Megan Collier transformed her lunch break TikTok scrolling into a six-figure user-generated content (UGC) business within fourteen months. At 34, this mother of two creates content while teaching thousands to build sustainable careers in content creation.

Finding Her Path in Content Creation

With a BA in English and experience across various industries, Megan discovered UGC while working at a medical company. 

“I was working for a medical company at the time… and I was one day scrolling on TikTok, and I saw a video of somebody talking about UGC,” Megan recalls. 

Her marketing background made the opportunity clear. “It made sense to me because companies need content constantly. Any company trying to stay relevant on social media needs content.”

Megan’s discovery of UGC was elating. “I was delighted to find out I could do this,” she shares. “I was so excited. I told my wife, ‘Oh my God, UGC will be great.’ And this was after doing about 20 side hustles in the past.”

First Client Success

Megan’s entry into UGC yielded quick results. Within ten days of creating her portfolio, she secured her first client – an app company paying $750 for five UGC videos. “I was shocked,” she says. “That was the solidifier. It gave me that spark of hope.”

This initial success confirmed her business instincts. “Even though it was just the beginning, it gave me that spark of hope. Okay, if this company will pay me for this, others can also pay me for what I’m doing.”

The creative problem-solving aspect drives her passion for UGC. “I love helping companies figure out what’s going to most like speak directly to their customers,” she explains. “I love creating ad content, and when I do, I have so many companies that come back and want me to create more because it’s selling their products. That part of figuring out the best approach to this company’s direct audience, how I speak to them, how I should write the script, and everything else is like a puzzle to me, a creative puzzle.”

Managing Time While Building Success

Megan faced significant scheduling challenges while balancing a full-time job and family responsibilities. Her solution involved maximizing every available moment.

“I would get up as early as 4:30 in the morning,” she explains. “I would go to the gym and just hop on the treadmill for an hour and be on my phone looking for companies to pitch to, emailing them, editing videos if I had clients. During my lunch break or weekends, I had to sacrifice other things I might have done had I not pursued UGC.”

She identifies time management as the primary obstacle for new creators. “That’s where most people quit, I think. Helping raise a toddler and having a stressful job on top of just living my life is very challenging.”

Her advice for managing limited time: “Try your hardest to find little pockets of time throughout the day that you can maybe join a new app or a new platform or just maybe scroll Instagram. Do not look at other people’s posts, but at companies you could pitch yourself to. That was the biggest thing for me: prioritizing it and finding time to focus on UGC so that it could eventually be a full-time thing.”

Expanding into Education

A major shift occurred when Megan’s educational content gained traction. One video, with over 470,000 views as of writing, specifically reached Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, introducing them to UGC creation.

“That changed everything for me in the education space because I’ve now taught over 2,500 people over 40 to do UGC,” Megan shares. “It’s been so incredible. That made me realize how they often get ignored… It’s been so fun to see so many people of that age range realize, ‘I could be doing this.'”

The transition to teaching addressed an obvious need. “My DMs would be flooded, and people would find my email address. They would send me their entire life story, begging them to teach me how to do what I was doing,” she recalls. “Some of the stories were crazy. All the comments were like, ‘Please teach me.'”

Teaching Philosophy

Megan’s teaching method focuses on making UGC accessible and building student confidence. “People tend to overcomplicate UGC,” she notes. “What I aim to do, both in the content I post on social media and inside my course, is break down UGC as simply as possible and remind them that they’re way more capable than they think.”

She encourages persistence and authenticity: “It’s okay to suck in the beginning. It’s okay to put out videos you don’t think are great. Continuing to practice and putting in the work is what’s going to make the biggest difference. Those are the people who succeed in UGC – they’re okay with sucking in the beginning and just push forward believing in themselves and opportunities.”

Strategic Pricing and Business Growth

For new creators, Megan recommends starting between $150-200 per UGC video while highlighting usage rights fees – a lesson learned from experience.

“Looking back, I don’t have any regrets, but if I had [charged for usage rights], I probably would have made more money initially,” she reflects. “Now, I always charge usage rights and make more money per UGC deal because of that.”

Her pricing strategy has developed confidently: “If a company comes to me and says, ‘Hey, we’re doing this, we’d love to work with you. What do you charge for one UGC video?’ I will just throw out a random number that seems almost scary to send to them for me. And then, I’ll just see their response. Sometimes, they say, ‘Whoa, that’s double our budget,’ or, ‘Can we meet in the middle somewhere?'”

Building Stable Income Through Monthly Retainers

Monthly retainer clients proved crucial in Megan’s transition to full-time UGC work. “That’s really what pushed me over the edge of being able to quit my job: getting those monthly clients that paid me X amount of dollars every single month for X amount of videos,” she explains.

The concept initially seemed overwhelming. “I was so busy at my full-time job, thinking, ‘There’s no way I could keep up with a monthly client that’s expecting so many videos from me every single month with maybe meetings sprinkled in between throughout the month.’ That was scary to me to think about getting those kinds of deals.”

Experience revealed the benefits. “Once I did, I was like, ‘This is a big chunk of money I could benefit from, and I could squeeze in working for this company on a monthly retainer basis.’ Then, I did it, and it wasn’t that bad. I found the time to do it.”

After getting another gig, Megan realized she was at a point where she could quit her job and not be “super terrified” because she had a consistent income.

This approach offered stability and efficiency: “Getting to know companies and being on a recurring retainer with them increases your income. I have found that it cuts down on the time you spend. Just because you get to know the company so well, you don’t have to learn about new products, a new company, and their voice and brand all over again.”

Future Plans

After reaching her income goals in 14 months, Megan now balances content creation with teaching. “I have become so obsessed with teaching people about UGC,” she says. “I aim to continue doing it and teach more people.”

Her professional goals continue expanding: “I want to land some brand deals with some bigger companies, and I want to expand that and increase my rates. I just sent out my biggest quote ever for UGC a few days ago.”

For emerging creators looking to make their staple in the UGC space, Megan offers simple yet impactful advice: “Don’t let fear stop you! Life is really short. You just never know what little, seemingly little, decision can change your life. Everything about my life has now changed because I heard about UGC, and I not only heard about it, but I decided to pursue it in full force. And now it’s opened up so many more doors than I could ever imagine.”