There are two things that every modern professional should own to control their destiny:

1. A mailing list

2. A website

Why do I say that?

Well, if you leave your connections, friends list, professional network, followers, fans, writing, content, portfolio, etc., in the hands of a corporation and its service, you are vulnerable. You are at its mercy.

What will you do if that service fails and loses all of your information (e.g., your LinkedIn connections)? Sometimes you can download that info to have a backup, but there may be nothing you can do with it without using the original service (e.g., LinkedIn doesn’t provide email addresses for your connections).

Poof! The connections you’ve built over the years are all gone.

What will you do if a service decides to suspend or terminate your account (e.g., Facebook)? What happens if your favorite online profile gets banned and now no one can find you or contact you (e.g., Twitter)?

Bam! You just lost a decade of informa…