Rule #1: Build your castle on land you own

Your kingdom is a platform that you own:

• A website on a domain you own
• Your blog hosted on your site (not on medium or Patreon)
• A mailing list
• Your Intellectual Property that you own and can license out
• Merch that you sell on your site
• Your own reputation

But wait! Your mailing list is hosted by Mailchimp which is another company, and your website is hosted by GoDaddy or Squarespace? Aren’t they evil kingdoms too?

Not really. They are just ==hosting platforms that are invisible to your followers==.

The general public doesn’t have to go to Mailchimp.com to read your newsletter or squarespace to view your blog. Your readers go to your domain.

If any of those companies changes their terms in a way that you don’t like, you can migrate to a new hosting platform and your followers will never have to change their behavior. They will still go to the same URL to get to your site, they will still receive your newsletter from your email address. It is completely transparent to them.

Spend more resources on the castles on your land.

Rule #2: Shamelessly use the other kingdoms just like they are using you!

Use them so hard. Don’t fall in love. Try to get every last follower off of their kingdom and back to your kingdom. Be shameless about it.

Don’t feel guilty posting a Call to Action of “Join me on my mailing list.” You have every right to get people who want to hear from you out of their kingdom and into your kingdom.

![[Bridge to your kingdom.png|697]]

Rule #3: Always move people back to your kingdom, never to another kingdom

You are just sacrificing a bunch of traffic that could have been your own and you are giving it to another King who can take it from you.

Always try to get people to follow you back to your kingdom.

Rule #4: Operate like your castle can get shutdown tomorrow

Do you have a huge following on Twitter? Is everyone who would buy something from you following you only on Youtube? What would happen if tomorrow Twitter didn’t exist? Or Youtube? How would you communicate to them? Do not over-invest in one platform. Always try to get them back to your kingdom.

Rule #5: Be suspicious of new kingdoms that give away easy visibility

Social media platforms are capitalist enterprises and they are trying to steal market share away from rival social media sites. They are giving away so much free visibility, free engagement, cheap paid advertising to screw their rival social network.

This is temporary. The party won’t last. They will eventually decide to stop giving away traffic and decide to monetize their subscribers (meaning charge you to reach your fans).

Rule #6: Give good reasons to go back to the Castle in your Kingdom. And be persistent!

Use lead magnets to entice people to follow you back to your kingdom.

![[Reaching people on the internet.png]]