Side Hustles for Students and Parents: Getting Paid to Make Videos

For Students

If you're 18 or over and already post on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, your student life is the kind of everyday content brands look for: food on a budget, study tools, nights out, moving into halls and the apps you actually use.

• It fits around your timetable: apply only for briefs you have time for, and skip exam weeks.
• It builds a portfolio: if you're heading into marketing, media or the creative industries, real brand work is something to show employers, and you can show the videos in your portfolio once they're live, unless we ask you to take them down.
• Keep your studies first: you have 72 hours from approval to make each video, so only take on what you can deliver.

You must be 18 or over to join Brief72, with at least 1,000 followers on an account you own. Campaigns for alcohol, betting, gaming or lotteries are only open to creators who are 25 or over. If you’re in the UK on a Student visa, you can’t be self-employed, and paid video work for brands counts as self-employment, so check your visa conditions first.

For Parents

Honest recommendations for food, home products, days out and the everyday things that make family life easier are what lots of parents look for.

• Film in small pockets of time: nap times, after the school run or once the children are in bed.
• Use your real routine: everyday demos and honest first impressions work well, and your home is the set.
• Keep it simple: natural light from a window and a phone stand go a long way.

Think carefully about featuring your children. Many parent creators keep them out of shot, or never show their faces, names or school uniforms. You can make great videos without them. Always follow the brief, and if in doubt, leave them out.

What You Need

• To be 18 or over.
• At least 1,000 followers on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, on an account you own.
• A phone, good light and a quiet spot for clear sound.

How Getting Paid Works

Each brief shows what you'll be paid if you're approved, and your fee is fixed from that moment: the views your post gets don't change it. If a brief can't show your fee yet, we'll tell you what it is when you're approved, and you can pull out if you don't want to go ahead. Once your video is approved, posted and its link added in the app, we check its views for 5 days to make sure they're real. If there are no warning signs, your fee then goes into your Brief72 account, ready to withdraw to your bank. If there are, our team reviews the fee and pays it in full or not at all.

It's free to join and free to apply, with no hidden fees.

Tips to Get Approved

• Read the brief closely and follow it.
• Hook people in the first few seconds.
• Be honest: only say what you really think, and don't make claims the brand can't back up.
• Use music that's cleared for brand use.
• Label the post as an ad, at the start.

If a video isn't approved, you'll get feedback and can try again, with a fresh 72 hours. Most briefs allow up to 2 attempts.

A Quick Note on Tax

Side income can count as income for tax, and so can free products or services you get for promoting things. If your side income adds up to £1,000 or less in a tax year (6 April to 5 April), before any costs, the trading allowance usually means you don’t need to tell HMRC. If it’s more, you’ll need to register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of that tax year. If you get Universal Credit, report your self-employed income and costs to Universal Credit each month: the trading allowance doesn’t change what counts as income for Universal Credit. Brief72 also has to report what you earn to HMRC each year. GOV.UK’s guide to tax-free allowances on property and trading income explains the rules.