The Power of User-Generated Content for Coaches and Creators with Megan Collier

The power of User Generated content for coaches and Creators with Megan Collier.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance and movement, package and position their products and services and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleep. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

Welcome back to the PT Profit Podcast. My name is Chris and I'm giving you your intro plus some context as to how we connected with Megan. So I am a giant podcast nerd and I actually heard her on a podcast that I tend to listen to. It's called the Side Hustle Show. And what I found was that Megan's skillset within helping people leverage user generated content complemented the fitness, the wellness space really, really well. She has a lot of expertise and experience that she can share with you. And so without further ado, we're just going to dive right in. You get to learn from Seattle based Megan Collier on user generated content. Let's get started.

Megan, thank you for joining me on the show today. How are you doing?

Absolutely, I am great. How are you?

I'm doing so good. Where are you in the world? I forgot to ask before we hit record.

Yeah, I'm in the Seattle area, just south of Seattle.

Okay, nice. Love it. So with that said, can you tell me a little bit about or tell us a little bit about who you are, who you serve and how you got.

Yeah, for sure. So I am a content creator. I have been doing content creation for a little over two and a half years. I was working a full time job and kind of looked for a side hustle and I, I found out about something called ugc, which is just a type of content creation. So it stands for user generated content. Basically in a nutshell, UGC creators get paid to create content for companies that they then just take that content and use for their own purposes instead of, you know, having to be an influencer with thousands and thousands of followers. It kind of opens up the door for people with small followings who still want to work with brands to do exactly that. So I've been doing that for two and a half years, taught over 8,000 people how to do it, and it's just been a really fun journey.

Okay, amazing. So with that said, can you, did you have a background in content creation? Like how did you get there?

Yeah, I kind of taught myself over the years. I've tried a lot of random Things, side hustles and everything. So yeah, I kind of taught myself social media and then I worked for a company doing some like Instagram posts and everything. I've done like travel content and it kind of just made my way through doing this. But when I started ugc, I had never done a UGC style video before.

What kind of videos were you doing?

I was working for a medical device company. So I was doing like, I was going to their warehouse or their facilities and like recording them and then uploading it on. On Instagram.

Okay, how did you learn how to do content? Were you doing YouTube University? Did you go to school? How did you discover you had a passion for content, for creating content?

Yeah, it kind of just snowballed. I think that I probably started on YouTube and I always, it was always like this mystery to me of like, how are people actually making money with content creation? And like, how do you even start doing that? So I had gone down a bunch of rabbit holes. I didn't really buy any courses on content creation. I just usually just would pull out my phone or a camera that I bought and just started messing around with it. It started on like imovie back in the day. And then, yeah, I just kind of taught myself, which was a good way to do it because I learned a lot. Okay, amazing.

So now what are some of the things? So are you working with brands? Like, do you create commercials? Like, what are some of the actual ways that you monetize content creation?

Yeah, so I do work with brands. So basically how it works is ugc, like I said, you don't need followers, but tons of brands, as we maybe all know, but often forget, I think, how much content they really need on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly basis. So all the brands that you follow, whether it's like pet companies, whether it's fitness companies like that sell a bunch of fitness products, whatever it is, these brands all need an alarming amount of content. So one way that they keep up with that demand of content is by hiring UGC creators. Because again, you're just gonna get the product if it is a physical product or say it's like a fitness app or something like that. Tons of fitness apps do UGC and hire UGC creators. So what they'll do is you'll connect with that brand. Whether it's an app, a physical product, you'll connect with them. Whether that's, you know, sending a portfolio that you have or your socials that you have with some other content, they can kind of get a feel of like who you are, do you fit the kind of person that they're trying to, you know, market to? And you'll negotiate with them, communicate with them, and then they'll send you the physical product. If it is a physical product, you'll create videos that they tell you. Kind of like we need three Instagram reels or we want to run ads for our new product that we just launched. So you'll create the videos, send it to them, and then again they'll just take it and use it for those purposes on their own socials or their own social media ads.

So who is the first brand that you worked with? Like, how did this start from you? How did you take this into a side hustle and then actually start like, were you actively pursuing relationships or was it something that you accidentally like they someone saw you, discovered you type of experience?

Yeah, for sure. So I had, I was scrolling on TikTok randomly one day like a lot of us do, and I heard about UGC and it made sense to me. So really one of the first steps that I kind of gathered all this information based on TikTok searches and people I was following, who was, who were doing UGC was. Step one is like create a portfolio. So that's what I did. I went to Canva and I created a really basic, really simple portfolio. Had basic information about myself, nothing fancy. Took me, I think, a day to do. And then I took products around my house and created video examples about those products. So I don't go, I didn't go out and like buy anything that I didn't need. It was very simple. I think I had like cat treats, some toys that we had bought our son from Amazon. And I just did a few simple videos, like 60 second long videos, four total. I put inside my Canva portfolio. I hit publish and then I started reaching out to brands, like just going crazy reaching out to brands, emailing them, DMing them. And then on about day 10, about a week and a half into my UGC journey after that, I had a brand say yes to me. So they wanted to hop on a call with me and they. So I did the next day and they hired me for five UGC videos talking about their app. So it's called the Captions app, kind of like a video editing software that I just happened to email. And yeah, they hired me and they paid me like $750 for five super simple videos that took me about less than two hours to do.

Okay, so this is amazing. I have so many questions. Number one, my questions are did you start it with TikTok shop because now or was this pre TikTok shop and would you recommend going the TikTok shop way because it sounds very similar to creating essentially a TikTok shop profile?

Yeah, great question. This is totally pre TikTok shop. That wasn't even a thing because it was, I think about summer of 2022 when I got started. So TikTok shop came later on, wasn't even a thing. Nobody knew that that was even coming. So TikTok shop affiliate, like I have done a ton of TikTok shop affiliate videos. I've made some money with it. The great thing though, that I'll kind of explain the difference between TikTok Shop Affiliate and UGC because that is a really common question because it does sound the same, right? As a TikTok Shop affiliate, you are generating the content, so you are doing user generated content. However, the structure of how you get paid and what it looks like is a little different. So a TikTok shop affiliate, if people are hearing this and don't know exactly still what that is, you are essentially you're creating a TikTok account. Whether it's your one that you have right now or it's a new one that you create. You need a certain number of followers. For a while it was 5,000 and then it was 1,000 and now I think it's back to 5,000. So you need a certain number of followers to be qualified to get approved as a TikTok shop affiliate. Whereas with UGC you don't need that because again, you're not posting it to your own account. So to go back to TikTok Shop affiliate, you're going to create an account, you're going to, you know, maybe try to get some free samples if you do get approved. And the only way that you're going to get paid typically 9 times out of 10 is if you post a video about the product, you upload it, it gets a good number of views, people watch it, people click your specific link in that video, they purchase it and you get a commission, which is typically like 10%.

But that's a lot of hoops. That is a lot of. It's a lot of work for pennies. Unless you're viral consistently.

What was that?

Unless you're viral consistently.

Exactly. And I think like anything else, you know, it'll take consistency. And I know so many people that make a ton of Money with, with TikTok Shopify, it's a fantastic way. However, I think a lot of People struggle with that initial, like, oh my gosh, I have to put out what, 50 to 100 videos before I make a good chunk of money with TikTok shop affiliate. So I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but what I see now is a lot of TikTok shop affiliates, especially those just starting out, also want to do ugc. Because even if your video, even if you do a video for a brand talking about their product and it's similar to a TikTok shop style video, they're still gonna pay you a chunk of money that you agreed upon.

Right?

So even if I get hired by a company to create a short video and they take it, they post it on their own Instagram account and it gets 300 views, that's not really on me. They're still obligated to pay me like 400 or 500 bucks or whatever I charge them. So that's kind of the great thing about UGC is that you don't need to have a certain number of followers because most people don't on TikTok, they have like 10 followers and they don't know what they're doing on TikTok, so they, they don't have that yet. So starting with UGC and learning what kind of content brands want and need for their own purposes, will simultaneously help you become a better TikTok shop affiliate in the future, if that's something you want to do.

Okay, amazing. So what are some of the best practices that you would recommend for someone who is interested in starting to create a UGC experience or business side hustle even? We'll call it a side hustle business. Like what are, let's, like, would you, do you think that there needs to be a level of talent or around video editing, around software, around video creation? Like if you were to take someone from start to finish, where would you have them start and what would it look like?

For sure. So that's most of the people that I've taught and by the way, most of my students, this is a random thing, but most of my students are actually Gen Xers and baby Boomers. My mom was kind of the inspiration for that. My mom is now doing UGC at 64 years old with 0% experience in social media. Had one post on her Instagram. So yes, I am, I, I can totally walk you through this exact thing because this is what I do. So if you are brand spanking new to the content creation world and you want to get into ugc, there's a few main, like Steps you got to take. So number one is view some UGC example videos. You can do this several ways. I have a portfolio that we can link up if you want. I have dozens of videos there. My TikTok has videos. But you could also search UGC example videos just to get like a visual on the kind of content you will be creating as a, as a UGC creator. Once you get that and you kind of understand what you're going to be doing, the next step is to create a portfolio which tends to like freak people out and intimidate people. But it doesn't have to be that kind of a, kind of a process. So what I recommend, what I did two and a half years ago was I hopped on Canva. Even if you've never used Canva before, it's pretty easy to figure out, pretty beginner friendly. So go on Canva, type in website portfolio and then you're going to want to choose some type of template that is a website, not a presentation that looks good that you think you could, okay, edit a little bit, make it look like kind of your own. Go in there, put your name at the top, put your generation followed by UGC Creator. This is super important because brands are actively searching keywords like Gen X UGC Creator or Millennial UGC Creator. Or you could even do, you know, obviously your audience is in the PT space and coaches and stuff. So you could do fitness UGC creator because some brands are literally looking for those keywords. So put something that kind of has that searchable searchability and then you're going to put some key things about yourself, just a quick bio. And then the biggest, most important thing to focus on in your UGC portfolio is going to be your video examples. It's just basically one place that you can send to brands so they could get to know you better and see some content. And again, if you're brand new to content creation, you're going to be like, I have no videos and I don't, I don't even like I suck at this. And so that's most people. So I always tell people, give, like give yourself some grace. Grace is going to be like your, your new favorite word. So your first several videos are not going to be your best ones.

Right?

Like I don't even have the first videos I have done two and a half years ago on anywhere on my portfolio because I've just naturally gotten better. So what you're going to do is go around your home just like I did. Choose products, say that you are A personal trainer and you use a bunch of different, you know, gym equipment and you have a. At home or even, even if you're at the gym and you're bringing even a specific water bottle, it can be as simple as that. Choose products that you like, that you use on a consistent basis and create short videos about those products and then put them in your portfolio. Hit publish and start reaching out to brands.

Okay, amazing. So I have two questions and they're. I want to ask them. I just don't know which one to ask first. But let's. I'm going to ask the. I'm going to go the content way and then I want to talk about like contracts and negotiation. But in terms of content, you know, when you're creating your first pieces that.

You know are going to be the.

Intention for your portfolio, is there like a story framework or, or a type of content framework that you work from or that you teach people to, to create when they are shooting and editing their videos? I'm assuming you're talking about shooting and editing, correct?

Correct. Yes. Yes. So typically I like to tell people that a good mix of different types of content is ideal. So instead of you just like, you know, even if you were to order like you got things coming from Amazon, don't just do four different unboxing videos, because we've all seen those unboxing videos, right? If you can do one, if you are getting something shipped to you and you can do an unboxing video, fantastic. Those work pretty well for brands and brands like to see that on people's portfolios. So you can do that. Another one would be kind of like a problem solution video, which we've all seen probably a million times, but we maybe don't understand the framework of it. But for example, I could tell you one video that maybe would be helpful for people to hear. I was hired by a footwear company. The only shoes I wear are shoes called Kuru because I have plantar fasciitis. A lot of people struggle with that. So basically what I did when I created content for them is I took that problem having foot pain, having plantar fasciitis, and I stated the problem. So at the beginning, I would say something like, if you've ever struggled with foot pain or have plantar fasciitis, these are the shoes you're going to want to get. So stating the problem so it calls out a specific audience or like, you know, this could work for any product.

Right?

But you're going to state the problem and show like Maybe it's like you holding your foot or like rubbing your foot or having some, some type of issue with your foot and then going into the, like agitating that problem. Like I could barely walk, I am on my feet all day and my foot pain gets worse and worse. Agitating that problem and then going into the solution, which is of course the product. Like here's what I'm doing to help that. Here's the shoes, here are the benefits of the shoes and this is how you can get them. That's kind of the simplest like version of that kind of video. But that works really well for brands who are wanting to hire UGC creators for videos that are going to be ran as social media ads. So we like, like after this call or who are, whoever's listening to this, if you go on Instagram after this and you're scrolling, you're probably going to see a bunch of these kind of ads because it works really well. And you're probably also going to see a ton of UGC creators that are in these videos because it's just working so well for brands. So having a good mix of like problem solution video, maybe an unboxing video, maybe like a testimonial style video, like, oh my gosh, I'm using these supplements for the last six months. This is what they have done for me. I'm obsessed with them. Here's who they are for or even doing, you know, a day in the life, like I just did, I just worked with a supplement company that has like these digestive bitters. So I was like, you know, a day in the life of someone who really cares about their gut health. And then I introduced the product. So there's so many different kind of content. But having a good mix, I think especially in the beginning when you're just getting your portfolio out is going to be the best way.

Okay, I love this. I also am curious how you end your videos. Like for me and for my clients, we have calls to action all the time that are more mostly specific towards our own brands and our own products and services. So if you're creating for a portfolio, how do you typically recommend someone to end their video?

Yeah, so I think it depends on the type of video, but like the problem solution type of video. You know, I would say head to kurufootwear.com so you can look at all their different styles. But I will say, you know, like these beginning videos, right, they're going to be your first videos. They may be a little bit rough but put you can have A call to action. But I also want to say don't stress so much about it because when you do start working with brands, they almost always are going to tell you like, hey, end the video this way. Or here, here's the CTA that, that we want you to say at the end. Not every brand is going to do that, but I mean some brands will literally send you the entire script to say or, or send you maybe like a few different examples of what's worked for them in the past with other UGC creators and you'll kind of use that and tailor it to what you're going to create for them. So don't stress too much about it. But you can end it in that kind of CTA fashion that we usually see.

Got it, got it. So it's not that you're trying to sell the asset, you're just trying to give them an example of what the asset could look like. Like essentially.

Yeah, yeah. I think it again, it'll just depend. But I think testing out a couple things or even just looking at what other UGC creators are doing that helped me so much in the beginning is like, what are, what's working? Or like even one of the best things you can do as a new UGC creator, as a seasoned UGC creator, is study the ads that you see. So if you're on Instagram specifically you like Instagram and Facebook Just because TikTok is now all TikTok shop UGC videos are all over Facebook and Instagram. All the ads that you're seeing probably like 70 plus percent of them are going to be UGC style ads. So looking at those and being like, oh, that ad really caught my attention or like how did they end that ad so that I was going to maybe take action and click the link or go to the website or you know, follow them on social media. So paying attention to the content and specifically the ads you're seeing on social media will like open up this huge brainstorm session which can be super beneficial to you.

Okay, that's amazing. All right, so now let's talk about negotiating contracts and let's talk about partnering with brands. And I'm also curious because I heard you say this, you started off with travel, so does this kind of work also work for things like hotels and travel experiences or is it all like product based? Do you recommend this for product based stuff?

It's all over the board. It is, I mean, basically the way I like to state it is. Again, every company, it's 2025. If companies are not on social media, they're doing something wrong, right? Like they, they gotta be on social media. They have to be active. And that is like the, probably the number one goal in all their marketing meetings is how the heck are we gonna come up with so like more content? So yes, I have created content for airbnbs for hotels, 100%. Most of the hotel companies are like the hotels resorts you follow go and just like look at their Instagram account and if they have random people in their content as Instagram reels, those are UGC creators most likely. So yes, you could do this for hotels, you could do this for Airbnb travel, you could do this for physical products. Like I mentioned, the supplement company I worked with, I just did a UGC video for Olay that was launching a new like face cleansing melt. There's also apps like I mentioned. So, so many apps do ugc, that was the first client I had was the Captions app. I've worked with so many apps that are actively hiring UGC creators just because it gets more app downloads for them. So there's apps, there's software, there's service based companies.

Right.

Like, I mean I'm even thinking of even gyms. They, they should probably be doing local, local gyms should probably be doing UGC if they're trying to get more, more people in their gym. So yes, it's almost any type of company that has the goal of staying active on social media, which is most companies.

Got it, got it. Okay, cool. So now, you know, you hear a lot of people when they think about branding or working with different kinds of brands. I'll say, you'll hear people say things like, you know, don't accept free product as, as payment. Like how do you begin as a beginner to negotiate your compensation for the asset? And do you have contracts where you are paid on performance or do you pay per the actual asset? And how do you recommend as someone who's new to know whether or not it's a good contractor for sure.

So first is that everyone's journey is going to look a little different. So I started ugc, right? Like I, I wanted to pay my bills with ugc. I didn't want to just get a bunch of random free products that weren't going to do anything for me except sit there.

Right?

So I think that everyone has different goals, different monetary goals. Some people need money right now. Some people will be okay with getting free products. So I think knowing what your goal is in the beginning, for me, I didn't want to waste time. I wanted to get paid right away. And that's exactly what happened. So setting a goal is so important as, as, you know, with anything in life. So number one, doing that. And then, you know, there are companies that really only have the budget because every company's budget is so different. Right. So some companies that you reach out to maybe, like we only do, we only have our affiliate program, so we can send you free products. You can post the link and we'll, we'll get you an affiliate link.

Right?

Tons of companies only do that maybe, or they're only doing that when you reach out to them. Depending on like the quarter, their budget, how much budget they've used. Other companies will, you know, say, yes, we can send you the free products. We just want content in, in exchange for free products. That is okay if you want to start out that way. I have so many of my students who are very intimidated by the whole process where they don't quite feel worthy of even getting paid yet. And my mom was almost kind of in that same bucket where she was like, I'm in my 60s. I'm just doing, I'm just randomly doing UGC because I think it'll be fun and I don't need the money. And if I do want a product and they're going to send it to me for free and I can get practice and kind of get better at content creation by just getting the product for free, I'm okay with that. And some people are okay with that. So again, knowing what your goal is, do you want to accept free, like gifted exchanges, you know, free products in exchange for content? Yes or no? If it's a no, then you're either going to want to, you know, really be okay and like start getting comfortable negotiating and being okay with saying okay. This isn't the right brand for me to spend energy in my focus on right now. I'm going to move on to the next brand who is going to be willing to pay me at least, you know, $200, 100, 150 for a video.

Right.

And so I think it's, it's kind of a mixed bag. But having a goal and then knowing what your monetary goal is like for, you know, month one, and then also don't be afraid to negotiate back and forth with brands. This is what brands expect. So I, I had, I just created a whole new video lesson yesterday for some of my students. Inside my UGC course about my mom was contacted by a brand like a hair care company. And they said, we want to pay you $100 per video for three UGC videos. So it's only going to be $300 for three videos. I was like, okay, that's, that's too low. You should tell them it would be $200 per video. And they came back and said, can we kind of meet in the middle at 175 per video? And she was like, great, fantastic. And so she made more just by simply asking and stating, hey, this is what I charge for this. Brands expect it. So I think it's important to know, even as a beginner UGC creator, don't be afraid to go back and forth with the brand. You, you won't know until you ask them and they expect it.

So how do you determine, like one of the things you said, that's too low. How did you know that? How do you decide what's a good rate to start at? And when do you consider yourself to be, oh, I'm more advanced or whatnot. Like, do you have baseline metrics? I know that it's going to be different for every person, but I'm curious if there's a recommendation for baseline that you usually recommend for.

Sure. So I recommend beginner UGC critters starting at that like 150 to $200 per UGC video at the beginning. And you know, sometimes you'll take a hundred dollars per video at the beginning and sometimes it'll be different, obviously. But that's kind of the baseline of what I tell people is like beginner UGC creators based on the market, based on what's happening right now, the trends that I'm seeing, 150 to 200 per UGC video. That's what I started out. And eventually, just like anything else you do in life, you're gonna get better and you will start to increase your prices and it'll be, it'll be up and down for a while. Right. So what I did, and this maybe don't, won't work for everybody, but once I started getting more confident and I started getting some more like clients and, and brands were taking my content. They were running them as ads. They were coming back to me and asking for more content because the content I made first for them was working, kind of gave me this like this confidence to be like, okay, I'm clearly getting results for other brands while they're, when they use my content. So I'm going to up my rate. Maybe like $100 more per video or maybe the next time a brand reaches out to me because they Found me on social media or whatever the case is. Maybe I'll just say like $500 for a UGC video instead of $300 and just see what they say and test the waters. That's how I've raised my rates basically this entire time is throwing out numbers to brands and seeing what they say. Some brands, when I throw out a crazy number that almost makes me uncomfortable. They're just, they have nothing to say except, yes, let's do it. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I could have charged more. But then you can't know until you test the waters a little bit. And some brands come back and they're like, that's literally double our budget. Can we meet in the middle or can you just go back down a little bit? So it's going to be different every time. But I think getting that confidence is so key and just knowing that there are thousands of people that are making a good amount of money, a lot of money with ugc. And if they're doing it and they're increasing their prices and brands are wanting to hire them and they're getting better at content creation, you can do the exact same thing. That's, that's the mindset I had at the beginning and it served me really well over the last two and a half years.

I'm curious, do people get like, free travel? Like in your students, do they get like free travel? Like, do people come and like, hey, I'll give you a suite in my hotel if you do some UGC concert, like content here?

Yeah. I mean, that's how typically UG, like travel, UGC creators start. And that's how I've started out with travel. And I don't do a of ton, ton of travel, but I have, yeah, basically, like, if we, my family and I want to go on a trip or something, I will pitch to like 10 different hotels in the area that we want to go to. And usually, like a few get back and they're like, no, sorry. Like, we're, we're maxed out. Like, we can't do it. Usually one will get back and be like, yes, these dates work for us. And then you just kind of say the deliverables. But yeah, I mean, hotels typically, like, even though they're getting pitched a lot because a lot of people want free, free stays.

Right.

You know, I think that just knowing that all these hotels want content, they want and need content. So if you can, it's, you know, it's a numbers game.

Right.

Like anything else. So if you can pitch to a lot of hotels. Even if you were like here, like I'm here in Seattle, there's thousands of hotels, resorts, places I could pitch myself to. If I do that, like as many times as I, as I can, my time allows, there's going to be at least a few that say yes to me. So it's a, it's a numbers game.

I love that. So now how do you recommend people pitch themselves? Because you'll often hear sometimes people say no, wait for the brand to reach out to you. Do you recommend emailing? Do you recommend DMing?

Like, what are some of the ways.

That you recommend people pitch their stock once they put their portfolio together?

Yeah, for sure. So I have had the most success with directly pitching brands. So what's that? What that has looked like for me is, you know, I landed my first UGC deal by sending a very simple short email to a bunch of brands and one said yes to me, right? So email works great. What you're going to want to say in an email is going to be pretty simple. You're not going to want to go on and on about yourself. You're going to want to make it about the brand. So what can you do for them? Why are you reaching out to them? Say that you are in fitness or you're a personal trainer, you're a physical therapist, right? Like you, you could even, you could. What would be the perfect thing to do is start with the things you're already using, right? Like I have a student inside my course who is a physical therapist in I think her 50s. And she joined my course and she realized, oh my gosh, like I, I, I'm using medical devices on my patients, on my clients every single day. I'm going to start with those, Those couple companies she pitched to them via email was like, hey, I use your devices every day. I'm a content creator as well. I could create authentic content for you guys that you can use on your own socials. They said yes to her. Like, like within days, she landed two monthly recurring UGC deals, all because she realized as a physical therapist she was already using products that she could create almost daily content about for the brand. So that's something to be very aware of is like using your profession and what you're already using, your products you're already using in just starting there. And if you are emailing brands and an email comes through, like, say that, you know, you're comparing your brand and you're comparing an email you got from somebody who's Never used your product, that's okay. And maybe, maybe they'll get the UGC deal, obviously. But comparing it to somebody who's been a client of yours, who's been using your product is an actual genuine customer of yours already that brand is going to choose that person 10 times out of 10 just because it's going to come across more authentic and it's going to be more genuine for them and more powerful being an actual customer, if that makes sense.

Yeah, it makes perfect sense. So now I'm also curious, when you do, when you do make deals with particular brands, do they have a level of, of requirement in terms of the creativity? Like do they, are they the creative directors? Do they usually, does it vary? Like do you have space to actually use your creative skill or do they like almost treat you like an editor?

Yeah. So it's going to depend on the brand. So I've had. So the first brand that hired me, that Captions app, I asked them on the call, I was like, so what do you want me to say in the videos? Like do you have anything specific you want to share with me to create these videos? And they were like, hey, we trust you as the content creator. We give you full creative freedom. And I was like, okay, great. It was a little bit nerve wracking but it kind of pushed me and they ended up loving the content. So sometimes you'll come across brands that do like totally are like, hey, we give you as the creator creative freedom. And then on the opposite side of that you'll, you'll have brands that are like, hey, we want you to literally replicate this video. So I worked with the company that helped me form my LLC when I was getting started called Taylor Brands. And they were like, yes, we want to work with you. After I pitched to them via email and I said, hey, I loved your, I love this service, loved working with you guys, would love to create content for you guys. So they were like, yes, we'd love to work with you. Here is the exact video we want you to replicate just in like, just created again like in your own home, like at your desk or whatever. So I created the video based on that and it would took me 30 minutes because they gave me the whole creative aspect of it, right. I didn't have to use my brain power to come up with what shots am I going to get, what am I going to say in the video? Because they sent me a whole script, right? So you're going to have a mixture of brands who are going to send you nothing and you're going to go with your creative skills and you'll be surprised. I think that, you know, the more you do this, the easier it'll get. It'll just happen that way. But you might surprise yourself. Even if people. Because I can, I could maybe like think that most people hearing this are like, I'm not creative. Like, I can't. I just started making Instagram reels. I don't know what the heck I'm doing. You might surprise yourself. And you can also get inspiration from people doing the same thing.

Right?

So knowing that that's going to happen and also knowing that some brands will do everything, like they'll send you a script, they'll send you a video, they will even edit the video for you sometimes if they have an in house editor. I don't recommend banking on that fact. Like, I recommend learning editing. And people freak out about editing. Really. I've, I've heard so many people just like, oh my gosh, I could, I could never figure out video editing. But if you look at my videos specifically, I'm not jumping through walls. I'm not doing anything crazy. I've looked at some of your Instagram reels. Like you're, you're better at editing than me. Like, I don't know how to do some of this stuff. Right? Like, I, I'm, I don't.

Listen, you're inspiring me. I'm like, holy crap, I'm good editing. I can actually, I'm getting better at editing. I could do some really cool stuff.

You are fantastic at editing, Beverly. Like you could. I mean, that's, that's a selling point too, right? I just don't do those kind of editing things right now. It's more basic. I'm like taking a bunch of different shots wherever I'm at my house, in my office, wherever, or outside or whatever. And I'm uploading them all into Cap Cut, I'm splicing them down, I'm maybe muting the whole video and doing a voiceover. So it's nothing crazy. And I think people, even if you do want to be a really good editor like yourself in the future, you can start with the basic stuff first.

Right, right. I'm laughing. I'm laughing because I'm like speaking. I'm speaking into my, my ability because I'm practicing, right? So, and I've been like practicing and I've been posting some stuff that I'm like, oh, this is sus. But whatever, I'm going to post it anyway because I want to see the progression of like, yes. Where you start to where you go. So I'm 100% and it's fun, it's fun. I'm enjoying it. And that's my creative outlet because I used to be a musical theater person. So once you start doing business, at least for me, you. I look for the ways that I could also be creative because that's just my nature. I'm also curious, you know, how have you ever had the experience where content or where brands have felt like your content's underperformed and you've felt like I followed your direction, what was I supposed to do? Like, has there ever been like, content management that you've had to deal with?

No. And I think that it's mostly because it's kind of the industry, like, standard that you. Like brands know that when they are hiring me or whoever, another UGC creator to have like, like. So for example, I had a fashion company, clothing company hire me for five Instagram Reels per month. And they were short, like 10 second long videos, right? Just wearing their clothes, doing like, whatever fun things. And so I knew that if they post those as Instagram reels, you never know how an Instagram reel is going to perform.

Right.

Like, and they also know that, so they're constantly posting there. They were hiring tons of UGC crew, so they know that.

Right.

Like, I feel like it's part of, it's part of the whole marketing ecosystem.

Right?

So brands typically are running tons of social media ads, so they're spending tens of thousands, possibly dollars on ads that are performing really well for them. But they also know they have to keep up with organic content, posting Instagram reels, posting TikTok, posting YouTube shorts.

Right?

So I think them knowing that maybe would like, help, you know, me and other UG seekers put yourself at ease, that they're not going to be like, oh my gosh, you only got a hundred views on our Instagram reel. Like, we want our money back. No, that's, that's typically not going to happen.

Yeah, that's good. I mean, that's honestly why I would. I asked because as a creator, you think, oh no, what if it doesn't perform? And then, you know, you feel bad because you're like, oh my gosh, I thought it was gonna do well. And it doesn't. Because to your point, you never know how something's going to perform or not.

Exactly. Yeah. And I think, you know, again, it's, it's just what happens on Instagram. Everybody, including the brands, know that the Algorithm is changing literally every single day. So them knowing that, but also just knowing this is a need. Like we can't just sleep on, you know, posting Instagram reels because we're only getting a thousand views as opposed to other brands getting 10,000 views.

Right?

Like they're constantly marketing is all testing, right? Throwing spaghetti on the wall. So brands know that and by them hiring UGC creators, it actually just opens up this whole door of possibilities. Just because they're testing so much content, testing, you know, different styles of content based on the UGC creator, different faces in their content. So it's really a win, win for the brand. Even if you give them a video and it doesn't like go viral, right? Like, I don't ever expect my content to go viral though I would love it and the brand would love it. I just, there's not that pressure.

I love that. Okay, so last question. I want to be mindful of your time. Do you recommend that content creators create original sound type of content 100% of the time? Or do you recommend using trending sounds or like the lip syncing? Like, do you recommend a combination of both in your content creation or original sounds only?

I actually don't even. This is like, takes up 0% space in my brain because it's not super relevant. So when you're, what I, what I tell people is, you know, you are, obviously you're creating content for brands to use, right? So even if you don't want to be active on social media, you don't want to post Instagram reels as a UGC creator, it's not gonna necessarily determine or make or break your success as a UGC creator. For example, my mom has nine posts on her Instagram account of UGC examples she just had in her portfolio, or she did randomly, but yet she hasn't posted for months. Yet she has had so many brands find her Instagram account and reach out to her because of those videos she posted months ago. So to that point, I do recommend posting your UGC example videos as Instagram Reels, as TikTok videos, whatever you can keep up with. But the trending sounds, the original audio, it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're positioning yourself on social media as a UGC creator so that you're increasing the chances of brands finding you. So what that looks like is say that, you know, tomorrow you're like, oh my gosh, I need to do ugc. I'm going to create some example videos. I'm going to put in my portfolio. Fantastic. Finish your portfolio, take those videos and upload them as Instagram reels using hashtags like hashtag Gen X, UGC creator, hashtag fitness, UGC creator. That way brands can find you hopefully on Instagram. But yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't stress about the audio. I would just like if you do have an unboxing video where you're not talking, maybe use a trending audio.

Right.

That's, that's could increase your views. But don't think about it and don't worry about it too much where it's, you know, creating stress.

I just mean more like would you put that trending audio, like if you were to create a piece of content that you want to submit in your portfolio, would you put a lip sync in there or would you put a trending audio in there?

I. So for the portfolio, yes, you could do trending audio or say that you're editing in Cap Cut and there's audio that you can use in Cap Cut. Use some of those if it makes sense. Almost all my videos have zero music. So most of. So in my portfolio I have a page for ad videos that companies have hired me to do an organic videos like Instagram reels that I've, that I've sent to brands. Some of the Instagram reels have audio just because I'm not talking in them and I'm not doing anything except showing the product.

Right.

The ad videos, I never, ever, I don't think I've ever once submitted videos with a sound to my clients only because I am afraid of the copyright issues.

Right.

So I've also. I don't even think I've ever had a brand tell me, add, add music to this because they're gonna typically do that, you know, once they get the content right. So when it comes to your portfolio, to answer your question, like, yes, use, use music if it makes sense. If you're talking and it's a voiceover and you want to add like slight music in the background because that sounds better, do that and use the audio inside, you know, cap cut, whatever. But yeah, in terms of like working with brands, I say like avoid the music thing altogether. So good.

Okay. This has been amazing. I love it. Thank you so much for pouring into me, answering my questions and into the community. For those of you who are interested in working with you or learning more about how they could become a UGC content creator, what are some of the best places that I can send them?

Yeah, for sure. So you can find me on TikTok and Instagram @megan underscore UGC. I can also send you a link to my Stand store, where I have a free UGC checklist that can help you get started as well as if you want to check out my ultimate UGC course.

Absolutely. That'd be amazing. And we'll definitely link all of that up in the show. So, Megan, thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I really appreciate that.

Of course. Thanks for having me.

Thank you for listening to the PT Profit Podcast. If you like this episode, chances are your friends will too. So it would be a huge service to us.

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