Writing yesterday about how much money I earned last year was eye-opening for me. It would be considered okay money if I was working part time. I’m counting the time spent doing side hustles as working too.
But to have made so little, especially having spent so much time on TikTok. I know people spend a lot of time scrolling on TikTok but my sole purpose was to earn through making videos where people could click and buy.
Thinking about hours I spent working on TikTok
Again, I’m not a social media person. Years ago, I gave up Facebook. My feeling isn’t based on principle; I don’t like social media in general. I am overwhelmed enough with my life without looking in on what everyone else is doing.
Making what I did on TikTok in November and December as a new person wasn’t horrible. See Day 32 for more info. The issue is that I’ve still spent the majority of my working hours on it and haven’t seen enough income to justify it.
So now what?
It’s April. It’s hard to believe another school year is almost over. I don’t have any progress in a career or new job venture. I’m not where I wanted to be income-wise by any means. I haven’t even made $1,000 from my pursuits (not counting my websites).
New goals
While I’ve been thinking about this for months, it’s time to get on a more sustainable path. There was a part time, remote job that looked interesting. It probably paid $20 – $25 an hour. I didn’t set aside time to work on my resume because I was still trying to do TikTok and Amazon.
I haven’t had a job job in a long time. The last time I worked for an employer was 2002. Since that time, I have been an entrepreneur.
Trading time for money
There is definitely something to be said about having a job. No matter what, the job gets done. You go to work and come home and fill in the what you have to do.
Another appeal of getting a job is I know when I work X amount of hours, I will make X amount of money. I could work 30 hours a week at $25 and make $750.
Using 30 hours of my life to make TikTok videos and engaging with others to get them to come to engage with my posts does not make me $750. There’ve been weeks where I made $0 on TikTok and some where I may have made $10. It’s not enough.
Phasing out of TikTok
I think I’m going to really start phasing out. For too many months, I’ve been stuck in the sunk cost fallacy. This says that you keep doing what you are doing because you’ve already used so much time doing it.
I spent THOUSANDS OF HOURS trying to build up my TikTok account from zero. First to be approved as a TikTok Shop Affiliate and then making videos to earn commission. Stopping TikTok makes it seem like all of that time was wasted.
But I can’t keep wasting future time.
The free samples are still arriving. I have around 10 to video and probably another 6 – 8 on the way. My goal is to be done whenever that last sample comes in.
So if I can spend the bare minimum of time on it, I can hopefully focus on other things. See more about my TikTok woes on Day 29.
Focus on websites?
Up until yesterday seeing how little I made last year on my websites and how little I’m making this year makes me wonder if I should even be bothering to:
- Work on the existing websites trying to make them better – They are making something! More than I’m making on TikTok. But is there something else I can be doing to make the $800 – $900 I’m making now? If I work on them more, could they start earning more?
- Working on this website – This also takes time. It doesn’t generate income.
I don’t have answers today
Today I have some appointments, one training class about digital marketing, and have to deal with TikTok. So I’ll get stuff done today, including making more TikTok videos for the rest of the week. See how I keep getting sucked in?!