How I Made $30,000 My First Year as an Artist on TikTok

Hi! I'm Richard Jasso, an artist, and content creator.

In 2021, I made a personal TikTok account without anticipating it would become what it is now. Within a year, I garnered nearly 400k followers, starting with one viral drawing video that took the Internet by storm. It was certainly unexpected but also a great learning opportunity for me career-wise, as it opened up many new ways to monetize my art. Throughout the journey, I did not succeed in everything - some things worked, and some didn't. Looking back, I would do many things differently with the benefit of hindsight, but instead of dwelling on mistakes, let me share something more constructive: tips for aspiring artists who want to grow their following just like mine!

How I got started on TikTok

Initially, I was hesitant about getting on TikTok. I thought it was an app for kids and had no business using it. What changed my mind was that everyone around me was on it, and my friends were constantly sharing TikTok videos. So I decided to make a personal account, but I didn't know what to post. My first few videos were random things I liked about Teslas and short clips of my DIY beds. I was sure those videos would go viral, but they flopped. 

What kind of content I created

One day my daughter showed me a few drawings she did with colored pencils, and I was blown away by how good they were! She's a very skilled drawer. I had not used colored pencils since I was in grade school, and the ones I used were not very good.

I decided to give them another shot and used the Prismacolor Premier colored pencils my daughter had. I had no idea what to draw. One day while standing in the checkout line at a local grocery store, I looked to my right and noticed a shelf of bright and colorful packaged candy bars. I bought one and took it home to see if I could replicate the shiny metallic look with my daughter's fancy colored pencils.

About halfway through my drawing, I posted a video on TikTok with a catchy song, and it got some views!! I got a few thousand views and thought that was viral status. I posted the finished drawing with similar results. I posted another drawing, and I got a decent number of views. Someone in the comments section said to roll my pencil over the drawing because they didn't believe it was a drawing.

Next, I drew a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos and did the requested pencil roll, and bam! The video went viral. I'm talking over a million views! I was onto something here.

The secret sauce

I had several viral videos after my famous Hot Cheetos drawing, and it came down to studying analytics. I looked at the average watch time for my viral videos, the shares, the likes, and the captions and repeated the same formula with great success. Of course, not all videos went viral, but enough did to grow my account to nearly 400k followers.

What I learned about growing my social media following with short-form content is that no matter how beautiful or amazing our art is, it can have very little to do with the video's virality. The secret sauce includes a few key ingredients; average view times should be the length of the video or longer, video shares (TikTok wants new users to download the app), likes, and engagement in the comments section.

Having all three is the recipe for a viral video. Simply showing a video of your art is not enough, so figuring out how to make all three happen is the challenge.

Monetization methods that worked for me

With my follower count growing and my videos being shared worldwide by huge social media pages and even a TV show, I needed to figure out how to capitalize on this. My love for art can get expensive, and it's fair to say that many artists would love to make a living doing it full-time. I heard about brand deals but needed to figure out how to get them.

Many well-known accounts had a link on their profile that shared their other social media pages, emails, e-books, shops, and more. I decided to go with direct.me as my link-in-bio tool. I bought a good printer to make prints from home and opened up an Etsy shop. I then placed the links to my new business email, my shop, and links to my others socials on my direct.me.

The emails began coming in

I started getting emails from small and large companies wanting to work with me. Brand deals are huge on TikTok. They wanted me to create content in exchange for a set price. I initially did not know what to charge, but I knew I did not want to sell myself short. I learned the going rate for an account my size and went with that as a starting point.

I landed my first big brand deal with Starbucks. This was huge for me, and they paid me what I asked for. I did several other brand deals afterward with big companies like Little Tikes and Cheez-It and some smaller ones.

Prints from home

I bought a printer with great reviews and got to printing. I knew very little about starting an e-commerce shop, and after researching, Etsy was the best choice for me. Etsy made it easy for me to list items, track inventory, and print shipping labels, all from the comfort of my home. I shipped everywhere, all over the world! Not too long after, I made Star Seller status on Etsy. 

Affiliate Marketing

Most, if not all social media platforms give you the ability to add links in your bio section. Use them! Link in bio tools like direct.me allow you to place affiliate links of recommended products like the art supplies you use. I use affiliate links through Amazon, but there are several other options. Most large chain art supply stores offer an affiliate program.

Affiliate links can also be added to Pinterest posts, Idea Pins, Instagram stories, YouTube video descriptions, blogs, Facebook pages, and QR code business cards.

Things I would do differently if I could go back

Even with all my success on TikTok, there are a few things I would change and do differently if I could go back. First, I focused so much on making videos go viral that I overlooked one of the most important things to being a content creator on social media, and that is growing a community. Second, I mainly posted drawing content, but only a little about myself, making it difficult to connect with my followers.

My goal was to make my account about my drawings, but it is essential to be part of the process to connect with followers. Another thing I would do differently is collaborating with other content creators. I did not reach out to similar content creators early on for collaborations.

There are considerable benefits to networking and working with other creators. Lastly, I stuck to one niche and should have expanded. I mainly did food-related drawings, which got boring after a while. As artists, we should allow ourselves to explore and not feel the need to stick to one style or small niche.

Tips for aspiring social media stars

If you are serious about growing your audience and community using social media, you must start treating it like a business. You have different options when choosing a social media platform, so do some homework and see what works best for that platform. For example, Instagram does really well with photos. So you want to invest in a good camera and have good studio lighting.

Short form video content

TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform, and short-form video content is significant across all platforms. See what others are doing in your niche that have a large following. For short-form video content, focus on the "content creation" side of things using your art and change it up. 

Create different types of content

Entertainment videos do great on any social media platform so make some funny ones. Everyone loves a good laugh. ASMR content is one of the most widely searched videos on YouTube. This may be a good option if talking on camera is not your thing. Art content with high-quality sounds of brush strokes, pencil strokes, paint mixing, etc., do very well. Content that allows you to connect with your audience is a must.

They do not go viral, but it's a good idea to occasionally create content that helps you connect with your community because they are likelier to stick around longer if they get to know you. How-to videos, insight on your process videos, content about your day, experience, etc., will help you connect with your audience.

CONTRADICTION! Post something controversial if you want to get some engagement in the comments section, which helps boost your post. It does not have to include politics, religion, or anything like that; they can be subtle but enough for the audience to catch it. If you have been connecting with your followers, they will really get involved. 

Treat it like a business

To be a successful content creator, you must set time for research, video or photo editing, and making art. This is not passive income; it takes some effort and can be fun, but treat it like a business. Look into monetizing your process from start to finish.

Live streaming subscriptions, selling prints and originals, courses, brand deals, commission art, e-books, blogging, affiliate marketing, merch, and one on one instruction are just a few ideas on how to make money as an artist. Art supplies can get expensive, so even if your goal is not to make a living from your art, I still recommend using social media to bring in some income to cover your art expenses.

All in all, it's been a wild ride, and I never anticipated any of this when I started posting videos of my drawings on TikTok. If you're an aspiring artist looking to grow your social media following, hopefully, some of the tips I've shared will be helpful for you. Do you have an art page on social media? Share it in the comments section below - I'm always happy to follow new artists and see what cool things people are creating!