TikTok For Beginners w/ Drea Okeke

million followers on TikTok alone. She posts funny comedy videos and has worked with major brands such as Netflix, Google, and Chipotle. Today, I'm hoping she can share more about why everyone seems obsessed with TikTok, including me, also give advice to help us, especially me, level up our own TikTok's. You know I need help? Yeah, Hey, Dreane, how are you? I'm doing good? Gammy, how are you doing today? I am so good? So on absolutely listen. I'm desperate. I'm

desperate for your health. I hear, I got you so. I saw your first um TikTok was back in I didn't even know about TikTok until last year, really like, how did you hear about it so early on and what did you think of it? Of course, my friend Alie Fits she was on the app before before TikTok was called musically so just the lip singing app, and she was telling me, Okay, this app just came out. You need to get on it to post a lot

of videos. The engagement is crazy, a lot of people on it, and I'm like, I love posting short form videos like my mind just works, been like six seconds, fifteen seconds or less. So I was like, okay, let me post and I started posting on there and immediately, like video started going viral, and I'm like, I started doing a community. I'm like people to I'm funny, Okay, cool, let me keep up. I'll stay. And I just started going to growing an audience, and all of a sudden,

millions of followers started growing in and down. You know, there we are. Do you remember how many videos or challenges you had to do before one went viral. I think when I was posting, I wasn't really thinking about going viral. I was just thinking about having fun with it, because if I saw one video did well, I would go back and make a part two of it. So

I did a lot of like comedy skits. Have this character called Mama D where she basically like if my Nigerian mom my first nation with Nigerian mom, where she just like the salts because African parents are very very rude and it's it's salts you like you look stupid, but I love you. So I'm just doing like one video like that with viral and I'll make another one

part two, Part three, part four. I can't remember the exact amount of time, Like I remember one time when I was doing accent challenges, I'll read words with my Nigerian accents because I can switch back to my Nageran accents and then I'll find someone from like put a recom and tell them to read the same words and we'll show how different but also similar are accents are. And those were super global globally viral. So yeah, well I have to tell you that, you know, the first

TikTok that I did was the Chosen Challenge. Listen, I cannot tell you how long, the hours, the hours, and it took me to get that thing done. I was doing it by myself. I had to like set up the computer, look at the computer while I had the camera set up trying to cap it was I was like I didn't know what I was doing, and it just took forever. I mean people people liked it, but it just it just took so long to do it.

So sometimes it's just hard memorizing the dances, like setting up the tripod, and then it takes me just hours. Do you have to edit the video like all of that. It's just a lot, it really is. So I'm hoping that you can help us out with that day. Well, first of all, let's let's go back a little bit, because you got your bachelor's degree in engineering, So what made you start creating content for social media in the first place. My mind is like has ideas and I

love bringing that vision to life. So I got my bachelor's degree, that I moved to California and I was working as the engineer full time. I started creating videos just as a stress reliever because you know, engineering it's not easy. So I just needed a way to just escape, get out of the normal. And that's how I just got started and to really know that I could stick

to it full time. First of all, I always believe that people can do things whatever so on else to do, and you can do it if you put your mind to right. So I've seen people in my space back then, this was in twenty seventeen sixteen. I saw people with the social media space taken off, you know, being able to host TV shows, getting roles and movies, making so much money, buying these houses. And I'm like, they don't have two heads. They're not betting on me. If I put my mind to it, I got on my side,

I can do it, you know. So I realized that there's definitely potential for me to do this full time. And when I went in I went to grad school at USC and I studied entrepreneurship because my I forgot parents told me, almost get my starts degree, but I wanted to get a master's degree in something that like I can use to elevate my social media career. And that's what I an entrepreneurship classes. That started realizing that when you're pitching yourself, it's kind of the same as

social media. My platform is my business, right, and I gotta treat it like it is my business. And when I want to work with these brands like you mentioned, I work with Netflix, seven eleven, Google, The list goes on. I reach out to these brands and I'm like, this is dread knows best as a brand. This is what you can benefit from. Here's my pitch. Work with me.

So that's when I started like okay full time and then took the ricks and now that we're here, So what's your take on senior influencers coming into the space see your influence? You know, first of all gave me I love that word. I love a senior influencers. Okay, that's that's that's do you all your hashtags? See your influence? I think there's space for everyone, I really, especially even

directly on TikTok. That's even the space where senior influencers should start out because you just need to find something you're interested in and post about it. Like if you think about on TikTok, there's so many different demographics. I think sometimes you put a lot of pressure on ourselves thinking we need to make sure we do the trending

dances or do the trending challenges. And if you depending on what you like, your explore page, which is called the for you paid on TikTok, will show you what you like. So for me, I love hearing stories about relationships like how people met, how someone met their husband's, how some one met their wife. And my for you page is just videos of people telling stories. So I think senior influencers has come on and share your story about you know, what you've experienced in life, what your

hobbies are, and post about it. Because when we start overthinking how to post, that's when it becomes a challenge for this space for everyone. So how would you say that for someone like me? I do have people now that can help me with that, but if I didn't have that, one of the suggestions that you would make on how to learn how to do a TikTok you've already given us ideas about what we should try posting about, but just the process. What what is that like? How

do you how do you do it? What? What what is the must do when creating content for TikTok Okay? First of all, I need to buy five thousand dollar phone. I'm just gonna joke. No, I think it's really simple. So the first thing you should do is just clear around with the app, right learn as you play, So open your app and nearly just record yourself. Hey, y'all, this is what I'm doing for breakfast. This is a question that I have because I've never done it that way,

because I'm afraid that I'll it'll get posted. It'll get posted. Something that i've I've done will get posted and I didn't really want to post it, you know what I mean. So it's no side by It's like a side by side picture or something. If I record that, how do you can you record it and save it and go back and look at it. Or I'm just so afraid that I'm gonna do something and it's gonna go get posted live and I'll be like, oh no. You know what's funny, Those videos that you don't plan too much

are the videos that does better than most. I'm telling you from my experience because when I shoot my comedy sketches, I live in Los Angeles, so I have access to like studio sets from talking to my friends. We rent out like an airplane set. We shoot an airplane, We shoot at like hospitals. Becauld we love, you know, we love to go above beyond. I'm a creative color. You know, we gotta stand out. Um. But I'm talking those videos flopped it's the one where I'm saying, y'all, I just

got a new wig. What's you think about these banks? Is the commons roll in because people The biggest thing on TikTok is it's just it's a community, right, And that's why I think age is not really a factor because there's so many different niches. There's people posting about like having chickens as pets, and people posting about cooking recipes poople. I see you, Gammy. You're doing a lot

of fashion on TikTok to there. So when you have that community, it's ageless, right, because it doesn't matter if you're giving me fashion tips and you're sixty something or if you give me fashion tips and you're twenty regardless, it's about the message you're trying to give people. So I think once you play around with the app a little bit, you slowly start learning how to edit, how to use the timer, how to trim your video down

to be shorter. The trimming of a video is like, I just like, I'm always like trimming the wrong part. It's just really challenging. It really is. I feel you and you know something. There's there's also TikTok accounts who are strictly about teaching you how to use TikTok. There's a lot of tutorial accounts right who teach you how to like here's this trend, Here's how to do it, trim this like they teach you step by step. So that's what I'm saying. Like TikTok so social media in general,

there's so many different categories. So if you wanted exactly like you can just follow an account that gives you tips for beginners, and then you'll be thriving out here. Well, I have to say though, it can be very time consuming, Drea, very time consuming to do all that. So you have to really be in a space where I ain't got nothing to do today, so I was on TikTok and

figure it all out. And I don't know, I don't know how many people have that kind of time or because it really can turn into almost like an obsession. Like sometimes my husband is like, get off the phone, put the phone down, I said, but I'm trying to fake it TikTok out, I'm trying to figure it out. You get into a rabbit hole watching a bunch of content.

I get hooked because the thing about TikTok. Before you page, it feeds you videos that you want to see, like it knows like I told you, Like, I get a lot of relationship gold videos. So whenever I get on there, I'm just like growing, like, oh my gosh, I can't stop watching. But yeah, So at the end of the day, can you give me like three things that you think

people should know when they're getting started on TikTok. The first step one is when you get the account, just okay, first of all, overall, don't overcomplicated, because I feel like we all as humans, we tend to overcomplicate things when things are actually simpler than it actually is. Going with attention of having fun. So when you get the app, watch a bunch of videos. Watch a bunch of videos

of people within your niche. For example, if you want to do a lot of fitness videos, look at all these fitness creators to see, Okay, how are they posting, what is their strategy, what is their type of content you posting? And you know, start saving a couple of the videos to get yourself inspiration. The thing about TikTok is a lot of people are doing the same thing.

You know, when a trend have like you study the chosen I saw recently you did the you posted the videos today when you like you dropped the clothes on the floor. Yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying. So like, but you did yours with a twist, and I love that yours was different. You know, So you're gonna see a lot of trends. Well, it did. It's not something that I created, though somebody else did it before me,

but you've added your own gammy flavor to it. I just want to make sure that you know I'm giving credit where credit is due because that's not something that that I created. I feel you, I feel you. I respect you for that too, because that's the problem that's going on into creative space, like people come up with trends but don't get credit for that trend. I want to go back to your first statement to about people make it more complicated than it really needs to be.

And I think I'm kind of falling in that space too, because I see people are doing something really really cool things and I want to be able to do that, but I can't. I don't know how to do all of that. So I think that you're right, I probably need to step back and just go simple. I think so too, and gave me I think for you like and this is the consultant in me. One of the consult you on your page. Just your lifestyle in general.

You're over sixty and you're you're the way you live your life is so inspiring because you're fit, you're having fun, you love to dance, You're very free with yourself, and people want to see that. And I think the biggest thing is when you know who your target audience is, who's watching your content, you can more easily create content for them at the same time loving your content. For me, I feel like I want to see what are some lessons you've learned, you know in your sixties over sixty years?

What are some you know? What is in your wardrobe? Like? What do you? What do you? How do you get inspiration for your clothes? I love you say you notes you know I am Videos like who said people over sixty can't do it? A trend that for me will make me stop to watching video, especially if you put that text on the screen like who said ladies over sixty can't wear these outfits? You don't have to say that, you can just put that text on the steam as

I'm scrolling, I'll stop me. Hold up, she's over sixty. She looks this good? You know what? And I would like start watching more of your video. So it's all about hooking them in those first three seconds. That's a big part about TikTok, Instagram reals, any short form video, hooking them in those first three seconds, Like, um, it's so important because before you don't want you want them to stop scrolling and watch your videos. So I see

you just being a lifestyle top of creator. Just showing life over sixty can be fun and that that literally is just like showing them showing us your life. And it doesn't have to be You don't have to I mean every now and then get creative. You have a team, You're lucky, your blessed, you have a team that can help you out videos. But don't we complicated? I think I would more. I'll be more inclined to see you posted video. Y'all. Here's me about to do this crunches.

I bet you under sixty or under the pointies can do this. And then you're doing five punches like and then you're having fun with it too. You're challenging your audience. You're bringing us into your life and overall is to win. Yeah, that is good if advice, that is good advice. So the first point was to be looking at the videos

that are already on the app. So you you're finding things that you like, right, yes, correct, Yeah, look at the videos on the app, find things that you like and you would like to recreate, right, Because I think on TikTok, a lot of the videos are either trans or challenges and there's nothing really new. People have seen it before. But what makes it new is when you add your own flavor to it. You get inspiration from

other videos that are posted. And then I think the second tip will be joining on the trends, joining on the challenges, but add your own twist to it, making something different and make it apply to your niche. For example, if there's a challenge that has to do with I don't know whatever, maybe I try to give a challenge right now, maybe like the drop challenger recently just came out right, the drop challenge where people with the Beyonce song you dropped down lower every time to be dropped,

and I can't go that low. I thought about doing that. I can't go that loud. I can't do it. I can't do it, and that would be a challenge for you. That would be how you can do the drop challenge differently? Right because you're over you want to appeal to the over sixties squality, be like, um, let's see over sixty year old can do the challenge, you know, and that would want people tune in because so let's see if she's gonna actually do it and gave me I know you for straate you to do it. You can do

you might. I don't know how many times you can go down and go back up because my knees are I'm twenty something, but my knees are already cracking, locking my knees, but I can go. I can get damn there, I ain't get back up? Yeah, okay, what's the third one? All right? Um? But sorry, I just want to make one more point about the trends, because that's that's something like when you're doing the trends, make it apply to

what your community or niche is. So that's also as like you can add so I've seen people do the trend but also add words on the screen like three tips for this, so as they're doing the video, they have words on the screen that giving them tips on certain things. Like if I was a dentist, I'd be like few ways to keep your teeth wipe. But as I'm still dropping, those tips are popping over. So people are reading, you know, they're reading and watching, They're gonna

save it, share it because they need those tips. Um, And that's my third. My third tip will be look, try to have content. I think it's for ease education. Either your content should be educational, right because people love things with that adds value to them. Right. Educational content is huge right now on Instagram, is huge on TikTok educational or maybe is it? Is your video going to be entertaining? Right? So like for me, my video is a lot of comedy or maybe me telling you know,

experiences and it's entertaining. Is your video gonna be engaging slash relatable? Can I relate to your video and not I like everyone? You're not trying to pil to everyone. You're trying to pel to your community, right, who you're commune, who you're trying to target. Is your video gonna be relatable to them? And what type of emotion you're gonna give them? Like for me, I see you giving people, you know, emotion of like, oh, I want to be aspiration, like I want to be like this and when I

get older kind of thing, you know. So when you think about those things, and I do have one more tip too, because there's a lot of tips. As you say three, I'm gonna get four. Make sure you have some type of call to action on your video. Calls to action means, you know, either in the middle of your video and at the end of your video telling them like and follow for more tips, either you're verbally

saying it or putting that on the screen. Because people we forget, like we forget we just watch this grows, watch this grow culture. We forget to double tap, we forget to follow. So telling them to follow for more tips, or follow for more inspiration on food recipes, follow for this call to add on. A call to action would be in the beginning of your video. Like I mentioned earlier, those hooks is like, um, you've been TikTok does not

want you to know this. That's like an example, or like the bank does not want you to know this, And then you give your tips about finance. You know, um, anything that's gonna make them stop. You've been doing crunch is the wrong way. I'm gonna stop people like what should have no crunches the wrong way. Let me watch this video what you're talking about? You know? Um story three ways to save to save your relationship, I'll stopping

watch that, you know. Like, so a call to action that's gonna make a hook and call to action gonna make people stop to watch your video is so important. And another bonus tip is the reply to video feature. Um, that's a big one for engaging your community. So let's just say someone comments something under your video. You instead of replying back to that comment with a text, you can imply back with a whole video. This is a really big tip for TikTok because I'll give you an

example for me. A year ago, when I went to Nigeria, I was lazy, I was out of content ideas and I'm like, I'm on vacation. What do y'all want to see what I'm in Nigeria? I posted that video. I was like, what do you guys want to see why I'm in Nigeria? And lots of comments rolled in. I want to see the houses y'all got in Nigeria, So I said, I want to see a mansion tour. I reply back with a video and I showed them a video of me touring different showing them how Africa looks

like different mansions. Another comments said, I want to see the food y'all got in Nigeria. I reply back with video with food. So my audience. This is doing two things. Want to show my audience that I see y'all. Y'all my friends, you're my family. I'm gonna I'm gonna reply back with you all. I'm gonna gavee it to you and to make you do less work. It's content ideas. So wow that you know what, this has been really really helpful, Drea. Now, right now, compared to your five

point one or what is it five point four? How many viewers do you have? Five point four million viewers? I think I have thirty three thousand. But I'm not gonna beat myself up because I'm just starting out. So I'm going to take your information and see if i can get my numbers up a little bit with my tick tock. Yeah, I think I think you definitely can. And the biggest thing to me, I don't look at numbers.

I look at your community. So if you can make that relationship with your TikTok community like this, like you actually the people feel like they can they're feeling seen by you. You can post and every time thirty thousand people are gonna like that post because you're engaged in with your community. Feel make them feel seen. That's what it's all about. I think with the content creating space and social media world gone on the days when people are looking at you have so many followers, like you

can easily say five million followers. I can say that, but it's like, are those five million people actually know you are, that they care about you, or they engage in your daily life? Like what are you doing with those probably followers? If you if you drop a business, will five whnion people buy that products? Maybe yes, because I'm actually engaged with my followers. So when you post

and it doesn't do well, don't delete it. Just keep it up there because again sometimes on TikTok, five months later, one of your videos can end up on the explot page, which is called for you page on TikTok, and then it starts racking up likes and followers and then boomed. So yeah, I just have fun with their gammy. Yeah, I think I think that's my biggest takeaway. I think that's my biggest say or one of my biggest takeaways raight, is that I need to be worrying about I just

need to be having fun with it. Yeah. Yeah, thank you so much. This was a fun conversation. I appreciate it. Before you go, though, it's time for our segment. Wouldn't you like to know where I have some rapid fire questions? I'd like to ask you, all right, what book are you currently reading? I'm currently reading two books, Get Right with Money, by the Budget is Stuff yep. So it's

about financial literacy. Yea, I have that. I have that. Yeah, it's it's so good, so good, because I think that's the biggest thing for me, Like now I'm starting to make more money, I need to know how to make my money work for me. Absolutely. I just got that one myself. So I totally get it. I totally get it. And I'm so glad to hear that you are taking your finances serious, Lee, so that your money will work

for you. Financial literacy is so important. What is one positive thing that you want to get off your chest. I feel like, man, don't think came to my mind is like God is good in my life. I feel like I'm a walking testimonial of like, if you really put your mind or hard work into things, it's really possible, like to achieve it. So like, I did not know that I would get so much success off this app because I've been I started off on Vine and that was another app that was like a thing, and I

lost over seven hundred followers. Had to start from scratch, you know, taking a leap of faith, quitting my engineering job to do social media full time, and all this could have flopped. You know, all this could have flopped. I'm not where I am supposed to be, but my I'm on my way there, and I'm really just like every day I wake up a gratitude, like God, You're good. So I feel you. I feel you. So do you feel like that's that you're the model that you live

by as well, that God is good? Yeah? It is. But there I have another one I go by. If not this, then something better, And I love that a lot, especially when certain opportunities come my way and maybe I get pitched for a brand deal and I don't get picked. You know, it's like okay, Drea, if not this, then something better, and I apply that to my my whole life, my relationship and rest I talk it's a guy and it doesn't work out, It's like, if not, this definitely

something better. I love that. I actually love that. I actually love that. This was such a fun conversation. Well, tell people where we can find you on social media. Um, you can find your social media. Drea underscore and knows best on Instagram and Drea knows best elsewhere, and then if you want, you can just go straight to my website.

I have my TikTok course on there's level up with TikTok if you're trying to, you know, level up literally on TikTok as so many people are making a lot of money growing their businesses, their brands on TikTok and have a whole course from A to Z on how to succeed. So that's level up that Drea knows best dot com. That's awesome. I'm gonna take a look at that. I've definitely learned a lot. So thank you so much Drea for stopping by positively gam and giving us all

the TikTok info. At one point we'll have to try to create a TikTok together. Oh yeah, I would love that and it will be phenomenal. It'll break the out and it will be so good. All right, we'll stay in contact. Thank you so much, Dreya, for sure you have a great one too. Now onto Gams Corner, where I answer fan questions that were submitted. Okay, what is

your favorite thing about Baltimore? The seafood? Quite frankly, I was born and raised in Baltimore, but that is one thing that you know I missed tremendously living out here in Los Angeles. Now be Hardshaw Crabs. I cannot get Hardshaw Crabs here. And every time I go back to Baltimore, whether it's the best season for them or not, I'm always trying to get somebody to take me. Let's go get some crabs. What movie can you watch over and over again? Oh? God, so many. The list goes on

and on, because that's what I tend to do. I mean, I I watch any movie starring guests who Jada Pinkett Smith. My favorite one is Low Down, Dirty Shame, Above and beyond that. As my husband, if you ask my husband, he'll say Love Jones because it's just the truth. I probably can mouth the words to every single character in the movie. I just know the movie backwards and forwards. It's like one of my favorite love Jones also like The Godfather particularly, well, actually all three of them, but

Godfather Part one is my favorite. I get kind of obsessive with movies. I'm a movie fan and a movie lover, so an he take your pick. Okay, So that's it for today. You can submit your questions to positively gam at red table talk dot com for a chance to hear me answer them on a future episode, and that wraps it up for us on positivity gam. You can follow me online at Gammy nards. Also help us by leaving a five star review on Apple Podcasts and by

hitting the follow button on I Heart Radio. Stay grateful, y'all. Positively Gam is produced by red Table Talk Podcast and I Heart Radio. Executive producers are Adrian Band, Bill Nars, Balan Jethrow, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Our audio engineer is Calvin Baylif, and our associate producer is Irene Bishoff Burger. Our theme song is produced by d Beats one