The I Am [Dot. Dot. Dot.] Podcast

Ep#63 Become a Sought-After UGC Creator: Insider Tips to Kickstart Your Career

• Kristen Werner & Mia Steel • Season 1 • Episode 63

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MID WEEK MUNCHIES Welcome to our Snack-able  Poddy Ep

Are you ready to transform your passion into a profitable career as a User-Generated Content (UGC) creator? In this episode Mia and Kristen unveil the secrets to breaking into the thriving UGC industry. Whether you’re over 40 or just starting your journey, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you stand out and succeed.

Here’s what we dive into:
✨ Why UGC is Booming: Explore why brands are searching for authentic voices and how your unique story can make you a sought-after creator.

✨ Building a Portfolio That Stands Out: Learn the essentials for crafting a portfolio that attracts top brands eager to collaborate.

✨ Connecting With the Right Companies: Discover strategies for finding marketing agencies and specialised UGC platforms actively seeking new talent.

✨ Strategic Start-Up Advice: Understand why starting with lower pay can be a smart move to gain experience and build credibility in the industry.

✨ Leveraging Your Age and Authenticity: Find out why creators over 40 have a unique advantage in connecting with audiences and brands alike.

This episode is your roadmap to creating consistent opportunities, nurturing brand relationships, and unlocking multiple income streams through UGC. If you’ve ever wondered how to get started or grow as a creator, this episode is for you.

👉 Tune in now and start your journey to becoming a sought-after UGC creator!

💸 Join our FREE Workshop - Want to Know What it Feels Like to Get Paid as a Content Creator (even as a beginner)?

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Speaker 1:

I was just looking because I was like, oh, you know, it's keeping up pretty good with both of us, this is great. And then I was like, oh, that's because I haven't hit record. Yeah, dum-dum. Welcome to our snackable and delicious content to ease your weekly curiosity, where we are sharing with you. Mia loves it when I say that word. I'm going to change that word for the next podcast. But basically every single Wednesday we are coming to you with this little snippet, bite-sized pieces of content. You can eat them up, nom nom, nom, nom nom nom and get on with your day. So, mia, welcome. Please read the question, because I can't read anything. All right?

Speaker 2:

let's go from the top. So the question this week is all about UGC and they're asking where would you suggest we connect with businesses looking for UGC? Now, if you just joined us or you're on the live and you're not sure what UGC is, would you like to explain it? Christiane?

Speaker 1:

Sure, I'll explain it for the second time, because I've just hit record. This time will be better. This time will be better. Ugc is user-generated content. This is where brands pay you, the user, to create content about them. So brands need lots of content. As we all know, as content creators, we have to create lots of content in order to keep people following, to buy our things, to get on our email list. Content is the catalyst to get paid. Content is everything in this space. Brands need content, so UGC is where brands will pay you to create authentic content. Now, if you are a woman, 40 plus, brands need you. So if you are somebody that thinks that's not for me, I can't do this, it's just for young influencers. We are here to tell you it's absolutely not. So you want to subscribe to the podcast, because we deep dive into this stuff all the time and we've got some incredible creators that are 40 plus, that are earning incredible incomes from this. So that's my little wrap-up.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and that's how I've created a full-time wage creating content for brands for the last three years. So get around it. Now back to the question where would you suggest we connect with businesses looking for UGC creators? Like Kristen said, brands are looking for creators all the time, and not just one creator, not just one video. It's constant. So they're constantly looking for new creators to create new ads for them or new organic content for their socials all the time. So there's always an abundance of jobs. It is just finding those brands and connecting with them and putting forward your portfolio for them to look at.

Speaker 2:

So a lot of the times, marketing agencies will be looking for UGC creators because they're already working with the brands and they need to create these ads for the ad creators. So they're on the hunt for UGC creators. So you can have a Google marketing agencies there's tons of them. Have a little bit of a snoop to see if they talk about UGC, because nine times out of 10, they're going to be wanting to find creators. So send them an email.

Speaker 2:

It's really good if you can get on side with an agency because they know, oh, I'm going to go to Kristen every time I need some content because we're in contact and I know her content's good. So go to Kristen every time I need some content because we're in contact and I know her content's good. So go to marketing agencies. There are also UGC-only agencies where that's all they do. They connect brands with creators and you know they take a bit of a cut in the middle. Platforms like Creative Flow the Right Fit. There's a few of them around. Expect to be paid a little bit less with those platforms. Generally, beginner creators are on there and the money isn't as great but it's a good place to start.

Speaker 1:

Sorry, amir, just to interrupt. Just as a price guide, I suppose. What do you mean by too low? Like what should people expect? If they are kind of listening to this for the first time or just starting out their journey as a UGC creator?

Speaker 2:

they are kind of listening to this for the first time or just starting out their journey as a UGC creator. Yeah, so when I first started and I was on a kind of UGC agency platform, it was generally $200 for the video. But in saying that, I also had to give them all of my raw files and they had usage rights forever, basically in perpetuity. So they had my content, all the raw files, $200. And as you get more experience, you start to realize that it's not the best, but it is a good starting point if you're looking to get into this. So there are these agencies, these UGC agencies, apps like Creative Flow, and we know the guys from Creative Flow. They're fantastic. It's a great starting point to you know, get some jobs going and get that experience.

Speaker 2:

But as you move on, the way I like to do it is create a lot of content, so you're attracting brands to you and your personality. But then you can also pitch directly to brands. So if you want to work with I don't know, say, the collagen co brand, find their email, their marketing email or their PR email, and send them an email directly and say look, I'm a UGC creator, here's my portfolio. I'd love to work with you and just pitch directly to them.

Speaker 2:

There's also platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, where there's brands pitching. You know that they need creators all the time, or you can put your sort of application up there, and just yesterday I got an email from someone on Upwork saying we need a content creator to create 12 videos every single month for our brand, and so people can find you that way as well. And another one is Twitter. I found most of my jobs in the very beginning on Twitter, so there's lots of brands on Twitter posting that they need creators or they'll slide into your DMs as well, so there's a few places to look.

Speaker 1:

But the best place, like I said before. I was just going to say I think it's also worth saying like there's places like that to look, but if there is a brand that you want to work with, then you're going to need to go out of your way a little bit to contact them, to jump in their DMs, to give them a reason to want to hire you if that's a brand that you align with and that you want to work with. So as much as you kind of can sit back and just search all these platforms if there's someone you want to work for, go and get them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, just go for it. You never know what's going to happen. You might be the perfect creator that they're looking for and you can build that long-term relationship with. As you get a bit more experience and you're creating more content and you've got your name out there a little bit generally, you'll start to find that brands find you instead, which is so much easier. You don't have to go out looking for the work all the time, they kind of just drop into your email inbox. So it's pretty important to put your email address in your bio or make it easy for brands to contact you, because sometimes Instagram DMs or whatnot are kind of filtered and they get chucked in a spam folder or something. So make your email address quite visible.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful. Well, I think we've answered that question. We've got lots to get through. Like we said, every Wednesday, we'll be answering these questions on the podcast and if you're at all curious about UGC how you get started we have a free workshop that we are running, but also we teach all of this in our community. So just go to our socials, follow us along, drop us in the DMs we love a cheeky DM and also you can please subscribe to the podcast. That helps us continue to create content that we love to support you in your journey. So until next week, see ya.