March Income
As you can see in the above graphic, I made $1500 in March on TikTok. Most of the money came from two videos I’d made about automotive products that I’ve used a lot over the years
The one thing I hadn’t anticipated was the amount of hate both of those products would generate. All I can say is you just never know what’s going to push people’s buttons. But, with great hate, came great money. 😂
The month before? I made $113 with zero hate. Money and hate. Or, little money and no hate? I’d prefer no hate, I don’t need it. If I wanted anger and money, I’d open another auto repair shop where there’s daily opportunities for plenty of both. No thanks. Life’s too short. That’s pretty much how I feel about TikTok at the moment. So? I’m going back to finishing the last book in my Hawaii Thriller series.
Having said that, I’m still going to experiment on the side with different TikTok videos. It only takes one viral video to hit the jackpot. I think that’s what keeps me coming back. In my perfect world it’s a video with little complaints in the comments, and making a dump truck full of cash every day.
My Original Goal of TikTok
I didn’t start posting on TikTok to make affiliate money. My goal was to market my books. I discovered after setting up my TikTok Shop that I could also post product videos and make a commission from the sale of those products. That’s affiliate marketing for those of you who don’t know.
It’s one of my favorite ways to make money. You get a cut by just sending a buyer to the product, if they purchase it. No fulfilment headaches. No customer service. It’s a beautiful thing. That’s what originally got me hooked back in 2006 when I built my first website. Making money in my sleep. If it were only that easy. Sometimes it is. But most of the time, not so much. You need the right product with the right audience.
As you can see above, I like to talk about affiliate marketing. Maybe I should become one of the 10,000 marketing whores on TikTok. But I just can’t stomach the sell, sell, sell, of the whole thing. Actually it’s the carrot that most of the affiliate marketers hang out that you’re going to make thousands of dollars. But the reality is most people just work their fingers to the bone for nothing. But I’m getting sidetracked that’s not what this article is about. Back to marketing my books on TikTok.
$150 Plus of Book Sales
It’s almost the end of April and I’ve made just over $150 from book sales. What’s funny is I’ve barely posted about them on TikTok at all this month. But my follower count on TikTok has grown substantially in the last couple of months. To be clear, I’ve probably posted at least a hundred book videos and I suspect new followers are finding them and buying my books as a result.
The reason I think that is I’ve cut all advertising except for an AMS ad that spends under $20 per month. This month it’s only spent $12 and some change.
Tomorrow, I’m going to get back to work on Death Storm. I’m over half done writing it. I sidelined it a couple months ago when I got sidetracked with TikTok. But since I got a BookBub for Death in Paradise on May 23rd, I got get busy and finish this book. The only downside is the BookBub will skew my TikTok numbers for months. But I’m not complaining since it will add thousands to my bottom line.
April Income is Way Down
Unfortunately I won’t be making anywhere close to what I made last month on TikTok. I’m at about $800 right now. I’ve picked up a video violation that seems to have suppressed my video views. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it until the violation drops from my record in 90 days. Time to get back to writing. Until next time. J.T.
P.S. Have you made money on TikTok. Are your views down this month? Post a comment.
P.P.S. I killed one channel and changed the name of the other. JoeTrent.com on TikTok is my book channel now.
