So, you are an Instagram Superstar. You have worked so hard to create a brand, post daily content, and get a Kajillion followers. You have used that Instagram account to build traffic to your online store and sales are booming.

Then you wake up on a beautiful Monday morning, birds chirping, sweet sunshine filling your room, and you wake up to log on to your glorious Instagram and you see this:

Kleenex doesn’t make enough tissue to dry your eyes. There is no one to call, no 1-800 number, no email address to voice your painful frustration. All you can do is fill out a form and pray to Social Media Jesus. If you’re lucky (or blessed), you will get your account back with all of your followers.

What causes these calamities? It could be anything. You, as well as the rest of the world, don’t read the Terms of Service of Social Media sites. Or, a competitor can complain about your content. (Don’t ask me how I know). Algorithms or a computer program makes most the individual decisions. There is no guy or gal in an off-white and beige cubicle looking at your account judging you.

It’s their site; their rules. They can do what they want when they want.

Don’t wait until disaster happens. Build your social media presence on more than one platform. Build your contact list for email or text so you can communicate directly with your customers. Funnel all your traffic and engagement to your website in which YOU control! Your website to the Content Control Center of all of your marketing.

No matter what outside sites and platforms do, none can harm you in a way you can’t recover. It’s your business. You went into business for freedom. Don’t lose that to amazing but inhuman platforms that don’t love your business are much as you do!

By the way, this a true story. Here’s a link to some advice I used when a client had this issue. We ended up getting it back!