Let's talk about your POSSE

I really think it's time we had a serious talk.

It's about your POSSE.

No, we're not going to hunt down a criminal on horseback with our six-shooters, no matter how fun that may sound.

And no, it's not the euphemism that popped into your brain either. You should probably talk to Jesus about that.

What I'm talking about is the POSSE distribution method – Post On Site, Syndicate Everywhere. (Yeah, I used an Em dash. No, I'm not an AI. Fight me.)

POSSE is a core principle of the IndieWeb movement.

This movement is a community-driven effort to stick the middle finger to the corporate web. You can read about it in detail here. It's a rabbit hole, but you'll probably dig it.

The part that really got my meat noodle chugging along was the fact that this seems like an excellent way to grow your audience organically instead of paying for ads, shilling on social media, and wasting time doing a lot of unnecessary research.

And what does this type of organic growth mean?

• You have time to ship a product now and perfect it over time without leaving new audience members disappointed. They get to grow with you.
• It means that those that do want to hear from you via newsletter will probably stick around and stay engaged. This helps minimize the churn.

How do you build your POSSE?

There are many different takes on this, so there's not just one way, but this is path I'm going to take as I'm still in the baby steps of building it.

• My Ghost site stands as my primary hub.
  • I post all my original content here.
  • I own the platform, so there's slim to no chance it can be taken from me.
  • I control all aspects of the pay wall.
• Substack is a relationship building platform.
  • Use notes effectively, network, attract new readers.
  • Won't use the paywall. Anything you can read on my site, you can read there for the same low-price of nada.
  • Syndicate the weekly link newsletter, using a similar format, to drive new engagement opportunities.
  • Provides sweet, sweet links.
• Medium is both a relationship building and monetization platform.
  • Post my articles there behind their paywall to earn a little extra scratch.
  • Link the sign up to the newsletter on my site in the CTA.
  • Another opportunity for audience engagement.
  • Moar links!
• Reddit is a research and relationship platform.
  • There are soooooo many posts on there that spark ideas for good articles.
  • Huge audience, so replying thoughtfully should produce some decent engagement.
  • Link, link, link...
• Mastodon is my primary social media platform and it brings a new segment to the audience.
  • Creators there are much less money motivated and much more creation motivated.
  • Doing things simply is a high value proposition there.
  • It's a great place to find new and overlooked content to share that you wouldn't normally see on the corporate web.
  • Linkus maximus.

To tie them all together, I will be using effective branding via shared values, effective branding, and linking it all back to the origin source – my website that I own and operate.

Of course, you can modify this to suit your needs.

For example, if your primary web presence is Substack you can do the same thing using it as your origin source.

Personally, and based on my experience, I wouldn't do this. I would use a self-hosted CMS that you like in order to maintain control of your work. But that's a personal decision you will need to make on your own.

I do think this will help me grow in a way I'm comfortable with.

I'll update everyone on the progress as I move forward. I'm sure there will be some trial and error moments. It's possible that the platforms will change. I might even have to get on my horse, grab my BB gun, and hunt down some banditos.

I will keep you informed.