l need assistance with understanding monetization.

Hello all,

This is a bit embarrassing as i’m in my early 20s but i’m so overwhelmed with how everything works regarding the different methods of monetizing.

I see so many creators with sometimes even under 10k followers who are making a decent amount. Lots of people are making livable wages just from views. I’m not super interested in tiktok shop promotion videos, but how the heck do I make money from daily content.

for context-
my account has around 50k. I’ve joined the creator programs and all of those things, but I don’t get it. Most of my views are consistent, but my account says 0 even though i’ve been monetized for a while now.

I also don’t understand the creator program stuff. It’s so confusing to me. I’m not interested at all in UGC or promoting products. However, I constantly get messages saying shops want to work with me and free samples, I apply for the sample and never get them nor do they ever respond to messages.

I do have companies that reach out outside of tiktok for brand deals/ ambassador deals, but within the app i’m so lost.

I do use search insights, I understand that stuff. But why am I not getting any profit whatsoever.

Please explain like i’m 5.