TikTok Shop: How to Make Your First $1,000 Quickly

TikTok Shop is one of the hottest ways to make money right now, and the best part? You don’t need years of experience to get started.

Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking for a faster way to scale, this guide will show you exactly how to make your first $1,000 (or more) on TikTok Shop—or TikTok affiliates—even if you don’t have 5,000 followers yet.

Step 1: Niche Down for Faster Growth

If you don’t have 5,000 followers yet, the first thing you need to do is pick a niche.

Why? Focusing on a specific niche makes it easier to grow your page and connect with a targeted audience.

Here’s how to choose the right niche:

• Pick something with a decent market size—big enough for sales but not so broad that it’s oversaturated.

• Choose a niche you’re interested in or knowledgeable about. If you understand your audience, you’ll know what kind of content resonates, what questions they have, and what objections they need help overcoming when you start selling products.

Popular niches like beauty, health, or fitness are great, but don’t be afraid to get specific. For example, instead of “fitness,” focus on “home workouts for beginners.” This keeps competition low while still reaching enough people to generate sales.

Step 2: Grow Your TikTok Page to 5,000 Followers

To join the TikTok affiliate program, you’ll need 5,000 followers. Even if you plan to sell directly from your shop (which you can start right away), having followers gives you social proof.

Think about it—if someone clicks on your profile and sees you only have 3 followers and 13 videos, they’re unlikely to trust you. This creates unnecessary friction for your sales early on. You can easily avoid this by growing your followers to make your page look official.

Two Strategies for Growing Quickly:

1. Spend Time to Get Followers: Use tools like Simplified AI, Opus Pro, or GetMunch to clip and post short videos from popular influencers in your niche. Post 3–5 of these videos daily. This works because these influencers already have large audiences, and their content is proven to engage viewers. I have tutorials on my channel on all of these, but I've been using simplified for over a year now in my own business. Here's an in depth tutorial on how you can use it fast: https://youtu.be/3ibjdATpaSc

With consistency, you can hit 5,000 followers in as little as two weeks or as long as two months. Plus, this strategy attracts followers who are already interested in products within your niche—potential buyers!

2. Spend Money to Get Followers: If you’d rather invest money than time, run TikTok ads to grow your page. Target low-cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) countries to build your following for less. While this approach isn’t free, it’s much faster and relatively inexpensive.

I recently created a video explaining how you can get 5,000 followers in just a few days for under $100. Here's that video: https://youtu.be/-Wp0tB8Bkms

Step 3: Research Hot-Selling Products

Once you reach 5,000 followers and get accepted into the TikTok affiliate program, it’s time to find trending products in your niche.

Don’t rely solely on TikTok Shop recommendations. Use product research tools like Fast Moss to analyze sales trends and pinpoint what’s currently hot. Fast Moss even shows you the exact videos driving sales for these products, so you can model your content after proven winners.

By focusing on trending products, you avoid wasting time on outdated or oversaturated items. This ensures you’ll find successful products much faster. I have a ton of fast moss tutorials on the channel too (since that's what I use myself). Here is one of them that can really help you: https://youtu.be/ldg-c5JT5kM

Step 4: Test Products Quickly with the Minimum Viable Product Approach

After identifying promising products, the next step is testing them. Tools like Creatify AI make this process incredibly easy.

Creatify AI allows you to create high-quality product videos in seconds, even if you don’t have the product in hand. It combines listing photos, B-roll footage, and AI-generated scripts to produce professional-looking content.

This “minimum viable product” approach lets you test multiple products quickly and efficiently. Focus on the ones that show potential and drop the rest to find winners fast.

Pro Tip: Creatify AI now even lets you “clone” yourself in videos. You can appear in the video with the product without ever getting on camera or having the product in hand. This feature is a game-changer, allowing you to create 100 videos in the time it used to take to create one.

Here's an in depth Creatify AI tutorial that can get you started in about 10 minutes: https://youtu.be/PPd_pwxIvRQ

Step 5: Scale and Repeat

When you find a winning product, it’s time to scale. Create more videos from different angles and test multiple hooks. Study competitors selling similar products to see what works for them.

You’ll likely find one or two angles that drive most of your sales. Keep creating similar videos and milk the product until sales slow down. Then, go back to Step 3 and repeat the process.

The Proven Formula

Here’s the simple formula to follow:

1. Use tools like Fast Moss to find trending products.

2. Test products quickly using Creatify AI to save time and effort.

3. Scale the winners by creating more content and refining your video angles and hooks.

4. Repeat the process to consistently discover new winning products and increase your earnings.

   
   

This strategy is simple, scalable, and minimizes risk. By focusing on trending products, leveraging powerful tools, and scaling what works, you maximize your chances of making money while saving time.

Whether you’re just starting or looking to grow your TikTok Shop, this formula is the fastest way to reach your first $1,000—and beyond.

Good luck, and let me know how it works for you!