all peachy: you have to work harder to get people to your website. Other networks punish you for external linking. I’m still learning how to best manage this and it varies per network.

I did consider sending each of these daily posts out through Substack. But daily is too frequent and less aligned with the Substack ethos.

However, I will send out a weekly summary of the best bits—you can sign up for that here. Juggling all of this will be too complex long-term, but I’m starting first and simplifying later.

Mostly I just love being able to rapidly share things on a platform I own, whilst accruing increasing interest over time.

See you tomorrow.