Whose turf does your work sit on?

*This article was originally published in “Vista Newsletter” No. 146 (original link (opens in a new tab)). *

Hello, hello!

On October 6th, I went to the China Central Radio Station in Yuanshan to teach and share with a group of broadcasters how to build a personal brand. That was the last of five consecutive days of announcements starting on October 2. On the way back, I turned on my mobile phone and saw a message from the “Technology Island” website: In response to the next stage of the platform’s overall operations and strategic integration, after careful evaluation, it was decided to suspend the publication of new articles and the normal operation of columns in the “Experts’ Arguments” area from October 31, 2026.

Well, the column (opens in a new tab) I wrote in “Technology Island” for three years is about to be extinguished. In the past three years, I have submitted two manuscripts every month. That column accompanied me in writing about the many turns of this AI wave, and it was almost my notebook for observing technological changes. Here, I would like to express my special thanks to all the partners of “Technology Island”, thank you.

Of course, it is a pity to miss a fixed contribution fee every month. But what really made me stunned in the car was another thing: without any warning, a media suddenly decided not to publish an expert column. It was somewhat surprising. I can understand that there may be many considerations in the paper, which may not necessarily be related to whether the writing is good or not, and the choice of the page itself is never decided by the person who writes it.

In this newsletter, I want to talk to you about this. On the surface, this seems like a short story at the end of a column; but what I think is worth sharing is the question behind it that every creator, lecturer, and one-person company will encounter: Whose territory is your work on?

The pages that depend on others are always there

I am very grateful to “Technology Island” for providing me with the space in the past three years, and to every reader who has read my articles there.

But if you think about it carefully, the dozens of articles I have written in the past three years are actually located in rented locations. The layout is someone else’s, the readership list is someone else’s, the algorithm and revisions are someone else’s. There’s only one thing I can decide: What to write about this month?

We are actually all familiar with this state.

• The reach of Facebook Fan Page (opens in a new tab) has been declining over the past few years. No matter how carefully the posts are written, only a small number of fans can see them.
• When courses are started on an online platform, if the platform adjusts the commission or changes the recommendation mechanism, the income will fluctuate accordingly.
• Writing articles for the media. When the media changes its operation direction, the column may be stopped at any time.

Honestly, none of this is anyone’s fault. If the platform wants to survive and the media needs to transform, it will make the decision that is best for itself. The problem is, if we bet everything on someone else’s territory, every adjustment is a decision made for us.

That day, I happened to do the opposite

By coincidence, on the same day that I learned that the column was ending, I had just launched a new page: the free collection page for “Unmanned Company Startup Package”.

This startup package is inspired by my new book “The Unmanned Company” to be published at the end of the year. It contains five tools: work inventory sheet, AI employee setting card, ten AI workflows, risk checklist, and ninety-day startup plan. Just leave your email and you can download it directly.

If you have read Issue 140 (opens in a new tab) and Issue 143 (opens in a new tab) e-newsletters, you should remember that I spent a lot of time talking about lists: why a one-person company needs to build its own list system, and what are the hurdles to pass for free requests. At that time, it was about methods, but this time it was about living examples.

On one side is a column that I have written for three years and was notified of ending; on the other side is the entry to the list that has just been launched and I decide whether to stay or not. Putting the two things on the same day, the contrast is particularly strong.

I wrote down one sentence in my review that day: Your own list, your own website, and your own e-newsletter are pages that will not be easily announced by others.

Your own path, not a slogan

At this point, you may be thinking: I understand the truth, but it takes a lot of effort to run your own website and e-newsletter. Wouldn’t it be faster to borrow the traffic of the platform?

My opinion is that there is no conflict between the two. The platform is suitable for being seen, and its own channels are used for retaining people. The real risk is not in using a platform, but in having only a platform.

In my own practice, it is roughly divided into three levels:

1. Rented space: Facebook, Threads, media columns, podcast interviews. This layer is responsible for exposure, giving people who don’t know me a chance to meet me. Last week I went to Tianxia Magazine Podcast and it was the same thing.
2. Own website: vista.tw and researcher.tw (opens in a new tab). All articles, presentations, and tools are placed here. The URL is mine, and so is the trust accumulated by search engines.
3. Your own list: This is the email list you are reading and the email list behind each free resource. This layer is the slowest, but also the most stable, because no matter which platform is revised, I can still write to you directly.

The first two layers will change over time, and the third layer is the real asset. This is why I wrote the 146th issue, and still insisted on writing a complete long article in each issue, without posting a summary for you to click over to read. For me, the letters themselves are the works.

Platforms will change, so make your works removable

When it comes to ending a column, the first thing you should confirm is whether you still have the work in your hands?

This sounds obvious, but many people don’t do it. The manuscript is written directly in the other party’s backend, and the original file is not retained; or only a link is left. When the website is revised, the link becomes invalid, and the work disappears.

My own habit is: try to write the text in the local Markdown file first, and then paste it on different platforms. In this way, no matter how the platform changes, the work can be moved to the next place.

Having said that, this is also a very practical benefit in the AI ​​era. In the past, it was necessary to reclassify dozens of old articles, add summaries, and rewrite them into new formats, which was tiring just thinking about it; now, with the help of AI, you can sort it out in an afternoon. As long as the work is in your hands, it has a chance to have a second life.

So, if you are also writing or teaching on other people’s platforms, I suggest you check one thing today: If this platform is closed tomorrow, how much of your works and readers will be left?

AI search makes rented traffic more unreliable

There is another trend that makes this matter even more urgent.

On October 3, I wrote an article Strategy for SEO, AEO and GEO on vista.tw, which began with a quote from Ahrefs’ research in February this year: when AI summaries appear in search results, the click-through rate of the first-ranked webpage is 58% lower than at the end of 2023. The same study a year ago measured 34.5%. Within a year, it expanded from more than 30% to nearly 60%.

Translated into vernacular, it means that readers are more and more often reading the answers compiled by AI directly on the search page without clicking into your website. The traffic that used to be brought by search rankings is being intercepted by AI summaries.

What does this mean? This means that even your own website rents part of its traffic from search engines. When Google and ChatGPT decide to answer the question directly, no matter how well you write, the reader may only see one or two condensed sentences and not even notice your name.

In that article, I compiled seven things that should be done before the end of the year, such as confirming that AI crawlers are not blocked, making up for Bing login, and making the author page have complete structured information. The homework is worth doing, because being cited by AI is still an opportunity to be seen.

But the more I write, the more I am certain of one thing: the search and recommendation mechanism will continue to change, and the only thing that can directly reach readers is the list. E-mails are not sorted by algorithms and will not be intercepted by AI summaries. Once the letter is sent, it will lie in the reader’s mail box. For one-person companies, this may be the most undervalued asset in the AI ​​era.

If you are interested in those seven things, you can refer to this article: Guidelines for SEO, AEO, and GEO in 2027: Do seven things well before the end of the year

What the five-day notice taught me

Let’s go back to the five-day announcement. On October 2nd, I went to Tianxia Magazine to record a podcast. On the 3rd, I had an AI content production workshop in the morning. On the 4th, I went to public television to teach PeoPo citizen journalist trainers. On the 5th, I gave a full-day lecture for the Tainan City Government. On the 6th, there was an internal training at China Central Radio.

The audiences of the five lectures were very different, including media people, citizen journalists, civil servants, and broadcasters. But I found that the questions in everyone’s mind are actually very similar: AI is coming, will my original position still be there?

For example, at CCTV, broadcasters are very confused: Is broadcasting suitable for introducing AI? This question is essentially the same thing as what I felt when I learned the end of the column: The external environment is changing, what can we control?

If I were to give an answer, what I give to the audience is actually the same as what I give to myself: what can be taken back by the platform is the layout; what cannot be taken back is the trust between you and the audience, and your ability to continue to produce good content. AI can help you increase the speed of output, but that trust can only be accumulated slowly, issue by issue, class by class.

If you want to run a personal brand, you can do these three things first

Finally, here are three tips for you who are also thinking about this matter. There is no need to write a program, nor does it need to be done in one go.

1. Organize the original files of your works: Spend an evening and save the articles, handouts or presentations scattered on various platforms into your own folder or cloud drive. This is where it all starts.
2. Get yourself a free resource: a checklist, a template, or a compilation of questions you are often asked about. Exchange it for the reader’s email, and the list starts from the first person.
3. Write regularly to the people on your list: it doesn’t have to be frequent, but it needs to be steady. It doesn’t matter if you write one letter a month, the point is to let readers know that no matter what happens outside, you will still be here.

If you want to see how I design this kind of free resources, you can directly get a copy of the “Unmanned Company Startup Package” and refer to its pages for reference and how to design forms.

Get “Unmanned Company Startup Package” for free

The column of “Technology Island” is over, but the memories of those three years will never be forgotten. Without deadlines twice a month, I plan to dedicate the free time to my website and you. oh! If any media friends want to invite me to write a column, they are very welcome.

Have you ever encountered a platform revision, column suspension, or account suspension that made you rethink “where to place your works?” You are welcome to leave a message in e-newsletter original text (opens in a new tab) or reply to me. I would like to hear your story.

See you next time!

Vista