The latest post on Alastaire Allday’s insightful, witty and fluff-free copywriting blog took me by surprise.

It’s all about how he probably won’t be updating his blog in the future because:

1. his audience is elsewhere (on Medium and LinkedIn)
2. most of what he wants to say has been said
3. his site doesn’t serve the purpose it used to (he started it back in 2009 when he needed to raise his profile. But nowadays, his clients come to him, so he doesn’t need to put himself out there as much anymore)

Because I’m just about to start blogging for my business, Alastaire’s post got me (over)thinking.

I didn’t immediately assume that blogging on your own site is ‘dead’. Because I’m not sure that it is.

Instead, I pondered the purpose of blogging, where we choose to do it and what we write about.

I know that the world probably doesn’t need yet another post on what copywriting is, or the importance of having a decent headline. But has everything already been said?

Is everyone really upping sticks and moving to Medium and LinkedIn? If they are, does it matter? And who, or what, are we all blogging for?

After mulling these questions over, I shared Alastaire’s post with other PCN committee members on Slack.

During our chat they let me know what they thought, and came to the following conclusions:

• There’s the potential to get big audiences on platforms like Medium (we didn’t really cover the low-on-fun social media platform that is LinkedIn). But, for the most part, the focus there is on writing to build followers, and not relationships with clients.

• As nice as it is to have legions of people eager who devour whatever you publish on Medium, these folk probably aren’t the ones paying your bills. So maybe publishing there and nowhere else isn’t ideal.

• Business-wise, having a small audience that converts to leads is better than a big one that doesn’t necessarily do anything.

• Blogging on your own site gives you a way of showing your authority. It also lets potential clients know who you are and what your personality’s like.

• It’s good for your site’s SEO.

• Although pretty much everything’s been said, future clients might still be looking for information on topics that have already be covered over and over again. (But which might not yet have been put in a way that resonates with them.)

I agree with all these points.

I also recognise that, because Alistaire’s worked hard and is great at what he does, he’s doing very well for himself. He’s both established and in demand — an enviable position to be in.

And as his, potentially final, post makes it clear, it’s being in this position that prompted his decision to stop blogging on his site. It’s not a rallying cry for everyone else to do the same.

So, until the happy day that I’ve got hordes of clients dying to work with me, I’ll be sharing my tuppence worth about copywriting and communication on my blog. And publishing elsewhere will be an occasional add-on.

What platforms do you blog on, and who do you want to reach?

With thanks to Leif Kendall, Anna Gunning and Ben Lloyd.

Photo by Unsplash