Part 1: My rates as UGC Creator

Part 2 will include: hiring UGC creators + their rates. Bonus: allow-listing (formerly 'whitelisting'), video editing + creative strategist rates.

Intro: Since making my TikTok account (@UGC.Social), I’ve been asked easily over a thousand times these two questions:

1. What are your rates and agreements as a UGC creator?

2. What should I charge as a new/intermediate/mid-level UGC creator?

This discussion is going to be broken up into two parts (inspired by questions 1 + 2). Before I break down my rates as a UGC creator in part 1, I’d like to emphasize the importance of marketing your value as a creator to potential clients. The only way I’ve been able to build my business into 6-figures part-time is because I had performance to back my “claims” up. Claim example: UGC creator with a creative strategy career background who offers ROAS to her clients. This is where case studies come in handy - which will be a Newsletter I write in the coming week(s). If you’re starting your UGC journey and don’t have the performance to reference - that’s okay! We are going to focus on two things:

1. Building your portfolio (future Newsletter discussion in October).

2. Marketing your USPs - unique selling points (what sets you apart from other creators?) - another future Newsletter discussion in the coming weeks.

We have many value-packed topics coming through the pipeline in the coming weeks and months, so if you aren’t already subscribed, it’s only $5/month or $50/year (and considered a business expense). Though I will be discussing these topics on my TikTok, they will only be high-level and won’t be nearly as detailed as these Newsletters. So if you’ve been on the fence about subscribing, nows the time to do it!

Alright, let’s dive into what I charge as a UGC creator!

*TLDR version is at the bottom of the Newsletter.

Client 1: My longest-standing client has been with me since the Summer of 2020. Our initial agreement, compared to our present agreement, looked very different - this is all thanks to the performance my creatives have done for their account. In 2022 our deal comes out to $81,600 for the year. Let me explain…

In January 2022, we finalized a contract with a monthly retainer (max charge is set at $6,800/month). Based on this agreement, my hourly rate is roughly $200-$300+ per hour, depending on the project’s intensity. Concepts roughly come out to $500-$1,000+ per concept. Variables include:

• Scriptwriting

• Filming

• Total deliverables

• A/B testing + iterations

• Editing

• Revisions (rare)

• Overall SOW

Rates Explained: This client has grown to trust my creative strategy and overall vision thanks to my performance in the past years. All the top historical performers that have made them tens of millions of dollars were mine. Performance has been so good for them that they left Tubescience, one of the country's most significant direct response marketing agencies. They've offered to bring me in-house as a full-time employee with a competitive 6-figure salary, but I'd end up "losing money" since I'd be giving up their $81,600 contract (I already work full-time, making a six-figure salary). Disclaimer: I've never maxed out the retainer. Generally, I’ll get close, but still a few hundred dollars short of $6,800/month. I do this for two reasons:

1. Just because there’s a budget doesn’t mean I should try to max it out each month. I do what I think they’ll need each month, and some months require more or less work. I’ve always put their company first, and I believe my good intentions have built a level of trust with their team that has further solidified our professional working relationship.

2. I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. They are my longest-standing client, but nothing is ever guaranteed in business. They could experience massive budget cuts next year and only have half the budget for 2023 that they did in 2022. This is why I make time for my other two long-term clients (and any other new/one-off project clients).

Usage Rights: An important detail I'd like to include for all three of my clients, is that I don't “tack on the charge” for usage rights. The UGC I create for my clients is specifically for paid media, so those rates encompass that surcharge. Additionally, there is no expiration on the content, and for me and our agreements, that's always felt fair. As someone who's coming from the brand side, I've always wanted to make it less complicated for my clients to have them excited to work with me and not feel the lingering fear of liability. I hire contract UGC creators at the company I work full-time as a Creative Director, where I lead paid media creative strategy. Some creators have an expiration date on those rights of use, and some don't. Though these content rights don’t scare me away from working with these creators, I’d like to spotlight why brands may be hesitant to work with a creator that has strict usage rights.

Hypothetically, I could hire these creators now, take a new job next month, and their use ownership expires in 6-12 months without the companies knowing. Followed by either a cease and desist letter or a lawsuit pursuing the company for lost wages or illegal use of the creator's content. I'm sharing this not to convince a creator how or how not to run their business. But to better understand what liabilities are top of mind for brands when working with UGC creators. At the end of the day, how you run your business is none of my business. However, it's essential to remember ways to remain competitive with other creators and third-party platforms. But in a way that's not going to negatively impact the industry at large (ie: charging dirt cheap rates that over time makes brands believe a UGC concept is worth $50-$100/video).

For example, my rates are considered “more expensive” than most UGC creators because of the performance I offer for my clients and professional, relevant career experience I have in the industry. That said, something I always mention to new clients is that my content rates don't expire compared to other third-party platforms such as #Paid, where digital rights and social rights expire between 6-12 months. Something to note is that this client (client 1) has heavily relied on my UGC through the course of 2022, even with my 2021 ads all being their top performers/earners. Why? Because brands are constantly in need of new creatives! This includes iterating, new creatives inspired by top historical performers, creatives that include relevant TikTok trends and other organic social nuances - and don’t forget about new product launches or product design improvements! Anyways, all that goes to say, my agreement with this client and my other two clients has always been fair regarding the rates I charge in return for content that technically doesn't have an expiration date on rights of use.

Networking: Jim Rohn once said "Your network is your net worth” and I couldn’t agree more. I was introduced to this client through a previous agency co-worker (former head of creative marketing). Throughout this Newsletter, you will see me emphasize the value of your marketing and e-commerce brand network - it pays to stay connected with anyone you meet in this industry. This is where professionalism is imperative to your business, and career success comes into play. That point of contact with your old client may end up at the next agency you work with or could be a referral to the DTC brand you want to work internally for.

Client 2: I've had this client since Spring 2021, and funny enough, my point of contact was a former employee at Client 1 - again, it pays to nurture your network. This working agreement is less set in stone; however, the amount of money I've been making from this client since Spring 2021 comes out to roughly $1,000-$3,000+ per month with a similar concept/hourly rate as Client 1 with all the same factors that determine the invoice I submit each month. Compared to Client 1, Client 2 is a bit more hands-on regarding the creatives I'm working on. I accredit their brand sensitivity to having raised over 20 million dollars and having to cater to board members and investors. That said, over the past few months, I've been able to get more creative control as my point of contact has been swamped with other things internally that have, in return, bogged down my paid media output for them.

I gained more creative control by meeting with my point of contact and empathizing with her current situation. I mentioned how I experienced the same strains at my full-time job and that the only way I could open up my bandwidth as a full-time employee was by outsourcing some of that work to other UGC creators who understood creative strategy when it came to paid media. This conversation improved our working relationship overnight. Very quickly, my point of contact began outsourcing overflow creative strategy tasks to me, opening up her bandwidth for more important things she needed to focus on internally. This guaranteed more money coming into my business each month - a true win/win for both sides!

Allow-listing (formerly known as "Whitelisting" ): I charge $500/month for this client to run ads on my Facebook page + Instagram each month. My Facebook page has over 3,000 likes, and my Instagram is verified and has over 50k followers.

Networking: Remember I emphasized the importance of nurturing your professional relationships? Well, my contact from Client 2 just put in her two weeks, and she let me know that she would offload me to another point of contact at the company. Additionally, she let me know that the company she had just accepted her offer from was interested in working with me. Apparently, during her interview with this well-known beauty brand, she emphasized the value of our working arrangement and how it could translate to this beauty brand. So not only do I get to keep Client 2 with a new point of contact, but it sounds like I may have a fourth long-term contract to add to the roster if everything works out! Keep in mind, this point of contact from Client 2 came from Client 1 - and Client 4 would also be coming from them as well. Plant and water those seeds in your network and patiently anticipate what could be a fruitful outcome!

Client 3: I've had this client since January 2022; however, I've known and worked with their Creative Director since 2018 (we met at a previous agency). Since leaving that agency, she's worked at Honey (acquired by PayPal), where I was nearly hired internally, had covid not caused budget cuts - where she was shortly let go, nearing the end of the interview process. All that goes to say, since then, she's job hopped and ended up at a company where she's in dire need of consistent UGC content that converts and access to allow-listing. A similar arrangement as Client 2 (one-off projects consistently) equates anywhere from $1,000-$3,000+ per month, and the rates for these projects come out to $500 upwards to $1,000+ per concept.

Details: This client has always provided a script for me to repeat verbatim, it's always the same TikTok style trend they ask me to recreate, and it's always the identical deliverables. For almost every project, my hourly rate easily comes to $250-$500+ per hour. We also have an allow-listing agreement for $500/month, though we started out doing an 11-day trial at $100/day for access to launching ads on my Facebook page and Instagram. Outside of that, the only other notable detail is that I provide these deliverables for every project:

• 1 edited concept with 2 alternate hooks (in an aspect of 9x16).

• Those same 1-2 edited deliverables but without music or closed captions.

• And the raw files used for that concept.

  Sometimes the client asks for just raw footage only - no edits.

I know raw files are a whole conversation in the UGC community, but my rates compensate me for the time I put into the concept and the allowance of the brand using the edited and raw files for as long as they please. This goes back to the fact that assets are fatigued sooner than most creators think. Sure there are many ways to slice and dice an edit, especially into a mashup, but over time brands receive learnings from the performance that requires new asset production - specifically from creators the brand enjoys working with, that also offer a ROAS.

One-off project clients or new clients: I started running a "Welcome Offer" to new clients that have helped my business make additional sources of income. This offer varies depending on the client's deliverable output needs - I can figure out the total amount of deliverables needed each month from a questionnaire I send out to potential new partnerships (will talk more about this in a future Newsletter). This offer breaks down to roughly $500/concept, and this is what's included:

• Concept ideation and scriptwriting - client reviews before filming.

• Consists of 2 hooks to A/B test in both 4x5 + 9x16 (4 deliverables total).

• No expiration on rights of use (just approved exports - no raws).

Additionally, I've made a welcome offer where the client provides the script, and I only film the footage and deliver the raws (four concepts, equating to $1,200/month = $300/concept). I've offered script writing as a Creative Strategist, varying anywhere from $50/script upwards to $100/script depending on the number of scripts needed each month. And suppose I have a client that wants me to edit pre-existing UGC footage into a DR ad. In that case, I charge $100/hour as a professional, industry-standard, direct response video editor with 10 years of experience.

As most of you know, my business will be doing 6-figures part-time this year, compared to last year, when my company did half of that part-time. I accredit my business's massive growth to the performance my creative strategy has done over the years for these three clients. I started making as low as $50/hour with way less demand for my work and over time, I've negotiated much more competitive and top-pier rates because their paid media teams now rely on my concepts that offer mass conversions. That said, I wouldn't be where I am today without the networking I had started doing years ago. I genuinely think of networking as planting seeds. Have you been watering them all these years? Or did you forget about those points of contact or connections you made? The good news is it's never too late to reignite a warm relationship. So if you have made it this far, I challenge you to keep networking top of mind as you build your business and become more familiar with the industry. Because I promise you, more doors will open for you when you take the time to nurture those connections. So if you aren't on LinkedIn already, make one today! It's the easiest way to stay in touch with peers, clients, and past connections you're looking to get re-connected with.

A reminder that this is part one of a two-part series that I plan to finish by next weekend - bandwidth permitting. In part two, I will discuss hiring UGC creators + the rates I’ve seen over the years. Bonus material includes: allow-listing (formerly 'whitelisting'), video editing + creative strategist rates. If you ever have any questions, please comment them in the Newsletter or on TikTok, and I’d be happy to answer them. Thank you again for your support and for subscribing!

I look forward to helping you on your UGC journey. ❤️

TLDR version

Client 1:

• Client since Summer 2020.

• Monthly retainer coming out to $6,800/month ($81,600 for the year).

• Hourly rate is roughly $200-$300+ per hour, depending on the SOW.

• Concepts roughly come out to $500-$1,000+ per concept.

• No expiration on the rights of content use.

• Client doesn’t get raw footage.

• Referred to this client from a former agency exec.

Client 2:

• Client since Spring 2021.

• No monthly retainer.

• $1,000-$3,000+ per month.

• Similar concept/hourly rate as Client 1.

• No expiration on the rights of content use.

• Client doesn’t get raw footage.

• Point of contact was from Client 1.

• Allow-listing for $500/month.

Client 3:

• Client since January 2022.

• No monthly retainer.

• $1,000-$3,000+ per month.

• Project range from $500 upwards to $1,000+ per concept.

• Hourly rate easily comes to $250-$500+ per hour.

• No expiration on the rights of content use.

• Client gets raw footage.

• Point of contact was from a former agency.

• Allow-listing for $500/month (trial was 11 days at $100/day).

One-off project clients or new clients:

• Welcome offers depending on the client’s needs (read section for details).