u/Various_Half_6295

Okay so apparently filming 47 "authentic" unboxing videos, 200 b-roll clips of oat milk being poured, and 12 "candid" laughing shots a week means my phone now has the storage capacity of a 2009 iPod shuffle.

Got a notification this morning: "Storage Almost Full." Almost?? My phone is basically a brick with a camera app at this point. I deleted my entire childhood photo album to make room for a 4K slow-mo of a face serum drop. Worth it tho lmao.

Now I'm spiraling down the rabbit hole of "should I buy a new phone" except I spent my last UGC paycheck on groceries and mortage payments. Circle of life.

Someone please tell me there's a solution to this because I am one "storage full" notification away from filing for emotional damages.

TL;DR: UGC creator. No storage. No budget. No chill.

I've been on these platforms for over a year and the difference from then to now is insane. Brands post one brief and get flooded with hundreds of applications within the hour. If you don't already have a ton of reviews you're basically invisible.

Billo is probably the worst for this. What used to feel like a fair shot now feels like a lottery. Thousands of creators on there chasing the same small pool of briefs. Brands know they have options so they lowball everyone and creators just accept it because what else are they gonna do.

Insense is the same situation. They scaled up way too fast on the creator side without scaling the brand side to match. So now you've got way more supply than demand and everyone's undercutting each other just to land something.

JoinBrands too. Itstarted off decent but it's gotten so crowded that unless you're willing to work for almost nothing to build up your profile, you're getting ignored.

And honestly? This is exactly why so many creators are just ditching the platforms altogether and doing cold outreach directly to brands. Yeah it's more work upfront but you're not competing with 500 other people, you set your own rate, and brands actually remember you. The platform middleman is becoming pointless.

The "just sign up to Billo/Insense" advice needs to stop. It made sense 2 years ago. It doesn't anymore. The "big" platforms only work for the top 5% of creators on them. If you're just starting out or mid-tier, you're wasting your time applying and getting ghosted over and over.

Honestly the smaller lesser-known platforms are where it's at right now. Less competition, brands that actually need you. Stop chasing the famous names just because everyone talks about them.

When I started out, every piece of advice was the same: build a portfolio site, post samples on Instagram, wait for brands to come to you.

I followed it. Got maybe two inquiries in three months. Both were from brands offering "exposure."

What actually started booking me work:

Cold pitching directly via email. Not DMs, not contact forms, just finding the actual marketing manager or brand partnerships person on LinkedIn and sending something short, specific, and relevant to their product. Conversion rate isn't huge but it doesn't need to be.

Being active in brand communities. Some brands have Facebook groups, Slack communities, Discords. Show up there as a human, not a salesperson. You'd be surprised how often someone asks "do you know any good UGC creators?" and you can just... be there.

Treating every deliverable like a case study. I now follow up with brands 3–4 weeks after delivery to ask how the content performed. Half don't respond. The ones that do? Almost always rebook or refer me. And I get data I can use in future pitches.

The portfolio still matters, I'm not saying it totally doesn't. you need something to send when someone asks. But it's a supporting document now, not the strategy.

Every other post in this community is someone asking "should I niche down to skincare or stay broad?" and honestly I think it's a trap, especially when you're starting out.

Brands aren't hiring you because you only post about one category. They're hiring you because your content converts. A good hook, clean lighting, natural delivery that stuff works whether you're holding a serum or a protein powder.
I've booked deals in pet care, tech accessories, food & beverage, and home goods in the same month. Zero "niche" but plenty of bookings.
The niche obsession, in my opinion, comes from social media creator culture blending into UGC culture and they're not the same game. Social media content creators need an audience that trusts them in a specific space. UGC creators need to make ads that work. Different skill set entirely.

Obviously if you genuinely love a category and want to own it, go for it. But if you're sitting on the sidelines waiting until you figure out your niche before pitching? You're just procrastinating with extra steps.

Every time I open a campaign board it’s matcha, supplements, skincare, self-care apps, protein snacks, etc 😭

Not complaining because those brands usually have good creative freedom, but I’m curious if creators in other niches are still getting consistent work too.

Would honestly love to see more tech, fashion, travel, or productivity brands doing UGC campaigns the same way wellness brands are.

I’m based in SF and I swear every other creator on my feed is suddenly doing matcha runs, “day in my life” vlogs, or aesthetic b-roll at Junbi lol.

Not gonna lie though… the branding is kinda smart. The drinks are super photogenic, colorful, and honestly look so good on camera. It fits perfectly with the whole wellness/productivity/lifestyle content trend right now.
Does anyone know if they’re running campaigns through creator platforms/agencies or are people just reaching out directly? Curious what the experience has been like and if the deliverables were pretty straightforward.

Also… has anybody actually tried the drinks? It genuinely looks so delicious lol

Ive seen ppl on X talk about this alot so I'm gonna say it here as well. The math is simple. 500 creators on a big platform vs 50 on a smaller one. Same gig, better odds. The money isn't always as flashy but the consistency can be way better when you're starting out.

Everybody already knows about Billo and JoinBrands. But there are quieter platforms that don't get nearly enough attention, and a few of them seem like they are genuinely worth your time.

Youdji is a great starting point if you're newer to UGC. The briefs are clear, and it's not as saturated as the big names yet.
Popow is still pretty niche like I only found out about it through a random post on X. That low awareness is actually the appeal; fewer creators competing for the same brand deals.
Veel has a clean, no-fuss workflow. Briefs are easy to follow and the opportunities feel attainable rather than aspirational.
Lolly leans heavily into short-form video, so if that's your format, it's worth a look. The brand matching feels more intentional than random, though the volume is still growing.
Yotpo is technically more of a reviews and loyalty platform, but they do work with UGC creators; especially if your style is testimonial or product-demo focused. Brands tend to be more established here.
TINT works differently from the typical pitch-and-apply model. It aggregates UGC from social platforms and connects you with brands passively. Less hustle, more serendipity once you're set up.
Social Cat is probably the most underrated for building ongoing relationships with brands rather than chasing one-off gigs.

None of these are perfect, but they beat endlessly refreshing Billo for a $20 opportunity 😃

• Low ball deals (especially in platforms where 100 creators are aiming for the same gig)
• A brand DMing you to "collab" then asking for your rate… so they can tell you they have a $0 budget but "i"d get great exposure"
• "Hello dear"/"Hey love" inbounds
• Heavy revision requests for things that were never in the brief
• Delivering the content on time, then the brand ghosts you for 3 weeks, only to resurface asking if you can "turn it around by tomorrow"

I've been on both platforms for a few months now and honestly I have thoughts but I want to hear from people who've been doing this longer.

Billo was easier to get accepted into and the briefs are pretty straightforward but the pay feels lower and brands ghost you half the time after you apply. It also feels like there are way more creators competing for the same small pool of jobs so actually landing something consistently is rough.
Insense took forever to get into and the onboarding was a whole thing but the deals I've landed there have paid better and brands actually communicate like real humans. Feels more legit overall but the volume isn't always there and some weeks it's completely dead.
Honestly neither feels like a reliable main income source on its own which is frustrating when you're trying to build something consistent. I'm genuinely wondering if relying on platforms at all is even the move or if direct outreach just beats everything in the long run.

Curious what everyone here is actually experiencing, which platform you're making real money on, whether you're using both or dropped one, and if there's a third option nobody's talking about that's actually better. 

Mine would be not separating my business and personal money from day one. I was mixing everything into one account and come tax time I had to go through months of transactions manually trying to figure out what was a business expense. Tax season was a nightmare lol. Never again.

Now I'm looking into setting up a proper business account (leaning toward Mercury or Relay) and actually tracking everything from the start.

Curious what mistakes others made like finance, contracts, rates, anything. This community has helped me so much and I feel like the business side is something we don't talk about enough compared to pitching and content creation.

Honest post because I wish someone had told me this earlier.

I wasted weeks on cold outreach with zero results before I switched to using UGC platforms and landed 3 paid collabs in my first few weeks, including one that paid more than my entire previous month of freelance work. What I think actually worked:

The briefs were specific. I wasn't guessing what the brand wanted. Clear deliverables give better content which in turn results in a happier client. With cold outreach I'd spend an hour crafting one pitch. On a platform I could apply to 5 well-matched briefs at the same time. Also getting paid on time sounds basic but it's not guaranteed when you're DMing random brand accounts.

I'm not saying platforms are the only way, cold outreach clearly works for a lot of people. But if you're just starting out and you've been spinning your wheels, it genuinely might be worth trying.

I've been trying out a few different UGC platforms to find brand collabs and honestly the experience varies SO much between them.

Started on Billo, moved to JoinBrands and other whole bunch of platforms like Insense and Cohley, recently tried Veel and a couple others as well. Some feel super saturated, some have tiny budgets, and some actually have decent briefs with brands that know what they want.

Curious what others are using right now and whether you think these platforms are even worth it against cold outreach. Are creators here just on a single platform or spreading across multiple?