How a TikToker with 760K followers built a business reenacting Facebook Marketplace scams, from the apps he uses to manage his workflow to how much money he earns

• Chris Guerra creates comedy content on TikTok and Instagram for a combined 800,000 followers.
• He recently decided to drop his management company when he realized he could self-manage.
• Here’s the tech stack he uses to edit his videos and manage his workflow.

Chris Guerra, an actor and comedian, was skeptical before posting his first TikTok video in 2021.

“I thought it was only for 13-year-olds,” he explained to Insider. “As an actor, you’re always trying to sell yourself as a brand, just like you do on TikTok. But I didn’t go on TikTok because I assumed it was only for kids.”

But one day, after listing an item for sale on Facebook Marketplace, he had a funny interaction, and his wife suggested he try making a TikTok video reenacting it. That video quickly went viral, and it changed Guerra’s mind.

Two years later, he has nearly 800,000 TikTok and Instagram followers for his videos of “Facebook Marketplace Nightmares,” in which he reenacts real conversations users have had while negotiating transactions on Facebook. Guerra now collects screenshots of his followers’ interactions and creates videos based on those submissions.

Guerra earns $5,000 to $6,000 per month from subscriptions and tips from his most devoted followers, brand partnerships, and platform bonuses (Insider confirmed this information with documentation provided by Guerra). He still works as a web developer, filmmaker, and improv teacher, but he claims that social media is his main source of income, and he has a dedicated community of followers.

Guerra also stated that for about four months this year, he worked with a management company that cost him thousands of dollars per month to help him land collaborations with brands. In July, however, he realized he could rely on some key apps and tools he was already using to manage his workflow and brand deals on his own.

This is Guerra’s tech stack for editing and repurposing content, managing his workflow, and keeping track of brand partnerships.

1. Videoleap

Guerra edits his short-form videos with Videoleap, a mobile editing app that costs $8 a month and includes pre-edited templates for TikToks and Instagram reels.

Guerra had prior experience with the video-editing software Adobe Premiere Pro, which he still uses on occasion.

2. Linktree

Guerra uses Linktree for his TikTok and Instagram link-in-bio, as well as to link out to his other social profiles, a form for his audience members to submit their Facebook Marketplace experiences, and some press articles he’s been featured on.

Linktree has a free plan, but Guerra pays $7 per month to gain access to more features such as customized buttons, more integrations with various monetization tools, and link scheduling.

3. Jotform

Guerra gets the content he uses in his videos from Jotform.

The platform includes forms and templates for various types of documents. Guerra created a form on Jotform for his audience to share their Facebook Marketplace experiences.

Guerra initially paid $30 per month to use the platform, but after realizing how much he was using it and organically promoting it on his profile, he approached the company and now has a promotional contract with Jotform that pays him $3,500 per month.

“Not enough influencers reach out to brands that they’re already using,” Guerra said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity.” Examine your attire in your videos. You have clothes on. Go contact those companies. You’re all dressed up. You have earrings on. Behind you is a blue screen. What is the name of that company? “Go make contact with them.”

Guerra is able to capture the emails of users who submit their Facebook Marketplace experiences by using a form system, and he now has a database of “power users” that he can use in the future.

“If TikTok ever goes down, I can contact them and say,’Hey guys, I’m moving to this other app,'” he explained. “One of these days, I’m going to contact them and see if they want to donate to help me make a film.”

Guerra also uses Jotform to create contracts and invoices for paid partnerships that he sends to brands. The invoices integrate with Stripe and Paypal, allowing brands to send payments directly.

4. BigVu

BigVu is a teleprompter and caption generator app. It enables Guerra to enter the script of the video he’s filming without having to memorize it all. This is useful for Guerra when reenacting long or complicated scenes.

5. Captions.ai

Captions.ai, as the name suggests, is an AI platform that generates captions based on the audio of a video.

“Captions are huge,” said Guerra. “Every creator should use captions because people watch TV in bed at night with the volume turned down.”

6. Repurpose.io

Guerra can use Repurpose to automatically download videos from TikTok without the watermark and repost them on multiple social media platforms without having to do the manual work of reposting them himself. It also works with Dropbox, Google Drive, and podcasting services.

This tool is on the pricey side, costing $15 per month for the most basic plan, and Guerra only uses it when he knows he’ll be shooting and publishing a lot of content.