We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Sanderson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.

Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? We’d love to hear the backstory the illustrates how you grew your brand.

I started content creating back in 2020. I was posting fitness related content and I gained a decent following pretty quickly but I had no clue how to monetize my social media. I was making content for free and taking a few fun PR packages here and there but did not see the potential to make money on social media until I started UGC (user generated content) in January 2023. About 3 months into this side hustle I was able to start seeing consistent 4 figure months. May of 2023 I was admitted into the TikTok shop beta program and was sent a few products from a few brands who were early to join the platform. I didn’t think much of it, I would post a few videos here and there with products link and made a few bucks but nothing serious. Fast forward to February of 2024 I started posting better quality tiktok shop videos and had my first “viral” video about 4 weeks later. In March 2024, I hit over $10,000 in commission on one video and quickly realized the potential for earning money on TikTok via Tiktok shop. I decided to start posting more but I had no strategy. I wasn’t able to scale and I wasn’t being consistent. July of 2024 is when I decided to go in both feet, commit to posting 3 videos a day and start putting more effort into my videos and product selection. July I cracked the code and found my groove. I hit over $50,000 commission in July. All in all, I’ve made over $500,000 commission with TikTok shop in less than a year! 

Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I provide authentic reviews for buyers looking for new products to try or products that solve a problem

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Truly I just wish I had started sooner. I cared too much about what people thought about me filming videos and posting to socials. Once I learned to push past that I started to see success. I think starting out the key is to be consistent. Find a niche, something you’re passionate about and that’s easy to talk about regularly. Don’t be afraid to show your personality.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I haven’t quit my full time 9-5 corporate job for personal reasons. But I will tell you this – I make more than my annual salary in one month on TikTok shop. It has easily become a career that I’m passionate about and I believe in. I don’t think people realize the amount of effort that goes into creating content on this level and earning this type of income. It’s not as easy as it appears on the surface and there is a lot of strategy and time management. I pride myself in the ability to make the income that I make while still working a 9-5 office job that is not related to social media. It has been a huge blessing and the income is life changing!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @its_samjones_
• Twitter: @samjones_ugc
• Other: TikTok @sam_joness_