College student Salina, 22 - who goes by "Salinakilla" online - began uploading videos to TikTok about four months ago when she was on vacation with family in Japan.
"It grew very quickly, just building and building," she told Business Insider, crediting her growth to the TikTok homepage's "for you" section, which recommends content to users. "I was getting about 10,000 followers a day."
Now she has 900,000 followers on TikTok, which has become a wildly popular app among Generation Z and is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance. Creators like Salina are rising quickly to fame from the massive reach the short-form-video platform has (unlike YouTube or Instagram which can take a creator much longer to build up a following).
Transform talent with learning that worksCapability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More Salina dedicates multiple hours throughout the day to TikTok and tries to upload about two to four videos each day, which helps with the likelihood of her content landing on the trending page, she said. She films makeup, dancing, lip-syncing, and comedy videos.
"I watch a lot of TikToks to see what's on the 'for you' page and what's trending," she said. "That takes multiple hours throughout the day. Creating the content itself can take a few minutes, to hours, depending on how complicated the video is."
Livestreaming on TikTok is 'the fastest way to get money'
Salina said she wants to use her following on TikTok to try and establish a brand for herself and create a clothing line.
"I think it's really important to use TikTok as a tool for others things," she said. "In the long run I don't know if anyone wants to make four videos a day, every day for the rest of their lives."
Salina said her most consistent stream of revenue on TikTok comes through livestreaming multiple times a day with her followers.
Livestreaming on TikTok is when a creator films themselves in real time for their followers to watch. During a livestream, followers can send a creator virtual "gifts," which are converted (through a convoluted process) to cash for the creator.
"You're connecting with your fans, and it's the fastest way to get money," Salina said. "On average, I can earn up to $20 to $50 on livestreams. Sometimes I can get $100 or more within one live."
But that's not the only way Salina earns money on TikTok.
Read the full breakdown of the four main ways TikTok creators can earn money, according to Salina, on Business Insider Prime:
Next Story
I quit McKinsey after 1.5 years. I was making over $200k but my mental health was shattered.
Some Tesla factory workers realized they were laid off when security scanned their badges and sent them back on shuttles, sources say
I tutor the children of some of Dubai's richest people. One of them paid me $3,000 to do his homework.
Why are so many elite coaches moving to Western countries?
Global GDP to face a 19% decline by 2050 due to climate change, study projects
5 things to keep in mind before taking a personal loan
Markets face heavy fluctuations; settle lower taking downtrend to 4th day
Move over Bollywood, audio shows are starting to enter the coveted ‘100 Crores Club’
