How To Make Money Fast With User-Generated Content

I’m so pumped to talk about this week’s topic, and I really have to make sure I contain myself so that I don’t go longer than 30 minutes. You know I value your time, but when I’m excited about something, I definitely have a tendency to talk a dog off a meat wagon.

So I wanna make sure I stay clear and concise when it comes to my new favorite way to earn income online, which is UGC, aka user generated content. To distract myself from approaching and then ultimately going over my due date with my second baby, I decided to take on another stream of income. I know. Shocker.

But I’ll preach it until I am blue in the face. You need to have multiple streams of income.

Typically, before I dive into any topic, I share with you a question that I’ve been asked by one of my friends on social media. As you’ve probably gathered by now, I’m a cesspool of knowledge, and I swear, every week I’m getting asked my personal opinion for anything that you can think of, any given topic or information on a specific topic.

Submit a question anonymously

I am gonna pivot a bit today, though, because the questions that I’ve been receiving on social media lately have been regarding UGC. So it kinda ties into, a, our topic, and I can answer your questions. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone, if you will.

What Is UGC?

So UGC is user generated content, and sometimes you’ll hear it referred to consumer generated content, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. It is original, unique, brand new content that is created by users or consumers. And brands will pay consumers or content creators to make this marketing tool for their brand.

It will get published on social media or another digital platform, and these companies will take the consumers who created these videos, photos, whatever it may be, and they’ll use it for their marketing campaigns, whether it’s email, social media, whatever they wanna do with it. Right?

They’re purchasing it from you, so, ultimately, they’re entitled to whatever they wanna do with it.

And the UGC creator, they’re creating that sponsored content and it is to appear authentic. It’s not like the old days where, you know, everyone was a paid actor or a model.

This specific content is designed to showcase a specific business or product using regular people, quite frankly.

And the possibilities are endless to what the company can use it for, but, also, the income potential doesn’t have a cap for you, which is huge, if you choose to become one of these UGC content creators.

So why is this a win win for the company and if you were to choose to do it as a content creator?

Well, you, the content creator, you’re gonna get free products, and you’re gonna get paid by the brand. And if you happen to already be in, say, direct sales, or you’re tapping into the affiliate marketing space, or you want to.

Like, this is just kind of the stepping stone, which I think it is a phenomenal stepping stone. I always talk about how I believe that direct sales is a great foundation to then build upon becoming an affiliate for companies, paid sponsorships, creating your own offer.

I gotta be honest because I always am. I think UGC is better than direct sales, and I’m gonna explain why. Because you’re gonna be getting tons of reps creating these different types of branding materials.

So you’re gonna learn how to take better photos, whether you’re in it or not. You’re gonna get creative. UGC, it could be anything from taking a selfie with a product, right, and smiling into the camera. It could be you just taking a photo of the product. It could be an unboxing.

For example, some of the UGC I’ve created is I did a video of a baby gift that I received, and it came in a basket and I talked all about how it came with so many different items, and I loved that they gave multiple sizes of the clothes and then they gave a book and then but they they literally didn’t leave anything out.

You know, everything from clothing to an animal to a book, burp cloths, a bath towel. Nothing was forgotten. It was all in this cool box, literally, and then you could repurpose the box for your child’s toys.

What is Unboxing A Product?

Like, that’s what an unboxing is. A product demo, so that’s you showing how a product is used in everyday life. A UGC that I did was for a pool toy, and I talked about how it had little to no setup, and it is now literally, it is my toddler’s favorite toy when she goes in the pool, and I showed how it worked in the pool.

So it forces you to kinda go outside of your comfort zone, and I think this is huge for building your presence online.

Because one of the things that I have seen, specifically in direct sales, is people share and share and share, but they just copy one another. They see someone in their direct sales company who is whether it’s, you know, they’ve hit a certain rank in the company that they wanna achieve or they view them as financially successful, and they look at them and they say, oh, well, it’s working for Sally Sue. I’m just gonna do what she does.

But, ultimately, that doesn’t work, right, because it’s not unique to you and your brand. People can tell when you’re faking it, and it also leads to burnout.

It’s no secret, and I say this all the time, because I am very transparent about the direct sales community. I’ve been a part of it for over a decade. It’s not a lie when they say that only 1% truly make substantial income.

It’s the truth. And if you really wanna narrow it down, those of us who hit the highest ranks financially within our direct sales companies, it’s even smaller. It’s point 001%. And you’ll have people say, well, that’s because the other 99 don’t care about becoming millionaires.

Okay. If someone told you that you could either make $500 a week, or more than $5,000 a week, what are you gonna choose, homie? Let’s be real. Like, for doing essentially, I don’t wanna say the same work because, obviously, the person who’s making more money, maybe they have, you know, a stronger network than you or they’ve put in more hours than you. I’m not saying it’s apples to apples.

It’s definitely apples to oranges. But at the root of it, if you’re using the same products, sharing on social media, you probably wanna make substantial income.

Why Does Direct Sales Lead To Burnout and UGC Doesn’t?

And the fact of the matter is, when you have these people who are doing direct sales, and they’re sharing and sharing in the quote unquote same way, share your story, share your story, but they’re not getting bites, it can be very frustrating and it leads to burnout.

It also leads to burnout when it comes to boredom because people get tired of sharing the same products over and over and over again. I mean, I know for myself, it gets very frustrating because I’ve maintained, with the exception of me having my 2 daughters, I’ve maintained my weight loss.

It’s very difficult for me to share my weight loss journey when, truth be told, I’ve maintained and did it the whole time. I don’t yo yo diet. I don’t have a constant before and after, with the exception of having children.

And even I even said to my husband this morning I was like, dang. I was like, I gotta get a, a before, air quote, video up of me. I always share, like, the same bathing suit and in the same, area of my home so people can see, you know, the the changes.

I was like, I gotta share it ASAP because I’m gonna be 3 weeks postpartum, and I’m only 14 pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight.

And I know, because I know how trolls be trolling, that people are gonna be like, it doesn’t even look like you had a baby. Well, I did at home, naturally, 9 pounds 2 ounces. Thank you. But I just that’s just how I am.

I’ve become a product of the product that I am a part of with my direct sales, and I’ve been burnt out. I’ve questioned how am I gonna share the same fitness program that I love 10 years later.

With UGC, you’re not going to be burnt out. Why?

Advantages of UGC in Marketing

You’re working for a company. You’re creating content for them. So they completely cut out the middleman and the guesswork of what they want the content to look like. They tell you straight up, we want x y z.

Shoot it, you know, shoot the video or take the photo in your bathroom because it’s a skin care product. And this one okay. Do this one in your kitchen. Make sure there’s good lighting because you’re showcasing, you know, a wood wooden cutting board or something like that. Right?

So you know exactly what they’re looking for. You don’t have to hunt and pack and guess, oh, is this gonna trend? Are people gonna comment? Will this go viral? Like, you know, does this sound match the the video content I’m putting together?

Like, you don’t have to think about that. It’s done for you. Not only that, but you’re just pitching to the company.

You’re not trying to pitch to your family, your friends, your coworkers like you do in direct sales. And let’s be real, people don’t like being told no.

Especially, in my experience, I work for a direct sales company that is very emotionally attached to the result.

It is weight loss. It is life changing decisions to work on yourself and your health. And so when you feel so emotionally attached to your superfood shake or, a fitness program that helped you lose that postpartum weight, and people tell you, no. I’m not buying what you’re selling. It sucks.

It hurts. And what I’ve discovered is as I’ve been talking to people about UGC and been sharing this whole journey that I’ve been on and and now teaching a workshop on it.

I’ve had people saying to me, listen. Love you. Love what you stand for. Been following you for years, but I was always frustrated because I wanted to work with you and get to know you more and be a part of your community, but I didn’t want your fitness program.

So that’s what I really like about UGC. It’s there’s not that emotional attachment to whatever it is you’re selling.

Earning Potential and Personal Choices in UGC

And, also, you’re not gonna get butt hurt when people tell you no like you can in direct sales. Now these companies that when they’re choosing you to make content for them, they’re winning. Right? Because they’re using real people, not these models.

I actually saw a commercial just literally before I started recording for a teeth whitening company. And they’re showing raw content from the influencer who happens to be a brand influencer for the company, but they’re just shooting it on their phone.

It’s nothing fancy. It’s not, anything that you and I couldn’t do on our hopefully, you have an iPhone. Although, my husband always teases me that his Android takes better photos.

I’m like, yeah. But you still have green text. So I don’t care how good of a photos your camera takes. You still are the person that ruins every group chat, but I digress. But when they use real people, the company is able to connect with their prospect of consumers better.

And for you as the UGC creator, you’re getting free product, so you could potentially end up being a consumer for that company for life, you know, if you end up loving it.

And it’s typically for UGC, they’re brands that don’t have a ton of marketing behind it and are really trying to get established. What I have seen in this space is it’s a lot of products made in the USA.

Types Of Content Used In UGC

They’re family owned. You know, there’s a lot of, say, supplement companies that they don’t have the huge marketing budget that a lot of these other companies that you see, whether it’s being paid, you know, you have influencers that are doing paid sponsorships for, or you’re seeing commercials or email marketing for, like, they don’t have that.

They’re just trying to get their feet wet and they’re trying to hit it big, and so they’re gonna use UGC to get started. Because they just can’t afford to pay the influencer who has 600,000 followers. They can’t afford to pay them 1,000s and 1,000s of dollars, but they can afford to pay you a $100. Right? And that’s a win.

That’s that’s a free product in your home that you could potentially be, like I said, a lifetime consumer, because you end up loving it, and you’re gonna get paid to make the content. And that’s a $100.

UGC creators are filming and narrating content from their perspective, which gives that authentic feel.

And the beauty of it, because it’s used on so many different platforms for the company marketing materials, you don’t even have to put it on your social media account.

Now there are opportunities where you can do that, and I really recommend that if you are gonna do that, it really should only be products that you truly like, and they also should align with whatever your values are.

So, for example, this past week, I posted a couple UGC videos that I have have been paid for, but I only took the job because I knew that it aligned with me and my values. So one of them is stainless steel, so I’m all about that versus plastic.

Stainless steel snack containers for my toddler, and the other one is a plant based household cleaner. So, obviously, if you know you know and you’re here, you know that I try to live a very low tox life. It’s not, you know, it’s not a 100%.

I still love Chick Fil A, and I still love, you know, a good bottle of red wine from my favorite vineyard out in Napa, at least. But for the most part, I try to be clean. And those two products, I didn’t mind taking those jobs and putting it on my personal Instagram account.

But I’m not gonna put something up there. I’m not gonna take a job that talks about, you know, this job will pay you $20 to give a review and post on your social media, and it’s manifestation cards. No. I don’t I don’t believe in that. That doesn’t that new age stuff doesn’t align with me.

I’m a Christ follower. I’m not going to do UGC work for a company that is promoting THC gummies. Like, that that’s not me. I don’t I don’t use those types of products. Never have, never will.

Now it’s not to judge you if if you are, but in the same breath, like, you gotta do what’s real to you and authentic to you. Now when I tell people that you don’t have to post on your personal platforms, they’re like, oh, that’s awesome.

But I’ve also had people in my DMs asking me, well, what if I don’t wanna show my face at all? And there are jobs out there.

You know, I did not 1, but 2, just photos of a product. So my face wasn’t in it. It’s a supplement, you know, so don’t get weird. But it’s literally called horny goat weed. And what it is it’s increasing, blood flow, libido, energy, etcetera, but my face wasn’t in the actual photo.

So I was asked to do a review and take photos. Sure. Now, are jobs out there that exist like that? A 100%, But the more you are willing to create content, put your face out there, it just pays off in dividends.

I mean, it it kinda goes without saying. Because if you are a company and you’re trying to market to consumers I mean, any Tom, Dick, and Harry can take a photo of a product, but they wanna hear from an actual person.

And so that’s why those jobs are going to get paid more. Now I believe that everyone has their own autonomy on what they choose to accept for jobs and not.

 

And one of the things that I never budge on is my children. So there are a lot of jobs on there where the say it’s a company that is promoting some princess outfit.

And then in the job description, it says, please show your child smiling, you know, twirling in their dress, whatever it may be. Well, I’m not gonna budge on that because I’m not showing my kids’ face.

Now I’ll take jobs that want to incorporate a child, but I’m not showing my toddler’s face. I might show her opening, say, this stainless steel containers or spraying the plant based solution on the windows, but I’m not showing her face.

So that gig that might get you the, you know, the free $30 dress for your toddler, plus they’re gonna pay you $60 for a photo. For some people, they’re willing to do that. Me, I’m not. Especially since they’re paying me and they’re gonna have those photos, and they can brand them however they want.

And so for me, that idea of putting my child out there for perpetuity purposes, like, I just I can’t can’t do it. Now I know some people would be like, $60? Is that fair? Is that a fair price? And I actually reached out to a girlfriend of mine who is a paid model, and her children are also paid models.

But that’s I mean, it’s a win for the company when they can pay you $60. Right? So, it cuts out their time trying to find the models. It cuts out them getting a professional photographer, because like I said, you can do plenty of great photos from your own phone.

And they don’t have to worry about any kind of legal issues as far as, oh my gosh, did we overwork this kid? You know? Oh, well, we didn’t get the shot we wanted, and we had the kid here for, you know, 2 hours. Well, that was a waste. Right? Because they still gotta pay the model.

You know, so I asked her, all things said, because she does have a daughter who, has a SAG card and and did a commercial, so she gets residual checks for a commercial she did for Florida Blue. So that, we’re not gonna use that as the as the baseline.

But she said a general idea and when she’s going into gigs for them and she’s, you know, signing them up, yada yada yada, she said roughly $100 an hour. Now a $100 an hour. She still has to, what, drive to wherever it is she’s going. So she lives in this West Palm area, so sometimes she goes down to Boca or Lauderdale or even Miami, which, trust me, is not around the corner. You know?

And and granted part of it is the experience for her, but a $100 an hour. When you can make $60, now like I said, this has to be part of your you know, it has to align with you.

Maximizing Income with UGC through Child Modeling

The Value of Time and Effort in UGC Child Modeling

When considering child modeling within the realm of user-generated content (UGC), it’s essential to evaluate both the financial and practical aspects. For instance, obtaining $60 for a brief, at-home photoshoot can be highly efficient. This opportunity allows you to create content without the logistical challenges of traditional modeling gigs.

Practical Example of Earning Potential

Consider this scenario: you receive a product, set up your child in front of a well-lit window, and use a simple backdrop. The entire process, including taking the photos, editing, and uploading them to the brand’s platform, might take around 10 minutes.

If you earn $60 for those 10 minutes, you can calculate the hourly rate by multiplying $60 by 6 (since there are six 10-minute increments in an hour). This results in a potential earning of $360 per hour, showcasing the significant financial benefits of engaging in UGC child modeling.

Aligning Opportunities with Personal Values

While the financial rewards are enticing, it’s crucial to ensure that the products and brands you work with align with your values. Only take on gigs that you believe in, especially when involving your child. This integrity will help maintain authenticity and satisfaction in your UGC endeavors.

By strategically selecting UGC opportunities and efficiently managing your time, you can maximize your income while balancing your personal and professional commitments.

You just superseded my friend’s kids who have to go travel, be on-site, and are making a $100 an hour. It’s no freaking brainer. Now, if you’re like me and you don’t wanna share kids, there’s plenty of opportunities where you can what? Share your dog.

Right? Share your cat. I have people in my workshop who are pumped because they are very crunchy and they live out in East Jesus where they have chickens. There are gigs on there for chicken feed and do x y z in your chicken coop. I mean, it’s wild.

My UGC – You Get Cash – Workshop

I’m running my workshop this week, and I know that there’s so many crunchy moms in there. It was all about a tool that you use if you’re making your own bread.

Now, I don’t personally make my own bread, but I know a lot of women that do, and they’re getting paid to do a product demo of this whatever it is. I don’t even know what it is.

It’s something with making your own dough. I don’t know. And they get to keep the product and get paid for it. And if, say, the company I don’t think this particular one did, but say they wanted you to post it on your socials, it would still be on brand for these ladies because it’s what they do on the regular. It’s what they’re sharing on their stories.

And the whole purpose of this UGC and what I’m teaching everyone in my shop is to create a baseline where you can fast track your success and create your own portfolio. So make income, build your portfolio so that, ultimately, you can reach out to brands.

Because that’s that’s one of the caveats that I had people saying to me is, well, I don’t wanna be on this platform and and do all this.

Like, I’d rather do it on my own and, you know, I don’t wanna pay or because there is a finder’s fee, essentially. Like, the platform that I use and I’m teaching everyone, they’re finding you the gigs, so they will take 20%.

But I don’t care who you are. Ultimately, if you wanna work smarter not harder, and you want people seeking out these deals for you, you’re gonna pay a finder’s fee. One of my best friends is a very big influencer, has a management company that she’s a part of.

She gets major brand deals. I’m talking like Target, Adidas, Abercrombie and Fitch. And she gets paid a lot of money to do it, but she still has to pay the agents at the management company because they’re brokering the deals for her.

And it’s the same thing with this. And I just laugh at the people who are like, oh, I could get paid more for the job or I could okay. If it was that easy, you’d be doing it already, but you’re not. So let’s just call it what it is.

So when you are a part of my workshop…

I’m teaching you how to use this platform.

I’m teaching you how to use the apps to generate the content, and you’re gonna be leveling up so you can make more content, get paid more, and create these relationships with the brands you’re working with, so that when they reach out to you in the future, because many of them will, you won’t have to give up that 20% cut.

Future brand deals, you don’t have to, you know, because it’s not brokered by the app. It’s being curated by the brand that you worked with previously.

They liked working with you, created great content, you produced it on time and well, yada yada yada, you wrote them a great review. All the things, they wanna work with you again. It kinda goes without saying.

And so as you’re building this portfolio, then maybe you can even get your own paid sponsorships and do what my girlfriend does, maybe albeit maybe a smaller level. But that’s how it starts.

 

That’s where you have to start to get to that level where you’re making multiple 6 figures for creating content for brands. Because the opportunity is truly out there, but you have to know where to start.

And if you try to do it on your own, as opposed to doing my workshop where I’m showing you examples of photos I’ve done, videos I’ve done, I’m telling you what apps to use.

I’m telling you how to use the apps. I’m telling you how to engage with the brands within your conversations so that you can get paid for future gigs.

All of these things, if you try to do that on your own, I promise you it’s gonna take you 4 times as long.

You’re gonna go down a gazillion other rabbit holes that you don’t need to go down. It doesn’t make sense to do it on your own. Literally doesn’t make sense.

When you can do it alongside me, learn my tips and tricks, things that have worked, things that haven’t worked for me. I’m helping you cut out the middleman.

Next UGC Workshop is Mid-September 2024

So, if you wanna learn more about UGC, I have decided that I am going to run this workshop again because it is so successful. I mean, I didn’t I didn’t know that it would take off the way it did.

I’ve had to go to the point where I’ve created an affiliate program for it, which is mind blowing to me, which is just another, what, way you can make income. Hello.

People are excited. People are excited to do this because, like I said, they’re burnt out from network marketing. They don’t really know where to get started. This is when I say anyone can do it, anyone can do it.

So if I have piqued your interest at all about UGC and you wanna learn more about how to become a content creator, how to create another stream of income for yourself and your family, become a better content creator for your current business, dive into more social selling skills, then you need to learn more about my UGC workshop.

I literally entitled it, you get cash. It’s a 5 day workshop.

I’ve talked a lot about it in previous episodes, how I think that network marketing is on a tailspin across the board. It is. UGC is on a rocket ship to the moon.

So you wanna be ahead of the curve before everyone else finds out about this, and I will be your mentor and guide you along the way.

I know this is where the future of social media is going, and I want you to be a part of it. I love tuning in with you today and plugging in. As always, thanks for tuning in with me, and I will catch you on next week’s episode.