Real Love, Real Life
Real Love Real Life dives into the unfiltered reality of relationships—dating, marriage, heartbreak, healing, and everything in between. It's honest talk about love and life, filled with real stories, hard truths, and the kind of laughs that come from lived experience.
No fluff, just facts, feelings, and a whole lot of growth.
Real Love, Real Life
EP 21: TikTok Went Crazy Over My Lemonade Rant
TikTok money hacks and viral video secrets from real creators who turned random moments into cash.
We spill the story of a late-night lemon-cutting rant that blew up, got millions of views, and even paid for a DIY backyard project. Learn how longer videos, watch time, and authentic storytelling actually make money on TikTok.
Get tips on hooks, keeping viewers glued, and mixing personal stories with product talks without feeling pushy.
Subscribe, share with a friend trying to grow on TikTok, and drop a review with your top creator question.
Like, how were you introduced to the TikTok shop like that? Or how to make money in general on TikTok?
SPEAKER_01:You know, when I was posting on TikTok, I never once you're gonna think like, oh my god, or people are gonna think like BS. I was posting, I didn't know how people like would get paid on it. I used to think that you had to be this like huge creator, or you know, like those influencers already with millions, and they have like all these like sponsors and all this stuff. I thought that that was it. I didn't know that you could get like paid for views. Um and I think, well, my first my first like TikTok check was for views. It didn't have anything to do with shops. I don't think even shops was a game yet. It was for views. Um, I'm cutting up some limes. I'm like making myself like eliminate, I think. And I was so emotional. I was pregnant at that time, but we lost that baby. I was so emotional because my sister didn't come to my baby shower. So I I had to get it out. I had to get it out, and I start, remember, I start ranting on the video, and I'm like, this is why I'm never gonna have a baby shower again. Blah, blah, blah. And I'm like just going at it. And then I upload the video and I'm like, whoops.
SPEAKER_02:Like, yeah, I forgot about that video.
SPEAKER_01:That video. I go to bed and then I I wake up, you're working out of town, and the freaking video has like two million views. And I'm like, overnight? Well, yeah, I'm like, well, my sister saw that already. Whoopsie. Um, yeah, so and and then followers. Like, I was I was getting so many followers of people were like, Don't worry, we're we're your internet sisters now, and this, this, and that. Like, I was just like, I was like, whoa, like what is happening? And a month goes by, and I start seeing that there's like rewards, which when I had hit 10k, yes, I had joined the creator rewards program, but again, I didn't know nobody taught me any of this. TikTok was still kind of new, so I didn't know anything about this, I didn't Google it, anything. So, like a month later, when I see payout on the 15th, I think I had made like$1,800, which that was like crazy. I mean, we did we DIY'd our backyard with that money.
SPEAKER_02:That's true.
SPEAKER_01:Like, that's that's insane. Like, it wasn't enough money to pay landscapers to come and redo our backyard, but um we had money to go and buy all the supplies and we put in the work, yeah, and we also made a video about that, which by the way got a lot of hate because it wasn't perfect, yeah, it wasn't perfect, but um, and then I just I kind of started noticing like, hey, like I'm I'm being myself and it's it's working, it's paying off. And then every month I was just getting like a little check. Again, it still wasn't like anywhere near what I make now, but it was like a little bit of money, and I was like, okay, so then I started understanding, hey, like you're getting some heat, but but you have your little Starbucks money right there and stuff. So then I started posting like literally like what would come to my mind. Like, I'd be in my car and I would be either upset about something or really happy about something, and I'd talk about it. Yeah, I talk about it like if I was talking to one of my friends, and that's how I started making money off of views. Um, I think your video has to be over a minute long. Yeah, um, then you start getting paid for every thousand views, yep. Something like that.
SPEAKER_02:All the qualifications, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You have to like meet certain stuff. Um, but that's one way to make some extra cash like on social media, like on TikTok, um, for views. So who cares about the likes? That's why it doesn't matter. If people are hating on your video, it doesn't matter. You stayed and you viewed it, you're paying me.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. If you stood five if you stayed for five seconds, thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Even if you didn't like it, I'm sorry you didn't like it.
SPEAKER_02:What were like the first struggles you had on TikTok shop? Like, obviously, you started to like accumulate a little money here and there. Okay. But like, was there a time that you're like, even though you're making a little bit of cash, you're like, like, this is hard. Like, did you hit any bumps on the road?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. I feel like in the beginning, um, people didn't really trust TikTok shop. Yeah. Until this day, I still feel like I come, like I come across people that are like, oh, I've never bought anything from there. Like, I feel like they're gonna take like my bank information and this, this, and that. Like, they don't know that it's like it's another shop. Like, that's what it is. Um, but in the beginning, people didn't trust it. So I was very discouraged in the beginning. I was like, what is this? Like it, I feel like it was also making like my regular videos, like my non-shopable videos, like it was making my views kind of tank and it was stressful. Um, obviously, I wanted to succeed on TikTok shop, so I started posting like a lot of TikTok shop videos, and then it was like some people were like, Oh, all you do now is like post TikTok shop, but it wasn't, you know, I still I still post personal videos, um, cooking videos, things like that. Um, but people, you know, I s I started getting like some hate and some views were going down, and um, I think I was like in the beginning kind of like losing followers, and it it was a little bit discouraging. I even thought of getting out of the affiliate program thing. Um but thank goodness that I didn't and it worked out.