Single source of you. Three ways a website amplifies your authority.
Stop diluting your message by scattering it all over the internet.
Do you post regularly on LinkedIn? Write an occasional newsletter to an email list? Or even produce regular Reels,TikToks or YouTube shorts?
If you do, I hope you have your content centralized on a website.
Why? Having your own website allows you do the following three things:
#1 Consolidate and amplify your message and authority
If someone comes across a stray piece of content on a platform and is compelled to dive deeper into what you do and what you have to offer, they have to follow you or go digging around to find your past posts. There’s friction involved; many won’t bother.
People have different content consumption preferences. Some may want to hear what you have to say on a podcast, others want to read a long form post and some may just want to know who you are and what you offer and go straight to an about or services page.
Your content tells a story, a narrative that builds your authority. If you scatter it across different platforms without a path back to a central location, you run the risk of fragmenting your overarching message.
#2 Control the narrative
By all means, post on as many platforms as you can; but remember: On your website you guide the story.
You can strategically guide people through your content. You tell visitors to ‘Start here’, ‘Download a chapter of my book’ , ‘Read these case studies’ as well as show them powerful testimonials.
And yes, you can direct your website visitors to your social media feeds and the content there - but on your terms, within a more complete context.
A strategically designed website allows you to do design this experience. You can tell the deeper story of who you are, what you offer and the impact and value it achieves.
#3 Avoid Digital Sharecropping
I see so many amazing thoughtful posts on LinkedIn and Instagram. I’m always stunned when I find that these posts also live on these platforms. In other words, they were written natively on the platform and don’t exist anywhere else.
For example. I started this post in Notion, then moved it over to this blog and will drip individual portions of it in different formats onto LinkedIn and Instagram. I’ll also share it in my email newsletter.
Not only am I squeezing every ounce of juice of this piece of content, I essentially have it stored in a database and can reference it with a quick search.
Most platforms, even hosted websites, have a basic CMS function that allows you to tag and search your own content. I find this very hard, if not impossible to do on LinkedIn, Instagram or even my email marketing platform.
It’s vital that you house your content — your intellectual property and thought leadership — on your own platform, not someone else’s. That way you can share, re-purpose and amplify as you — not an algorithm — see fit. YOU harvest the most value from your content, not a social media platform.
Single Source of Truth (SSOT) is a term used in information science and technology referring to a method of storing data in only one place so that each piece of data is mastered and or edited in one place.
Obviously you can and should publish content on multiple platforms; tweaking and editing to fit each one. But this content must emanate from one instance; a Single Source of You (SSOY), and that’s your website.
Want to talk about building your own SSOY? Book some time on my calendar for a no-obligation conversation: