The Bag is a beast that must be stalked, hunted, and acquired. To fumble it is death, and to secure it is immortality itself. You have no choice but to go forth and obtain. But you do have options in strategy, just as much as we have our choice of article opening bits.
As a TikTok creator, you’re on the platform to turn your efforts into cash and already aware of the potential behind continued presence on the app. Once you’ve figured out THAT you want to make money (great job!), it’s time to figure out how you want to make money.
That’s artful repetition using the quirks of English, by the way. This article isn’t about the ‘how’ meaning the route you take to getting in the black; it’s about the ‘how’ meaning the metaphorical vehicles that’ll get you there. TikTok creation offers multiple ways to monetize your work, and you can pick from as many as you can manage to manage at once.
Let’s begin with talking shop.
TikTok Shop
TikTok cutting out the middlemen of other storefronts was a pretty baller move on the company’s part. It’s like they made their own Home Shopping Network but for Zoomers! Whether you’ve got your product line or you’re the arm of another company, selling merchandise directly through TikTok’s platform lets you show off real-time functionality, angles, and wear on a medium already optimized for video.
If you’ve been playing around with a digital storefront but can’t bring yourself to cut several other platforms’ various pounds of flesh, this is an ideal way to go about it and keep everything in one place.
But it’s not the only way to sell yourself.
Self-Promo
Consider the published content creator. Translating your online expertise into a career that sells within the same niche, you create is a distinct possibility! Your content can be repackaged into book deals, comedy specials, playing yourself in brief cameos, and more — all through changing the medium you create without changing what you’re doing.
Unlike other forms of TikTok monetization, this requires more external work from you than platform presence, but we’re keeping it here because it’s still translating your work on the app to dolla dolla bills. It’s not easy, and it’s best left to bigger fish.
A garage full of tear-stained books is appropriate for a nerdy mechanic; your self-publishing not working out is less cool. Once you work your way up, stack numbers in your audience, and rack up those views and shares, you can make selling yourself in different ways work. And if you’re not ready for that publisher’s interest yet, you can always gain directly from your fanbase in other ways.
Online Tipping and Patronage
One of the biggest new waves in online content was the creation of paysites. PayPal, soon outstripped by the more specialized Patreon and Ko-Fi, allowed audiences to show their appreciation through tips and regular payments. Even TikTok has a donation system in the form of audience members gifting Diamonds.
No books to have printed, no con appearances that only .05% of your base can get to, just straight-up cash for the work you were already doing (plus some early access or bonus content if you’re smart). You can start Ko-fi and a Patreon account the same day you set up your other socials, though Diamonds have a few platform-specific requirements.
While the amount you get each week won’t be guaranteed to be as steady as a regular check (though, let’s be honest, those can wobble, too), even an extra five dollars a week can help you stack up and save. Plus, the wider your reach, the more you can get — imagine if out of 500,000 followers, you could count on just 1/16th of them to pledge $10 a month to your Patreon.
(We won’t do the math for you; you need the practice.)
The TikTok Creator Rewards Program
This one’s a tough nut to crack but not impossible. TikTok will pay you just for being a good TikToker, but there are catches, restrictions, and rules galore. You can’t expect something for nothing extra.
If you can prove you’re making high-quality, totally original content of at least 60 seconds with 100,000 deeply engaged followers (among other things), TikTok will consider you a valuable enough contributor that they’ll straight up pay you to keep it going.
The possibilities are great if you can measure up and stay in good standing!
But what if you’re more interested in selling for other people? Go for any of the different kinds of the following.
Brand Partnerships
Working directly with a brand on TikTok can be incredibly profitable if you play the game properly. You get the validation, personally and professionally, that your work is worth paying for — and monetary metrics you can record and translate into career moves both within and outside the app.
However, because this is the closest one of these monetization methods to being a freelancer/employee, you will have to advocate for yourself the hardest.
It’s exciting to start getting recognition and a check, but no matter how new to your platform, your contract needs to include adequate protections for your wallet, image, time, and intellectual property.
You also have to consider that the company’s reputation will be tied up with yours. Tesla, for example, wasn’t a largely controversial brand circa 2017, but now the polarization is…palpable. There’s no use in predicting larger-scale controversy, but you do need an exit plan (and an exit clause) if it happens.
Now that we’ve been duly ominous, how will you choose to work with brands?
Sponsored content takes many forms — as simple as dropping a 30-second shoutout as an affiliate or shooting a series on location. (We even have a program ourselves.) You’ll be creating on your own time for your channel, essentially dedicating space for another company inside your brand: ad space.
Make sure the company’s a good fit, protect your check, and don’t skimp on the effort that got your viewers hooked in the first place. People are sensitive to ads, so fulfill your obligations in a way they can live with and enjoy.
Honorable Mentions
Direct-to-your-bank monetization is great, but we’d be remiss not to call out a couple of alternative methods of material benefit open to you.
Linking your wishlists
If you’re pursuing a fan-pay model but balk at the prospect of actual, legal business for “Wait, there’s paperwork?”-type reasons, having your fans send you what you would have purchased anyway isn’t a bad way to go about making your TikTok talent payout.
Sure, it’s a pseudo-monetization, but as far as it leads to you gaining something for all your hard work on/behind the camera, it checks out. And unless you’re getting gifted houses and cars (nice, by the way), it’s tax-free and still leaves you with the legacy of content creator business savvy you need to keep your content good enough to profit from.
Producing user-generated content (UGC)
This is almost like you being a content creator for a brand, but it’s not typically the tightest of arrangements. Agreements can be as loose as getting a “Hey, we noticed you looked cool using our product in that one video. Can we share it and then link back?” in your comment section.
They’ll repost what you’ve already made and link back to you. It’s not a difficult concept to understand. Usually, because these tend to be asks regarding content that wasn’t directly related to your use of the product, it’s just what you genuinely thought would be the best at the time — they remain unpaid.
However, if you’re still establishing your credibility and just starting, they can be great ways to increase eyeballs, follower count, and whatever we’re calling what was known as street cred in 2025.
UGC can also be your foot in the door to a lucrative arrangement with the brand. If you’ve been asked to allow a repost more than once, ask for a meeting! See if you can negotiate your way into being a contracted creator and monetize your relationship.
Don’t Forget Where You Came From
And once you’re on top? Don’t forget to thank the audience that put you there. If you’re literally too big of a presence to shake babies and kiss hands, we can help!
