What I’ve heard from creators is that apps like Billo are a wonderful way to get started if you have not created content before and you’re interested in this content where you’re creating brand UGC. However, the pay is not great. It can be very, very frustrating because you have to do multiple rounds of revisions, which you didn’t know that you had to do in order to get paid.

You might only want to use it until get your feet wet and understand what you're good at and the brands you're going to approach because it doesn’t pay that great and it might be not worth the frustration right now. But, there are other ways you can monetize your content.

Social Commerce apps are different. They're not for UGC creation for brands. Social Commerce is the process of selling products directly on social media. With Social Commerce, you are a retailer as a content creator. This is another way that you can monetize your content. These new Social Commerce apps that are coming out make it easier than ever for the brands to go to you, versus you going to them because they want that UGC.

Creator UGC and Social Commerce are a powerful new sales channel for brands. It allows you to monetize your content, even if you don't have a big audience because you are able to become an affiliate for numerous brands through these apps. There are many other affiliate platforms out there: Mavely, Amazon Associates, ShareASale, LTK, and more below. Many of these do have minimum following requirements, but these social commerce apps are awesome because you can start making money and start monetizing your product recommendations and content without having a minimum following.

• Collective Voice
• Billo
• Audenticity
• Amazon Associates
• ShareASale
• LTK
• Mavely
• Octoly
• Magic Links

These platforms are cutting out the middleman so that content creators or consumers are now the salespeople for brands. This has been a huge difference in a short period of time for how brands are selling. With these apps you can get unique links to set up your storefront.  On some of these you can even buy through the app yourself for yourself and get cash back. Putting products on a storefront allows you to earn commission on those products, but you can also monetize your advice.