In this digital day and age, many people use social media platforms, including TikTok, to make a living. Although TikTok is a relatively new social media platform, it already managed to dethrone Google in 2021 as the most used Internet site.Â
If you want to know how to make money on TikTok, check out our comprehensive guide to find the winning strategy that’ll suit your working habits and lifestyle best.
5 Ways How TikTokers Make Money
Making money on TikTok is relatively easy if you know what to do. Whether you’re an aspiring TikToker or just curious about how people make money on the app, you’ll find all the relevant information on this topic right here.
Here are some of the best strategies to try out:
1. Hosting Live Streams and Accepting Gifts From Fans
TikTok is all about creating engaging videos. So, naturally, many creators use the platform to host live streams. To make money on TikTok using the live stream option, you need to have 1,000 followers, own the account for at least 30 days, and be older than 18.
Once you hit the 1,000 mark, you’ll be able to collect virtual gifts from your fans. These gifts appear as icons, and each icon has a different value:
| Icon | Value |
| Panda | Five coins |
| Italian Hand | Five coins |
| Love Bang | 25 coins |
| Sun Cream | 50 coins |
| Rainbow Puke | 100 coins |
| Concert | 500 coins |
| I’m Very Rich | 1,000 coins |
| Drama Queen | 5,000 coins |
After receiving your virtual gifts (icons), you can trade them for virtual diamonds since they’re used as a TikTok payment.
TikTok’s diamonds are equivalent to 50% of the value of coins. So, if you get a Drama Queen worth 5,000 coins, you’ll have 2,500 diamonds. Diamonds are worth 5 cents each. This means you’ll get $125 in total.
However, TikTok will also take 50% of what you earn when cashing in your diamonds. So although you begin with 2,500 diamonds, you’ll be left with only $62.50 once TikTok takes its cut.
Pro tip: host live streams during peak hours to increase your engagement.
2. Signing Up for the TikTok Creator Fund
Another way to get paid on TikTok is to sign up for the TikTok Creator Fund. The amount of money each creator can make via the program is decided by several elements, such as the number of views, authentic followers, and engagement level.
However, not every video on your account will be qualified for the Creator Fund. The examples of videos that don’t qualify are: those made before you were accepted into the program, duets or stitches, and live streams.
So, how to make money on TikTok‘s Creator Fund and how to qualify for it?Â
First of all, you must meet the following requirements to qualify:
- You must reside in the US, UK, Italy, Germany, or France.
- You must be 18 years old.
- You must have at least 10,000 followers.
- Your video must have received at least 100,000 views in the past 30 days.
- You must post videos that follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines.
TikTok users can make anywhere from $0.02 to $0.04 per 1,000 views, which means that for 500k views, you could earn around $15.00. And one million views could earn you between $40.00 and $50.00.
You can pull out your TikTok money ($10.00 minimum) 30 days after the month in which the funds were accrued ends and transfer them to your chosen payment platform (Zelle or PayPal).
3. Selling Your Products
TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms around. It has over one billion active monthly users, and people spend an average of 95 minutes on the site each day. So, if you have products to sell, TikTok is a great place to market them.
To make money from TikTok sales, you’ll need to create engaging videos that show off your products and convince people to buy them. You can also set up a TikTok shop. This feature allows you to display and sell your products directly on TikTok.
To use TikTok’s shopping feature, you must:
- Be 18 years old
- Have more than 1,000 followers
- Have 50+ video views in the past 28 days
- Have posted a video on TikTok within the past 28 days
With TikTok Shopping, you can add product tags to your videos so your viewers can easily purchase the items they’re interested in.Â
4. Participating in Affiliate Programs
You can monetize your TikTok account by signing up for affiliate programs. There are two ways to do affiliate marketing on TikTok — through unpaid content or paid advertising.Â
If you choose the unpaid option, you’ll need to create videos that promote the products or services of the companies you’re in an affiliate relationship with. However, TikTok won’t permit you to include affiliate links in your videos.Â
Instead, you’ll need to:
- Put an affiliate link in your profile description
- Redirect traffic to your other social profiles
- Insert an affiliate link to your TikTok video description
On the other hand, if you want to start monetizing your TikTok account via paid advertising, there are four ways to do it:
- Via in-feed video ads (i.e., ads that pop up between videos as you scroll through your “For You” page)
- Via brand takeover. When you open TikTok, the first thing you’ll see is a band takeover ad.
- Via branded Hashtag Challenge. Hashtag challenges sponsored by brands.
- Via branded AR content. Brands can create custom filters.
The TikTok affiliates program offers you $40.00 for every customer that creates a business account on TikTok and adds money to it.
5. Selling TikTok Accounts
Besides getting paid on TikTok by creating videos, you can also make money by selling your accounts. Many people are willing to pay for TikTok accounts that have a lot of followers because it can help them kickstart their own TikTok career.Â
This is also a great way to generate income on TikTok without revealing your face. On that note, to maximize your TikTok earnings, keep your accounts anonymous so that followers don’t get attached to you as a person. Instead, focus on creating content that’s interesting and useful.
You can sell your account on platforms like Fameswap, PlayerUp, and Social Tradia.
A TikTok account’s value is based on its number of followers. For example, an account with 100,000 followers can go from $700 to $800.
Pro tip: TikTok accounts in popular categories such as fashion, beauty, and cuisine are usually priced higher due to their potential for monetization.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many TikTok monetization methods you can try out. From selling products to participating in affiliate programs and selling your accounts, TikTok is a great way to earn some extra cash.Â
With a bit of effort and creativity, you can make a decent income from this social media platform. So, go ahead and give it a try!Â
FAQs
How much do TikTokers make per view?
TikTok users make between $0.02 and $0.04 per 1,000 views. If we do the math, a person with one million views can make between $40.00 and $50.00 per video.
How does TikTok make money?
TikTok makes money through a combination of ads and in-app purchases. While TikTok’s ads are pretty cheap, starting at only $10 per 1,000 views, there’s a catch. Namely, you’ll have to spend a minimum of $500 per campaign.
Regarding in-app purchases, TikTok charges a 50% commission on each dollar spent and refunds the leftover balance to the user’s account.
How many followers do you need to have on TikTok to make money?
When it comes to making money from TikTok, you don’t need a specific number of followers to start earning money. However, the more followers and views you have, the more cash you’ll bring in.
But if you want to use TikTok’s shopping feature, you must have at least 1,000 followers. And if you want to make money using the TikTok Creator Fund, you must have at least 10,000 followers.
Does TikTok pay you to make videos?
Unfortunately, TikTok doesn’t pay users to make videos. Sometimes, a popular influencer might get paid by a brand to produce videos. However, this is rare, and most users won’t get paid for their videos.
If you want to learn how to make money on TikTok, use one of the methods mentioned above.
