How to Make Money on TikTok
This article is written to provide a guide on how to make money on Tiktok. TikTok is one of the most fun social applications around, and while you have fun watching short videos, you can make money. Do you want to know how? With a few steps that you’ll find out in this post, you’ll start making money on TikTok.
Social media started as a platform to showcase some interesting and entertaining skills, connect with people in one’s life and spread useful information. Contrary to the early formats and functions of social networks, these days, some social media applications are strictly for business, while there are also some that are for selling one’s creativity. TikTok is one of those recently formed social networks that were made from carefully observing the social media market and then addressing some issues that would make them appealing to users.
Who owns TikTok?
TikTok is a video uploading social networking platform created by the Chinese company, ByteDance, which first made a similar app, called Douyin, for its Chinese market. TikTok is owned by Zhang Yiming, and Kevin Mayer became TikTok’s CEO in June 2020 but later resigned a few months later. After the threat of the U.S. president to ban TikTok in America, TikTok founder and the owner chose to partner with Oracle instead of Microsoft in order to be permitted to operate in the U.S.
Going live on TikTok
Going live is one of the best ways to get views, likes, and followership on TikTok, and here’s what you need to know about it. Before you are permitted to go live on TikTok, you must have at least a thousand followers.
Once you log in to your TikTok account, make sure you find the “Live” button on your screen (it’s located near the record icon). Then you can give a title to your live video stream and tap the “Go Live” option to begin streaming.
If you can’t find the “Live” icon on the screen, then it is probably because you don’t have the required amount of followers to initiate a live stream.
What you need for TikTok
A mobile device
TikTok was made for smartphones. Having a smartphone is the first step to opening a TikTok account. Your phone will be the most important, and probably the only primary tool you need for TikTok. All the videos you need to record and upload can be shot with your phone. Also, the video editing applications and sound effects are on TikTok. Since the best shots are taken with the sharpest camera lenses, you should do your best to get a phone with the best camera lens for your recordings. After you’ve got a smartphone, the next thing you need is a TikTok account.
A TikTok account
TikTok can only be explored to the maximum when you have an account. With an up-to-date mobile device, you can open a TikTok account by downloading the TikTok application. After downloading the app, follow the instructions like on any other social media platform you’ve used and the account will be opened in just a few minutes.
With your account, you will create a profile that will appeal to your target audience, upload content you created, and contribute to other TikTokers’ profiles. Your TikTok account will give you all the tools and access to many features to better your experience on the platform.
A profile to match your ambition
Your profile is the first thing that will sell your account to the rest of the TikTok universe. The profile will contain details about you (only the ones you are comfortable sharing with the world) and some insights into what your interests are.
There are different people with diverse passions and preferences and if what they see on your profile matches what they want, they can easily become your followers. Your profile will be a representation of you, along with what others on the platform should expect from you. A great profile makes your promotion easier.
Creative concepts
The level of competition on social media, particularly TikTok, means that you must always bring your “A Game” each time you upload or create anything. The first thing that sells on TikTok is creative concepts. The level of creativity one puts in an upload will make his or her stock in the TikTok industry rise. Creative ideas are one of the most essential things you must have or be able to easily come up with on TikTok that will make you a success.
Creative ideas can come in different forms, depending on where your interests lie. No matter what you do, there is always a creative way to do it. The time you have for your videos is relatively short; so, you must make the best use of it. Conceptualizing and packaging content that will gain people’s attention within a short time takes lots of thought put into it.
Something to sell
Without something to sell, you have no reason to expect earnings on TikTok. If your ambition on TikTok is to go and have fun, then you have nothing to worry about in the way of selling. On the other hand, if you aim to make money, you must have all the aforementioned “must-haves” and a service or product to sell on TikTok.
Your creativity is the first thing you can sell. It is the primary commodity you must present to the rest of TikTok for recognition, and then patronage. Some join TikTok to promote other businesses or social media accounts, whatever the reason is, they are selling a brand or an account and they’ll expect to make earnings in the process. Whether it’s a product or services, open your TikTok account with the ambition to sell something.
Achieving success on TikTok
TikTok is more than just a social media for having fun and uploading funny videos; it has also become a means to grow businesses and gain recognition for one’s artistic prowess. There are success stories of normal people who have become celebrities from just spending time using the application. People make huge sums of money for themselves, others make money for other people, while some generate more traffic to their businesses with TikTok. However, in order to achieve success through this medium, you must put some factors into consideration as they determine the level of success you’ll have.
The number of followers you have
“Followers” equal money on social media and TikTok is not left out. The success you get from having plenty of followers goes beyond directly making money from sponsorship.
Firstly, you will gain a celebrity status. Social media has made many people celebrities today, whether in music, comedy, acting, or any other form of art. Many comedians from TikTok have gone on to launch their careers and have their own shows. Some influencers get acquainted with celebrities and feature in their works. The celebrity status some people get from using TikTok has made them real-life celebrities who land endorsement deals from top organizations in the world.
Secondly, having many followers will open doors to sponsorship on your account. Sponsors look for accounts with the most number of followers to help them promote their brands. They know that you have the capacity to draw attention which they will deduce from the number of people who have subscribed to your account. The more you get followers, the more sponsors will approach you. And the more sponsors seek your expertise, the more income you will generate.
Choosing a niche
Many TikTokers, especially the new ones, make the mistake of uploading anything they feel like without having a clear pattern. Successful TikTok account owners make sure they focus on an area that’s convenient for them. If you are an artist, let your uploads show that; if you are a singer, keep uploading content that will amaze viewers; if you’re into comedy, don’t try teaching.
With a niche, you will easily have dedicated followers. They are the ones who will be anticipating your next video and will easily buy whatever you sell, provided it’s helpful and in line with what your mutual interests are. Choosing a niche will also give you a sense of direction- new ideas will come easily, and you’ll have more fun doing it because it would be what you’re comfortable doing.
How interesting the content is
No matter the quality of the video you upload, if the content is not interesting to viewers, it counts for very little. TikTok is known for people uploading content that is first and foremost appealing, and if that is lacking, all the effort you put into the video will amount to nothing. Even if the video you upload is not typically fun or meant to amuse the viewer, it should at least grab people’s attention. It takes creativity and an eye for fishing content that is fit for the moment.
TikTok users have found out that new trends and “challenges” go viral quickly, and with this knowledge, many are coming up with content that the majority can buy. For example, most of the dance moves these days are from unknown individuals who possibly created such moves, recorded themselves doing it, and uploaded the videos.
And some people come up with daring challenges where they would perform funny acts (some can be dangerous) and invite people to do their own versions. These challenges are interesting and they spread like wildfire, possibly shooting the originator to stardom.
Other forms of interesting content can be live events caught on camera. Celebrities amass likes and views when they go live on TikTok, and anyone who’s doing something interesting will also be watched by many when they go live.
The quality of your uploads
Social media is different these days; when it started, there were lots of posts and uploads that lacked artistry which still achieved their goals. Unlike those days of artistic negligence by users and even advertisers of services, when uploading content, such acts will not go unnoticed and unpunished today. The competition is so stiff now that many ordinary users of social platforms, especially TikTok, have become experts at taking quality photos and videos. People nowadays take their time to make quality content for their accounts, and once viewers watch quality videos, they’ll not like to settle for less quality.
To have videos and other uploads that would rival the best, you must strive to make the best. What makes videos and other uploads “pop” on social media is the quality of the camera lens with which they were shot. The video’s background also adds to its quality. And with the perfect bed-music, the video will come out beautifully. You must use the best of these- background, phone camera lens, audio clarity, and music, to create quality videos that will lure people to view your uploads, and perhaps become followers.
The number of “views” and “likes”
Social media has its own lingo with different terminologies and icons which hold a lot of meaning. Some of the most common terminologies are the number of views and likes on a post, comment, image, link, or video. “Likes” are indicated by a thumbs up icon which means that particular uploaded content is appreciated by the viewer, and the total number of times someone, including the owner of the post, “likes” a content is calculated. “Views” as the name implies, is simply when someone watches your uploaded content.
These statistics are vital to the success of your TikTok account. The more likes and views you accumulate on your uploaded content, the more valuable your account will be. In many cases, a potential sponsor would look at the statistics and if the numbers your posts amass are high, they would contact you to work with them. An account that usually has lots of views and likes means that anything that comes on there will most likely be watched and liked by lots of their target customers.
No breaching of TikTok guidelines
TikTok, just like every other social network, has its own sets of rules and guidelines for its users but the problem is that people hardly ever read them. Before gaining access to a TikTok account, you would be asked to continue with your registration process if you agree to their terms and conditions, to which everyone clicks yes. These rules are ignored, and there can be consequences if they are broken while using the application.
TikTok reserves the right to take down content, temporarily suspend your account, or permanently delete your account depending on what seems right to them. If your account gets suspended or permanently deleted, you stand to lose a lot. Consider the number of followers you would have amassed, the time you would have spent building the account, and the potential the account has, and you will know how grave a suspension can be.
An inactive or suspended account cannot do the owner any good. It will halt the progress of the account and it would kill off its propensity to generate income. In order to avoid what could be a disheartening experience for you on TikTok, you must ensure to keep your account alive at all costs. Adhere to TikTok’s regulations, make sure you are in the know if any development comes up, and mind the content and language you use on the platform. The easiest way to get on TikTok’s “watchlist” is through spreading wrong or misleading information, and inappropriate conduct.
How to make money on TikTok
Casual TikTok users and influencers alike have discovered the power of the app and it’s the propensity to create wealth for its user. Not only are individuals getting involved in the app for these reasons, media agencies and corporate organizations are also getting involved in TikTok. Although TikTok does not pay users directly for their exploits on the app, you are sure to make money regardless if you do these things.
Promote other businesses
TikTok will keep attracting organizations and individuals who want to promote their businesses due to a large number of users the app continues to register. With many companies and entrepreneurs looking for accounts they can use to promote their businesses, yours could be one of them. The moment you start attracting followers to your account, and your posts are getting massive views and likes, you must start preparing to promote other people’s businesses.
Promoting other people’s businesses is similar to promoting yours. The best products or services to promote with your account are the ones that are in tune with your profile.
Secondly, you mustn’t promote a business that is in direct competition with yours; doing so could hurt your ambition on the app. The competition you will be promoting will most likely ask you to sign a contract that will ensure that you promote their business ahead of others. In doing this, you would not only be contradicting yourself, but you could be redirecting your followers to the competition at your own risk.
Sell products and services
A TikToker with the aim to make money off the app must do so with something in mind to sell. TikTok is a marketplace with hundreds of millions using the platform, and that leaves room for you to sell to as many as you can. You can sell anything on the social app; pet food, pets, clothing accessories, your talent for bookings, and even your social media accounts across other platforms.
If you make products, you can make them known in a creative way on TikTok. And if you are an entertainer, teacher, coach, or cook, use your TikTok account to spread the word and look for bookings. You could also use your TikTok account as a link to other social handles where perhaps you might have detailed information on what you do.
Manage other TikTok accounts
Social media accounts today are not all managed by the account owners. Most public figures, especially celebrities, have other people who operate their social media accounts for them. You could also do this on TikTok by managing other people’s accounts. The people whose accounts you intend to manage might need you to conceptualize and create the content that will be uploaded on the platform.
As the manager of the account, you would need some public relations skills, along with creativity, and digital marketing prowess to make quality content and promote them effectively. For your trouble, your clients will pay you. The recent development which allows TikTok to function on PCs has made life easier for TikTok account managers since they can easily navigate through accounts and upload pre-recorded content on the platform.
Sell an active TikTok account
The practice of using a social media account only to sell it, later on, is a popular trend now and you can do it with a TikTok account. This method is one of the most straightforward ways to make money with TikTok as you will get instant payment from the new buyer.
In order to sell your account to someone new, your account must be valuable to some extent. The age of an account, the number of followers the account has gathered, and the views and likes on it will add to the account’s value. That means if an account is relatively “old” but does not have an impressive number of followers already, the age alone might not convince the buyer to take a chance on it. For this reason, you should use your TikTok account with a goal to sell it in the future. With that mindset, you’ll pay more attention to content quality, creativity, and getting more people to follow you.
Receive coins for cash
TikTok is not just a creative platform; it’s also a generous one. The app created room for creators of entertaining and insightful content to get a bit of remuneration from their viewers. TikTok has a money feature that you can use on the app. They are coins people can donate to their favorite content makers which they can convert to dollars. The value of these coins may seem low but an accumulation from numerous viewers and fans could amount to something significant. You don’t have to beg for coins, upload great videos and your viewers will donate some to you through the kindness of their hearts.
Conclusion
Having gone this far, I hope you now know how to make money on TikTok. Nevertheless, that is not to say that this is all what you need to know on how to make money on TikTok. You just need the courage to take step. Before you know it, you will see things falling in place for you.
