How to Monetize on Facebook & Tiktok (For Photographers)

This week for our TENTH episode of Get the Picture?, we're talking all about social media monetization and how I've made money through both Facebook and TikTok as a photographer. In this episode, I'm answering your biggest questions about getting monetized, breaking down the requirements, sharing what I've learned through my research, and explaining what has (and hasn't) worked for me. Whether you're just starting to grow your audience or looking to turn your content into another stream of income, this episode is packed with practical tips and real-world advice. If you've been wondering how creators actually make money on social media, this episode’s for you!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey you guys, welcome back to another episode of Get the Picture. I am your host, Tori Elizabeth, and I'm so happy to be with you guys today. So today I tried a couple new things. First of all, my main goal for not my main goal, but a big goal I have for this episode is to do it all in one take. I don't know if that's realistic. I haven't done any of my episodes in one take. Like, and what I guess just without cuts is what I'm trying to say. Like I haven't done a single one where I've sat down, recorded, and not had to cut anything out, whether it's just like I like had to clear my throat and it was super obnoxious, or I like messed up in the middle of a I don't know, like whatever. And so I haven't been able to do something without any cuts. So I'm really I'm gonna tell you guys at the end of the episode if I did it or not, just like full transparency. Um and then I also kind of like wrote down more notes than usual just because I wanted this episode to be more structured and to be able to be more like efficient. And so if you guys do comment on YouTube, I want you to tell me if you liked it better, if you noticed a difference, whatever. I would love feedback, that'd be so helpful because I want to improve, I want to get better at this, and I want to make it like oh my gosh, if you're watching on YouTube, my dog is trying to lick my hand. I hate it, stop. But anyway, I want this to be like what you guys, you know, it's my podcast. I want it to be what you guys want to listen to. I want you to like it, and I want it to be, yeah, I'm rambling now, but I just I want to make sure I'm like improving and like trying to do things better instead of just like, oh, like it's fine the way it is. Like I want to be improving just like with everything. Like, I want to be creating better and better episodes and make it worth it for you guys to stick around. So, anyway, with that being said, tell me like if you have any feedback about it, if you like this episode better, or whatever. Um, but before I get into the episode, I wanted to recap on my New York wedding. My New York wedding was amazing, it was so good. My bride listens to the podcast, so hi Amber. Um, but uh she first of all stunning, stunning woman, gorgeous face card, like no other face card. She's so gorgeous. Like, but anyway, it was just like upstate New York, like super lush, super green. I've I mean it was hot, but like I feel like the weather was good. The day went perfectly, the colors like they had like vibrant florals, like super pretty. Um, it was a Catholic wedding. It just like everything was beautiful. Um, so I have posted photos from the wedding already, so you should go check them out. Um, if you're watching on YouTube, I'll put some of their sneak peeks right here above me. But anyway, yeah, it was a beautiful wedding. It was I'm trying to think. Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. Travel story from hell. I oh my gosh. Uh they canceled my flight. This was the day um I was flying American. I never fly like Spirit or um what's the other one? Like Frontier or anything before a wedding, because like absolutely not. Um I always fly like American or Delta or Southwest or something, or Alaska sometimes. Um and yeah, that was like the day it was like record-breaking, like the most flights that I've ever gotten canceled in like all of history, I'm pretty sure. Or like for this one airline for American, I can't remember, or like maybe it was like second to only 9-11 or something like that. But yeah, it was like a record um like how many flights were canceled, and they just fully canceled my flight, and then they were like, Well, we could reschedule you to like later, but then I would be landing five hours later, and I would have had to drive like three hours at midnight, and so I was like, Absolutely not. So I just got a full refund and then just booked a flight um direct or not direct, but I booked a flight to Albany instead of driving from New York to Albany, which New York City to Albany, which I'm I'm grateful that I did because I didn't have to drive from New York City to Albany, but anyway, um, yeah, that was crazy. I've never had that happen before a wedding, and that's why it's important to be prepared and fly in ahead of time and I don't know, not fly bad airlines. But you know, I fly flew American and now at this point I'm ready to rule American out because that stressed me out so much. I'm ready to like never book American for a wedding again. But I know people have problems with every airline, like I know it's not just American, but I so anyway. That was crazy. Other than that, I don't think there were really any problems. My my bride told me I should mention that the groomsman wouldn't shut up during photos. Her words not mine. Um it is really funny when you're taking like a wedding party photo and you like sorry, I can't focus, you guys. My dog is like staring at me so intently, I don't know what she's doing. She wants me to like pet her more. Oh my gosh. If you have a dog, you know. But um, it's so funny when you're taking like wedding party photos and you back up for like the wide shot of the whole group, and you start taking the photo, and like they're talking, and you're like, you guys, like I feel like they feel like because I'm far away from them, like you won't be able to see their faces in the photo. And it's like the you're still in the photo. I can still see your face. I can see that your mouth is moving, I can see that you're talking. Like they think they're like so discreet, and it's like, no, this is not shush, be quiet. And so I'll literally tell them, like, you guys, I'm gonna be able to see if you're talking in photos, like, shush. And I'll say it like multiple times, and they'll like keep talking, like you guys, like I'm trying to get one photo where all of your eyes are open and all of your mouths are closed. Like, work with me here. So anyway, my bride told me to mention that, but really, besides that, like there was there were no problems. The church was like kind of dark inside, so I did find I I was trying to find a pocket of light, and I found the single pocket of light in the entire room, and I like had them sit on this pew with this direct light coming on them, and the bride is like glowing, like her white dress is like glowing, and that's like one of my favorite shots I got from the whole day. Um, it just yeah, beautiful wedding. I I loved my couple, like this is one of those, like, oh, my couple's just great. Me and the bride, I just feel like we're like like she's just someone I genuinely would be friends with. She's just like a light, like just like a delight to be around. Um, just genuinely the sweetest. She sent me the sweetest text the day after, before she'd even seen the photos and like raved about the photos. She's just the best. So it was just one of those weddings where I got home and I just felt like so fulfilled. Um, and yeah, that we did, they ended their wedding. They didn't do like a send-off. We went to Dave and Buster's at the end of the night, which I had never been. If you don't know what Dave and Buster's is, it was described to me as like adult Chuck E. Cheese. I don't know if that's like how people describe it or not, but it's basically like Chuck E. Cheese. It's like an arcade and they have games, whatever, and then they have like a bar and they're playing like the games and like the sport sports. I sound like such a like the sports games. They're playing like sports on the TV at the bar. I don't know, whatever. Um, anyway, that's like a fun place, and that's where they wanted to go at the end of the night. And so we went there and I did some, I did a mix of like low light and flash photos. I was originally thinking like it's probably only gonna work with flash, but then I was like, you know what, let's lean into the low light, let's make it work. So I was on a super low shutter speed. I did some intentional motion blur, but some of it was just like low shutter speed, and I just held my hands really still. Like I went down to like one over 160, I think, for some of the shots. Um, and then a little bit lower for some motion blur, I believe, if I can remember right. But I got I some of the ones I got, and if you're watching on YouTube, I'll put them on YouTube, but some of the ones I got that were just like low light were just some of my favorite photos I've ever taken. They're genuinely so fun, like super colorful. Yeah. And then we did some flash ones to end the night, like they got drinks at the bar, and then we like took some with them holding their drinks, and then just like a couple pose ideas that the bride wanted to try, and then I did like their rings on one of the like their glasses, like as a detail, and that was it. I think I was there for like 30 minutes. We cranked it all out, and then I was like, I left and was like, Okay, wait, my dog is so cute. Sorry, guys, I need to move her because she's gonna make me interrupt myself like five times. Um but yeah, I was only there for like 30 minutes. We did it really quickly, and then I left and they just like partied. I don't know how long they were there, but anyway, it was a super fun time, great wedding. Um, go check out the photos on Instagram, and I've also posted if you want to see the Dave and Buster's like arcade photos, I posted them in a reel on it's everywhere TikTok, Facebook, um, Instagram, all the things. So yeah. Um a couple more things. First of all, I I'm just getting so excited about all my travel. Like, I just went to Oregon and New York. That was so fun. Um, I'll tell you about what's coming up for me. And sorry, I should have said this earlier, but like if you don't want to hear all my updates and stuff, you can just skip ahead. Like, I don't know, probably at this point, five more minutes. Luma, you can't, you're gonna knock my mic over. Come here. Come here. Okay, my goodness. Um, yeah, skip five more minutes if you just want to hear the episode. I should have said that at the beginning, but um, so sorry guys, I'm trying. This is when I would normally stop and do a cut and be like, regain my thoughts, but like collect my thoughts. But I'm just gonna try to do this with no cuts. So what I have coming up is my oh, I was telling you about guys about inquiries. I'm sorry, I'm so bad. Um, I got an inquiry for Mexico, which is very exciting. Um, fingers crossed for that. I'll update you guys if they end up booking. But and then I also just sent out a contract for wedding in Oklahoma. The venue's really pretty. The bride was so sweet, we totally vibed. Um, again, more like bright summer colors, fruit, summer kind of vibes. I'm obsessed. Um, so yeah, I'm just excited about all the different places I'm going or might be going. And yeah, so my husband and I, our anniversary is on July 8th, and we're about to go on a trip. We'll be gone for like a couple weeks. We get back on I think I'll be back in office either the 12th or the 13th, July 12th or 13th. And we're leaving tomorrow, tomorrow. So we'll be gone like a little less than a couple weeks. We're going to see my parents in California dropping off my dog so they can watch our dog. Um, and then we're going um to a place. I don't know. I don't know where we're going. I know we have to drive a while to get there. And I had told my husband, like, I don't care what we do. I think it'd be really fun to camp. That's kind of all I want to do. And so I know where it's involving some camping, but that's all I know. So mystery um anniversary trip for me, and I will update you guys, of course, like on my Instagram story and the next podcast episode where we ended up going and what we did and stuff. But I genuinely have no idea. I'm gonna bring my camera, maybe I'll take someone's photos. I don't know, I don't know where we're going. So we shall see. It will be fun. I'm sure I will post updates for you guys. After we get back from that, I'm basically I have a couple days and then I'm going to back where I started my business, Idaho, and I'll be in Idaho, and then I have a an elopement in the Grand Tetons, Grand Teton National Park, um in yeah, in Wyoming. Um, so that's the next like wedding I have coming. That's an elopement, but that's the next one I have coming up. So I'm super excited for that. I will be in Idaho. If you're these are all photographers who listen to this podcast, but I am taking sessions when I'm there. So if there's anyone who wants to schedule with me while I'm back in town where I put my roots of my business, then reach out. But yeah, basically that's everything I have going on. I'm gonna get right into the episode. Today we are talking about monetization. I put a poll on my story earlier and let you guys pick between which um like podcast topics you wanted to talk about today. I have like a few batched, like you're gonna get all of them, but I asked you guys which one you want to hear next, and it was like overwhelmingly the monetization. Let me tell you guys the stats actually. I'll pull it up. It was 52% getting monetized on TikTok and Facebook, 34% small details on a wedding day that matter, which will be next week. And then some of you wanted photography horror stories, which will probably be the week after that. We'll see. Come here, my goodness. Okay, so there's a couple things we're gonna talk about today. Like I said, I have my notes that I'm gonna be reading from, but I am now monetized on Facebook and TikTok, and that's what we're gonna talk about. So we're gonna talk start with talking about how to get monetized. Um, we're gonna talk about like how much all the platforms pay, um, how much you can make from them, um, content that works on them, how my story and how I've gotten monetized, all that stuff. So I know we've talked a little bit about this on the social media episode that I did. I talked about getting monetized on Facebook, but um my gosh, my dog. Okay, she's just gonna have to move. I can't handle this. Lin Laker. She's gonna go on the back of the back of the couch. Come on, come here. Okay, you can sit there. That's fine. Okay, so yeah, um, I know I talked a little bit about that on the social media episode, but I don't know. You guys were wanting like a deep dive on it and how to make it happen. I know there's a lot of people that want to be monetized, so yeah, I'm just giving the people what they want. So we're gonna get into this. I promise this is gonna be more structured starting right now. Okay, how to get monetized. So, first of all, we're gonna talk about how much each platform pays. So, YouTube, um, and I this is okay, this is based on my research. Some of this is like AI overview, what comes up when you Google it, and some of it is my research, and I will like tell you which one's which. Um, this is my research because the AI overview was not accurate, and I knew that because I was like, I do not make that much. So, yeah, so first of all, I have to start by saying, I'm gonna compare the three of them and tell you which one is the most lucrative, but I have to start by saying there is a range that you get paid. So it's not like a set rate of a dollar per thousand views or whatever, there's a range, and so depending on like how many subscribe, how many subscribers or um followers you have. Oh, I'm talking about YouTube too, by the way. Um how many subscribers or followers you have, you can get paid more, or if something is like over a certain number of views, sometimes the the rate increases, so it is like variable. So some people report super high rates, some people report super low rates, and then there are like, yeah, so there are outliers. But anyway, so for YouTube, um, I'm gonna start with YouTube. I and disclaimer, I'm not monetized on YouTube, I'm barely almost at like 400 subscribers. So if you don't subscribe if you don't actually watch it, because that's not gonna help me. But if you actually do watch YouTube and you want my like longer educational content that I don't have on any of the other platforms, I have like actual longer educational videos. Um, go subscribe. It's just at Tori Elizabeth Photo like everywhere else. So I would love you forever for that. But YouTube pays five dollars to fifteen dollars per 1,000 views. Um, then it's this said some, this was from an article. Some creators report even higher rates depending on their niche and audience. And then to qualify for YouTube, actually, I'll talk about that after. I'm just gonna compare the numbers first. So yeah, YouTube. Um wait, no. Sorry guys, I'm getting mixed up. Okay, to qualify for YouTube, you have to have a thousand subscribers and then one of the following, either 4,000 public watch hours or 10 million shorts views in the last 90 days. So YouTube is like the hardest to get into for monetization, in my opinion, because it requires watch hours, like a lot of them. Um, a thousand subscribers isn't that much, but like the watch hours is like hard to get from what I've seen. So yeah, it's like hard to get into, but it pays the most. Um so yeah, five dollars to fifteen dollars per thousand views. Keep that in mind, okay. The TikTok create a rewards program rewards eligible eligible users who post videos at least 60 seconds long, paying between 40 cents to $1 per thousand views. So let me let me go back. YouTube pays five dollars to fifteen dollars per 1,000 views. TikTok pays 40 cents to a dollar per thousand views. To qualify for TikTok, you have to have at least 10k followers and 100,000 views in the last 30 days. So it's a little bit easier, but they don't pay as much, obviously. And then the caveat is you have it you'll only get paid for videos that are 60 seconds or longer, which I didn't realize before I got monetized. Um, and then yeah, that you have to have the 100,000 views in the last 30 days, which if you have 10,000 followers, it really should be pretty easy. It that wasn't an issue for me. And then Facebook. Facebook pays most creators between this is so funny, two cents into five dollars for a thousand views. So this is like Facebook is like the biggest um variable. Your exact payout isn't fixed and varies widely based on whether your content is a short, reel, or long form video, your audience's location and advertiser demand. Um, I think Facebook does reward you more based on like your niche and like the type of content, but I'm not positive. Um and then to qualify for Facebook, you're eligible to earn through Facebook if you have at least 10,000 followers. Your content meets Meta's monetization guidelines, you're based in a supported country. So that's what it says on the AI overview. Like if you have 10,000 followers. But let me tell you, I don't have 10,000 followers on Facebook. So this also says while some community users note make note meta's algorithm can invite accounts with as low as a thousand to fifteen hundred followers, official baseline criteria for broader access frequently suggests maintaining at least 10,000 followers and high view counts. That's when I got monetized, was between 1,000 and 1,500 followers. So it can happen. I think if you have good engagement, that's when it happens. But maybe if you're not very active, you would have to get up to 10k. So Facebook is like very variable. TikTok, it's like you need 10k, you need 100,000 views, um, and the videos have to be 60 seconds, and this is your range. And then YouTube, you have your range, you have your exact criteria, and that's when you can be monetized. Just exact criteria. Once you reach it, you will be monetized, like you will be accepted for both. Facebook is like when we feel like it or 10k. And then how much they pay is whatever we feel like. So Facebook is a little more iffy, but I am gonna tell you like my experience. Hopefully, you guys can get monetized before 10K. But if not, I'll tell you like how I grew on Facebook and how you could potentially get to 10k. Um, there are okay, so I'm just gonna recap the ones I just told you guys. So YouTube is $5 to $15 per thousand views, so that is the highest paying. Second highest paying would be Facebook with two cents to five dollars per thousand views, and then last high the least highest would be TikTok with 40 cents to a dollar per thousand views. Um but like the 40 cents is a higher starting point than the two cents for Facebook, so I mean it just depends, I guess, on your content. And then yeah, YouTube, a thousand subscribers, TikTok 10k, and Facebook 10K. So, yeah, that's how you get monetized on each platform. And there's more like caveats that we're gonna get into, but in case you were wondering, like what the bare minimum is for subscribers and followers and stuff, that's what it is, and that's how much they pay. Um, in my opinion, YouTube and TikTok are the most like practical, and from what I've seen, people make the most from them. But I mean, a lot of people make money on Facebook too. So, I mean, it just depends. Once I got monetized on Facebook, I haven't had any problem with it. I just think it's the getting monetized that's the tricky part for Facebook. So, we're gonna talk about Facebook first, because I know a lot of you um it's like it's easier than TikTok because you don't have to have that many followers, like you have to have 10k on TikTok. Facebook, you could get monetized at 1k, or you could get monetized at 5k, who knows? So if you guys are more interested in that, I'm gonna start with that first. Um so to qualify. For Facebook, yeah, you're eligible to earn through Facebook if you have at least 10,000 followers. You need m Meta's monetization guidelines and you're based in a supported country. Okay, so there are a few Facebook terms I need to go over with you guys in order for this explanation of Facebook to make sense. The first one is Facebook account. A Facebook account is your like meta account that you use for Facebook, I believe. Based on my research, this is what I found. So I hope this is accurate. Um, but it's like your account that probably is like made from your Instagram or just like whatever, like your Facebook meta account, like your original account. Um and then there's a Facebook page, those are different. Like you think like, oh, my Facebook page, that's actually different than a Facebook account. So there's a Facebook account, there's a Facebook page. A Facebook page is like a separate page managed by a Facebook account. So essentially, like if your personal account on Facebook is your personal account, and then you make a separate business page, it's managed by your personal account. So you would like edit like your bio and stuff through your personal account. Um, and then professional mode is the third term I want you to know about, and that's turning a Facebook account into the like business mode on Facebook, like your business account. You cannot turn a page into a business account, as far as I understand from what I found, but you can turn an account into a business account. So there are yeah, there are regular accounts, pages, and business accounts. The only two accounts types that can be monetized are pages and business accounts. You cannot monetize a personal account. So if you are currently operating as like a regular account, you're like you've turned your personal account into your photography account or something like that, you're not able to be monetized on Facebook. So you have to either make a separate page and build the page up because you I don't think you can change an account to a page from what I've researched, but you can change your account into a professional account, like into a business account. So that's what you would have to do if you're a regular account right now and you want to be monetized. So to get monetized on Facebook, you must switch your profile to professional mode or create a Facebook page, be at least 18 years old, and consistently post original content that complies with meta partner monetization policies. Um yeah, this is just a summary of everything I said. A Facebook account is your master profile that you use to log into the platform. A Facebook page is a separate public presence used by businesses, creators, or organizations. Pages do not have their own logins, they must must be managed by an account. So I have a Facebook page, not a business account. So like my I have my personal Facebook that is connected to my personal Instagram, and then my business Instagram is connected to my my Facebook page. So it's not a business account, it's a page. Um from what I've found, it's I don't think it should matter whether it's a page or a business account. There are some restrictions it gives me as a page, so honestly, I would just switch your personal account to a business account if I were you guys. But yeah, pages and business accounts can be monetized, personal accounts cannot. Um, okay, yeah, this is right. You cannot turn your Facebook account into a page, but you can turn it into professional mode. So I'm gonna tell you guys how to turn on professional mode. Um, so go open up your Facebook app on your phone while you're listening to this, I can tell you. So, how to turn into professional mode, number one, go to your Facebook profile and tap the three dots next to your name. Then you're gonna select turn on professional mode. Seems self-explanatory, and then it says follow the on-screen prompts to finish the setup. Um, if you're wondering if you're after you've turned it into professional mode, if you want to know if you qualify for monetization, or if you already have a page and you want to know if it qualifies for monetization, this is how to check if your page qualifies. Go to the meta business suite, then you're gonna select your Facebook page, go to monetization, and then view your eligibility. Um, so that is all of how you're supposed to be able to get monetized on Facebook, or like what you have to do to make sure your account is eligible in the first place. And I'm gonna tell you guys how I got monetized. I have always had a page. I didn't know you had to have a page to get monetized. I just that's just the way I set it up. I don't even remember why. I didn't know anything about Facebook, but I set it up as a page and then I connected it to my Instagram. Like most of you guys were. All of my content already posts to Facebook. I would get like two likes per post, one of them being my dad. Like anytime I'd post like my wedding photography on Instagram, it would post to Facebook and like no one was seeing it. I had I think 60 like friends or followers, or I think they're called followers for pages. I don't know. But I had, yeah, like 60 people, and it was all like friends, I'm pretty sure. No one was seeing my stuff on there. I was just I just had it connected. I would go in every once in a blue moon to like check it and see if anyone had commented, and I'd comment back, and and that was pretty much it. Um, and then as my stuff started to perform better on Instagram, I guess it started to perform better on Facebook, and I hadn't known because I hadn't been checking Facebook. And I talked about this in a previous episode. So if you are hearing this for the second time, I'm sorry, but I went into Facebook randomly to like check it, or I think I had like maybe seen on Instagram that there were views from Facebook, and I was confused, like, oh, how am I getting views on Facebook? So I opened up Facebook and I have like it was like 1.1k followers. So I went from 60 followers to 1.1k, and I was like, oh my gosh, what happened? Apparently I had a reel that was blowing up and it was almost at a million views, and it had gotten me a ton of followers. Um, and so yeah, I was at like 1.1, 1.2 or something, and then I go in my notifications, I like start responding to comments, like, oh wow, this is crazy. Like, I actually have followers on here now. And I was ready to just leave it at that and be like, okay, that was cool. And then I see a message from Facebook that's like, you can now be monetized. And I was like, what? So I genuinely didn't even realize you could make money from Facebook until um I got that message. And so I like set it up immediately. I was like, heck yeah, I want money. Like, so I like sign up for that. You have to like, you know, connect all your tax info and then like connect your bank account, all the things, and then it just started getting paid, and I kept checking it and I was like, no way this is actually gonna work. Like, no way they're actually gonna send money to my bank account. They did, in fact, send money to my bank account. It did work, you guys. So you do actually get paid from this. It's so crazy that you can actually get paid from social media, but like I was so skeptical, like, oh, I know people make money from it, but like I'm never going to, but like, no, I actually am making money from it consistently. So it's super cool, and I'm excited to talk to you guys more about that. I'll I'll like break down how much I've actually made for you guys. I know some people are weird about talking about that stuff, but like I don't really care because I don't know, I didn't even know it was a thing. So this helps someone else know it's a thing and like put a little more time into Facebook or something. Like, I'm happy to share with you guys. I don't I don't care about like gatekeeping this or whatever. So anyway, yeah, that was how I started getting monetized. And then once I realized, or like not starting to monetize, that's how I got monetized. And then once I realized I could make money from Facebook, obviously I started putting more content on Facebook. So like I'm very selective with like the reels I post on Instagram because you can only post a certain number of times a week before it like marks you as spam on Instagram, like and it will stop showing your content as much, whatever. So I I don't post like multiple times every day, but obviously you can do that on TikTok. If you didn't already know that, you can you can kind of spam TikTok a little bit. So sometimes I'll post like five days at five times a day on TikTok. And so I if I post one reel a day on Instagram, let's say, or like one every other day, and five reels a day on TikTok. Obviously, I have or five videos a day on TikTok. Obviously, I have a surplus of videos that are not going on Facebook because they're not auto-posting from Instagram, because I'm not putting all my TikToks on Instagram. So I started putting all my extra TikToks on Facebook, and then lo and behold, a bunch of those started performing well, and I started making money from those. Um, as my stuff has performed better, I've realized what performs well. And so I've been able to make some TikToks because I just edit in the TikTok studio app. So I've made some TikTok videos just for Facebook, and I just throw them up on TikTok and then put them on Facebook because I know they'll do well on Facebook. So the more, the better I've done on Facebook, the more I've been able to strategize specifically for Facebook, which I'll talk about at the end of the episode, and then make more money. So I will give you guys the exact breakdown of how much I have made, um, and then like which reels have done the best and stuff like that. Well, I'm gonna tell you how much I made on Facebook, how much I made on TikTok, and then which content performs the best. So in January, I got monetized like the second to last day of like the last day of January or something. So January I made two dollars and five cents because my reel had like barely started getting traction and then it like turned midnight and then it like I didn't make any more. So $2.05 for January. In February, I had that reel that got up to it got up to like $2 million. It was spread out over a couple months, but I got $274.56 in February. In March, I it like went down. That reel started to like taper off. I made $88.46. April, I made $87.50. May I made $94.72. So it's pretty consistent, like $80 to $90 for three months. And then June, guys, June was crazy. This is why I decided to make this episode. Because you guys have no idea. Like, uh anyway, I made $663.94 in June, which is wild. And let me tell you, I'm just gonna go give you a live update of how much I've made already from July. And just so you know, I'm not saying this to like brag or whatever, like it's fun, it's not even that much money in the long scheme, like in the long in the scheme of things, but like it's just fun that you can make money from social media, and I want you guys to know that it like actually works and it is like realistic, and it's actually not that hard. It's just like you're getting paid for something you're already doing to market yourself anyway. And so, yeah, I just wish someone had told me about this because I had no idea this was even a thing, to be honest with you. So, or like I knew it was a thing, but I thought it was just for like influencers with millions of followers, you know. I didn't know the little guys could make money on social media. So, anyway, so far this month, which is just today, I've made $128.64. And the reason why is I have like three or four different videos going viral right now on Facebook. Um, so yeah, that's kind of how it works. So, in just the first six months, January through June, excluding today, I've made $1,200 or yeah, basically $1,200. So I've made over $1,000 in six months. So again, if you break that down per month, you're not getting paid that much. But it's I mean, I had zero from social media before, so it's very exciting. Um, and it has been like an exponential growth for me. So hopefully it continues, whatever. I don't know how many more updates I'll give about this in the future, but at least for right now, I'm happy to share about this and hopefully it helps someone else um like know that it is worth putting a little bit of time into, at least worth making sure your content from Instagram is posting to Facebook, check it every once in a while, respond to comments, um, maybe put up some extra videos that you're not putting up on Instagram on Facebook. Maybe try that. Um I did look up like how much money can people actually make on Facebook per year, because I just started to get curious. Um and it's this was okay, this is the AI overview, full disclaimer. But this says the vast majority of casual users make zero dollars per year on Facebook, okay, while qualified creators use utilizing Facebook's native monetization programs generally earn between $500 and $60,000 per year, so wide range, depending entirely on their audience size and engagement, while top-tier viral influencers can pull in over $200,000 to $400,000. So this is like a career for some people. It's like I'm assuming they do all the platforms, but like there are some people I'm sure who do better on Facebook. Maybe they're like older and they have an older audience, whatever. But yeah, so you can make money on Facebook, you guys. Um came let's switch to TikTok. I'm gonna explain how I got monetized on TikTok. TikTok is if you can't remember, you have to have 10k, 100,000 views in the last oh my gosh, what is it, 90 days? Let me go back and check 100,000 views in the last 30 days, so last month. Um and you have to okay, TikTok disqualifies you for certain things, so you have to like adhere to like very specific guidelines. So you have to have not broken any guidelines in your it says your account has to be in good standing, is how they phrase it. Um so yeah, I just it's my how I got monetized on TikTok is is pretty simple. I hit 10,000 followers and then I went to oh you can't be a business account on TikTok. They have business account and personal account. Um I was actually a business account only because business accounts can link, can put a link in their bio. So I had like my photography website in my bio because obviously I want people to be able to find it. Um so I had switched to a business account. So I tried to apply for monetization and I couldn't. And I was like, why can't I? You have to be a personal account. Businesses can't get paid on TikTok. So I switched to a personal account. I was like, like, I'll get rid of the um the link, like the ability to do a link. Like if someone really likes my account, they can DM me. Like if someone really wants to work with me, they can either DM me or probably just go to my Instagram or whatever. And like if they want to work with me, they'll make it work. So I don't need the link in my bio. I'd rather get paid from TikTok. So I yeah, switched it to a personal account and then applied for monetization. I think it took them like less than a day to approve me. It says it can take up to like three days, and then you have to like do like a I think identity verification, whatever, similar to what I had to do on Facebook, just the same stuff, give them your tax info, all the stuff. And then they're like, Yeah, you're monetized. What does suck is you can't be paid for views you got for video, any videos you made before being monetized, which is different than Facebook. Facebook, I made a video, then got monetized, and then kept getting paid for it. I didn't get paid for the views I got before I got monetized, but I got paid for the views I got from the video I made before I got monetized after I got monetized. If that made sense, but like I could still make money on old videos after getting monetized. On TikTok, you cannot make money on old videos after getting monetized, even if they're still getting views. So that really sucked. I didn't realize that. I just assumed it'd be the same as Facebook, but I mean, oh well, like still got monetized, it's fine. Um, so yeah, and then on TikTok, if you remember, you have to make videos that are over 60 seconds to get monetized. So so far I've found that to be difficult because it's harder to make an intriguing 60-second video that will do well than it is to make a good seven-second video that does well on TikTok. So that has made been a little bit difficult, but um on TikTok so far from the past like two weeks I've been monetized or week and a half or whatever, I've made um $115, $114.47. Um, and then I did the same thing. I looked up how much TikTok like people make, TikTokers make per year. And this says the average full-time TikTok influencer in the United States earns $131, $131,874 per year. However, overall earnings vary drastically by follower count with 50.7% of all creators making less than $15,000 annually, while top mega influencers pull in millions. So again, same thing with Facebook. The little guys don't make quite as much, the big guys make a lot. Um, so anyway, um, my the reason I am doing this basically is because I know a lot of you want to be monetized, and I'm just gonna share what I've learned. I'm not gonna gatekeep. Um, if you want to be monetized on either Facebook or TikTok, all you can do to work toward monetization is to grow your account as much as possible, to get as many followers as you can, which means making the best content you can. So by making good content, you will gain more followers and then you can be monetized and then you can make more money. So if you want to be monetized, you need to focus on making good content. So I'm gonna tell you the content that performs well on Facebook and TikTok. I'm not obviously I'm not monetized on YouTube yet, so I was just giving an overview of YouTube at the beginning. I'm done talking about YouTube for the episode. Um, so yeah, I'm just gonna get into content that does well. So, first of all, any content that performs well on Facebook for me gets me followers. It doesn't matter, like literally anything gets you followers. It doesn't have to be even like like converting content or whatever. Like, literally any content that gets used on to on Facebook gets me followers. And I feel like it's because older people are not like selective like we are with like who are we following with? They'll just press the follow button, like they'll just add you. Like they like one video, they'll just add you, like it's not that deep to them. So I do feel like it's pretty easy to get followers on Facebook once you start getting things to get traction. Um, that's just like a quick little note, but okay. So, content that gets me followers on TikTok is showing my best work or something funny typically. Just because it gets views doesn't mean you'll get a lot of followers, so it's like different than Facebook. Facebook, if it gets views, I'm gonna get followers. TikTok, if it gets views, it might just get views and then it just phases out. Um, and then Ray-Ban Meta Glasses do really well on both. So those are my like general notes, and then I have like an actual like do's and don'ts list for each. So I'm gonna start with Facebook. Um, the goal for Facebook is to make people upset because people will rage in the comments, and that's what like boosts all your videos. So um the do's for Facebook are well, I'll tell you the the ones for me that did well as examples. Um, there was one where I was directing the bridesmaids, and it was like a Ray-Ban Metaglasses video, it was like 30-ish seconds or something, 25 seconds, and I was directing the bridesmaids, and I didn't know all of their names. I like like said one girl's name in the video because she was also one of my past brides. Like, I had shot both of these friends' weddings, and then I called one girl, I said, like, okay, the girl in the tool dress, can you move right here? And everyone was freaking out over that in the comments. Oh my gosh, how would you not know all their names? Like, you're with them for eight hours on a wedding day. I'm like, no, I'm not with them for eight hours on the wedding day. I'm with my couple for eight hours on the wedding day. But anyway, like everyone was getting upset about that. Since then, I've actually tried harder with wedding party names. But if you're a wedding photographer, you know that it's not very realistic to remember every single person's name in the wedding party and all the close friends and family and the coup. I mean, just like you can do it, especially if you're someone like me who just genuinely struggles with names. Um, so yeah, just anyway, people got upset about that. I did one where, you know, I put the wedding invitations in the pool, but I was doing it without a second shooter, so it was hard to like take the photos and then they start floating away, and then I had to get it, it was a whole thing. And so people were upset that I didn't laminate the invitations and that they were getting wet. I think they didn't process the fact that this is probably not the only wedding invitation the couple has. I I don't know. I don't know. Um, they were also upset that I put earrings in a leaf, like I poked them through the leaf. And I knew when I posted these, like this is a little bit out there. I don't know if the people on Facebook will get the vibes for these types of detail photos, but that's part of why I posted it. Is because I knew I wanted to make the real anyway because I liked the photos, but like I knew it would do well on Facebook. Um so yeah, making basically anything that like makes people upset and comment on Facebook does well. I'm not saying like instigate or like be like controversial or like don't say it, don't be like mean to anyone, but if it's something where it's like this is a weird photo, like a weird detail photo, like they might not like this, just throw it up there. If they hate it, like then you'll get more engagement from it. So it's perfect. My stranger sessions do really well on Facebook, those also do well on TikTok, they do well everywhere. Um, and then not showing photos on the video, just showing the video and being like follow for the photos, that really gets people on Facebook. They get really upset about that, and so you'll get more engagement because they'll comment that. If you don't like that strategy, you don't have to do it. But on Facebook, um, you can do longer videos as well. I feel like they don't have as short of an like people on Facebook don't have a short attention span like all the people on TikTok do. I mean, like everyone's attention attention span is short nowadays, but it's it's longer than the people on TikTok. So you can show those longer minute-long, 45-second long videos that don't usually do well on like TikTok on Facebook, and they will do better on Facebook. Um, it's easier for people to get invested in a video, I feel like if they're older. And those are the people who are on Facebook. Um, what does not do well on Facebook is, in my opinion, photos. I don't feel like photos are like gaining you followers, like photo posts. They're just not. Um, those. Don't do well. I mean, like obviously, all my stuff cross-posts for my Instagram, but I never expect those to like blow up or anything. Um, stuff for a younger audience obviously doesn't do super well. Like I said, a little is good because it like gets engagement, but if it's like very geared toward Gen Z, it's just not gonna land. And then anything short I've found doesn't do particularly well on Facebook, and by that I mean like the short, snappy reels where it's like, let me show this one photo and then you show the photo, and then like that might blow up on TikTok, but it's not gonna blow up on Facebook. I just I feel like the longer videos are doing well on Facebook. Um, those are the ones that like if it's longer, there's probably something in it for people to get upset about and they probably comment, and that's how like literally that's the stuff that does well on Facebook. Um, okay, TikTok. The things that do well for me on TikTok are my stranger sessions. If you don't know what I mean when I straight say stranger sessions, I talked about it in uh I think my last podcast episode. I think. Yeah, my last one, but where like I'm asking random people to take their photos. Um, and I have like my meta classes and I show me walking up asking that I'm taking the photos and then show the photos. Those do well on TikTok. Um, they do really well on TikTok. I have one blowing up right now. Um the cool detail shots, like the ones I just explained with like the earrings through the leaf, the invitations in the pool, the shoes on the piano, all of those always do well for me on TikTok because that's very like Gen Z-esque to like those type of things. So anything fun, funky, or different, I feel like is a really good thing to put on TikTok. People like that. I've found like good follower conversion for those videos. And then anything with Ray-Ban Mataglasses does well on TikTok as well. Just like any POV videos, it just has to be you actively talking and directing and like has to be interesting and like visually, like visually interesting in order for people to actually want to stay on the video. Funny random stuff does good on TikTok. Like that doesn't do well on Facebook, you know. Like Facebook, they don't care, but like if you post like random shower thoughts on TikTok, that can do well. It's hit or miss for me. I'm maybe I'm just not funny enough, but anything random can do well on TikTok. Short videos do well on TikTok, like the short ones, like I said, like uh oh my gosh, this photo is so beautiful. I can't believe I took this. That does well on Facebook, but like not or not on Facebook. That does well on TikTok, but like not really on Facebook. Um, and then photo posts with text on them do well on TikTok. So, like if you're gonna post photos from an elopement, let's say, I don't know why an elopement, I just pick that. I don't know. You're gonna put the elotement photos on there, and then you're gonna say, like, the my 10 favorite poses from this elopement. I don't know, whatever. Or like 10 photos that make me want to cry from this elopement, like whatever you want to put. Um, or just photos with feeling, or just just something. Like put text on it and then try to put text on like every slide. Those do really, really well for me on TikTok right now. And I feel like more people generally engage with photo posts than videos on TikTok. Um, I feel like they're mostly just scrolling through videos, but people will swipe through a photo post. I don't know. So put text on your photos. What doesn't do well is photos without text on them. I feel like those do not do well, it's just like too boring for Gen Z. Um, longer content, which is ironic because the longer content is the only stuff you could be monetized for on TikTok, like over 60 second videos, which is why I've found it to be difficult to make money from it. Because it's really hard to make a good 60-second video that people like Gen Z wants to watch. And like I I'm Gen Z, like I'm not hating. I just like we have such short attention spans. It's like, no, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna commit to this 60-second video, but like I'll watch this six-second video, you know what I mean? So longer content doesn't do as well unless it's like really engaging or a really good hook, like the stranger sessions or something. Um, anything without a good hook doesn't do well, it has to have like an engaging hook. It can't be something like POV, blah blah blah. POV doesn't do well anymore. It's been used, it's done. That's my next thing. Don't use POV, don't use just like the generic um hooks that everyone uses. Those people just immediate scroll, in my opinion, from TikTok. Some of that stuff can still do well on Instagram and Facebook, but like TikTok, in my opinion, that stuff does not do well. So those are my recommendations for TikTok. What has and hasn't worked for me. Um, that is kind of all I have for you guys today. I'm so sorry this has been kind of long. I hope this has been helpful for you guys. I kind of just like info-dumped at you, but basically the point is if you want to be monetized, work on growing your accounts, work on putting out the best content you can um so you can gain more followers and be monetized. If you need to go re-watch certain parts of the video, um, go rewatch them. Like you don't have to, I mean, hopefully you know this. Don't just like if you need to do something specific, like you need to go switch your account to the business mode, or you need to like, or you want to know which type of content does well on TikTok, like just re-watch that one part of the episode and like work on that. So just like make some goals, work on this stuff, work toward gaining enough followers to be monetized. If this helps anyone, or you get monetized because of this episode, or you're like getting closer to it. I would love if you would like DM me or like leave a comment on my YouTube because sometimes I don't see all my DMs. Um, because I would just love to know that this was like helpful for you guys because there were so many of you that were like messaging me, like, oh my gosh, how? How do you do this? Like, how does this work? So hopefully this answered all your guys' questions. Hopefully it wasn't too much of just like a crazy info dump. But thank you guys so much for watching. Next episode is gonna come out while I'm on my trip. I did already record it though, so like I'm batching right now, and that will come out while I'm on my trip. It'll come out next Monday, just like every episode. It's been every single Monday since I've started. So I'm super happy I've been able to be really consistent with that for you guys. And that one is gonna be more for beginner wedding photographers slash people wanting to get into weddings and just like things that you want to think about on a wedding day. That's kind of all I'll give you guys. You'll hear more about it in the next episode. But especially if you're trying to get into weddings or want to be better at shooting weddings, that episode is gonna be for you. So make sure you don't miss that one. But thank you guys so much for tuning in and listening. I would love if you this should be episode 10 now, I think. So 10 episodes in. Obviously, we still have a lot to improve. I am trying my best. But if you have loved the podcast so far for the first 10 episodes, I would love if you would leave me a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, leave a comment on YouTube, whatever. Um, make sure you follow the podcast Instagram. It's at get the picture.pod. And then my all my socials are at Tori Elizabeth Photo, except my TikTok, or not my TikTok, oh my gosh. My Facebook is at T Elizabeth Photo. So it's not Tori T-O-R-I, it's just T Elizabeth. Elizabeth is with an S for all of my handles, not a Z. Um, and then I have to update you guys. I did not do it without no cuts. There was one cut in the middle of the episode, but that is the best I've done so far. I think the least I've done was like four cuts in episode 11, the one coming out next week. I already edited before this one. I'm doing it out of order, but anyway, one cut this week. So that was pretty good, like almost all done in one setting. I'm very proud of that. I've never done that before. So we're gonna go for no cuts next episode. But thank you guys so much for watching or listening, and I hope you have a great rest of your day. Thanks for being loyal listeners and being the best. Have a great day, you guys. Bye.