I have been experimenting with monetising on social media just to see how easy it is and how it all works so I am better able to help and advise those with side hustles and the self-employed on how to report their income, and even if they need to ...
I realised many TikTok creators have no idea about the legalities of reporting their earnings to HMRC!
It's been an interesting journey on TikTok seeing just how many people are becoming small content creators and starting to monetise on the platform. There are numerous different ways you can earn money through TikTok and most need no financial outlay at all, but after 6 months of hard graft, I have made a grand total of £30 so it is not going to replace the day job any time soon!
The ways you can earn on TikTok are :
TikTok Shop for Creator
Where you record videos featuring products sold on a TikTok shop with a link to the shop and if anyone clicks on the link from your video and buys you earn a commission.
The products you want to promote are shown on your profile in a showcase so viewers can also browse your showcase to buy. Also, you don't have to have bought the item from TikTok – there are many everyday household items on there you can produce videos with and link to the shop.
I have had the best results with chocolate and dog accessories! You are offered this when your account reaches 1,000 followers and if your account is in good standing.
TikTok Shop for Seller
Where you are advertising and selling and shipping out your own products. Don't make the mistake I made of setting up a shop if you plan to only be an affiliate.
As soon as you set up a shop only your own items show on your profile and users cannot see your showcase. You can still sell from videos, but not from your profile. I didn't want the hassle of holding stock and shipping items out.
Creator Rewards Programme
This is the one everyone seems to talk about and to apply to enter you need 10,000 followers and to have had 100,000 views in the last month. It took me 3 months to get there – and I reached the followers level before I reached the views.
Once in though, you are only paid for videos which are more than a minute long, viewed for at least 5 seconds, and the viewer needs to have come from the For You Page (the place where most people doomscroll!) and you need 1,000 views before you even get an income calculated.
You are paid per 1,000 views and TikTok works out an RPM which is a rate per thousand views. You are at the mercy of the TikTok algorithm and need to include SEO (Search terms and hashtags relevant to your audience) and also have original content – not just camera rolls and rehashed Memes.
I have been creating content relating to offering bookkeeping advice and just can't get the views needed to be paid. So, far in just over 2 months, I have had one video get to 1,000 views and that was about the Solar eclipse. I had an RPM of 26p per 1,000 and had less than 500 qualified views so made about 12p.
Live Rewards
When you get your account to a certain level of followers, usually around 10,00, but it can vary, then you may be offered the ability to go live. This is for over 18s only and when you have gone live a couple of times TikTok will add the ability for people to give you gifts.
You can buy coins on TikTok and then use the coins to send gifts to other users. It is a way of showing appreciation for good content and videos as well as lives can be gifted. If you are sent gifts when you are doing a live then these gifts can be converted into money which you can withdraw from TikTok or use to buy more coins to pay it forward.
When you are given coins though the cash value of them is half what the original user paid for them so in effect TikTok takes half the money. I tend to recycle and buy more coins from my gifted earnings as that is how I have built my account up to 10k. There are rooms called grow rooms where you find other users also growing their accounts and leaving 1 coin gifts can help you to be visible in the room
There are more ways of earning, like with collaborations where you are paid for producing videos to promote brands or products, gaming options, subscriptions and many more, but I have not got into those yet on my journey.
I realised on my journey that it is mostly luck in getting your posts seen in TikTok. You can watch and learn and do your best, but often the videos you spend the least time on do the best – so I go for a quantity, not quality approach in my content and I've built up a community of mutually supportive followers.
"I realised many TikTok creators have no idea about the legalities of reporting their earnings to HMRC!"
There is a trading allowance of £1,000 which means in any tax year (7th April to 6th April) if you earn less than £1,000 there is no need to report your earnings. But as soon as you go over £1,000 you need to register as self-employed by the 5th of October of the year after you go over the threshold, and if you then dip below again you need to de-register or you could risk being fined.
I have created a handy spreadsheet for those needing to track their earnings, as if you don't record it you won't know if you have hit the threshold – you can download the spreadsheet from my Payhip store and there are more hints and tips in the sheet so you know you are doing things right.
If you want to follow me on TikTok then look for Aloe Aly and say hi on one of my videos.
If anything I've written in this blog post resonates with you and you'd like to discover more about how to earn money on TikTok and the tax implications for you, it may be a great idea to give me a call on 01604 217365 and let's see how I can help you.
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About Alison Mead ...
Alison loves bookkeeping and supporting bookkeepers. She has been helping clients to be better bookkeepers in Sage 50 for over 24 years and has been Xero Accredited in accounts and payroll for a number of years too.
She specialises in a very unique hand-holding method of training, helping bookkeepers and business owners to use their accounts software as and when they need support in setting up and producing their invoices, reports and financial information.
Alison combines her role at Silicon Bullet with her Forever Living network marketing businesses and is often to be seen at business networking meetings as she likes to keep busy.
You know what they say: if you want something done well ask a busy person!
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