UGC Creator Jobs: Tips On Getting Started With User-generated Content Creating

UGC creator jobs have become increasingly in-demand which offers content creators lucrative opportunities. You have probably seen countless number of people claiming that they make thousands of dollars every single month through brand deals without actually being influencers.

As wild as this might sound, it’s a 100% legit and proven business model that you can start today from the comfort of your own home with no followers and most importantly, no money up front. And this business model is called UGC.

What is UGC

UGC officially stands for user-generated content, which is essentially videos, pictures or written reviews created for brands by normal people. Typically, what happens is that brands will send you one of their products for 100% free and then on top of that, they’ll even pay you some money to literally just create some content on that product.

This gives you the opportunity to work with some of your favorite brands without needing to be an influencer or have thousands of followers on your social medias. And the best part is you don’t even necessarily need to show your face. All you’re going to need to get started is a good portfolio and decent camera skills. Now because I’m so amazing.

This side hustle is going to be an absolute breeze for you. You’re probably wondering why would brands prefer to promote through regular people instead of influencers? And that’s because more and more brands are catching on to the power of using real people for reviews over influencers because it comes across as more authentic. It just feels a lot more relatable to the average customer than seeing an already established celebrity trying to showcase these products.

It’s a no brainer that people find it easier to connect with people that they see similar to themselves. So of course if a potential customer sees someone like themselves using a product or recommending it, they’re more likely to make that purchase because the review feels more genuine. So of course the conversion rates are going to be significantly higher.

One of the key lessons is that people don’t like to be sold to, they like to be related to. So with this knowledge the next time you’re on TikTok take a good look at the sponsored posts. You’re going to notice way more subtle sponsorship posts of regular people recommending products in story times for example, rather than the old-fashioned way of influencers literally telling you to go and buy a random product from their PR box that they’ve been sent.

How To Get Started With UGC

Firstly you’ll need to create a portfolio. This is a lot easier than it sounds because you can really have fun and get creative with it. In short, what you want to do is just go around the house;

• Pick up 5-10 products that you absolutely love or can’t live without.
• Take a bunch of aesthetic pictures and videos of these products
• Add them into your portfolio.

It’s pretty simple, you don’t have to overthink this step, but if you’re an absolute perfectionist, you can always go back in with CapCut or some other video editing tools to lightly edit the videos. And now your portfolio is done so you’re officially ready to land your first gig. Now this is the advice that most people don’t tell you because once you finish your portfolio, most people will say just go and sign up for these random UGC sites and hope that you can get a gig.

While that could work, it’s definitely not the best option as a complete beginner if you want to make some money fast. Just like any other side hustle, you’re gonna need to be proactive. So you need to be reaching out to brands directly because you haven’t built up your authority in the UGC space yet.

No one knows who you are, you haven’t built up that credibility, and you definitely don’t have any reviews to your name yet.

3 Ways To Maximize Your Chances Of Getting Your First Gig

So these are the three ways that you’re going to maximize your chances of getting your first gig ASAP.

• Firstly it’s a no-brainer you will sign up for a whole bunch of UGC platforms.
• You’ll need to sign up for Fiverr and Upwork.

The good thing about this is that there is a huge demand for UGC creators on these platforms and you’ll also be able to scout through buy requests so you can actively apply for gigs.

• Thirdly, you’ll have to reach out to all of the brands that you’d really like to work with using email template.

The main thing that you really want to focus on at the start of your career in UGC is to start building your reviews and your authority and of course alongside that will come experience. So after each gig you’ll just keep getting better and better at creating content.

In order to start building your credibility, it is recommended that you take on some gigs where you might not necessarily get paid. A lot of the time when you’re just a beginner and you don’t have a lot of companies that you’ve worked with under your belt, you will just be offered a free product to review and that’s going to be how you get compensated for the content.

Say yes to as many as you can because for one you’ll be getting freebies and for two you’ll be getting that experience and you can also add to your portfolio all of the brands that you’ve worked with.

Once you’ve worked with at least five to ten companies, you can start asking for payments. It is recommended that you open a Stripe or a PayPal account because you can send professional looking invoices on there. It definitely looks a deal-breaker if you try and ask companies to just wire transfer you directly and in fact speaking of payments

Best Tips On Getting Started With UGC

Firstly it’s a no-brainer but you want to make sure that you have a contract in place. So you look over it carefully. If you’re lazy, just put it through ChatGPT and ask it to summarize just to make sure that you don’t end up with any sneaky little requests that might be overlooked in the fine print.

If you do feel more comfortable providing your own contract, consider adding things like late fees. So for example every week that the payment is delayed by the company they have to pay you an extra 10% of whatever the total was.

Another way to protect yourself is to watermark your content and make it clear to the brand or even just put it in the contract that you will not remove the watermark until the payment is released. This gives companies the flexibility of actually rejecting or approving the content that you submit but it also protects you because they can’t just run off with the content because it will have a watermark on it.

A final and very important tip that you’ll want to consider before you get into UGC is the usage rights of your content. This basically means whether a company is allowed to use the content that you’ve created for promotional purposes where they’re making money off it.

In this case, charge an extra fee for extended usage rights. So if these companies decide to go off and run ads to your content or use the content for a part of their campaign where they’re making money, you’ll also be making money off it too.

Conclusion

This guide covered everything you need to know to go off and start making money with UGC. The main point is that as easy as the side hustle is to start you should aim to stick with it for at least six months to a year and really give it a good shot before you decide to quit.

The advice goes for absolutely any side hustle because UGC is a great opportunity if you don’t have much money to invest so when you start seeing those profits, reinvest into the side hustle and get yourself some better equipment. Grab yourself a better camera or a phone specifically just for UGC, a little clip on mic, a backdrop, maybe even a library of non-copyrighted music that you can use in the background of your content.

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