How to make money with TikTok: 7 methods 🆙

TikTok is the social platform of the moment and it brings with it many opportunities. Find out how to make money with TikTok through these 7 fundamental methods.

If you read the recent Forbes article, Top 7 TikTok Earning Stars, then you know that you can earn up to seven figures on TIkTok! The list features TikTok celebrities who earned over a million dollars last year by posting short videos on the popular social platform. At number 1 we find Addison Rae Easterling, who earned $5 million last year.

With so many job shortages due to the coronavirus, people are looking for new sources of income and potential earnings. Social networks have become a source of income for those who have become social influencers (Influencers) on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

The fastest growth of these social apps came with TikTok; Easterling and the other people on the list are the poster child that you absolutely can make money on TikTok. In fact, there are online earnings calculators on TikTok that give you an estimate of how much money any TikTok profile makes.

The question now is: how do you make money with TikTok and at what cost?

Before you can call Sony and offer to be their official ambassador, there are a few steps you need to take if you want to make money on TikTok.

PS This article is part of the Fervida Inspiración column on Work and Marketing

How to make money on TikTok: prerequisites

Step 1: create your brand. Anyone who has taken a marketing course knows the basics, and it is the same for any business you start. Who are you and who is your product for (target market)? For TikTok this means you have to have an idea of the type of video you are going to post and be consistent. Will your videos be funny and witty? Or are you looking for a romantic and ethereal atmosphere? How do you want people and companies looking for influencers to see you?

Step 2: Post content that people want to see. Like all social media platforms, you are only as good as your content. Being an influencer, whether on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, takes a lot of work. Your content should be fresh, interesting, unique, and up-to-date. This means new videos, every day.

Step 3: Get followers. This is probably the most important step, and it comes from doing phase 1 and phase 2 with style. Do you remember Easterling? He has more than 54 million followers on TikTok. Estimates are at least 10.000 followers before you can actually monetize your account. The best way to gain a following is to understand what your target market wants to see and upload quality content multiple times a day.

Once you have achieved large-scale popularity on TikTok, you can start earning. Below are 7 ways to make money on TikTok.

How to make money on TikTok: the main methods

Donations: Once you've built a following, you can make money on TikTok by livestreaming and collecting donations from viewers (just like you can on other platforms, like Twitch). When you are a TikTok user, you can log in to your profile and buy “coins”, to donate to your favorite creators when they are live, to thank them for their content. Coins can then be converted into diamonds by the creators and these diamonds can be converted into real money through PayPal.
Marketing de influencers. You've probably heard this before, and it's similar across all social platforms. The company hires influencers to promote its products/services/brand, hoping to generate sales. One of the biggest influencer campaigns on TikTok has been Mucinex, which worked with various influencers to promote their product between Halloween and flu season. In various videos, influencers wake up as goofy zombies. Then they use Mucinex. After that, you see the influencers looking fabulous and dressed to go clubbing. The idea behind it is that Mucinex can help you get back in time for a weekend party, even if you're reduced to a rag.
Sponsored Content Posts: Loren Gray, who earned $2,6 million last year with more than 45 million followers, has struck a major deal with Revlon, where she creates content for the company's TikTok account and its sponsored posts.
Branded: Once you become a very popular TikTok star, you can create your own line of makeup products, like Easterling's Item Beauty.
Use your celebrity to launch your career as a musician/artist/actress: Baby Ariel, with 34 million followers on TikTok, was the first person to cross the milestone of 20 million followers on Musical.ly (now TikTok), and her fame has only grown since then. Ariel's fame has led to numerous concerts on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
TikTok consultant: If you are well versed in how TikTok works and how to grow an account, many need your guidance. Since it is still a relatively new social platform, people will pay some money to hire you as a consultant to help them create their strategy, build their brand and grow their number of followers.
Grow and sell accounts: Another way people make money from Tik Tok is by growing accounts and then selling them to companies or other people. This is becoming more and more popular in the eCommerce industry. Similar to how you do on Instagram, you pick a niche and then go on to create fun content, ideally content that goes viral to attract that person who would be the ideal customer for your product.

Conclusions

While many are gaining and enjoying great fame through TikTok, it's not all pink and white. Based in Beijing, China, TikTok has been criticized for censorship, privacy, and child safety.

In any case, for anyone looking to make a living from TikTok, proceed as you would any business venture: do your research, strategize, and weigh the risks.