If you are going to build a business, don’t build on land someone else already owns. You want your own land, your own domain.
There are so many risks involved in building a business on top of social media platforms. Yes, there may be a lot of “people” there, but you are bound to their ever-changing, inscrutable policies. You never know the changes in the algorithm that may happen in the future. If you are going to build your business, build it on your own land – don’t build on borrowed land.
In this episode, Ana Raynes shares why it is vital for businesses to have their own digital space and how you can run independently from these platforms and not be so reliant on them.

In this episode, Ana Raynes shares why it is vital for businesses to have their own digital space and how you can run independently from these platforms and not be so reliant on them.
Ana Maria Raynes is an entrepreneur, digital marketing expert, and owner of the marketing agency, Simplified Impact. She studied at the London College of Fashion, and credits her previous life in fashion for her creativity and high energy. She was a co-founder of the Internet fashion startup Smart Is Cool, where she was responsible for social media and information technology. This lead to her being featured in Glamour Magazine, having multiple appearances on FOX Strategy Room, and touring the east coast as a motivational speaker for girls, alongside the nonprofit Girl’s Take Charge. Following her position with Smart Is Cool, she pursued a career in e-marketing. Ana has since worked in social media and content marketing with agencies in the New York and Boston areas. She has led digital marketing campaigns for clients such as HSN, Wendy Williams, Football Legend Carl Banks, iHip for Snooki, Eastbay, Aer Lingus, SkyMall and more.
Prior to the launch of her own business she was Vice President, Content Marketing at Didit. Through great executive leadership and vision, she was given the freedom and landscape to grow a new area of business; content marketing. Her role included overseeing content marketing needs for the internal agency and enterprise clients, across multiple platforms and formats to drive sales, engagement, retention, leads and positive customer outcomes.
As a thought leader in her field, she has been invited to speak at conferences such as PPC HERO, NY Small Business Expo, NYXPO, Philanthropy Day, CORE and Vistage.
Podcast Timestamps/Outline
00:58 – Introduction
01:54 – What does building a business on borrowed land mean?
05:30 – Is it mostly B2C businesses or are B2B businesses going into this trend as well?
07:40 – How to look at this contextually from a strategy perspective and make sure you’re making the right decisions.
10:25 – Case study: Clubhouse
13:55 – Where to focus your strategy
16:25 – SEO, Cookies, and other platforms
20:00 – What strategies have changed that have now become vital?
24:01 – How has strategy changed the execution of the strategy?
24:55 – Budget reallocation
28:55 – What if you had an unlimited budget?
30:29 – Connect with Ana Raynes
Memorable Quotes
“You can’t build on someone else’s land.”
“Your website is homebase – that’s what you own.”
“The biggest piece of gold you could own is that email, name, and phone number.”
“You have to bring your customers over to your platform and have them convert, and nurture them, and speak to them there.”
Episode Links and Resources
Simplified Impact website: https://simplifiedimpact.com/
Ana’s email: [email protected]
Digital activity ROI assessment: https://b2bdm.com/digital-activity-roi/
More episodes related to privacy compliance: https://b2bdm.com/privacy-compliance/