4 ms·

Creators Should Move to Their Own Domains and Set Up Direct Monetization

40 points by danielrm26 6y ago

waynesonfire 6y ago
content creators are busy creating content and that's their specialty--not IT support. As long as there are content creators there will be demand for platforms to support them; whether it takes the shape of fully managed / self managed SaaS, a self-hosted open source solution, or even a custom solution--isn't what content creators are spending their energy on. not sure what the issue is. it's a great time to be a content creator. I guess haters are going to hate.
- dpc_pw 6y ago
  It's all great, until you get arbitrarily blocked and the platform cuts you off your audience. Then it's too late.
  - haunter 6y ago
    What makes you think you can't get erased from internet if you host your own? Unless you roll your own IPS you are always susceptible to some outside force. Your IPS can terminate your contract, your domain registar can do the same (of course you don't _need_ a domain you can just use an IP address) etc. Yes you cou can make it less but it's never out of question.
    - 10000truths 6y ago
      You can make it very difficult to be erased from the Internet if you set up your infrastructure in such a way that you can easily switch providers. Your cloud provider shuts you off? Host your stuff with another cloud provider! Your domain registrar charges you too much? Transfer your domain to another registrar! Your existing payment processor sucks? Switch to a different one! And so on and so forth.
    - dpc_pw 6y ago
      In practice chance of being banned by the content platforms is many orders of magnitude higher than having any issues with infrastructure companies. To get your DNS banned ... I don't even know what is necessary. Court order maybe. Not something that one company can do on a whim. Companies like Google have random algorithms banning people for no good reason (not even touching any questionable content), and then getting it straight is a pain.
- jseliger 6y ago
  I was just going to say something similar: having registered domains, set up hosts, set up email accounts, and so forth, it's a giant pain in the ass, and it's easy to get stuck or do things wrong at various steps—which is why Substack exists, and Wordpress, and many others. I agree with the writer in theory, but, in practice, having done what he's advocating, it's a huge challenge the first time one does it.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    There is a middle ground though isn’t there? Substack could support creators buying a domain through them and hosting content on that domain. If a creator decides to leave, they keep their brand, their audience, and their content. The problem isn’t the infra, it’s that we need standards to support more portability. Remember when you couldn’t take your mobile number to a new provider?
  - renewiltord 6y ago
    It's actually really easy these days. Most platforms (but not Substack) do offer custom domains and if you go through Google Domains they'll forward your mail through a very easy to setup UI. I'd say the domain is the brand you want to retain and then you don't self-host anything. Set up your domain to 302 to your substack and you've got one thing.
    - olliej 6y ago
      I wouldn’t touch google domains with a ten foot pole due to the high probably of them being killed.
      - renewiltord 6y ago
        It's just a domain. Shifting it over is a well-understood process. I think you're missing out by doing this because the product is fantastic, but you have your own evaluation of what's valuable I'm sure.
ArkVark 6y ago
The problem with many of these marketplaces is that they charge VAT to buyers, even if the creator is below the threshold for VAT registration.
bjoernw 6y ago
you could also use something like https://coil.com https://coil.com to monetize your content and get paid in realtime based on views
atemerev 6y ago
The elephant in the room is exposure. Medium mixes and matches articles to automatically expose the most interesting stories to the most interested readers. If you set up your own domain, you are on your own.
- olliej 6y ago
  People are clearly able to set up Patreon etc without using medium. Medium seems hellbent on profiting from free work by creators.
  - atemerev 6y ago
    Again — it’s not about monetary compensation, it is about exposure and visibility.
freddyym 6y ago
Interesting take, but I'd use librapay/fosspay or the Open Collective over the platforms that he recommends.

40 points by danielrm26 6y ago

content creators are busy creating content and that's their specialty--not IT support. As long as there are content creators there will be demand for platforms to support them; whether it takes the shape of fully managed / self managed SaaS, a self-hosted open source solution, or even a custom solution--isn't what content creators are spending their energy on. not sure what the issue is. it's a great time to be a content creator. I guess haters are going to hate.

dpc_pw 6y ago
It's all great, until you get arbitrarily blocked and the platform cuts you off your audience. Then it's too late.
- haunter 6y ago
  What makes you think you can't get erased from internet if you host your own? Unless you roll your own IPS you are always susceptible to some outside force. Your IPS can terminate your contract, your domain registar can do the same (of course you don't _need_ a domain you can just use an IP address) etc. Yes you cou can make it less but it's never out of question.
  - 10000truths 6y ago
    You can make it very difficult to be erased from the Internet if you set up your infrastructure in such a way that you can easily switch providers. Your cloud provider shuts you off? Host your stuff with another cloud provider! Your domain registrar charges you too much? Transfer your domain to another registrar! Your existing payment processor sucks? Switch to a different one! And so on and so forth.
  - dpc_pw 6y ago
    In practice chance of being banned by the content platforms is many orders of magnitude higher than having any issues with infrastructure companies. To get your DNS banned ... I don't even know what is necessary. Court order maybe. Not something that one company can do on a whim. Companies like Google have random algorithms banning people for no good reason (not even touching any questionable content), and then getting it straight is a pain.
jseliger 6y ago
I was just going to say something similar: having registered domains, set up hosts, set up email accounts, and so forth, it's a giant pain in the ass, and it's easy to get stuck or do things wrong at various steps—which is why Substack exists, and Wordpress, and many others. I agree with the writer in theory, but, in practice, having done what he's advocating, it's a huge challenge the first time one does it.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  There is a middle ground though isn’t there? Substack could support creators buying a domain through them and hosting content on that domain. If a creator decides to leave, they keep their brand, their audience, and their content. The problem isn’t the infra, it’s that we need standards to support more portability. Remember when you couldn’t take your mobile number to a new provider?
- renewiltord 6y ago
  It's actually really easy these days. Most platforms (but not Substack) do offer custom domains and if you go through Google Domains they'll forward your mail through a very easy to setup UI. I'd say the domain is the brand you want to retain and then you don't self-host anything. Set up your domain to 302 to your substack and you've got one thing.
  - olliej 6y ago
    I wouldn’t touch google domains with a ten foot pole due to the high probably of them being killed.
    - renewiltord 6y ago
      It's just a domain. Shifting it over is a well-understood process. I think you're missing out by doing this because the product is fantastic, but you have your own evaluation of what's valuable I'm sure.

ArkVark 6y ago

The problem with many of these marketplaces is that they charge VAT to buyers, even if the creator is below the threshold for VAT registration.

bjoernw 6y ago

you could also use something like https://coil.com https://coil.com to monetize your content and get paid in realtime based on views

atemerev 6y ago

The elephant in the room is exposure. Medium mixes and matches articles to automatically expose the most interesting stories to the most interested readers. If you set up your own domain, you are on your own.

olliej 6y ago
People are clearly able to set up Patreon etc without using medium. Medium seems hellbent on profiting from free work by creators.
- atemerev 6y ago
  Again — it’s not about monetary compensation, it is about exposure and visibility.

freddyym 6y ago

Interesting take, but I'd use librapay/fosspay or the Open Collective over the platforms that he recommends.