How To Make Money Online With User Generated Content

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 30-90 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚:

Its called UGC (User Generated Content) and I think it's a market getting ready to explode. 

According to Hootsuite:

"User-generated content (also known as UGC or consumer-generated content) is original, brand-specific content created by customers and published on social media or other channels. UGC comes in many forms, including images, videos, reviews, a testimonial, or even a podcast."

But can you make money with User Generated Content? Yes, absolutely, and this has actually been one the best ways to make money online that I've ever experienced. And many that I know are creating full online businesses with UGC.

Unlike 'affiliate marketing' where you refer YOUR audience to the products you know, like and trust; UGC is creating content for brands or distributors to use for THEIR audiences. While I do like recommending offers to my audience, I like to do it sparingly and not all the time, which is why UGC is brilliant!

I stumbled across this when I figure I should finally sign up for an affiliate account with Amazon because I'm always recommending things like my podcast set up or books for people to check out. I didn't even know what I was signing up for, but I'm glad I did.

In late December, Amazon rolled out a program called the Influencer Program that allows creators to use THIER platform to create content about products sold on the platform.

Here's another key difference between UGC and Affiliate: commissions are passive and recurring after you create the content (yep, they keep coming and coming). You can create videos, texts or even live shows, and it can be fun! And my wife can help with this when I'm jamming out on my other stuff.

Amazon calls these videos "shoppable videos", and the Live streams I could see becoming very entertaining, kind of like that old QVC channel. Additionally, Amazon recently rolled out Inspire, which is similar to TikTok but features products that are sold on that platform and consumers can swipe to the next videos quickly. 

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿:

Now I'm getting a bunch of messages from brands that see the content and want to either send you free stuff to review or pay to create content that they can use.

I haven't charged anyone to create UGC but that's the next step and doing it in an ethical way by creating a reputable and transparent brand.

There will be so many sellers and brands that will need help with creating relatable content for consumers that have an organic feel. 

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨:

Old way: Companies pay marketing companies millions of dollars for ads that people don't even pay attention too (like mail ads or billboards).

New way: Influencer marketing and micro-influencer marketing.

Future way: spend a fraction of the marketing costs to get customers to create UGC.

If Amazon is successful with this, then next comes Macy's, Target, Walmart and more with their own programs and customers.

Traditional marketing becomes obsolete yet again as the power shifts from big ad companies to individual creators.

Spotify, YouTube and Amazon gave individuals the power to create books, music and their own TV shows without the middle men (agents, studios, distributors).

User Generated Content will give individuals the power to be their own micro ad agencies and those skills you learned from TikTok and Reels will actually make you some money 🤣!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗮:

How do you keep User Generated Content ethical and authentic? We're seeing it already with people trying to game the system to make a profit. Shady users that get approves to make content but use AI or other ways to try to hack the system.

Thankfully Amazon does a good job of both screening people to get in the program and booting out ones that are trying to bend the rules.

Here is what I am doing: I focus on adding value for the brand and the consumer and never let the money be the motivator, and not worry about what others are doing. I trust that quality will always find its way to the top. 

What you can do to get started: 

✅ Focus on building a reputable online personal brand using social media (LinkedIn is my favorite).

✅Join the Amazon Associate program, most people can be accepted and make affiliate commissions. You can also apply for the influencer program but you'll need some social media street cred.

✅ Build a social media following around a fan topic, then start doing reviews of associated products and tagging the brands to get them to notice and build a UGC 'portfolio'. Then you can start asking brands for free products to review, then charge. 

✅ Create a 'Fivver' or Upwork account for Shoppable Video's or User Generated Content.

✅ Be on the look out for other UGC programs that are similar to Amazon Influencer Program. 

Tips on how to create great User Generated Content for products: 

• I love using the CapCut app, its so easy to use and allows you to edit, put titles or subtitles, create automatically generated titles, add music or make TikTok style videos. So easy to use!
• Keep video's short, 30-90 seconds, transitions are great.
• Introduce the product, then talk about the problem and how the product solves the problem, then do a feature walkthrough and you are done! 
• Be authentic and not sales-ey, have a neutral perspective, state the facts. This is your brand so do not create video's just for the money or you could risk your reputation. Do not take shortcuts to try to make money or 'game the system' and get banned. I find its good to point out something you don't like about the product but just avoid reviewing if you don't believe in the product. 

Make sure to join my Digital Entrepreneur Newsletter for 2 free gifts and weekly content teaching you how to build an online business that you love!

Also make sure to subscribe to the High Value Skills podcast where we talk about personal branding, high income skills and creating an online business. Available on Apple and Spotify. 

You can also see our Amazon Storefront here for an idea on how we are using UGC to have fun and create extra money online.

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙮𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮.