If you have been posting on TikTok for weeks and your follower count is barely moving, you are not doing anything wrong as a person. You are missing a few specific tactics that the people who blow up fast already know about. Alston Godbolt built a TikTok account to 50,000 subscribers, lost it, then rebuilt from scratch using the exact same five hacks covered in this post. These are not vague motivational tips. They are specific, repeatable moves you can run today even if you are sitting at zero followers right now.
The beauty of TikTok for anyone trying to build an online income is that the algorithm does not care how old your account is. It cares whether people engage with your content. These five tactics are designed to get that engagement from day one, before you have a single viral video under your belt. If you have fewer than 1,000 followers and feel stuck, keep reading, because the fourth hack is designed specifically for exactly that situation.
What You’ll Walk Out With
- How to find already-viral content in your niche using incognito mode so you stop guessing what works
- The exact method to stitch a viral video and redirect its traffic toward your own offer or niche
- How to borrow traffic from bigger creators by leaving strategic video comment replies on their posts
- A 15-second follower welcome tactic that builds fans who buy instead of viewers who scroll past
- Why “DM me” beats “subscribe” as a call to action, especially for accounts under 1,000 followers
- How to call out industry norms in your niche to trigger both sides of the debate and grow fast
- An honest look at the drawbacks of each hack so you go in with clear expectations
- Not sure what niche or product to build around yet? Start at finder.platformproof.com to match your existing skills to a monetizable path
Before the 5 Hacks: You Need a Niche First
Before running any of the five hacks below, Alston makes one prerequisite clear: you need a niche or a target audience before you start. Not a vague idea of a niche. A specific one. Pet care. Keto cooking. Side hustle education. Personal finance for teachers. The more specific you get, the better each of these hacks works, because every move you make is calibrated to reach the same group of people over and over.
Here is why this matters so much before hack number one. When you go into incognito mode to look at what is going viral, you need to know what you are looking for. If your niche is keto recipes, a viral pet video does not help you at all. But a viral food video with 4.4 million likes gives you an immediate road map. Without a niche, you are just scrolling. With a niche, you are researching. Pick yours before you open a single tab.
If you genuinely do not know what niche fits your skills and interests, that is the one thing to solve first. Run through the free quiz at finder.platformproof.com before you post another TikTok. It exists specifically to match what you already know to a path that can earn.
Hack 1: Browse TikTok in Incognito Mode and Stitch What Is Already Working
The first hack changes how you do research entirely. Instead of scrolling your regular TikTok feed and hoping for inspiration, Alston opens TikTok in an incognito browser window while logged out. The reason is simple: when you are logged in, TikTok shows you content based on your personal history. That is a biased sample. When you are logged out in incognito mode, TikTok shows you what is going viral globally, with no filter on your watch history or preferences.
Once you are in that unfiltered view, scroll through and look for videos that are relevant to your niche. You are not just browsing for entertainment. You are doing market research. If a cat training video has 4.4 million likes, that tells you the pet niche is hungry for this content right now. If a food video is blowing up, and your niche is keto, you have a ready-made angle: a keto version of that dish, or a breakdown of which products at Walmart are keto-friendly.
The next step is stitching. Once you find a video that is performing at a high level and that connects to your niche in some way, copy the link, bring it over to your TikTok account, and search for the video. Check that the video is set to allow stitches. If it is, you can let the original video run for the first 10 to 15 seconds, then cut in with your own commentary, reaction, or recommendation.
Here is a concrete example of how this works in practice. Say you are in the pet niche and you find that cat training video with 4.4 million likes. You stitch it. After the first 15 seconds, you cut in and say something like: “This is a great video, but what if there was an even faster way to teach your cat this trick?” Then you pitch your digital product, your affiliate link, or just direct people to your profile for more. You are piggybacking on proven demand instead of gambling on a brand new idea.
The core insight here is that the biggest problem for new TikTok creators is guesswork. They spend hours creating content they hope will work. This hack removes the guesswork by pointing you straight at content that already has millions of data points confirming it works. Let the algorithm tell you what people want. Then serve that demand in your own voice.
Hack 2: Drop Video Comments in Other Creators’ Popular Videos
The second hack is about borrowing authority from creators who already have large audiences. Here is how it works. You go to the search bar in TikTok and search for your niche, whether that is side hustles, dog training, keto recipes, or anything else. Then you sort the results to show videos with the most likes posted within the last three months. This filter matters. You want videos that are currently performing well, not content that went viral two years ago and has since cooled off.
Once you find a video with a lot of views in your niche, you open the comment section. You are looking for questions that people are asking in the comments. Real questions from real viewers, things like: “How do you stop a dog from peeing in the house?” or “What is the easiest keto meal to make on a busy weeknight?” These are not hypothetical. These are people raising their hand and telling you exactly what they need help with.
Instead of typing a text reply, you record a video reply. TikTok has a built-in feature for this. Your video reply does three things at once. First, it goes directly to the person who asked the question, which creates an immediate personal connection. Second, your video reply shows up embedded in the original creator’s comment section, so every other person who scrolls through that comment thread also sees your video. Third, that video reply stays on your TikTok account permanently, as its own piece of content.
Even if the original creator deletes your reply from their comments, the video still lives on your account. You keep the content either way. The result is that you end up with a near-unlimited supply of content ideas, because questions from other videos never stop coming, and you are systematically building trust with people who are already in your niche and already trying to solve a specific problem.
Bigger TikTok creators generally do not take the time to answer individual questions with full videos. That gap is your opening. When you show up in the comments of a 500,000-view video and actually answer someone’s question with a thoughtful video reply, you stand out immediately. That is what Alston means by “borrowing authoritative traffic.” The audience already exists. You are just becoming useful to it.
Hack 3: Send a Personal 15-Second Welcome Video to Every New Follower
This hack is about the difference between viewers and fans. Viewers watch your content. Fans buy from you, share your content without being asked, and stick with you through the long haul of building an online business. The gap between a viewer and a fan is almost always built in small moments of personal connection. This hack creates one of those moments every single time someone new follows you.
The move is simple. When you get a new follower, go to your inbox, check your new followers, and record a quick 15-second video saying their name and thanking them personally. Something like: “Hey Frank, thanks so much for the follow. I really appreciate it. If you have any questions about building an online income, just reply down below and I will create a video answer for you.” That is it. Fifteen seconds.
Alston got this idea from an email app called Bonjour, which lets creators send quick personal video messages to new email subscribers. He adapted it for TikTok and found that it works even better on video because the personal connection feels immediate and real. The result he describes is striking: it got to the point where people were messaging him five days after following, asking why they had not gotten their welcome video yet. That is the level of expectation you build when you treat followers like real people instead of numbers.
In 2023, most creators on any platform treat followers as metrics. When you break that pattern and reach out personally, it signals something different. It signals that you are not just broadcasting content at an audience. You are building an actual community. People who feel personally acknowledged by a creator become advocates. They share your content. They comment on your videos. They buy the things you recommend because they trust you, not just your information.
Not sure which niche or product actually fits your background?
The free Finder quiz at finder.platformproof.com matches your existing skills and interests to a monetizable path in under 7 minutes. No guessing required.
Hack 4: Replace “Subscribe” With “DM Me” as Your Call to Action
This hack is especially important for anyone under 1,000 followers on TikTok, and here is why. TikTok does not let you put a link in your bio or video descriptions until you hit 1,000 followers. That means if you end every video with “subscribe” or “follow me,” you are converting viewers into passive followers who still cannot click through to any product or offer. You have a follower but no buyer.
The shift is to end every video with “DM me if you have any questions” or simply “my DMs are open.” This tiny change flips the outcome entirely. Instead of a passive follow, you are now getting a direct message from someone who is interested enough to take action. That person is raising their hand. They want more. They have a specific question or need that you can address directly in that conversation.
In a DM conversation, you have someone’s full attention. There are no algorithm changes, no feed competition, no distractions. If you have a digital product or an affiliate offer that fits what they are asking about, you can recommend it in context. The person on the other end is already primed because they reached out first. This is a completely different quality of contact than a passive follow from someone who scrolled past your video for two seconds.
The broader lesson here is about meeting people where they are in the buying process. A follow is just awareness. A DM is interest bordering on intent. If you are trying to make your first few dollars online, optimizing for DMs over follower count puts you in front of people who are much closer to an actual purchase. Even if your follower count grows more slowly, the conversations you are having are far more valuable per person.
Hack 5: Call Out an Industry Norm in Your Niche
The fifth hack is about controversy done right. Every niche has accepted wisdom that a vocal subset of that niche suspects is wrong, oversimplified, or just plain misleading. When you step up and call out that standard practice directly, you trigger a response from both sides of the debate. That reaction is engagement. And engagement is exactly what TikTok’s algorithm rewards.
Alston’s own example from the video is a clear one. He would find videos in the online income space claiming that you can watch ads and make $300 a day. He would stitch those videos and then explain, point by point, why that claim does not hold up in practice. The people who had already tried it and failed would flood the comments saying “yes, exactly, this is a scam.” The people who still believed it would show up to defend the method. Both groups are engaging with your content. Both groups are being pushed to your profile.
The same principle applies in any niche. If you are in the pet space, maybe the conventional wisdom is that a specific training method is the only way to house-train a dog. If you have a different approach that works, call out the standard method, explain what you do differently, and tell people why. If you are in the food or keto space, challenge a widely accepted dietary claim that you genuinely believe is misleading people.
Alston adds one critical qualifier here, and it is worth taking seriously. Only call out industry norms that you actually disagree with. Do not manufacture controversy for its own sake. Create content with honesty and integrity, or the trust you are trying to build will collapse the moment people realize you are just stirring the pot for views. The goal is to find something you genuinely believe people in your niche are getting wrong, and then say so clearly.
Putting All 5 Hacks Together: A Weekly Action Plan
Here is how to fold all five hacks into a repeatable weekly routine that does not require posting eight videos a day.
- Monday morning research session (30 minutes): Open TikTok in incognito mode, logged out. Scroll through and screenshot or note any viral videos relevant to your niche. Aim for at least three strong candidates for stitching this week.
- Stitch one viral video per week: Pick the strongest candidate from your research. Record your stitch video with a clear angle: you are adding to it, correcting it, or taking the concept into your specific sub-niche. Keep it under 60 seconds if possible.
- Video comment drops (15 minutes daily): Search your niche in TikTok. Find one popular video. Read 20 comments. If a good question exists, record a video reply. You only need one per day to start building a reputation as the person who actually answers questions.
- Welcome new followers each evening: Check your inbox for new followers from that day. Record a quick personalized 15-second video for each one. If you get 10 new followers in a day and this takes 15 minutes, that is 15 minutes well spent.
- Swap your CTA on every video: Before you post any video this week, review the ending. If you say “follow me” or “subscribe,” swap it for “DM me if you have questions” or “my DMs are open.” This takes five seconds per video and immediately improves the quality of the contacts you are building.
- One industry norm callout per month: Pick something in your niche that you believe is misleading or wrong. Research it. Write out exactly why you disagree. Post a video that calls it out directly, with evidence and your reasoning. This does not need to happen every week. Once a month is enough to keep this kind of content in your mix.
Honest Drawbacks Worth Knowing
None of these hacks are magic. There are real trade-offs to understand before you invest your time.
Stitching requires permission: Not every viral video has stitching enabled. The creator controls this setting. If stitching is turned off, you have to find a different video or approach the concept as an original response video instead. This adds a step but is not a blocker.
Video comment replies scale badly if you grow fast: Sending personal welcome videos to every new follower is genuinely sustainable when you have 50 to 200 new followers per day. If you suddenly get 2,000 new followers in one day from a viral video, you are not going to be able to welcome all of them personally. Have a plan for how to handle that moment, such as a follow-up video posted to your account that serves as a group welcome.
DMs can get messy: When you start promoting your DMs as an open channel, some people will take you up on it in ways you did not anticipate: spam, off-topic questions, or requests you cannot fulfill. Set clear expectations in your DM opener about what you can and cannot help with.
Calling out norms can backfire: If you call out something that the majority of your target audience strongly believes in, and your reasoning is thin, you will not just get debate. You will get backlash that pushes people away from your account. Only go this route when you have solid, specific reasons for your position and can back them up if challenged in the comments.
Find Your X
All five of these hacks work best when you already know what you are building toward. Stitching a viral video is great, but it works far better when you have a clear offer or niche you are directing people to. Video comment replies build trust, but trust converts into income only when you have something to offer once people land in your DMs. Before you put in the hours on any of these tactics, take five minutes to get clear on what you are actually monetizing.
If you do not have that answer yet, that is what finder.platformproof.com is built for. The free quiz matches your background, your interests, and your availability to a realistic income path. It takes under seven minutes and gives you a specific starting point, not just general advice about “following your passion.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be on TikTok if I am already posting on YouTube or Instagram?
Not necessarily. These five hacks are TikTok-specific, but the underlying ideas apply on other platforms. YouTube Shorts has a video reply feature similar to TikTok’s. Instagram Reels allows stitching through remix. If you are already established on one platform, pick the hacks that translate most cleanly and test them there before committing to a brand new TikTok account.
How long does it take to grow to 1,000 followers using these methods?
That depends heavily on how consistently you execute and how strong your niche content is. Alston grew an original account to 50,000 before losing it, then started rebuilding using these same methods. Timeline varies by niche competition, posting frequency, and how well your stitched content performs. There is no honest answer that gives you a specific number of days. Focus on consistency over speed.
Is it okay to stitch videos from creators who are much bigger than me?
Yes, as long as the original creator has stitching enabled. TikTok’s stitch feature is a built-in tool that creators turn on intentionally. If stitching is available on a video, the creator has already given permission for others to use it. Larger creators often benefit from stitches because the engagement increases their video’s performance too. It is a fair exchange.
What should I actually say in a DM when someone reaches out?
Start by answering whatever question they sent you. Do not lead with a pitch. Understand their specific situation first. Once you have done that and a natural opportunity exists to mention a product, service, or resource, then you can bring it up. Treating DMs as a customer conversation rather than a sales script makes a big difference in whether people buy or block you.
Can I call out a product or brand by name when challenging industry norms?
Be careful here. Calling out a claim or a general practice is very different from directly naming a brand in a critical way. Alston’s example is about calling out a method, not a specific company. Stick to challenging ideas, practices, and claims rather than targeting specific businesses, especially if you cannot back up your statements with clear evidence. The goal is to build credibility, not to get into legal disputes.
How many video comments should I drop per day to see results?
Even one per day, done consistently for 30 days, will begin to build a noticeable presence in your niche. The key is choosing the right comments to respond to: questions that many people in the comment section have already liked or replied to, because that signals broad interest in the answer. Quality and consistency matter more than volume. Five thoughtful video replies in a week outperform 20 rushed ones.
What happens if the original creator deletes my video reply from their comment section?
Nothing bad happens to you. As Alston explains in the video, TikTok video replies stay on your account regardless of what the original creator does with them. Your content is yours. The only thing that changes is that the link back to their video from your reply is removed, but the video itself continues to exist on your profile and can still be found through your account or through search.
I have a niche but I do not have a product to sell yet. Can I still use these hacks?
Yes. Building an audience before you have a product is a legitimate strategy. Use stitching, video comments, and the DM tactic to understand exactly what problems your audience is dealing with. That research will tell you what product to build or what affiliate offer to recommend. By the time you launch something, you will have a warm audience that already knows and trusts you, which is a far better starting position than launching to a cold list.
Read Next
These five hacks are about growing your TikTok presence the smart way. If you want to take the next step and actually create TikTok content without showing your face or recording original footage from scratch, check out this post on making Reddit TikTok videos for free without relying on paid voice tools.
How To Make Reddit TikTok Videos For Free (NOT 11Labs)
Sources
- Alston Godbolt, “5 Legendary Hacks Pro Marketers Use In TikTok | Start Making Money With TikTok”: https://youtu.be/IfHBjwoBPoY
- TikTok Help Center: How to Stitch a Video, support.tiktok.com
- TikTok monetization requirements, including the 1,000-follower threshold for bio links
- Bonjour app, a video messaging tool for email welcome sequences, referenced by Alston as the inspiration for the new-follower welcome video tactic
Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.