Stand-alone blog or Substack?

I got a great question from Maja Lampa asking about using a stand-alone blogging platform like Pika versus using Substack.

Deciding between Pika (or any stand-alone blogging platform) and Substack depends on what you’re trying to achieve.

Pika gives you more control but no built-in audience, so driving traffic is entirely up to you.

If you want a nice quiet corner on the internet, then Pika is great!

Substack, however, has a built-in network to help readers find your work and makes it super easy to grow an email list, which I think is super important at whatever level you’re at.

Again – it depends on what you’re trying to achieve. I love the built-in network that Substack provides because it makes it super easy for people to subscribe and get my posts in their inbox.

That means if someday I leave Substack, I can export my email list and set up shop somewhere else, and my fans won’t have to find me elsewhere or re-subscribe on another platform.