👎 Facebook Ouch-Tage - And what we can learn from Papa Zuck. I remember exactly where I was when it all happened... I was... sitting at my computer like I always am. I reached for my phone - only to realize, in horror, my access to the mighty blue thumbs-up app was no more. How was I supposed to post that absolutely hilarious baking meme (see bottom of email)?! Or... or... heart-care react to someone asking whether the "copyright violation" email was a scam or not?!!  😭 Where were YOU when Meta went down!?  Okay - so it wasn't that serious - in fact, a lot of you probably missed it, but for an hour around 11AM est on Tuesday last week, all Meta apps went down - Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.  😰 And while an hour of outage ain't a world-ender - it could be a business ender. Imagine if Facebook disappeared tomorrow - how long would it take you to rebuild your lead funnel? Would you be able to fill seats for that cookie class next month? Or would you still have been able to reach out to those 2 clients with pick-ups today??  ⏰ Yeah - this isn't the first time Meta took its 15-minute smoke break per se. It happened back in 2021 too - and many of us swore we'd never be caught with our digital pants down again. But many more of us got busy and never got around to shoring up our loose leads ends.  So - what can we do not to let this upend our customer base should it happen round 3? We (as always) have a list! What We'd do if Facebook never Existed. 1️⃣ Create an Email List.  👉 Recommended Apps: Gmail, Mailchimp, Flodesk Right off the bat - create an email list. If you're reading this newsletter, you got an email from me ✨5 minutes✨ after Facebook went down. See - that's the power of an email list. An easy way to create an email list is by adding your past clients. If you weren't collecting those before, start now. You can add an opt-in on your submissions forms that reads: ✅ Yes, I don't mind being added to your email list for pick-up updates. 2️⃣ Diversify your Social Media Presence (outside of Meta). 👉 Recommended Apps:  LinkedIn, TikTok, GMB / GBP, Nextdoor, Yelp Facebook and Instagram are the fan favorites of bakers because they really just work well in bringing in leads. But if Meta pulls the plug, we're going to need to have backup socials to reach our audience. This is not a "if you build it, they'll come" scenario - you'll actually have to work on growing these platforms - same way we say to work the Facebook algo. Start now, reap when Zucky's having a bad day. 3️⃣ Get a Website STAT. 👉 Recommended Apps: Square, Wix, Shopify, MyCustomBakes  Websites are the "digital hub" of your business. From a website, I should be able to contact you, buy from you, learn about you, and connect with you (on social media). They're also a handy way to pass along information quickly. A simple banner stating "ALERT - PICK-UPS SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY ARE STILL ON."  4️⃣ Always Capture Emails / Phone #s. 👉 Recommended Apps: Google Workspace / Google Voice Newsletters are for promotions or mass emailing, but Google Workspace (Google's business Gmail) is for regular contact with clients. Collect those emails, then take the conversations out of Facebook Messenger and into Gmail - a much more reliable form of communication. And while you're at it - snag their phone numbers too - perfect backup-to-the-email-backup-to-the-social-media-platform backup.