Today, 9 years ago I posted my first blog post on Natural Sisters. It was literally “Hello World”. Because from that first blog post, a whole new world opened up to me. New opportunities, a career change, new friends and even starting 2 businesses. And as they say, the rest is history.
I have not been feeling well for a while as I struggle with the last bits of Covid-19 symptoms. It really hit me hard such that I am so grateful to be alive. There were days that I thought I would not make it. But by the Grace of God, I’m here, writing this post. Being my first blog anniversary, I could not resist but write something to commemorate it.
I’ve had an amazing journey since then and I am glad I’m still creating content here, hoping it is both enjoyable and informative for you. As a digital content creator, I’m glad my content has a real home which is this blog. I’m even more grateful now knowing that social media platforms can be changed and your pages can even get unpublished or taken down by the owners of the platform. Real story. It happened to me late last year.
Facebook unpublished my pages. Both my blog page and the online shop, Natural Moisture page. Just like that boom! Everything I had worked for was gone. Apparently someone reported that my page was harmful. How is that even possible though? I post about my hair, and the products I sell on my online shop. How is that even close to harmful or dangerous to anyone?
Got a direct message from a concerned follower asking why they could not see the pages. Everything was in good standing according to Facebook but people could not see the pages. I was even adding content but no one would see my content. I wrote several emails to Facebook, to appeal their action and not even one email was replied to. After a while, the pages were deleted. Just like that.
What I’m more disappointed with is the fact that I had no right of reply or an option to defend what I’d been building for years. To think that I even used to sponsor my posts, paying Facebook to reach more people and build a following. All my content, followers, everything, gone.
So I had to create another page for my blog. Only now, it is called Eve Mafupa and not Natural Sisters anymore. Well most of my social media handles are Eve Mafupa anyway.
So, if you’re a content creator, influencer or whatever you call yourself, and you only use social media platforms to share your content, I beg you. You need a blog. Something you will own and no one will take down. Privacy policies on social media platforms change all the time. Someone can also just want to get at you and report your page. If it’s Facebook, then you’re finished.
Get a blog. Something you will have control over. It doesn’t cost much. Max R300 a month. Otherwise as little as R120 a month, you should be fine. Build an email list and those will be your followers until they decide to unsubscribe to your list. You will be able to communicate to them straight to their inbox without any algorithms to maneuver.
I’m glad, for me, social media has always been an extension of my blog. So, when Facebook took me down, yes I was sad, but, my content already had a home.
Do you need help with building a blog? I know a guy. He’s my husband actually and he is very affordable. You can tell him I sent you when you contact him here.
Otherwise, thank you for being you. God bless you.