Diary of a UGC Mom: Day 3
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
For moms who want to work from home, figuring out what you're going to focus on is the hardest part. There are pretty much unlimited options once one decides to go into business for themselves.
Even if you decide to work for companies, there are so many ways to do that. You can handle their social media, become a virtual assistant, but the most flexible route is creating content for them on your own time: UGC.
User Generated Content. It's content you make for companies while getting paid for it. It's funny because when I started the Work-at-Home Mom's Club, I said I was determined to find companies to pay moms for what they already do: use their products and either create content or write reviews. I wasn't thinking about UGC at the time because I didn't know about it, but it makes perfect sense.
UGC is new for me which is why I'm using the Anti-Influencer Method (AIM). Someone in the group asked me why I chose this course. Pretty simple answer. I've been watching Megan (the creator) and women she's worked with and she's the first one who I saw 1) actually help others book jobs and 2) she doesn't just sell a course, she's done this herself.
She used to help people on TikTok for free, but burned out on that, as many do, and created a streamlined program. I respect that.
People like to criticize women selling courses, but we have no problem paying for educational resources when it's a huge company or school, why not a person who has excelled at something and wants to help you bypass all of the mistakes she made?
Anyway, here I am going through the AIM course. It's very straightforward, which I like.
Today my module looked like this:
The AIM course tells you exactly what you need to do which is helpful because I have no idea!
I've done the first two steps already so I focused on Step 3. UGC is new to me so the more I can learn about it the better.
UGC is relatively new which is great because there are more opportunities.
In the first video, "Understanding Tech UGC," you learn exactly what UGC is and what companies are looking for when it comes to working with people. What encouraged me was that this is something anyone can do. You don't need to have a big following or be some kind of genius. You just have to be authentic and show up.
The first video in this section is about the difference between Tech UCG vs. Traditional UGC. I didn't know there are two kinds of UGC, but there are.
Tech UGC: Contracts with tech companies that provide services, software, or apps.
Traditional UGC: Working on offs (usually) with companies that sell physical products.
I learned about the pros of tech UGC (longer gigs). I also learned about why tech brands need creators. This was really encouraging. Tech brands can work with famous influencers, but would rather work with normal, everyday people because it's more authentic.
It makes sense. When I see big influencers share a service, I don't even pay attention. I know it's an ad and they probably don't use it in real life. But when a mom I know or a mom that seems more relatable talks about something, I'm more likely to pay attention.
The next part of the video is about: Followers. Portfolios and Account Management.
The good thing is that you don't need followers or a portfolio. The module does talk about how to create a portfolio or examples of work for the future.
The next video I watched was about setting goals.
I know goals are super important, but this is hard for me! I'm not exactly sure how much I want to make yet, but having a number to work toward is critical.
AIM has a lot of testimonials by real moms. Like you can DM these women and confirm they are real.
The woman on the right isn't a mom and she was an influencer before the program. The woman on the left is a mom, but also did really well. I like that AIM is transparent and gives you a framework for earning.
I've decided on $2,500/month as an initial goal. I'm doing this part-time in between mom-ing, writing, and living.
The next section of the module had a list of success stories. These are motivating, but I knowI'll get overwhelmed so I'm skipping those for now lol.
I love the next module because it was all real examples of UGC posts on social media. They are DOABLE which speaks to me.
I don't love social media at all. I participate out of necessity. The example posts in this section make this all real and accessible. There are real UGC posts that you can see.
You don't have to be a dynamic on-camera personality. You can just take four seconds of video and put text over it. It's just a matter of knowing what type of text, what is appealing, etc. I'm probably going to be using the exact examples and just tweak them to fit whatever companies I end up working with.
Fun update: I already have a company who is interested in working with me. I didn't meet them through AIM, but AIM has given me the confidence to go ahead and start the collab. Sometimes I hesitate with these things, but I understand UGC now and know that I have a lot to offer.
Mindset...knowing that you are actually valuable to a brand and knowing how you can really help them makes all the difference in this space.
The fact that I got in touch with this company, pitched myself, and have already been sent a contract has a lot to do with AIM even though I'm still in the beginning stages.
Megan talks a lot about not being afraid to jump in. To just start imperfectly, so I'm going to do that. Companies want authentic. They want consistency. They're not looking for celebrities. I'm just going to keep showing up as me today.
In my next post you'll hear more about the course as I keep going through it and how it's going with my first UGC gig!
Things happen for a reason. Awhile ago, someone was praying for me and said "You've done well in business, now you're going to do even better." That was about two years ago. Maybe God was waiting on me to just try something new because as soon as I set my intention on UGC, this gig presented itself.
Normally I'd say, "I have to finish this course and become an expert," but like the course says, "Start messy. Just start." So I'm doing that!
I wish I were further along in the course. I have around 13 more modules to do. I was really busy last week, but am encouraged that I already have a company lined up to work with! I'm the type of person who wants it all figured out yesterday, but I'm determined to be patient with myself.
Thanks for following along. <3
Until next time!
xo B
If you want to meet other UGC and AIM moms, join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/introvertsidehustleideas
If you're interested in joining me on the UGC journey, you can get info here. This is not an affiliate link.