Where to Find Angela Tague Online (Beyond Social Media)

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went offline for eight hours on Monday, October 4, 2021 and too many small business owners lost their minds. I pivoted and worked on a blog post draft. When I shifted to social media, my Twitter feed was filled with questions, finger-pointing and realizations that maybe there is more to having an online business than sharing posts on a Facebook Page.

Yep.

If you run a business, claim your real estate online so you’re not dependent on social media platforms as the sole connection to your audience. Why? You have no control over when social media sites will go down for maintenance, or for how long.

Disclosure: The WebWritingAdvice.com blog is reader-supported, which means this post contains affiliate links and advertisements. I earn a small commission if you shop through them, which helps fund my website so I can continue to bring you amazing content like this post. Thank you! ~Angela

Having your own website is the answer.

It can be one or two pages of information about what you do and how to contact you. Or, it can be an in-depth resource for readers. Whatever it is, it is yours and you (pretty much) control when it will go down for updates or maintenance. I currently use WordPress hosted by Siteground for both of my websites. Siteground, by the way, has amazing customer service both online and by old-fashioned telephone calls.

It’s also a good idea to create an email list of subscribers.

I use a service called Aweber to collect names and emails from my writing website and my lifestyle blog. When a website or social media page goes down, you can land in your subscribers’ email inboxes with an update on what’s going on and how to reach you. Your networking capabilities may hit a road bump, but it’s better than dropping off a cliff!

I’ve been working online full-time for the past 12 years. Learning to diversify your web presence is critical for building and maintaining an audience. When one pillar goes down, have several others to lean into. It’s like the old ‘eggs in a basket’ analogy. Have many. Social media is just one egg.