TL;DR: I lost my Instagram account, nearly $4k in revenue and an ex-friend – but turned it into one of the best things that ever happened to my business.
The drama context:
January 2024. I get an email from a former biz bestie (let’s call her K) with an invoice for “unpaid services” from years ago. Being the benefit-of-the-doubt girls’ girl I am, I handed over my card number.
Then, K accused me of stealing her website copy.
I’m talking about one line of body text that was maybe similar if you squinted real hard. I offered to change it because no biggie – and why argue over a single-line?
Instead of taking the olive branch, things got… intense.
She blocked me on social (rude), and suddenly my Instagram content started getting flagged left and right. For MONTHS, I played Meta’s appeal game like it was my job.
And on July 1st – literally day ONE of my Stand Up Copy launch – Meta suspended my accounts completely.
Here’s what I was dealing with:
- Instagram (AND THREADS) account gone.
- Recurring payments ending.
- Crickets on the lead gen end of things.
- Aaaand a projected gap of $4k in revenue gap.
Plus a few “tHiS iS wHy YoU nEeD aN EmAiL LiSt” posts about my situation on Threads, clogging up the super cool #freequeso feed.
I already email my list 3x a week, thank-you-very-much.
Having a list ≠ having a sales strategy built around your list. (We’ll get into it)
Instead of ugly crying into my pillow (okay, maybe a little), I went balls-to-the-walls on rebuilding.
Here’s what I learned when Instagram wasn’t an option anymore:
1. Your sales journey needs an end point (and it better not be the DMs)
The boo-boo: My emails were great at warming people up, but all my sales closed in the DMs. When Instagram disappeared, it was like cutting off the tip of a hose – leads were spraying everywhere.
What I did: I redesigned my entire sales journey to end in email.
- Creating more touch points WITHIN emails
- Offering different mediums to learn about programs (that all led back to email)
- Training people to make buying decisions through email
2. Face-to-face matters and your voice leaves a mark in customers‘ minds
The boo-boo: I relied on Stories to show up and talk to my audience, and used voice messages for a lot warming up. When people experience me, they buy from me.
What I did: I turned up the dial!
- Casual Loom videos in follow-ups
- 3-5 minute walkthrough videos for offers
- Sample training clips
- Queso Kikis (1:1 help sessions that converted like CRAZY)
(Out of everyone I spoke to in Queso Kikis, only 3 people didn’t end up working with me. And one was already a student, so…)
3. Micro-offers aren’t for newbs and faceless DiGiTaL mArKeTiNg girlies
The boo-boo: Uh, the $4k revenue gap? I didn’t want to move up my next launch date or rely on it to save my life. I needed to tackle this from all angles, without firehosing folks or screwing over Future Emelie.
What I did:
- Used low-ticket digital products to ramp up for the launch
- Created automated follow-ups for click-curious readers
- Re-sold to past clients and students
Last year, I turned a $34 offer into a $17k launch. I knew I could bridge $4k.
And after running my Revenue Timeline through ChatGPT, it showed I had sales coming in from 13 different sources.
And I can tell you: it didn’t feel like I was selling 13 things at all.
I went into September, looking back at the $4k gap between July and August.
The fresh month started with us only down by $112.
Sometimes the biggest “fuck you” to someone trying to hurt you is making it the best thing that ever happened to you.
Was losing Instagram fun? Hell no.
Did it force me to build a stronger, more resilient business? Absolutely.
And hey, maybe that’s worth more than 4k in the long run.
Want more BTS tea and business insights? Join The Copy Cantina – clearly, it’s where all the good stuff happens anyway…
