Course description

A short video can show what you sell, where you are and why someone should visit, to people who've never walked past your door. TikTok can bring those people in. It can also eat your evenings and leave you chasing views that never turn into customers. This course shows you how to plan, film, edit and post short videos that bring real customers to your shop, café, salon or website, at a pace you can keep, with the phone you already have.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and every lesson ends with a practical task for your own business or an example. You follow Komal, who runs a vintage clothes shop near the Clock Tower in Leicester, from her first notes in January to a review of her first eight months: the chart song that got muted, the hook that got the price wrong, the label video she called a flop that became her most-viewed, the first LIVE that lost its signal, and the till tally that showed what was really working. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, model answers, a cheat sheet and ready-to-use tools, including a TikTok plan on a page, an idea bank, a script template, filming and edit checklists, a filming permission template, a LIVE plan card, a collaboration brief, a results tracker and a twelve-week calendar.

What you'll learn

• Getting started: what TikTok can and can't do for a small business or creator, how the For You feed works in general terms, goals that are about customers, and a TikTok plan on a page.
• Setting up a business account: personal and business accounts and the age rules, a username, photo and bio that say what, where and when, profile links you can measure, security and scams, and the settings that matter.
• Ideas, hooks and short scripts: an idea bank built from customer questions, formats that suit small businesses, honest hooks, Hook, Show, Tell, Next scripts and planning a shoot.
• Filming on your phone: vertical framing, light and sound on a small budget, filming products, places and hands, talking to camera or faceless videos, and filming customers, staff and children with permission.
• Editing in the app: recording and uploading, trimming and pace, text on screen and covers, filters, voiceovers and AI labels, and the post screen.
• Sounds, music and copyright: original sound, the Commercial Music Library for business accounts, copyright in plain terms, Duet, Stitch and reposts, and what to do if a sound is muted or a video removed.
• Captions, accessibility and being found: checking auto captions, accessible videos, search words and hashtags, a posting rhythm you can keep, and trends that fit you.
• Comments, community and LIVE: replies and video replies, difficult comments and looking after yourself, messages and enquiries, going LIVE, and collaborations with clear ad labels.
• Analytics, local customers and money: reading TikTok's analytics calmly, measuring visits, orders and bookings, reaching local customers, and TikTok Shop and paid promotion in outline.
• Putting it all together: a review of the example shop's first eight months, a review of a canal-side café's account, then your own first three videos and twelve-week plan.

Who it's for

Small retailers, cafés, salons and other hospitality and service businesses in the UK, and creators who sell their own products or services, who want TikTok to bring in customers and want an honest, practical way to do it. You don't need any filming or editing experience, or expensive kit. This is an in-depth TikTok course, so it doesn't cover other social platforms. The lessons explain the UK rules on music, ads, reviews, prices, filming people, data and tax as general information, not legal or tax advice. The course doesn't promise views, followers or sales, because nobody honestly can. Everyone in the course is fictional.

What will I learn?

• Set goals that are about customers, not just views, and write a TikTok plan on a page you can keep in a busy week
• Set up and secure a business account with a profile that says what you sell, where you are and when you're open
• Turn customer questions into video ideas, and write honest hooks and short Hook, Show, Tell, Next scripts
• Film steady, well-lit vertical videos with clear sound on your phone, with permission from anyone who appears
• Edit in TikTok's own editor with readable text, checked captions and sounds your business is allowed to use
• Understand the For You feed in general terms, and use search words, a steady rhythm and trends that fit you
• Reply to comments and messages, handle difficult ones calmly, plan a LIVE, and label ads under UK rules
• Measure visits, orders and bookings, reach local customers, and judge TikTok Shop and Promote for your business

Frequently asked questions