You’re pouring hours into Instagram. TikTok. LinkedIn posts nobody reads. Maybe paying a social media agency a grand a month to do it for you.
And the numbers look decent – right up to the day the algorithm decides they don’t.
Here’s the truth nobody wants to hear: if your business lives on a platform you don’t own, you don’t own the business. You’re a tenant. And one day the landlord changes the locks.
The No Bullshit Version
- Social media is rented land. You don’t own the relationship or the reach
- Zuckerberg and TikTok can change the rules or switch you off any day of the week
- Your email list is owned land. Your customers. Your access. Your control
- Followers are vanity. Money in the bank is sanity
Building a House on Someone Else’s Land
A cautionary tale for you today…
The other week, I was speaking at a private event when some bloke in a suit so tight it looked sprayed on, and loafers with no socks, interrupted me.
Him: “Why should I listen to you? You have like 2,500 followers.”
Me: “Really? I’m surprised I have that many.”
His jaw dropped.
Turns out this guy was some famous influencer that this company had brought in to look at their social media.
And he liked what I said next about as much as a vegan likes a steakhouse.
“I give no time, no money, and no effort to building a social following.”
Now, to some, this is insanity.
Loafers-and-no-socks thought I was a lunatic.
But to me, the real insanity is building your house on someone else’s land.
Yet online, people do this every day.
They build their entire business on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and whatever other dopamine hit is trending this week…
Then act surprised when the algorithm throat-punches them into oblivion.
Social media is rented land.
And rented land is fine…
Until the landlord decides he doesn’t like your curtains.
Zuckerberg & Co can shut you down and change the rules whenever they want.
Social media is their land.
Not yours.
Meaning money beats followers every time.
Now, I am not saying social media is useless.
It is useful.
As a tool.
Drive people from rented land to owned land.
Your email list.
Your assets.
Your business.
…Your control.
Remember, followers are vanity.
But money in the bank?
That is sanity.
Make More. Provide More. Be More.
Charlie Hutton
FAQ
Is social media worth the time for small business owners?
Only as a tool, not as a strategy. Use it to drive people off the platform and onto something you actually own – your email list, your website, your customer database. Building your business on social media is building a house on someone else’s land. Zuckerberg can evict you any day of the week.
What does “rented land” mean in marketing?
Any platform where somebody else owns the relationship with your audience – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn. You don’t own the followers. You don’t own the reach. You don’t even own the rules. The platform does, and they change those rules whenever they want.
Why is an email list more valuable than social media followers?
You own it. The algorithm can’t throttle it. Nobody can ban you off it. When you email a customer, it lands in their inbox. When you post on Instagram, you’re begging the algorithm to let 2% of your followers see it. One is an asset. The other is a prayer.
Should small businesses stop posting on social media entirely?
No – use it, just don’t depend on it. It’s a megaphone for moving people to owned land (your email list, your site, your offer). Post, drive traffic to something you own, then build the relationship there. Followers are vanity. Money in the bank is sanity.
What To Do Next
You’re not evil for wanting to replace jobs with profit. You’re running a business, not a crèche. If you want the full playbook – the exact method hundreds of UK men have used to hit £1 million without a payroll dragging them under – start with my best-selling book. It’s here on Amazon
