Are Spiritual Entrepreneurs Being Censored? How to Cleverly Avoid Shadow Bans

2024 has been a weird year for many entrepreneurs and small businesses — especially in the United States, where I live. In typical me fashion, I chose to go full-time on my own business in a period of turbulence and I’m working with people in the spiritual business niche at a time when there is a lot of uncertainty.

I feel it’s my calling to help with a collective shift that’s going on in business. During times of shift, things often get worse before they get better. I hope this article can provide some insights and tools for you to navigate the shift with as much ease as possible.

It’s come to my attention that many spiritual entrepreneurs are being censored or shadowbanned on various social media platforms. 

A tarot reader I follow on LinkedIn had her 10,000-follower account shut down overnight for “promoting occult activities.” One of my clients watched her Facebook ad campaigns go from drawing in hundreds of people to only 20-30 per ad — with no explanation and no warning. She was told that in early January she will not be able to run ads with certain words in them.

That’s a scary thing if you’ve built a significant part of your business using these platforms. 

This is a wake-up call to double down on building up your website and email list so your audience is in your hands and not a third party’s. 

Social media is a tool for lead generation and audience building but it should not be where all of your business comes from.

That being said, I want you to know there are still ways to use social media to your advantage. I don’t want to live in a world where we are not free to express our full spiritual selves so this blog post is my way of being the change I wish to see in the world. 

Why are so many spiritual businesses being banned by LinkedIn and Meta?

Your guess is as good as mine. I have a few ideas but nothing is certain right now. What I can tell you is that words like psychic reader, spiritual, tarot reading, astrology, and anything related to holistic health advice (like energy healing) are being banned and blocked more and more. 

Meta owns Facebook and Instagram and Microsoft owns LinkedIn. This is good to keep in mind when we’re discussing these topics. 

I’ve been advising clients to shift their ad focus. Google owns YouTube and, well, Google. At this time, I haven’t been hearing of censorship problems with these platforms.

This is a great time to review your website SEO since good SEO will directly help your business be seen on Google. I would also advise you to start experimenting with Google ads instead of Facebook ads and see whether that makes any difference. 

I know a lot of spiritual entrepreneurs who are moving their content over to Substack and really loving it over there so that is a tool you can use — especially if long-form content is your jam.

Another strategy is to continue what you’ve been doing that works but change your ad copy so it doesn’t flag the words that are being censored.

What words can I use instead of spiritual, psychic, tarot reading, or astrology?

It’s time to get creative and clever! If you can’t use these words, then try to come up with things that are more common words but still get your point across. 

You can use personal growth, emotional healing, or soul growth instead of spiritual or spirituality. Try intuitive expert instead of psychic or intuitive guidance or soul guidance instead of tarot reading. Astrology could become living your life by the planets or getting wisdom from the stars. 

You can also try using the censored words with stars like you word a curse word: t*rot, astr*logy, etc.

Or get cheeky with it! Psychic becomes psy-chick or tarot becomes t-arrow. Astrological becomes astro logical. 

Most of the flags on content come from an AI-based system. What we’re trying to do is work around the AI. It’s like hiding in plain sight. Your followers will quickly pick up on what you’re doing and come along for the ride.

Some of these changes might seem overwhelming or disheartening. You might be wondering…

Should I stick to my business even though it’s been a hard year?

If you’re like me, you’ve just started to get the ground back under your feet after 4 ½ years of complete uncertainty and an uphill battle. It feels bad to be knocked down again after gaining so much ground.

It might be tempting to throw the towel in but please take heart. 

You are in business because you have gifts to share with the world. This massive shift needs your energy and your offerings. 

Take a moment to visualize with me. 

Imagine a world where business is about more than money. It’s about an exchange of energy, services, and products. What does your business look like in this world? 

The people who buy from you receive benefits that meet their needs and desires. What you sell is good for them and the way you sell it feels good to you. You run your business without feeling burnt out but instead by feeling lit up. 

When you reach bumps in the road, you have support from the community you’ve built around your business and you can navigate the difficulties and grow. 

You have an abundance that is generated through your business and you have a full personal life outside your business. You’re able to invest in projects that better the world and help friends, family, and strangers with your abundance. You are both held and free.

THANK YOU for doing a hard thing, which is entrepreneurship. Thank you for sharing your vision, passions, gifts, and skills with the world. What you do is needed, necessary, and viable. 

Know that I am in your corner cheering you on every step of the way. 

If I can support you in any way through my copywriting or marketing strategy offerings, don’t hesitate to reach out via email or by booking a consultation call.