Your account gets hacked at 7 AM on Sunday Morning … now what

Ali Schneider
Sep 7
3 min read

Hi Party People,

This morning I got a 7 AM message from a former client. Their account was hacked. Name changed. Locked out. No access. Total dumpster fire.

Now if they were a current client, I’d already be on my laptop in pajamas going to war for them. But they’re not. They ghosted us. So I sent a few tips to help them and that's it. Which means I’m sipping my coffee, shaking my head, and turning this into a lesson for you.

Here’s the deal. If you want to protect your accounts, you have to do some basic grown up stuff.

The non negotiables

1. Remember your freaking passwordsNo, your social media company is not your personal diary. Do not stick your logins in your Notes app. If your phone gets stolen, congrats, you just gave someone the keys to your entire business if they get in. Get a password manager. Pay the two bucks a month. Done. I personally like https://www.lastpass.com/

2. Turn on two factor authenticationThis is not optional. It is literally the seatbelt of the internet.

3. Clean out your adminsIf your Facebook Page still has access for the intern you hired in 2009, delete them. If your ex agency still has the keys, delete them. If your cousin’s neighbor’s kid has access, delete them. Every extra admin is an extra way in.

4. Get Meta VerifiedHere’s a little hack most people ignore. When your admins are verified, recovery is faster. I actually recommend all admins be verified, not just one. Because if your one verified person gets hacked, you are toast. This cost $15 a month.

5. Know your boundariesOur contracts make it clear. If your account gets hacked or banned because you didn’t set up 2FA, or you gave access to a small army of randoms, or you started a fight in the comments section, that is on you. If you’re an active client, we will fight for you. But we cannot fight for people who aren’t under contract.

Now let’s talk about the part that actually saves your business

Imagine you wake up and your account is gone. Poof. Your customers can’t find you. You have no way to reach them. All the money you’ve spent on posts, ads, and videos? Gone.

Unless… you have email marketing and/or SMS marketing set up.

That is the safety net. That is the list you actually own. If you had to start from scratch tomorrow, you could send one email or one text and your customers would know exactly where to find you.

Without it, every single dollar you’re spending on social media right now is at risk. It’s like pouring water into a bucket full of holes.

So here’s the push. If you don’t have email and SMS marketing in place, do it. Like today. We can help you run it for $500 a month (which by the way most email marketing companies charge ($750-$2500+ MINIMUM for just email marketing) or you can DIY it. But ignoring it is just not smart.

Bottom line

Get a password manager.
Turn on 2FA.
Kick out old admins.
Verify your team.
For the love of all things holy, start building your contact list.

Because if you ever wake up locked out of your account, the only thing between you and starting over is your ability to contact your people. And that only happens if you own your email and/or SMS lists.

Stay smart out there!

If you want to talk about adding email marketing to your contract, book a call with me!