TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among Gen Z. With its short form video format, TikTok makes it easy for creators to make entertaining content that can quickly go viral. While TikTok started out mainly as an app for lip-syncing and dancing videos, it has evolved into a platform where creators can truly build their personal brands and monetize their audience.
For many creators, making money on TikTok starts with first building an audience. While going viral on the platform can happen seemingly overnight, consistently growing an engaged following does take time and effort. Still, once you’ve hit 1,000 followers on TikTok, there are opportunities to start earning money from your account.
What is considered good money on TikTok?
When looking at how much money you can make from TikTok, it’s important to first set expectations around earnings. The amount of money that can be considered “good” will vary greatly depending on factors like how often you post, your niche, and your engagement levels.
For many full-time professional creators, anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 per month from TikTok alone is a strong earning benchmark. However, for casual creators or those just starting out, much smaller incomes of $100 to $500 per month can be respectable.
The potential to earn a full-time living from TikTok tends to happen once an account hits around 100,000 followers and beyond. But even starting with just 1,000 engaged followers, you can begin monetizing your account and earning supplemental income.
How TikTok creators make money
There are now several ways for creators to monetize their accounts and make money from TikTok. Here are some of the main options:
TikTok Creator Fund
TikTok launched its Creator Fund in 2020 as a way to pay creators directly for their top-performing videos. To qualify, you must have at least 10,000 authentic followers and consistently post original videos that get strong engagement.
Payouts are based on factors like views, engagement, and overall performance. On average, creators can expect to earn around 2-4 cents per 1,000 video views. The exact amount depends on your account’s niche, audience, and content quality.
TikTok LIVE
With TikTok LIVE, creators can live stream videos to their followers and receive virtual gifts. Fans can purchase coins to use for sending gifts, which can then be redeemed for cash. To go live, your account must have at least 1,000 followers.
During live streams, viewers might send gifts like diamonds, lipstick kisses, or virtual roses costing 100-500 coins each. TikTok takes a cut, but creators can earn hundreds of dollars in gifts per hour from consistent gifting.
Affiliate marketing
Including affiliate links is one of the simplest ways for TikTok creators to earn money from their audience. You can promote relevant products in your niche and earn a commission each time someone makes a purchase using your special link.
Common affiliate programs used by TikTok creators include:
- Amazon Associates – earn commissions from sales of millions of products
- ShareASale – choose from thousands of affiliate programs
- Rakuten – get cash back on purchases and sales commissions
- CJ Affiliate – access leading global brands and retailers
The amount you can make from affiliate marketing comes down to your audience size and engagement. Expect small commissions at first. But affiliate earnings can add up, especially if you consistently refer hot selling products.
Brand sponsorships
As your followers and engagement grow into the tens of thousands, your videos will start attracting attention from brands. Companies may offer to pay you to create sponsored content and ads promoting their products.
A good metric is to expect around 1 to 5 cents per follower per post for a sponsorship. With 1,000 followers, your earnings per sponsored post would be in the range of $10 to $50. Bigger brands tend to pay towards the higher end for nano and micro influencers.
Make sure to clearly disclose these are paid partnerships whenever promoting a brand. While the income potential is lower at first, sponsorships can become quite lucrative as your audience expands on TikTok.
Selling merchandise
Many top creators make merch an integral part of their overall business model. Products like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and phone cases allow fans to engage with their brand while also creating an additional income stream.
There are a few options when getting started with merchandise for TikTok:
- Using print-on-demand (POD) companies like Teespring, Redbubble, and Merch By Amazon to produce and fulfill orders on your behalf.
- Creating merch using a custom apparel production company.
- Manually producing and selling small batches of your own merch.
POD allows you to design merch, promote it across your social platforms, and earn a commission without any upfront costs. For 1,000 followers, you may expect to sell 5-25 shirts per design averaging $15 to $25 in profit each.
How much money can you make on TikTok with 1000 followers?
It’s first helpful to look at approximate income tiers most creators see as their followings grow on TikTok:
| Followers | Monthly Earnings Potential |
| 1,000 | $100 to $500+ |
| 10,000 | $500 to $2,000 |
| 100,000 | $1,000 to $10,000 |
| 500,000 | $5,000 to $30,000 |
| 1 million | $10,000 to $100,000+ |
These ranges demonstrate how your income can scale in correlation with your following and engagement. While 1,000 followers is at the low end, you can still begin earning money and building your audience for more future opportunities.
For most creators just starting out with around 1,000 followers, income per month often falls somewhere between $100 to $500. However, your specific niche, content quality, post frequency, engagement levels, and monetization strategies could result in earning either below or above that typical range.
Let’s break down potential earnings based on some of the main money-making methods for TikTokers just crossing the 1,000 followers threshold.
TikTok Creator Fund earnings
The TikTok Creator Fund is not available for those with only 1,000 followers. You need a minimum of 10,000 followers to qualify. So for accounts with 1,000 followers, this income source is not an option.
TikTok LIVE revenue
Going live is a great way to engage your newly acquired audience of 1,000 followers. With TikTok LIVE’s gift-sending features, you can earn income during a live stream. However, earning substantial revenue from LIVE gifts takes time.
When first going live with 1,000 followers, gifts may be sporadic and minimal. As your live streams gain traction, you could earn $10 to $30 per hour from consistent gifting. With weekly 1-2 hour live streams, your monthly LIVE revenue might range from $40 to $120 or more.
Affiliate marketing income
Affiliate links are simple to add into your content. However, most programs require you to have a baseline level of traffic and sales volume before qualifying to join. So affiliate marketing may not be a significant income source until you grow your audience past 1,000 followers.
As a benchmark, you may be able to earn $10 to $50 per month from occasional affiliate sales to your small audience. Focus on nurturing your followers and referral traffic for now to build towards bigger affiliate commissions down the road.
Sponsorship earnings
Sponsorships from brands can be quite lucrative. But most companies want influencers with a much larger audience than just 1,000 followers before considering paid partnerships.
However, some nano influencers do successfully land sponsorships. You can potentially earn $50 to $200 per sponsored post. Aim for 1-2 deals monthly for $100 to $400 in estimated sponsorship income.
Merchandise profits
Print-on-demand merch requires no upfront investment, making it attainable even with only 1,000 TikTok followers. Expect to move 5 to 25+ t-shirt sales per design, averaging $15 to $25 each in profit.
Assuming you add 2 new merch designs monthly, you may earn approximately $150 to $625 per month from your merchandise side hustle. T-shirts tend to be popular sellers, but experiment with other products to find what resonates most with your supporters.
Growing your income with more followers
While monetizing a TikTok with 1,000 followers is challenging, it’s possible to earn your first supplemental income. Focus on expanding your audience through quality content, engagement, and cross-promoting. Over time, you’ll gain access to more money-making opportunities.
Here are some follower milestones that unlock greater earning potential:
10,000 followers
– Apply for the TikTok Creator Fund
– Host LIVE streams more consistently
– Better merch sales with a larger reach
– Start getting some brand sponsorship offers
50,000 followers
– Earn $250 to $1,000 monthly from the Creator Fund
– Get approved for affiliate programs
– Higher sponsorship deals up to $500+ per post
– Sell 100+ merch items per month
100,000 followers
– Creator Fund payments of $1,000+ per month
– Lucrative brand sponsorships in the thousands
– Earn steady affiliate income
– Sell 500+ merch items monthly
– Launch your own products/services
Gaining 1,000 engaged followers is a great accomplishment on TikTok. While modest at first, the earning potential will grow exponentially as your audience expands. Be persistent, continue creating quality content, interact with your community, and the financial rewards will follow.
Tips for making money on TikTok with a small following
Here are some top tips to boost your earnings as a nano or micro influencer on TikTok with under 10,000 followers:
Choose a profitable niche
Consider niches like finance, style, beauty, cooking, or travel where promoting products/services aligns well with content themes. This makes it easier to earn affiliate commissions or attract sponsorships.
Encourage followers to like, share, comment
Higher engagement helps your videos get promoted more by TikTok’s algorithm, leading to more views and followers to build your income opportunities.
Go LIVE consistently
Scheduled live streams let followers gift you coins during the broadcast. The more you go live, the more chances fans have to show support.
Offer value to your audience
Post content that entertains, educates, inspires or provides solutions. Valuable content earns engagement and loyalty from followers.
Link other social media in bio
Direct viewers to your other platforms like Instagram or YouTube to continue growing your brand and income channels.
Hashtag strategically
Research relevant niche hashtags around topics you create content on and use a mix of popular and long-tail tags.
Collaborate with similar creators
Cross-promote through shoutouts, collaborations, and content featuring other creators to gain new engaged followers.
Be consistent
Post high-quality videos consistently at least a few times per week to keep your channel active and attract recurring viewers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I charge for a TikTok sponsorship?
With 1,000 followers, reasonable sponsorship rates are around $10 – $50 per TikTok post. Price towards the higher end of this range for sponsored content for larger brands. Be sure to factor in your engagement levels too when quoting pricing.
Can you make money on TikTok without followers?
It is extremely challenging to begin earning without an established audience. While not impossible, you need at least 1,000 engaged followers for most income opportunities to become accessible. Focus first on building your following and brand.
Does TikTok pay you for posting videos?
TikTok only pays creators directly through its Creator Fund, which requires 10,000+ followers. However, you can earn ad revenue from live streams, affiliate links, sponsorships, merch sales, and more – even starting with a smaller following.
How do I get noticed on TikTok starting from 0?
Making quality content focused on viral trends, utilizing the right hashtags, engaging with other creators, posting consistently, collaborating on videos, and cross-promoting your account on other platforms can all help gain initial traction on TikTok.
Is 1,000 followers a lot on TikTok?
Most TikTok users have less than 1,000 followers. So gaining 1,000 engaged followers is viewed as a significant milestone where you can start transitioning into a nano influencer. While modest compared to mega influencers, 1,000 loyal followers is a great foundation.
Conclusion
Gaining 1,000 true TikTok followers is an important first step on the path to building your influencer career and monetizing your brand. While income will be small in the beginning, you can earn your first dollars through live gifting, affiliate links, sponsorships, and selling merchandise.
Be patient and persistent to continue growing your audience. Engage with your community, post high-quality content consistently, and utilize smart hashtagging. Before long, you’ll gain more monetization access and can scale up your earnings. The more followers you have, the greater your income potential on TikTok.
