MADE FOR YOU, BY RYU

how to
become a
content
creator.
CONTENT CREATION, AFFILIATE MARKETING,
AND MICRO-INFLUENCING

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hello and happy to have you here!
I'm Grace and something about me, is that I will always
find creative ways to make money. Whether it's dog
sitting, nannying, airbnb arbitrage, or owning a luxury
picnic business, I am always open to increasing my
streams of income. And content creation is something I
have always been passionate about and wanted to try
out. But after seeing so many videos on TikTok about this
market and how you can really monetize off of it, I knew
this was the move.

Once I figured out that brands are always in need of

content and how effective UGC is for them, I took the
time to practice making content that brands would want
to pay for and use. Once I had those skills down, I learned
how to market and pitch myself effectively. And as of
March this year, I quit my corporate job in tech, to pursue
content creation full time!

I know starting content creation can seem overwhelming

or that only influencers can do it. But if you're here, you
were probably inspired in one way or another to start
content creation. So thanks for being here, glad to have
you, and let's get started!
 DISCLAIMER

Everything shared in this guidebook is what has worked for

me. I can't guarantee that success will look the same for
both of us, and I am still continuously learning myself!

There are lots of other creators who have been in this

industry longer than I have, and so I highly recommend
learning from them/watching their content.

Here are some TikTokers I like to learn from:

@ugcang
@ugc.social
@abigailpeugh
@creativelylinda
 SHOULD YOU START CONTENT CREATION?

I want to be VERY truthful about this process, because

everyone can become a content creator, but not everyone
can become successful from it. It all depends on your
hustle and how willing you are to put yourself out there.

PROS
Creative outlet! It doesn't feel like a job if you enjoy it
Good money and low competition because there are SO
many brands/companies out there who are in need of
high quality content
Easy skillset to pick up and develop
No initial crazy investments needed (aside from minimal
equipment. I didn't buy my first tripod until months
later)
You can set your own rates, time, and schedule. I
sometimes will knock out all the deliverables in 1 day, so
that I can enjoy the rest of my week to do whatever I
want

CONS (not a lot honestly)

You have to commit, hustle and be consistent. If you
keep pushing it back, your only regret will be that you
wish you started earlier
Get used to accumulating a lot of trash
 SKILLS TO BECOME A CREATOR

Video/photo creation and editing skills

Copywriting for writing cool captions and skills for
creating UGC videos
Live communication
Research skills
Basic marketing knowledge (understanding how sales
funnels work + how social media channels and
algorithms work

Although it might be scary, starting to create authentic

content and "putting yourself out there", it is essential to
becoming a creator. Creating content will help you build a
platform and community, in order to get noticed by brands
(meaning less outreach work for you).
 2 main topics
UGC AND AFFILIATE MARKETING

From what I learned, these two go hand-in-hand and it

doesn't take much extra effort since you can recycle a lot
of your content for both UGC and affiliate marketing.

In the next few slides, I will be discussing both and also

have "LEARN MORE" links that will take you to relevant
resources that explain it in full detail.
 01
user generated
content (UGC)
User-generated content is any type of content created by
existing customers instead of by brands themselves.

Existing customers and creators can create content in

different formats, from social media posts to videos and
blog posts, to share it online with their audience.

By doing so, they become brand advocates, using their

creativity to produce authentic content on behalf of the
brand.

LEARN MORE
organic vs paid
content
ORGANIC UGC:
Content that is posted to a brand's social media account
just like you'd post to yours. The goal of this content is to
create a community around the brand. These videos are
focused less on direct sales and more on fun, trends, and
social engagement.

PAID UGC:
Content that is used for ads. Not only is the brand paying
the creator to create the ad, but they're also paying social
platforms to push the content in front of people. The goal
of this content is to make sales.
your content creator
framework
These are the basic, chronological steps you need to take:

1. Learn how to create good content (basic marketing

skills, concepting, filming, editing)
2. Create your portfolio and pricing structure, then a
website to put them on
3. Create your socials from scratch, or use your current
personal platforms to build a community
4. Market yourself up to 3 ways (optimizing your socials for
inbounds, outreach, or freelance sites)
5. Get your first client!

your tools
Canva (to build your portfolio), Capcut (to edit), phone
(with good camera) + tripod, and an aesthetic area to film
in (you can get aesthetic/minimalistic backdrops from
Amazon to create content in)
creating your
portfolio
Creating a portfolio will help you showcase who you are,
what you do - your previous work, and how you could help
brands with content.

For me, even before landing any legitimate collaboration

(whether gifted or paid), I created a portfolio with products
and brands I had at my house and made it seem like I had
worked with them previously. And then I sent it out to
brands I wanted to work with because I knew they were
never going to cross reference me.

As Victoria Paris once said best, "act big to be big".

In my very first portfolio, I included information about

myself, examples of video and photography work, and also
information about UGC (in case some brands didn't know
the difference between UGC creators and influencers)
brand outreach
If you decide to start an account from scratch that is used
specifically for content creation needs, I recommend
putting "ugc" in either your description or username.
Brands will eventually reach out to you for collaborations if
they come across your account. But if you don't already
have an established platform, then you'll have to do more
outreaching.

Email outreach has been the most successful for me than

social media outreach. Often times, brands will judge you
based on your personal platform. This is also why it's
important to have social media feeds that are aesthetic
and have high quality content.
getting on pr lists
Receiving PR is one of the best ways to make gifted content
for name brands (and can help get you noticed by that
brand for paid deals, or by other brands!)

There are 3 ways to getting PR:

Inbound: brand reaches out to you directly
Outbound: you reach out to the brand and pitch
Agencies/Platforms: there are sites that get you
connected to brands.

Getting on PR lists is a bit different from gifted collabs

(which can be also known as xdeals). PR lists usually have
no set posting expectations (but it's good to post if you
want to stay on their mailing list). Xdeals are gifted collabs
with set deliverables shared between you and the brands
(often will have a contract for these partnerships). From my
own experience, xdeals are great to start with in order to
build a portfolio with examples. However, later on, xdeals
become extra work (with no pay) and can add to your
workload. I now ONLY accept xdeals if I really like the brand
or the product being gifted.
EMAIL TEMPLATE FOR COLD OUTREACH
 EMAILING TIPS

Do NOT add any links or attachments to the very first

email you send. Often times, that email will be filtered
straight to junk/spam. Instead, create a strong email
signature that links your portfolio
Short and sweet is the best, these contacts are getting
so many emails a day, and so you want to stand out. Use
a strong subject line to get their attention, but keep
your email short/sweet, right to the point. Either they're
in need of you, or not. And if they are, then they'll most
likely check out your portfolio (which is going to vouch
for you).
platforms/agencies
These are a list of the platforms/agencies I use for paid and
gifted deals:

Insense: gifted & paid opportunities

Shopify Collabs: gifted & paid opportunities
Aspire.io: gifted & paid opportunities
Skeepers: gifted (can lead to paid if you develop a
relationship with brand)
Fiverr/Upwork: gifted & paid opportunities
Cohley: gifted & paid opportunities
JoinBrands: gifted & paid opportunities
bzzagent: gifted & paid opportunities
The Collectively: gifted

For bzzzagent and The Collectively, you don't submit

applications. After setting up an account, you will receive
invites for campaigns. I didn't get my first invite for either
until after a few months. But they work with pretty big and
designer brands! So the wait is worth.
 02
affiliate marketing +
micro-influencing
I put these two topics together because to become a
successful affiliate, you need to "influence" people to
spend money on x product. Affiliate marketing is the
process by which an affiliate earns a commission for
marketing another person's or company's products. The
affiliate simply searches for a product they enjoy, then
promotes that product and earns a piece of the profit from
each sale they make.

My favorite example of affiliate marketing is the Amazon

influencer program, because the opportunities are endless
there with all the different products they have, and
because everyone uses Amazon.

LEARN MORE
cultivating a
community of
followers
As a content creator, having a community of followers is
crucial for your online success. Building a dedicated and
engaged audience ensures that your content reaches the
right people, which can lead to exciting collaborations with
brands and businesses.

Moreover, a strong follower base enhances your credibility

as a marketer, allowing you to effectively promote
products and services on various platforms.

I know a lot of people stress, "niche down". But for me

personally, I am trying to become my niche, meaning I will
post almost everything and anything I like and want to - in
hopes that I grow a community organically with people who
followed me because they like me as a person rather than
because of the specific content I post necessarily.
Firstly - and arguably most importantly, find a niche (or
niches) that you are genuinely interested in. You will spend
a lot of time talking & promoting products/services in this
niche, so it’s important that you pick one you're passionate
about.

When you find a niche that comes naturally to speak about,

it will be easier to connect with people. You want to come
across as someone who’s trustworthy, and believe in the
product/service they are selling, and not someone who’s
just in it for the money. When people believe in the
message you are sharing, then they will start buying
through your promo link.

For example if your niche is Health, your list could look like
this:
Workout clothes and accessories
Gym equipment
Protein and health supplements
Workout programs and apps
86% of companies have affiliate programs and use affiliate
marketers to bring in 40% of their revenue! This is an 8
billion dollar industry that's continuing to grow. One of the
main reasons companies chooses to have affiliate
programs is because they only need to pay their affiliate
(you!) when you have converted a sale for them.
how to find affiliate
programs
Option 1:
Google search your niche + affiliate program
Example: "home affiliate programs"

Option 2:
If you know already what company you would like to be an
affiliate for, then the easiest option is to Google search
"company + affiliate program".
Example: Nike affiliate program

Option 3:
There are a number of affiliate platforms that connect you
to affiliate programs
Shopify Collabs
Pepperjam
ShareASale
Digistore24
Click Bank
important terms to
understand
Commissions:
Companies normally offer from 10% all the way up to 80% in
commission per sale. However, it’s important to look at the
price point of your product, as getting 10% commission of a
product that’s worth $1000 is still better than getting 80%
of a product that only costs $100.

Cookie Period:
The cookie period is the length of time a person has to
purchase the product after they clicked your unique link.
Most companies offer a 30 day cookie period, which means
if the person buys within those 30 days, you’ll get the
commission, but if they buy it after then you won’t receive
anything from the sale. The longer cookie period, the higher
chances of you receiving a payment. Some companies
offer a 90 days+ cookie period!

Marketing Material:
Not sure how to start promoting your products? Some
companies have already created content such as pictures
& videos, and templates such as emails & testimonials for
their affiliates to start using for free.
create a sales funnel
Having a sales funnel is one of the most underrated, but
important things to have when creating a successful
affiliate marketing business.

So what is it?
A sales funnel is a two-page website that introduces
yourself and the product you promote to your target
audience.

The first page is known as the landing page, or opt-in

page. Here you want to introduce an offer such as an
informative free video or free ebook so that people
would want to leave their email address to get a hold of
this information.
Once someone has left their email, they will be directed
to the next page which is called the bridge page. Here
you’ll present the free offer that you promised, along
with a more personal introduction of yourself so your
audience sees that you are a real and trustworthy
person to purchase from. Lastly, you will add your
affiliate links on this page so that people have the
opportunity to buy the product straight away if they
want to.
create a sales funnel
Statistics show that 90% of people don’t purchase a
product the first time they see it. That’s why it is so
important to create a sales funnel so that you can get a
hold of their email address and re-target them later via
email to increase the chances of profit.

Is social media alone effective as a sales funnel?

No. Social media is a great start but if you want to become
successful in consistently making $6-$10k+/month, you
need to learn how to use email marketing. By having an opt-
in page and collecting people’s email addresses from the
very start, you will have full ownership and can contact your
audience when you want. Either to drive traffic to a product
you’re promoting, or to re-target them once they have
exited your page.

If your social media accounts ever gets shut down, you can
simply use your email list to inform your audience and
encourage them to follow your new account.
social media to drive
traffic
Once you have picked a niche, found the products that you
want to promote, and created a sales funnel then it’s time
for your final step, drive traffic!

Social media is THE best place to promote your products

and share your unique links. It’s a misconception that you
can only do affiliate marketing once you’ve gained
thousands of followers. I personally decided to start from
zero and create new social media accounts to separate it
from my personal one.

By using social media you have the opportunity for your

posts to go viral, and reach your target audience all across
the world. I found TikTok to be a great channel to start with,
as whenever you post it automatically pushes your content
in front of a new audience, and not just your followers. This
way, you’re not dependent on only the people that follow
you to purchase from your promo links.
social media to drive
traffic
Pinterest: SO slept on, pins do take some time, but if done
right - Pinterest can easily be the strongest sales funnel
TikTok: great reach, but algorithm can be unfavorable
sometimes. No way to link directly, but everyone
understands that links are in creator's bio
Instagram: Stories are great because you can link items
(but you're limited to just reaching your followers). Reels
are similar to TikToks (great reach if algorithm likes you, but
you'll have to direct people to link in bio)
Facebook: I have yet to personally use Facebook but always
see promotional posts.
Twitter: I don't have a Twitter account, but hear lots of
good things about Twitter. (I just personally have way too
many social media accounts at the moment)
Lemon8: Newer platform that is a mix between IG and
Pinterest. Looks very promising because it's lower
competition, and more chances to grow quickly.
amazon influencer
program
Amazon is one of the BEST affiliate programs since almost
everything and everyone is on Amazon.

The application process only takes about 5 minutes and you

either get approved or denied. Although I'm not 100% sure
about the criteria, I think people are more likely to get
approved if they have a platform where they are actively
posting promotional content. (e.g. unboxings, try-ons,
grwm videos, etc).

And so I recommend signing up and seeing if your current

social media platforms gets approved. If denied, your first
step would be make a new profile (highly recommend
TikTok!) and create promotional videos of anything you
already have in your house or unboxing new packages you
get.

SIGN UP + LEARN MORE

amazon influencer
program
There are 2 ways to make commissions:
ON-SITE: this is when people buy from you off of Amazon
directly (e.g. your followers who go to your storefront to
purchase from your idea lists, people who watch your
livestreams, people who buy from your posted shoppable
videos, etc)
OFF-SITE: this is when you direct people to Amazon to make
purchases (e.g. link in bio, TikTok videos, Pinterest pins, etc)

I personally have been focusing more on off-site

commissions but if done right, the on-site commissions can
be more successful (and easier) than TikTok/Instagram
because you're not battling the algorithm. On-site is
beneficial because your content is directly linked to the
products you are promoting, thus meaning you're more
likely to get the commission. If you go viral on TikTok, the
reach will be amazing but it's not guaranteed people will
use your link to shop, because they can easily look it up
themselves.
amazon influencer
program
For the first few months, I made on average $10/month
(and that's because my mom would buy using my links). But
then one of my TikTok videos popped off and I made close
to $5,000 in one month! This is what passive income is all
about! (Love making money while I sleep). That one video
took me 10min to make and all I did was direct people to my
storefront to purchase.

And so some tips from what I've learned:

Be consistent! You won't have success each time in
going "viral", but your chances are higher if you post
more. And it's okay to repost!
Make sure whatever you're promoting is different and
likeable (aka people want to buy.) The more lowkey this
product is, the better - because people will rely on your
storefront to find the product. If it's something
recognizable or a name brand, they will just look it up
themselves.
Bundle it! In order to get the most out of commissions,
you'll want people to make multiple purchases. (e.g. car
favorites, WFH must-haves, kitchen organization, etc)
This also makes it easier for you and viewers to be
directed to just one idea list, rather than having to hunt.
tiktok shop
TikTok shop is a new in-app feature where viewers can buy
directly from product links that are added to a video by a
creator.

My very first video promoting a teeth whitening kit (on

TikTok shop) went viral and I made more than $6,000 in
commission over a span of just one week!

You can only become an affiliate once you hit the 5,000
followers requirement.
affiliate program
with brands
A common trend in brand partnerships is that brands will
offer affiliate benefits to you, the creator. So that means if
you are posting about a brand's product, you can direct
your viewers to "link in bio", link your special link to IG
stories, etc. And if people buy using your link/discount
code, you will get a percentage of the sales.

I personally don't like affiliate partnerships (aside from

Amazon), because I would rather spend my time to land
UGC paid collabs. But if you are consistent with posting a
lot about the affiliate products you have, then your
chances of going viral are higher as well.

For example, I work with doe beauty and aside from me

being a contracted full-time creator/social media manager
for them, I also run an affiliate TikTok account where I
promote just doe products. doe also uses the bounty
program, which pays you by views! So not only am I getting
commission from sales, but also rewarded for views.

Bounty has lots of other brands who use it, so I highly

recommend checking them out!
 TO CLOSE

So now that you've read all of this, are you willing to

commit? From what I've learned in my personal experience,
becoming a content creator is really easy to step into.
Literally the only thing that was holding me back was my
laziness. I would always push it back and it was only until
after I moved to NYC, when I finally made a TikTok account
to post. And here I am now, 2 years later :)

Depending on how much you're willing to commit time,

energy, and effort into content creation, this space is fun
as both a part-time side hustle, or full-time job. Some of the
top creators are making anywhere between $10-
20k/month from sponsorships, paid deals, affiliate
commission, etc.

For me, I make on average $7k/month, which is why I was

able to comfortably quit my tech job. And now without
being restrained to my 9-5 job, I can easily travel and set my
own schedule to do what I want to do.

I hope this is a sign for you. Because if I can do it, so can

you. The only difference between us right now, is that I
didn't hold myself back.