What's a good analogy for why owning your distribution channels protects your business?

Think of your art business as a medieval settlement. If you have no walls or moat—meaning you don’t own your sales channels—any time the barbarians (a pandemic, economic downturn, platform policy change, etc.) show up, they can destroy everything and you’re defenseless. Building direct channels—your own website, email list, customer base—is like building walls and a moat around your city. When threats appear, you can defend yourself and your business survives. Without that protection, you’re completely exposed.

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Asked by implied audience question · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-06-25