The first clients are the hardest and also the fastest to reach if you know who to write to. In Spain there is a concrete shortcut: businesses already selling through Instagram that need fresh material every week.
Who to write to first
Small ecommerce brands
Cosmetics, fashion, accessories, supplements. They sell through Instagram and Shopify, and burn through creative fast.
Hospitality
Specialty coffee shops, ice cream parlours, neighbourhood restaurants. Small budget but immediate decisions: the owner replies, not a committee.
Gyms, beauty centres and clinics
They buy content all year and value real local faces.
Businesses that have just launched
They have no content of their own and need volume. They pay less, but they give you a portfolio and references.
Latin American brands that want to sound Spanish
That accent and those references are yours, and they do not have them.
What you need before writing
Six pieces filmed. They do not have to be for clients: products you already use are enough. Without them, any message collapses at the first reply.
Also a price decided in advance. If they ask what you charge and you answer "it depends", you have lost the conversation.
The message that works
Short, concrete and without flattery. Four lines:
- What you use from their product and since when.
- What you noticed in their communication: for example, that they have no vertical product video.
- What exactly you propose: three videos, formats, deadline.
- Price and availability.
Plus two examples attached or a link. Never a message without examples.
How many to send
Between twenty and forty well made messages to close the first paid job. That is not failure: that is the normal rate.
What does fail is sending a hundred identical copied messages. Ten personalised ones outperform a hundred generic ones.
The offer that unlocks the first yes
For a hesitant new client, a small trial package works: two videos at a fixed price, delivered in five days. It lowers their risk and lets you prove yourself.
What is not worth doing is working for free. Product in exchange only if the product is worth your time and is not headed for paid media.
The Spanish detail that changes the conversation
Mention in the first message that you issue invoices. In Spain that single sentence separates you from eighty per cent of the creators writing that day, because it means the company can hire you without accounting problems.
And in parallel, make yourself findable
Active outreach takes time. Meanwhile, a profile on a UGC marketplace with your niche, your languages and your rates gets you found by brands you would never have contacted yourself.
Where to go next
The first client is a matter of method, not luck. Our guide on how to become a UGC creator covers the rest of the path.
