How to Make $200K Using TikTok

Insights on marketing, business, branding, products, design, founders, and culture.

GM everyone, currently writing this from the Subway on my way to grab an iced quad cortado and a Zyn to jolt me back to life.

If the second half of this letter is better than the first.. that’s because the caffeine entered the bloodstream.

Someone called this newsletter a ‘McKinsey PsyOp’ yesterday. I’ll take that as a complement. Also look at this nice photo my friend Tyler took of me at dinner last night.

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News

• Want a shoe collaboration to sell out? Make it ugly. I wrote yesterday about New Balance’s diabolical sneaker / loafer hybrid, which is just one of many ugly shoe collaborations I’ve been seeing on the rise. Don’t get it twisted, most sneakers have always been ugly and as I’ve gotten older I couldn’t care less about if Travis Scott had anything to do with the ideation of my sneaker. But the New York Times’ style desk convened to discuss how brands like Ugg, Crocs, and Birkenstock are working in collaboration with fashion houses to produce product that goes viral, sells out, and breaks necks.

Guy Trebay: Ugly is the point. Fashion has a long history of showing genuine affection for the downright ugly.

Elizabeth Paton: It’s becoming a game of fashion chicken.

Vanessa Friedman: One person’s ugly shoe is another person’s footwear treasure. Junya Watanabe did sneakers hung with jewels long before the Simone Rocha Crocs, by the way.

• You might not be able to ski at Sundance anymore. The film festival is considering changing venues from Park City, Utah as soon as 2027. Park City is a luxury mountain enclave, and Variety reports the wealthy residents are getting sick of Hollywood descending upon their snowy oasis. For example, a spat at the 2016 awards grounded a helicopter shuttle service over noise pollution concerns. Where should Sundance move to?

  

• People are getting laid playing pickleball. The hottest single scenes in NYC are apparently pickleball courts according to the New York Post. The casual nature of the activity (we aren’t going to dignify it as a sport) allows for more conversation and flirting apparently, and is giving people a reprieve from the apps. I’m happy people are finding love, but pickleball is lame and you should be meeting the love of your life at a party not playing a sport designed for geriatrics.

  

• John Deere is hiring a TikTok creator. Your farmer’s favorite tractor brand is willing to pay $200,000 a year for an influencer to run their TikTok account (90,000 followers currently) This is the latest in a growing trend of brands outsourcing their short form video channels to more experienced and established creators who understand the nuances of the platforms and can help add a new lens to a legacy brand. There is a real shift going on right now in content, with bigger brands dedicating more budget to fund creators as opposed to spending millions on legacy advertising. Its a good economy to be a great storyteller with media savvy in.

  

• Gen Z is richer than you might think. The Economist wrote a very nuanced article breaking down the economic state of the workforce’s newest generation. It reports the number of full-time Gen Z employees is about to surpass Baby Boomers in the workplace, and wages are also up (which may feel like a mirage with the rising cost of living) The article also breaks down the nuances of Gen Z’s workplace attitude, with more in the generation dedicating less time to work and a generally dismissive attitude that hard work will yield results. Maybe they should drink a cold brew, pop a Zyn, then see if they don’t want to spend 12 hours a day chasing the bag.

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Who Do You Know? is a daily newsletter covering marketing, business, branding, products, design, founders, and culture.

Its written by Jake Bell, a content marketing and brand strategist in NYC.

To get in touch visit www.jb.studio or email jake@jb.studio