From zero to one million TikTok followers, with no industry help!
Country singer Britnee Kellogg was told “no” by every label and Nashville industry connection. Did she quit? Quite the opposite. She went and blazed her own path to success using TikTok. She began with a clear TikTok goal, diligently worked towards that goal for many months (even when the likes, comments, and follows weren’t coming), and then…
Well, we’ll let Britnee tell her own story in the video above. But the title of this episode should give you a clue as to the scale of her achievement, growing her TikTok following from 0 to ONE MILLION in a very short amount of time.
If you’re an independent artist who has yet to dive into TikTok, you should find Britnee’s advice both informative and inspiring. If you’re a TikTok pro, you’ll probably learn some new tips and find relief that other successful artists on TikTok still have struggles when it comes to their social presence.
In this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Britnee Kellogg talks about:
- Her musical roots
- How she went from zero to a million TIkTok followers
- Being told “no” by everyone in the music industry, and dealing with that rejection
- Starting with a goal on TikTok
- Finding her TikTok voice
- Her first viral TikTok moment
- Why singing to a recording might be better “content” than a live acoustic performance
- How repetition on TikTok makes it more like radio
- Pivoting once TIkTok algorithmic energy declines
- Whether her TikTok success lead to industry attention
- TikTok’s influence on music marketing and music production timelines
- Pushing past her TikTok flops
- The power of teasing songs on TikTok that aren’t “finished”
- Helping TIkTok users self-identify with her content
- How to make the most of TikTok captions
- Working more closely with TikTok’s team
- Moving her TikTok audience off-platform
- Becoming a paid influencer on TikTok
- Using on-screen comments on TikTok
- And much more
Thanks to Britnee for sharing her talent and perspective with us. We can’t wait to have her back on the show to see how she was able to build upon this massive TikTok success!
How is your music doing on TikTok?
Have you tried TikTok tactics similar to Britnee? Something totally different? What’s been working and falling flat? Let me know in the comments!
Chris Robley is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and award-winning poet from Maine.
His Beatlesque indie-pop and milltown Americana songs have been praised by The Associated Press, No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, Boston Globe, NPR, American Songwriter, and others.
His poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, and more.
Robley has received a Maine Literary Award in Poetry, Boulevard’s Emerging Writers Prize for Poetry, and in 2016 was selected by former US-poet laureate Robert Pinsky as a finalist for the Dorset Prize.