A STYLISH mum has revealed she’s raking in up to £20,000-a-month after quitting her job to post on TikTok full-time.
Alana Thomson, from Glasgow, was fed up in her job as an aesthetic practitioner where she struggled to bank more than £1,000 in paychecks due to fierce competition.
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But it wasn’t until a 12-second shopping video went viral that the 42-year-old considered a career in social media.
Alana regularly posted on TikTok but only saw it as a hobby until her Tesco clip racked up 82,000 views.
She told Fabulous: “I’ve always posted on social media, but never really took it seriously until my first post that went viral in March 2021.
“I got this top from Tesco. It was a long line vest with shoulder pads. I thought I’m going to post this and see what happens and lo and behold it went viral.
“I thought I would try again with other brands – ASOS, Zara etc – and see what happens and it just kept going viral at that time so I gained 20,000 followers fairly quickly and it has just progressed from there.
“At this point, I wasn’t making any money at all.”
Fast forward four years, and Alana now has 91,000 TikTok followers with her videos watched by millions of people across the globe.
And February this year marked a record month for the glam influencer, with her cashing in around £20,000 in commission from TikTok Shop sales.
TikTok Shop works through affiliate marketing, similar to Amazon, with content creators able to make commission from the items they promote on their page.
For Alana, it’s all about fashion.
The busy mum works seven days a week, clocking in up to 12 hours a day curating, filming and editing her outfit picks and hauls.
She says: “I love being able to work from home and having the freedom to express myself online doing a job that I love.
“It’s the best feeling in the world.
“I have had many jobs, but I get bored easily and always end up changing. So I feel like doing social media as a job every single day is different.”
She adds: “I do work crazy hours. Sometimes 12-hour days between filming, editing and posting.
“Not to mention the clean up after try on hauls for 4/5 hours, plus the storing of the stuff and all the trips to the dump with packaging.
“I work seven days on both TikTok and Instagram. Mostly TikTok though as my main job is being a TikTok Shop creator.
“I am a star plus creator which is the top group to be in. You have to hit a certain GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) every month to stay there.
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“I like the challenge. But if I don’t make it there is never any pressure you just try again the following month.
“I am not in the creator fund so I rely on my TikTok Shop videos solely to earn.”
And she may be a 5ft 2in mum in her 40s, but Alana prides herself in offering fashion tips for all ages and sizes.
She is also brutally honest about the pieces she tries on and happily points out their flaws, which is refreshing in the cut-throat ‘sell, sell, sell’ digital age.
It’s for this reason, perhaps, that her army of followers are so happy to snap up outfits based soley on her recommendation.
Alana says: “I have always been into my fashion. I feel like since being part of TikTok Shop it has made me try new styles that I wouldn’t necessarily go for.
“I like to be able to try and cater to all shapes and sizes so sometimes maybe something isn’t necessarily my style but I love to be able to get creative and style it up in the hope that it gets someone else excited about wearing it.
“I’ll be 43 next week but age is just a number. I don’t believe you shouldn’t wear something just because of your age.
“It all really comes down to how you style and accessorise it. Also, how you carry yourself and the confidence that you have within.
“I love to share different looks that make me feel confident and hope that others will see this and want to try it and feel confident themselves.
“I also love it when I get feedback from someone saying that they purchased or styled something based on a video they saw from myself, there is no better feeling than making someone else feel good about themselves.
“I often get direct messages from followers asking me for style tips or outfit ideas because they have an occasion coming up.
“I don’t always manage to get back to everyone, but I do try.”
Best community
Alana posts up to 10 videos a day which has helped her to build up the “best” community of followers of her page.
She’s also in the minority of social media figures who has managed to avoid trolling on her page.
“I don’t really get a lot of hate online”, she says.
“There is the odd one and I do think you need to have thick skin in order to do social media as a job in all categories.
“But for myself, I think it comes with age – being confident in yourself and your choices and not letting anyone else’s opinions interfere with that.
“At the end of the day you have to remind yourself that this is a reflection of themselves and not you.
“I’m a happy go lucky kind of person who wears her heart on her sleeve. I know my worth and won’t let anyone mess with that.
“I have the best followers who support me on my page and my live videos. It’s always a really enjoyable time which makes my job so much easier and fun to do.”
She adds: “I think if anyone is ever thinking of doing TikTok as a job then don’t hesitate just get in there and get posting, see what works for you but most importantly build a community.
“It’s been the best experience for me. I absolutely love it.”
You can follow Alana’s TikTok journey and outfit tips on her page – @alana_thomson_