We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
How I gained 1 million followers on TikTok
For those who are unfamiliar with my background, when I started this blog I was acting pretty much full time. My big claim to fame was a gymnastic show called Make it or Break it. My acting career took a detour in 2014 when I had a back surgery that unexpectedly took much longer to recover from than I would have hoped. It was then that I sought blogging as a creative outlet and Monkey Miles was born in 2015.
However, in the years leading up to Monkey Miles while I was establishing my acting career a little thing called social media popped up. I was reticent about Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and stuck to the legacy ideology that there should be a firewall between an actor’s persona on and off camera, and missed an incredible growth opportunity.
Actors who I worked alongside who leaned into YouTube, Instagram, Twitter around 2010 sat on 6 or even 7 figure accounts while I twiddled my thumbs saying this fad won’t last.
It was a big lesson that I learned again through blogging.
As I began writing Monkey Miles, I quickly realized that while not being exactly “late” had I jumped on the boat earlier it would have been much more beneficial. Not only were there the big bloggers in the space, but I quickly realized that there was a lot of people who blogged about points and miles long before me, and establishing credibility early was critical to scaling a readership.
@zacharyburrabel $10k worth of flights for points and $75 #United Polaris Business ORD-LHR with @elizabeth_henstridge #travel #travelhacks #creditcards #boeing ♬ Fly Away – Tones And I
If you can reach people early, establish trust, and garner a relationship, you’ll have loyal supporters going forward that you can serve.
Again a valuable lesson was learned.
I mentioned my back surgery because it changed how I exercise. I make a point of walking, on average, 10k steps a day. For the last several years I’ve been successful at reaching that goal. It means I have a lot of time to listen to podcasts, YouTubes, etc.
As fate would have it, the algos lead me to Gary Vee in the summer of 2019. He wouldn’t shut up about TikTok and how it was the greatest growth opportunity he’d seen in recent years. He also spoke about competing where no one else was, and that was currently TikTok.
I’d started a YouTube channel roughly a year before that and quickly realized that the algos weren’t favoring my content compared to those who had been using the platform for a long time.
@zacharyburrabel Who’s coming with? #travel #creditcards #travelhacks #singaporeairlines ♬ Sexual Healing – Kygo Remix – Marvin Gaye
I viewed TikTok as an incredible arbitrage opportunity on viewership – there were more watchers than content and that meant a lot of potential upside.
I hemmed and hawed because it was mainly kids dancing, etc. I couldn’t stop thinking about my prior missed opportunities. If TikTok truly took off, there was an incredible opportunity to be an early adopter and connect with people that otherwise I hadn’t connected with.
So I leaned in. At first I did funny trends, tried this and that, but ultimately I found my voice doing what I love…entertaining and travel. That’s the key. Do you and do niche.
I grew up obsessed with Jim Carrey, In living Color, Adam Sandler, and funny movies of the 90s. That’s the vibe and energy I took to TikTok, and it gave me the platform to uniquely present what I’ve been writing about on this blog for the past 6 years.
@zacharyburrabel Google Flight Hack for legroom #travel #travelhacks #traveltips #googleflights ♬ Sexual Healing – Kygo Remix – Marvin Gaye
I stuck to three principles
- Educate
- Inspire
- Entertain
I consistently made videos every single day. In fact, some days I’d post more than once. Each video helped me curate my style, connect with my audience, and grow.
I also realized that with growth, comes haters, and that’s ok. In fact, it’s a sign of success.
I made a point taking a few months off at the height of the pandemic. No one was traveling, nearly every form of income was pulled from bloggers, and it didn’t seem sensible to promote travel. Then I changed my mind.
People need to be inspired including myself. I was a bit depressed not doing what I love, and looking back through old videos I needed to be inspired.
I started promoting travel again late 2020 and leaned in hard before the world opened up. I quickly realized that people not only felt the same way, but they wanted to strategize their point game to take those bucket list trips once the world reopened. I also realized that a loud few wanted to denounce that promotion, and could be quite acerbic in the comments section.
I didn’t stop. I kept putting out the content and connecting with the viewers that wanted the education. I still spend at least an hour a day just answering dms, comments, and connecting with my audience. That’s the most important thing, and they’ve stuck with me.
The blog was my backbone
Writing this blog for the last 6 years gave me the foundation and resources I needed to capitalize on massive opportunity when it came around. I’ve spent at least 10k hours blogging, planning trips, and I could direct people to my site which reinforces my content. I went from being some random guy popping up on their For You Page, to someone that could steer traffic to a resource that could help them.
@zacharyburrabel Surprise Honeymoon Part 2 ( booked with points obviously ) @elizabeth_henstridge #travel #travelhacks #traveltips #creditcards #sixsenseslaamu #qsuite ♬ Paradise – Bazzi
So what’s the point of this article? Who cares if I have a million followers on TikTok?
Because anything is possible. If I can do it, so can you. The biggest risk I took was to potentially humiliate myself and flop. But that was the case when I started my acting career and again when I wrote my first blog post. Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from the pursuit of that little voice in your heart that says “go for your dreams!”
The opportunities to do what you truly love, from anywhere in the world, are only growing. TikTok was the conduit for me to have a chance to reach millions, and it can be the conduit for you as well. So could any other future technology that is in the pipeline.
But you have to start. And starting early is much better than late.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.