You FIRST have to go viral multiple times to gain 10k followers.
To participate in the Creator Fund, you must have 10,000 followers and 100K views in 30 days. Once you hit 10,000 followers, the app unlocks a new part called "TikTok Studio," and inside of Studio are all ways you can monetize.
Options for TikTok Monitization:
TikTok Shop: here, you show and talk about products that you link to, and when people buy them from your link, you earn a commission.
Subscriptions: people can subscribe to your specific content like a Patreon.
Video Gifts/LIVE Gifts: people can give you certain "emojis" like diamonds and it helps show how popular you are
Creator Marketplace: brands can connect with you, and you can make content for them and get paid
THE MOST POPULAR, and what I signed up for is the Creator Rewards Program, where you get paid per qualifying view on qualifying videos.
How the hell did I get 10,000+ followers in 4 days?
I started right around 700. I had used this TikTok account for my business. I only made content related to life as a working mom, talking about marketing and ad strategies. Then Biden stepped down as President, and Kamala Harris became the Presidential Nominee. Within 5 hours, 45,000 Black women got on Zoom to raise money (2.5 million) for Kamala's campaign and began the necessary work to get her elected.
When I woke up on Monday, I was flabbergasted. How on earth could ANYONE get 45,000 on Zoom within hours? I am a VERY curious person, so I went googling. I learned that a woman named Jotaka Eaddy emailed 60 of her closest girlfriends when Biden and Harris became the President and VP in 2020. Because she knew that it was the closest time in history that a Black woman had EVER come to be the most important and influential job in the world. And if a Black woman would EVER become President, there would be a time when Kamala Harris would be there. So she founded a group called Win With Black Women, which has been meeting EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY for the past four years, so they were prepared for that single moment in time - and that is how they managed to get 45,000 Black women on Zoom.
I was so inspired that I decided to put together my own Zoom—solely because I have a professional Zoom account and have spent so much of my life talking on Zoom, so I figured I could run something. I texted my friend Tami to see if she'd help me with this, and she said yes, of course. Then I decided if I needed white women to show up, I could tell TikTok and see what would happen.
And that was that. I didn't realize it, but I was capitalizing on a moment that was about to take over the internet for the next week. Within four days, I grew to over 10K followers and was able to monetize my future qualifying videos.
The first thing I learned - if you want to monetize your TikTok account - you need to GROW which means you need to go viral repeatedly. Cast a wide net with your content and topics! Just do different things and see what lands. Your first goal is views and new followers (not trying to sell something to these people). One of my most viral videos, which got me a ton of followers, was just a photo with text on it - but I was capturing a moment in history. When the White Women: Answer the Call, call broken Zoom and raised $11 million dollars for the Harris Campaign Fund. (Again, I did NOT make money from this video - but I DID gain a shit load of followers, which helped my account grow to get then monetized).
2. You have to apply and be approved to join the Creator Fund.
It was a breeze because I already have my business and financial accounts all set up.I connected my business PayPal to my TikTok, which is how you get paid. For any qualifying videos you make from here on out, you can view their earning milestones inside of the Creator Studio.
But if you don't already have your business stuff set up, I could see this as a pain point, as well as having all of the necessary things in place to apply. It's not instant gratification. Only the videos you create AFTER you've been approved will be monetized. You don't get to go backward.
Also, FYI, you need to continue to get 100K views within 30 days to stay in the program. I stopped posting for the last two weeks because I wasn't in the mood 🤣 and just started again, so we'll see if I can keep up my views and stay in the program.
Qualifying videos and views = how much you get paid
So a qualifying video has to be at least 1 minute long, you had to create it (meaning it's original to you, and you cannot use a Sitch or Duet which includes someone else's content), it needs at least 1,000 views, AND it has to show up in the viewers FYP.
Side note: FYP stands for the "for you page," which is TikTok's main feed that people use. AKA, the algorithm is just feeding content it thinks you'll like, and you're just scrolling, vs. if you were looking at content made by people you follow.
OK, back to a qualifying video. Now if a user navigates to your page and then scrolls videos from your page and watches them. Those views DO NOT count. ONLY views from your videos in the FYP can be monetized.
For example, have you ever gotten sucked into a TikTok series like "Who TF Did I Marry"? Well, the first video you see of Reesa Teresa in your FYP was probably monetized - so she made money from your view. BUT if you then went to your page and found more of that series on your own, she did NOT make money from those views.
Here's How Much You Actually Get Paid
It varies! Per video! They pay you per RPM, which stands for Revenue Per Mille, a metric measuring how much money is earned per 1,000 views. It's roughly $1. My all-time average RPM is $1.32. But you can make more if people are more engaged with your content. Do they watch more of your video, or how many actually watch it all the way through? Your rate also goes up based on search performance, engagement on the video (likes, comments, shares, saves), etc. And again, it needs to be 1 fill minute or longer. So one video might make you $.89 per RPM and another $1.13 per RPM.
So my all-time qualified views started on July 27, 2024, the day I hit 10K followers and could begin to earn money on my qualified views (also, happy birthday to me—it was my 41st birthday! Isn't that funny/weird?!). Today, I'm writing this blog post and it's October 14, 2024, I have had 388.1K qualified views (with 257K ineligible views).
OK, back to the math, I have been paid $1.32 per 1,000 views, which is $513.97. So to really MAKE A LIVING at making content on TikTok through the Creator Fund you have to get a LOT of views and go viral ALL THE TIME. (And also have multiple sources of income.)
Side note: I've taken this money and re-invested it back into paying Black women to educate myself on women's equality, white supremacy, dismantling the patriarchy, and the un-doing of white feminism. What I mean by this is that I've subscribed to several Black Creators Patreons and purchased webinars and live trainings.
Going viral and making content is emotionally exhausting.
I've never gone viral in my life. I've never gotten more than a couple hundred views on anything. I am not a content creator or a social media expert. I am a marketing strategist. I can tell you that organic TikTok content needs to be part of your customer journey, and I can pin point the exact reasons why. But I cannot tell you how to make viral content.
The very first time it happens is weird. It's fun and feels good when people leave you great comments and support and give you a thumbs up. It's freaking awful when they shit on you. And it's the internet - if you put it out there - there is always the possibility that someone will say something terrible to you. And talking can feel draining, and talking about complicated or vulnerable topics on the internet is draining.
Every time you open the app for days and days and days - your notifications are 100+. When you get to about 1,000 comments, you can no longer read them. There are just too many to try and keep up.
But just like anything you practice, it gets easier to get shit on by the internet of people who disagree with you the more you do it. 😂 Now that it's happened to me a couple of times, I've learned that I can survive it. But I don't like it. And I've learned that the internet and comments mean nothing in real life. However, I have NO IDEA how a popular creator handles it. I would need my therapist on call 24/7.
Finally, with all of this WILD life experience, I have learned that there are a lot of kind, wonderful people and a wonderful community on TikTok. I've been bombarded with thousands of loving and supportive comments. And I've made new TikTok friends.
To wrap this up, as of today, I have 17.1K followers.
My growth on TikTok has increased my Instagram following by several hundred and my email list by maybe 10 people. I'll take it. It's been an interesting experience, and I've learned a lot. I do not want TikTok or any social media monetization as a KEY step of my marketing funnel; this means you must make content ALL THE TIME and have a strategy you follow. Maybe at another season of my business and entrepreneurial life, but at this moment, I still want to make content for fun and experimentation.
Follow me on TikTok to keep up with me wherever this journey of content takes me. 🫶
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