How to make money as a TikTok star - Purple Speedy

At that time, Purple Speedy (born Peace Pever Anpee) wanted to make a name as an influencer in her right. “What I basically loved from TikTok was acting,” she says about her journey using the platform. But then, I saw trends on TikTok that I really loved.

When I got to know about TikTok and I saw the trends, there was a dance class at my school. The dance class was at 5. After my lectures, I'd change and go to dance class. So, from there, I started hopping on TikTok trends. That was how I got to know about TikTok. It started in 2019, but I started content creation in 2020.

From beginning content creation on TikTok in 2020, Purple Speedy has grown to become one of the most influential creators on the platform with a followership of over six million people and more than 100 million likes across her videos.

Four years ago, social media aficionado, Purple Speedy, was a regular user of TikTok, a new social media platform that was taking shape in Nigeria Pulse Nigeria

All of this means that she has become a beacon for musicians and brands looking to leverage her popularity on the platform. Whereas other countries and regions have some sort of monetisation policies for their top-earning TikTok creators, Nigeria is yet to get.

“For now, there's no monetisation for Nigerians. There are people that are paid for the number of views they have from their videos. But Nigerians are actually not paid for that,” Purple Speedy explains. So, content creators have had to find creative ways to make an income from the platform.

“We get our money from brand promotions,” she goes on. “I feel like TikTok is like a family, and once you are in that family, they take you as their own. So, basically what they do is, if you are influencing a particular thing, it's not like you do it intentionally but once people love what you are doing, just like other influencers. It's just basically from music and brand promotions.”

According to Purple Speedy, she expects TikTok to grow bigger over the coming years and open her up to more opportunities to collaborate with brands and individuals across industries.

“I see TikTok in the next five years far bigger than it is right now,” she says. “The reason why I'm saying that is because some of us are living testimonies of how TikTok has actually helped us move from zero to hero. Because it's not about everything that you have. It's not about all the resources you have. It's just basically that little thing that you do that can excite one to three people.”

Keen to expand her footprint beyond just being a social media influencer to using her platform for her own personal enterprises. “I'd love to get a clothing brand because I have a lot of people asking me, ‘Where do you get your purple clothes from?’ Whereas they don't know that I'm the one that combines every single thing.” she exclaims!

“They think it's one person I'm getting it from. So, I'd like to build a clothing brand where I could sell not just purple clothes, but there should be a sector where I could sell that. That's for social media. Secondly, the other thing people know me for is dancing. So, I'd love to have something like a dance school where I can teach other people how to dance.”