How a Creator Turned Doubt into $15,000 Months with TikTok Shop

In the modern creator economy, there are so many opportunities for creators to turn their passion into profit. UGC. Influencing. Amazon. TikTok Shop. It’s hard to know which ones to focus on. 

Sometimes, it takes someone else telling you to go-all in on one area to give you the permission to lock in one path. 

That’s what happened with Shivani. She heard someone say “Realistically, I think you’re probably 1-2 months out from having 15k months if you focus on TikTok Shop” and she ran with it. One month later, she’d done it. 

And now, she’s told us exactly how she did. As a creator who transformed skepticism into success (and $15,000) she has a lot of knowledge to share.

Why TikTok shop?

A quick recap if you’ve been living under a rock, TikTok Shop is an all-in-one shopping experience for folks who don’t want to leave the platform.. It lets you buy products while browsing your FYP, on live streams or via your favorite creators storefronts. 

Rolling out across the US in September 2023, it initially started small, but now, not so much. And creators are making bank. While it’s similar to the Amazon affiliate program — choose a product, post content on your account and receive a commission for every sale the content drives — there’s one key difference.

The % commission you get from TikTok leaves Amazon in the dust. While Amazon rates are set at around 3-4%, TikTok commission ranges anywhere from 5-65%, so you can see how it can be lucrative.

Shivani learned this pretty quickly…

This wasn’t her first rodeo

Shivani wasn’t new to content creation. 

Far from it in fact — she’d been creating content in some form for close to ten years, but had never managed to make enough to make it her full-time gig. Like many creators, making a living from social media felt like a pipe dream: 46% of creators are still earning less than $1k in annual revenue. This wasn’t what she was used to seeing though — as a member of the Brands Meet Creators Academy she was used to seeing creators post about their crazy numbers through content creation — $10k months, $20k months, even $30k. Crazy numbers through UGC, content creation and the new player in the game — TikTok shop. 

After receiving a plan from Academy coach Mike that laid out a path to $15k months, Shivani decided to go all in.“You know, I'm just going to go for it. I have nothing to lose” she explained. With no samples available, she started creating videos with things she had around her house. In her first week — she hit the jackpot. $24, in the bag. So, not the literal jackpot. But the metaphorical one. Something had clicked. While she was yet to have a video really take off, she could see the power in the videos she was putting out. The following week, with trust in the process and a bit of momentum behind her, she hit $7,000 in commission. The following week, she did it again. This wasn’t luck, it wasn’t a fluke, it was consistent income that she could replicate. 

So, how did she do it? What was the secret sauce to her success?... 

$15k months on TikTok shop, what’s the secret?

This isn’t what most creators want to hear. 

There is no secret. Not to Shivani’s success, and not to any of the other creators who are killing it on the platform. 9 out of 10 creators who are earning $$$$ are happy to share exactly what they are doing: posting consistently, replicating proven frameworks and using products that are already trending. Shivani is no different. 

There are three main take-aways I can pull from her success that you can learn from:

1. Self-belief, or at least fake it until you make it

“The number one factor is just believing that you can get there, because if you don't believe that you can, then you stop.” Shivani explains. If you don’t think you can match the crazy numbers, then you’re probably going to slow down — or give up — before you even get close. And it makes sense, if she’d given up after only making $24 in her first week, she would be in a very different place now. By telling yourself $15k a month is coming and continuing to post despite what the numbers are saying, you give yourself the best chance to get there.

2. Leveraging proven strategies

Success on TikTok Shop doesn't require reinventing the wheel. It's about leveraging proven strategies and products. For Shivani, she got this to a tee. “I had a video last week that did 1.2 million views. And I was literally just using a product that I saw that one of my favorite creators was using, and I said, 'I want that.' And it's that simple.” Give the people what they want to see. This also means using trending products that are already out there and widely known. Simple is always better.

3. Finding her community

TikTok shop and the new creator economy can be a lonely place to navigate by yourself. It changes everyday and keeping up can be a full-time job in itself. Finding a community where you can be with like minded creators and can be a game-changer. “I think the network in The Academy, obviously, watching and learning from it, I would have never been able to get to where I am without it.” Shivani explained. The Academy fostered an environment where creators could collaborate, learn from each other's experiences, and be spurred on to reach new heights. Whether you find your support from the Academy community, Facebook groups or Discord channels, having people on the journey can speed it up dramatically.

Shivani’s journey from skepticism to $15,000 months is one that will inspire so many other creators. If that’s you, her story has a clear message: believe in yourself, keep it simple, and surround yourself with a supportive community. With the right mindset and guidance, anything is possible. Go get it!

Join Shivani and hundreds of other creators doing crazy numbers in The Academy. At $30 for your first month, what have you got to lose? Join now.