How He Went From Military to $60K/Month With TikTok Shop

[00:02] month doing it. I grew that following to like 120,000 followers on Tik Tok. I never monetized off of it in any way growing up. I was in special ed. I was learned a lot slower than everybody else. Every Tik Tok shop video is like

[00:14] right now, I could probably start making 10K pretty quick. >> Okay, Nick. So, you have become the Tik Tok shop expert pretty quickly and uh fairly recently at least to the public

[00:28] eye. With that being said, I did some digging myself trying to learn and you "Okay, we got to learn a lot from this guy." So, before we dive into like all the details of Tik Tok shop, meaning I'm sure a lot of people now have been like

[00:43] people are making 50k months, like is that something that's easy to do? like if that's true or if not or how you'd even do that, >> really, can you define to us what is Tik Tok shop

[00:56] different than anything that we've actually seen before on social media? super excited to be here. It's pretty fun. Uh I love talking about it too, know much about it because it's like you can kind of dive really deep. But yeah,

[01:11] so basically Tik Tok shop what it is is like uh it's a closed loop system of a marketplace. So imagine Amazon except you can now see creators promoting products and when you decide to purchase it's a closed loop system. So you don't

[01:24] have to like go to an external website to purchase from uh that creator and so it makes it a lot easier for us to sell these products to consumers and it makes it a lot like easier for them to purchase which makes it a lot better for

[01:37] you to make sales and make money. So uh making a ton of income off of it as a creator becomes very I would say not easy but a lot easier if that makes any sense. So the second piece of this is like okay so it's easier for creators

[01:52] and sellers now from a buyer standpoint meaning like if I see a product in a reel I can buy it very very easily simply by clicking a button. How do you how can you now even be a creator that sells on Tik Tok shop or the opposite

[02:08] there a vetting process and approval process like Amazon or is it something >> Really good question. Yeah. So, as a creator, it's going to be harder to be a creator than it is to be a seller. Actually, uh seller, as far as I'm

[02:21] aware, I'm not a seller, but I have gotten a seller account and I have sold very often because the creator aspect actually made me a lot more money, so I just did that. But, uh yeah, so to be a creator, for example, which is probably

[02:34] want to be a creator, I'm assuming. That's like if you're trying to get entry level into a business at all, I think Tik Tok Shop Affiliate, being a now because you can really get your foot in the door, start making some money,

[02:47] and then become a seller if you so want to. But, uh, yeah, right now you need a,000 followers and you can start the program, but in reality, you're not going to be able to make much sales at 1,000 followers. You need 5,000 because

[03:00] then you get access to posting as much as you want. So, I say 5,000 followers. You have to be in an eligible country, which you can look that up. Um, you need think, as well, which that's pretty simple, but basically it's 5,000

[03:14] >> to give us now perspective because we kind of teased like, okay, this can be successful for creators to do. Um, and we've also kind of given them now a little bit of a a foundation of how we do it. What how do we close the gap?

[03:29] that you're generating on a monthly basis? like can you give us some insight into how long it took you to grow your following, what you are making on a a month-over-month basis now and what you are doing to actually consistently

[03:43] month. >> Yeah, it so kind of how I started was I was just trying to grow a following just because I thought it'd be fun and I was posting like country music clips from like YouTube onto Tik Tok. I would just

[03:57] thought it was fun. I liked it and I grew that following to like 120,000 anything with it. I never monetized off of it in any way and I was like I'm just

[04:09] of like got bored of it and then I heard Tik Tok shop came around and I was like completely different than like my country music clips. It had no no selling like tech products and it was like making a ton of money really

[04:25] quickly. My first full month doing Tik Tok shop as a creator making the Never showed my face online to be honest. Truly like truly gotten onto it honest. Truly like truly gotten onto it onto it. I made 59,000 in profit in

[04:37] doing it. I think that opportunity is still there with Tik Tok shop where first month. But it's not as common I would say as it was, you know, a year definitely still there. I mean I see people doing it all the time. It's just

[04:50] >> Was it one product that you did? Was it multiple? Like were you just pumping out content at this time and then one product hit? Like what actually got you >> Yeah, I was pushing out a ton of stuff. I was just getting products left and

[05:04] just trying different things. I was like, let me just try this and I'm going just like doing random things until I saw things that worked and I would study performing and I'd be like, okay, this one got a little bit more views and this

[05:19] like negate the ones that didn't and then take over the ones that did and kind of implement that for the next video. And I just kept doing that. And like all of them were not doing well and then boom, like one of them took off and

[05:34] that was when I made like $20,000 in profit a single day and it was just like a combination of different things whether that be the products I selected, >> uh the styles I was using and the

[05:46] trustworthiness that I was able to build with it uh with the video itself. So ask going to ask you that got put into my brain is like from iterating and pushing so much volume is there a

[05:59] framework that you now recognize is like hey this is a high conver converting framework as well as products like is there a product sweet spot as well that you should be looking at or isolating to >> there are like you know like proven

[06:13] these are the things that work and Tik Tok even kind of openly says what those things are too, >> but and I teach a lot of the frameworks as well, but like to be honest, the the main thing is like, do you come off

[06:26] trustworthy and can you really demonstrate this product correctly early on in the video because if you can show the product solving whatever problem going to be like, "Oh, that's pretty interesting. I have that problem."

[06:38] if you can be trustworthy with them and build that trust with them and show them that, hey, I used this product in myself and this is the result I got from it, especially if there's some type of urgency to purchase. Like, hey, this

[06:52] thing's on a, you know, a flash deal or this is on a huge discount or something purchase. So, uh, it's it's kind of like that framework. You're like then selling. So, it's kind of like that framework basically. But, uh, trust is

[07:06] like feels like they're being sold to all the time nowadays. So, it's like how feeling? >> How about on the the product selection piece, too? Like, is there something to be said about a $10 product versus a

[07:21] $200 product? Is it more the niche that you're trying to work in that you know certain products over others? >> Yeah, I think if you're starting on TikTok and you haven't done this ever before, go with anything you can get.

[07:34] you can. Try tons of different products until you finally hit something that "Hey, consistently I'm seeing like tech products work for me," which is what tech products to be honest. I had no idea what I'd do, but but it just fell

[07:48] was like, "Hey, I'm really selling a lot of these." Uh, now do I think you need to always do just that product then? No. Or that style or that niche? No. But but I find that like a lot of people they resonate better with certain products

[08:02] Like for example, I was just mentoring this guy Miguel. >> And he had no idea. He's a construction worker. He works a 9 to5 and he had no idea like how to do this stuff. And he started doing um skincare products out

[08:15] of the blue. Like a nineto-ive guy like had no no relation to skincare but just was like I'll just try it. And then he used like some uh some stuff, I forget eyes cuz he has like bags under his under eyes and he used it and it

[08:29] nineto-five construction dude. And his stuff worked for me. And so he resonated a lot with the other guys that are like him. And that sold like crazy money. Tik Tok shop stuff was like, "Oh, I know who that guy is. I watch his stuff." And

[08:43] like I was like, "How do you know this? This is so crazy." So uh yeah, like even like promote anything you can get because you don't know maybe you do So, >> so it's more of like a if there's

[08:57] anything that I'm hearing out of this, it's not like a verbatim wordbyword necessarily approach. It's more of if you can introduce the problem that people can relate to and deliver the solution and the product becomes the

[09:11] convert on. >> 100%. Yeah. And if you can like you can use your your problems to your advantage more. People think that they have like like whatever like I look like this or I am this type of person or I have a

[09:26] really messy home like and so I can't do this and they think negatively with that when in reality that's actually a superpower for them because other people product that solves that problem or helped solve that problem they will sell

[09:40] so much. Like another example, a girl I know um she uh used this kind of tummy tucking like leggings. It like tucks her her stomach in. And a lot of people a this because I don't I don't look like the skinny girls online or whatever or

[09:55] she's like, "Well, I'll just use it to my advantage to sell a product that her a ton of money. So is there some sort of psychology in that on where like there's no harm, no foul on purchasing like a lower ticket item than like a

[10:12] higher ticket item where I may have to establish more of that trust with my actual consumer before they're going to actually buy the product. question because it's it's a double-edged Well, it's not a

[10:25] double-edged sword, but it can go both ways. So a lower priced product is way easier to sell, but more likely it's lower margins that the creator can get. So because because the company has so many fees, Tik Tok takes so much fees,

[10:40] distribution of the product, you have manufacturing costs, you have shipping costs, you have so many like fees that are incurred for the brand that it the creator in a lot of ways because the creator probably I would say is like the

[10:55] person who gets the lowest amount in that. Um I mean well Tik Tok takes fees too but that were lower than that but the but yeah you're only going to get maybe say it's a $10 product like you're probably going to get like 50 cents per

[11:07] product which you know if you're selling a ton then you're making you know 50 cents for a ton of sales but you have to really hope that that video goes super demand or else you're only going to make you know a couple hundred dollars maybe

[11:19] on a millions of view video. Whereas if you get a high price product, you could get a lot more margin out of that and it might not sell as many. But I think the you're going to get more money. You're going to get more money for the amount

[11:34] in between. I could see that it's because at that point you may only need 2500, let's say 3,000 views to get a similar conversion rate or amount of profit as you would say 200,000 views

[11:49] but you're selling them at a 50% commission check each single time. I down a little bit more for our audience and you can clarify if the structure is wrong. >> So I'm a creator. I now get to 5,000

[12:03] what's our quickest way to get to 5,000 followers if we're trying to do it fast. But I'm a creator. I just hit 5,000 followers. I now go to Tik Tok shop and there should be a section for me that says like apply as a creator.

[12:18] >> I apply as a creator and then from there I can now start picking products. And by picking products, uh, am I asking for free samples? And then they send me free samples. And then each one of those has a specific commission on it. So I

[12:34] already know what I might be getting paid based off of selling that. And then from there, I go create a video. I tag the product in it. And then if someone sees the video, they click on that product, they check out, I collect a

[12:48] small commission based off of that sale. Is that pretty much how it works? works. And uh I mean that's the thing also is the Tik Tok has this algorithm not off topic but uh they're kind of separated where Tik Tok shop is separate

[13:04] than the typical like Tik Tok feed where there's more metrics that go into place on Tik Tok's algorithm or Tik Tok shop's algorithm to where they are incorporating sales as well. So, if say

[13:18] terrible views and it's terrible retention rates, it's not getting any likes or shares, which is also very common for a Tik Tok shop because who like their their number one metric is sales. Like, if you're making sales on a

[13:31] other metrics. The other metrics matter if you're not making sales, but if going to keep pushing it because they're like, "Hey, it's converting." So, so at um a lot of times, which I find very

[13:44] as a case study to prove to people that it's possible. I was like, "Hey, look, it's not going to sell like any." And I think I sold one and I had like 700,000 viral video, but no one wants this product because I knew no one wanted the

[13:59] it's like that can happen. >> I mean, and to your point, the video was but the product was not something that people actually wanted to buy. >> So now let's talk to the second piece here. You said we should try to get to

[14:14] 5,000 followers. Let's take the lens that we want to get there as fast as possible because our route is to open up a Tik Tok shop. Let's say it's not to b general creator. It's like, hey, we want to sell on Tik Tok shop. What is the

[14:30] easiest or quickest way for us to actually get to 5,000 followers? one a lot. Um there's so many different ways you could do it. I like to take the route of what am I good at and what am I passionate about? Like what kind of

[14:44] unique feature do I have in my life that I can monetize or not monetize but like make content around. So for me as an example like I'm in the military so I or like how I do this job like this thing in the military or this is my job

[14:58] or this is my day in the life. I don't know something. uh because that's unique population isn't like that and so I could talk about that and so there's something everybody has. I promise you everybody has something whether that's

[15:11] your hobby, the work that you do, that's usually the the ones that people do. Um, of just like go study the people that are doing that already and say, "Okay, you think in your head, okay, how can I counter position to what they're doing,

[15:24] like what what are what are they not doing? What could I do in that um and you could probably build a following pretty quick as long as you are um probably get to that 5,000 followers. And then at that point, you could choose

[15:38] route or you can completely pivot to going to doing Tik Tok shop ads and it >> Is there from like a posting consistently lens? Is that once a day, three times a day? Is there too much, too little? Like what is posting

[15:52] that 5,000 followers? >> Uh just on a cadence. So you have to have some type of cadence to yourself and that's dependent on you and like understanding that the less you post, the longer it's going to take. Generally

[16:05] >> post too much. >> No, Tik Tok doesn't really have a posting too much thing that I've seen. I think it's more just quality and all the time of quantity versus quality. That debates everywhere. But, uh, in my

[16:19] That debates everywhere. But, uh, in my eyes, it's you do quantity to start and then the quantity informs your quality. So, I post as much as possible. I see what's working. I study the data of the things that worked and then I start to

[16:31] called the accordion effect. So you're kind of starting really wide and you you ones that worked and the styles that work, the frameworks that worked and doing that and then you'll start to see significant more views. As long as

[16:46] you're studying your data and yeah, you'll start to grow a following pretty >> There was one overarching question that kept coming up in my brain, especially kept coming up in my brain, especially in this age of AI. Have you used AI to

[16:58] for Tik Tok shop in order for you to sell products or have you found that UGC content, user generated content is pretty much the only way to perform on Tik Tok and maybe it's different on Instagram versus Tik Tok? Like is there

[17:12] any debate there that says like AI isn't the avenue or is it just as leverable as >> I love this question. I like to look at it from the lens of the the consumer. So, if I'm a consumer and I want to buy something online, would I rather buy it

[17:26] would I rather buy it from somebody that I see that I feel like relates to me in some way as an actual person? And right now currently, it's still very obvious if something's AI or pretty close, especially with ads with products

[17:41] to show a product, it looks like it it looks like AI still with the products. There are some realistic looking normal videos, but uh but that's not Tik Tok shop. Tik Tok shop ads that are AI. It's pretty obvious still it's AI. So, um,

[17:55] and they're just not good at like doing all the really important things in a video like trust and urgency and, um, really showcasing the product correctly. So, I think right now currently you need to you need to do normal like

[18:09] show yourself, use your your leverage points of yourself in your videos, but I think there is an opportunity of AI being very, you know, involved. I just don't think it's ever going to take away the true aspect of any type of creative

[18:23] work because that's the thing that makes humans human or the creative sides of computer I don't think can take away. That's I think the only thing that computers can't take away is the creative end of a human. So um I don't

[18:36] know. That's just my thought. >> Yeah, I've tested not AI ads, but I've used AI in certain aspects like uh doing voiceovers for me and stuff. I've tested that and it just isn't as good. Like I just never found it to be as good. I've

[18:50] actually, funny story, the number one creator on TikTok right now, he had his voice stolen for AI and people, these companies are using his voice for other products and they're using the same scripts that he wrote and made and

[19:05] make it their products and they're using that voice and making their own ads with their own videos. But it's his voice and his script and uh they're still >> his face though. Just Yeah, just the voice over. Um and they're making so

[19:19] It was like millions and millions of views and they obviously made so much money from it. Uh and I messaged it to him. I was like, "Hey man, like they're he's like, "What the heck?" So that's another issue is like as a creator like

[19:33] that stuff can happen. Um >> but they'll always be one step behind the creator, you'll always be one step ahead because you're the creator. Like um it's like everyone trying to mimic Mr. Beast, right? Like no one will ever

[19:47] decide to steal his voice, right? So it's like there's that aspect too >> because he is the standard. Like he's setting the standard and they're more or them. Let's copy and paste and use it for ourselves.

[20:01] >> Yeah. So, let's dive a little bit more into the details because I want to give listening today is give them everything that they can to try and be successful that they can to try and be successful diving into Tik Tok shop after building

[20:15] their following first. So, from a research standpoint, is there any tools that you use to get a better gauge on what products are performing well versus one which ones are not? Which ones may be in season versus which ones are not?

[20:29] Let's say I built my following to 5,000 followers. And let's say for me, big reference is I'm a pickle ball guy, right? So, I built my account to 5,000 followers around pickle ball. So, I probably would end up starting with some

[20:43] naturally starting with some products in the pickleball space or thinking about those first, like where can I validate that idea where is pickleball products actually performing well or are they not? Is there any tools that you use

[20:56] that assist you in that process? Good question too. Yeah, I so there are there's websites like fastmoss.com. There's websites like kalodataata.com which you had mentioned earlier. Those ones are good. I think when you're

[21:10] starting you're going to get overwhelmed using platforms like that. Okay. >> Uh and I don't think it's necessary. So when I teach and I mentor people, I say, "Hey, go just like search for products or search for other creators videos that

[21:23] are performing with products that you would want to promote, right? and go off of those because it's going to be a lot simpler for you. And when you're starting, the sole goal once you are making videos on Tik Tok shop is to just

[21:36] products. Like those are the two avenues you should focus all your attention on. wasting your time or your time could be better spent somewhere else. So, a lot of people like get into the weeds about all these different topics like, well,

[21:50] how do I do like what time should I post and what hashtag should I use? and uh the algorithm apparently changed and like all these things that don't matter at all. I'm it's like I'm sorry, but like my mom, she had never had the Tik

[22:02] We taught her how to make videos correctly and then we taught her how to pick products. That's all she knew. And she was making $20,000 in profit a month by her third month. So, it's like you don't even need to know what the terms

[22:15] mean. Like my my wife had no idea what GMV stood for, which is gross market sales. She didn't even know what that was and she was making two grand a month don't even need to know what any of that stuff is. You just need to make good

[22:30] videos, pick good products. So it's like those websites are good to kind of round this up. Like those websites are good, but I think that's good like once you door and you start like really getting the foundation of everything done. Um

[22:43] quitting if you just like really involved in that stuff. >> So like using I think that's really good advice first off. So you using your your wife and your mother as an example here. You said in like their first couple

[22:55] months your mother was doing like 20K a month in profit and your wife was doing month in profit and your wife was doing 2K. In that case scenario, did you just give them products that you thought more than likely would end up converting well

[23:08] for them or did they do it randomly and kind of get lucky in that aspect? Like well that allowed them to have that success like right off the >> Yeah, good question too. So yeah, my mom for example, she she took a lot of my

[23:22] to each other. Um she took a lot of my mom's or my sister's products. She just like, "Okay, these are the frameworks that are working on these other creators and then she just kind of like did that and like did that right." But yeah, it

[23:36] mom. That's the reason that my mom took off really early was one, her videos really well and implemented it correctly. But the the biggest part was that most creators are going to suffer with when they're starting is that they

[23:52] those products that were sitting in my sister's home like right there. Um, so a slower climb for most creators, but that doesn't mean you can't. Like some in the like buying the product outright and not get a free sample. And that will

[24:06] you're picking the right ones. So, you know, that's why I say it's like it totally depends. Like I see people I just saw another girl made like 30 grand because she just went out and outright bought a bunch of products and did a ton

[24:18] of really good product research. Uh but again, that's not always as common. want to overlook that you told me about. You talked about your sister. So your sister actually was the number one creator for home decor in 2025 on Tik

[24:33] creator for home decor in 2025 on Tik Tok shop, which is kind of crazy. So, what what did her metrics look like and how did she get from being introduced to Tik Tok shop by you to then becoming the number one Tik Tok shop creator?

[24:48] >> So, I'll kind of talk about her story as much as I can. Obviously, I'm not her, but I uh basically when I started doing this, my sister's also very similar to projects and side hustles or whatever. And uh she was like she was also

[25:02] And uh she was like she was also pregnant with her second child and she they needed the her and the family needed some extra money. And uh she was like I want to start this. And I was making I think like at that at the time

[25:15] she decided to start I think I'd made like I think a h 100red grand at that month doing it total. I think I'd made like 100 grand in profit in two months. the heck? And she was like I got to start this. So, she started and you

[25:31] know, at the time she saw me making 59,000 my first month and she hadn't month. She was like, "This sucks." And then she'd been posting a ton. And then made anything again. And then her third month comes and she finally made like 70

[25:46] grand in profit. And like it went from like nothing to like 70 grand like the next month. It was insane jump. And she was like, "Whoa, what the heck?" It was at. And she was, you know, in that moment feeling discouraged cuz she was

[25:59] like, I'm, you know, 3 months in, I'm not making any money. Whereas my my his first month. So it kind of was dis discouraging for her even though, you know, 3 months in making 70 grand is insane. But but uh but like you know,

[26:12] it's like how her headsp space was. And um and then since then, she was just like, you know, really in tune with it. She was like, "Okay, I'm going to study my butt off with this stuff." So, she studied all those videos that converted,

[26:25] products, and just kept doing it. And she's probably the most consistent earning creator on the platform. I would say she's been consistently over $50,000 profit every month since she started. And I think some months are 113,000

[26:39] in profit a single month. Um, and she did like backto-back 100k months in profit. And yeah, I think she's done over $10 million in sales or maybe 11 million in sales now. and they basically gave her an award at Tik Tok for the

[26:55] number one in the home category for 2024 or 2025, I can't remember. I think this is a perfect example of how you can be successful on Tik Tok shop. Like what were the products that she was actually doing in home decor if they

[27:08] were or did she start with products outside that category and then from there how did she end up iterating on her frameworks? like where did what was actually ended up taking off and then how did she iterate on it to be so

[27:22] consistent now where she's having consistently 50k plus months. she could get. She tried any type of product. Yeah. She just tried everything and then the home products were the ones that started selling. But she only found

[27:35] that out when she had a I believe it was the Homika vacuum cleaner or something. It was a vacuum cleaning uh device. So, she did a video and it got like 30 million views or 20 million views. And it was just like her picking up coffee

[27:50] or or rice on the ground. Um, and she was the first person to start doing it like that, like doing those visual style videos of picking up, you know, rice and coffee grounds and stuff. So, it was very visual looking. And she was like,

[28:02] so, what she did, she looked back at that video, saw exactly how she did that video, what she said. kind of used her intuition to see like, okay, why is it video and purchase and then just took those same things and implemented

[28:17] implemented it into another video and then it got another like 30 million views. And then she was like, "Okay, now that one got 30 million views. How do I and then make another one but add something else to it and maybe make it,

[28:30] you know, more visual, more crazy?" Like just kind of one uping the previous video that worked and it just kept doing it. She just kept making videos that cleaner. And then she was like, "Okay, now vacuum cleaners are working. What's

[28:43] something that's similar that I could pivot to that's like this product that again, more home products and was like, "Okay, this uh, you know, this nail polish holder and like did that one and

[28:56] it worked and just tons of different stuff." So, she's kind of just like really studying the video and like the psychology, the social psychology behind that. Let's let me flip the coin and play a little like uh not devil's

[29:08] advocate, but >> I want to use the lens of were there any products through this time super curious about this that you were like damn this product is going to convert and it just flopped. Meaning

[29:23] with all of your frameworks and you're like why the hell did it not work? And like that? Can you tell us like what how you dissected that didn't work? >> Good question, too. This is funny because I

[29:38] Like almost every video is like that. That's the thing. It's a It's a numbers game. Like um like I I I call it like the lottery. Every Tik Tok shop video is like the lottery system. So, it's like I'm posting like a thousand videos on um

[29:54] I'm posting like a thousand videos on um Tik Tok and it would be like maybe maybe and those are the ones that are going to convert for you and make a ton, right? Like it just depends per person and how how you do things. But but like yeah, I

[30:08] I think I posted uh a thousand videos my first year and I think maybe 50 to 100 made me all my money for the most part. So, it's like you're you're kind of playing that lottery system. >> What are the reasons that you then found

[30:23] that like a product that you were pretty sure on would convert failed? Is it just things like maybe it wasn't good timing, maybe it was seasonality, or is it something like the product itself just wasn't that good? Or was it my framework

[30:37] wasn't that good? Like, are you taking that level of dissection to figure out why it did not convert? No, I I kind of just post and forget for the most part and I only study the ones that work. So, the ones that don't work, I like to look

[30:51] into that I really had a lot of belief in. Um, because there are those products, like for example, I just had one yesterday that I posted and I really because I was like, I know this would work because I can study the people that

[31:05] made their videos that went viral, use the same framework that obviously made it work, and improve on it. Because if you can do that, like you're almost certain, but pretty close to a certain to make the same virality or better. And

[31:20] I've seen it so many times I've done it myself. But that's like, you know, I'd rather just study the ones that worked because it's like if I can just do the same things again, it'll do it again. But yeah, like I can look at tons of

[31:33] videos and be like, "That one didn't work because, you know, I didn't use the didn't sell or they didn't have enough ad spend behind my video." Like because companies can put money on your video and just pump up the numbers and make it

[31:45] skyrocket if it's converting for them and their ROI is good enough. So that's that company didn't have any ROI to do that and their product wasn't very visually appealing so people didn't see it so then no one bought it, right? So

[31:58] there's tons of different avenues that could make a video not work. Um but I and the ones that do are like, "Hey, this video had this one hook. I'm going this different thing." And um that's where I see a lot of success.

[32:12] for this? >> Yeah. >> You're going to pretend that you're starting zero flat. Okay. Brand new following. We're going to start from scratch. We're going to guide anybody

[32:25] listening right now that is in the same space through it. If you were to start where would you start right now? Is there a specific niche you start in with content? like where would you start to build us to that 5,000 uh person

[32:40] following as fast as possible and then where would you start then with products to start converting on your first couple >> if I wanted to start right now and this they're like hey I want to start what are my avenues and I go okay so depends

[32:56] you want to go slow it's going to be a lot cheaper but if you want to go fast you want you want to go fast >> let's go fast first let's go fast first so fast. If I'm like, okay, I need to make 10K within profit in 3 months,

[33:10] which I definitely think is possible, I would say first off, you need to I would already has >> something you can do. something I offer in my mentorship. So, basically, we'll give you an account. I

[33:22] enough. I just gave my dad gave my dad a 100,000 follower Tik Tok account that is real content, real followers, everything. It's in the Tik Tok shop just give you the login. You change over all all the information. You make it

[33:38] everything. So, it becomes your full account and right there you're negate the whole 5,000 follower portion. So, that cuts down a ton of time. And then at that point, I'm like, "Okay, now I'm in the program very fast. Now, my

[33:53] goal is, okay, I need to go look around my house and scan items, which Tik Tok scan to see if it's on Tik Tok shop." I would scan like everything in my house, move it all into a corner of a room and I'd go, "Okay, first product is this.

[34:06] video. I don't even care. I'm not going to learn about anything else. I'm just going to make a video right now and just learn by doing." And I would do that for about a month just studying my data, posting, just trying new things, using

[34:20] my intuition. And do that for about a month. The second month I am studying all of the previous videos, which ones worked, which ones didn't. even if it's tiny bit like maybe I was averaging like 300 views and this one video got like a

[34:34] thousand views that's you know that's a standout video so I'd study that and then at that point I would do two months like that studying and re-implementing the things that would work previously and then if that didn't work still I

[34:49] would then go and look for probably coaching to be honest like I'm it's I'm but I would I would genuinely just go look and look online there's tons of them and they're pretty much all of the big coaches are very trust like I trust

[35:04] all of them. So, uh I would look at them and say, "Okay, who who do I resonate resonate with the most?" And just find that person that you trust and they're probably good. Um it's a pretty healthy space. And so I would go, okay, then

[35:18] I trust. I want to learn from them. And then just see their tactics and see how they edit, see how they structure their videos, and then kind of go off of those frameworks. And more than likely, if I'm posting consistently and I'm learning

[35:31] the product selection portion correctly, I could probably start making 10K pretty >> Let's go the other route now. So, we did the fast route. Let's go the slow route now. What does the slow route look like? >> So, this is definitely

[35:44] a route that I would say probably will take you if you have no experience, I about nine months to see success, which I mean to be honest is still really >> still pretty quick. Yeah, that's still pretty quick to start making like 20K a

[35:59] month like nine nine uh nine months pretty and I've seen I actually I know a girl named Laura who I'm also mentored. She wanted to go super slow route. Um well she wanted to go fast but it it was the slow route basically and she's had

[36:14] number five on TikTok right now and she's making like 50k a month but it was and that's I think that's pretty standard right now and it seems like it's super slow but in reality like 9 months to make like 50k a month is

[36:28] pretty like what other industry do you do that in right but it's like people affiliates making 50k in their second month or something and they're like oh long it's really not. So yeah, if you want to do that route, if you're trying

[36:42] to take it slow and you want to make it free or or very uh slow basically, um I would go first I'm just going to start posting and post within something that I know and educate myself around whether it's my work or my passions or my

[36:57] that and try to grow my following as fast as I can. Um it's probably going to take time. If you have no experience in social media at all, I would say that's probably going to take you like 3 months plus, you know, it just depends, but I

[37:11] typical in that regard. >> What are we looking at to try and get videos? Like are we also looking at bigger creators and kind of taking their frameworks using those to try and get us reach as well? Like can you talk a

[37:25] >> I can go a little more detail about a specific like this is what I would do for me. So, say I don't know anything about content whatsoever and I'm I'm Nick Fowler and I'm in the military and I want to do it right. Uh, I would go,

[37:38] educate people. I want to go the education route over entertainment you can get following up really fast on education space. Uh, and I am also an

[37:50] about the military. So, I'm going to make that my my page. First thing I'm at the other people that are teaching people about the military on TikTok. I'm their videos, how they framework, what are their most viral videos looking

[38:04] they use at the beginning of their videos, how do they frame them, and then videos as well? Like what do they say at the end of their video? What's their like, hey, if you guys found this helpful, click the follow button, right?

[38:17] maybe steal that and use it for my own. Um, and so I would start writing all these things down of like, what are my competitors doing? How can I stand out amongst my competitors? And then >> how much can I post consistently? So

[38:29] days, whether that's one post a day, whether that's 10 posts a day, it's just dependent on you. Um, and I would start doing that, start get topics to write down and start talking about. And I would post and I would uh use those

[38:44] studying the content that worked previously and then re-implementing that for future videos, which I even still do on my personal coaching page. If you guys will, if you guys look at my stuff, you'll see like um consistency in like

[38:56] of a series and those series are just like repeatable videos that I can consistently make over and over um because they work. So, I would do that and I would just keep posting like that,

[39:09] re-implementing new strategies and new styles until it something takes off 5,000 followers. Once you're at 5,000 followers, the moment I'm in there, I am followers, the moment I'm in there, I am in the program. I apply for it and I

[39:23] immediately will start looking around my house for products if not before that and I will start, you know, filming products, posting them and learning again through other creators, seeing what, you know, what how are they

[39:36] different styles I'm seeing? You know, there's some videos where people are product and holding it and talking about it. And then there's videos where they don't even show their face. And then there's videos where they do voiceovers.

[39:48] shots and then they just voice over, you know. And then there's >> there's tons of different styles and I would try all of them, see what I'm good that convert

[40:00] >> and then I would just keep posting and keep posting and keep improving. And a super viral video. the moment you have that viral video, I double down on that style, that niche, those products, that product, and then uh continue to do that

[40:15] until I make, you know, crazy money and then I just ride that wave basically. I like to call it like surfing. Um >> you're pretty much exhausting a format about it? >> Yeah. So, I like to say it's like riding

[40:29] a wave and surfing. My sister's been on a long wave, [laughter] but uh but it's paddle out really sucks, right? You're paddling out there. It's like, "Oh, this anything out of this. This sucks. I haven't caught a wave yet. This sucks.

[40:42] catch that wave. You're like, you think you're about to catch the wave, you're it, you know, goes underneath you, and you're like, "Dang it, I didn't catch it." And then finally, you catch a wave, and you're on that wave, and you're

[40:54] as long as you can, and then maybe it's a short wave, but you got to paddle back sucks." So, it's like kind of like that in Tik Tok, but uh the whole goal is to as long as you can. So, the moment you're on it, you just got to really

[41:09] for me right now? How am I riding this correctly right now? And kind of >> I I absolutely love that analogy. So, for someone that may be in that seat that's also trying to build a personal brand, is there a trade-off now of like

[41:23] doing too much on Tik Tok shop or just enough or should you be avoidant of Tik Tok shop if you're trying to build a personal brand? Like, how do you balance the two? If you're looking to not only increase revenue and therefore profit,

[41:37] the same time. >> I think if you are if you have a one of two things. You either want to separate Tik Tok shop completely from >> Okay. >> Uh or if you are going to do Tik Tok

[41:51] shop, you don't want to do more than I would say more than 20% of your content be Tik Tok shop because you don't want to tarnish your audience. The moment everything for yourself. And the long-term thing for everybody here and

[42:04] build a personal brand at the end of the day and you need to do some cool stuff do like cool stuff and the cool stuff is making sales. like I didn't have a shop, made a ton of money, and now I kind of leverage that as my personal

[42:19] teach and like this whole this whole atmosphere even what we're doing right now. So that's like the goal and like if you have a good personal brand or you're building that right now, then don't tarnish that unless you I mean unless

[42:31] want to just get the cool stuff done, then go that route, sure, but but maybe want to like just do a ton of Tik Tok shop because then your audience is gonna person anymore because they're just selling me stuff all day long." So,

[42:45] >> it's no longer a personal brand. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. the reason that I was thinking about this is because I can see this happening kind of more and more in the future. If you were if you were starting a store

[42:59] yourself and you are going to be a seller, seller, let's say it is tech products. What are the first steps that you would take? Like would you start reaching out

[43:11] probably get your store set up. So let's let's skip the store piece. What would be your tactical way of now actually selling products via your store if you just started a store for tech products? >> I would go the route of well first I

[43:27] would build a personal brand. Like I would do that before anything. Um funny right now. I'm trying to build my own store and sell my own products. I I took like, "Hey, I don't know anything about this business stuff. I tried it. I

[43:41] failed at like selling stuff on Amazon and I didn't really do it well." So, I said, "Okay, what else can I do?" And I found Tik Tok a shop affiliate and I was like, "Hey, how about I learn about how businesses sell stuff? I sell stuff as

[43:53] money to invest in start my own brand." And while I'm doing that, I build an to sell my own product. That's what I'm doing right now. Um, and that's kind of my own product. I'm going to start selling it on Tik Tok shop and this is

[44:09] because I I'm going to announce it. This is probably going to be out after January 1st, but January 1st is when I'm announcing this and uh I'm building it going to build it with the community of audience that I have. So, I'm going to

[44:23] It's going to be a whole documented journey of me going, "Hey, this is day get to vote on what you want this product to look like and we're gonna be a very charitable brand, right? Like I want to be like I want it to be very uh

[44:38] what they want this product to be like. It's not me. I want everyone else to be the product looks, how the logos look, how the product works, what it how it does like everything like that and the whole thing gets documented and it's

[44:52] for when I decide to launch the product too. And that's what I think is the best media, organic social. Like if you can document the whole journey of launching many creators onboarded so quickly and it's going to be a crazy launch. So

[45:07] that's what I think if you are starting a brand on social media, it is like the preerequisites to launching it is way more important than the launch itself. I >> can you give us a product that you're thinking of currently that is aligned

[45:21] >> It's also aligned with myself and my family. I want to do um a healthier deodorant brand uh deodorants. I I went through the past like six months almost a year actually um of thinking of products that I wanted to build and I've

[45:34] but I always found the issue that I towards them and I felt like I I need as the founder I'm not going to want to keep doing it even if the other creators

[45:46] passionate about and I found tons of really good options but then I didn't have something I was passionate about. So I well like actually sat there and thought back to what I am what I am passionate about and I found that well

[45:59] one I never found any good deodorants. My wife always has breakouts with deodorants and never found anything good and she still uses aluminum stuff and I that really because my family and this is just me. My family is very cautious

[46:11] about breast cancer because we had in our family uh before and uh and that was very against aluminum, very healthy deodorants, but we never find anything aluminum, but every time she doesn't use

[46:24] I need to solve this problem. I'm passionate about it." And I know it I my audience because like they just would I I already know that it's a a large TAM

[46:36] and um and I feel like it's really brandable, very scalable. So, that's that route. And I've been kind of sitting on it for the past like 3 months, uh, without making any moves in it. I've kind of done very tiny little

[46:50] dabbling in the in the I've done a lot of like market research, but not making any full actions yet because I want my creators to make the decisions with me. 1st. >> You seem like an extreme risk taker and

[47:05] >> You seem like an extreme risk taker and action taker at the same time. um which is something that I absolutely love and so many people that we talk to like I respect heavily. [snorts] But you also brought up like being driven by passion.

[47:19] Have you been motivated by passion your entire life or daily basis? >> I guess I never like talked about this but I've never told anybody about this too much but um so I was in special

[47:32] education when I was growing up. I was in special ed. I was really bad in school. Um, I just always learned a lot slower than everybody else. It was funny smartest kids in the school, but I was always literally in the special

[47:45] have to give me the test answers to trying to get me to pass. Uh, and I was trying. Uh, I knew I was going into the military, so I was like, I don't really still trying. And I was like, man, I'm just learning so much slower than these

[47:57] other people. And even in sports, like I felt like I was always behind everybody else. And so I felt like I had something to prove my entire life that like I am like I can do things that are like substantial in life and like

[48:11] differentiate myself because I always felt like the avenues everyone else is taking I'll always be behind in them like whether it's college whether it's football or something like the standard thing. I was like if I go those routes

[48:24] always I've always shown that I will be. So, how do I differentiate myself and um make myself stand out in very unique fields? And so, I've always looked at because my dad pushed me in that route, too. He was like, "Uh, you got to go

[48:38] and do special operations stuff." And I that stuff and I was like, "Okay, that's definitely different than the college So, >> um I've always tried to find a way to

[48:51] this direction, how do I go this direction and make it something I like? So that's how I think about things. >> How often has that paid off for you >> Zigging when others are zagging. >> Every time it's worked. So yeah, I love

[49:04] it because it works. It if you find what you're passionate about and genuinely find what you're passionate about, it's a lot less riskier, a lot less riskier than you actually think it is. Like >> things are not as bad as you your your

[49:16] like that's a really bad thing. You should stay away from that. The herd is direction, too. Your brain's going to naturally do that. You need to be aware of it and really think about what you're passionate about because if you are

[49:28] it is. >> Your first couple failures, were they something you easily bounced back from? Like, can you sit here and recall the first couple times you really were passionate about something, thought that

[49:43] You felt like you failed, but you powered through anyways. Can you recall that first couple moments and like what made you want to keep going? when I started my air freshener business on Amazon, I I tried to do that. I invested

[49:56] a lot of money, went into a lot of debt over it and I just wanted to get something and just try something and again differentiate myself. I was like, I want to do this and I also didn't know that failure was a good thing until I

[50:11] failed at it and then learned. But at the start, I was like, I'm gonna try and do this. And then I invested like 20 grand I didn't have and I was like, I want to try and make this work. and uh and it it sold, but I ended up

[50:24] that's a whole different story. I was just a a failure on my end. And I of needed. I needed to have that happen for me to get to the point where I'm at

[50:36] so I saw it as a problem, but in reality, it was actually a gift because I solved actually a lot more problems for myself now and am actually excelling now because of it. So it's kind of weird. A lot of people expect that the

[50:50] actually the the gifts for you. That's actually where I came into the decision of doing Tik Tok shop was right around that time because I was like, I need money. [laughter] And so failure at that point wasn't really an option because I

[51:03] have to make the money. Like I have to make money. And so I was just working to was trying to find the side hustle that worked. Uh, and because I think I had that like almost not life or death, but like it was just a really strong reason

[51:19] to make this work that I think it did because I was so I was working so hard work until midnight and then wake up and then work and then come home and work constant filming and editing and studying and just like doing so much to

[51:34] make it work. Uh, and I think that having that drive because of the issue I that I had the success I did. >> You ever heard the term like icky guy? don't know what it is. >> So, it's basically the Japanese concept

[51:48] of finding something you love combined with finding what you're good at financial living from. >> Oo, I like that. >> And the reason be there's a whole book on it. So, like you'd probably love that

[52:00] on it. So, like you'd probably love that book. Um, and basically the reason that I've heard this over and over again, so many um, big entrepreneurs talk about it. I think Herosia has talked about it a couple times too. Um, Stephen Barlet

[52:13] has. I actually just listened to a podcast with Cody Sanchez and Mel Robbins specifically talking about it. And the reason being is because you're right, it can't always be just a passion. You can you can try and force

[52:26] it and yes, can you make money doing it, but can you make enough money where it but can you make enough money where it supports things beyond just a standard want to go travel, you want to go do these things, etc. So, it has to be a

[52:39] little bit scalable and usually that principle comes with your passion, your something that you can make money doing. Um, so I've tried to carry that principle now like looking forward of like how can I get something to align

[52:53] with those three that is also scalable. Um, and I feel like it's just a really Um, and I feel like it's just a really easy framework to find something that you enjoy doing and can make money at rather than just going to

[53:07] over and waiting for the weekend every single weekend. Like I respect it heavily. Like my parents were two people that started working very early, have

[53:19] been at their same career for 30 years, are about to retire in a couple years, and they've played it very safe. And I love that for them. But for me, it's just like I have so much curiosity. If I played it

[53:34] safe, I would get to 85 and I'd be like, what happened? Like did I do anything that I actually wanted to do with my time? And I think that is the biggest piece is also being in your seat at 85. Hermosi talks about this, right? And

[53:48] reflecting on life and being like, did I am I going to regret it? Am I I'm going to regret it, I have to [ __ ] do it. >> I have to. Um I'm going to ask you a follow-up

[54:00] question to the the one about the kids >> for all of our listeners. um on this topic of like risk cuz I think it's I think when you're teeter tottering or you're a person who like feels things heavily very emotionally like myself

[54:15] like if I'm in a risk spot and I feel like people are stressed around me like I could also feel it. So it's easy to balance myself out. I've done a lot of reading and done a lot of listening to other entrepreneurs that

[54:29] has kept encouraging me to move forward, give different perspective, lenses, mindsets, etc. Is there anybody specifically that you key in on that you take mental advice from that help support your journey moving forward? Any

[54:43] out that may be worth our audience reading? >> They've probably heard this one, but uh Start with Why by Simon Synynk. I think that's probably my favorite one because that builds you the correct foundation

[54:56] for what you want in life. I think that's that's probably my favorite read >> How does Tik Tok vary from the other platforms? Cuz what triggered that in there is you talked about like looking at other creators who

[55:08] may be using heavier amount of editing. But I will say from my lens where we kind of started more Instagram and then moved to Tik Tok, it's like they're completely two different styles where I see Instagram as this much like more

[55:23] tailored platform where on Tik Tok it's much more raw, real, relatable, pick up the phone and start recording. >> I love that question because it's all there's there's a huge difference between what you see on different

[55:38] platforms and Tik Tok is extremely community based. Like I've noticed that I never scrolled on reels until I started doing all my content stuff and I differences and and just get more ingrained into the cultures of different

[55:53] things. And I've seen dramatically that Tik Tok is very communitydriven and very authentic and unedited and unscripted and just uncut. And yeah, like those very edited videos do well still, but but the ones that really resonate with

[56:08] genuine and trustworthy. So, it's like that's where you go to just like pull really strong message. I'm I'm going to communicate it well, uh, but be very raw and open and transparent and it's going to work. So, that's what I've seen

[56:22] there. I've seen reels definitely very highly edited more or moved into edited uh more and uh you definitely like engagement uh you definitely like engagement curated more I would say like people are

[56:37] are more like stickers and and graphics and follow here click here like that kind of stuff more um I think it just works better for their their algorithm just studying and trying to cater the algorithm that's what it is so uh and

[56:51] that's what I've seen there YouTube I've seen seen more very high entertainment like it's very entertainment driven on YouTube shorts uh is what I've seen still I mean this is just me I don't have any data to prove this but I think

[57:04] shorts you are going to do a lot better than an educational space person >> we have a closing question on this podcast that is our tradition here and it's always future looking to close it and we've obviously had conversations

[57:19] about failure throughout here but this one has to this one has to do with fear. So our closing question on the podcast is what is your greatest fear moving >> My greatest fear moving forward is not taking actions to stay curious towards

[57:34] >> okay >> is my greatest fear isn't even the failure itself. It's not being accepting that the failure can happen. And so in that that form not doing it at all. I think not doing it at all and to your

[57:47] being on your deathbed and finding out that you just didn't take the risk and failed. I'd rather fail and let it let it be and tried like the man in the arena uh quote like everyone says that right like I'd rather be in the arena

[58:01] than the person who just stayed on the sidelines. So I I think being the person on the sidelines is more um more of a of a scaring feeling and and and fear for

[58:13] you knew you were going to get a little vulnerable today, but I appreciate you being super transparent when it comes to your failures, your fears, and you.

[58:26] is awesome. I love uh I love this stuff. So, thank you.