Consider this a warning if you’re an online creator who relies on your content and the audiences you built with it to drive revenue.
DO NOT take it for granted.
DO NOT assume that what works today will work tomorrow.
News feed algorithms change. Platforms implode. Ad costs, competition, and effectiveness change. User consumption evolves from one format to another. Email regulation impacts deliverability and effectiveness. Search engines change what they favor and evolve to focus on AI chat conversations.
If you assume you can keep doing what you’re doing and be able to easily pivot if you need to, you’re in for a rude awakening.
I can say this because that was me. I built something amazing pretty darn easily. I felt special.
I leaned into the Facebook platform, cheap effectiveness of ads, blogging, traffic that Google sent me, and the email list that resulted from it.
It was far more successful than anything I could have dreamed of. I took it for granted. I assumed it would keep working. And if it stopped working, I’d easily be able to pivot to something else and leverage that first thing I built.
It didn’t work that way. I made my pivot a year ago, but it may have been too late.
It’s possible that you can’t see this now. You’re a well-oiled machine. A combination of hard work, strategy, good timing, and good fortune helped you get here.
But it doesn’t guarantee it’ll take your business to tomorrow. The platforms and formats you built your business on owe you nothing.
Constantly evolve. Be prepared to make difficult changes. And be curious about the new thing, rather than resistant to it.
