How I Started UGC With 14 Instagram Followers (My First Paid Video Was $100)

Okay, so people ask me this constantly: “How did you actually start? Like, what was the first step?” And I get it, because when I was googling this a few months ago all I found were people with 100k followers saying “just be authentic.” Not helpful when you have 14.

So here is what actually happened this spring, including the awkward parts.

Where I was before UGC

(If you’re not sure what the job even is yet, start with what a UGC creator actually does all week and come back.)

I’m 27, I live in New York, and I have always been that friend who knows which serum you should buy. I was posting my skincare routine on Instagram for basically nobody. Fourteen followers. Not a typo.

I first heard about UGC from a girl on TikTok explaining that brands pay creators for videos they never even post on their own page. The brand uses them. My first reaction was “that can’t be real money.” My second reaction was “wait, I already film this stuff every morning.”

Step 1: I made three videos before I had any reason to

This is the part most people skip, and it’s why they stay stuck. I picked three products I already had on my bathroom shelf, a cleanser, a sheet mask and a lip oil, and I filmed one video for each as if the brand had hired me.

• Cleanser: a talking-head “here’s why I switched” video, 30 seconds.
• Sheet mask: an ASMR-style texture video, no talking, just the peel and the serum.
• Lip oil: an unboxing with the “first impression” energy.

They were not great. My lighting was a window and a desk lamp. But they looked like ads, and that was the whole point. If you want the exact list of formats I’d film today, it’s in my portfolio guide, and the current versions of these are on my Instagram.

Step 2: I put them somewhere a brand could actually look

I made a one-page site with my name, “beauty UGC, NYC,” and the three videos. That’s it. No bio essay. No rates. I’ve since learned that brands spend about five seconds on a portfolio, so this accidentally turned out to be the right call.

Step 3: I said yes to gifted collabs first

Here’s the decision I’m most glad I made, even though half of TikTok will tell you it’s wrong: I started with gifted collabs.

I emailed small skincare and body-care brands, the kind you find on Instagram with 10k–100k followers, a founder who’s clearly still packing orders, and a Shopify store. My email was short: three lines about their product, a link to my portfolio, and one question, “do you work with UGC creators?” Some said “we can send product.” I said yes to seven of them in my first month.

Why? Because a portfolio with three spec videos and zero brand names is a guess. A portfolio with seven real brands on it is proof. And I treated every gifted video like a $500 job: script, three hooks, delivered early, with a note asking if they’d like a paid second round. Two of those seven have since paid me.

Step 4: the first $100

In the same month, one brand replied “yes, what are your rates?” and I panicked. I googled for an hour, saw everything from $50 to $1,000, and said $100 for one video with organic usage. She said yes in ten minutes.

A few weeks later a different brand, one I’d followed up with after no reply, booked a video for $300. That was the moment it stopped feeling like a hobby. Month two was my first $1,000 month, mostly from brands that had started as gifted or “not right now.” If you’re about to answer your own “what are your rates?” email, please read what I know about rates now first.

What I’d tell myself to do differently

• Film the spec videos on day one. Not after you “learn editing.” Not after you get a light. The first three videos are for proving to yourself you can do it.
• Pitch small brands first. Faster replies, nicer people, and they’ll actually give you feedback.
• Say yes to gifted, on purpose, with a limit. Five to ten, brands you’d buy from anyway, portfolio rights in writing. Then start quoting.
• Have a rate in mind before anyone asks. Even a rough one. “$100” said in a panic worked out, but it was luck.
• Start the spreadsheet in week one. I started mine in week two after I couldn’t remember who I’d emailed. It’s now about 350 beauty brands and it’s the most useful thing I own. Thirty of them are free, by the way, at the bottom of this page.
• Don’t wait for followers. I still don’t have a big audience. I have a portfolio and an inbox.

The timeline, honestly

Week 1: filmed three videos, built the page. Week 2: found brands, started the spreadsheet, sent the first emails. Weeks 3–4: seven gifted collabs said yes, one paid video for $100, one for $300 from a follow-up. Month 2: first $1,000. Month 4, now: $100–$200 per video, brands coming back, and this site.

It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t magic. It was three videos, a lot of short emails, and a spreadsheet. If you want a step-by-step version of those first weeks, I wrote out my first 30 days plan so you can just follow it. And every number from the four months since, including the unflattering ones, is in my first 4 months of UGC in real numbers.