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The only way to protect against commercial deplatforming is to promote and sell through your own website, with a choice of payment processors. It's hard work b
by dingaling 8y ago
The only way to protect against commercial deplatforming is to promote and sell through your own website, with a choice of payment processors.
It's hard work but there's really nothing else to say.
Every other presence should be considered as a disposable inbound funnel. Instagram or Twitter deleted you? Start a new account and link back to your website again.
- tzfld 8y agoThere are so many stories lately with deplatformings and how troll attack prone are these platforms that it's inexplicable to me how many business owners still relying heavily on these platforms and not having a b plan.
- robryan 8y agoAs much as possible but it is never perfect as you always depend on someone. Organic search rankings, Google/Facebook ad accounts, PayPal (in ecommerce at least I think you probably give up some sales if you can't offer it). It is always tempting to sink time into the platforms as well to increase volume even if it is a risk.
- ahmedalsudani 8y agoWhenever I read this advice, I can't help but feel it's futile. Do you realize how hard it is to gain people's attention without being on one of the major platforms? How do you get people to come to your website, to trust your service and give you their credit card details? How do you accept payments? You have to use something like PayPal or Stripe, also platforms which can ban you for any (or no) reason. The economics are unworkable, and platforms are unavoidable. This is our new reality.
- dangravell 8y agoDepends what you mean by "platform", and it might depend on what you are selling, but other channels you might want to look at are SEO, discussion forums, integration marketing etc. Take a look at the book "Traction".
- inapis 8y agoYou might have to use the big platforms to gain traction initially but as soon as you get a decent following and a customer base you should start hedging your risks. Any of these companies can pull the rug from underneath you. Especially critical if the business is your livelihood and not just a side project.
- ams6110 8y agoI prefer buying from individual websites. I've never had a problem doing that. Buying on Amazon, I've gotten misrepresented items several times.
- megous 8y ago> How do you get people to come to your website, to trust your service and give you their credit card details? There are several ecommerce website aggregators and search engines, where you can hook up your website (export product list via XML) and promote your products. You don't need to handle ccard info at all. You can use direct bank-bank money transfer, or use post office to get you the money from the customer on delivery. Post office is regulated and can't refuse you service. > You have to use something like PayPal or Stripe No you don't. There are many other options, individual banks and other third parties offer payment gateways (where you can accept credit cards). I know about at least 6 common ones, and I'm sure there are more. Not US. Economics of this clearly work well enough. It's so weird. I live in a country that's 30x smaller population than US, and we seemingly have more ways (that are workable and widely used), to help sellers sell their stuff in an independent way, deliver it, and accept payments for it, without being dependent on semi-monopolistic unregulated third parties like PayPal or Amazon.
- AznHisoka 8y agoThis. Exactly this. This whole “stop relying on third party” is a silly meme that sounds nice and fluffly on the surface, but impractical when you dig into it.
- pixl97 8y agohttps://theoatmeal.com/comics/reaching_people https://theoatmeal.com/comics/reaching_people The Oatmeal sums this up very well.