Q&A: Why ownership is everything to me?

Thank you, as ever, to everyone who shared such wonderful questions for my Ask me anything round this month. As busy as life can get, I aim to publish an answer to a reader’s question every month. I chose those this question from Blakely, as I feel a personal connection to the topic. Here’s a transcript of my answer to this readers question about ownership:

Most of the people I know who have a newsletter are on Substack. I’m thinking about launching my own newsletter as well, but I’m not sure whether to use Substack. I noticed that you have been building one independently. What is your reasoning behind it? Many thanks for answering my question!

Substack is a wonderful platform that has made publishing very easy — especially for those who are new to the newsletter space and lack specific knowledge, or those who don’t want to invest the time and energy into building a website and maintaining it.

The writing platform also helps, as far as I’m concerned, with one of the biggest challenges I’ve found in building a newsletter, which is discoverability. This is a challenge for the majority of creators unless you’ve achieved fame and people already know your name.

Trust plays a pivotal role in attracting subscriptions, particularly in the vast realm of the Internet — a process that demands a considerable time to build. Substack endeavors to tackle this challenge by introducing readers to similar newsletters, easing the path to new discoveries.

However, the realm of online media is also destined to change. Platforms like these will constantly iterate, innovate and grow. As writers we are part of that game, building our assets on an algorithm we don’t fully understand, but requiring us to adapt to it constantly. Ultimately, the only things we can genuinely assert ownership of and exert control over online are the newsletter we craft and the domain we inhabit.

So being an owner and having creative control over my work has always been very important to me. I always preferred to have ownership over my writings and assets, to grow and shape it into how I envisioned it to be. I always had a clear idea of how I wanted the platform to look and feel like.

When I decided to manage my own newsletter it was important that I didn’t outsource certain elements but fully took take care of it. I felt like it was a first step following into the footsteps of some amazing, powerhouse women, and have my own empire and show other women when you get to this point in your career you don’t have to go sign with someone else and share your money and your success—you do it yourself.

But great work is always a pact — a cooperation between multiple people, and it’s always a pleasure to work with people better skilled in certain areas, and collectively get an output that we’re all proud of.

As you start your own platform like I did, you know it’s going to take longer. I wanted to put in that effort because I love what I do and I’m it for the long run.

So far it’s been a fun and fulfilling journey, and more than a newsletter only, it’s a platform. A community. That’s what matters most to me; building a community of like-minded people who share my interests on a personal level.

Fostering a community and having ownership has always been more important to me, than fast growth. I want to be able to tell stories and have meaningful conversations with interesting people. Everyone has a story to tell.

So thank you so much for reaching out. I’m sure you or your friends can find out which medium fits perfectly well with your goals.

Thank you for reading. This reader’s question is part of the Ask Me Anything series. I´d love to answer more of your interesting questions and get a sense of your interests. If you have questions to extend this Ask Me Anything section, please let me know. I like to hear from you. Send me your question via team@lisanneswart.com

Here is a list of the last 3 readers’ questions I’ve answered:

• #28 Q&A: Quit at the right moment
• #27 Q&A: Where do I get my ideas from?
• #26 Q&A: How to read more books?

» Explore more answers to thought-provoking questions from readers