Goodbye Tiktok? How to Protect Your Content as a Christian Creator

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What if your connection with your audience, your community, your followers was gone overnight? Your ability to share your knowledge, your creativity, your art with the world just vanished? What would you do next? How would you actually make a livelihood or make a living or make a career when you don't have a connection with your community? Well, a lot of people are facing that very real reality right now with the TikTok ban currently overshadowing many creatives that are on that platform. Now, as I'm recording this, that is still up in the air, but as you are watching or listening, maybe it's already been decided. Maybe TikTok is gone and suspended in the US or maybe it's been saved. The key of this is not which platform we're talking about, it's whether or not you can minimize the risk of losing your connection with those who you are called to create simply because of social media happenings, companies going down, or government decisions. We want to make sure that doesn't happen to anybody in the guiding gigs community. So we're going to talk about ways that you can minimize the risk, make sure that you own your content and never feel like you are at the mercy of a social media platform, taking away your ability to create and have a career doing what you love. That's what we're going to talk about today in this episode of the God and Geek Show. So give me just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to our show and then we'll get right into the super important discussion. Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. And if you're new to our show, you are in the right place at the right time. And let me tell you why. As a creative, a freelancer, a business owner, any anyone with a creative bent in the intersection of the arts, ministry or entertainment who wants to thrive in every area of your life, well, we help you do that by connecting the dots between the spiritual life and your creative life. And so we help you to become the creative that you were created to be. Please subscribe. Follow us if you're new because you are among friends here at God and Gigs. Now, as I mentioned, I don't know when you're listening or watching, so maybe this is not even news anymore. When it comes to TikTok and the ban, however, what is always news is creators being deplatformed, creators being taken off of YouTube, taken off of Facebook, taken off of Instagram and losing all of their accounts. In fact, there's even insurance now offered to creators to try to keep their audiences from being hacked or taking off of social media platforms so that they can keep their livelihoods, keep their businesses open. Even if that happens, well, why is insurance needed for that? It's because they're depending on that platform to survive. Whether it's TikTok, whether it's Instagram, even here. If I'm recording and you're seeing me on YouTube, this is rented property, rented land, rented digital real estate. And if any of these platforms decide, hey, we don't like what God and Gigs is doing, they can take it away. And I would be stuck wondering, how do I share with you? How do I reach the people that I'm supposed to be sharing with and giving my information to? Well, that's why we have to have this discussion, because again, if it's not TikTok, it could be something else. And you are relying on these social media platforms to share your information, to share what you have to share with the world. So let's talk first about the key things that you need to make sure you have in your arsenal so that this never becomes an issue where you are cut off from your creative community or your audience. First of all, you probably heard me talk about this. If you've been following Guiding Gigs for any length of time, you've got to have your email list. An email list is not your Gmail or your Hotmail or. Or for us old people, the aol. It's not that. It's the email service provider, something like Kit, which we always recommend, or a mailchimp or Flodesk, something where you own the list. People have opted into that list. Usually we send them a freebie or some type of lead magnet, something to help them understand, hey, we want to give you value, but then we'd like to stay connected to you through our newsletter or email list. That is what an email list is now. TikTok users, if you're listening to me right now and you are threatened by this ban, the very first thing you should be doing is immediately getting on your platform and saying, join my email list. And if you don't have one, you can build one at Kit for free simply by using guidingigs.comkit and pulling up their free email service plan for up to 10,000 subscribers. So that's one of my highest recommendations for any creator, but especially those of you who are worrying about being deplatformed or taken off because TikTok goes down. But this does not only apply to TikTok, it applies to every platform. As I mentioned, people have been taken off of Facebook, people have been taken off of Instagram. I hear people going to Instagram jail all the time. How do you reach those people if these social media platforms change their algorithms, if they don't allow you to share your content very much? In the guiding gigs, we're still dealing with that because on our Facebook group, I see that people have joined and they wanted to join, but there's still limited visibility because Facebook controls the visibility. So you want to own your email list, you want to get used to that emailing weekly, however long, how many times you want during the month, but letting that be the connection to your subscribers, to your community, so that you don't ever lose that. Also, it's so important, the Bible talks about this, to not have all your eggs in one basket, to cast your bread upon the water six or seven different ways, right? So that also equals multiple platforms. Now, I know many times in social media we say, I don't want to be a part of every single platform. I get it. I don't like to post on many platforms. And I mentioned TikTok is not even a platform I want to use personally. However, it's so important not to have all your content based in just one place in social media, because as we can see, if that place becomes inhospitable, if they don't want your content, if they deem it that it's not acceptable, you are stuck. So the best way to do this is to diversify your content. Think of two or three or four different places where your community, where your audience, where your followers meet and stay active there. So it might be outside of meta, it might be on X, it might be on Reddit. There's so many other areas in the social media landscape where you can have a presence and, and where you don't have to feel like if one goes down, you've lost your entire audience. Now, once again, I get that you might be focused mostly on one specific audience or one specific platform, where that is your concentration, where you're most comfortable. Well, that's also the place where you gotta be so sure that you're pulling people back to your own home base, to your email list, to your own website, so that that particular platform cannot be the end of your career if it's taken down. And this goes right alongside with that. Owning your content, owning a place on the Internet that belongs to you. And once again, you might be considering, oh my gosh, how do I afford that? Because posting to TikTok and Instagram and Facebook is free, but you can find other ways to host your own content, whether it be your podcast and having a hosting provider or your video. Yes, you can host your own video on a website. So there are ways around waiting for a specific place to host all of your content and thinking, if they go down, I have nowhere to share it. Get creative. Think about your own website. Does it cost a little money to have a WordPress, to have a Wix, to have a squarespace? Yes, but it's more important to have that place where you own the space, you own the domain, and people cannot take it down simply because it not working with them in terms of your content or the content you share. Your algorithm issues. That no longer becomes the case if you own a place on the Internet that belongs to you. So I highly suggest you go ahead and build that up if you don't have that already. Now, let's talk about another issue that really is the heart of the TikTok ban and why it's so important for you not to get stuck in one platform. A lot of creators built huge followings, but they also built connections. And this is where people kind of interacted with them inside these apps. The comment section, that engagement that they got, well, you've got to learn to build that engagement outside of the platform. Once again, this could be email, this could be snail mail, it could be text messages. Being able to connect with people through text, whatever it is, you want to build a deeper connection with those people so that if you are not in a certain place, they're not only looking at you as a TikToker, they're not only looking at you as a YouTube. You want your music, your art, your creative projects, your personality, your creative brand to transcend the platform that it's on. Even here, if I'm watching, if you're watching on YouTube, that could be kind of like a red flag there, right? If I call myself a YouTuber, well, if YouTube decides to take me down, is YouTube our only connection? Do you see me only as a YouTuber? Do you see me only as a podcaster? Or is the brand God and gigs simply a place that you feel comfortable in the community no matter what platform it's on? So that's the key. Build a deeper connection. Think about if you're in a local area, live events, think about ways that you can make that connection directly with the people that you are reaching so that they are not seeing you only as a tool of a specific platform. And that's the only way that they can reach you try to create content as well that builds longevity. Think about things that are not just that quick 30 second hit that they are looking for, because once again, once that platform's gone, that style is also gone. So maybe they don't know you as well because they haven't connected with you in a longer type of format and content. Whether it be a podcast, whether it be long videos, you gotta say something that makes them remember you once the scroll is over. So think about how can I make my content more in depth, more engaging, so that the people that are following me aren't simply looking for that quick hit, but they really want to get to know me and I want to get to know them. And finally, this is for all of us who once again trust in God, because God and gigs is all about first putting God in it and then the gigs and the creative lifestyle. I want you to make sure that you are looking to God for the answers to your creative calling, not to your community, not to your following, and definitely not to the algorithm. The problem is, so many times we put our trust in how many likes did it get, how many followers do I have? And we let the social media metrics become a kind of idol that we worship and we think our validation comes when those numbers go up. But a verse that I just read in my own study was that gain is not godliness, but godliness with contentment is great gain. So your gains are not from how many TikTok followers and Instagram followers, how many Twitter followers you have. Your gain is in knowing that you are aligned with your purpose in God and that he is helping you to become the creative that he wants you to be and reach the people that he wants you to reach. And that is immaterial and not stuck on which platform that you are on or which one is even available to you. You have more avenues. He has more creative ideas for you to reach those people other than just relying on one specific platform. You know, Paul said in the Bible that he becomes all things to all people so that he might win. Some. Some days maybe you have to be a tiktoker. Some days you need to be on Facebook. Some days you need to turn social media off and just meet with someone, whatever that is. You've got to find a way to trust God to be the CEO of your creative business and give you the guidelines and the template and the blueprint so that you're never relying on this one particular platform to supply all your needs. God's your provider. He's the one that made you creative. Let him guide you on your next steps. Well, I hope this has helped you kind of get your bearings about you. If you've been concerned about the TikTok ban, if you are still dealing with it. If as I'm recording this it's already gone and you're thinking what do I do next? We want to help you, so please make sure you follow us@godandgigs.com that is where you connect with our Creative Checkup newsletter. As you can see, this is not a social media platform. It's our own newsletter and you can get it at any time. So if Facebook or YouTube or any of these other social media platforms don't let you see this specific video, one day you will still have a connection to God and Gigs. So once again subscribe@godingigs.com info and you can be connected with us no matter what happens on the social media landscape. Well, I hope this has helped you. Thank you so much for watching and listening and until next time, continue to become the creative that you are created to be. God bless and I'll see you next episode.

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It it.

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My friend. Thank you for watching this episode. If that blessed you. You got to make sure that you stay connected with this community and this channel so that you can get more where came from. We're sharing great interviews, tactics, strategies, mindsets, lifestyle choices.

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Everything that's going to help you become.

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A totally confident creative. And don't miss an episode of the Gotten Gig Show. If you are staying connected to our channel, you'll be able to find us anytime we release new episodes and you can check out some of our archives of almost 200 episodes now that we've shared over the last few years. Make sure you check out one of the suggestions right now because it's probably perfect for you to continue to develop as a creative and continue to stay connected with us because we're here to help you become the creative that God created you to be. We'll see you in the next episode.