ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. — , in St. Augustine. One of those was gaining thousands of followers on TikTok from videos about her business.."And then all of a sudden, I looked down and I had a million views on one of my TikToks."draws in 50,000 potential guests every month, adding that she relies on the platform to bring in new guests to her motel.
“If there was a ban, I would have to figure out how to replace that reach with virtually zero marketing dollars,” she mentioned., 90% of small businesses in Florida say they saw an increase after promoting their products and services on TikTok. President of Global Business Solutions at TikTok Blake Chandlee says"this study demonstrates what we at TikTok already knew: it's a game changer for small businesses and has a significant impact on the U.S. economy."The study further highlights how 81% of Florida small businesses say they sold out of a product after promoting it on TikTok.
Despite Bedoian's boom in business, lawmakers are trying to regulate the China-based platform, saying it's a threat to the nation's security and user data. And while it's still available on app stores now, it's creating a community of small business owners in St. Augustine online and in-person. “We share a new business, one or two on our own social media platforms and those honestly do better than our own content,” Bedoian toldIf the bill becomes law, the owner of TikTok, Byte-Dance will have until September to sell TikTok to a U.S.-based investor or lose access to app stores and web-hosting services in the country.