How To Make Money on TikTok: The Ultimate Guide

TikTok is an awesome platform! It’s focused on making videos, and its target demographic is the largest portion of the U.S. population. That means you can’t afford to ignore TikTok. Don’t worry! We’ll show you how to make money on TikTok.

We talked to Thach Nguyen, who has built his real estate business from nothing to $100 million in holdings, and his success is largely thanks to his being active on social media. He told us:

We’ll share the secrets to his success on social media. Click any of the links below to jump to the answer you want!

Can You Make Money On TikTok?

You can make money on TikTok if you:

• Are over 18 years old
• Are in the U.S., Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, France, or Germany
• Have over 10,000 followers
• Get more than 100,000 video views in 30 days
• Adhere to TikTok Community Guidelines and Terms of Service

Thach told us: 

Check out our interview with him below.

Keep reading to learn how do you get paid on TikTok.

How Much Does TikTok Pay Per View?

TikTok pays between $.01 to $.04 per 1,000 views. While this pay rate is not higher than other platforms, this platform offers the best exposure to the largest generation alive today. Because there are so many ways to get paid on the platform, the funds directly from TikTok may be just a small percentage of the money you make from TikTok.

How Much Do TikTok Creators Make?

For those wondering how much do TikTokers make, some of the people who make the most on TikTok are:

1. Charli D’Amelio: @charlidamelio has made approximately $17.5M annually through licensing deals with Hollister, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Procter & Gamble.
2. Addison Rae: @addisonre sells her own branded merch and has deals with Reebox and American Eagle which earn an approximate $8.5M annually.
3. Khabane Lame: Using life hacks and comedy, @khaby.lame has earned approximately $5M through deals with Amazon Prime, Xbox, Netflix, and  Hugo Boss.

Note: This doesn’t include programs like Springboard to Wealth, which is Thach’s mentoring program. There you’ll learn how do people make money on TikTok with real estate.

How to Make Money On TikTok

The process of  making money on Tiktok is similar to how people earn money from a YouTube Channel. We’ll look at the process in 7 steps:

1. How Do TikTokers Make Money?
2. Research How Your Industry Approaches TikTok Content
3. Start a TikTok Account
4. Create Videos
5. Impress TikTok Users
6. Apply for the TikTok Creator Fund
7. Monetize TikTok

Keep reading to find out how TikTok users earn money.

Step 1. How Do TikTokers Make Money?

TikTok users have a lot of ways to make money from creating engaging videos. Keep reading to find out how Tiktok creators monetize TikTok audiences. Influencer marketing is growing, and with these tips, you can get your share of the earnings.

Partner With An Influencer

If you don’t enjoy being in front of a camera, there are plenty of TikTok videos that can be made by partnering with influencers to create sponsored content. You may have to pay content creators or give them free products, but influencer marketing has grown from a $1.7 billion industry to nearly $17 billion in just seven years.

Advertise Your Products On TikTok

Uploading videos where you are doing something fun while wearing or using your own products is a great way to get your brand in front of your target audience. TikTok viewers don’t want to feel like they are being sold a product, though, so focus on entertaining them or teaching them something new. 

If people like the products in your video, they will ask about them, and you’ll have the opportunity to share the information. Later in the blog we’ll provide some tips on creating content.

Enroll In TikTok’s Creator Fund 

The TikTok Creator Fund pays creators for creating TikTok videos based on the number of views and engagement. 

The company does not disclose TikTok’s algorithm, but the thresholds to apply are 10K legitimate followers and 100,000 views in a month. Once you are accepted you will get paid for new videos that are not duets, stitched together content, or live stream. 

Unfortunately, the TikTok videos that helped get you to the threshold do not count to earn money from the TikTok Creator Fund.

Sell Products With TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop looks like the coolest thing I’ve ever seen for eCommerce. Unfortunately, it’s still in beta testing for the United States, but imagine this: a video-first ecommerce platform where creators, businesses, and affiliate marketer can all work together to create content promoting brands. 

It creates new ways to make money on TikTok, and if you qualify for the beta testing, I suggest you get into it so you have  a head start on other TikTok influencers.

Increase Sales WithTikTok Ads

TikToke for Business has different ways of creating sponsored content. Some of them include:

• Top View Ads: Be the first video a user sees when they open the app. These cost the most money on TikTok, but it’s a great way to make a first impression.
• In-Feed Ads: These are TikTok ads that are shown periodically as people watch TikTok posts. Posting sponsored content is required to be disclosed in the video with a little “Sponsored” tag, but it also lets you connect to a shop to make money.
• Branded Hashtag Challenges: These TikTok ads are paying other creators to upload videos using your hashtag.
• Spark Ads: Boost your own TikTok video or videos posted about your brand.
• Branded Effect: Create a fun filter for people to use on TikTok.
• Promote: Boost free content to increase its reach.

The social media platform has a lot of information on TikTok for Business. Check it out!

TikTok Affiliate Programs

You can make money on TikTok by writing about it or creating videos showing people how to make money with their ads, too. Want to apply? Check out the TikTok affiliate page.

Promote Songs

There are a couple of ways to make money promoting music on TikTok. 

For musicians, you can submit your music to SoundOn, where you’ll earn money for every view that your music is featured in. This is a great way to help new music out. 

Content creators can also make deals with musicians to help build engaging content. Musician’s like Doja Cat and Lil NasX  are commonly mentioned as musicians who started making money through TikTok careers.

Publish Sponsored Posts

Sponsored posts are branded content that promotes a company’s services or products. You need to register all branded content with the TikTok Creator Marketplace. Make sure to read the brand guidelines before getting started. Then sign in to the Creator marketplace to start making money on TikTok.

Become a Brand Ambassador

A brand ambassador is similar to an influencer, but they may have a more active role in brand ideas than influencers. They might also:

• Represent them at trade shows
• Help the company close major deals
• Socialize with investors at public events
• Perform other marketing tasks for the company

Start a Patreon

As you build an audience on TikTok and other channels, you may want to try to pull users into a platform that allows you to control more than Tiktok does. Patreon lets you offer different tiers of content and has powerful tools to promote products and content. 

Patreon isn’t paid directly by creators. You set subscriptions and you share 5%-12% of your earnings from subscriptions. Here’s a tip from Patreon pros: make sure to keep your subscription costs low to stay competitive.

Find New Clients

Start posting helpful content on TikTok and it can lead to new clients. Business professionals have found success by offering helpful information about their audience’s interests. 

As you build a relationship, you can start encouraging users to reach out when they have a problem that can’t be solved as easily. Make sure to do it in a way that collects the contact information so you can sell directly to them in the future on your own platforms.

Build and Sell TikTok Accounts

A lot of small business owners struggle to get to 10,000 subscribers and 100,000 views. If you thrive at creating authentic content, target an exact audience, reach the levels for TikTok monetization, and pass the TikTok profile on to a business owner in that field. 

You can do this on other social channels too. Check out how one person has made $120K flipping social media accounts.

Earn Live Gifts on TikTok

Live Gifts is a tipping feature you can use on live videos. Once you activate the feature, users can reward you with Diamonds, or virtual gifts. To receive tips from TikTok followers you’ll need:

• Over 1,000 followers 
• An account at least 30 days old

Your account must adhere to the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. You can learn more about gifts through the TikTok Gift page, their virtual items policies, and the Creator Portal.

Raise Money Through Crowdfunding

People love donating to good causes, and you can get TikTok money by starting a campaign on GoFundMe or CrowdStarter. You shouldn’t discount this idea when you think about how to make money off TikTok. 22.4% of campaigns are successfully funded. That’s over twice the success rate of startups!

How to Monetize TikTok: Collect Tips

Another way to get paid on TikTok is to ask for tips. There are a few tipping platforms you might consider:

• Tipeee: If you’re looking for a way to accept tips that are specifically meant for creators, this is the option for you. It’s similar to Patreon, but with different features and charges 8% of donations.
• Buy Me a Coffee: A platform to ask for small donations.
• Cash App: Just add your Cashtag to the video.
• Venmo: Include your Venmo link or username in the video.

Offer Brand Consulting

If you’re good at explaining how content aligns with a target market, you can consider brand consulting. Other brands are happy to pay consultants that help them improve their revenue streams. You can focus on the entire brand, teaching them how to drive traffic, how to get sponsorship opportunities, and other niche topics.

Once you decide your strategy for how to make money from TikTok, it’s time to set up your account.

Step 2. Start a TikTok Account

You’ll want to go to the TikTok sign-up page. It will ask you about your birthday and ask you to create a username. Then follow these steps to set up your account.

Step 3. Research TikTok Content Strategies

You could just create a TikTok account and start posting, but if you ignore community guidelines, you might never make money on TikTok. Research your industry to find out competitors are making money on TikTok. You can use the Trending Video Showcase or the search functionality. While you’re researching, ask yourself questions like:

1. How many followers does each company have?
2. How many views does each video get?
3. What TikTok titles have more than a million views? 
4. What are the video descriptions that perform well?  
5. What videos have the most engagement?
6. What features of the TikTok Creator Fund do users interact with?
7. Are there other factors about competitors’ profiles and videos that you want to remember?

Thach told us:

Make sure to write all your observations down because imitation is how to make money on TikTok. 

Step 4. Create Videos

Next you’ll want to create the videos you gathered information about. We’ll provide some tips about how to record the video, upload files, and how to post it next.

Create Videos

TikTok is primarily about short-form content. That means you have to be quick and to the point in what you’re trying to communicate. You’lll want to make sure to:

• Have fun
• Show your personality
• Stick with what you see working
• Stay in your lane. Don’t switch up topics on people.
• Keep going! Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Uploading Files

The screen to post the video looks like the image below. You can upload:

Change the Settings

Once you upload a video, you’ll need to:

1. Add the caption, which should be similar to ones you know already work. 
2. Adjust the cover image from within the video.
3. Set the visibility to Public, Friends, or Private
4. Set user interaction limitations (none by default)
   1. Comment: They can respond to you.
   2. Duet: They can use your video in a side-to-side format
   3. Stitch: Creators can add up to 5 seconds of your video into their video.
5. Schedule Videos: Schedule your posts to be at the times you are most likely to get engagement. Download our TikTok posting scheduler based on the overall best engagement times. (I’ve converted the times from EST to Pacific because most people find adding hours easier than subtracting them.)
6. Run Copyright Check: This helps identify if you are accidentally infringing upon intellectual property rights.
7. Post: Once you’re ready click the post button.

Check out Hootsuite’s blog about software that can help you optimize your posting to drive more traffic and engagement.

Step 5. Turn TikTok Users Into Followers

Before you can make money on TikTok, you’ll need followers. You can get followers by posting useful content. If people comment, respond. 

You’ll also have other features you can use depending on whether you are using a business or personal account. You might want to use TikTok ads to help you reach more people. You can also share your TikTok videos on other social media networks to increase your reach quicker. 

Check the Tiktok FAQ for more information on the products available for your type of account.

How Many Followers On TikTok To Make Money?

You need at least 10,000 followers to join the TikTok Creator Fund. Other features may require different amounts. The TikTok FAQ provides details on everything you want to know about how to get paid from TIkTok.

How Many Views On TikTok To Get Paid?

Once you reach 100 thousand views, you can get paid by the TikTok creator fund.

Step 6. Apply for the TikTok Creator Fund

Once you reach 10,000 followers and over 100,000 engaged views in the past 30 days, you can apply for TikTok’s creator fund. You’ll need a personal account for this, but you can switch back and forth between a personal and business account. The TikTok creator fund pays people based on an algorithm that compares the viewers’ region, video engagement, view authenticity, and volume of views to the rest of creators and pays out a percentage of the total Creator Fund.

Just follow these directions to start getting paid on TikTok:

1. Go to your profile
2. Access the menu
3. Go to Creator Tools
4. Apply for the Creator Fund

Check out the Creator Portal for more information on how to get paid on TikTok.

Now it’s time to drive sales.

Step 7. Monetize TikTok

Regardless of whether you’re a business or a creator, you’ll eventually want to monetize your TikTok. Some of the TikTok creator best practices include:

1. Continue making non-sponsored posts. People watch you for your personality and the value you bring.
2. Create a press kit like the one below.
3. Pursue brand deals with companies you love.
4. Use the sponsored post tag (otherwise TikTok pay privileges might be revoked).

How Do You Make Money on TikTok?

There are quite a few ways to earn a living from TikTok. We’ve covered all the opportunities available. Now it’s up to you to choose what strategies you’re going to use. 

If you’re profiting from using TikTok, we want to know: how does TikTok pay you? Share your answer in the comments below.