10-4: Over and out?

What would you do if you couldn't use social media anymore?  How would your business continue?  These are questions I've been asking my consulting clients for years now, and funny enough, today Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are down for the count.

How do we continue to drive traffic to our companies when the primary platforms utilized by so many are gone with a blink of an eye?  A question I've been asking so many--do you truly own your content that you post on social media?  Do you have access to all of the great wisdoms you've shared with the digital world up until now?  How do you keep your relevancy with out instant gratification from likes, hearts and shares?

Three things to always do:

1)  Keep your contacts in a secure database and utilize your own email newsletters for communicating and updates about your business.  Today would be a great day to send a promo email to your list.

2)  Back that thing up.  Not that thing... but that post.  Put it on a blog site you own.  Put it on your computer so you can share it again if you aren't able to publish it on a social network.

3)  Photos, videos and memories aren't a cloud for your personal life over social platforms.  If Facebook gets wiped off the planet (not saying it will, I'm sure the experts will be bringing it back to life soon enough) keep anything sentimental to you on a physical harddrive.  

Want to keep in touch with your friends?

Recognize that you carry a cell phone with you for this purpose.  If you don't have current numbers, send an email out to your contacts and let them know you are updating your information, if they can reply with the best phone, contact details and anything else you want on file, be sure to ask them to do that, too.  This is a great way to update your information and let people know you are still able to be reached, even when social media goes off line.