I lost 10,000 followers. And it can happen to you.

Last week Facebook disabled one of my pages with over 10,000 followers.

I still have no idea why.

It's a positive page with helpful content for people who want to change their lives.

Their automated message said I broke community guidelines.

No way I did!

(I don't even create controversial content because that's not the game I play.)

Normally, this would send me spinning.

Years of work down the drain.

10,000+ people I can no longer reach.

While it sucks, it's not devastating.

Why?

Because our website attracts thousands of visitors per month 👇

And our email list is 10s of thousands of subscribers 👇

No one can take that away from me.

Control Your Destiny

I own my site.

I own my list.

List > followers.

Site > platform dominance.

Grow your traffic. Build your list. Control your destiny.

Social media is awesome. But it's fickle.

You must build accordingly.

If it can happen to a positive page that helps 10s of thousands of people—it can happen to you.

Facebook doesn't care.

Instagram doesn't care.

LinkedIn doesn't care.

Ads get denied (and are inflationary).

So don't put your future in their hands.

You, Inc. → Your Creator Brand

It's the principle of owning vs. renting.

Own assets that compound in value over time.

Decrease your dependance on rented properties that can be taken at any time.

We call this your Creator Brand.

Building a Creator Brand is the path to ownership.

Think of it as You, Inc.

In a sense, you become a media company.

It might look something like this 👇

First, this is just an example. Yours may have different components. But they're typically similar.

Second, notice the hierarchy:

1. Your Customers: anyone who buys from you (or works with you as a business partner). This is ultimate trust. Nonprofits can relabel as "givers" or "partners."

2. Digital: anyone who subscribes or visits your owned digital properties. They've raised their hand, asking for more.

3. Students: anyone who follows you, listens to your podcast, watches your videos, or hears you speak. They're not "prospects" or "target audience." They're people you can have a more meaningful relationship with. A student-teacher relationship. Where you listen for what they want to learn and then share generously.

These aren't ranked by order of importance as human beings. Rather their proximity to you and your influence with them.

As Maxwell said: "Leadership is influence."

Your Creator Brand is simply a reflection of your influence and ability to share your message with more people.

So, how do you build a platform you own rather than rent?

How do you avoid the tyranny of social media reliance?

Keep an eye out for the next edition, where we'll break it down.

Plus, introduce the concept of your Total Influence Score.

Cheers!

Jordan

P.S. If this feels overwhelming, don't worry. You can start super small. This is our life's work—so we're playing the long game.

P.P.S. Our Facebook account was restored after writing this. Praise God! Still no idea why this happened, but the point stands. It was an eye-opener.