r/TheSideShift

Hi! After a few months of amazing campaigns, I fear I’ve been scammed by one of them.

I have filed a dispute on sideshift but it still says pending.

Campaign: Owed
Founder: Justin Love (as referred to online in articles) Contract has name Justin Harron

Campaign was called off for everyone on October 1st
Justin communicated that payments will be received in a week(October 8th)

Justin has sent two messages since January first- see pictures.

There are quite a lot of us who have not received any payments and there is no communication from Justin.

How do us creators get paid?

SideShift also shows $0 even though we definitely earned money. Luckily I did a dispute before that happened. But others are not able to do a dispute because of this.

Any advice would be great as I am trying to figure this out for all the creators in this campaign.

Right now, my UGC content does not contain any footage of me. It’s all about my cats and dogs which is amazing because they provide more income than me, their contents are well paid and loved by a lot of people where they literally just eat and do mukbang.

Here’s how I run my setup to consistently land paid brand deals and collaborations:

1. In pet UGC, I don’t need to spend so much time with the hook because the audio itself is already the hook. When people see and hear the crunch of freeze-dried toppers or my dog eating his treats, it can immediately stop them from scrolling just to watch my pets eat.

2. The meal prep matters, this is how you visually show to fur parents why the brand is good, why it is healthy, and why pets enjoy it. It’s also visually appealing to see those slow and clean scoops as well as the plating of their food. That’s why viewers stick around to see how my pets devour it.

3. Nothing here is doubted because you can’t fake or script your pet’s reaction pretending to like their meal. The moment my cats and dogs demolish their food, immediately the most convincing conversion metric a media buyer could ever put in a TikTok Spark Ad.

Brand deals and collaborations aren't too complicated here, just be sure to deliver satisfying mukbang clips with ASMR, that’s already enough to achieve massive completion rates and high return on ad spend.

I’m pushing 30 now, started working really young. Back when I was still an undergrad I worked multiple jobs and side-jobs and just wanted some extra money of my own. Since then, I got used to having an income but also watching most of it disappear into bills, family, savings, or things I needed at the time. Never got the time to get my license nor the money to buy a car but, here I am :-)

UGC was different for me because at first, money from it is not like the “main” income I would have. I mean, it's a side hustle, no? But my savings were moving a lot faster. A few hundred here and then a €1k month there.

I stillhave my regular work and I’m not pretending such a side hustle can make all ur money problems disappear. Some months are great indeed but some are completely average. I mean I still budget like a normal person if that says anything.. But having another source of income has given me a lot more breathing room than I had in my early 20s.

If you’re using UGC as extra income, don’t view your first few months overthinking to hit a hardly specific income goal immediately. I’d focus more on figuring out what brands tend to come back to you for.

The best thing that happened to my brand outreach was realizing that marketing teams don’t care about having a lot of followers anymore. Because that’s what new creators believe, and that’s what I also used to believe to.

I only have 5k followers, not verified and don't have plenty of viral videos. But I still pitch to different brands every single week, and still land paid deals because of my comment section.

Here’s the thing, brands don’t care anymore if you have 100k followers or much more than that if your comments aren’t full of interactive people who actually care about the content you post. If your comments are full of bots or dead silent, brands won’t accept collabs from you. But if your tiny audience interacts with you like their own shopping advisor, these brands will take you seriously into their marketing.

Part of my pitch are the screenshots of my comment section to prove that my account is full of alive and actual people who care about my content.

If your audience trusts your taste and actually talks to you, stop waiting to achieve that 100k followers. You already have the leverage brands are looking for.

One of the biggest reasons I keep coming back to the beauty and fashion niche for UGC is how consistent the brand demand is once you figure out your flow. I’ve had months where beauty content alone pulled in around $1,850 on top of my main income, and while it’s definitely not a rigid salary that hits your account on the exact same day every month, having that extra cushion stack up from making short videos in your own space is hard to beat. You’re not stuck trading physical hours for dollars in a traditional side hustle. You’re monetizing routines YOU’RE ALREADY DOING. Come to think of that.

I edit everything on my Mac using basic tools, and I have no idea how to use complex editing software or crazy camera setups. In the beauty niche specifically, over-produced footage can work against you. Buyers on TikTok and Instagram are hyper-aware of studio airbrushing, heavy added filters, and aggressive sales pitches. You don’t have to try so hard making your videos look great.

The real secret to keeping this fun without getting burned out is just changing how you view your daily routines. And that’s leaning into the excitement of all the incoming packages.

I work for a skincare brand as Brand manager and i have been working in this role for 3 years now and have seen numerous UGC applications getting accepted or rejected.

Sharing a few things I wish more beginner UGC creators knew when starting out. i hope some of these help you in your journey :

1. Turn off autoplay

Brand managers go through a lot of portfolios, so opening one and having multiple videos start playing at the same time can be overwhelming. If you really want autoplay, at least keep the videos muted. Personally, I will advise keep it off.

2. Put your strongest video first

Your first video matters more than you think. Brand reviewers don’t have unlimited time to go through every creator, so don’t make them scroll through three average videos before reaching your best work. Lead with the video that represents your content the best.

3. Test your portfolio link before sending it

Always check that your portfolio actually opens. Broken links and restricted permissions happen more often than you’d expect. Open the link yourself in an incognito window before sending it to a brand. It takes a few seconds and can save you from losing an opportunity.

4. Make your portfolio easy to browse

Google Drive works, but it isn’t always the easiest experience when someone has to open and watch multiple videos. A simple Canva portfolio website or even a well-organized TikTok account can make the process much smoother for the person reviewing your work.

5. Show more than one content style

If every video in your portfolio is silent product B-roll, they can start looking identical. Add some variety: talking-head content, product demonstrations, reviews, before-and-after videos, voiceovers or lifestyle content. It gives brands a better idea of how versatile you are and what kind of content you can create for them.

Filming a skincare routine used to take me hours when I just started content creation because I don't like the idea that I'm recording myself. I get chills because of cringing whenever my mouth opens to talk.

But camera shyness in UGC usually comes from one mistake. It is the notion that you're filming for a LIVE audience. No you're not. Don't make it worse than it is.

If you want to film GRWMs/makeup routines or product demos without feeling stiff, here are some practical shifts that work:

Keep your hands moving. Static talking heads trap all the nervous energy you have in your face. By doing that, you’re distracting your brain which allows tou to let your speech flow naturally.

Stop staring at your preview screen. Looking at yourself while filming creates instant self-consciousness. But here I am giving you two useful options. (1) Flip the phone before recording, and (2) Think like your phone is just another mirror where you see your face. It works with the anxiety.

Just film 1-3 second clips of yourself without talking (separate the visual filming from the speaking). Put subtitles instead. This is one of the peculiar tips I can give but if you're really doomed with other methods, try this one. Half the anxiety usually comes from worrying about your voice or overthinking how you sound. I think that can get tou comfortable in front of the camera. I tried that for twice I think but I improved overtime by getting used to filming everyday so it only did little help.

UGC forced me to unlearn my perfectionism.

Need more help? What’s the hardest part for you when you press record? Let’s talk below.

You don’t need to book that international flight and create luxurious content for that travel UGC content. My contents are mostly just about my 48-hour long road trips, local airbnb and hotel stays, and from simply packing the things I would be needing. It keeps my travel low-cost while also earning.

One thing that I consider most is that my content should feel like giving tips for first time travelers, showing practicality instead of movie-like montage. I would show the importance of having useful things such as powerbanks, anti-theft bags, etc during travels and trips. Functionality drives sales in this field.

For the places I would stay to, I pitch local Airbnbs and glamping spots short, high-retention tour clips for their own local ads. These places don’t need global impressions around the world, they just need nearby travelers to recognize their business.

Flying to another country just to film UGC content isn’t necessary unless you’re actually bound to travel. But for those who are still starting, you can book that nearby hotel or Airbnb and you can still create high-quality content out of it.

Sharing this because I feel like it could be super useful for UGC creators who are constantly looking for inspo 😭

viral.app has been building a free library of UGC videos that actually performed well on TikTok and Instagram; every example has at least 10x more views than the creator has followers.

You can search by niche, app, hook, etc. or browse different categories like AI tools, money, study, fitness, dating, travel, languages, and more.

Super useful if you’re looking for new hooks, formats, angles, or just want to see what’s actually working right now.

And yesss, it’s completely free to use 🫶

Check it here> https://viral.app/free-tools/ugc-examples