The video-sharing app TikTok has
made huge strides in popularity since its release for Android and iOS in 2017. In
Tik Tok's own words: "Tok is the world's leading mobile short-form video
app." The idea behind TikTok is that people can quickly and easily create
short videos with their smartphones so that everyone can be a media designer. As
of January 2020, there are more than 500 million active monthly users of the
app, which makes it a leading provider in the world of social media apps.
As with pretty much every
internet-based trend that emerges, the question at TikTok quickly arose: Can you make money with this thing? The
answer is that yes, you certainly can. Although TikTok is not specifically
geared towards monetization and providing sources of income for users, the app
is very commercial and it is possible to make a good living through the
creative use of the platform.
Please note that there is no “magic formula”; there
is no secret technique that allows you to post a TikTok video every day and
retreat to your Tuscan villa in a month to cruise around the Mediterranean on
speed boats. If it were, I would use it and tell you nothing about it. Rather,
I'm going to talk about the basics and give you some suggestions on how to
think about monetizing the platform so you can decide how to proceed. Making
money with TikTok is like making money elsewhere - it takes work, creativity,
some luck and - most importantly - added value. If you don't create value, you don't
make money.
Become an
influencer
Being an "influencer" online is actually a
legitimate approach to monetizing your online presence, although the term
"influencer" has gotten a lot of bad connotations in recent months. Mainly
because sometimes the impression arises that every reasonably attractive young
man or woman decides to become an "influencer", buys 50,000 fake
followers on Instagram and then tries to deceive the makers of actual goods and
services in order to Hand out exchange for reviews and exposure.
True influencers are people who have actual organic
followers of actual human people who actually appreciate and respect the
"influencer" when speaking about their area of expertise. There
are many real influencers in the world, on large and small scales. The
friend you trust, whose musical taste you implicitly trust - this person is an
influencer, regardless of whether they have three other “fans” like you or
three million. Overall, Martha Stewart was once a very powerful influencer and
she still has a lot of influence. Oprah Winfrey was probably the most
far-reaching influencer; mere mention of a book on their show was enough
to make it a bestseller no. 1 and to make the author an independent media
figure. Today the trend seems to be towards smaller influencers, but still
people with a long reach.
Did you notice something that all the influencers I
mentioned have in common? They all create added value with their opinions. You
don't listen to your musical friend because she has a cool website or because
your other friends told you she was great, you listen to her because you found
out she really has good taste, and if she does recommend an album or an
artist, you know it will be good. She saves you time and money every time
she opens her mouth, so you pay attention to her.
They add value to the world by having an opinion that
has proven to be a consistently reliable arbiter whether something is worth
your time and money or not. Martha Stewart produces amazing recipes and
fantastic craft projects that people can strive for. Oprah Winfrey almost
always recommended books and authors that were really, really good.
So while “influencers” are real, and it is quite
possible that you could be one, you need to be aware of the fact that if you
don't add value by submitting your contributions, you won't be successful in
the long run. You actually have to have something worth saying.
If you have something worth saying and if you have
real people who pay attention to your opinions, TikTok offers you a very simple
method of monetizing your video appearances in the app. All you have to do
is recommend products and services that you really use and consider good; these
brands, shops, artists, or whoever will be happy to compensate you for your
advocacy for your product or service. You have to have a really big and
committed following. But with a real influencer presence, you can easily
make thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in one fell swoop to boost
someone else's product.
Note that many opinion leaders have gotten into
trouble by accepting branding deals and not passing the deal on to their
followers. While it may reduce the value of your opinion somewhat for many
people, I think that in the long run you have to reveal that you accept this
type of business, because the consequences of a business that is revealed that
you do not disclose are a huge scandal who will terribly damage your reputation
and undermine what makes you an influencer at all.
Live Streaming
The live streaming on TikTok, which is mainly based on
musical performances (whether lip synchronization or live), used to be done via
the URL live.ly but has since been transferred to musical.ly. The actual
mechanisms vary over time, but the basic system is simple: TikTok users can buy
“coins” with real money through in-app purchases. You can then use their
coins (and other derived in-app currencies) to tip the TikTok authors, which
essentially gives them a small amount of real money as a thank you for creating
good live content. TikTok shares 80% of the value of this donation with
the person who does the Livestream.
It is generally not a fortune, but it can be a stream
of income, although you have to accept the money in the form of digital gifts
and not in the form of cash; however, it's not too difficult to turn that
into cold hard money.
Promotion and Marketing
of own products
This is probably the most realistic way for most
people to make money with TikTok without
having a large fan base and becoming a national influencer. The secret is
that you have a different industry or business and use TikTok as an absolutely
free way to promote and sell your products or services or to promote your
existing business. The great thing is that this can be almost any (legal)
business or service, whether it's nerdy, smart, tech, or just crazy.
For example, you can have a canoeing service. Well,
you can make videos of every river cruise you do and 15-second clips that show
just how much fun people have. Post this on TikTok, along with some
promotional images that show where you are, how to get in touch with you, what
you're asking for, and when your next trip is, and you can find your bookings
to fill up on their own. TikTok doesn't pay you directly for something,
but your company now earns thousands of dollars with the referrals and new
customers you attract with your videos. (And of course, you can also
publish the videos on your Facebook page, your YouTube channel, etc.).
Another example is someone who has a craft company -
say, you make cool glass sculptures out of molten glass. You can make
super-fast How-I-Do-It videos that show off your techniques (and how good you
are at highlighting your best and most beautiful work) and mention casually
that you also sell these sculptures through your website, to which you then go
create a link. The instructional videos not only attract people who like
your work, but you can also sell products directly from your videos, and
instead of paying for the bandwidth, TikTok does it for you.
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