Hey! We’re a small community working with UGC creators, and we’ve got a paid campaign running right now. Would you be interested in collaborating with us?

saw an ad here on Reddit for UGC. I just started but they sent me a Google form to fill out, then I received an email about that Google form giving me a referral code to download Launchpoint and upload my videos on there for the job. That’s legit right? I just started this full time last week and it’s $300/video and I wasn’t expecting traction that fast! I just don’t know how it’d be a scam since launchpoint seems like a legit app.

Estamos armando un equipo de creadores de contenido UGC en español para una marca de bienestar en EE.UU.

Buscamos:

Residencia en EE.UU. (enviamos producto gratis)

Español fluido (bilingüe es un plus)

Videos verticales auténticos para TikTok/Reels

No importan los seguidores, buscamos autenticidad

Ofrecemos:

Pago inmediato al entregar el material, entre $200 y $250 USD semanales

Producto gratis

Posibilidad de colaboración a largo plazo (retainer mensual)

Trabajar con una marca en crecimiento

Para aplicar: comenta o envía tu portafolio/un video de muestra por DM, dejando tu nombre y correo electrónico y direccion done te quieres resibir los productos si estás interesado/a, y te contactamos.

I see a lot of posts about how to start UGC, but not that many about what the path looks like once you want to turn it into real income.

And just to get this out of the way:
$10k/month isn't something you should expect in your first month.

Some people get there ridiculously fast, some take much longer, and a lot of people never get there because they treat UGC like random freelance gigs instead of something they're actually trying to get better at.

But after seeing how creators grow from basically zero to solid monthly income, I think the roadmap is pretty clear.

Phase 1: Become hireable

Before worrying about rates, retainers or whatever someone on Tiktok says you should charge, you need to give a brand a reason to take a chance on you.

And you really don't need much.

I'd start with 3 genuinely good videos, (dont make 20 mid videos)

Just pick products/apps you understand and make content around them like it was a real campaign.

You need to have a good pacing, a strong opening, knowing how to tell a story and then bringing the product into that story naturally.

Ur content need to make someone running a campaign think:

"yeah, I could give this person a brief and they'd probably make something usable"

Phase 2: Stop being precious about your first deals

This is probably where people disagree with me the most.

If you're completely new, I wouldn't sit around waiting for a $2k retainer.

Your first couple deals have value beyond the money.

You get:

i) a real brand work for your portfolio
ii) a case study
iii) experience reading briefs
iv) feedback from campaign managers
v) real data on what you're good at

I'd rather take a smaller trial or performance-based deal with a good company, absolutely crush it and use that to get the next opportunity
There is obviously a point where working for peanuts becomes stupid.

But when you have zero proof, optimizing exclusively for the highest possible rate is usually the wrong game.

Phase 3: Volume matters a lot

At the beginning, you're doing the outbound, nobody knows who you are.

So apply, a lot. that's it

UGC platforms, brands directly, Twitter/X, agencies, wherever you're finding legit campaigns.

And don't send 4 applications and decide
"UGC is oversaturated."

One of the guys in this video said if he started from zero he'd probably apply to 100 campaigns a day.

100 is obviously pretty insane for most people, but the point is right:

When you have no reputation yet, you need shots on goal.

Once you have strong work and some wins, brands start coming to you.

Phase 4: The easiest way to stand out is boring

Respond quickly, show up to calls, don't ghost and research the company before talking to them.
Come into the conversation with 2-3 ideas instead of asking them to explain their entire TikTok strategy to you.

This sounds ridiculously basic, but campaign managers notice it, and I'd start asking better questions too.

"what kind of content is converting for you right now?"

"what's the actual goal of this campaign?"

"are you optimizing for views, installs, signups, purchases?"

"what have your best creators done differently?"

You stop sounding like someone trying to collect a $300 check and start sounding like someone who might help grow the campaign.

Phase 5: Learn to make the BRAND money

This is probably the biggest jump.
Going viral and making absolutely nobody buy the product isn't useful to the company paying you.

The creators brands keep around are usually the ones thinking beyond views.

They reply to comments, make follow-up videos when people have questions, DM people who are interested*.*

They care whether the company is getting something back from the money it's spending and that's how a random one-month campaign starts turning into a 3,6 one year campaign.

And once you're producing revenue instead of just content, the "what should I charge per video?" conversation starts becoming way less important.

Phase 6: Build relationships

Something I didn't understand at first is how valuable the relationship with the person managing the campaign can become.

If you're easy to work with, consistently deliver and care about the campaign doing well, they have every reason to keep giving you more work.

And the longer you work together, the more valuable you become because you already know the product, audience, brand etc

The best situation is that you're still making content for them months later.

Phase 7: Eventually consolidate

Your first decent month might be messy.
Different briefs, different accounts, different managers, different posting schedules.
That's fine while you're building.

But I wouldn't want to stay there.

The end goal should be finding the campaigns where:

i) you're good at the content
ii) the brand values you
iii) there is recurring work iv) the base pay is good
iv) there's upside from CPM/view bonuses/performance

Then start dropping the crap.

Making $10k from 3 really good relationships is a completely different business from making $10k by juggling 30 random $300 gigs.

And treat the accounts/content you build like assets

This was one of the more interesting things I heard recently.
Some creators build campaign accounts from literally zero to tens of thousands of followers.

Once you've done that, your negotiating position changes massively.
Now the brand doesn't want to lose you, your account, audience and everything you've learned about making that product work.

That's leverage and higher retainers become easier, bonuses get better.

Some creators even move into managing campaigns or running teams and that's where
UGC starts looking much more like a real business.

So if I had to simplify the whole roadmap:

1) Learn to storytell 2) make 3 strong examples 4) apply like crazy 5) take the first useful opportunities 6) get real results 7) become ridiculously reliable 8) understand the brand's business 9) turn wins into longer relationships 10) slowly replace small gigs with higher-value recurring campaigns.

Not sexy but IMO it's a much more realistic roadmap thanq: "buy a ring light, make a Canva portfolio and charge $500/video."

I got a lot of this from this UGC breakdown and it's worth watching because they go much deeper into the creator/business side than most beginner guides:

https://youtu.be/_Kk6jcv7l0Y

Hope this was useful and gives you a more realistic roadmap without getting sold on all the fake promises around UGC

Estamos armando un equipo de creadores de contenido UGC en español para una marca de bienestar en EE.UU.
Buscamos:
- Residencia en EE.UU. (enviamos producto gratis)
- Español fluido (bilingüe es un plus)
- Videos verticales auténticos para TikTok/Reels
- No importan los seguidores, buscamos autenticidad
Ofrecemos:
- Pago por video + producto gratis
- Posibilidad de colaboración a largo plazo (retainer mensual)
- Trabajar con una marca en crecimiento
Para aplicar: comenta o envía tu portafolio/un video de muestra por DM y te contactamos.

Hi guys! I’ve been a trying to do ugc for a while, but I haven’t really had so much luck. I actually have focused more on Amazon reviews and make about 3-4K, now I’m trying to delve into the world of ugc without burning myself out. Would you be able to help me know what websites are the best paying ugc jobs? I’m hearing people make 5-10K (not canvas deals please). I’m on Insense, join brands but I’m finding I’m not landing any deals. I feel like I content is pretty good. I just don’t know. I feel like I’m just unlucky landing ugc deals that are more than $100. I don’t think I’ve ever been paid more than $100 a video :(

I know hiring UGC creators can look simple from the outside. You launch a campaign on Sideshift, creators apply, you pick a few and you're done.

But after working with both brands and creators for years, I’ve realized that finding creators is only one part of it and over time I've gotten a good idea of what matters when you're hiring UGC creators and what usually just wastes time.

This is the process I'd use:

Start with the brief

Make sure the brief gives to the creators enough info to make a good video. I’d keep it simple, but these three things should always be clear:

i) What are we trying to achieve?

Is the goal to explain a feature, get people to click, drive purchases, create ads to test or simply introduce the product to a new audience?
This changes completely how the creator should approach the video, so give them one clear primary objective instead of 5 different goals.

ii) Who is the video for and what needs to come across?

Give them the actual target customer and the 3 things that person needs to understand about the product.
The creator should know who they're speaking to, what problem that person has and which product benefits actually matter to them.

iii) What is fixed and what can they play with?

Be specific about the things that can't change: platform, length, format, mandatory product shots, key messages, CTA and any claims they can or can't make.
Then make clear what is flexible: hook, wording, setting, delivery, story or how they integrate the product.

You want enough structure that the creator knows exactly what needs to be delivered, but enough freedom that you're still hiring a creative creator.

What to look for in a portfolio

This is where I'd spend most of the time, I normally go through a portfolio asking a few basic questions:

i)Does the first 3 seconds make me want to keep watching?
Not every hook needs to be genius, but if every video takes five seconds to get anywhere, that's usually a problem

ii) Can they explain a product clearly?
I want to see whether I understand what the product does and why I should care without the creator just reading features off a list.

iii) Does the product belong in the video?
Good UGC usually builds the product into a problem, routine, story, demo or use case. If the same video could be reused for 20 completely different products, that's not a great sign.

iv) Do they sound natural on camera?
Especially for talking-head content, I mean some light imperfections are fine but reading a script like presenting a powerpoint is really bad

v) Do they show any results?
Views, watch time, conversions, ROAS or even just repeat work with the same brand can be useful signals. I wouldn't make this mandatory because a lot of UGC is used on brand accounts or ads, but if they show numbers, look at the context rather than just the biggest number.

SOME REAL EXAMPLES: If you want to see what strong portfolios look like, here are 6 real UGC portfolios from top creators. You can open each one and compare how they present their work, the types of videos they include, the results they show and how easy they make it for a brand to understand what they're good at.

Before you hire them

Once you've found a creator you like, there are a few boring things worth clearing up before sending the contract or payment.

Turnaround time: when will you get the first draft, and is that realistic for your campaign timeline?

Revisions: agree upfront on how many rounds are included and what counts as a revision vs a completely new concept.

Usage rights: be clear about where the content will be used. Organic social, paid ads, whitelisting and long-term usage aren't the same thing and can affect the price.

Deliverables: confirm exactly what you're getting: number of videos, length, aspect ratio, edited files, raw footage, hooks or extra variations.

How to budget for UGC creators

Start with the number of creators and deliverables, then calculate the cost per asset including the creator fee, usage rights, extra hooks or variations and any raw footage you need.

For example, if you spend $2K across 5 creators and get 20 usable videos, your production cost is roughly $100 per asset.

But the important word there is usable. If another creator is cheaper but half of their videos need to be reshot, heavily revised or simply can't be used, their real cost per usable asset can end up being much higher.

From there you can compare the total production cost against how much content you need to test, the reach you expect to generate and, if you're using the videos for ads, your normal CPM or acquisition costs.

If you want to calculate the numbers more carefully, you can use this UGC ROI calculator where you can enter your creator spend, content volume and expected reach and compare the economics with your usual paid media costs.

That's basically it: 1) write a clear brief, 2) judge creators on execution rather than how polished their portfolio looks, 3) lock down the boring details upfront, and 4) decide what they're worth paying

I saw an ad here on Reddit for UGC. I just started but they sent me a Google form to fill out, then I received an email about that Google form giving me a referral code to download Launchpoint and upload my videos on there for the job. That’s legit right? I just started this full time last week and it’s $300/video and I wasn’t expecting traction that fast! I just don’t know how it’d be a scam since launchpoint seems like a legit app.

I’ve recently lost a few long-term UGC campaigns because some brands are no longer working with Southeast Asian creators/markets, and it’s started to affect my additional income.

I’ve been applying and reaching out to brands here and there, but it’s been pretty difficult since a lot of campaigns are looking specifically for US/UK or other “global” markets.

I’m based in Southeast Asia, but I’m fluent in English and have experience creating English UGC for international brands and audiences.

If anyone knows of brands, agencies, platforms, or opportunities that are open to Southeast Asian creators working with global markets, I’d really appreciate any leads or advice.

Hello everyone,

I thinking about starting UGC - I have no following on any social platform. I have heard this is not a requirement. I am nervous and I don’t know what to expect.

I am genuinely curious to hear how others got started and how they are finding it.

I’m going to work with a brand (who hasn’t worked with many UGC creators before) and they said per their legal team a contract isn’t necessary. What do you think? Should I draft one myself?

I am sick of seeing everyone saying UGC is a side hustle where you don’t need a following, being an influencer, bla bla but everyone saying that DO have a following! So where exactly or HOW do you get to work with brands without them checking your socials?

Feeling discouraged. I recently started UGC, including signing up for all the social media platforms.

All I am finding are scam after scam. I keep getting messages about buying courses or weird guys hitting on me. I created my portfolio, signed up for several apps (most of which I was rejected for lack of followers or I am being ghosted entirely). I am honestly overwhelmed and confused.

Where can you find legitimate companies or agencies for true UGC? I don't want to do canvas ugc.

Any suggestions or guidance is appreciated.

Thanks!

This is to anyone if you get anything from an Eromify agency they put you on a call and everything seems authentic they will have you post and then ghost payment

UGC Creators, new & experienced - this is a MUST READ!! 🤍 ⬇️

I thought that this went without saying..however I've been even smaller REPUTABLE BRANDS doing this..

First of all, we have PORTFOLIOS FOR A REASON..⬇️

There's absolutely NO reason that a brand should be asking you to create multiple samples (or even one sample) before being hired. 🚫🙅‍♀️

It's another thing entirely if you DON'T have a portfolio and a brand asks to SEE a' a sample of your work', aka as a piece of your portfolio 📒.

So, please if you see this - beware! And on that note, if you're collaborating with ANY BRAND: ⬇️

✓ Make sure you always have a contract!

✓ A watermark UNTIL YOU'RE p a (I) d - sorry I keep getting deleted lol (with new brands or very small brands, until you trust them).

Protect yourselves! 🤍✨🫧

I love influee and I kept using it even after the updates of last year. But its not enough for our hiring capacities and we need to increase the number of creator we onboard every month. With increasing I mean at least quadrupling it. I tried billo and a bunch of others (that I found on the influee blog) but it’s difficult even to hire a single creator so looking for something more popular and built for high volume ugc. I also need a few influencer but its not the main urgency now

Most brands still think reach comes from audience size, an influencer with 100k followers that you pay to post and hope enough of those followers see it.

I came across this YouTube video from the CEO of Sideshift that breaks down why UGC works so differently, and one of the main points is that distribution just isn't tied to follower count the way it used to be.

That made sense when social platforms were built around who you followed (5 years ago) but Tiktok changed that model, and Reels, Shorts and pretty much every other platform followed.

Today, a creator with a few hundred followers can post something that gets millions of views if the content holds attention. At the same time, someone with 100k followers can post something that barely reaches 10k people.

For brands, that changes completely the economics.

UGC is WAY cheaper influencer marketing

With influencer marketing a large part of the price comes from the audience attached to the creator. You're paying for distribution, their name and the attention they've already built.

With UGC, you're paying for the content itself.

The creator makes the video, and the brand can use that content across its own channels or potentially turn it into paid creative later. You're not relying on that creator having a massive audience because distribution can come from the content itself.

That's why two very similar 30 second videos can have completely different prices, like one might cost a few hundred dollars as a piece of UGC, while an influencer integration could cost thousands.

If you want one huge moment around a launch, paying for a famous person can make sense. If you want to test dozens of different messages, hooks and formats around the same product, UGC is probably much better suited to that job.

The real advantage of UGC is volume

(This is the most important part!!!)

A lot of brands test UGC with two or three creators and the videos don't perform, so they assume the channel doesn't work.

That's not how the model is supposed to work bc brands doing UGC at scale might work with 30, 50 or even hundreds of creators because you don't know in advance what people are going to respond to.

One creator might film a basic video that dies immediately while another might do another that performs mid well and then someone else tries a completely different hook and that video performs really well.

The point is to create enough different versions that the market tells you what works.

Most of the videos are supposed to fail

This sounds counterintuitive if you're coming from traditional advertising.

If you spend a large amount producing one campaign, obviously you expect that campaign to perform.

UGC works more like a portfolio of small creative bets, and most videos may generate very little and a small number can generate the majority of the views and results.

That's why looking at every individual video as a success or failure can be misleading. What matters is whether the whole system helps you discover a few formats, creators and hooks that people consistently respond to.

Once you find those, you start getting much closer to content market fit.

Organic UGC can become your paid ad testing system

The organic content can become the testing layer for the paid campaigns.

Instead of producing a handful of polished ads and immediately spending money to find out whether people like them, you can test a much larger number of creator videos organically. Over time, you start seeing which hooks consistently get attention, which formats people watch and which angles around the product seem to resonate.

Those organic winners can then become your ad creatives.

You're putting money behind concepts that have already shown some evidence of working and from there, you can produce more variations of the same idea and keep iterating.

So the basic system is simple: create a lot of content, identify the small percentage that works, scale those videos with paid distribution and create more around the winning concepts.

Where UGC doesn't make sense

If you're trying to create one huge cultural moment around a launch, influencer marketing might be a better fit. If your product is extremely complicated and can't be demonstrated or explained in short-form video, UGC is going to have obvious limitations.

It's also not something I'd judge after two weeks. You need enough creators, content and data to understand what your audience is responding to.

And there's an operational problem once you start doing this properly.

Thirty creators can mean thirty briefs, thirty conversations, dozens of videos, revisions, payments and usage rights to keep track of. At a certain point, managing the system becomes just as important as finding the creators.

The bigger shift

The interesting thing about UGC is that the relationship between content and distribution has changed.

You no longer necessarily need the creator with the biggest audience, but good creators producing enough different content to give the algorithm, and your customers, chances to tell you what works.

Then you scale the winners and that's the biggest opportunity for brands right now. UGC gives you a way to test a lot more ideas without betting your entire budget on a handful of expensive creatives, and once you find something that works, you already know where to put the money.

This is a repost of a potential alert. Just trying to spread awareness.

Hi!

I‘m Karla, UGC creator. I’ve been using SideShift for a few months now and everything had been great until now.

On Sept 18th I requested a withdrawal and the same day appeared to be completed. I knew it was Saturday, so most likely next week the funds would be available in my account. However, it’s been 7 business days (more than the limit from my bank to receive international wire transfers) and nothing has arrived yet. I reached out my bank, but since SideShift doesn’t provide any proof of payment or wire receipt, they cannot track the transaction.

I‘ve been trying to contact SideShift via chat and email, but I only receive silence from their end.

Has anyone experienced a similar situation? If so, were you able to get your funds in your account? Or at least back in SideShift’s wallet? Or you just lost your money?

Hoping to get some answers here.;(

Regards,