The TikTok Ban & Why Owning Your Audience Matters

We’re tackling the buzz about a possible TikTok ban in 2025 and what it means for all of us—small business owners and creators who’ve built so much on the platform. We’ll break down the national security talk behind the ban (in plain English, don’t worry) and, more importantly, chat about what you can do to stay ahead. Think email lists to own your audience, exploring other platforms, and boosting your personal brand so you’re not stuck relying on just one app. We’ve got tips to help you roll with the punches and keep your business growing no matter what. Let’s do this!

Time Stamps:

00:32 The TikTok Ban: Background and Implications

03:03 Diversifying Your Social Media Presence

05:28 Building a Personal Brand Across Multiple Channels

14:28 The Importance of an Email List

16:29 Creative Strategies for Growing Your Email List

18:35 Leveraging Collaborations and Partnerships

29:59 Selling Your Own Intellectual Property

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Transcript

Episode 074: TikTok Ban
===

[00:00:00] 

Joanna Newton: Welcome back to the Her First Podcast. This is the first episode that we are filming in 2025. We're really excited to bring to you lots of new topics, lots of new guests this year. I'm Joanna Newton and I'm a business owner. I help people create and launch their own online courses.

Michelle Pualani: And I'm Michelle Houston, founder of To Be Honest Beverage Company, a non alcoholic spirit brand, as well as personal brand and business mentor.

Joanna Newton: Today, we're talking all about the TikTok ban. And if you are a creator, if you're on social media, this is probably something you're hearing a lot of people talk about, or you're thinking a lot on your own. We'll share some background on what is exactly happening and what's happening next, but the talk of banning TikTok has actually been happening for a long time and it keeps getting delayed.

But there is a possibility that right after filming this episode, [00:01:00] just to. couple of days from now that a Supreme Court decision could affect what happens with TikTok with it possibly going away by January 19th. Now, for creators, this can have a lot of implications. If you rely on TikTok for your business, you could have an immediate impact.

impact on your business. So today we're going to go over the situation, what's happening, and what you as a business owner and a creator can do about it.

Michelle Pualani: So let's start with a little bit of background in case you're not familiar about the circumstances of what's happening. So TikTok, as you may know, or have heard of before, the Tikitokies, it's a popular social media platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance. So it's facing this potential ban here in the United States Due to what's being called national security concerns. So in April of 2024, Congress passed the protecting Americans from foreign adversary controlled applications act, which requires bite dance, the overarching company to divest its us [00:02:00] operations by January 19th. 2025, just a couple of weeks away at this time, or they could face a complete ban on TikTok within the country here in the United States.

Of course, TikTok is available throughout the world. So this is just impacting the United States and access in this country. So ByteDance has legally challenged this mandate, arguing that it violates First Amendment rights, and the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit upheld the ban. And the Supreme court is scheduled to hear the case on January 10th, 2025.

Like Joanna mentioned, we may have some more updates for you as things progress. So this potential ban has caused some anxiety among Tik TOK creators and small business owners who rely on the platform for income and marketing, but many are exploring alternative platforms and diversifying their social media presence in anticipation of the court's decision and what could happen. So as the situation develops. The future of TikTok in the US kind of remains uncertain, but pending the Supreme Court's ruling and any actions taken by the [00:03:00] incoming Trump administration will determine and dictate what happens. So why we're talking about this today is ultimately to center around, not just what's happening with TikTok and the current news around it, but you as a personal brand. As a content creator, as a coach, as a business owner, how sometimes leveraging one platform can be a mistake and how you can actually start to think about your business in other ways and through other channels that can help guard you against some of these issues that either come down politically or from a business and economic standpoint, so that you are not negatively impacted, have to close your doors or experience the stress, the frustration of what it could mean to lose a social platform like TikTok.

Joanna Newton: And we've seen this before as content creators and entrepreneurs. When Twitter was sold to Elon Musk, people left Twitter en masse. So a lot of people left the platform in protest of that because they didn't want to support, Musk being owner of Twitter that tanked reach of tweets like [00:04:00] crazy because there were fewer people on the account on the platform and fewer people engaging.

So this is not something that is just happening now because of tick tock. It's something we're going to see over and over again, equally. So. Right now, Meta is under fire because Mark Zuckerberg just announced that they will be no longer having fact checkers on Facebook anymore, which can be a little wild.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see people leaving Facebook in protest of that. And feeling like Mark Zuckerberg is basically doing whatever Donald Trump wants. And so that's just something to think about and be aware of is if you're using a social media platform, you don't own that social media platform.

The owners can change things, the algorithm can change, the owners can do things you don't agree with. So you don't want to support their platform. There's All kinds of things that can happen and you need to be prepared as a business owner to not be at the mercy of one social [00:05:00] platform for your business and just to, you know, reiterate some things we're sharing because this is super newsley.

This is super timely. we're filling this on January 8th, the Supreme Court, case will be happening January 10th. This episode will be posted just a few days after that. So if there are updates about what's happening with the band, we'll make sure we put them in the show notes linked to a news article so you can go there and see the current situation that's happening when you listen to this episode.

Michelle Pualani: So one of the things we want to emphasize with this podcast as you're listening is that you are oftentimes your business. Even if you're creating a brand, you're creating the identity, the persona, the personalities, the aesthetic, the care, the compassion, the values. Whatever it is that you're imbuing into your brand is a representation of you. And a lot of times we talk about personal brands on this podcast and how someone is representing themselves in the public eye. And if you are using one channel to do that, it often leads [00:06:00] to issues within your business.

Either a lack of lead flow, something happens with the algorithm, something changes, you don't have the same access you used to. Sometimes your account is banned, which we've seen before, Or if you're running paid ads, sometimes you can get banned on that platform as well, and all of your ads are cut off. So what we're emphasizing is that you cannot rely on one channel for leads, sales, and for your business as a whole, and what it looks like to diversify instead. So if you are someone who uses, Uses Tik TOK or not at all. Say you use Instagram mainly, or say you're on Pinterest predominantly, or say you're on YouTube. There are all kinds of things to think about when it comes to creating your personal brand, creating your brand online, and actually putting your business in front of customers. So starting to think about the ways in which you're diversifying your traffic sources. How are you showing up in the online space? Where are your people hanging out? And can you start to add on [00:07:00] another channel? There's a lot of suggestions, I think, from digital marketers and a lot of, you know, social media accounts that say like, focus on one channel, just go hard in one space and then add on channels.

I think that's right in some cases and wrong in some cases. I think it depends on you as a brand. I think it depends on your propensity. I think it depends on where you naturally spend your time. A lot of other factors where you feel comfortable, what types of content you feel comfortable putting out, whether that's audio, video, copy, et cetera. But I think it's important, even from an early stage to think of at least two or three different channels, and that could look like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and actually doing like a regular consistent email marketing campaign. it can look very different for who you are and where you are at in the stage of your business, but thinking about the different platforms that you can start to explore instead of relying on just one.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, and when I work with clients, I always recommend that they start with two [00:08:00] channels. I know that a lot of people are like, just go in on one, but like, do you really want to put all of your eggs in one basket? Right? Like just, just focus on one. If that one doesn't take off, you're really struggling.

if you have two, you have two opportunities to really potentially grow. And then you also. aren't as much at the mercy of the owner of that platform and that owner of that business. If you focus on one, you're basically say you focus on Facebook and that's your, your primary bread and butter.

You're saying, okay, Mark Zuckerberg, all of my advertising is through you. You better not screw this up for me. you're kind of at the mercy of what they do with their business and their platform, which is, which is a iffy place to be. And if you diversify with say two, then you have, you know, more options if one goes away or if one's not working for you.

Now, do you wanna be everywhere? No. That can be really, really stressful and very hard to grow mult multiple platforms at a time. So a lot of times. I [00:09:00] try to recommend when I talk to people choosing two channels that is most natural to repeat and reuse content across platforms. So as an example, say, LinkedIn is your favorite platform and LinkedIn is somewhere that you want to be and to be creating content for.

Maybe that's your main planned channel. There are other channels that the type of content you create on LinkedIn is going to easily move into. LinkedIn is primarily, you can use video on LinkedIn, but it's primarily a written content platform. things that go well with a LinkedIn strategy would be something like threads or Twitter.

Or Blue Sky. Those are all primarily written content pieces. A newsletter, right? Those are things that pair really, really well with LinkedIn content where you could focus your efforts on that written content for LinkedIn and then repurpose it elsewhere, even if your main focus is LinkedIn. Say you love making short form video and you're on [00:10:00] TikTok.

This could be a lot of people right now. They make a lot of short form content. Their primary platform is TikTok with those short form videos, YouTube is a good place to cross over to because your short form content can be reused there. Potentially Instagram is a good place to be. also with that short form content or you know, Facebook if the audience is right for you.

So you can think of places that make it efficient for you to be posting and, and showing up in, in more channels than one.

Michelle Pualani: There's a couple things that come to mind as we're discussing this is that thinking about your channels differently as well. Instagram, yes, there is some longevity to posts that continue to get likes, views, shares over time, and there can be a building period, but it's not the same as YouTube that's more search based, SEO based, that can perform for you over the course of years. Same thing with a podcast. The length and longevity of the podcast is going to be much further reaching than a podcast. Then a tick talk video. So when you're thinking about the channels that you're [00:11:00] diversifying, trying to think about, okay, what's more of a long term strategy that I'm creating content for now, that's going to perform for me in two, three, five, 10 years down the line. And then what's something that's more of a right now in the moment going to get me like the spike of virality or interest or initial traffic. So thinking on those terms. As well as, we don't actually have a podcast on this, Joanna, but I think we should, as a repurposing podcast, on ways that you can take content and repurpose them across platforms. Because I think when we get stuck in that single channel, it's usually because, oh, I'm creating content specifically for Instagram, I'm creating content specifically for YouTube, but not knowing how to take that and then reformat it in an easy, efficient, systematic way. For a different platform, which can be really simple when you build it into your operating systems, when you have, you know, maybe a contracted team in place to be able to help you with that process that can make it really easy so that you're starting to fill [00:12:00] out into other networks.

And the way I see it is really creating a sphere and a web of influence because you're essentially building a brand. You want to be where people are speaking. You want to be where people are hanging out. You want to be where people are consuming. And although people use different platforms, they often follow different people on different platforms for different reasons.

Being able to target your content and target your brand in a way that speaks in that sphere of influence, in that network, in that web, just exposes you to more people, gains you more traffic, and it actually grants you more credibility. If you've ever gone to a brand and saw that they're Perhaps really active on Instagram, but they haven't posted anything to their YouTube that's still live in like three years there's a little bit of a lack of trust in the brand to be able to maintain consistency, integrity, and respect the quality of what that brand offers.

And I'm taking this to heart as well, because it's something that I need to implement in my brands. [00:13:00] But thinking about that is that if you have the channels, you're active on the channels, it builds more trust. It builds more loyalty. It builds more interest. And one of the things that we're communicating through this is that your personal brand is a representation of you. And so often we fall into the category of, Oh, I'm a Tik Tok creator. I'm on Instagram. And you don't want to pigeonhole yourself in that way. If you want to think of your brand and your business as a larger entity and as a representation of you as a person, then it's good to not isolate yourself in that way.

And it's good to not kind of categorically define yourself according to a platform and thinking more larger term. And this goes across collaborations. This goes across, you know, the ways in which you leverage content on other people's platforms or the way in which you garner sales. Like this goes in a lot of different directions.

We're just kind of talking mainly about the big name brands when it comes to social media and driving traffic, but thinking about this [00:14:00] across channels, which leads into The fact that you should own your traffic, your leads, and your sales and your customers as much as possible. So what does that mean?

That means that as you're creating content, building a social following, that you're guiding people to a place that you own so that you have that list. An email list is one of those examples. And we're going to talk a little bit about how you can better build that email list and why it's so important for your business and your brand.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, building an email list. is huge. Like whenever I meet new people, if I know they have an email list, I know for a fact, I can help them sell. If not like the first campaign by the second, you know, as you learn the second campaign, if you have an email list, you can sell. But I will say, if you have a hundred thousand Instagram followers and zero email list, I'm not sure if you can sell yet.

So getting that email list is key to sales [00:15:00] and you know, there's a couple of reasons for this. Um, this is really important. that's where you can follow up when you have their email address. You can follow up, you can communicate, you can build a relationship with them. You can ask them survey questions.

You can give them special offers. You can automate things with that email address. The other thing to think about again, you know, with the thought of the, the tick tock ban, right? Tick. If, if you had no, if you had a hundred thousand followers on tick tock and you were making sales. And you lose that on, the 19th.

If you have their email addresses, you're okay. If you don't have their email address, you're not. the other thing that happens on a regular basis outside of TikTok is there's outages. Instagram has outages, Facebook has outages. If your planned launch day, this happened to me, by the way, as an aside, if you're Planned launch days on the day of an outage, you lose a day and you have to adjust.

But if you have email addresses, the bulk of your launch can still happen, [00:16:00] the Instagram work wasn't icing on the cake where your email address is, where you're getting most of your sales from. Um, I actually, there was a big, I forget, I think it was in 2021. There's this like big Instagram outage that was like, just.

I think it was even more than 24 hours. It was wild. And that was like a launch day for a product, but we had email addresses. So we were okay. We're still able to sell and do and do the launch and just start the Instagram campaigns the next day. But having that email list is so important. So how do you get email addresses?

there's a lot. a lot of ways to get email addresses. And I want, you know, when we have this conversation to get people to think creatively. Now, the very traditional way is some sort of lead magnet, some sort of freebie that you can put up on your website. Drive traffic to that link, capture their email address and give them something great response.

Now, one thing that I see creators do that can be really confusing is have like 75, 000 lead [00:17:00] magnets. Maybe 75, 000 is an over exaggeration, but they think they need 75, 000 lead magnets. I like to recommend people start with one, And promoted on everything. Everything goes to that one, one lead magnet. You know, maybe you add a couple over time, but really, really focus on, on one lead magnet to build those sales.

And so that's like your traditional route, like capture people on, on social media, on Instagram with your Bigger high level content, get them in a little closer with you with a, some sort of freebie and then move them down their line and their funnel to a paid product from there, but you can get really creative with how, how you can get leads.

One of the ways that I grow my email list is through All of the discovery calls I booked, everybody who books a call with me and meets with me, not everybody's the right fit for my agency services. So they go on my email list for future launches and, and future products that I'm going to sell.

I probably [00:18:00] average about three calls a day. So that's an extra three leads a day that I'm getting through the system on a regular basis, right? That's a way to do it. If you go lecture somewhere or speak somewhere, you can often grow your email lists that way. So think through all of the activities you do.

You can likely use some of the things you're already doing to grow that email list. 

Michelle Pualani: And those are really great ways to tap into your warm leads. These are people who are already interested in what you're doing. They've already said yes by following you, engaging with your posts, your content, and you're just taking them organically to the next step. A couple other ways we'll throw out there to grow your email list is to collaborate. Who are people in your niche that are adjacent to what you do not offering the same thing But potentially have the same prospective client the same ideal client persona that you can capitalize on Either doing a swap of freebies so that you can get people who are targeted and interested in what you offer Reaching out to someone who has an email [00:19:00] list of a thousand ten thousand depending on where you're at And offering them something of value Hey, I have something that I think your audience would be really interested in and they could benefit for these reasons.

Would you be interested in doing a freebie swap and doing it that way? Being featured on someone's podcast, being featured in their membership, reaching out to their newsletter. If they already have a consistent newsletter, that's engaged with a high open rate, high click through rate, which a lot of people, especially in my space, a personal development space have very engaged lists. And people trust them. There's so much respect and trust and loyalty with that brand already that you can borrow by collaborating with them. Either, you know, even just paying to be a part of their newsletter or offering some sort of commission or affiliate deal on an opportunity can be a really good way to drive that traffic. There are other ways to find yourself on a On other platforms as well, whether that is on social [00:20:00] media channels, you're collaborating, getting in front of more people, whether that is Through blogs. I know not people don't talk about blogs as much anymore Which I think is kind of funny watching like what people talk about with trends But people are still actively searching websites for content And so getting featured in someone's blog that has a lot of site traffic that again either offers a freebie a free console Something that gets their email into your platform and again on your list is a great way to think about alternative ways to show up in the online space. I think also we often get, you know, hooked on the idea of a freebie, which is the best way, the lead magnet, but I've seen unique and interesting ways that people use, you know, a DM strategy. So if you're not familiar with ManyChat, look it up. It's a DM automation strategy for social media channels that essentially responds to a word.

So whenever you see comment or DM, Claim [00:21:00] or guide or support or a number, then that DM automation strategy sends them a response. Automatically kind of take some of the load off of your plate. It's not so manual and it takes them through more of that buyer process and that getting to know you journey without your input and energy. But you don't have to necessarily offer just like PDF. It could be a podcast that they might be interested in. It could be. Another YouTube video or another conversation that you had somewhere else. It could be referring them to somebody else's thing, which is counterintuitive, but sometimes it's just helpful providing resources and giving that value up front so that you're again, not having to put all this time and energy into what is the perfect lead magnet, but what is my audience going to be interested in and how can I help and support them? And then the best way is just to get their email and send them an email with the content. So that deliverability is going to Give them what they need and it's going to get them on [00:22:00] to your list. So those are just a few ways to be able to leverage your organic content in your traffic in a way that now you'd quote unquote own that audience member, that potential and prospective buyer so that you can continue to sell for them because email is still the highest conversion rate from what I know in terms of sales. So that's a really great strategy to pursue. Start adding in and get people onto that channel. And then of course, pay attention to them, nurture them, send them some emails, provide some value, do some of the teaching, the education, the sharing of stories in your email so that you can lead them down that process.

And just consider it an opportunity to kind of build out that business and brand as a whole, as opposed to, I just have a social media presence.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, you just walked through some really, really great strategies and tactics to getting people in your funnel, bringing them in, engaging with them, right? And a lot of times [00:23:00] like TikTok or your Instagram or any of those social channels are your super, super high top of funnel activities that are going to get people engaged.

And what's super important to think about. This is why personal brands are so pivotal because all of these things are just representations of your brand. But if your brand is you, the most important part is that you're getting people to know you, like you, trust you, want to spend time with you. And then it doesn't matter what platform you're on.

If you're on Tik Tok right now and you have a bunch of unengaged. Followers who don't really like you, know you, trust you, want much to do with you. If you try to go get them to move with you to Instagram, if it's being banned, or if you try to get them on your email list so that you can engage with them further, they're not going to move.

They're on TikTok because they like TikTok and happen to follow you versus actually being interested [00:24:00] and engaged with you. So as a founder, as a creator, you need to find ways to get them to connect with you because then it doesn't matter what platform you're on. It doesn't matter when you send your emails, it doesn't matter exactly what you're doing because they want to connect.

You, and they want more of you and what you have to offer doesn't matter what platform you're on. So your personal brand just goes so far beyond what platforms you're on, what your sales channels are, what your lead magnets are, what your email follow up systems are, what your products are. It goes to, are you presenting the core of who you are to the world?

And are you able to connect with people that you can help?

Michelle Pualani: Which is the point right like that's why you're creating this brand and so what we're trying to do is alleviate some of the stress Some of the frustration some of the potential, you know Chatter that's happening in the online space because people love to latch on to the negative They love to latch on to popular culture.

What's talking [00:25:00] about? Let's put this person down. Let's cancel this person Oh my gosh, they're banning tick tock Throwing up the hands and arms and this actually feeds really nicely into our next episode So make sure you tune in for our next episode about the let them theory by Mel Robbins A really great conversation around what is it that you control within your business? You control your systems. You control your strategy. You control your operations. You get to decide how, where, and when you show up. And don't let a platform dictate, determine, change the trajectory of your business, or even your emotions.

Don't let it impact you in that way, knowing that you can be in charge of your content creation, Of how people respond to you of your audience building of and the way in which you can plan and prepare for the future so that you're not at the mercy of outside circumstances. Things that you cannot control. You cannot control whether TikTok gets banned or not. You can control [00:26:00] how you navigate it as a business owner and the way in which you, again, create content, the channels that you're using, how you're owning your business list, and how you're deciding to And how it is that you're responding in our social media climate, which is the most important thing that you protect your peace and you protect your business and your ability to succeed.

Joanna Newton: Such wise words. You always have the best wise words to say about situations like this, right? Control what you can control. you know, me personally, as a human being, I'm living proof that you do not have to have a huge social media following, a perfect website, all of the things together to make sales, right?

My business did a half a million dollars in sales before having a website and we got to a million dollars in sales without a social media strategy. Yeah. Right? So there are ways to sell without those things. we purposely chose to go about things a little differently. Now in [00:27:00] 2025 we are now focused on a digital social media strategy and it's a big part of what we're doing now, but that's not where we started.

So there are so many ways to grow your business and get sales. And you don't have to rely on an algorithm to do so. And it's so easy for people to be like, Oh, if the algorithm just loved me, I would have sales. Or if this happened, I would just have sales or this TikTok hates me or any of that. Like we just need to get that out of our heads and say, we're going to find a way to make our businesses successful.

And if this isn't working, I'm going to try something else. And if this isn't working, I'm going to try something else. And you can go to strategies. That are a little bit more grassroots, a little bit more organic when it comes to building your business. Things like partnerships and networking and like cold messaging people, like don't discount those strategies.

Cause I know you see the influencers with [00:28:00] all the Instagram followers or LinkedIn followers or Tik Tok followers. You can think of only I had what they had, I could be successful when there are tons of people. With no following and huge businesses because they're doing the work. So just don't be afraid to just think differently about how you're going to find, um, customers for your business.

Michelle Pualani: Absolutely. One great brand comes to mind. His name is Chris, and he just does the most beautiful job of kind of like affiliate partnership launches, but he does them on a monthly basis. They're super streamlined. He's leveraging brands that he's worked with before to redesign. Their look their aesthetics because it's graphic design what he offers and he partners with the right people He gets in front of their audiences on a monthly basis.

He does a workshop. He sells to them and that's his entire business He doesn't worry about all the other fluffy things and I think when I first got started in business I needed to demonstrate some sort of type of success via social media [00:29:00] channels before I took my content my programs Seriously, and it's actually the opposite.

It's like you've got to take your products your program seriously and know that they're of value And you can offer that to somebody else's audience to somebody else and just know your worth and how you're showing up and Be able to leverage those spaces prior to even building any type of social media following do you want to grow it? Yes, that would be helpful, but there are huge multi seven figure brands who don't have any organic following because they have different sales channels. So think about the way that you're marketing, think about the way that you're selling, think about how you can mix things up and how you can better represent yourself as a business. And that also includes what is it that you're selling on social media? A lot of people rely on brand deals or affiliate partnerships or they're selling somebody else's stuff in order to make money. And then they have the social media following and they reach X number of followers, but there's a lot of different ways you can go about it. [00:30:00] Joanna is the expert in this and being able to sell your own intellectual property. We've talked about MRR before, not Monthly Recruiting Revenue, but master resale rights when you're taking somebody else's stuff and you're selling it or if you're working solely on brand deals or you're working solely on affiliate partnerships and selling to other people's things, it's not a bad thing.

It's a great way to round out your sales, your revenue growth, your ability to make more money in your business. But at the end of the day, you should be thinking about What's a digital product, what's a course, what's a membership, what's a program, what's something that I own that I can direct people to. just for example, sometimes I see big time creators that are still directing people to like, Amazon links, or just like, Small affiliate links. And I'm like, man, if you as a skincare creator had a free lead magnet, that was your routine that sold into a simple digital product offer about like [00:31:00] taking them step by step through what it is that you do for skincare or for hair care, whatever your focus is, that would be so much more impactful and.

astronomically more profitable than the 5 to 10 percent you're getting off of a 5 product on Amazon. Like the, the way in which you can actually build and grow your business is, is so much more worthwhile if you actually thought about like what's the intellectual property that you can create and then sell and navigate it through membership, course, digital product, or some other offering.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, because when your business is so closely tied to the success of another business, you're just limited and you have less control. Those things can be great ways to get started, great ways to get revenue, great ways to have additional revenue on top of your, your work. But if it's your sole item, you could just [00:32:00] put yourself into.

a whole. Another example, like Jeff Bezos is under a lot of scrutiny right now for some choices he's making and people are talking about leaving Amazon and not using Amazon anymore to boycott what he's doing. So if you rely on Amazon referral links, and that's all you do and half your following decides to not use Amazon, well, your income will go in half immediately.

You're going to be immediately impacted by that. speaking specifically about like MLMs here, but Beachbody in towards the end of last year got rid of Amazon. Of their like multi level marketing status and just turn to straight affiliates. So people who are making money off their downlines got told in two weeks, this is over.

You're laughing, but it's true. These people who are making the people at the top [00:33:00] make. Tons of money off their downlines immediately lost that income.

Michelle Pualani: That is wild, to have that carpet ripped out from underneath you. Like, talk about instability. We've talked about or mentioned this before, that yes, with a job there is stability of a paycheck, theoretically, but even more and more we're seeing corporations close down, bankruptcies happen, massive layoffs. So really, there is not a lot of stability to jobs like there used to be. And something like an MLM, where you've invested years of your time, effort, and energy to building up this brand that is not you, to building up this business that is not you, and then to have all of that income, all of those years of work, of hustling, just taken away from you. Which, yes, business is a risk that could happen at any point for your brand, too. But knowing that you've invested all of this time and energy into marketing other people's brands being an affiliate for things that you care [00:34:00] about Great do it on top of what you do But you will always be there And building your personal brand is the thing that you can count on independent of whether you shift from fitness to business to finance to knitting, whatever it is in terms of what you're focusing on, it's still you and it's worth investing the time and energy and effort that you're putting into content for a pillow company or a food product brand as it is to put into your brand because you're going to spend similar amounts of time and energy, but what really is The impact of that in the long term and what's your return on investment of that time and energy You're going to see it so much more in your personal brand, especially for longevity of your business

Joanna Newton: well, thank you so much for tuning in with us today. I hope that this conversation shed a little bit of light on how to handle your business strategy with all the potential of change. [00:35:00] changing landscapes. If you're on TikTok, think about how you can start moving people to other platforms just in case, but then for the long term, think about how you're going to diversify your sales channels and diversify your revenue streams so that if one thing falls, your business Doesn't go away overnight that you have different options and different things you can pull from and as much as possible things that you actually own, like your own products, programs, um, your own email list, your own website traffic.

Those are things you have a lot more control of than the outside algorithms. Um, you don't want to be. At mercy to them or an individual business owner for the success of your business. So please stay tuned, subscribe to our channel, follow us, stay connected to, to get notified when the next episode will be live.

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