We were lucky to catch up with Andrea Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Andrea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I just researched online like TikTok and other resources like UGC club website. If I was going to do this again I wouyjust pitch to as many brands as possible and also create a community before making my website and setting up socials. The most essential skill in this field is thick skin. Your not going to like being ghosted and scammed. The only I have to learn more is myself! I’m not at a point in my life to commit full time while being a full time parent.
Andrea, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Im just a mom that has been searching for a way to care for my children and earn some kind of income. I love Kpop music and videos on social media! So UGC seemed like a way to use both. While sharing about the brands and products I use and love. I would share the brands vision and a solution for my community. I’m the person that shares things I feel can really provide a solution to daily life problems! The culture loving millennial mom is pretty much my schtick . I am proud that I’ve gotten to this point. I may not have a huge following but the ones that know me know that I’m being my most real me and would love brands to realize I’m multifaceted!
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
I think this may be a fun bit from my UGC journey that may help someone else in there’s! I was reached by a company that does memorial type items such as jewelry or led 3D Crystals. I wasn’t sure if I should respond on this company purely cause they only wished for a product review yet I had to decide a custom 3DCrystal yet I didn’t really want it to be of my family! I decided I was creating my brand at the time and wanted my UGC to be my brand which I like to say it’s Kpop & lifestyle and since I was sticking with it I decided to do one of BTS and so I ordered the custom photo 3D Crystal and it light up LED and everything and engraved on it was Bangtan Sonyeondan! Which is what BTS stands for in Korean. The brand was happy with my UGC video and I was so excited to share it with them since it was exactly what I was hoping for! I then asked for a review of my first review which is kind of funny. But I was super surprised how kindly they responded and said so many kind things about my work. And I added it to my website as my first review!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Honestly it’s tougher than most will realize but you are essentially selling your self and your creativity to get jobs in UGC! Pitching is one of the main ways to get noticed. I have had 90% of my jobs from pitching my own business!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andrealovesugc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrealoves_ugc/
- Twitter: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrealoves_ugc2
