How TikTok stars earn money, what 1 million YouTube views is worth, the life of Shane Dawon's video editor
Hi, and welcome to this week's Influencer Dashboard newsletter!
This is Amanda Perelli and I'll be briefing you on what's new in the business of influencers.
This week, I took a dive into how TikTok creators are using the platform to make money.
TikTok is the hottest social platform among Generation Z. It's owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance and recently made it on Apple's 2019 list of the top five free iPhone apps of the year.
As the app has surged in popularity, the new stars of TikTok have begun to learn the different ways to earn money from it. I spoke to 22-year-old college student, Salina, known as "Salinakilla" online, who helped me understand how she was able to quit her part-time job to focus on TikTok.
Salina has 882,000 followers on TikTok and expects to hit 1 million soon. She films makeup, dancing, lip-syncing, and comedy videos for the app. She dedicates multiple hours throughout the day to TikTok - trying to upload about two to four videos each day, which she said helps with the likelihood of her content landing on the trending page.
Unlike on YouTube, where creators can earn money through ads placed by Google on their videos, TikTok creators aren't able to earn money through direct advertisements, forcing them to find other revenue streams.
Salina told me that there are four main ways creators on TikTok can use the platform to generate revenue: sponsorships, selling merchandise, livestreaming, and affiliate marketing. She broke down how much money she makes from each. (Read the full story on Salina here.)
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How much money a YouTube video with 1 million views makes, according to 4 creators
How much money a creator earns from a YouTube video varies depending on a number of factors, from where the viewers are to which advertisers the video attracts.
I spoke to four YouTube creators - Marina Mogilko, Kevin David, Austen Alexander, and Shelby Church - about how much each of them earned from videos with 1 million views.
Mogilko, who has three successful YouTube channels, told me that her business channel was more appealing to advertisers than her other two channels, and made much more money per view in Google AdSense revenue.
Inside the life and career rise of YouTube star Shane Dawson's video editor, Andrew Siwicki
Andrew Siwicki, 27, is a full-time YouTube video editor for the internet star Shane Dawson, who has 23 million subscribers.
I spoke to Siwicki, who shared what it's been like to work for one of YouTube's most popular creators.
Siwicki told me that originally, he thought he would graduate college and maybe become a talent agent, and for a period of time after college, he even had a small following himself on the short-form video app Vine. But nothing really stuck until he met Dawson.
Send tips or feedback to me at aperelli@businessinsider.com.
Here's what else we're reading:
A former 'SNL' assistant turned YouTuber with millions of followers tells all about vlog-life - from eating toenails to burnout: Lindsay Dodgson, from Business Insider, spoke to YouTube creator Jason Nash on finding the balance between making time for his two kids and being YouTube star David Dobrik's right-hand man.
YouTube's Philip DeFranco Buys Encino Tennis Court Estate: James McClain, from Variety, reported that YouTube star Philip DeFranco recently closed on a $4.1 million Los Angeles estate.
The summer of the 'VSCO girl' may be over, but retailers and the VSCO app itself are still reaping the benefits of the craze that swept Gen Z: Paige Leskin, from Business Insider, reported on how the term 'VSCO girl' helped the photo editing app VSCO see an increase in downloads, and why some retailers selling items associated with VSCO girls have seen sales increase dramatically.
Here's What's Happening in the American Teenage Bedroom: Taylor Lorenz, from The New York Times, interviewed 15-year-old Rowan Winch, who built a business off a viral Instagram account. He told Lorenz that at one point, he was earning $10,000 a month and more from his success on Instagram. But there's a dark side.
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