Facebook was founded in 2004 with a mission to build community and bring people together. It was originally designed for college students and you had to have a college email address to join the platform. However, it has since shifted to much more than a platform for college students. It has become a platform for people all over the world to connect with family and friends. In addition to connecting family and friends, it has also become a platform for advocates, entrepreneurs, and more to do business. 

Recently there has been more news about individuals being placed in Facebook Jail or being permanently banned from the platform. This has caused them to be unable to post, share, or comment on Facebook which is not a good thing for entrepreneurs who have built their business on Facebook. Not being able to participate in conversation on the platform or share content with their audience causes entrepreneurs to miss opportunities to build new connections and generate additional income for their businesses. 

This may seem unfair to some, but it is all a part of following the rules of the platform and what happens when you build on someone else’s platform. It also reminds me of other platforms such as Vine and Katch.me that shut down with little to no notice causing content creators to lose content (if they had not already saved it) and audiences. And lets not even get into the always-changing algorithms. 

Things like this are one of the reasons I recommend entrepreneurs always build their email list. Having an email list helps you keep in touch with your audience even when you can’t post on Facebook or other social media platforms. 

Building an email list also:

• allows you to build personal relationships and personalize your audience’s experience with you which keeps them looking forward to hearing from you.
• can increase your sales. The people who join your list have already expressed an interest in you and what you have to offer so when you make an offer, they are more likely to buy than someone who just connected with you on social media. 

These are just a few benefits of building your email list, but you cannot reap these and other benefits if you are not actively building your email list. 

So while it may be great to have tons of followers on social media and even better when they actually engage with your content, you want to always build your email list. Facebook and other platforms can disable your account at anytime someone reports something you have shared, they determine your activity is suspicious, and several other reasons. 

Don’t get locked out of Facebook or other social media and lose your audience. Start building your email list today so if you are ever unable to post on Facebook you can still reach your audience and not miss out on opportunities for your business.