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276. How Solopreneurs Can Make Money Online Without Followers · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: What if you can make money online without chasing followers, going viral, or becoming the next influencer? In this episode, you'll learn how to earn through UGC or user generated content, Amazon, TikTok shop, etcetera, even if you're introverted, don't have a big portfolio, and don't wanna be the face of a big brand. Megan breaks down the mindset shift solopreneurs need to stop waiting for perfect, how to land paid opportunities fast and sometimes within your first week, and why slow growth is still powerful growth. If you've ever thought I'm behind, I don't have enough followers, or I'm not ready yet, this conversation will flip that narrative. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for anyone on the solo business journey, whether you're just toying with the idea, taking your first bold step, or have been running your own show for years and want to keep growing, refining, and thriving.
• 0:52
  I'm Carly Ries, and along with my co host Joe Rando, we're your guides through the crazy but awesome world of being company of one. As part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all things solopreneurship, we help people design businesses that align with their life's ambitions so they can work to live, not live to work. If you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the place for you. But if you want real world insights from industry experts, lessons from the successes and stumbles of fellow solopreneurs, and practical strategies for building and sustaining a business you love, you're in the right spot. Because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone.
• 1:28
  No matter where you are in your journey, we've got your back. Megan, I knew I was gonna like this interview just from the content, but you've also been so patient. As listeners can see if they're watching on YouTube, I'm in my car right now. We're doing like a version of Carpool Karaoke thanks to a dentist appointment that came along. But you were so sweet and understanding.
• 1:50
  And I just, you know, you get that vibe. You know you're gonna like somebody. And I know we're gonna like you. like I said, I was very excited for the topics. But we start every interview with a question. what did you wish you had known before becoming a solopreneur?
• 2:07
  Megan Spencer: I wish that I would have started sooner and stopped waiting for everything to be perfect. I felt like in the beginning, I wanted to have everything planned out or I waited years to actually do what I wanted to do. I had the idea of doing what I do now in 2020 and I didn't do it and I didn't start it until 2024 and I'll look back and I'm like wow I could be so much further along in my journey if I would have just started. And I feel like if you start messy, learn as you go. So I guess what I wish I knew was that clarity comes after you do the action.
• 2:39
  Just do the thing. That's what I wish I would have known.
• 2:42
  Carly Ries: Do you mind me asking what made you finally decide to do it?
• 2:45
  Megan Spencer: I feel like what made me finally do it was because I am an introvert, I needed to see that something was gonna work before I like went all in on my dreams because I could get discouraged easily. I had made money on and off social media in between that time. So in 2020 when I first wanted to you know, have a course and help other people and coach other people and all those things, I don't think I was in the place to do it yet. I wanted to do it and I probably could have made it happen. But I feel like I spent a lot of time doing freelancing and the UGC and the Amazon like the introvert side hustles where I got the confidence to do what I do now.
• 3:25
  So it comes across a lot more authentic for one because I've done the things for so long. And two, I felt like it gave me confidence to where I had made a lot of money online to where I could talk about it, more confidently. At the time think I would have started then, like, looking back. But, yeah, I had more confidence because I made money, pretty much.
• 3:48
  Joe Rando: Clarification. So you said UGC, which is user generated content. What side of the coin were you on with that? That is, you know, like, we've hired people to create content as users for our stuff. Were the hirer or the hiree?
• 4:05
  Megan Spencer: I was the hiree. I was the person doing the content because it's very introvert friendly because you don't have to have any followers. You don't have to be famous at all.
• 4:15
  Joe Rando: Okay.
• 4:16
  so you don't mind getting in front of the camera. You just don't wanna try to get famous, which, Carly, this is bringing back memories of that podcast from a few years ago about that TV show where the guy didn't wanna get famous, and he did.
• 4:29
  Carly Ries: Yeah. Yep. Absolutely.
• 4:33
  Megan Spencer: That's what happened to me. Like, I'm not famous, but I grew a following from talking about how people can make money without followers.
• 4:41
  Carly Ries: That's weird. At least let's talk about that. You do help people earn online without chasing followers like you're saying or going viral. So for solopreneurs who feel behind on social media, and again, going off of I should've started earlier, what mindset shift do they need to make first before they, could be successful with this?
• 5:01
  Megan Spencer: I think every person in any business needs to realize, especially especially with UGC, you don't need followers. You don't need a big portfolio to do this. anyone of any age can do it. That's what I tell people. I literally scroll job boards all the time and I see them hiring like 70 year old women.
• 5:20
  I'm like, you know, you have to think about it as every brand has a target audience. And when you think about it like that, you're like, oh, well, if that's the case, it doesn't matter what I look like, what I sound like and how old I am because every brand has a target audience. I'm 31 years old, I'm not gonna be the target audience for Medicare or whatever. I use that example but you know what I mean. So I think the mindset shift for this specifically would be you don't need to have this big grandiose business falling portfolio to get hired and get paid.
• 5:52
  But for any solopreneur wanting to start any type of business, I think the mindset shift needs to come from a place of it's gonna work out and this is who I am right now. Like embody the identity of what it is that you want to be from the start. And I know that's hard when you don't have like stuff to back it up. But if you're gonna be a UGC content creator, don't say I'm gonna be, say I am. And I think that helps.
• 6:14
  It helps you embody that and be that and be really good at it.
• 6:19
  Carly Ries: Yes, absolutely. Well, you have an anti influencer method that focuses on systems again over popularity. So what are the core systems that you think every solopreneur should have in place if they're trying to monetize their content?
• 6:34
  Megan Spencer: So I always tell people that a core system would be batching content, just technically batching content and getting ahead of the game because you can get really out of whack easily. Like for example, it's a snow day here and I really don't want to be creating content. My whole family is here and it's chaotic and messy and there's mud all in the house and I'm overstimulated. It's great that I had batched content last week for this week, right? So I can just post my contents and my content into my UGC gigs that I have to do like I'm set, I'm not overwhelmed.
• 7:09
  So batching content is very important. But the systems that the anti influencer method does focus on obviously is batching content being organized so you don't get overwhelmed. But the thing that I think a lot of people from coming from UGC or making money with content is instead of having brands come to you in the beginning, you go to the brands. You find where they're posting opportunities so you can apply to them. Because for one, it's a brand that's already looking for work, you just need to apply to it and put yourself out there, you're gonna get hired 99% quicker than if they are looking for you because as a beginner, and I teach people not to post on social media to get brands at the start because for one, work with a bunch of introverts or with a bunch of shy people.
• 7:51
  I say go out, do as much work as you can, even if it's $15 for a photo, $ 20 for a photo, whatever. That's gonna give you experience, confidence that you can then build that portfolio up while making money, right? It's like on the job training, pretty much. So everything is revolved around not building a following.
• 8:08
  Joe Rando: So when you say go out and find them, how are you finding them? I know there are places like Fiverr where you can hire people to do your GC, but you're talking about something else. Right?
• 8:19
  Megan Spencer: Yes. So there are a bunch of platforms and apps like Join Brands, Incense, Billow, where brands literally post jobs every day that every day people can go on and apply to and you don't need a portfolio. Because those apps have kind of what you call like, it's like you go on there and you do a pitch video, they tell you exactly what to do and they send that pitch video to brands when you apply to them. So this app is setting you up for success already. Join Brands does the same thing.
• 8:49
  And so I think that helps people that have never done either anything online or never done content to where they're like, oh, okay, they told me exactly what I need to do. I did it. Now I can apply to jobs day one.
• 8:59
  Joe Rando: I gotta ask another question. So one of the things we talk about all the time at LifeStarr for Solopreneurs is basically positioning your product, whatever it is that you're doing, and finding a niche and really getting specific about what you do and who you do it for. How does that tie in to what you're talking about here? Do you think it's important to do that when it's trying to do UGC, or do you think it's just kind of like, oh, I'm look they're looking for somebody that's 31 years old female, with kids or something like that. Do you think that niching down more is valuable?
• 9:34
  Megan Spencer: I think I have a controversial take on this and some people agree with me and some people don't. I say no. In the beginning, don't do it. You're gonna limit yourself. And I think in the beginning, you're trying to get experience and you're trying to make money.
• 9:44
  So I tell people because I've done literally content for every brand, like furniture brands, travel brands, pet brands, like literally everything that's not even related to anything that I talk about. But I did it because it gave me experience so then I can build a portfolio. Now after you've been in it a while, you're gonna start to understand what it is you like and what you're good at. That's when I think you should niche down and start to pitch brands that are more in your interest. Like at this time, because where I do work with a bunch of content creators, I pretty much only do UGC for like apps, website services that relate to content creators. I'm kind of like the face of a brand that's not even my brand. Like if you went and looked at their page, it's all my face but it's all just UGC. I don't own the brand. I'm just there to help them convert and get people to sign up. But because I'm known in the space of a person that helps content creators, it just translates so nice because they trust me in that space.
• 10:39
  So that brand can benefit from, you know, my audience as well, pretty much.
• 10:43
  Carly Ries: Makes a lot of sense. Well, so what mistakes do you see introverted solopreneurs make when they're trying to grow online? So we're talking about the audience here, but what else, what issues do you see come up?
• 10:56
  Megan Spencer: It kinda goes back to before. I feel like introverts and a lot of people in general feel like they have need to have this whole thing situated before they start making money online. So that would be they need to have this huge portfolio of work. I try to tell people everyone's a beginner at some point in their journey, right? everyone puts themselves out there.
• 11:16
  Yes, it may be a little awkward but I think the confidence building is a huge part especially for introverts because they're putting themselves out there. And in front of people, you know, pretty much because some of these brands might use them as Facebook ads or something like that. So yeah, you have to build your confidence. And I say you know, you have to step out of your comfort zone a little bit to, make the money. nothing changes if nothing changes, right?
• 11:43
  And so I think for introverts, the biggest thing that I see is people say, or the biggest mistakes that I see is they try to focus on the wrong things. They're like, oh, I need to spend 2 a year building this portfolio off of test content or something like they haven't even landed a job yet. You know, I'm like, go land a job first then then worry about that or they wanna build a website or they wanna niche down in the beginning. I'm like, it limits you in the beginning.
• 12:10
  Carly Ries: I wanna circle back to you being the face of some of these brands because, not everybody wants to be the face of a brand. So from your experience, what are some powerful ways to grow or earn online without being that face?
• 12:24
  Megan Spencer: Yes. So I'm the face of another brand and then obviously my own brand. And you know, is hard as an introvert because people have opinions about you or whatever. And I've kind of just gotten to where I'm like, I don't even read comments. But other people, I would say there are ways to make money online faceless.
• 12:44
  And that's a huge growing niche that I help my creators land opportunities in. So if they're very shy or very introverted and they don't want to be the face of a brand, there are tons of brands out there that will hire faceless creators. Whether that is doing faceless for a physical product like you're showcasing a product and you're not in the video at all. Or where you're doing carousel type UGC where it's just the slides that are talking about a specific product that's a growing thing that a lot of my creators are doing now. So you don't have to be the face of a brand.
• 13:21
  And again, you know, you don't have to create your own brand to do this. You can help other brands grow their products through various channels.
• 13:31
  Carly Ries: Well, so speaking of those channels, you help creators earn money through like Amazon on-site commissions. We've been talking about UGC, freelancing, say TikTok shop. How can a solopreneur figure out which of these income streams kind of best fits their personality and skills?
• 13:49
  Megan Spencer: Yes. So I actually put together a quiz that people can take. And it's basically based on their personality, the time they need and their interest. And it will tell them exactly which one is the best for them. But for someone that doesn't want to take a quiz, I think you just need to think about it like how soon do you want to be paid?
• 14:07
  How shy slash introverted are you? How much money do you want to make? And how much time do you have to devote to this? So for example, Amazon on-site commissions, Amazon reviews, you're not gonna get paid for sixty days. And that's sixty days from the time you earn your first commission.
• 14:23
  So it's a great side hustle. I love it. I still do it to this day. But it's gonna take you sixty days to earn your first dollar. So if you have time to devote to that, great, go for it.
• 14:33
  UGC, you can literally get paid your first week if you land a job and they pay you upfront for the content. Okay, that's pretty cool. And then freelancing same thing, if you land a retainer, you could get paid upfront, you could get paid half upfront or if you're doing a project. And then TikTok shop is kind of like Amazon. It's not sixty days anymore but it can be thirty days.
• 14:53
  So TikTok shop. yeah, I like to tell people or my quiz kind of goes into that like how soon do you wanna be paid type thing. And it will help people figure out what's best for them and their personality and time devoted.
• 15:07
  Carly Ries: So if they're trying to figure this out, it sounds like it could be overwhelming. Let's say they don't take the quiz and they're trying to figure it out on their own. I feel like it's a lot of grasping at straws at first and it's kinda like, I'm trying to do this but I'm also trying to do this. How do they beat that overwhelm?
• 15:23
  Megan Spencer: Yes. Great question because I've done all of these side hustles at one time and it can be overwhelming. everybody that comes to me and ask me this question, I'm like, you have to just start with one. You can't do all at once. If you do all of them at once, which is great, yes, multiple income streams, woo hoo, but you're gonna get overwhelmed and then you're gonna stop all of them, you know.
• 15:44
  So I really tell people to pick one, stick to it, learn it, do it for a few months then add on other income streams if you want to because they're all kind of related especially Amazon, UGC and TikTok shop. Once you learn the skill of creating good content, editing all the good things, you can use that one skill and put it across all of the different side hustle ideas, especially these four and get paid for it in multiple different ways. And I think multiple income streams is important. But I think not getting overwhelmed at this in the beginning is even more important. Because if you do all of them at once, try to learn all of them at one time, you're gonna stop before you ever get started.
• 16:26
  Carly Ries: When I think of recording my videos, I always think oh, I have to be on right now. Like, I have to be not in my car. I have to have my makeup on. What does UGC look like when you're doing it quietly and sustainably? Like, you were just saying, kind of the way you teach it.
• 16:44
  Megan Spencer: Yeah. honestly, they want real people. They want authenticity. So when I go to film my UGC gigs, I may slap on some mascara. It kinda depends on what the brand is too.
• 16:57
  But especially if it's like a mom brand or if you're talking about to specifically moms, you want to kind of show up as you are, right. And I like to tell people too, I don't live in a fancy house. I live in a double wide. I've lived here since 2015, you know, and I think that's another roadblock people have. I don't have an aesthetic house, I don't have this, I don't have that.
• 17:16
  And I'm like, you don't have to have any of that because user generated content is based around real uses of products, not influencers, not celebrities, you know, all these good things. So doing it quietly means you're doing it from home, nobody even has to know you're doing it. Your friends, family don't have to know you're doing it. And like my friends and family didn't know I was doing it for years until I finally started posting about it on social media and talking about it. And that just means showing up as you are.
• 17:42
  You don't have to be on, you don't have to put on or anything like that. You just you show up as you, you create the content and the brand uses it in various ways.
• 17:52
  Carly Ries: What do you think one underrated content strategy is that works really well for solopreneurs but nobody talks about it very much?
• 18:00
  Megan Spencer: I feel like it's becoming more talked about but it was something that I learned very early on when I did TikTok shop is the rage bait content. I know it's bad. I know it's bad, but it works because that was actually how I had my first viral TikTok shop video ever. It made me $50,000 one video.
• 18:19
  Carly Ries: What did you do for it?
• 18:21
  Megan Spencer: So actually I didn't know I was rage baiting at the time but when I look back, I was like, oh, okay. So basically, what I was talking about was a dry shampoo product and I was listing out the ingredients and because I'm southern, I guess that's triggering people for one, my voice and two, I pronounce something wrong. Instead of saying cacao powder, I said cacao powder. And people would drag me for it. They were like, what did you just say?
• 18:48
  And literally for months on end, people were just like, oh my gosh, she must be illiterate since she's from the South, she must not know how to read all this stuff. So I said, at the time, I was just reading ingredients. But little did I know I rage baited people. So literally for the next month, I just would pronounce stuff wrong on purpose. And it worked and I made a bunch of money.
• 19:10
  And it's something that I've shared with other people and they've done it.
• 19:13
  Joe Rando: That is hysterical.
• 19:14
  Carly Ries: Off of impressions or clicks or how do you get like, because it sounds like you made a lot because it was so successful. So you don't get paid an upfront amount or do you? Or is it just based off of how the video performs?
• 19:27
  Megan Spencer: Yeah. So for TikTok shops specifically, you get paid when someone buys the product from your video. So the engagement from that was pushing it out to people that actually liked the product. So yes, there was a bunch of people being rude but then there was a bunch of people that were like, oh, love this product. And so it kind of worked.
• 19:46
  And then you can get paid for views on TikTok as well so the rage bait thing works but you have to have 10,000 followers and you get paid from views. So basically your account would set you up on what you get paid based on your engagement.
• 20:02
  Carly Ries: Not necessarily for the zero follower people out there listening.
• 20:05
  Megan Spencer: Yes. For the TikTok shop, you have to have 1,000 followers to be able to do it.
• 20:10
  Carly Ries: Okay. Well, you so in the beginning of this episode, you emphasized that confidence was huge for you and a key part of your method. So for solopreneurs who doubt whether anyone would care about what they create, how do they build that confidence without external validation? Like we were saying, views or likes.
• 20:34
  Megan Spencer: Yeah. So true. I think the quick win is where it comes in. So something like UGC even if UGC isn't what you wanna do, I really suggest everyone start there because you're gonna learn good content skills from brands. And you're gonna get put on, with brands that will give you scripts and helpful tips that you maybe can use in your business as well.
• 20:55
  So at the basis of every good business is good marketing and good content, especially in today's age with everything being on social media. I tell people that they need to get quick wins. So you're gonna feel 10 times more confident if you can go on Billo and you apply for a job and they're gonna pay you $80 for one video. You create that video, you get $80 in your bank account, you're like, okay, this is real. It feels more real, it feels more tangible and you feel like if I can make $80 I can make 800.
• 21:22
  If I can make 800, I can make a thousand. If I can make a thousand you know, it just keeps stacking to where you're building your confidence through the quick little wins. I And feel like the strategy really works especially with my students because they will then branch into other things like I have a bunch of people who started as a UGC creator and now they're a campaign manager for a brand or now they're a creator manager. Now you know, they're doing this huge thing for a brand that they never thought they would do but it's just building the confidence to know that if I can do this, I can do that.
• 21:53
  Carly Ries: Just so crazy how fast things are changing like I'm thinking about my college degree and, how this wasn't even remotely on my radar, but, just the careers
• 22:02
  Joe Rando: Yeah. Tell me about it.
• 22:08
  Carly Ries: Wow. What's social media? I just think this is so fascinating to get the world that's obviously exploding right now.
• 22:15
  But people do think you need all of the those followers and everything to be successful, and you're proving them wrong. I have no doubt people listening will find success with this because of listening to you today. So we ask all of our guests this question. What is your favorite quote about success?
• 22:31
  Megan Spencer: Slow growth is still growth. That is my favorite quote. And I feel like if you look back at my journey, I left my job in 2020. And here it is 2025. Now I'm to this point, right?
• 22:44
  But it didn't happen overnight. I think people that just come into my world look at me and they're like, it happened so fast for her. But I'm like, no, it didn't. I started in 2020. I became a social media manager.
• 22:56
  I did that for three years. I built an agency. I learned the ins and outs of social media what works, what didn't work. Then I became a UGC creator in 2023. Amazon influencer, TikTok shop affiliate, I did all that then I built the anti influencer method in 2024.
• 23:11
  And it's been launched for a year. So even that has been a slow growth, you know, I have 2,000 members in there now. But I didn't launch it and get 2,000 members, it's been a slow growth, but it's all been so worth it. And that's what I tell everybody . you're stacking your wins, you know, you get into Amazon influencer, that's a win, that's growth, You get into TikTok shop, that's a win, that's growth. you're going. you're gonna get to where you wanna be but just slow slow growth. Patience.
• 23:41
  Carly Ries: So Megan, if people want to learn more about this, learn more about you, where should they go?
• 23:45
  Megan Spencer: So you can find me on TikTok at megthecreator_ and then also my website is megthecreator.com.
• 23:52
  Carly Ries: I love it. Joe, this is so great. I feel like, I'm gonna go create a UGC video right now.
• 23:58
  Joe Rando: For what?
• 24:00
  Carly Ries: and make $50 grand today. I Know that's not exactly how it works. I did listen to you. Slow growth is still growth.
• 24:09
  Megan Spencer: It is. It is.
• 24:10
  Carly Ries: Well, Megan, thank you so much for coming on the show today. And listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, please leave a five star review. It helps us spread the word to other solopreneurs. Subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast platform, including YouTube, and share this episode episode with a friend.
• 24:27
  And we'll see you next time on the Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs.
• 24:51
  Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.