666: $300/hr as a Content Creator w/ No Audience Required

0:00:06 300 bucks an hour as a content creator with no audience required. Today’s guest went from
0:00:11 zero to over a hundred grand a year on the side from her day job with a unique online business
0:00:19 centered on UGC. That’s user generated content. This is getting paid by brands to help them fill
0:00:24 their social feeds with organic looking content. Even if you’re not an influencer, even if you’re
0:00:31 not a niche expert, and even if you don’t have any following right now, from MeganCollierUGC.com.
0:00:35 Megan Collier, welcome to the Side Hustle Show. Thanks for having me, Nick. I’m excited to be here
0:00:40 and chat about UGC. This is a new, I’m like an elder millennial, so you’re gonna have to break it down
0:00:46 for me. But I’m excited to learn alongside the audience in this one. We’re covering step-by-step
0:00:51 how you can tap into the UGC gold rush, and it absolutely is a gold rush that I see going on
0:00:56 right now. How to approach brands and land your first deals, figuring out pricing and production
0:01:02 side, and how to potentially scale to hundreds of dollars an hour, maybe even a full-time income
0:01:07 stream, just like Megan did. So I want to go back. So my understanding is you’ve got a young kid at home,
0:01:12 you’re working full-time, and you kind of see this opportunity, and the goal is like, if I can just make
0:01:17 a thousand bucks a month, that would be fantastic. And then you land your very first deal, $750.
0:01:23 You’re like, okay, there’s something to this. Walk me through this first deal and how you got started.
0:01:28 Yeah, that’s basically it. You know, I was scrolling on TikTok one day randomly, like a lot of us do these
0:01:34 days. Saw somebody talking about UGC. They explained it fairly clearly. It made sense to me. And I already
0:01:40 knew that brands were, you know, they needed content because most brands are on social media. So it made
0:01:46 sense to me. And so I was like, this kind of sounds too good to be true, but I’m willing to try it out.
0:01:54 And so I did. I just kind of jumped right in. And I, yeah, I had a goal of a thousand bucks a month. I
0:02:01 thought maybe, yeah, we could pay our car payments, maybe some groceries. And yeah, I started basically,
0:02:08 I created a portfolio using products around my house that I already had created video examples. So brands
0:02:14 could kind of get to know me, my style of content. Okay. So this was stuff just, I had this lying
0:02:18 around. I need, I need a portfolio that I’m not getting paid to do this, but I need, I need something
0:02:24 to show somebody on a media kit type of deal. Exactly. Media kit portfolio. You can use them
0:02:28 simultaneously, just really one central place. And that’s what I just saw. I kind of pieced together
0:02:33 information from people I was following on TikTok that I saw doing UGC. Okay. So I’m like, okay,
0:02:39 I clearly need a portfolio. So that’s what I did. I literally, um, had two videos that I did about
0:02:45 the cat treats that we give our two cats, a toy, a toy kit that we gave our, you know,
0:02:50 that we got our son off of Amazon or something. Okay. And then, um, a travel fidget spinner. I had
0:02:56 four videos total, uh, when I hit publish on my portfolio and I just did it on Canva. It wasn’t like
0:03:01 I coded a website or built this crazy website. It was really, really simple. Yeah. Four videos
0:03:06 hit publish and I started reaching out to brands. Okay. Were those posted to your own social channels
0:03:11 or those are just like hosted on Canva at this point as a, as a placeholder or as like a place
0:03:16 to showcase those videos? Yeah. Just mainly Canva. I think I probably, I decided to start a new TikTok,
0:03:20 like taking everyone through my journey. I saw other people doing that. I’m like, okay, this would
0:03:25 probably keep me accountable to continue doing it and sharing my process, my journey starting UGC.
0:03:30 So I started a brand new TikTok and I think I posted those video examples there just because I thought
0:03:36 that’s what you should do. And so, yeah, the, yeah, the portfolio was the main thing that I sent to brands
0:03:42 though, when I was reaching out and I was reaching out to brands two ways. One is Instagram DM. I would
0:03:50 like literally just scroll Instagram, look at the ads that I was seeing on Instagram and then go and follow
0:03:57 the brand if I wasn’t already following them. And then I would DM them and say, Hey, I’m Megan. I’m a UGC
0:04:03 creator. I’ve been seeing your ads. Your product looks like something I could totally use myself. And I’d love
0:04:09 to be connected with the person in charge of handling partnerships. And I got several responses from that. That’s
0:04:15 how I landed my second UGC deal. The first one though, that you mentioned the $750 deal, uh, was
0:04:21 like 10 days into my UGC journey. And that was with an app company that I just ended up emailing cold
0:04:28 pitching via email. And, uh, yeah, they ended up hiring me for three videos initially. And then I
0:04:32 wanted to make more money and prove that I could actually do this and make a, you know, good chunk of
0:04:38 money for my first UGC deal. And so I ended up, I didn’t tell them, but I made five total videos for
0:04:44 them. And I was like, Hey, I ended up having a ton of like ideas for you guys. And I have five videos.
0:04:48 If you want to buy the other two. And they were like, Oh my gosh, yes, a hundred percent. We need
0:04:54 all the videos that we can get. Oh, okay. Okay. So then it ended up being about $750 for those five
0:05:00 videos. Okay. So step one, create the portfolio. Step two, start doing the brand outreach. And it sounds
0:05:05 like I’m just going to scroll my feed and show who showed up in the ads. Like I know they’re
0:05:10 investing in user acquisition and growth marketing. So they’re, they might be more receptive to this
0:05:14 because my, my approach would have been like, well, what are the top 25, 50 brands that I already
0:05:19 know, like, and trust and I use, and I’m going to start there. It sounds like, uh, you know,
0:05:24 maybe that, maybe that comes down the road. Honestly, I think that what works is the only
0:05:30 way to land the deal is literally by connecting with brands. So it doesn’t matter if you’re going
0:05:34 to DM, if you’re going to email, if you’re just going to start with the brands that you already
0:05:39 like, because that also is super powerful because you’re coming to the brand saying, Hey, I’ve been
0:05:44 using this product for X amount of months or X amount of years. They’ve already got that. Like
0:05:49 it’s, it’s a bonus for them because they have a real customer that’s going to be willing to make
0:05:54 some really authentic, genuine content. So yeah, a hundred percent, you can start with brands you
0:05:58 already know, you already like, you can quite literally, this is what I tell people if they’re
0:06:04 kind of having a block on who to reach out to is take a pen and piece of paper or take your notes app
0:06:09 on your phone, go walk around your house and look at all the products that you have that you’ve purchased
0:06:17 that you use on a consistent basis. I can almost guarantee most of those brands are posting
0:06:22 consistently on, on social media. And probably a lot of them are also working already with UGC
0:06:27 creators. Yeah. And it’s not just, you know, I’m thinking of like the closet and shoes and clothes,
0:06:34 but also food and snacks and toys and games, like all sorts of stuff. So much. And even,
0:06:38 and even software, like you said, the first deal was a, was an app company. Yeah. I’ve worked with
0:06:45 so many apps, software companies that I’ve used for years and just, you know, they just hired me to do UGC.
0:06:51 So whenever people ask me like what kind of brands are using UGC creators, it’s truly a mix. It’s,
0:06:56 it’s across the board. I’ve worked with fashion, like clothing companies, software tech companies,
0:07:02 like you as a, you doing podcasts, like I’m looking at your, your headphones, right? Your mic, like you,
0:07:08 what, whatever you’re using as a podcaster, so many brands are, are using, you know, user generated
0:07:13 content in their marketing strategies. Okay. That’s what they’re getting out of the deal is we’re going to hire
0:07:20 Megan or a hundred people like Megan to fill out our own content feed. Like that’s, it’s,
0:07:24 there’s always another day coming around. There’s always going to be need, needing more stuff to post.
0:07:29 And so this is a way to kind of crowdsource that in an authentic looking way or, or, you know,
0:07:34 from actual users of the thing. And so that’s their benefit benefit to you is obviously you’re getting
0:07:39 paid to do it. And so it sounds like from your Instagram DMS, it’s like, could you connect me with
0:07:47 the, you said the person handling content partnerships or is like some, is that an official job title that
0:07:51 I want to like be on the lookout for? Yeah, it’s, it’s going to be different for every brand,
0:07:56 right? So what I like to tell people is, you know, typically when you’re reaching out to medium,
0:08:02 you know, from medium to large sized brands, the person that’s looking at the DMS of the brand,
0:08:08 like on the brand’s Instagram account is not typically a decision maker, right? It’s going to be
0:08:13 a customer service person that just wants to answer questions quickly. So that’s why I say,
0:08:19 always ask to be connected with the brand partnerships, or it could be an influencer
0:08:24 manager, manager, it could be a partnerships director, it could be a creative director. So you
0:08:31 could ask it in a specific way more like, can I be connected with the person in charge of handling
0:08:36 partnerships? So you don’t have to say a specific title, but just whoever’s in charge of, you know,
0:08:41 working with content creators. Okay. And same thing over email, like is this through the generic
0:08:46 contact form on the, on the page? It seems like half the time that’s just going into a black box
0:08:51 where, you know, maybe it’s customer service that checks that, or maybe it just is into a black hole,
0:08:55 but it’s the same kind of language. Like, could you put me in touch? Could you connect me with the
0:09:00 influencer marketing department or something? Typically it’s going to be the same. You’re
0:09:06 going to like with Instagram DM, you know, it’s going to be a little quicker, shorter text. It’s not
0:09:10 going to be like, Hey, I’m Megan. This is who I am. This is what I love about your products.
0:09:16 Like when you email somebody, it could be the generic email. If you literally cannot find
0:09:25 the email of whoever is in charge or a marketing person’s, you know, email contact info. So it could
0:09:32 be, and I, I do find that when the generic email is the only one that you can find and you do send
0:09:38 cold outreach emails to those, they typically do get forwarded to the right person, but you know,
0:09:44 of course it could go unread or could get lost in the mix. And that’s where follow-up can come
0:09:49 through too. Yeah. And I suppose you could look on LinkedIn for somebody who has like a, you know,
0:09:53 marketing director, partner marketing, you know, something like that in their job role and try and
0:10:00 reverse engineer, you know, their email, like Jay Smith at brand name.com, you know, try and figure out
0:10:04 what are the common email structures to try and get, or it’s just a LinkedIn message too.
0:10:10 Yes, totally. Yeah. It’s, that’s totally an option. And also, I mean, now because I’m making money with
0:10:18 UGC, I’m, I’ve reinvested. So I use a software called hunter.io if you’ve heard of it. Yeah. So that makes it
0:10:23 way easier. You’ll have less of a headache. You’ll have, you know, a way higher chance of actually
0:10:29 finding the person that is in charge or in the marketing department at least. So that’s like 60
0:10:35 something bucks a month. I think it can be worth it. I mean, if you get one brand deal from one email a
0:10:39 month, it’s going to pay for it. So hunter.io is a great software.
0:10:45 What is a typical response once you reach that decision maker? They’re like an immediate yes. And
0:10:51 the rate is $500. Like, do they have a template response or something that they’re used to paying
0:10:54 people? Like how, what, what typically happens next? It’s kind of a mixed bag, but depends on
0:11:01 the brand. A lot of brands have an entire process for how they work with UGC creators. And you can
0:11:06 even go, you know, if you’re stalking brands, trying to figure out who to reach out to, you know, you can
0:11:11 go to the Instagram account of a brand. And if you see a bunch of random faces in all their videos,
0:11:16 they’re likely UGC creators. And that’s kind of a green light. That’s a good sign. Sure. Yeah. It’s a
0:11:19 good sign because they’re already doing, you don’t have to convince them to hire you as a UGC
0:11:25 creator, right? So if they’re already doing it, that’s a green light. When you get a response from
0:11:30 a brand, it’s going to be either, Hey, thanks so much for reaching out. We had to look at your
0:11:35 portfolio. You look like you’d be a great fit to make content for us. This is what we currently
0:11:41 need. Other times they could be, you know, it can just be wrong timing, right? So for example,
0:11:47 I reached out to a supplement company that I have used for years and you don’t have to be a customer
0:11:53 of the companies you’re reaching out to obviously, but it’s a good start. So I really wanted to make
0:11:58 UGC for this supplement company because I’m obsessed with them and I just am a loyal customer. I’ve spent
0:12:02 thousands of dollars on their products. And so I reached out to them back in August, sent them an
0:12:08 email and they said, no, like we’re, we have an agency that handles this. Like we’re not, we’re not
0:12:12 interested in working with you right now. And I was a little annoyed because I really wanted to
0:12:19 make content for them. So I sent them a video pitch. So this is another thing that you can do
0:12:25 is you, I use Loom, L-O-O-M, Loom software. It’s a screen recording software. I basically screen record
0:12:32 my screen, my computer screen and have my little face up there as well record and just kind of
0:12:36 introduce myself. So for them, I kind of took it a step further because I really did want to work with
0:12:41 them. I sent them a Loom video. It’s probably like six minutes long. I even created a Google doc with
0:12:47 all like the three concepts that I had for them for a UG, for UGC videos, told them why they should
0:12:53 hire me to create UGC and sent it to them was super confident. And again, they’re like, sorry, like,
0:12:58 no, we just, we’re not going to work with you right now. So I was like, okay, okay, that’s fine. So then
0:13:03 come a month ago, they emailed me and they were like, Hey Megan, we’re ready to work with you. Just send us
0:13:07 your rates and we’ll, you know, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll get you set up. And I love the video concepts that
0:13:11 you shared with us six months ago. Let’s do those. I told them what I would charge and
0:13:13 they hired me and paid me and it was great.
0:13:19 There again, well, that’s a great lead in on one, like staying in touch, going above and beyond,
0:13:24 doing the follow-up and just the timing might not be right. Like, yes, we like you. We like your work,
0:13:28 but, and then, you know, I see this all the time with, you know, guest pitches where it’s like,
0:13:32 well, we just, we just did an episode about that. But if you come back in six months, like, okay,
0:13:37 now it’s, now it’s perfect. But it makes sense on the brand side too. So they ask, well,
0:13:41 how much are you going to charge? What’s your rates? And now the deer in the headlights kind of go,
0:13:44 well, what should I charge? And so what, how do you respond back to that?
0:13:49 Yeah, for sure. So at this point, well, I’ll just kind of, I think most people that are listening,
0:13:56 maybe don’t have any experience with this. So I always recommend, uh, if you’re brand new to UGC
0:14:03 and you’re just starting out, the typical beginner rates are going to be like 150 to $200 per UGC video.
0:14:09 Most brands want multiple UGC videos when they’re hiring you. So 150 to 200, that’s what I charged at the
0:14:14 beginning. Now, because obviously like anything else, you get better, you get clients, you get,
0:14:21 you know, you get results for brands. Now I charge, you know, I can charge well over a thousand dollars
0:14:27 per UGC video. And you can also charge usage rights if a brand like that supplement brand.
0:14:29 And these are super short.
0:14:29 Yeah.
0:14:33 I want to highlight there’s some editing required and there’s some creative thought. We’ll get into that.
0:14:33 Yeah.
0:14:38 But like we’re talking about a 45 second video, a thousand bucks, you know, do the hourly rate
0:14:39 on that.
0:14:44 Exactly. Yeah. So for this brand, you know, they, I, yeah, I charged them a little over a thousand
0:14:50 dollars per video and they hired me for three videos. So those three videos, again, I’ve been
0:14:55 doing this two and a half years. It’s, you know, it’s easier to me than just starting out. Right.
0:15:01 Yeah. But those videos took me less than two hours. One of them I did with my mom. So I had her come
0:15:07 over to my house. We recorded at my house. I edited it right after she left. It was very quick,
0:15:11 very simple. But yeah, that’s, that’s kind of the great thing about UGC. Like you’re going to get
0:15:15 better and better. You’re going to be able to charge more. So your hourly rate technically is just
0:15:19 truly going to increase kind of to a crazy amount.
0:15:24 Yeah. Each video that you do, it adds to the portfolio, makes it easy to sell the next job.
0:15:30 Plus you get better at the creative process and doing the work and you improve the processes and
0:15:36 all this stuff. So I definitely see there’s some economies of scale and one yes is likely two,
0:15:40 three, four, five yeses because they want multiple videos. And it’s like, it’s not really worth,
0:15:46 you know, sending you 150 bucks for the one, but if you can do five of them, then okay, now we got,
0:15:51 now we’re talking more with Megan in just a moment, including the platforms and agencies that
0:15:56 could potentially eliminate this cold outreach from your marketing plans and why you might not need
0:16:01 to be super creative to come up with new video content and styles all the time coming up right
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0:18:35 What happens when somebody says, well, we, we do our influencer partnerships or UDC partnerships
0:18:40 through an agency. And now it’s like, well, now there’s another middleman to deal with here.
0:18:46 You could do, I mean, two things, obviously you could just move on to the next brand, or if they give
0:18:52 you the name of the agency, which you could ask for it, you could probably do some research Googling it.
0:18:58 But if you find the agency that that’s another way to connect with brands is so many brands do hire
0:19:05 agencies to outsource their UGC creator. So if you were to go on Google and type in UGC agency, there are
0:19:11 so many agencies because most brands are working with UGC creators. So you could do that. You could
0:19:18 go find the brand or find the agency and reach out via email and just tell them who you are and include
0:19:22 your portfolio, almost like you are pitching directly to the brand and then just ask to be
0:19:28 added to their creator roster. If they do have a client coming up and you kind of fit who they’re
0:19:29 looking for as a UGC creator.
0:19:36 Yeah, that seems like a place to potentially get matched with a lot of brands for a little effort
0:19:41 without, you know, having to send out hundreds and hundreds of cold DMs where it’s just, can I get on
0:19:48 your preferred vendor list, your roster of creators? And whenever a gig comes up, maybe they send it your
0:19:51 way or say, this is something, ask if you’d be interested in it.
0:19:58 Yeah. And it’s also important to note that now because UGC is such a popular way for brands to
0:20:03 keep up with their marketing and their marketing efforts, there’s been so many, like not only
0:20:12 agencies, but apps, platforms to just hop on and you could download an app called Billow or there’s
0:20:19 B-roll, Incense app. There’s so many apps that you can download on your phone and create profiles.
0:20:25 And then you’ll be able to connect with brands on those apps. Each app is a little bit different,
0:20:32 how it works, the logistics of it, but there’s also platforms like BrandsMeetCreators, Vidzy,
0:20:41 Koli, Breakfast.io, which is B-R-K-F-S-T.io. There’s just an insane amount that it could be overwhelming to
0:20:47 new people. But what I always recommend is, you know, dip your toes into a couple of them. I personally
0:20:53 don’t use a ton of those platforms or apps because I’ve been doing it for so long that I have contacts
0:20:57 already. I have repeat customers. I have retainer clients, right? So, but when you’re just starting
0:21:03 out, you know, join a couple apps, join, join a couple platforms, create profiles and connect with
0:21:05 brands that way. It’s a really good way to get started.
0:21:11 That makes sense to go where they’re already used to shopping for this type of service.
0:21:11 Yeah.
0:21:16 stick your flag out and say, I’m open for business. Come, come hire me. Oh, this is super
0:21:21 interesting stuff. Does it make sense to transition a little bit to the creative process? Cause my,
0:21:25 you know, we’ve joked about this on the, on the show in the past, like my bread and butter is
0:21:30 45 minute podcast episode. Like short form is, is a foreign language to me. And there’s,
0:21:36 there’s a skill that goes into making something snappy, but still tells a story. And ultimately,
0:21:41 you know, hopefully convince us people that they want to buy this product that the brand is paying
0:21:47 you to promote. You know, what do you be like is keep a rolling dock of different ideas or what,
0:21:48 what’s working on that side?
0:21:55 Yeah. So the good thing about working with brands as a UGC creator, even if you’re new and you’re
0:22:02 highly intimidated by the entire creative process. And I get so many people reach out to me and say,
0:22:05 I think I’m going to draw a blank. Like I’m going to freeze when the brand, you know,
0:22:10 wants me to make a video. Well, what am I even going to do? But the great news is that it’s not
0:22:17 typically an issue because when a brand is hiring you for UGC, nine times out of 10,
0:22:23 they’re going to have a plan for you. So that could look different depending on the brand.
0:22:28 Most brands are going to send you a creative brief. So they’re going to have, you know,
0:22:33 that they could even send you a script, like a full on script. I had a student of mine get,
0:22:40 um, get a UGC deal, just literally reading an eight minute script that they sent her and she
0:22:45 got paid $600 for that. So it, it really just depends on what the brand is looking for. I’ve
0:22:51 had brands that say, Hey, we love your style. We, we trust you as a UGC creator and your creative
0:22:56 process that we’d love for you to just like roll with it and come up with your own ideas and your
0:23:01 own script and just have total creative freedom. On the other side though, there’s so many more
0:23:07 brands that send you some type of outline, whether it’s like a bullet point list, a full on script,
0:23:13 Hey, here, here are the shots that we want you to get. For example, like my mom got a UGC, you know,
0:23:21 she’s in communication with a brand and they sent her a whole notion doc that has, Hey, here’s the script
0:23:26 that you need to read. And then the visual input, like, you know, brush your hair with the,
0:23:30 with the hairbrush that we’re sending you while you’re saying this script. So it can be as detailed
0:23:35 as that. It can be like, Hey, here’s the videos that have performed super well for us in the past.
0:23:41 When we’ve hired other UGC creators, maybe you can replicate those in your own way and then send those
0:23:48 to us. Okay. It’s similar to the world of podcasts, advertising, where some brands are like, Hey,
0:23:53 you’re a user, say it in your own words. We trust you. And others are like, this needs to be read
0:23:59 verbatim. Uh, this is, you know, the talking points like, and, and a spectrum and everything in between
0:24:03 that makes sense. And that’s actually less, makes it less intimidating because it’s like, Oh, if,
0:24:07 if you give me the outline or give me some guardrails, some structure around it as, you know,
0:24:12 to the extent of brushing your hair, not that that would be applicable to me, but, um, that’s,
0:24:15 that’s helpful in trying to come up with something that would be compelling.
0:24:20 Yeah. Yeah. And I think that it also, I mean, obviously you’ve got to learn, it’s not like
0:24:24 you’re going to read a script every time and it’s going to be a breeze every single time, you know?
0:24:29 So like I always tell people, you know, script writing is a skill that you should have editing
0:24:33 as well, right? You should have it. You shouldn’t always rely on the brand is going to have an in-house
0:24:39 video editor for you to do, right? So with script writing, it’s a skill like anything else. You’ll
0:24:45 get better and better at it, but it’s also helpful to know that we now have chat, GPT or other AI
0:24:49 writing tools that can kind of get those creative juices flowing. So that’s what I tell people, you
0:24:55 know, if you, if you are totally drawing a blank on what to do, feed in some information using AI and
0:25:00 kind of utilize that tool that we have now to kind of get, get those ideas flowing. Cause those,
0:25:03 that can be a really, really great resource, especially for people who are just starting
0:25:06 out and who are super intimidated by the whole process.
0:25:11 Yeah. And if you’re the person who’s super intimidated, maybe not the side hustle for you,
0:25:14 but we’ve got lots of other options for you. But if you’re like, I like making videos,
0:25:18 I like watching videos. I like brand, you know, I’m a consumer. I could go to town with this.
0:25:23 So you get the first deal and you make this effort to go, well, I made you, I made you a couple extra.
0:25:27 Would you like to buy those too? And they say, yes. What happens next? Like you’re like,
0:25:31 okay, I got, I got a bite. I’m 10 days into this. I got a, I got a deal. There’s obviously
0:25:38 something to this and talk about this scaling up and doing it as a, on the side from the day job.
0:25:45 Yeah. So I was elated when I got that deal and I was on cloud nine, which I think most UGC creators
0:25:49 can feel that way, whether it’s a hundred bucks, whether it’s 800 bucks, it’s just a really good
0:25:54 feeling. Cause that kind of instilled this confidence in me that, okay, I reached out to this brand,
0:25:59 even though I sent a ton of emails, uh, one said yes to me, they paid me, they liked what I did.
0:26:05 It kind of was like, okay, I can do this again and again and again. So that’s what I did. I just
0:26:12 continued doing that. I continued studying other content. Every time I saw an ad for a product that
0:26:18 was probably UGC creator, I was studying those ads, seeing what I liked, what, what drew me in,
0:26:24 what made me possibly even buy a product. And that helped a lot in knowing what kind of content brands
0:26:30 wanted and needed for their own purposes. So it was just a continual process reaching out to brands.
0:26:35 I started landing, you know, more UGC deals and other different industries, you know, working with
0:26:40 agencies. I got better at communicating with companies. I would raise my rates every now and
0:26:45 then when I was feeling a little confident. So it kind of just snowballed and it was great. You know,
0:26:51 I was obviously working a full-time job and I got a new job a few months into my UGC journey
0:26:57 and it was a more demanding job. And so I had to find pockets of time to do UGC.
0:27:04 Does that ever come up where a coworker or a boss was like, Hey, I saw you on my feed for some
0:27:06 random company. Like, does that ever happen?
0:27:12 I’m sure it has happened to other people. I haven’t had that happen where, while I was working a full-time
0:27:17 job, I had anybody like say, what, what the heck are you doing besides random people? Like I,
0:27:23 I, the first video I did for that app company, I remember I got like two different people that I
0:27:28 went to college with like a decade ago that I haven’t spoken to in years, DM me on Instagram and be like,
0:27:33 Hey, just saw your ad for that app. I don’t, I don’t really know what you’re doing. Are you an
0:27:37 influencer now? And as I had explained, it was kind of, it’s kind of funny. And that’s kind of what
0:27:40 happens when people, when you start doing UGC and start landing deals is you’re going to have like
0:27:46 random people reach out and be like, what the heck are you doing? So, um, yeah, I mean, it was,
0:27:52 you know, I, I didn’t, and that, that is a thing that people do because some people don’t want their
0:27:57 coworkers to know what they’re doing, right? They kind of want to be anonymous. I mean, it kind of
0:28:03 depends on the person, but you can also do faceless UGC. I have done a lot of UGC where I literally
0:28:11 don’t show my face. So home products like brands or nail care companies where you literally only
0:28:15 just show your hands. That is an option for people, which I think is important to know because a lot
0:28:19 of people do want to remain anonymous online, especially if they’re working a job where they
0:28:25 don’t feel comfortable. Um, so yeah, faceless UGC is for sure an option too. Okay. We had, I mean,
0:28:30 that’s similar, like all my, or most of my Amazon influencer videos are just me pointing the camera
0:28:35 at the thing and talking about it. And maybe you see my hands. It’s like, it’s not necessarily face
0:28:41 on camera, but I mean, it could be, but it didn’t have to be. And then we had another, this guy has
0:28:46 been in the side hustle nation community forever. His side hustle was maybe similar or like, or at
0:28:51 least, at least related, maybe a cousin of this, where he was like, uh, on Fiverr, I will be your
0:28:55 video spokesperson. He kind of had like a, you know, corporate looking, I’ll put on the suit and tie and
0:29:01 talk about your thing. And that was kind of the, the interesting part is like, well, it’s got to be
0:29:05 a brand that I’m comfortable representing because it’s going to be my name and my face, you know,
0:29:11 pitching this thing. And it’s, it’s similar here. It’s like, uh, you’re, you’re kind of in control.
0:29:15 You’re doing the manual outreach in this case to say, uh, this is a brand I already like,
0:29:21 or could see myself partnering with versus some random inbound where it’s like, uh, do I really want
0:29:25 to be showing this thing? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And that’s the great thing about UGC is like,
0:29:31 obviously you are a freelancer, you’re a contractor. So it’s, it is up to you who you work with and the
0:29:36 longer you do it, the more pickier you can be. Obviously the thing about Fiverr is yes, that’s
0:29:43 exactly UGC. So many UGC creators are on Fiverr landing UGC deals. And the great thing about that,
0:29:50 which you probably now, after talking to that person is it, they come to you, right? So you’re not
0:29:55 doing all this outreach and spending all this like time and energy, you know, sending emails,
0:30:01 sending DMS. It’s great, even though it’s not like a really quick thing on Fiverr. It usually takes a
0:30:06 little while. Um, but that is, that is one of the benefits of going on freelance platforms like Fiverr
0:30:11 as a UGC creator, because then brands are actively looking, they can find your gig and hire you.
0:30:16 And it’s, it’s super interesting because it’s not going on your feeds. It’s like, I, you know,
0:30:21 my friends might see it if it happens upon the algorithm sprinkles it down into them,
0:30:25 but it’s like, it’s not, you know, something necessarily posting. I don’t need to have a ton
0:30:29 of followers to even get these gigs. Cause it’s like, it’s for this, you know, freelance content
0:30:35 creation. It’s going on somebody else’s feed, going on somebody else’s site. So do you have a sense of
0:30:42 the take rate for this cold outreach? It’s like, okay, I know I’m going to have to send 10 pitches
0:30:45 before I get a yes. I know I’m gonna have to send 50 pitches before I get it. What kind of numbers
0:30:52 game should people expect? Oh gosh. I think I probably sent like 30 ish emails before one said
0:30:57 yes to me, possibly a little bit more between 30 to 50. And you know, I’ve, I’ve had like people that
0:31:02 I’ve taught that, you know, they send out their first Instagram DM and it just had, oh my gosh,
0:31:07 it’s like amazing timing and it works. And they are landing their first UGC deal like day two into
0:31:12 their journey, which happens more often than you think. But, um, yeah, you know, it’s, it’s going
0:31:17 to be, it’s going to be a game. That’s why I always tell people, you know, do cold outreach for sure.
0:31:23 I’m a big proponent of that, but also don’t put all your eggs in one basket, especially people who
0:31:28 are, who are busy, right? Like there’s a lot of, you know, full-time working professionals that are
0:31:35 doing UGC on the side. They don’t have two extra hours to just send emails or, you know,
0:31:40 their stay at home moms who are just like chasing kids around that just can’t do that. So going on
0:31:45 these platforms like brands meet creators, for example, is just a really good start just because
0:31:51 you’re already able to see who’s looking for UGC creators actively and connect with them with like
0:31:55 almost a click of a button. That’s helpful to hear it. The name of the game in any sales
0:31:59 relationship. It’s going to take a lot of no’s before you get to a yes, or a lot of
0:32:03 not even getting any responses. In my case, I had to knock on a lot of doors before I ever sold a paint
0:32:08 job. Exactly. There’s some filtering that has to happen. More with Megan in just a moment, including
0:32:13 when she felt comfortable calling it quits at the day job to take her UGC side hustle full-time,
0:32:19 negotiation, best practices, and the surprising age group that’s most in demand for brands.
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0:34:35 Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. At what point do you feel comfortable saying,
0:34:39 I could do this full-time? Like, was there a specific revenue target you were trying to hit? Like,
0:34:43 what’s going through your head to be like, and maybe there’s some recurring contracts as part of this,
0:34:48 but it’s kind of like, every month I got to book another five to ten deals so I could pay the bills.
0:34:54 Yeah, for sure. It was a slower process, I would say. And I think that when I started landing more
0:34:59 UGC deals, it was kind of like, oh my gosh, could I actually do this full-time? Like, is this
0:35:07 tangible? And you know what? The real turning point in my UGC business was getting monthly retainer
0:35:11 clients. I mean, that changed everything for me. So I was obviously, you know, working full-time.
0:35:18 Our son was like, probably one and a half, two at this point. And I was super afraid of taking on
0:35:23 monthly retainer clients, even though I had a couple opportunities come my way. I just thought
0:35:28 it was going to be way too much work on top of a full-time job. And then I had a company offer me
0:35:36 like $3,000 to do some Instagram reels for them every month. And I thought, $3,000 extra every month
0:35:42 sounds pretty good. So I’m just going to make it work. So I said yes to them. And they were like
0:35:47 almost a year-long contract. And so every month I was making $3,000 and it got easier and easier.
0:35:53 That’s the great thing about monthly retainer clients. You’re not having to relearn about a new brand every
0:36:00 single month. And so it did get easier. I was able to batch content in between working or mornings or
0:36:05 whenever. And I already worked from home, which was obviously a bonus because I could do some things
0:36:13 in between work. And so that really kind of made this switch. Like, okay, so I’m like making three
0:36:20 grand from this, a couple extra grand from random UGC deals that would come in. And then I got my next
0:36:27 like bigger monthly retainer client that was paying me $4,000 a month. And with that client, I was also
0:36:34 offering some social media management, which a lot of UGC creators do. And so that’s an option for people
0:36:38 if they want to. You don’t have to do that. But I was like, okay, that’s kind of what they’re looking
0:36:44 for. I’m willing to do it. And so I took on another pretty big contract. And so I had this consistent
0:36:54 money coming in. And eventually about a year into it, a year into my whole UGC journey, and I had these
0:37:00 two clients, plus I was doing other UGC deals, plus I was working full-time. I kind of, I was like,
0:37:03 whoa, this is a lot. I’m basically working two full-time jobs.
0:37:05 Yeah, basically two full-time jobs.
0:37:10 Yeah, exactly. So I kind of had to let one thing go. And I knew I was going to keep these clients.
0:37:16 And then that second client was now paying me $5,500 a month because I was doing a little more
0:37:22 stuff for them. So it was good chunks of money coming in that I could not 100% rely on, but basically
0:37:28 rely on every month. So I was able to quit my job, you know, when I was making consistent,
0:37:37 reliable, $10,000 to $13,000 months with UGC deals. And it would just, it would almost be impossible to
0:37:43 continue working full-time and doing that much UGC. So something had to be, something had to be gone.
0:37:44 And that was my full-time job.
0:37:51 But that’s incredible to build it to the point, you know, 120 plus grand a year, 10 grand a month plus
0:37:56 on the side and then say, well, it’s not sustainable to keep doing it on the side. So
0:38:01 something’s got to give. So the first one, three grand a month, make us some Instagram reels. Like,
0:38:05 can you give a sense of like the volume of work that was?
0:38:12 So the great thing about that contract is I had total creative freedom, which helps with the whole
0:38:17 process. Like it would probably be a whole different beast if I had to make the videos,
0:38:22 send the videos to the company, they approve them and go back and forth. So that was a really good
0:38:27 thing where I had creative freedom. They sent me all the products. It was like a luxury home products,
0:38:33 like, you know, $300 candles, $200 blankets, that kind of stuff. So I didn’t have to show my face in
0:38:39 any of it, which was nice. So it was all just product focused. And the thing about Instagram reels is
0:38:44 they’re not as involved as like, say, the supplement company that hired me, you know,
0:38:49 I have to create a script, I have to show several different shots of the product. It’s not as
0:38:56 involved. It’s a little more quick. It’s a little more like, hey, I could make my bed and show the
0:39:01 blanket on my bed. And that’s an Instagram reel. And I’m done for the day for that one. So it was like
0:39:08 between 15 to 20 videos per month, but I could batch most of them, like on the weekends, or maybe
0:39:12 over the span of a couple weekends. Do you run out of like, idea, like different ways to show a blanket?
0:39:13 It’s like,
0:39:19 I thought I would. And what helps with that is obviously just stalking what other companies are
0:39:24 doing, right? Getting inspired, like what’s working for people? Like what do people actually respond to
0:39:30 on Instagram when it comes to home products? There’s so I mean, that that’s the great thing about being in
0:39:35 the content creation field is not obviously stealing people’s ideas, but having so much content that
0:39:40 you’re literally just exposed to every day that can really get those creative juices flowing. And yeah,
0:39:45 and some, some reels flopped, like they didn’t, like you got a couple hundred views, some like
0:39:49 went viral and sold a bunch of their products organically, which made the brand really happy.
0:39:54 But you know, that’s, that’s just part of the game. They need to be posting Instagram reels. And if I’m
0:39:57 the one that can fulfill that need, they’re going to pay me money for it.
0:40:02 Is that kind of where the ROI is for the brands where it’s like, you know, the video that gets a couple
0:40:07 hundred views, is it going to do anything? Maybe it sells a couple, who knows? But it’s, it’s almost like
0:40:12 we’re going to, we’re going to sprinkle our budget around in the hopes that one or two of these take off,
0:40:16 pay for all of the losses, and then hopefully still make us a profit from our social feed.
0:40:24 I think that it’s, I don’t think it’s a question. So the way I look at it, and what it likely is, is that
0:40:32 brands really have no choice. So like when I create, you know, I had another client paying me $1,500 a month
0:40:38 for five Instagram reels that were like 10 seconds long. I don’t think really those videos that I made
0:40:44 for them were bringing in a bunch of sales, right? But they have no other option. If they’re, if they’re
0:40:48 a clothing brand, which they were, and they’re competing into all these other clothing brands,
0:40:55 they’re, they have no option than to be consistent on social media and build a following, build an
0:41:00 engaged community of people that’s interested in following them, right? So for them, I think that
0:41:05 it’s the overall picture with every brand is like, okay, we have to post organically on social media,
0:41:12 but we’re also going to hire people that can create content that’s going to sell directly
0:41:19 our, our products via ads. So I think it’s a mix. I think it’s totally a mix of like brands need both
0:41:24 organic and they need paid media. That’s interesting. It’s like, it’s a, it’s a cost
0:41:29 to play in the game at this point. And to be on the receiving end of that, that’s good. Good for the
0:41:34 creators. You’ve mentioned a lot of different tools and apps, which I think is awesome. We’ll link those
0:41:39 up. Loom, Canva, Incense, Billow, like some of these are totally new to me. We’ll, we’ll dig those up,
0:41:44 link those up in the show notes. Anything else on the tools tech side that you’re using to help run
0:41:50 your business? So I, I’ll kind of go through the process of exactly what I use and what I think
0:41:56 bare minimum should be for every UGC creator. So I use my iPhone to film. That’s another great thing
0:42:02 about UGC. You don’t need a fancy DSLR camera. You’re not a massive production studio, right? That’s
0:42:09 kind of the point. So you can use your phone to film if it’s a decent camera. And then I use CapCut
0:42:15 to edit. And that’s what most people use. I think there’s a couple of different editing apps out there,
0:42:21 but CapCut seems to be the most straightforward. And I pay for CapCut Pro, but you do not have to.
0:42:28 And then yeah, Canva for your portfolio, you know, if you want to create a new Gmail account to stay
0:42:33 very organized, which is very easy to get in very disorganized when it comes to UGC, because you’re
0:42:38 going to be reaching out to so many brands, you know, create a new Gmail account. It doesn’t have to be a
0:42:44 business account where it’s at URL.com. It can, it can just be a Gmail account if that’s all you can do
0:42:50 right now. And then in terms of like payment, that’s another question that gets brought up a lot. Like,
0:42:57 how am I going to get paid? You will, it’s across the board. So I’ve had brands pay me via PayPal. So
0:43:03 setting up a PayPal account, if you don’t have one already would be a good option or good, probably just
0:43:11 a good idea. And then I’ve also had brands pay through Stripe or bill.com is a kind of a popular one for brands to
0:43:19 use third party payment software. Also direct deposit. At one point I was on a company’s payroll. So it kind of just
0:43:26 depends on the brand, but it’s, it’s typically not something that’s the payment part tends to be a big question,
0:43:31 but I don’t think it’s something that you actually have to figure out before you start because the brand’s going to tell you
0:43:36 exactly what their preferred payment method is. But yeah, that those are kind of the main things. And
0:43:43 then in terms of like filming what you need, like gadgets, tools, and everything really basic, in my
0:43:51 opinion, is going to be a tripod. I got a $25 tripod off of Amazon. I got a selfie light, which is like
0:43:58 $12, $15. You’re going to want to use as much natural light as possible for every video you do. But I
0:44:07 started my UGC journey in a very, very dark dated apartment. And it was just not super pretty. The lighting was
0:44:15 horrible. So I really utilized artificial light, which selfie light, whatever ring light, whatever you want. And I
0:44:21 actually don’t even use a microphone for my UGC videos because my iPhone does a pretty good job. So depending on if your
0:44:26 audio is terrible or not, get a microphone off of Amazon or just see how it goes.
0:44:30 Yeah, I can picture like, you know, some people holding up like a little baby lab mic or something
0:44:31 like that. Yeah.
0:44:35 So that’s helpful. Like low tech, don’t stress about the payment.
0:44:35 Exactly.
0:44:39 That’s a good problem to have. You’ll figure that out if somebody is like, how do I give you money? Like,
0:44:44 I could solve that. Anything you would do differently if you had to start over to either accelerate the
0:44:48 journey or land bigger deals faster or anything that comes to mind there?
0:44:55 Yeah, I think I would not be so afraid of taking on monthly retainer clients. And I wish somebody had
0:45:01 kind of told me that or I kind of had figured that out sooner just because it really it just makes such a
0:45:08 big difference. So yeah, number one, like focus on building relationships with brands and being a good
0:45:15 person to work with, like don’t be difficult to work with, you know, be responsive, be polite, like just
0:45:20 be a good person to work with and brands will want to continue working with you. And then that will lead
0:45:26 probably to monthly retainer clients, which can significantly increase your income as a UGC creator.
0:45:32 So for sure the monthly retainer clients and I think just not being afraid to reach out to bigger
0:45:40 brands as well. Like brands of all sizes need content and it’s not always going to be, you know,
0:45:45 it’s always going to be a yes, but that’s something that I realized in the beginning just from different
0:45:50 side hustles I’ve done in the past. Like it’s, it’s going to be a little slow, but eventually you’ll get
0:45:52 yeses and increase your confidence.
0:45:59 Is there pricing tiers? Like if I’m racing out to Aloe, like on your hat or Nike and I come back with
0:46:03 $200 and they’re like, uh, that’s, that’s a red flag. That’s too cheap. We’re used to paying
0:46:09 billions of dollars to LeBron James or somebody that’s, you know, what is this? Is there anything
0:46:14 like that? When you said, when you mentioned going after bigger brands, I don’t think that brands are
0:46:20 super turned off by that. It’s best if the brand can kind of give you a budget or even like a range.
0:46:26 So I’ve had brands reach out to me and UGC creators will tell you different things like, don’t do this,
0:46:34 do this. Like it’s a, it’s a mix. But my opinion is if, if you can get the brand to tell you what
0:46:37 their budget is before you ever state any number.
0:46:40 Yeah. Don’t, don’t be the first to throw out a number.
0:46:45 Yeah. Yeah. You, you’re putting the ball in their court. So it’s kind of best. So I’ve had brands
0:46:51 reach out to me and I’m like, so what, what is your budget for three videos? What can you give me a range
0:46:55 of what your budget is? And sometimes, you know, it’ll be like a hundred dollars per video. And I’m like,
0:46:59 okay, great. So I know I’m not going to continue this conversation, right? Come back to me if you
0:47:04 do have an increased budget in the future. But then other times it’s more than what I would have just
0:47:10 thrown out. Right. So you can make more money that way. And this is a little tip too, that this is
0:47:16 related, but on your portfolio, like on my portfolio, anytime I tell people like, Hey, create a portfolio.
0:47:24 I don’t ever tell them to put their rates in their portfolio just because you are going to miss out on that.
0:47:31 Like if a brand is searching for a UGC creator and they’ve got a thousand dollars for two UGC videos budget
0:47:37 in your portfolio states that you only charge 250 for one, for one video, they’re going to save money.
0:47:42 You’re going to lose money. So you don’t have to put your rates on your portfolio. You can create a
0:47:46 rate card if that makes you feel better. And you’re able to send that because every now and then brands
0:47:51 do ask for rate cards. You know, you can do that, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s really just
0:47:56 about communicating with the brand. Like, is it going to work? Is it going to make sense for you? Are you
0:48:02 going to feel good about spending an hour or two creating a video for a hundred dollars? Maybe you
0:48:08 do, maybe, maybe you, you won’t feel good about that, but knowing what you feel good about and like
0:48:15 what’s worth your personal time right now, based on your financial situation and your goals, it’s,
0:48:19 it’s so important to know that otherwise, you know, I’ve seen UGC creator after UGC creator,
0:48:27 start UGC and only be okay and feel worthy of getting these 50 or a hundred dollar UGC deals
0:48:33 where they just start spending so much time, barely making any money and they end up quitting because
0:48:39 it gets frustrating. But knowing what your worth is and like focusing your energy and efforts on brands
0:48:43 that are willing to pay you, at least your bare minimum rate is, is going to be a game changer.
0:48:49 Yeah. Okay. I was just, I was just helpful because it’s like, you know, yeah, you can go out and buy,
0:48:54 you know, web design. Like we talked about Fiverr for next to nothing, or you could, you know,
0:48:59 hire some professional design agency, millions of dollars, if you’re Nike or somebody with the budget
0:49:05 for that, or it’s like, there’s, in some case prices could be a signal of the potential quality
0:49:08 or reach it’s going to have, who knows? But that was just something that, that popped into my head.
0:49:14 I was going to ask any big surprises from your own journey or from your students or what’s,
0:49:17 you know, what’s going out there in the UGC universe these days?
0:49:23 Yeah. I mean, the biggest thing that comes to my mind is I have, I’ve actually helped and taught,
0:49:31 most of my students happen to be Gen Xers and baby boomers. So the way that got started was about a
0:49:37 little over a year ago. I was on a brand call where I sent a video pitch to a brand that I really wanted
0:49:43 to work with. They loved it. And they had me hop on a zoom call with like four of their marketing team.
0:49:49 So I was on a call with them trying to convince them to hire me as a UGC creator. It was going
0:49:55 pretty well. And I had mentioned that my mom who is 63, I mentioned that she is actually like,
0:49:59 she told me about their products. It was a footwear company. And so I was like, yeah,
0:50:05 my mom loves you guys. It’s like loyal customer as am I. And so they were like, their ears kind
0:50:10 of perked up and they’re like, Oh my gosh, that, that would be amazing. If your mom could be in
0:50:14 one of the three UGC videos that you could do for us, they’re like, time out, time out. We don’t
0:50:21 watch you, but we watch your mom. I know. And so I was like, like, of course, my mom’s going to be
0:50:25 down for it. She loves me. She’s going to support me. She’s going to be down to do this. And so they
0:50:32 said, that’s perfect because your mom as a baby boomer, like 60 something year old, I can’t remember
0:50:36 exactly what they said. They said that she is more part of our target demographic. Like we sell
0:50:41 most of our shoes to people more toward her age, even opposed to like me as a, you know,
0:50:47 33 year old at the time. So I was like, okay, like fantastic. That’s great. I heard that. I didn’t
0:50:51 really think much of it besides just kind of coordinating with my mom. We did the video
0:50:58 together and it was great, super fun. And then I realized that if they were looking for older creators,
0:51:05 there’s probably a ton of brands that are looking for older creators. And I never like rarely ever
0:51:12 saw anybody over the age of 50, like nobody in their sixties doing UGC. And so I started posting
0:51:17 about it, telling people like, Hey, if you’re a Gen X or if you’re a boomer, I bet you anything,
0:51:21 there are brands looking for you and you could get paid to create content for them. And it kind of took
0:51:28 off, it blew up. And so there was, I’ve had dozens of brands reach out to me personally and be like,
0:51:35 Hey, thank you so much for posting this because we’ve been looking for people that are Gen X or or baby
0:51:40 boomers to be like in our, in our videos to, to do UGC for us. And we just can’t find that many of
0:51:43 them. Well, there was some data that was like, this was probably a couple of years old, but like that’s
0:51:48 the fastest growing demographic on TikTok is like these older generations. It’s like, we need people
0:51:53 to come and speak to them. A hundred percent. So is that the next, now we can stack side us. I was
0:51:58 like, so are you going to build the Gen X boomer, uh, UGC creator agency? And now I know you can like
0:52:04 play matchmaker and start leveling up here. You know, I could, I’ve been asked that several times.
0:52:10 I’m, I’m not about the agency life. I don’t think, but it’s been, it has truly like been,
0:52:18 it’s just been so amazing. Like it’s been so incredible to see so many people who are in that,
0:52:25 in those two generations, the Gen Xers, the boomers, like find out about UGC because I blab about it all
0:52:30 day on TikTok. And they’re like, what in the world? They literally had no idea. And they start UGC
0:52:36 and they’re like, Oh my gosh, I’m, I’m actually like getting UGC deals. Brands want to work with
0:52:41 me. They’re sending me free products. I’m making money with this. Whereas like a few months ago,
0:52:44 they had no clue. This was even a thing. And it’s just been a really, really cool to see.
0:52:51 That’s super fun. So you’ve got Megan at call your UGC.com. She is at Megan underscore UGC on
0:52:58 Instagram, Tik TOK and Stan dot store. You find some of the portfolio links and other content
0:53:04 creation over there geared towards the people trying to do what she’s doing and build up your own UGC
0:53:08 side hustle. What’s next for you? What’s, what’s on the horizon for this year?
0:53:15 My goal is to do more UGC deals with my mom. We’ve done three so far and she’s doing her own
0:53:21 UGC deals, which has been really fun. Yeah. My, my goal is just to continue creating good content for
0:53:27 companies that they keep coming back for more and just keep spreading the word about UGC to all people
0:53:33 of all backgrounds, all ages to just, you know, get started and just dive into it. Cause you never know
0:53:39 what could happen. Very good. What a, what a fun, creative side hustle. We’ll link up all of the
0:53:44 resources mentioned in the show notes for this episode. This was like when Megan, when you reached
0:53:50 out, it was like, obviously this has been on my radar for a couple of years, but never really had
0:53:55 connected with somebody making a serious run at it. And it’s super interesting, especially from the
0:54:00 standpoint of, I don’t need to be a super influencer. I don’t need to have a built-in following here.
0:54:03 So it checks that box of something fun, creative, if you like,
0:54:08 filming, if you are a consumer of goods anyways, as I bet you are. And you know, here’s you, maybe
0:54:14 you can learn some new video editing tips and tricks along the way. I like the call to build
0:54:20 recurring contracts, build long-term relationships, makes life easier for the brand. They don’t have
0:54:24 to hire somebody new every month. You don’t have to learn a new brand, a new brand language every
0:54:29 month. Plus it adds some stability, kind of like baseline revenue. You’re still free to go out
0:54:34 and pitch other deals, but like, at least you’re stable. And maybe that’s, you get to the goal of
0:54:38 like, I could pay my rent. I could pay my mortgage with like this recurring contract. Like my day job
0:54:42 is called the gravy time. Like, you know, I don’t need it anymore. It’s just like, it’s bonus,
0:54:47 especially with those recurring contracts, but otherwise too, like the workflow, the process
0:54:51 improvements, as you just get a few more reps under your belt, the hourly rate really starts to
0:54:58 improve. So super inspiring episode. If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’ve got hundreds of
0:55:04 actionable episodes in the archives to help you make more money. If, uh, if UGC isn’t your thing,
0:55:07 we’d love to have you binge on any of those. It’s kind of a choose your own adventure type of deal.
0:55:13 If you’re not sure where to start, I want to invite you to build your own personalized side hustle show
0:55:17 playlist. Uh, how it works is you go to hustle.show, you answer a few short, multiple choice
0:55:23 questions takes probably 60 seconds. You can do it on your phone. Questions are about your side hustle
0:55:28 interests, your side hustle goals, and it’ll recommend you eight to 10, uh, side hustle show
0:55:33 episodes to start with as a potential jumping off point. What to listen to next. That’s at hustle.show.
0:55:38 Big thanks to Megan for sharing her insight. Big thanks to our sponsors for helping make this content
0:55:43 free for everyone. You can hit up side hustle nation.com slash deals for all the latest offers from
0:55:47 our advertisers in one place. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that support the show.
0:55:51 That’s it for me. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you’re finding value in the show,
0:55:55 the greatest compliment is to share it with a friend. So fire off that text message. Maybe,
0:56:01 you know, that Gen X or boomer person in your life who can make a little extra money with UGC and, uh,
0:56:05 and help spread the word that way. But until next time, let’s go out there and make something happen.
0:56:09 And I’ll catch you in the next edition of the side hustle show. Hustle on.